When to Teach the Transgressor

Have mercy upon me, O God, According to Your loving kindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin. (Psalm 51:1-2)

I’m hesitant to declare that Psalm 51 is my favorite Psalm, but it is right up there near the top. It speaks to the time when King David came before the Lord and confessed his wickedness regarding Bathsheba and her husband, Uriah and [David’s] subsequent redemption.  It also speaks directly to gratitude.

Today, as I poured through the Song once again, I selahed at verse 13:

Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners shall be converted to You. 

I found myself asking the question, “What will it take for us to teach the LORD’s ways to the transgressor?  The following inquiry was gleaned (and personalized) from the text preceding that thirteenth verse:

1. Have you acknowledged your transgressions?
2. Have you been purged with hyssop?
3. Are you now clean, washed, and whiter than snow?
4. Are your sins now hidden and your iniquities blotted out?
5. Has He created in you a clean heart? 
6. Has He renewed a steadfast spirit within you?
7. Are you welcome in His presence? 
8. Has He given you His Holy Spirit?
9. Do you possess the joy of salvation?
10. Are you upheld by His generosity? 

Hopefully you responded in the affirmative to each of those queries. If you have, then guess what? It’s time for you to make known the riches of this glorious mystery: Christ in you, the hope of glory. And remember, a lion is the happiest when it is let out of the cage.

“His word was in my heart like a burning fire Shut up in my bones; I was weary of holding it back, And I could not.”  (Jeremiah 20:9b)

If you do not know Jesus Christ as both God and Savior, then click HERE. And please know, God is not interested in making converts, He desires that we would willingly follow Him, not because He is needy, but because we are.

These articles may or may not be related:

• Flee as a Bird (sabbathsermons.com)
• Lord, Have Mercy (ising4god.com)
• Text for Last Sunday’s Message, August 12, 2012 (midwaycommunitychurch.typepad.com)
• Psalm 51 (leadmeintheeverlastingway.com)
• Psalm 51 (rfbcstudents.com)
• Woman of the Bible series/Bathsheba (simpleme2.wordpress.com)
• Psalm 51 – The Way Back To God (thisbrokenangel.wordpress.com)
• Ezekiel, sword, Psalm (formerheathen.wordpress.com)
• Beware the Peril that Lurks in Success (pjcockrell.wordpress.com)
• The Zeal to Reveal (compassiondave.wordpress.com)

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