"Train me, God, to walk straight, then I'll follow your true path. Put me together, one heart and mind, then, undivided, I'll worship in joyful fear. From the bottom of my heart I thank you, dear Lord."
(vs 11-12)
David has an incredibly sober assessment of himself. Considering God's call on his life, the battles he'd led the Israelite army into and won, his prayer life, his worship life. I shamefully, in his situation wouldn't use the phrase 'I'm one miserable wretch'. It does however remind me of Jesus' parable of the prayer of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector.
"The pharisee prays: God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get. But the tax collector, standing far off , would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!"
God wants our hearts broken for no one but him, undivided. Here the pharisee thought it fitting to compare himself with another human being and say, 'Well, I'm better than him!' I believe David had such a sober assessment of himself because he realised there's no point comparing yourself to another human being, no matter what their successes or failures, but rather, in view of God's pure light, and there realise the depth of God's grace and forgiveness.
God will surely act upon the prayer of the broken and contrite heart, the prayer that says:
Lord in view of your glory and the honour that's due to you, thank you for your grace and mercy that's new everyday, thank you for the forgiveness I have through the saving work of Jesus. Now Lord I give myself to your cause and will.
David has an incredibly sober assessment of himself. Considering God's call on his life, the battles he'd led the Israelite army into and won, his prayer life, his worship life. I shamefully, in his situation wouldn't use the phrase 'I'm one miserable wretch'. It does however remind me of Jesus' parable of the prayer of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector.
"The pharisee prays: God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get. But the tax collector, standing far off , would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!"
God wants our hearts broken for no one but him, undivided. Here the pharisee thought it fitting to compare himself with another human being and say, 'Well, I'm better than him!' I believe David had such a sober assessment of himself because he realised there's no point comparing yourself to another human being, no matter what their successes or failures, but rather, in view of God's pure light, and there realise the depth of God's grace and forgiveness.
God will surely act upon the prayer of the broken and contrite heart, the prayer that says:
Lord in view of your glory and the honour that's due to you, thank you for your grace and mercy that's new everyday, thank you for the forgiveness I have through the saving work of Jesus. Now Lord I give myself to your cause and will.
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