Patsy Laycoax

Hello,my name is Patsy and I live in Illinois. I am married and I am 57 years old. I have done a few Bible studies with Pastor Wilson. I love them and like Tabatha said it is like most churches are still in kindergarden but these studies are my main way of learning and growing in the Lord. God bless you all. I am relly looking forward to this one.

One achieves a broken and contrite heart by hearing what God has to say about sin and how it hurts Him,that we all are guilty and what God has done for us to deliver us from sin. The earmarks of a broken and contrite heart is a heart that yields to God in repentance and wants to live how God would have them to. This differs from being sorry for sin because you might be sorry for getting caught or any other selfish reason and not really wanting to obey God and please Him with your whole heart. Humility relates to this condition in that you are not thinking more highly of yourself than you should. You realize what you are,a sinner and you are willing to admit it. You acknowledge God and who He is and His power to save and forgive and cleanse you from all sin.

It is possible to have a pure heart after great sin by going to God in faith,admitting our sin and repenting of it.God takes our sin stained heart,removes the stain of sin forgives our sin and cleanses our heart from sin,and in its place is a pure heart,ready for God's service. The relationship of a pure heart and a united or undivided heart is a heart surrendered to God and not divided by sin. God purifies the heart. The process to have a purified heart is to come to God in faith with a guilty conscience,an impure heart that you will admit to,acknowledging you sin,asking God to forgive you. God forgives you,cleanses your heart of sin and put a pure heart into you that is inclined to do God's will.

No,David is not minimizing his sin against Bathsheba and Uriah but it is not them he sinned against although he did do them wrong,he sinned against God because God is perfect and the one who saves us from our sin. It was in God's presence that he flaunted his sin. So in his confession he admitted his sin was against god and God only. When David mentions his sinfulness from before his birth,he is not excusing his sin but demonstrating how deep his sin goes and just how awful it really is and how much of a sinner he is as we all are and how much he needs God's forgiveness and cleansing.

If we deceive ourselves that we have no sin or that it isn't that bad then it will lead to more sin and we will never confess our sin in order to be forgiven. Confession enables us to get free from sin because when we confess our sin God cleanses us from our sin and we receive forgiveness. We sometimes resist the truth about ourselves because of our pride. We do not want to admit the truth about ourselves that we sin. We think we are better than that. Sometimes it takes a shock of some kind to get us to see the truth about ourselves. And then we are faced with it and have to admit it is true.

The similiarities I see between the words of Psalm 22 and the events of Jesus crucifixion are; H e was scorned and despised by men,they mocked Him and insulted Him,the rulers and the people conspired against Him. he was so sorrowful to the point of death. Both tell how he was very thirsty and then crucified. Both tell how they cast lots for His garments. Yes, I think Jesus knew that Psalm 22 was referring to Himself because He knew His mission here on earth and He knew what it would cost Him to die for our sin. I think the Spirit inspired David to pen these words for our sake to prophesy Jesus crucifixion.

Jesus spoke the words of Psalm 22:1 because He felt the spiritual separation from the Father as He paid the price for our sin. He was seeking to express the anguish He was going through. He was feeling the worst kind of a loneliness no one else has ever suffered,He missed the Father's companionship. God answered His plea by being silent,He had to allow jesus to finish the work of the cross.

Because He knew they thought Him just a human like us and he wanted to make a point. The point He was making was David viewed Jesus as divine by calling Him Lord,even though Jesus is called the son of David. And Jesus was confronting them with the truth that He was greater than David and indeed the Messiah. Jesus combines the roles of Warrior-King and Priest to us and to the world by defeating His enemies and setting up his kingdom wherein he will rule with righteousness and peace. His priestly role is He is our meditator to God for our sins because he bore our sins in His own body on the cross at Calvary. The Prince of Peace cannot bring peace without first bringing to judgement and then destruction those who love sin and that requires violence to the wicked.

Psalm 2 teaches us that Yahweh's anointed King must be set apart for God's service. The apostles saw this passage as referring to Jesus the Messiah because He is called God's Son that God has begotten which we find in John 3:16 that refers to Jesus. Also in other passages speaking of the Messiah,it says He will rule witha rod of iron,just as it does here in verse 9. This passage teaches us it is important to be submissive to Jesus Christ before it is too late because there is coming a day when He will be angry and destroy all those who oppose Him and they will perish from the earth and God's presence.

The two characteristics of God that stand out to me are : He is full of compassion and slow to anger. I need both of those because I feel that I fail Him at times,more than I want to but I know also that i am growing. It is important for every creature to praise God to make known Gos's mighty works to all people and his glorious majestic kingdom that is everlasting so they can be a part of it and not of the wicked whom God will destroy(verse 20). I am trying to praise Him continually in all circumstances and through all my trials.

The two aspects of God's character that stand out to me are His compassion and His forgiveness. It is hard to comprehend a being so powerful and majestic as God and yet has this tender compassion for us lowly sinners and such a willingness to forgive and forget. The Exodus is foundational to Israel's understanding God because they got to see who God is, His caring for them,His leading them,His love and His power. There is no limit to God's forgiveness to those who ask, the east and the west never meet so there is no limit.

Verses 1 and 2 establish the Lord's right as King because everything belongs to Him,He is the creator of all things. Verses 3-6 teii us the requirements of the King are:one who has access to God,equal with Him. He must be holy and have a pure heart,sinless. He must have God's blessing and righteousness. People will seek to know Him and to do His will. Verses 7-10 tells us about the glory of the King. He is deserving of worship,He is strong and mighty,mighty in battle. One day all will worship Him when He comes again in all His glory! This psalm speaks to my situation by comforting me and it gives me joy to think of the king coming in all His glory. It makes me want to praise Him!

The memory of God's deliverance in verses 1-3 prepare them for the prayer of verse 4 because they remember God's glorious deliverance before and that gives them faith He can and will do it again. The two metaphors of deliverance is a time of trial or testing represented by a wadi.We have to walk by faith in these times and if we keep sowing faith and service to God, we will reap the reward of our faith in God's perfect timing. These metaphors help me in my situation by strengthening my faith that I can rely on God to deliver me from my trials and burdens and bring times of blessing once again!

To ascribe to God glory and strength means to cheerfully and with joy praise God for the glory and might that is revealed and to be revealed in the created world. When we fail to ascribe these qualities to him we become hopelessly ego-centric. God is worthy of praise because he is our reigning King and he is coming to judge the earth. His kingship and judging of the earth will have its complete fulfillment at His Second Coming.

To give praise during trying circumstances is so difficult because your mind and emotions are dwelling on the problems and it is hard to think of anything else. Praise affects our faith by reminding us of what the Lord has done in the past and that increases our faith that He will bring us through these trying circumstances again. Praise gives us an attitude of rest and trust in the Lord that He is in control and will watch over us. Praise affects our motivation to trust in the Lord and rely upon Him and not to lean unto our own understanding.

In Psalm 131 David quiets his inner person before the Lord by humbling himself and being still or quiet before the Lord and trusting the Lord and allowing the Lord to comfort him. The elements mentioned are humilty,stillness,trust and hope.

In comparison to all the caotic happenings in the other verses,these streams and river are calm and reassuring that God is with us and He is in control. Like in Psalm 23 that says,He leadeth me beside still waters. When we realize who God is,it gives us peace,we know we can trust Him even in the midst of the storms of life. We should speak words of comfort and peace to bless others and ourselves. He commands us to be still because it is in getting quiet and thoughtful that God can speak to us. We cannot hear God with noise and other things going on around us.

To say into thy hands I commit my spirit means,I am trusting God to keep me safe and to take my spirit to be with Him. It brings peace to know God is there with you all the way and the evil one cannot touch you. My times are in your hands brings peace because that verse tells us God is in control of everything,every detail of our lives and we can trust Him to be there for us,help us and to not put more on us than we can bare,Praise God!

Sometimes God works through our faith to keep us from accidents ,sickness and death,but if allowing us to go through it would serve His purposes better then He will allow it. We can always count on Him to be there with us,praise God! Some believers are not protected because of a lack of faith in what God can do but sometimes God does allow these things to work for our good and others. Yes, God does really protect us because nothing can happen to us that does not go through Him first. And in all cases of a believer,our souls are protected,the evil one can't touch that. Praise the Lord!

The images the psalmist evokes to communicate his trust in God's protection are; the rock that is higher than I, a shelter for me, a strong tower from the enemy, I will abide in thy tabernacle,and covert of thy wings. These first four verses of his Psalm make me feel God is listening when I call to Him in prayer,no matter where I am or what situation I am experiencing. When life is too much for me,He will take me to Him in spirit for rest,protection,encouragement and comfort in knowing He can be trusted to be there when I need Him.

Humility and faith are necessary because we need humility to realize we have a need that we can't fulfill ourselves and faith is necessary because we have to believe that God is willing and able to answer our need. When humility is missing we will have an attitude we don't really need God. And without faith we don't believe God will help us.

When I realize that God's thoughts and plans are focused on me in particular,it makes me very humble and undeserving of such attention from the one who rules the universe. It also makes me feel secure that no matter what happens in my life,He is in control. And it makes me very thankful to have that kind of attention focused on me.It makes me want to spend the rest of my life doing everything I can to please Him!

This lament and most laments in the psalms end in an upswing because they know that faith expressed by praise and thanksgiving is pleasing to God and brings them up from the pit of misery they are in. This teaches us that our laments and prayers should end with praise to God for who He is and thanksgiving for all He has done and our faith will be restored in God. Praise is important in our prayers because God inhabits praise and that will give us faith that god can deliver or help us with any problem we face,no matter how large or difficult.

David could go to God on God's merits of grace and mercy. He knew God is always willing to forgive sins and help those who call on Him in faith. In the face of our sins,God's grace and mercy function when through God's grace we are forgiven and by His mercy He forgets and cleanses us from our sin. Thank you Jesus!

I was wanting to thank Tabatha for this,I am in the midst of some dark hours and this blessed me.