Psalm 51--Part 2--Verses 2-10

Dad
April 24, 2003

—Psalms for Kids!7/86DO 2375

1. (David: Amen‚ thank You Lord for this time that You provided with Grandpa to have a little Bible class! Help us to really understand it & to learn lots from it‚ Jesus, & get lots out of Your Word, Lord! Thank You that these classes can be such a blessing to the whole Family and to us too, in Jesus' name! Amen!)—Amen! PTL!

2. So last time we got started on what Psalm? (Children: Psalm 51!) And that's known as the Forgiveness Psalm, a Prayer for Forgiveness. I won't go back over the first verse again or we're apt to get involved in a review & not finish it again! PTL! And who is it that's praying here? (Techi: David.) What David? (David: David in the Bible.)—Old King David in the Bible. But who could be praying? (David: Us!)—Any one of us! It's a good prayer for all of us when we need forgiveness!

3. So second verse, he says, "Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, & cleanse me from my sin." That's pretty obvious, I don't need to explain that. "For I acknowledge my transgressions: & my sin is ever before me." What does "acknowledge" mean? (Techi: It means, "I know.")—Right, "I confess it!" And why is his sin ever before him? How come it's not behind him? (Techi: Because he sees it!) He's constantly remembering it‚ because he hasn't yet gotten forgiveness. After you get forgiveness you can put it behind you, but since he hadn't gotten forgiveness yet, it's right in front of him. If you haven't confessed your sin, it's right there, you've got to face it all the time. But after you confess it & the Lord forgives you, you put it behind you instead of before you!

4. "Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned, & done this evil in Thy sight!" What does he mean by that? He stole another man's wife & killed her husband & lied about it & all those things, so what does he mean "against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned"? How can he say that? (Techi: Because if you do a sin it's against the Lord.)—It's mostly against the Lord. If it weren't for the Lord there wouldn't be any sin!—Because there wouldn't be any God, there wouldn't be any Boss, there wouldn't be any rules to break, or sin against! So it's really mostly against the Lord. When we do evil or hurt other people or do something wrong, most of all we hurt the Lord. He doesn't like it if we hurt people, because that is against the second commandment. The first one is to love God with all your heart, & the second commandment is what? (Children: "Love thy neighbour!")—Yes! He says it's "like unto it," it's equal to it. That loving your neighbour is just like loving the Lord‚ because He wants you to love each other! (Mat.22:37–40)

5. "That Thou mightest be justified when Thou speakest & be clear when Thou judgest." Who's he talking about? Who do you think he's talking to? David's been talking, but sometimes in Psalms it switches back & forth, sometimes it's the Lord speaking, sometimes it's David, sometimes it's somebody else. But I think he's talking about the Lord. "That Thou mightest be justified when Thou speakest." What does "justified" mean? (Techi: That it's right.)—Right! It means that you are made right. In other words, that it would be recognised that God is right, His laws are right when He speaks, His Word is right. "And be clear when Thou judgest." We want His Word to be right & His judgements to be clear & plain.

HEAVEN IS FULL OF SINNERS SAVED BY GRACE!

6. "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; & in sin did my mother conceive me." My goodness, what does he mean by that? (Techi: Because you're just a sinful man.) You're a sinner before you're even born! (Techi: God is the only One Who's perfect.) That's right! Ever since Adam & Eve fell & brought sin into the World‚ everybody since then has been a sinner. We're all born sinners.

7. Some people try to use this verse on sex and say‚ "That shows you sex is sinful, it's wicked, 'In sin did my mother conceive me!'"—That she was sinning when she was making love! It has nothing to do with it whatsoever! He's just saying, "From the time I was conceived, I was conceived in sin. I was born a sinner from the beginning!" We're all sinners!

8. But, of course‚ what if little babies die? Do they go to Hell then? Well‚ they're not really responsible yet‚ are they? They can't help it if they were conceived in sin & born in sin‚ it's not their fault! So God doesn't hold it against them, does He? (Techi: Even if you go to Heaven, you're a sinner!) Heaven is full of sinners, saved by grace! In fact, if you don't confess you're a sinner you'll never make it!

9. I used to shock church congregations! They'd sometimes get scared when I'd come down from the pulpit & walk up & down the aisle & shake my finger in their faces & tell them what a bunch of self-righteous hypocrites they were & whatnot! I wasn't a very popular speaker. If I ever got invited at all, I usually only got invited once & that was it, because I told them what they needed to hear! I figured I might as well tell them, because they might never hear it again!

10. And one of my favourite sayings was, "You know what? This church is full of good people—a lot of whom are going to Hell! But Heaven is full of bad people, all of whom have gone to Heaven, because they confessed they were bad & asked Jesus to save them!" Some people who think they're so good they don't really need the Lord, they're never going to get saved, right?

IF YOU'VE GOT TRUTH,YOU'VE GOT WISDOM!

11. "Behold, Thou desirest Truth in the inward parts: & in the hidden part Thou shalt make me to know wisdom." Where is that? What part is the inward part? Where do you need Truth? (Techi: In your heart!)—Right, in your heart & in your mind. If you have Truth in there‚ it makes all the rest of you all right. And if you have Truth in your heart & mind, then it makes you what? What does the rest of that say? I just read it to you. "Thou shalt make me to know..." This is one Psalm you don't know by heart! (Techi: "Good.") It doesn't say "good," but it is good! "And in the hidden part Thou shalt make me to know..." If you have Truth in your inward parts, then this automatically follows! I read it to you, now see if you can recall it by memory. (Fam: Wisdom!)—Wisdom!

12. If you've got the Truth in you‚ you also have wisdom! What is wisdom? (David: How to use knowledge.)—Right! Truth is the facts, but a lot of people know facts. Scientists know facts. The knowledge of facts helped the scientists to make the Hell bombs, the atomic bombs that are going to blow up half the World! So that wasn't very wise, was it? Wisdom is exactly what you said, how to use your knowledge, how to use the facts, how to use them rightly & wisely for the good of people. Atomic bombs are not for the good of people, are they? So they use all that smart scientific knowledge very unwisely & it's about to blow up the World!

HYSSOP!

13. "Purge me with hyssop, & I shall be clean!" What was hyssop? I remember a little maid we had in Tenerife that used to wash the dishes there. She always washed them under running water, wasting a lot of water, no soap, but she had this little branch. I don't know where she got it, but she had this little branch off a tree with its little leaves etc., & she was washing the dishes under running water with that little branch! Maybe she wasn't so dumb! I imagine it must have been hyssop or something like hyssop, like a disinfectant. In other words, with the water & brushing it, it was like a disinfectant. So hyssop was like a cleansing agent of some kind. It was an herb, maybe like a spice. Spices are usually what? Some spices are sweet, some are sour‚ some are very hot!—Paprika and red peppers and tabasco are really hot!

ARTHUR HOLIDAY & THE TABASCO SAUCE!

14. I'll never forget the time when my Mother & Father were eating dinner with this fairly well-to–do couple & he was a very handsome guy, Arthur Holiday. Isn't that funny that his name came back to me? It reminds me of what my Grandfather said, "Dave‚ the time's going to come when you'll find it's easier to remember the past than the present!" I guess your brain gets so stuffed with all the stuff you already learned, that stuff today sort of rolls off easy & you forget it easily!

15. But Arthur Holiday had been in the Army & he was supposed to be a pretty tough guy! Daisy Docksey was his girlfriend & they were living together‚ & that was kind of shocking in those days! I'd say they were about in their 40's at that time, but they were fairly well–to-do & they'd take my Mother & Father out to dinner. They'd gotten saved under Mother's ministry, etc., but he was a kind of a show-off. So they were at this nice place eating dinner & on the table they had various condiments or spices sitting there, little bottles of ketchup & stuff like that, and one of them was a little tiny bottle about so big and only about as round as my thumb, very small, full of some kind of red stuff that looked like ketchup, & it said "Tabasco Sauce."

16. I don't know if it was Daisy or who it was, but she said, "What is Tabasco sauce?" She was looking at the spices. He said, "Oh‚ it's just a hot sauce. You know how I like hot sauce, it's not too strong for me!" And he took the Tabasco sauce & gave it a couple of squirts right in his mouth! Then while the other folks were talking, all of a sudden they heard this strange sound, & they looked around at Arthur Holiday & his throat had actually swollen up & turned red! He said, "Fire!" That stuff was so hot it made his throat swell up & he was saying, "Fire!" He could hardly even get the word out! And they really quick gave him water to try to wash it down!

SPICES!

17. So some spices & herbs can be very hot! And what do they usually use these very hot herbs for? Even onions & garlic & some of those are pretty hot, you don't just eat them by themselves. I never saw the like of the way some of you can just eat a whole clove of garlic! I know Techi does. She's like her Mother, she likes stuff like that!

18. But what are those very hot things for? First of all they season the food, some people like it just because of the taste, it gives their food a certain taste. But they have even more useful uses, they're supposed to purify your blood. They say if you eat a lot of garlic the mosquitoes won't even bite you! Well‚ Mama's tried that, but it doesn't seem to do her any good. But they can put them in some foods, like in some kinds of balonies & sausages & things that are very hot‚ & they do that mostly to not only flavour it, but what? (David: To clean it?)—Clean it, it keeps it clean, & that means what? (Techi: It preserves it!) Very good, Honey! I think she absolutely reads my mind sometimes! I think the word real hard & then she just pops out with it! That's her gift as a Pisces. That's one of the gifts that God gave them.

19. They're preservatives! Some of those spices, especially the very hot ones, are preservatives. They are so hot that the germs won't even touch the food! Even sugar is a preservative. It's so poisonous that the germs won't even touch it. Of course, the hot sauces & spices can be good for you if you don't eat too much, if you don't go trying to shake a bottle of Tabasco sauce down your throat! But the sugar sweets are not so good for you, they're not really good for your health at all. A little bit of sweet is good for you, but not too much!

STORY OF TENERIFE MAID'S BEDROOM!

20. So hyssop is a sort of a spice or herb that was a cleansing agent, & they washed dishes for thousands of years just the way our maid in Tenerife did! She was washing dishes with this little branch of some kind. She picked it off a bush or tree, I guess, & that's the way they washed dishes!

21. When we first met her family they were almost camping out‚ they just had a little hut, it wasn't very big, until finally I helped her father. He wanted to borrow some money to help finish the house he was building so that he would have a bedroom for his daughter, because she was getting to be a big girl. And I told him, "Well, if you'll add a bedroom for me & Mama, I'll give you the money!"

22. So when he got the house almost finished & prettied up real nice‚ they invited us out for dinner so we could see what a good job he'd done. He showed us this nice new house he'd built—a very small house, of course, but it was well-built & pretty & clean, & he showed us the bedroom he built for his daughter, because she was getting to be a big girl, a woman. She was going to get married soon. (Techi: How old was she?) She was about 16.

EARLY MARRIAGE, EGGS & SEEDS!

23. In those primitive cultures they get married early! It's not unusual in some countries for them to get married at 13 & 14. As soon as they're big enough to have sex, they start getting married! As soon as the girl's big enough to get the penie in‚ they start getting married! … They start menstruating, laying eggs, so they can have babies! Did you know you're like a chicken, you lay eggs?—Yes! They're not very big though, they're so small you can hardly see them! And the man lays seeds, & they're so small you can't see them at all except with a microscope! You can see the fluid, but you can't see the individual seeds.

24. So the Lord made you young folks to be able to menstruate & have eggs, & seeds to be able to cause the eggs to hatch & have little baby chicks! How about that! It would be funny if you laid an egg & had a baby chick‚ wouldn't it! That's really what you do! The boy fertilises the egg just like the rooster fertilises the eggs that are inside of the chickens before they're born. The chick is not born, but he's inside the egg‚ & if the egg has been fertilised with the seed of the rooster, the hen will want to sit on them & keep them warm for three weeks. Then by & by, when the little embryo, the little baby chick is fully formed, he's ready to peck his way out into the outside World! Now that's really a funny way to come into this World, but that's the way it happens!

25. And in some Third World countries they don't waste any time! They need more children, they want more workers for the farm & more helpers & they love babies! They don't kill their babies like they do in the rich countries, the so-called First & Second World! The First & Second Worlds call the poor part of the World the Third World, when actually it's the First World in God's sight!—Because God loves the poor more than the rich! He's usually angry with the rich & He's usually trying to help & comfort the poor!

OUR BEDROOM IN TENERIFE!

26. So David says, "Purge me with hyssop‚" because it's a cleanser. (Maria: Hyssop is very bitter, right?) I don't know, I never ate it! She must have picked it off of some hyssop tree or something & she was there washing the dishes with this little branch!

27. Oh, I didn't finish telling you about the house! They then showed us our bedroom, he said it wasn't finished yet, he was still working on it. Well, that's the last we ever saw of it because later on he had a little problem, we heard that he was gambling away the money that was given him to finish the house, he was gambling it away downtown in dominoes or something in the public park! And besides, his daughter, our maid, had to go back to school so she couldn't work for us any more, & we sort of parted company‚ we didn't get to see them much any more.

28. His wife came to see us with her one time much later & they were sort of apologising for the fact that they had sort of been neglecting us & hadn't come to visit us any more. And it was a shame that he was spending the money instead of finishing the house. So we never got that bedroom, sad to say. But anyhow, maybe there's a half-finished bedroom, or maybe its a finished bedroom by this time, that we have in Tenerife that I bought & paid for!—Maybe! But I'm not as sure of that one as I am the one I have in Heaven, thank the Lord!

PURGED & MADE WHITER THAN SNOW!

29. "Purge me with hyssop & I shall be clean"—it's something you clean things with—"wash me & I shall be whiter than snow!" Now what did he mean by that? I never heard of any kind of plant that could wash away your sins! (David: He's using it as an example.)—As an example or an illustration of the Lord's cleansing‚ like by His Holy Spirit, by His Power, He can cleanse us even from inside sins, spiritual sins, bad habits & things we shouldn't do, like lying. I don't think you children are guilty of these things very often, but for whenever you are, it's good to know that the Lord can clean you & make you all nice & washed up so you will be whiter than snow! Isn't that wonderful? PTL!

30. Now here's the result of being purged & made whiter than snow: "Make me to hear joy & gladness, that the bones which Thou hast broken may rejoice!" If you get all cleaned up by the Lord, what do you do? (David: Rejoice!) You rejoice & you're happy & have gladness! He says, "That the bones which Thou hast broken may rejoice." When he was bad & wicked, what did God do to him?—He spanked him, He punished him, & maybe even broke some bones! We never heard much about David's broken bones, but he could have gotten some bones broken, which is a chastisement‚ a punishment for his sins.

31. Remember how the shepherd would break the little lamb's leg if it kept running away? Then he had to carry it all the time & take good care of it for a long time, & after that the little lamb never left his side, all because of a broken bone! While the leg was healing up, the shepherd would carry him around, & that taught the little lamb that the shepherd loved him‚ & it taught the little lamb to love the shepherd, & it taught the little lamb not to go astray any more, it taught the little lamb to stay right close to the shepherd all the time! I must have done something wrong to get some of my bones broken, because it sure taught me to stay closer to the Lord!

32. So when the Lord punishes you or He chastises you or He spanks you for doing something naughty‚ what does it do? (David: It makes you better!)—Right‚ it makes you better, & it makes even your bones to rejoice‚ even though they were broken! Better to have a broken bone that rejoices than a good bone that does evil!

33. "Hide Thy face from my sins, & blot out all mine iniquities!" He's asking the Lord to forgive him for all of his sins & get rid of them! He doesn't want the Lord to hide His face from him‚ but to hide His face from his sins. He wants the Lord to get rid of his sins & blot them out so He won't remember them against him any more!

34. "And create in me a clean heart, O God, & renew a right spirit within me!" You know that verse by heart, don't you? Can you say it? (Children: "Create in me a clean heart, O God, & renew a right spirit within me!")—Very good! That's a good place to stop right there & pray. We'll save the rest for next time.

35. (Techi: TYJ! TYL! Amen, Lord Jesus, please give us a good day & thank You for Your Word, Lord! Thank You for this Psalm, Lord, that not only David in the Bible can pray, but we all can pray too!) Amen, as we pray together the prayer the Lord Himself taught us to pray: (Prays the Lord's Prayer) If you pray that prayer you won't have many sins, amen?—At least you'll avoid most of them! PTL!

36. Well, that was short & sweet!—We learned a few things though! (Maria: That was beautiful!)

Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family

Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family