The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple. – Psalm 119:130
This past Sunday, Kristi Button, our Director of Christian Education and her husband Rob who is a Registered Nurse and a musician, “unfolded” the words of verses 1 through 12 of Psalm 51 in a tag-team sermon. Kristi and Rob chose to share personal testimony and two modern paraphrases of the psalm to make the words relevant and relatable.
Psalm 51 was written by David after he was confronted by Nathan about his affair with Bethsheba and misusing his power to cause the death of her husband. Now, David was a King who abused his power, not a situation many people find themselves in. Rob spoke of the first semester of his freshman year of college, of turning 18 and of living away from home. Those situations are more relatable and are filled with that same temptation to try to get away with what we want to do rather than what we know is right in God’s eyes.
Have you ever done something you knew was wrong and then struggled to admit it even to your closest friends and loved ones? Possibly you can relate to this passage from the paraphrase of Psalm 51 in Psalms/Now by Leslie Brandt.
I have failed, O Lord, and my failures weigh heavily upon my heart.
I cannot share them with my brother lest they weigh too heavily upon him
and may even threaten my relationship with him.
Maybe your sin has made you feel like a slug. Here is a passage from the second paraphrase which was written by Sharon Benton.
Ugh. Too often I feel like a slug. Anyone can see the gunky trail I leave on the sidewalk. And if I’m not lucky, a bike tire of self-loathing will crush my thick form in place,
Rob shared about how his situation made him feel defeated, isolated, beaten and alone. Rob knew the solution. David knew the solution. David’s prayer, Psalm 51, is there in the Bible for all who are weighed down by sin, feel like a slug or are feeling beaten and alone. It is an example of how we can repent, ask for forgiveness and return to our relationship with God. God is “Right there Waiting.”