—Psalms for Kids!8/86DO 2376

1. (Techi: Thank You Lord for this time to read Your Word! Please help us to understand it & please bless Grandpa for explaining it to us, Lord, & thank You so much for Your Word! Please bless it in Jesus' name!)

2. Amen, what Psalm are we studying? (Children: Psalm 51!) And what is that Psalm famous for? (Techi: Forgiveness Psalm!) (David: Confession & Forgiveness.)—David's Confession & Prayer for Forgiveness! He was asking to be cleansed from his sin. And probably the most famous verses are the first two. We studied all that, & I think we got to the one about hyssop, verse 7. (David: We finished hyssop.) All right, so now we're on verse 8. I don't think we studied this, but I'll read it & you can see. Amen, Lord, bless the reading of Thy Word & make it a blessing, in Jesus' name.

3. "Make me to hear joy & gladness; that the bones which Thou hast broken may rejoice." Did we read that? If I did, I would have talked about how the shepherd sometimes breaks the little lamb's leg who is naughty & strays away. Then the shepherd has to carry the lamb in his arms a long time till the leg heals, & then the little lamb always stays close to him & never strays away any more. Maybe that's why I got my arm broken, I'd been a naughty boy & strayed away, but I stayed close to the Lord from then on.

4. "Hide Thy face from my sins, & blot out all mine iniquities." That's pretty plain, isn't it? He doesn't want the Lord to look at his sins any more, he wants them blotted out. But we don't just blame this whole Psalm on David, we take it to heart for ourselves! David's long gone & that's all done & he's safe in Heaven now, but we need to follow some of these things ourselves & pray the same prayer!

5. "Create in me a clean heart, O God, & renew a right spirit within me!" That's a very famous verse out of this Psalm. "Create within me a clean heart‚" what does that mean? (Techi: A clean heart, like no more sin.) In other words, he had a dirty heart before & he wants the Lord to give him a new heart! That's what the Lord does when we're born again, we start all over again! And he wants to just start all over again. "Renew a right spirit within me"—he doesn't want to have a bad spirit but a right spirit!

6. "Cast me not away from Thy presence; & take not Thy Holy Spirit from me." Does "cast me not away from Thy presence" mean that he might be lost & unsaved?—No! There are all kinds of degrees of status, there are all kinds of different levels of relationship with the Lord. Some people are right close to the Lord in good relationships & others are following afar off. And he doesn't want to be cast away from the Lord's presence‚ he wants to stay close to the Lord!

7. "And take not Thy Holy Spirit from me!" Once you have the Holy Spirit, can the Holy Spirit be taken from you? Your Salvation can't be taken from you‚ right? And of course with Salvation there comes a measure of the Spirit. But is it possible that once you've had the gift of the Holy Spirit & the anointing of the Holy Spirit, that if you're wicked & sin & do things that are wrong & keep going that way, that the Lord might take it away? Well, apparently David was worried about that.

8. But we have a Scripture that shows that even the Holy Spirit in God's mercy will never be taken away! "The gifts & calling of God are without repentance!"—Rom.11:29. According to the Word of the Lord He will not go back on the gifts that He has given you. If He did He'd be what we used to call an "Indian giver"! That's the name we used to call people when they gave us something, but then later decided they wanted it back again! If He gave you something & then came back & took it back again, that is not a gift if He still owns it and can still take it back. Of course there are some things He gives us sometimes and we don't treat them right and don't use them right and we're not good stewards, so He might take them away from us. But the gift of the Holy Spirit, He says, "the gifts & callings of God are without repentance"!

9. I've known people who strayed far away from the Lord, but still had the Holy Spirit & would still speak in tongues & pray in tongues‚ still had gifts, & the Lord let them continue to have those gifts. "The gifts & calling of God are without repentance." On the other hand, the Lord has removed the power of the Spirit from some people. What happened to King Saul? (David: He lost the anointing.)—Yes.—1Sam. 16:14. In those days not everybody had the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was only given to Kings & Prophets & a few special people. But now He's "poured out His Spirit on all flesh" (Joel 2:28) & anyone can have the Holy Spirit if they're saved! And now "the gifts & calling of God are without repentance."

10. But in those days the anointing of the Holy Spirit was something very special, just for Kings & Prophets‚ etc., so the Lord could take it back again! It was just something very special & rare. Saul kept sinning against the Lord & finally he didn't even know the Spirit was gone from him. He wist not that the Holy Spirit was gone. (Techi: What does "wist" mean?) He didn't know. He didn't know that the Spirit was gone. (Techi: But then he found out?) Well, he certainly must have guessed it because he got in so much trouble! (1Sam.16:14; 18:12)

11. (Maria: On the other hand, Grandpa, even today you can still have the Holy Spirit & the gifts‚ but the power & the anointing leave most Christians if they're not walking close to the Lord, too.)—Right, they're not as useful, they don't have the same power of the Lord in witnessing & soul-winning. In fact, most backsliders just stop witnessing & winning souls, etc.! Once in awhile they're almost driven to it because they know the Truth and they know the Lord.

12. I've heard a fellow say that even when he was backslidden & drinking & drunk in bars, some guy would talk to him & tell him all his troubles, etc.‚ & he'd actually witness to him about the Lord & tell him Jesus is what he needed & lead him to the Lord!—Even though he was a drunken backslider! (Maria: So in spite of himself the Holy Spirit punched through, because he was the only person who was available to help!)—That's right! The Lord can still get through to one of His children even though they're stray sheep caught out in the brambles in the desert & the mountain far away, He's still in communication. (David: Because they were before.) They still are‚ they just strayed away.

13. So he says, "Restore unto me the joy of Thy Salvation; & uphold me with Thy free Spirit." He doesn't say "restore to me Thy Salvation," he's always saved, he knows that, but he's lost the joy of it because he knows he's been naughty & strayed away. The little sheep caught up on the mountain in the thorn bush is still the shepherd's sheep, isn't he? The shepherd rescued him, but he sure had lost the joy! He was going, "Baaaa! Baaaa! Baaaa!" It doesn't sound like he's very happy! He's crying for help!

14. "And uphold me with Thy free Spirit." You would be lots happier with the Spirit if it's used in the right way, because you're obeying & following the Lord & doing His Will. Because if you disobey & are doing wrong, even though you're saved & a child of God, if you're straying away, then what does it say in the Bible? It says it grieves the Spirit, makes the Holy Spirit sad!—Eph.4:30. She grieves for you like a mother grieves over a wayward child. "Uphold me with Thy free Spirit." You don't feel very free when you're backsliding, you feel pretty bound. But the Spirit can make you free & can uphold you‚ if you just give Her a chance!

15. "Then will I teach transgressors Thy ways; & sinners shall be converted unto Thee." If you repent of your sins & get back in proper relationship with the Lord & obey Him & have all these things, the joy of Salvation & upholding of His free Spirit & you're doing the right things, what will you do? (Techi: Teach others!)—Right, you'll witness & win souls! (Maria: Then you'll have the fulness of the Holy Spirit!) Then you'll have the anointing, you'll have the power to win souls! Because that's the main reason we have the power of the Holy Spirit‚ is to witness & win souls. Why did the Lord tell His disciples to "tarry ye in Jerusalem until ye be endued with power from On High"? For what reason?—"That ye may be witnesses unto Me, both in Jerusalem, & in all Judea, & Samaria‚ & unto the uttermost parts of the Earth!" PTL!—Luk.24:49; Acts 1:8.

16. "Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, Thou God of my Salvation: & my tongue shall sing aloud of Thy righteousness." Was David guilty of shedding blood wrongly? To fight the battle of the Lord & to slay the wicked that are trying to slay you, that's a little different story. He had fought many battles for the Lord to protect God's people & preserve his kingdom. But had he shed any innocent blood & wrongly? Yes, he had.—Whose? (Children: Uriah's!)—Uriah's, Bathsheba's husband. David sent him deliberately up to the forefront of the battle under the wall, which was against the rules that David had made himself. He told the General, "Send him right up in front of the wall!"—Why? (Techi: Who would usually go there?) You're not supposed to go there, it's too dangerous, you'd get killed. Why did David send Uriah up there? (Techi: Because he wanted him to get killed so he could have Bathsheba.)—Yes, he was jealous of her husband & he wanted him to get killed. (See 2Sam.11)

17. That was a terrible thing to do, that because he wanted Bathsheba all to himself he killed her husband! I'm sure if he'd asked the Lord for Bathsheba, I believe even if he'd asked Uriah for Bathsheba, that Uriah would have given him Bathsheba because he loved the king. I believe the Lord would have allowed it. He allows lots of unusual things like that. The laws were pretty strict‚ but nevertheless I believe the Lord would have allowed him to have Bathsheba if he'd gone about it the right way, & everything would have been all right. But he went about it underhanded, in the wrong way. (Maria: It shows how even Christians can be pretty bad & very very jealous & even commit murder & all kinds of things if they don't stay close to the Lord!) Amen!

18. He says, "O God, Thou God of my Salvation." He's reminding the Lord that he's saved, ha! "Take it easy‚ Lord‚ I'm saved!" "And my tongue shall sing aloud of Thy righteousness." If the Lord would forgive all these big sins of David, what did he say he'd do? (Techi: Sing aloud!) He'll sing of the Lord's righteousness!—In other words, if the Lord is really righteous, really good, really loving & merciful & manages to forgive David of all those sins. And it has always been a great example in the Bible to everybody who's ever been a sinner, that if God could forgive David, He could certainly forgive me, because David committed just about every sin in the book & the Lord still forgave him!

19. Why did the Lord forgive David? (Techi: Because He loved him.)—Yes‚ He loved him, but David had to do something. (Children: He was sorry.) He had to be sorry, exactly, he repented! You've got to do both. What's the difference between that & being sorry like Saul was? He was always sorry! What's the difference between being sorry & repenting? (Techi: When you repent you're really sorry!)—Right! The Latin word "repent" means turn around. Like the Greek word "metanoia‚" a complete change of mind. Repenting is turning around, you turn around & go the other direction!

20. King Saul was always being sorry, & he always planned to repent. See, even planning to repent is not enough. Saul said he was sorry, but then he'd go right back & do it over again! He never really turned around & went the other way, never really repented, never stopped doing it. So finally he lost the kingdom & his family & the throne, everything, to King David! But just think, he never got forgiven, because he never repented, he was never sorry. Although he knew & believed in the Lord & he might have been saved‚ he had to suffer for his sins. So there's a difference.

21. You can be saved & sin like David & then be sorry & really repent & not do it any more & ask God to forgive you, but also, like some of our backsliders, you can go back on the Lord & do things that are very bad, against the Family & all kinds of things! Now if they were sorry & came back to the Lord like the Prodigal Son, the Lord would forgive them. But because they're not sorry & they keep on in their sins & become a stumblingblock, the Lord is apt to take them out of this World & put an end to their sins, even if they're saved! He's apt to put them out of commission completely or punish them very severely for their sins so that they get to be sorry!—Not only sorry, but what? (David: Repentant!) They have to repent, stop doing it & say they're sorry!

22. How many times did the Lord say that we should forgive somebody who does something against us & then says they're sorry?—70 times 7!—Mat.18:22. And that's a lot of times!—490 times. But what did the Lord really mean by that? He meant no matter how many times your brother does it & comes back & says he's really sorry, you're to forgive him each time. But if he's not repenting & stopping it, I'm not sure the Lord's going to forgive him. He was trying to say we should be very very forgiving. But I think maybe by the 491st time the Lord would be convinced that he wasn't really sorry & wasn't going to repent and stop it! (Techi: Grandpa, that's a little too much, don't you think?—Even 490!) Well, you'll have to talk to the Lord about that, because that's what He said! You can ask Him about that when you get to Heaven!

23. "O Lord, open Thou my lips; & my mouth shall show forth Thy praise!" What was David besides being a king & a warrior? (David: A priest!) He was a priest to the people in a sense. Although they actually had the High Priest, etc., he was in a way. But he was quite a famous... (Maria: Inspirationalist!)—Yes! He was a singer! And he wrote songs, we're reading them right now! This is one of the songs of David! He was a singer & wrote songs. So he said‚ "If You open my lips, Lord, my mouth will show forth Thy praise!"

24. In those days not everybody had the anointing of the Holy Spirit, not everybody had the power of God, just special people like Kings & Priests & Prophets, etc. Nowadays, since then‚ what does the Lord say? "You open your mouth & I will fill it!"—Psa.81:10. He promised it, if you by faith open your mouth.

25. And that's what I do every time I tell a "Heaven's Children" Story! I study for awhile all there is about the Millennium & about Heaven in the Bible, I just fill my heart full of the Word, & then I pray desperately that the Lord will give me something! And then often when I turn on the tape recorder I'll say, "This is such-&-such a date & this is Chapter so–&-so of Heaven's Children, & I still don't know what I'm going to say!" But I figure I've got to start some place, so I just go ahead & start! I give the date & the Chapter number, & I figure once I start to open my mouth‚ then the Lord will fill it!—And He does!

26. And He not only fills my mouth, but in order to fill my mouth He has to fill my mind‚ my brain, & my eyes with visions, & I'm able to see things!—With my eyes wide open in the daytime! That's a vision! That's the difference between a vision & a dream. They're both pictures‚ stories that you see, even with a sound track‚ you hear voices & words & things like that, but with a dream you're asleep. I've had a lot of funny dreams, as Mama knows! Some that I haven't even told the Family because I don't think they're that important. But anyway, PTL!

27. (Tape alarm goes off:) Well, that's the bell, the school bell just rang! We can leave these last four verses for next time! All right David‚ it's your turn to pray! (David: Thank You Jesus for that good Bible Study that we just had! We pray, Jesus, that You'll help it to sink in & help us to remember it all week long, & help us to learn lots from it, Jesus! And we pray for this day, Lord, that we can keep on working for You & that You'll please bless us! And bless Mommy & Grandpa in whatever they're going to do‚ Lord. Keep us all safe & help us to have a good day, in Jesus' name. Amen!) PTL! As we pray His prayer together: (Prays the Lord's Prayer) PTL! TYL! (Maria: That was so good! TYL!) Thank the Lord, He gives it!

Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family