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Read Psalm 49:14-20 "Do not be afraid when one becomes rich, when the glory of his house is increased; for when he dies he shall carry nothing away" (vv. 16,17). Wealth is temporary. We can't take it with us, so we must use it for the glory of God while we have it. God gives us riches because of His goodness. First Timothy 6:17 says He gives to us "richly all things to enjoy." But we are stewards of wealth, not owners. That comes as a shock to some people. A person may think

Read Psalm 50:1-6 The psalmist is describing God's arrival at the court He is convening. "From the rising of the sun [the east] to its going down [the west]" (v. 1), God calls everyone together and says, "I am going to have a judgment." We don't usually think of God as the Judge, but He is. "He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that He may judge His people" (v. 4). Why does God judge His people? Shouldn't the wicked be judged instead? Peter tells us that

Read Psalm 50:7-15 "Offer to God thanksgiving, and pay your vows to the Most High. Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me" (vv. 14,15). The people had come to God's court and said, "You can't judge us. We have been offering You sacrifices." And God replied, "I will not rebuke you for your sacrifices or your burnt offerings, which are continually before Me. I will not take a bull from your house, nor goats out of your folds" (vv. 8,9).

Read Psalm 50:16-23 "Whoever offers praise glorifies Me" (v. 23). Today we don't sacrifice bulls and goats and lambs. We don't have a literal altar to which we bring literal sacrifices. The sacrifices God wants from us come from our hearts. Even when we bring money--which is a literal and real sacrifice--it must be given from a heart of love, sincerity and faith. Our purpose for living is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. The more you glorify God, the more you delight in

Read Psalm 50:1-23 This psalm describes God's courtroom and the judgment of His people, who made a covenant with Him by sacrifice. There are three stages to this trial. First, God convenes the court (vv. 1-6). God calls the earth and then comes. He comes shining and will not keep silent (v. 3; Heb. 12:29 ). He calls heaven and earth to witness (vv. 5,6). Second, God presents the charges (vv. 7-21). He starts with those who bring sacrifices to Him. He doesn't rebuke their sacr

Psalm 51:1-19 All of us struggle with sin. Human nature pulls us down as gravity does, yet God has made us and saved us to lift us up ( I John 1:5-2:6 ). There are three ways we may deal with our sins. Cover them. We cover our sins with our words. This is lying--deceiving others and ourselves and lying to God. Lies are darkness, whereas God's truth is light. When we lie, our character erodes ( Prov. 28:13 ). When we cover sin, we lose God's light, fellowship and character. C

Read Psalm 51:1,2 The most priceless thing in the universe is the human soul. We see its value at Calvary, because the most costly thing in the world--our sin--required the payment of Jesus' blood to redeem us. We also see sin's toll on our lives. Before David sinned he was a friend of God, straight, meeting His goals. After he sinned he was a crooked rebel, missing the mark. Psalms 32 and 51 relate the spiritual change that took place when David confessed his sin of adultery

Read Psalm 51:3-6 Sin is much more than a word in the dictionary. It is a powerful evil that damages our lives and our world. David describes a guilty conscience: "For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me" (v. 3). Conscience is a marvelous gift from God, the window that lets in the light of His truth. If we sin against Him deliberately, that window becomes dirty, and not as much truth can filter through. Eventually, the window becomes so dirty that it

Read Psalm 51:7-9 When we sin, it does terrible damage to our spiritual life. David's sin affected his eyes, but it also affected his ears. "Make me hear joy and gladness" (v. 8). Keep in mind that David was not only a soldier but also a singer. He would come back from the battlefield, put down his sword and pick up his harp. He played it and sang praises to God. He listened to the choirs in God's house as they sang praises to Him. David's ears were open to the music of heave

Read Psalm 51:10 This verse was David's prayer as he confessed his sins to the Lord. Sin defiles the heart. You may say, "Well, no one can see that. David didn't look any different after he sinned." But when your heart is defiled, everything is defiled. Solomon wrote, "Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life" ( Prov. 4:23 ). Suppose you turn on a faucet at home, and out comes dirty water. You go to the hardware store, buy a brand-new faucet

Read Psalm 51:11 Many sad consequences occur when a believer sins, but the worst is the loss of close fellowship with the Lord. No wonder David prayed, "Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me" (v. 11). David was remembering what had happened to his predecessor, King Saul. Saul turned against the Lord and became rebellious. So God took His Spirit from him and gave the power of His Spirit to David. God does not remove His Holy Spirit fr

Read Psalm 51:12 David did not lose his salvation when he sinned, but he did lose the joy of his salvation. It's interesting to see how much David said about joy in the Psalms. Joy is essential in the Christian life. It is the evidence that we are truly born again. Jesus said, "Do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven" ( Luke 10:20 ). Whatever your circumstances today, you can rejoice in the salva

Read Psalm 51:13-15 The sins we commit not only affect us, but they affect others-- even the unsaved. David discovered this when he tried to witness for the Lord. No wonder he wrote, "Deliver me from blood-guiltiness, O God, the God of my salvation, and my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness" (v. 14). His hands were bloody. Why? He had killed Uriah, the husband of the woman with whom he had committed adultery. God saw him do it, and Joab, the general of David's army

Read Psalm 51:18,19 We can live to please ourselves. We can live to please others. But above all we should live to please the Lord. David closes his prayer of confession, "Then You shall be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness" (v. 19). Everything we do should please the Lord. A. W. Tozer used to say, "God is not hard to get along with." And this is true. One day David said, "Let [me] fall into the hand of the Lord, for His mercies are great, but do not let me fall in

Read Psalm 51:4,6,10,11 What does it mean to confess sin? It does not mean to admit our sins, for we can hide nothing from God. The word confess means "to say the same thing." We are to see sin as God sees it. This is repentance, not penance. Jesus' blood is the only thing that can pay the cost of sin. True repentance involves the mind, the emotions and the will. David had to change his mind about his affair with Bathsheba, with Nathan's help (v. 4). The prophet confronted Da

Read Psalm 51:18-19 One element of spiritual maturity is realizing the horror of sin. It brings great tragedy. Bishop William Culbertson used to speak of the tragic consequences of forgiven sin. For example, David was forgiven, but his baby died, and Absalom and Amnon were slain. God will forgive our sins. In His grace He forgives; in His government we face the consequences. God requires that we reap what we sow. Temptation is not sin, but it is a sin to cultivate temptation

Read Psalm 52:1-9 Ahimelech was a priest who assisted David. Because of that, he was considered a traitor, and Saul ordered Ahimelech and his family killed. When David heard about it, he was saddened and wrote this psalm. Psalm 52 gives a threefold description that puts man's evil into perspective. First, David describes the treacherous man (vv. 1-4). Doeg was a descendant of Esau, who represents the worldly person ( Heb. 12:16 ). Esau's descendants were enemies of the Jews.

Read Psalm 52:1-4 The tongue is one of the smallest parts of the body, yet it can do the most damage. In these verses David writes about an experience he had with Doeg, who had a wicked, boastful tongue. David cautions us about two kinds of damaging tongues. First, beware of a boastful tongue. Doeg was a proud man. In his boastful pride, he told Saul about David, and it cost people's lives. We like to boast because it inflates our ego. But those who boast should boast in the

Read Psalm 52:5-7 One of the problems with humanistic philosophy is that it causes people to think they are self-sufficient. They think they don't need any outside help, that in and of themselves they have all they need for life and for death. David describes this kind of person: "Here is the man who did not make God his strength, but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness" (v. 7). That's a description of the self-sufficient person

Read Psalm 52:8-9 If you compared yourself to something in nature, what would you choose? Would you say you are like a mountain, or a hill or perhaps a lake? David wrote, "But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God; I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever" (v. 8). David compared himself to something permanent, in contrast to the wicked, who will be uprooted from the land of the living (v. 5). David's permanent position was also a privileged position because he

Read Psalm 53:1-6 "The fool has said in his heart, 'There is no God"' (v. 1). He doesn't say this outwardly with his lips. He simply says it in his heart. This is a description of practical atheism. Most people would not say, "I don't believe God exists." But most people live as though He doesn't exist. David reminds us that what we believe about God in our hearts determines how we live. Most of the people in this world do not know God. Perhaps that's the fault of Christians.

Read Psalm 53:1-6 This psalm describes the atheist and gives eight reasons why he is a fool. First, he does not acknowledge God (v. 1). He lives as if there is no God. He does not obey God (v. 1). Some people think that human nature is basically kind and good. Not so. We are abominably corrupt by nature ( Rom. 3:9 ). He does not understand God (v. 2). If you don't have the Spirit of God, you can't understand the things of God. Atheists say they won't accept anything they can'

Read Psalm 54:1-7 "Behold, God is my helper; the Lord is with those who uphold my life" (v. 4). David wrote those words when he was hiding from King Saul. We can translate this verse, "The Lord is the mainstay of my life." Is God the mainstay, the main support, of your life today? David went through several stages waiting for God to help him. He began with prayer. "Save me, O God, by Your name, and vindicate me by Your strength. Hear my prayer, O God; give ear to the words of

Read Psalm 55:1-23 David wrote this psalm during the early stages of Absalom's conspiracy. He tells us that in times of trial we can take one of three approaches. One is that we can flee (vv. 1-8). David talks about his emotions. He was in a difficult situation and wanted to fly away. But these troubles were part of God's discipline for him. Second, we can fight (vv. 9-15). Absalom's conspiracy had gone so far that David could not overcome his enemies. He could only try to sa