Psalm 32:5 is one of the truly great Verses of the Old Testament. It records the words of King David (later in the New Testament called “a man after God’s Own Heart”) as he “gets right” with God, apparently after the Bathsheba affair had occurred!

“I said, I will CONFESS my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou FORGAVEST the iniquity of my sin.” Again, this is Psalm 32:5.

Mind you, these are not the words of a lost man being converted. Not those of a sinner being “saved,” as we’d say toady.

No, this is the “confession” of a Believer in Jesus … coming back Home to His Lord, renewing “fellowship” with Almighty God!

(Yes indeed, unconfessed sin breaks fellowship/communion with the Lord! Psalm 66:18 provides one “Proof Verse” for this Fact.)

The verb translated “will confess” in today’s Text is “yadah” in Hebrew. It literally means “to throw, to shoot, to cast” something! The idea obviously is … “to throw” those sins into the Presence of the Lord! “To cast” them before His Throne of Grace! (If we can cast all our “worries and frustrations and cares” on the Lord, as 1 Peter 5:7 teaches us, so can we “cast” or “confess” our sins, with equal success!)

Tell the Lord, boldly yet reverently, what you’ve done wrong, all you’ve done wrong!

He will take care of the rest … look back to the Verse .,.. He will “forgive!” This verb is spelled “nasa” in its simplest form, meaning “to lift” a heavy load and dispense of it, carry it away!

How far away?

Psalm 103:12 … “As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.”

Micah 7:19 … “He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.”

Wow!

Here is the glorious Counterpart to Psalm 32:5 in the New Testament … “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1st John 1:9, also written to Christians, not lost men and women!

So … there is no need for any one of us to go around carrying a load of unconfessed sins, not with such great Promises in the Bible!

Sadly, David did not confess his sins (adultery with Bathsheba and the subsequent murder of her husband Uriah, etc.) to the Lord for nearly a year after the encounter!

A year of heaviness and sorrow!

But once (and with immediate results) he did confess them … that load of guilt was miraculously lifted.

But did God really forgive the King?

Yes, based upon the Fact that David wrote many a Psalm after his mistake, after his lascivious sins were committed.

Hallelujah!

I am not trying to give anyone an excuse for sinning. But I am trying to give some Christian hope for those blots and scars and sins with which the devil is trying to “torment” you.

“Tell them to Jesus,” dear friend.

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

.

“Arguments” in prayer?

In prayer to the Lord God Almighty?

Sounds strange, doesn’t it, maybe even paradoxical?

But Biblically such a concept (presenting God your arguments, your reasons, your needs) is apparently allowed! Maybe even encouraged!

Or at least one of the most godly men who ever lived (the Old Testament hero Job) prayed this way, using “arguments” before the Lord!

Specifically … “Oh that I knew where I might find Him (God)! that I might come even to His Seat (Throne)! I would order my cause before Him, and fill my mouth with ARGUMENTS. I would know the words which he would answer me, and understand what he would say unto me.” Job 23:3-5

And by the way, God did answer Job’s prayers!

Job’s “arguments” prevailed with our Creator and Redeemer!

I just noticed (by researching the matter) that Charles H. Spurgeon preached (July 15, 1866) a sermon he entitled “Order and Argument in Prayer!”

His Text?

Job 23:3-5 … which I just shared with you!

That Sermon is still available free of charge online.

My point today: Learn to tell God WHY you need a certain prayer answered! I mean give Him the reasons! Gently, reverently, present your ARGUMENTS before Him!

Do remember, this is the great God Who invites us … “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD.” Isaiah 1:18 (One translation of the verb “reason” here, in the King James Version of the Bible, is “argue,” absolutely amazing! (This rare occurrence is found in Job 6:25!)

I trust I am making my point today. This could potentially change someone’s prayer life!

Now to the Verse that got me “started” on this train of thought!

Psalm 31:3 … “For thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy name’s sake lead me, and guide me.”

David is humbly giving God an “argument” to answer a prayer of his!

Watch …

“Lord, I have made Thee my Rock and my Fortress.” This is an “argument,” a strong reason … to get one’s prayers heard and answered!

Now David presents his Plea, after his argument! His Need presented before the Lord! “Lead me and Guide me” O Lord! That’s what he asked of God, as King David would have needed that for sure.

Now, you tell me.

Did God answer that prayer for David? 

Did God respond to David’s argument?

His is “Psalm 23” David, don’t forget!

“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: HE LEADETH ME beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: HE LEADETH ME in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.” Psalm 23:1-3

Wow!

Argument and Answer!

“I have made Thee my Rock and Fortress! Wilt Thou therefore lead me and guide me?”

Truthfully … the Bible is full of such instances!

All I can say now … TRY IT!

See if God says in your heart … “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.” Jeremiah 33:2

Or this … “Come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:16

Let me quit writing.

In fact, let’s all now invest some serious time in prayer! (Oh, you might have to take a few minutes and prepare your “arguments” first!)

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

.

The unusual adjective I just employed is derived from the Latin language. It means “not” (the “in” prefix) “able to be violated, assaulted” (the verb “violare”) … thus; “absolute, unalterable, unbreakable, impregnable,” among others.

The word then developed through history to also mean: “sacred, sacrosanct, hallowed,” even “spiritual!”

By now you’re probably wondering, “Preacher Bagwell, what is this Promise?”

It is written in Psalm 30:5 … “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.”

Wow!

Dis you get this?

“WEEPING may endure for a night, but JOY cometh in the morning.”

Now granted, this Truth only applies to those who are saved by God’s Grace, born again into God’s Family.

Sinners, rebels against God and His Son and His Word … have no “joy” in their eternal future … but eternal damnation, punishment. “Weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth,” to quote Jesus Himself!

But for the child of God … “joy in the morning,” that’s our everlasting prospect! That’s a Bible Promise, thus inviolable!

Notice this Pledge from God does not say we will never suffer or face difficulty … but that such unpleasantries are not permanent!

Morning is coming, God’s Great Tomorrow!

Dear Christian friend, are you going through one of those “hard times” today, right now in your life?

If so, I have good news … it won’t last indefinitely!

It is temporary!

To every Blood-washed man and woman … “joy cometh!”

Joy in the Morning for you!

Remember, “Some Golden Daybreak Jesus Will Come,” as the old song still proclaims!

Paul put it this way, read it and shout Glory! “For our light affliction, which is BUT FOR A MOMENT, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” 2 Corinthians 4:17

“Joy unspeakable!” (1 Peter 1:8)

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

I just though this would be a good reminder during these days of sinful chaos in which we live.

.

David prays in Psalm 28:1 … “O LORD my rock; be not silent to me.”

David lived the kind of life where (normally) he just HAD TO HAVE the Lord close by his side. He absolutely needed to hear God’s Voice! (Today we would say he lived “in communion” with the Lord.)

“Lord, be not silent to me!”

King Saul, in the last few months of his (rebellious) life, also wanted to hear God speak. “And when Saul enquired of the LORD, the LORD answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets.” 1 Samuel 28:6, not a word! Even with Saul begging!

King Herod as well, wanted so badly to hear a word from Jesus. “And when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceeding glad: for he was desirous to see Him of a long season, because he had heard many things of Him; and he hoped to have seen some miracle done by Him. Then he questioned with Jesus in many words; but Jesus answered him nothing.” Quoting Luke 23:8-9, quite amazing!

But not David … “O Lord, be not silent to me.”

Yet I fear many today (even professing Christians, I mean) live day after day (or longer) … not even concerned about hearing from the Lord!

Let me get personal … do YOU hear from Him regularly?

How, you might ask?

God speaks today through His Word, for sure!

Through the Guidance of His Holy Spirit too!

He can even use the circumstances of life He orchestrates and sends your way!

But honestly, that sweet line of communication can be broken!

Via unconfessed sin in one’s heart.

Via bitterness or revenge too!

Via some deed that quenches or grieves the Holy Spirit.

Oh, I urge you to live the kind of life that is “open” to hearing God’s Voice!

1 John chapter 1 begins with this glorious possibility. Stating clearly that we Believers can have “fellowship” with God the Father and with God the Son (hearing is certainly involved in this blessed situation) and then sweet relationship one with another as well!

1 John 1:3 … “That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.”

Under these conditions, I promise you, GOD WILL NOT BE SILENT!

May we be more like young Samuel. “Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie down: and it shall be, if He call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, LORD; for thy servant heareth.” 1 Samuel 3:9

“Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth!”

Wow!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

.

Seventeen times the Old Testament mentions words like “backsliding, backslide, and backslider!”

Using different Hebrew words, the English meaning is consistent, people who “turn away” from the Lord.

These people knew the Truth, then rejected and disdained the very Truth they once espoused!

Jeremiah, more than any other Old Testament Prophet, used this word picture, backsliding … “stubborn repudiation of the Truth that was once held so dear, that once was pledged to be obeyed!”

Typical is Jeremiah 8:5 … “Why then is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual backsliding? they hold fast deceit, they refuse to return.”

BUT A LITTLE WHILE AGO, AS I READ GOD’S WORD, PSALM 26 TO BE EXACT, I FOUND THESE WORDS … “I have trusted also in the LORD; therefore I shall NOT slide.” Psalm 26:1, a Psalm of David!

A cure for (back)sliding, drifting away from the Lord?

TRUST, in megadoses, in ever growing quantities … produces a life that will not “slide” away from the Lord!

That noun for “trust,” spelled “batach” in Hebrew, means “trust” in this sense; to believe and rely upon and accept as truth everything God says, even to the point of “no worry.” Trusting … without a trace of a doubt as to the outcome of a matter! Once “batach” is translated “to be careless,” care free, not a bit apprehensive. God will keep His Word!

That kind of TRUST … according to our Text … precludes any kind of “sliding” away from the Lord!

I love preventative Verses like this!

Again … “I have trusted also in the LORD; THEREFORE I shall not slide.”

Reminds me of Psalm 15, it last verse … “He that doeth these things shall never be moved.”

In sum, the closer we live to Jesus … the less the chance, the likelihood … that we will turn away!

Wow!

Yes, Jesus can keep us from sliding, and more!

Actually to this point … “Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy” …

Lord, we claim this for ourselves.

“Increase our faith,” we ask in Jesus’ Name. And that short prayer, when answered, leads to a skid-proof life, “never sliding!”

Amen.

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

.