The Process To Praise by Brother Duke Hansen

         This morning, we are going to be reading from two different scriptures. They have a connection to one another when you read and think on it. Every psalm David wrote came from a life experience. It could be a praise, a lament, a plea. These psalms came from triumphs, tragedies, victories, and failure. We are going to read Psalm 51 and begin with verse 1. In a few verses, you are probably recognize the words because this psalm is pretty familiar.

        Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: accroding unto thy multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.

        2 Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.

        3 For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.

        4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.

        5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in my sin did my mother conceive me.

        6 Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.

        7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: was me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

        8 Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.

        9 Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.

       10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

        11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.

        12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.

        13 Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.

        14 Deliver me from blood guiltness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.

        15 O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.

        16 For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.

        17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

        Now, this psalm written was David's song after the prophet Nathan had come to him for his infidelity with Bathsheba. Turn to 2 Samuel chapter 12 for more information regarding this moment. We will start reading with verse 1.

        And the Lord sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him. There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor.

        2 The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds:

        3 But the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter.

        4 And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him; but took the poor man's lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him.

        5 And David's anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the Lord liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die;

        6 And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.

        7 And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel. I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul;

        In this moment, David had become puffed up with sin. He was not impervious from falling into sin. Nathan's parable of the ewe lamb had opened up David's eyes to what he had done. If you go back to chapter 11, David had taken Bathsheba and put her husband Uriah on the front lines of battle against Ammon.

        David's righteous judgement before Nathan's reveal was against himself. Nathan tells David all he had, the country, the throne, the riches, everything had been given to David. Let's look at verse 8.

        8 And I give thee thy master's house, adnthy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things.

        Things. Everyone is chasing money in life over things. Life's primary motivator is the pursuit of things. People get on this path and sometimes lose sight the purpose of these scripture. There's a difference from feeling God on the out of you and the indwelling of his holy spirit.

        If you are fortunate to have God point at your sin. There's a process to correct it. When you whine, cry, and fight, that's your flesh taking over.

        Going back to the scripture; David was taken with iniquity and Nathan points this out in verse 9.

        9 Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.

       10 Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife.

        11 Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbor, and he shall lie eith thy wives in the sight of this sun.

        12 For thou didst it secretly; but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.

        13 And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said unto David, The Lord also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.

        14 Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die.

        David had sinned against Nathan, Uriah, and Bathsheba. David was correct in accepting this and inadvertently made a decree of death. God can forgive you of sin, but man or the state doesn't have to forgive you.

        We all may have the holy ghost but we don't walk in the spirit because we are in a vessel of flesh. You will need to learn to accept the word no. You may think your sin is secret, but, sinners can see your secrets. In verse 14, Nathan condemns David's baby to death. That's a hard fact some believers find regarding God's vengeance. Let's go back to the scripture with verse 15.

        15 And Nathan departed unto his house. And the Lord struck the child that Uriah's wife bare unto David, and it was very sick.

        16 David therefore besought God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night upon the earth.

        17 And the elders of his house arose, and went to him, to raise him up from the earth: but he would not, neither did he eat bread with them.

        18 And it came to pass on the seventh day, that the child died. And the servants of David feared tot ell him that the child was dead: for they said, Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spake unto him, and he would not hearken unto our voice: how will he then vex himself, if we tell him that the child is dead?

        19 But when David saw that his servants whispered, David perceived that the child was dead: therefore David said unto his servants, Is the child dead? And they said, He is dead.

        20 Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his apparel, and came into the house of the Lord, and worshipped: then he came to his own house; and when he required, they set bread before him, and he did eat.

        In this time of distress, in the realization of his iniquity, David had fasted and prayed for his newborn son. He did so for 7 days. After he hears from his servants that the baby has passed, David rose up, cleaned himself, changed his clothes, and went to the house of the Lord to worship. He worshipped in his pain and in his loss. Then he went home and ate. This is the opposite of what the Jewish people did as we see in verse 21.

        21 Then said his servants unto him, What thing is this that thou hast done? thou didst fast and weep for the child, while it was alive; but when the child was dead, thou didst rise and eat bread.

        22 And he said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept: for I said, Who can tell whether God will be gracious to me, that the child may live?

        23 But now he his dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.

        24 And David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and went in unto her, and lay with her: and she bare a son, and he called his name Solomon: and the Lord loved him.

        Let's look back at Psalm 51 that began this message. This psalm is not a lament from David. It was a psalm of praise.

        What does pain do? First thing, David learned the process. He pled for mercy from God. Once God has given judgement, it's pointless to continue in self pity and sorrow. We need to pick ourself up, clean up, and pray. One cannot walk in the flesh and be spirit filled.

        We need to learn how to allow. Allow is a harsh word for many believers. The bible is for instruction and more important correction. You cannot not make yourself angry. We are the first person to stir our own pot. As God said, "Do it food you be mad," to Jonah. You cannot come from a point of selfish in your anger.

        Pain burns out iniquity. Some things we are causing. We have to put others first and avoid selfishness. Trials and tribulations change who we are if we do the process right. God is the killer of flesh. Some things face are generational problems that you need to face.

        Going to the house of God in worship while in pain is the next step. Who is going to be honest before God? If you don't cry out in worship, no one can do it for you. The rocks would cry out in your place. God is worthy of all praise and worship.

        We have allowed so much sin, iniquity, and transgressions, we are blinded to helping others out who may be crying out in help. Every psalm was a response to what was done either good or bad. We need to look for joy, forgiveness, compassion, and strength every day as our focus. He and he alone has salvation and forgiveness towards us. His judgement is mingled with mercy like the blood and water from Jesus' pierced side.

        As you grow in God, you will be more level headed. What is heavy in your life will level out.