Read Psalms 53:1  This is an interesting verse, but a hard verse.  Name calling is not good.  We should not call people names like stupid or dumb.  But one of the worst names to call someone is to call them a fool.  A fool is not just someone who is not very smart, a fool is someone who will not listen to someone else.  A fool is someone who thinks that they know everything.  But we should listen to other people and learn from them.  God gave us two ears and only one mouth.  Do you know why?  Because we should listen twice as much as we talk!  You never learn anything by talking; you only learn by listening.  Think about that!  But the most foolish thing is to say that there is no God.  Just because we can't see God does not mean that he is not there.  God is a Spirit and we cannot see Him; but He is still very real.  Only a fool says that there is no God.  I don't want to be a fool; do you?  I believe in God; do you?

Read Psalms 51:12  Yesterday we talked about being in trouble.  When we do something wrong we usually get into trouble for it.  But sometimes we do something wrong and we get away with it.  But, we get away with it just for a little while.  If your mother tells you to clean your room and you just hide all of your clothes that are on the floor in the closet, your room looks clean.  But when she opens the closet door... well you are in trouble.  When we disobey, we usually get caught.  But when we disobey God, He sees and knows everything!  We never get away from God.  When we are in trouble we feel bad.  We feel like we are not loved.  But this bad feeling is because of us.  We feel guilty.  God loves us and wants us to obey Him and love Him right back.  When we sin, we do not feel loved, even though God still loves us.  David asked God to give him back his joy.  When we disobey, we do not feel loved even though we are.  After we admit that we are wrong and ask forgiveness, then we can have our joy  back and then we can get a big hug from our mother - and from God!

Read Psalms 51:10  This is a good verse to remember when we have been in trouble.  I get into trouble a lot of the time.  Do you?  Sometimes my trouble is not my fault; but usually it is.  When I was a boy, I used to get into trouble.  My cousin would dare me to do things and I would do them.  But soon, one of the other kids would tell my father what I was doing.  Then I was in trouble!  In our verse, David was in trouble.  He knew he needed 2 things from God:  he needed God to clean his heart and he needed God to give him the right spirit about his trouble.  It is important that we have the right attitude about our trouble.  It is easy for us to blame someone else for our trouble.  But we are the one to blame.  Our trouble is our own fault!  That is the right spirit - don't blame someone else.  But most important of all, we must admit our sins before God and ask His forgiveness.  Then God can give us a clean heart and get us back in to fellowship with Him.  After we admit that we have done wrong, isn't it good to feel forgiven?  Isn't it good to be back where we belong?

Read Psalms 51:7  David felt really bad about his sin.  Sometimes we feel bad about our sin only because we were caught.  David was caught in his sin and Nathan the prophet told him so.  But David was truly sorry for his sin.  In the Old Testament, the Jews had to offer a lamb as the sacrifice for their sins.  The person would bring the lamb to the Temple to the priest.  The person would then lay his hands upon the head of the lamb and then the priest would kill the lamb.  That is a picture of our sins because the lamb did nothing wrong to deserve to die; the lamb died as a sacrifice for the person's sins.  Then the priest would take some of the lamb's blood in a bowl and dip a small branch from the hyssop bush into the blood and sprinkle the blood before the Lord.  That's why in our verse David asked the Lord to purge him with hyssop.  And then David said that when the Lord cleaned away his sin, he would be as clean as snow.  Isn't it great to know that you are forgiven of your sins.  When you are forgiven, you feel clean inside.  That is because God has cleaned your sins away and you are back to getting along with God as your best friend.  Tonight, let's pray and thank the Lord for cleaning our heart and for taking away our sins!

Read Psalms 51:2&3  We found out yesterday that David had sinned and that God had told Nathan the prophet to go to him and let to him know that he was not going to get away with his sin.  When someone, like Nathan the prophet, comes to us and shows us that we have done wrong, we have 2 choices:  We can lie about our sin and try to get out of it, or we can admit that we have sinned and ask forgiveness for our wrong.  If we try to get out of our sin, we are just going to get into more trouble.  If we lie about our sin, we still have our sin and the lie we told to try to cover up for our sin.  It is never a good idea to lie about our sin.  It is much better to admit that we are wrong and to ask forgiveness.  When we admit our sin, it is as if God is washing us in His bathtub.  David said that his sin was open and before him all the time.  He couldn't stop thinking about it.  But verse 2 says that David wanted God to wash him and to clean him up from his dirty sins.  Isn't it good to feel God's washing forgiveness when we admit our sin?

Read psalms 51:1  King David sinned against God.  So God sent Nathan, the prophet to tell David that he was guilty.  David had two choices:  He was the king and could have done anything that he wanted to do.  He could have gotten mad and had Nathan thrown out of his palace.  But David did the right thing,  He was sorry for his sin and repented before God.  This entire psalm is about David's sorrow and repentance.  There are two words that are similar, but very different, and both describe God's goodness  and forgiveness.  They are grace and mercy.  David asks for God to have mercy on him here in our verse.  Mercy and grace are like the two sides a coin: they are different sides, but still the same coin.  Grace means that God gives us something good that we don't deserve.  God gives us forgiveness and a home in heaven when we die.  Mercy means that God gives us forgiveness and does not give us punishment in hell that we really do deserve.  God's grace gives us His goodness that we don't deserve and God's mercy gives us forgiveness that we don't deserve.  Either way, God is good.  When you get into trouble and deserve a spanking, do you need mercy or grace?  When your mother takes you to get a cookies-and-cream blast at Sonic are you getting mercy or grace?  I am glad for both God's mercy and grace!

Read Psalms 48:1&2  When David became the king, he chose Jerusalem as his capital.  The capital is the place where the government of the country is.  In the very center of Jerusalem is a small hill known as Mt. Zion.  Mt. Zion is where David's son, Solomon built the first Temple.  It was destroyed and rebuilt 2 times.  Herod's Temple was built of pure white marble stone and was the Temple that was in Jerusalem when Jesus lived here on earth.  Herod's Temple was destroyed just a few years after Jesus' death.  Later, an Arab mosque, one of their churches, was built on Mt. Zion where the Temple used to be.  One of the Temple walls is still there in Jerusalem, and the Jews still go there to pray.  Jesus will come back to earth one day and set foot on Mt. Zion!  Our verses say that God is great and that He should be praised!  God is great and the city of His Temple is a great city too!