thenewjournalandguide.com

By Rev. Dr. Rebecca R. Rivka

    “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving-kindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions
    Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
    For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before.
    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.

By Gladys McElmore

    Through Nathan’s parable of the two men, one rich and one poor a great story surfaced! Nathan did not appear to King David on His own strength; he was sent by God who saw David’s evil behavior which brought forth evil consequences for him. Nathan told David his own story. This biographical sketch did not please God. Psalm 51 records David’s words of a contrite heart repenting after he was confronted by Nathan because of his sins.

By Reverend Dr. Rebecca R. Rivka

    “Wherefore David blessed the Lord before all the congregation:  and David said, Blessed be thou, Lord God of Israel our Father, forever and ever.
    Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty:  for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all.

By Rev. Dr. Rebecca R. Rivka

    “In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night: and God said, Ask what I shall give thee.
    And Solomon said, Thou hast shewed unto thy Servant David my father great mercy, according as he walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee; and thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day.

By Rev. Dr. Rebecca R. Rivka

    “And David spake unto the Lord when he saw the angel that smote the people, and said, Lo, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly: but these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, be against me, and against my father’s house.”
    David’s sin was pride and ambition exemplified in taking the census of the people.  In Israel there were eight hundred thousand soldiers able to draw the sword, and those of Judah were five hundred thousand.  David gloried in the size of his nation and army.  He placed his faith and security in manpower rather than in God.

By Rev. Walter L. DeLoatch, Sr.

    Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity
Psalm 133:1

    The great songwriter, statesman, worship leader, shepherd and King present these uplifting words to us that we see the great blessings in dwelling together in unity.
    This Psalm 133 is one among this great treasure of 150.  It praises the unity of God’s people experiences in their identity as The Book of Psalms is a hymnal, a personal journal, a prayer book, a devotional, a songbook and a spiritual worship manual for every God searching soul.

By Dr. Rebecca R. Rivka

    “And Hannah prayed, and said, my heart rejoiceth in the Lord, mine horn is exalted in the Lord; my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies; because I rejoice in thy salvation.”
    The word “prophetic” in this instance means speaking forth or a declaration of divine will.  It is not viewed as the prophecy of a future event.  The prayer is Hannah’s praise to the Lord for blessing her with a child.  Hannah’s “horn” was the emblem of her excessive strength in the Lord.  She had more to say now than Peninnah, Eli’s other wife who had taunted Hannah for years because she was childless.  It was important for Hannah to have a male child to carry on the family name and legacy.

By Gladys McElmore

    David was known extensively throughout the Middle East as a warrior King. He defeated all of Israel’s enemies! Only thirty years of age when he began reigning as king, he completed a forty year term. As we read Samuel 1 and 2 we can easily conclude that God helped David establish Israel as a strong nation capable of securing its borders against enemies. 2 Samuel 22 expresses David’s praises to God for His deliverance from enemies in a song of praise which also is repeated in Psalm 18. This Psalm of David describes his feelings on the day that the Lord delivered him from all of his enemies. 2 Samuel 22 and Psalm 18 are quite similar in recognition of God’s help for the Israelites and for us today in our stressful situations. None of us can ever thank God enough for all He has done for us or for all He will do in the future!
    According to 2 Samuel 7: 1-13, was there a transition by God in David’s life? This was somewhat of a peaceful period of time from David’s enemies. David wanted to house the ark of God. Nathan used a parable to show David his weaknesses and their consequences of sin against God (2 Samuel 7: 2-13). What had God promised David in a covenant? Some possible answers may include securing a permanent dwelling place for the Israelites, to establish David’s house (family/dynasty) forever, allowing Solomon, David’s son, to build the temple after his death, and that this son’s throne and kingdom would last throughout eternity! These promises were later known through Solomon, David’s son and successor.

By Gladys McElmore

Without doubt, many Christians consider Psalm 23 as their favorite scripture. In this psalm David expressed his personal faith and trust in the Lord. It is a clear testimony of God’s goodness, mercy and grace. How can we best explain this message to others? How do these scriptures strengthen us spiritually?

What a wonderful relationship God has established with us. He is our shepherd and we are His sheep. This relationship is personal. Each of us as a Christian knows that the Lord is a shepherd. Because He is, He provides each of us with all of the blessings we need for this world and the next.

By Elder Gerald
DeForest Tyler

    I am so personally grateful that “God Forgives” both lost sinners and saved Christians for Christ’s sake, aren’t you? And it certainly would be a mighty fine thing if people would forgive each other also as God does. However, the problem seems to be that too many of us see ourselves as being more perfect and holier than God, even though we will never admit that as being the truth. But our actions really do speak louder than our words and we simply just don’t forgive people as God commands us to do. This holds true for professed Christians as well as for lost people. As a matter-of-fact, some go so far as to say even more so for professed Christians. And possibly worse than that, is the fact that there are so many ministers among us preaching the salvation gospel of Jesus Christ who don’t forgive people when they error in sinful ways.
  

 I’m here to tell you that we’d better start getting this forgiveness thing right if we truly expect to be forgiven by God for the sins we commit. And there’s absolutely no need in saying that we don’t commit any sin. The Bible makes it very clear, that is to me at least, that we all have some thoughts of foolishness and do some things which are not righteous. Further, the Holy Word of God declares that all unrighteousness is sin (1st John 5:17). Even the very thought of foolishness is sin (Proverbs 24:9). So we Christians better stop acting like we’re holier than God, incapable of ever having sinful thoughts now that we’re saved. What we need to do is confess and forsake our sins, rather than to say we never commit any, so that God can then forgive and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1st John 1:8-10).