Psalms 51:15

“Psalms 51:15-52:7”

Psalms 51:15 says, “O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.”

When it comes to what we say especially in regards to speaking forth the truth we are absolutely dependant upon the power of God to enable us through His spirit.

Concerning speech and the tongue the Bible has a lot to say. James 3:6&8 says, “And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and sitteth on fire the course of nature; and is set on fire of hell. But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil full of deadly poison.” Proverb 25:11 says, “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver” I Peter 4:11 says, “If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God.” Romans 10:10, “For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” Romans 10:9, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth.”

The things you say are important. They are as important as the things you do. Hopefully when you open your lips what you do is find a way to praise God for the things He has said and done.

It should not be a surprise that true repentance of sin is talked about after the use of speech is mentioned. The two go together. What a person does and what a person says may not always be the same thing but it certainly will be when it is on the subject of a true profession of faith in Jesus Christ.

Psalms 51:16-17 says, “For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou will not despise.”

In these verses a connection is made between sacrifice and repentance. There is a certain violence associated with a sacrifice. In the same sense there is certain violence in the breaking of one’s spirit so that he or she repents of sin. Everyone that comes to Jesus for salvation does so too some degree out of a fear of going to hell, Like a hardened vessel of pottery that must be shattered into pieces.

Psalms 51:18 and 19 say “Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem. Then shalt thou be pleased with sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.”

In a practical sense having city walls is more important than doing sacrifices. A city without walls could not withstand an invading army nor keep out the wild animals. An unsaved person is like a city without walls. They have no defense against the evil influences and temptations of this world.

Psalms 52:1-4 says, “Why boastest thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man? The goodness of God endureth continually. Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs, like a sharp razor, working deceitfully. Thou lovest evil more than good; and lying rather than to speak righteousness. Selah. Thou lovest all devouring words, O thou deceitful tongue.”

These verses are a good description of anyone who is not a Christian: a boaster against God, a lover of evil, a lying tongue. You may think you are an honest person but that is far from the truth if you are in opposition to Jesus Christ. I John 1:8 says, “if we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”

Psalms 52:5 says, “God shall likewise destroy thee for ever, He shall take thee away, and pluck thee out of thy dwelling place, and root thee out of the land of the living.” God does love judgment. And eventually he must destroy those who refuse to repent of their evil and turn to Him. God must do so because God is holy and God hates sin. Of course God is love and therefore God gives many many chances to the lost people of the world chances to turn from their evil ways and turn to the way of life and peace.

Psalms 52:6-7 says, “The righteous also shall see, and fear, and shall laugh at him: Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength; but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness.”

There is undoubtebly a certain satisfaction in seeing justice in action. When evil men do their evil deeds it causes great suffering and grief to the rest of the world. Notice that one of the characteristics of an evil person is someone who makes not God his strength. The evil things you may do as a result of trusting in yourself include every sin imaginable.

Hopefully your heart is not hardened against the love of Jesus Christ. Today is the day of salvation. There is no better time than now to open your lips and profess Jesus as your Savior.

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