A Broken Spirit

Psalm 51:6,16-17

Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom. For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart--these, O God, You will not despise. (NKJV)

In the 12th chapter of 2 Samuel it's recorded that Nathan the prophet is sent by the Lord to confront King David for his sin. After committing adultery with Bathsheba and upon learning she has become pregnant, David arranges for Bathsheba's husband, Uriah, to be killed by the Ammonites so that he may have Bathsheba as wife. King David believes his sin to be cleverly concealed until confronted by Nathan. But notice David's response in 2 Sam. 12:13-- David responded to Nathan, "I have sinned against the Lord." (HCSB) Because David confessed his sin, God spared his life, although the baby born to him and Bathsheba died.

Psalm 51 is David's prayer for restoration after this confrontation with Nathan. David prays for God to wash away his guilt and cleanse him from his sin. (v.2) He again confesses in (v.4) --Against You-You alone- I have sinned and done this evil in Your sight. (HCSB) We can learn a lot from David about how to respond to God when He convicts us of our wrongdoings. Yes, David sinned big time--adultery and then murder. That just goes to show us how far sin can take us. Just an innocent glance that turns into a lingering look and then to lust ultimately led David to murder. But when confronted with the fact that he couldn't hide his sin from God, David confessed. He could have denied it. He could have lied and continued to try his best to conceal it. But He didn't. He revealed the truth and admitted fault. He repented. He had a contrite heart, a humbled heart and a broken spirit within. Years ago I would sing a praise chorus during altar calls at our church that was based on Ps. 51. Maybe I should start using it again. Read the lyrics with me:

A Broken Spirit
A broken spirit and a contrite heart
You will not despise, You will not despise.
You desire truth in the inward parts,
a broken spirit and a contrite heart.
Lord my heart is prone to wander,
prone to leave the God I love.
Here's my heart, Lord take and seal it.
Seal it for Your courts above.

Don Harris & Martin J. Nystrom
copyright 1993 Integrity's Hosanna Music

So how about you? Are you concealing some sin from God? Are you trying to pretend that if you can hide it from your friends that God won't know? If you want to have and retain a close relationship with the Lord, then you need to pray for a broken spirit. We all need to do so in order that our hearts will not be hardened and numbed to the conviction of the Holy Spirit. Let's maintain a humbled and contrite heart--a repentant heart--that God will not despise but instead will find to be a pleasing sacrifice.

Singing His Praises,
Joey Culpepper

Thanks Mom!

Honor your father and mother--which is the first commandment with a promise-(Eph. 6:2)

To all of you mothers--Happy Mother's Day! My hat goes off to all of you. As a father, let me say that I don't know how in the world you mothers do all that you do for your families and retain your sanity. A mother's job is truly never done. I will admit that you deserve much more appreciation than you get.

A couple of years ago I wrote a song for my mom and sang it to her on mother's day. I'd like to share the lyrics with you in appreciation for all our mothers and what they mean to us.

Mom, I Thank You

(vs.1)Today's your day and I think back with a smile

at the things you'd say when I was just a child

like "Close your mouth and eat your food."

Boy I was so confused

but I learned it was smart not to talk back to you

(vs.2)You taught me lots of things like how to brush my hair

how to tie my shoes and that I shouldn't stare

You told me not to lie or say bad words

to say "Yes ma'am", "Yes sir"

to give thanks for my food and to always go to church

(chorus)Mom I thank you for your kindness and your generosity

thanks for all the times you picked me up

when I fell and skinned my knee

You showed by the way you lived your life

I should love my nighbor as myself

I thank God you didn't leave the Good Book on the shelf

(vs.3)Train up a child in the way that he should go

and he'll stay true even after he is grown

I didn't realize it then but I understand it now

Thank you mom for starting me on this path I walk down

(repeat chorus)

So let's take time while we still have it, to honor our mothers for all that they mean to us. If you're able to, give them a call or a visit and let them know how much they are appreciated and loved.

Singing His Praises,

Joey C.

Living in Harmony

Psalm 133:1-3

How good and pleasant it is when brothers can live together! It is like oil on the head, running down the beard, running down Aaron's beard, on his robes. It is like the dew of Hermon falling on the mountains of Zion. For there the Lord has appointed the blessing--life forevermore. (HCSB)

Last night we took the family to the Community Transformation Celebration with special guest Mandisa. It was a great event. Mandisa's performance and ministry through song was fantastic! But as inspirational and encouraging as the concert was, to me the most uplifting aspect of the evening was the unity there was among believers. There was over 80 churches represented from all over north Louisiana including all Christian denominations. Pastors from Baptist, Methodist, Pentecostal, Church of Christ, Assembly of God, Church of God, International House of Prayer and other congregations gathered together and prayed for each other and their churches and communities. There was also a community mass choir made up of volunteers from the various churches that led us in worship. It was a glorious atmosphere of unity and praise and worship where we focused on what binds us together: Jesus. It was kind of like getting a glimpse of what heaven might be like. Instead of looking and concentrating on the trivial issues where we disagree, we zoomed in on what we all agree on--Jesus, the Son of God, shed His blood for all of us so that we could be reconciled with Father God by putting our faith in Him. As pastor Rece Tucker from New Jerusalem Baptist Church commented to the best of my recollection: "You may not like it, but if Jesus is your Lord, then you're my brother!" It doesn't matter what name is on our church sign or what color we are--what matters is what we believe about Jesus. It reminds me of the classic song by Russ Taff, "We Will Stand". Look at some of the lyrics:

Sometimes it's hard for me to understand
why we pull away from each other so easily

even though we're all walking the same road
yet we build dividing walls between our brothers and ourselves
but I don't care what label you may wear
if you believe in Jesus you belong with me
the bond we share is all I care to see
it will change the world forever
if you will join with me, join and sing


You're my brother, you're my sister
so take me by the hand
Together we will work until He comes
There is no foe that can defeat us
when we're walking side by side
As long as there is love, we will stand

I know Jesus was smiling down on us last night at the Civic Center in Monroe. Probably the only one who really didn't like it was the devil himself. He doesn't want us to unite and to live and serve together in harmony. Just think of what we could accomplish if we always had that kind of unity and brotherly love and fellowship. Is there anything that the church couldn't accomplish?

Singing His Praises,
Joey C.