Tag: Christ

  • Psalms of a Contrite Heart Before Christ

    Psalms of a Contrite Heart Before Christ

    The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
    A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.

    Psalm 51:17 LSB

    Contrition: Bowed down before Almighty God

    Last time on Ash Wednesday, we noted from the weeping Prophet, Jeremiah, our great sorrow in being CRUSHED by the enemy – in fact by the hand of GOD on the pestle of Jerusalem’s destruction.

    mortar and pestle with hand of chef

    Like Jeremiah we do NOT want to be CRUSHED by any — either the LORD or our enemy.

    WE are unaccustomed to the pouring out of our spirit into a mortar of refinement.

    YET it is the Lord’s will to refine those whom He will.

    Be contrite or be crushed

    humble .. or humbled.


    Sad Psalms of Lament

    Lamentations, if sung, would be sorrowful elegies similar to some Psalms we would rather not sing. Regardless of the “how” – and we generally know our sin – contrition and humility often escape our notice on the stage of our praise.

    Yet even in the Psalms we must observe the same words which the Lord has written for our worship.

    Strong’s H1794 – dāḵâ – דָּכָה

    to collapse (phys. or mentally):—break (sore), contrite, crouch.

    We’ve all seen it — most have experienced it. And the Psalms remind us as the Lord refines us.

    O Yahweh, reprove me not in Your wrath,

    And discipline me not in Your burning anger.

    I am faint and badly crushed;

    I groan because of the agitation of my heart.

    Psalm 38:1,8 LSB


    Psalm 51:

    51:17 (WLC 51:19) זִבְחֵי אֱלֹהִים רוּחַ נִשְׁבָּרָה לֵב־נִשְׁבָּר וְנִדְכֶּה אֱלֹהִים לֹא תִבְזֶה׃

    • šāḇar rûaḥ
      • broken spirit
    • šāḇar dāḵâ lēḇ
      • a broken and contrite heart

    Psalm 51:17 from MASORETIC Text

    IS that any way to open a post such as this or especially a WORSHIP service?

    IN FACT, the contrition of it's context pleads to Elohim for mercy. So was it ordered for corporate worship by the King.

    [[To the chief Musician,

    A Psalm of David,

    when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.]]

    Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: 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 me.


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

    Psalm 51:1-3, 8 KJV

    We have heard the whole story — confessed in a Psalm of worship!

    And the King – David of Israel and Judah – before we reach v. 17 of our opening CALL to Worship today — continues with a more hopeful and familiar plea:

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

    Psalm 51:10

    Create in me a clean heart, O God – Psalm 51 stands as an enduring testament to the power of confession, the boundless mercy of God, and the potential for spiritual renewal and transformation.

    It reminds us that even in our deepest frailty, God’s love is unfailing.

    Psalm 51 commentary

    a Plea of the Crushed – Psalm 143

    A Psalm of David

    YET in our distress of being humbled (OPPRESSED, an adjective found in other Psalms) — crushed by the Lord we have hope — as nearly every Psalm ends.

    Teach me to do thy will;

    for thou art my God:

    thy spirit is good;

    lead me into the land of uprightness.

    Quicken [revive] me, O LORD,

    for thy name’s sake:

    for thy righteousness’ sake

    bring my soul out of trouble.

    Psalm 143:9–10 KJV

    Praying the Psalms in Gethsemane

    Picture our Lord, having walked all the paths among evil men toward Gethsemane, full well knowing the charge of His Father in heaven to go forth into the valley of death…

    a humble mortal, a crushed man, a prisoner to be betrayed and bound as a spectacle for evil men…

    humiliated, struck on the cheek, beaten on the back and hung ignominiously on a tree by the rulers of this world and city.

    .. “Sit here while I pray.” ,, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them. “Stay here and keep watch.” ..

    Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping.

    excerpt from the Gospel of Mark 14

    Psalm 10

    11 He says to himself, “God will never notice;

    Psalm 10:12-11 NIV

     The Hebrew word for "crushed" can also imply being broken in spirit, indicating the deep emotional and psychological impact of such suffering. 

    This aligns with the broader biblical narrative where God is portrayed as a defender of the oppressed (Psalm 9:9).

    The imagery here can also be seen as a type of Christ, who was "crushed" for our iniquities (Isaiah 53:5), highlighting the ultimate sacrifice for the redemption of humanity.

    BibleHub.com Study Bible commentary


    JESUS, the Son of Man, Son of David and Son of God sang and prayed such Psalms in worship in the presence of God the Father.

    Do YOU?

    Talk of JESUS .com

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  • a Common Era Contrition for Lent – Ash and dust

    a Common Era Contrition for Lent – Ash and dust

    lenten series outline & Introduction

    Ash Wednesday 2025 C.E.



    OUTLINE of a Scriptural path toward Christ’s walk to Gethsemane, Calvary, beyond Bethany and anticipating the Lord’s return in glory in these last days.

    the path of contrition

    “I am the way and the truth and the life.

    No one comes to the Father except through me.

    Gospel of John 14:6


    Introduction by the author

    The liturgical season of Lent although having no Biblical requirement has always been a reflective time for me. I have provided some glances back for any who have not followed Talk of JESUS in previous Lenten seasons.

    This YEAR – A.D. 2025 to most of you (2025 C.E. to most of our unbelieving world) – I wanted to lead you through some Old Testament Scriptures looking through Jewish eyes (yes JESUS and EVERY Apostle was Jewish). You may glance at a HEBREW organization of the BIBLE below which orders and groups our O.T. Books differently.

    G_d only knows how many of the 40 days of Lent I will publish, but each will likely be briefer than my usual 5-minute READ.

    Finally, beloved brother or sister in Christ,

    IF you look for a connecting thread between these O.T. Scriptures and Christ you may discover a faithful Jewish thread of contrition not seen in the Gospels except in the Person of Jesus. (Think of Gethsemane, now.. and follow Him along the narrow path.)

    Won’t you pray for me and comment here encouraging all?

    Roger Harned – Author and Site administrator, Talk of JESUS .com


    Lent A.D. 2014 Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord + Ash Wednesday - Easter Sunday - Jesus is RISEN! and will return once more
    a picture of LENT from AD 2014

    Introduction to the Hebrew Bible

    On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

    The Word summarizing Jewish Scripture in Matthew 22:40,

    This phrase refers to the entirety of the Hebrew Scriptures, known as the Tanakh, which is divided into the Torah (Law), Nevi’im (Prophets), and Ketuvim (Writings).

    In the context of Matthew 22:40, “the Law and the Prophets” is a shorthand for the Old Testament.

    STUDY BIBLE Bible Hub .com


    Tanakh Hebrew Bible books
    CLICK to ENLARGE the three sections of the Tanakh [Hebrew Scriptures]

    What path will you walk this day?

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    garden in darkness

  • Members in Christ’s body the Church

    Members in Christ’s body the Church

    And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.

    1 Corinthians 12:11 KJV – Paul quoting the Lord Jesus

    Paul now draws a picture of the human body in order that members of the body of believers might see our own part in the larger Church in Corinth and all places where the saints gather in Christ’s Name.

    Previously, when we departed from here in the Apostle’s instructions to the Corinthians, Paul instructs:


    And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.

    1 Corinthians 12:5 KJV

    One Body, many Members, different spiritual Gifts

    Now to each is given the manifestation of the Spirit, for the common profiting.

    1 Corinthians 12:7 BLB

    The first implication of this: EACH member of the body of your church and mine will show (manifest) some fruit of the Spirit.

    But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.

    1 Corinthians 12:11 LSB

    Who belongs as members?

    IF someone in your church does not yet manifest any fruit of the Spirit, is it possible that the Lord has not given them the Spirit OR made these a part of His Body - a member of His Church? 

    Are even the best spiritualities of faithful jews and religious adherents of Islam connected to the body of our Lord Christ Jesus?

    Do the best of Hindus Buddhists and other pagan worshipers not oppose Christ?

    Yet some are drawn by the Spirit.

    The Body of Christ

    For just as the body is one, and has many members, and all the members of the body being many are one body, so also is Christ.

    1 Corinthians 12:12 Berean Standard Bible

    Jews and Gentiles

    map of the Aegean ~200 BC Corinth in the Achean League 
between Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar
    What is the overriding context of this epistle Paul writes to a church on the Achaian peninsula of Greece ? 

    The Apostle to the Gentiles (Hellenists or Greek or Roman) -- seeks to heal long-standing differences in this large Roman city of Corinth situated in the philosophic and cultural center of ancient Europe.
    • To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom – v.8 (quite Hellenist)
    • to another faith.. to another gifts of healing v.9 (the One God of the Jews and ignored signs of the Messiah)

    For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.

    1 Corinthians 12:13 NKJV

    Invisible fruit pictured in the body

    brain and connection to the body

    For the body does not consist of one part, but of many. 1 Corinthians 12:14 BSB

    If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body?

    And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body.

    • If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be?
      • (Now think of the body of Christ, the church.)
    • If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?
    Laughable! Hyperbole, yet logical.

    But now hath God set the members

    (And the Spirit of God has distributed your spiritual gifts.)

    But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.

    How strange a body would be if it had only one part!

    1 Corinthians 12:18 KJV and 12:19 NLT

    Do you get both the seriousness and Paul's practical ridicule of members di-vi-ded by spiritualities God granted to others? 
    The Apostle to the gentiles continues his illustration: 
    • The eye cannot say to the hand, “I do not need you.”
    • Nor can the head say to the feet, “I do not need you.”

    Here is Paul’s appeal to draw near to your members divided by opinions concerning spiritual gifts and an order of regulating the body (so to speak).


    On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts we consider less honorable, we treat with greater honor. And our unpresentable parts are treated with special modesty, whereas our presentable parts have no such need.

    But God has composed the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its members should have mutual concern for one another.

    If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

    1 Corinthians 12:22-26 BSB


    Appointment of the Greater Gifts

    The Apostle sent out to the Corinthians, Achaeans, Greeks, Romans and displaced Jews suggests an order of importance in the A.D. first century church. Yet Paul has just instructed the saints that it is the Spirit which places us in our place in the Church -- and that spiritual GIFTS are not ours to choose. 

    27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each of you is a member of it. And in the church God has appointed

    1. first of all apostles,
    2. second prophets,
    3. third teachers,
    4. then workers of miracles,
    5. and those with gifts of healing, helping, administration, and various tongues.

    A local (Corinthian) understanding of roles and spiritual gifts

    Acts Apostolos - Acts 1 of the Apostles begins a 28 chapter account of the chronicles of Christ's Apostles - a history of Christ's Church
    Acts of the Apostles 1-28

    1. ἀπόστολος – apostolos
    2. προφήτης – prophētēs
    3. διδάσκαλος – didaskalos
    4. δύναμις – dynamis
    5. χάρισμαcharisma 

    Apostles, Prophets and Teachers

    ἀπόστολοι (apostoloi)
    Noun – Nominative Masculine Plural
    Strong’s 652: From apostello; a delegate; specially, an ambassador of the Gospel; officially a commissioner of Christ.

    Am I not an apostle? G652 am I not free? have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? are not ye my work in the Lord? If I be not an apostle G652 unto others, yet doubtless I am to you: for the seal of mine apostleship are ye in the Lord.


    1 Corinthians 12:1-2


    1 Corinthians 12:28 – And God has set…

    You’ve just studied the list.

    So what does the Apostle Paul (#1 on the authoritative list) ask as he further questions the Corinthian saints of differing opinions about their own roles in the local church?


    1 Corinthians 12:29-30

    • Are all apostles? (#1)
    • Are all prophets? (#2)
    • Are all teachers? (#3)
    • Do all work miracles? (#4)
    • Do all have gifts of healing?
    • Do all speak in tongues?
    • Do all interpret?
      • (these 3 grouped in #5)

    SO WHERE DO I FIT IN?

    and Who is in charge of who, here in our local gathering of saints in Corinth?

    Perhaps in the hearing of Paul’s first letter being read to the Corinthian Church these saints might have wondered what the APOSTLE would prescribe next as a solution to OUR divisions.

    12:31 ζηλοῦτε δὲ τὰ χαρίσματα τὰ κρείττονα Καὶ ἔτι καθ᾽ ὑπερβολὴν ὁδὸν ὑμῖν δείκνυμι

    But covet earnestly the best gifts: – 31a KJV

    Now eagerly desire the greater gifts. – 31a NIV

    But earnestly desire the higher gifts.- 31a RSV


    But now let me show you a way of life that is best of all.

    1 Corinthians 12:31 b – NLT


    NEXT – Paul’s connection of GIFTS

    Beloved fellow saint, you may know where the Apostle proceeds in his much-quoted list from 1 Corinthians 14.

    Perhaps with love in mind you may have a COMMENT here on what the Apostle Paul has instructed us so far.

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