Arizona republican., 1920-08-21
For August p, 1920 (By E. D. Raley)

Text: Psalm 51
 Have mercy upon me. God, ac- cording to thy lovingkindness:
 According to the multitude of thy sion.
 Wash me thoroughly from mine in iQuity. And cleanse me from my sin.
 For I know my transgression: And my sin is ever before me. Against thee. thee only, have sinned.
 And done that which is evil in thy sight:
 That thou mayest be justified when l thou speakest, 1 And be clear when thou judgest. l Behold l was brought forth in in l iquity:
 And in sin did my mother conceive me. l Behold. thou desirest truth in the in- ward parts; l And in the hidden part thou wilt make me to know wisdom Purify me with hysop. and shall be 1 clean:
 wash me. and shall be winter than snow
 Make me to know joy and gladness. | That the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.
 Hide thy face from my sins.
 And blot out all mine iniquities.
 Create in me a clean heart, O God; And renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence;
 And take not thy Holy Spirit from me.
 Restore unto me the joy of thy sal | vation-
 And uphold me with thy willing spirit
 I Then shall teach transgressors thy ways;
 And sinners shall be converted unto thee
 Deliver me from bloodgiltiness. 1 O God, the God of my salvation;
 And my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.
 o Lord, open thou my lips:
 And my mouth shall show forth thy praise.
 For thou deIightest not in sacrifices; else would I give it:
 Thou hast no pleasure in burnt of fering- ! The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit:
 A broken and a contrite heart, O God thou wilt not despise-" So far in our sstudy of David in the present series of Sunday school les , sons. we have had him as a beautiful shepherd boy, brilliant young man l A perfect picture of health and char acter. up to his sin crises He was : warrior, courier. leader, king a general, but in this lesson we have an evidence of his literary and poetic ability No poet has ever surpassed him. It is thought that he wrote al least seventy-three of the Psalms. | is attested to by all that they are the work of seer, a prophet, a poet. student a theologian and a philosopher r The Psalm we have for this lessor may not be the best from all points but is the best from some angles ant rates very near the top in literary ex- l, cellence-
 David had sinned. He had com , mitted adultry. He had murdered z ] man that he might commit this sin He had seen the way of the trans , gressor in his own children. Int 2 prophet had trapped and convicted hin of his sin. But why should he confess? Why did he confess? Had it been the habi of kings and great men to confess ant repent of similar sins
 Here is an incident without paralle . in human history. A monarch iron l his throne, with no compulsion saw that of conscience, puphcIy conIesse 3 his guilt, expresses his penitence Il uneuuiyocal terms and cries to Go' ' for mercy, forgiveness and purified 1 tion- ' David is not content to utter hi prayer. but he writes it down so tha h 1t may be the all-slnners prayer lo all time
 It was the preacher that convicte . David the king and it was a bol
 preacher that dared to face a kin I and tell him that he was vile sinner
 Preachers of that fiber are needed to }, day and are needed in every age of tn
 worlds history. We probably hay h more of that mould today than eve
 before in history. | Notice the plea of David. God n mercy. He makes no attempt to excus