Psalm 51:1-17 (NRSV)
Read Psalm 51:1-17 on biblegateway.com
Verse 1Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.
Verse 2Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
Verse 3For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.
Verse 4Against you, you alone, have I sinned, and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are justified in your sentence and blameless when you pass judgment.
Verse 5Indeed, I was born guilty, a sinner when my mother conceived me.
Verse 6You desire truth in the inward being; therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.
Verse 7Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Verse 8Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have crushed rejoice.
Verse 9Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.
Verse 10Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.
Verse 11Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me.
Verse 12Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit.
Verse 13Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you.
Verse 14Deliver me from bloodshed, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your deliverance.
Verse 15O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.
Verse 16For you have no delight in sacrifice; if I were to give a burnt offering, you would not be pleased.
Verse 17The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
Devotion
Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, and today we pray Psalm 51, a penitential psalm which King David wrote when he repented of adultery (with Bathsheba) and murder (of Uriah). Read the full story in 2 Samuel 12:1-15. David’s shame and guilt is overwhelming as he begs for a fresh start, “Create in me a clean heart.” Remember, the heart is not the seat of our emotions, but our very center, the locus of our thoughts. David needs a whole life overhaul. We may or may not need a whole life overhaul like David, but what a blessing and a grace it is to know that no matter our transgressions, whether large or small, intentional or unintentional, thinkable or unthinkable, we can go to God, who we learned yesterday is “slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love,” and whose mercy is abundant. This is the grace that will sustain us as we follow Jesus to and through the cross.
Prayer
Forgiving and Merciful God, Create in me a clean heart. Thank you for the joy of your salvation. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
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