Psalm 51:1-10 (NRSV)
Read Psalm 51:1-10 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.
Devotion
When I was in college, I became aware that I was not as good as I wanted to be. I became aware of my sinfulness. I came to believe that I would need the help of a power greater than myself, if I was to become the person I wanted to be. I set out in search of a living God, a God not confined to stories of the past or the rituals of church. By God’s grace, an active relationship to that God was begun and slowly, over time, I came to know a God who creates clean spirits, renews spirits, and refuses to cast us away. The psalmist gives me, gives us, the words to express the longing for renewal and new life and in doing so, reminds us of the God who indeed renews and gives new life.
Prayer
Dear God, in moments of struggle, self-doubt, self-reproach, or despair, remind us of the power of your cleansing grace and the promise that you will never leave us, will never leave us alone and abandoned. Amen.
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