Psalm 51
A Contrite Sinner's Prayer for Pardon.
For the choir director. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.
1Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness;
According to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions.
2Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity
And cleanse me from my sin.
3For I know my transgressions,
And my sin is ever before me.
4Against You, You only, I have sinned
And done what is evil in Your sight,
So that You are justified when You speak
And blameless when You judge.
5Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
And in sin my mother conceived me.
6Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being,
And in the hidden part You will make me know wisdom.
7Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8Make me to hear joy and gladness,
Let the bones which You have broken rejoice.
9Hide Your face from my sins
And blot out all my iniquities.
10Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11Do not cast me away from Your presence
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
12Restore to me the joy of Your salvation
And sustain me with a willing spirit.
13Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,
And sinners will be converted to You.
14Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, the God of my salvation;
Then my tongue will joyfully sing of Your righteousness.
15O Lord, open my lips,
That my mouth may declare Your praise.
16For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it;
You are not pleased with burnt offering.
17The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.
18By Your favor do good to Zion;
Build the walls of Jerusalem.
19Then You will delight in righteous sacrifices,
In burnt offering and whole burnt offering;
Then young bulls will be offered on Your altar.
According to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions.
2Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity
And cleanse me from my sin.
3For I know my transgressions,
And my sin is ever before me.
4Against You, You only, I have sinned
And done what is evil in Your sight,
So that You are justified when You speak
And blameless when You judge.
5Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
And in sin my mother conceived me.
6Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being,
And in the hidden part You will make me know wisdom.
7Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8Make me to hear joy and gladness,
Let the bones which You have broken rejoice.
9Hide Your face from my sins
And blot out all my iniquities.
10Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11Do not cast me away from Your presence
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
12Restore to me the joy of Your salvation
And sustain me with a willing spirit.
13Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,
And sinners will be converted to You.
14Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, the God of my salvation;
Then my tongue will joyfully sing of Your righteousness.
15O Lord, open my lips,
That my mouth may declare Your praise.
16For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it;
You are not pleased with burnt offering.
17The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.
18By Your favor do good to Zion;
Build the walls of Jerusalem.
19Then You will delight in righteous sacrifices,
In burnt offering and whole burnt offering;
Then young bulls will be offered on Your altar.
God has shown Himself sovereign to me this whole past week. the fact that my day would land on this psalm is kind of crazy because i am looking over numbers right now and just read how Moses interceded for the people by asking God to show His power in His lovingkindness by forgiving the people and not killing them with a pestilence. God doesn't do us favors. He does things for Himself. what we might call selfish is glorious with God. the fact the God forgives us for His Name's sake is glorious. He does not forgive me to show partiality but out of want to glorify Himself. my transgressions are blotted out by the greatness of His compassion...His character has nothing to do with me...the person who receives the compassion.
i have been thinking of late about how the reason why you hurt over those you love the most is because the more you love someone...the more personal your actions become to them. and with God...just looking at our testimonies...we know that He is a personal God. He wants an intimate relationship with us. He loved us even after we prostituted ourselves to our sin...like Hosea's wife. that is why David says..."against You, You only, I have sinned and done what is evil in Your sight." i am learning to not see things personally for my own sake, but to take things personally if it has something to do with Christ. God takes things personally because it is personal to Him. we are the creation of the Creator.
David goes on to say that even though he was born into sin...conceived in sin, the story doesn't end there. God desires truth deep in our souls...truth that helps us understand Him. and only God can clean us. only God can redeem us. only God can give us real joy. He can exchange our dirty hearts and create a clean one in its place. He can renew our loyalty to Him and Him alone.
in studying the OT, we've already come upon the tabernacle. a lot of the punishments ended in the people being cast from the community. hell, in a similar sense, is illustrated in this punishment because the person was not only an outcast but cut off from worshipping God whose presence was in the tabernacle. if God took His Holy Spirit from me...if we are the temples of God and God's presence was taken from me...i would die. if i were not allowed to worship God...the one thing i was created to do...i would die. again, David brings it back to God because he says that by restoring the joy of salvation, he will be able to teach others about God. see a pattern? everything is done for God. my tongue will joyfully sing of Your righteousness...my mouth will declare Your praise.
bloodguiltiness. God used sacrifices to show that our sin cost blood. but it says the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit and a contrite heart. the sacrifices were meant to compel the person who offered the sacrifice to humble themselves before the Lord and repent. the pharisees just stopped at the actions. now we know that it is the heart behind the action that is what matters. if your heart is right before the Lord...your actions will follow. in the end God will establish His kingdom...and then all will be perfect. we will all be able to "sacrifice" offerings to Him perfectly.
girls...there is so much love for self that we must still fight. even when i pray...oftentimes i am praying about myself...not praying about myself for God. just for myself...to myself. our redemption cost us blood...what a good reminder it was to remember that we have been redeemed. that love was the motivation behind the payment of a ransom. that the ransom was a life. and that life was glady laid down so that i might live. what a great God we have!
i have been thinking of late about how the reason why you hurt over those you love the most is because the more you love someone...the more personal your actions become to them. and with God...just looking at our testimonies...we know that He is a personal God. He wants an intimate relationship with us. He loved us even after we prostituted ourselves to our sin...like Hosea's wife. that is why David says..."against You, You only, I have sinned and done what is evil in Your sight." i am learning to not see things personally for my own sake, but to take things personally if it has something to do with Christ. God takes things personally because it is personal to Him. we are the creation of the Creator.
David goes on to say that even though he was born into sin...conceived in sin, the story doesn't end there. God desires truth deep in our souls...truth that helps us understand Him. and only God can clean us. only God can redeem us. only God can give us real joy. He can exchange our dirty hearts and create a clean one in its place. He can renew our loyalty to Him and Him alone.
in studying the OT, we've already come upon the tabernacle. a lot of the punishments ended in the people being cast from the community. hell, in a similar sense, is illustrated in this punishment because the person was not only an outcast but cut off from worshipping God whose presence was in the tabernacle. if God took His Holy Spirit from me...if we are the temples of God and God's presence was taken from me...i would die. if i were not allowed to worship God...the one thing i was created to do...i would die. again, David brings it back to God because he says that by restoring the joy of salvation, he will be able to teach others about God. see a pattern? everything is done for God. my tongue will joyfully sing of Your righteousness...my mouth will declare Your praise.
bloodguiltiness. God used sacrifices to show that our sin cost blood. but it says the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit and a contrite heart. the sacrifices were meant to compel the person who offered the sacrifice to humble themselves before the Lord and repent. the pharisees just stopped at the actions. now we know that it is the heart behind the action that is what matters. if your heart is right before the Lord...your actions will follow. in the end God will establish His kingdom...and then all will be perfect. we will all be able to "sacrifice" offerings to Him perfectly.
girls...there is so much love for self that we must still fight. even when i pray...oftentimes i am praying about myself...not praying about myself for God. just for myself...to myself. our redemption cost us blood...what a good reminder it was to remember that we have been redeemed. that love was the motivation behind the payment of a ransom. that the ransom was a life. and that life was glady laid down so that i might live. what a great God we have!
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