Psalm 51

0 To the leader. A Psalm of David, when the prophet Nathan came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.
1  Have mercy on me, O God,
  according to your steadfast love;
 according to your abundant mercy
  blot out my transgressions.
2  Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
  and cleanse me from my sin.
3  For I know my transgressions,
  and my sin is ever before me.
4  Against 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.
5  Indeed, I was born guilty,
  a sinner when my mother conceived me.
6  You desire truth in the inward being;
  therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.
7  Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
  wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8  Let me hear joy and gladness;
  let the bones that you have crushed rejoice.
9  Hide your face from my sins,
  and blot out all my iniquities.
10  Create in me a clean heart, O God,
  and put a new and right spirit within me.
11  Do not cast me away from your presence,
  and do not take your holy spirit from me.
12  Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
  and sustain in me a willing spirit.
13  Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
  and sinners will return to you.
14  Deliver me from bloodshed, O God,
  O God of my salvation,
  and my tongue will sing aloud of your deliverance.
15  O Lord, open my lips,
  and my mouth will declare your praise.
16  For you have no delight in sacrifice;
  if I were to give a burnt offering, you would not be pleased.
17  The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit;
  a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
18  Do good to Zion in your good pleasure;
  rebuild the walls of Jerusalem,
19  then you will delight in right sacrifices,
  in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings;
  then bulls will be offered on your altar.

Daily Prayer (based on Psalm 51:10)

Gracious Father, how amazing and wonderful is Your forgiveness. I'm astounded that You strip away my sin and look upon me dressed in the pure robes of Christ. What a wonder!

Postscript

Whenever I read Psalm 51, I'm struck by the verb "create" in verse 10: "Create in me a clearn heart." Bara' in Hebrew means "to create," and it's the first verb in the Hebrew Bible: "In the beginning God created [bara'] the heavens and the earth." The Psalmist yearns, not for mere a re-ordering of his soul, but for a new inner creation. This we have in Christ, according to 2 Corinthians 5:17: "So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!" Christ enables us to be re-created inside out. He fulfills the longing of our hearts for the new creation.

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Except for the Scripture text, all material of The Daily Psalm Copyright © 2006 by Mark D. Roberts

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The Scripture text used in The Daily Psalm is from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved