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
Pastor Erwin McManus once said that the most spiritual thing you and I do is not praying, reading the Bible, or participating in weekly worship. The most spiritual thing we do, he said, is making choices. God gave us the freedom, the ability and the responsibility to make choices for our lives, to experience the joy of success and to experience the pain of our mistakes.
King David discovered as we do that maturity and freedom come at a cost, taking responsibility for our lives and the choices we make.
Let's leave excuses behind. Let's stop casting blame and own up to our failings. Our failings do not make us failures. We all make mistakes. The task is to own up to our bad choices, confess our sin, and allow God's abundant forgiveness cleanse us and give us a new beginning starting today.
Prayer
Almighty God, I have sinned against you in thought word and deed, by what I have done and left undone. Cleanse me and restore me to live the life you desire.