November 17, 2023

Psalm 51 (HCSB)
A Prayer for Restoration 1 Be gracious to me, God, according to Your faithful love; according to Your abundant compassion, blot out my rebellion. 2 Wash away my guilt and cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I am conscious of my rebellion, and my sin is always before me. 4 Against You—You alone—I have sinned and done this evil in Your sight. So You are right when You pass sentence; You are blameless when You judge. 5 Indeed, I was guilty when I was born; I was sinful when my mother conceived me. 6 Surely You desire integrity in the inner self, and You teach me wisdom deep within. 7 Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones You have crushed rejoice. 9 Turn Your face away from my sins and blot out all my guilt. 10 God, create a clean heart for me and renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11 Do not banish me from Your presence or take Your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore the joy of Your salvation to me, and give me a willing spirit. 13 Then I will teach the rebellious Your ways, and sinners will return to You. 14 Save me from the guilt of bloodshed, God, the God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing of Your righteousness. 15 Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare Your praise. 16 You do not want a sacrifice, or I would give it; You are not pleased with a burnt offering. 17 The sacrifice pleasing to God is a broken spirit. God, You will not despise a broken and humbled heart. 18 In Your good pleasure, cause Zion to prosper; build the walls of Jerusalem. 19 Then You will delight in righteous sacrifices, whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on Your altar.

Andrew Ivey
Thank God for Psalm 51! If there were no grace and no mercy, none of us would have a chance. We’ve all made bad choices. We’ve all chosen to rebel against our Creator and go our own way. But thanks be to God that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Choices have consequences. Judgement is coming. But praise God we have an Advocate when we do sin if we belong to Him. We’ve seen many examples of consequences for bad choices this week, but there are two sides to this coin. If you choose to turn from your sin and follow Jesus, He will forgive you. If you choose obedience, He will bless you. “If we walk in the Light, as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanses us from all sin.” 1 Jn. 1:7. When you follow Jesus, as David says in this Psalm, God will wash you thoroughly and cleanse you of your sin. He will create in you a clean heart and renew your spirit.  The old hymns contain a lot of wisdom. “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.”