Day 39| Purified

May 29th, 2019

Psalms 51: 1-21
Create in Me a Clean Heart
1 For the music director: a psalm of David,
2 when Nathan the prophet came to him, after he went to Bathsheba.
3 Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your mercy. According to Your great compassion blot out my transgressions.
4 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.
5 For I know my transgressions and my sin is ever before me.
6 Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You are just when You speak, and blameless when You judge.
7 Behold, I was born in iniquity and in sin when my mother conceived me.
8 Surely You desire truth in the inner being. Make me know wisdom inwardly.
9 Cleanse me with hyssop and I will be clean. Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
10 Let me hear joy and gladness, so the bones You crushed may rejoice.
11 Hide Your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.
12 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
13 Do not cast me from Your presence— take not Your Ruach ha-Kodesh from me.
14 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and sustain me with a willing spirit.
15 Then will I teach transgressors Your ways and sinners will return to You.
16 Deliver me from bloodguilt, O God— God of my salvation. Then my tongue will sing for joy of Your righteousness.
17 O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare Your praise.
18 For You would not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it, nor be pleased by burnt offerings.
19 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit. A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.
20 In Your favor do good to Zion. Build up the walls of Jerusalem.
21Then You will delight in righteous sacrifices and whole burnt offerings. Then bulls will be offered on Your altar.

REFLECT

In order to truly know who God is and to hear from Him, we need to acknowledge our sins before Him. When David wrote this Psalm, he was repenting for the sins of deception, adultery, and murder. While we may not have committed those sins in particular, we have all sinned and fallen short of God’s standard of righteousness. When David realized that he had unconfessed sin in his life, He ran towards God because he understood the depth of His mercy. This is what God wants for us! When we realize there is unconfessed sins in our lives, we can turn to God and He will take them away. He will always be there to lovingly lead us to repentance and restoration. When we repent and ask for forgiveness, He will do both!