Great Plains Daily Devotional for 11/7/2018

Psalm 51:1

Have mercy upon me, O God,
According to Your loving kindness;
According to the multitude of Your tender mercies,
Blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
And cleanse me from my sin.

For I acknowledge my transgressions,
And my sin is always before me.
Against You, You only, have I sinned,
And done this evil in Your sight—
That You may be found just when You speak,
And blameless when You judge.

Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
And in sin my mother conceived me.
Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts,
And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Make me hear joy and gladness,
That the bones You have broken may rejoice.
Hide Your face from my sins,
And blot out all my iniquities.

Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from Your presence,
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,
And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.
Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,
And sinners shall be converted to You.

Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
The God of my salvation,
And my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness.
O Lord, open my lips,
And my mouth shall show forth Your praise.
For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it;
You do not delight in burnt offering.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,
A broken and a contrite heart—
These, O God, You will not despise.

Do good in Your good pleasure to Zion;
Build the walls of Jerusalem.
Then You shall be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness,
With burnt offering and whole burnt offering;
Then they shall offer bulls on Your altar.

If I wanted to pick out 10 psalms that I know, this psalm would be on my top 10 list. Since many psalms are songs, we can consider this Scripture as one in the top of the charts, “Top 10 of the Psalms” for today’s daily lectionary.

Part of it, is because of King David’s authorship, as it his public confession to God after exerting his power with Bathsheba, killing her husband and then denying it in front of the prophet, Nathan.  David as being God’s chosen one, has abused his power and messed up royally as he reigns over God’s people, the Israelites. Yet, he has a moment of clarity when he realizes and cries out to God in confession.

We live in a world in need of confession, not covering up. We yearn for the authentic, real spirit of confession in our own lives and in the world we live in. The chance to say, “I’ve messed up. I’m sorry.”

We need it in our world and it begins with us.  It is both powerful and counter-cultural to admit wrong, confess and ask for another chance.  So we get to practice confession every day.

Each day, we cry out to God “Create in me a clean heart, O God and renew a right spirit within me,” receiving God’s grace.

Because God is a God of second chances, a God of grace and mercy. A god who hears the prayer of all of us and responds to us, creating a clean heart and renewing a right spirit within us. May we practice confession to a loving God and receive the grace of God each day.

Prayer for Reflection

Ruth 1:2-18
Psalm 146
Hebrews 9:11-14
Mark 12:28-34