One of our hopes for these meditations is that they would be a preparation for our hearts for the sermon on Sunday. The sermon this week is on Romans 3: 1-8, a rich, complicated passage that, frankly, gave me quite the battle as I attempted to narrow its meaning down to a page or two. But embedded in that passage is a verse from Psalm 51 (verse 4), and that Psalm is where I decided to land for a moment. I pray this look at David’s prayer will open us up to Paul’s words. See you on Sunday.
Psalm 51, Brother David, and Me
He was covered in slime.
The sin he’d been boiling deep in his heart
had now bubbled over–
frothy, gooey, sticky.
There was no scouring it off.
Have mercy on me, O God.
My sin is always before me.
Even a chosen king,
the king of the chosen nation,
could do hard evil.
Adultery.
Bloodshed.
This time the smell and the smoke
of his sins were out in the open.
This time a crown couldn’t fix what he’d done.
Cleanse me with hyssop.
If you wash me, I will be whiter than snow.
He fell to his knees in sackcloth,
let the elements have at him,
refused food for six days,
and penned this confession
that generations still cling to:
Surely I was sinful at birth,
sinful from the time my mother conceived me.Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
He brought nothing but a broken
and contrite spirit
at last.
Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity.
And God did not despise.
We know from the story that when he was finished,
somehow he rose from the dirt,
washed, dressed,
and worshipped.
Open my lips, Lord,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
There are times I, too,
slip too smugly into my status
as daughter of the King,
take for granted the shield,
and let the sin-brew bubble over
so you are right in your verdict
and justified when you judge.
I shrug and move along
as though there were no consequences,
ignoring the stains that deepen
on my hands.
What a life of secrets and sorrow!
What a life of death!
Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight;
Scrape off the callouses, Spirit,
let me smell the smoke.
The cross was no easy cleansing;
may I live remembering it cost you everything.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
Brother David, teach me how to repent
before the God who crushes bones.
Then let us worship together,
the God who restores.
How I wish His name would be more glorified
by our desire to obey
than by our need for rescuing,
but here we are.
With you, I now turn from the dust
and gaze toward the sky,
looking for the day our King returns
and we are no longer
sin-sippers.
With you, Brother David, I claim joy and gladness,
and sing of the righteousness of our God!
With you and all the Church,
I cry Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty!
Salvation belongs to our God,
and His mercy endures forever!
Amen!
