Psalm 51:1-17 "Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. / Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. / For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. / Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge. / Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. / Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place. / Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. / 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. / Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. / Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. / Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. / Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you. / Save me from bloodguilt, O God, the God who saves me, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness. / O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. / You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. / The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise."
As I read through this passage again this morning I am reminded of consequences of sin:
- Sin soils your soul and body (vs. 1 and 2)
- Sin saturates your mind (vs. 3)
- Sin stings the conscious (vs. 4)
- Sin saddens the heart (vs. 8, 12)
- Sin sickens the body (vs. 8)
- Sin sours the spirit (vs. 10)
- Sin seals one's lips (vs 13, 15)
It would be much easier to go before the Lord with a sacrifice, I think. We poor humans are conditioned to 'do' something to make things right. How much harder it is for me to offer God my broken spirit and repentant heart. To me, that is much harder to do, I guess because it means humbling myself before the Lord and acknowledging my sin and weakness. All sin has some element of pride in it, don't you think? May I continually call on Him to sustain me and give me the power to flee from sin!
2 comments:
Thank you so much for writing that PM. I still struggle with forgiving myself of my sins. Also, I watched the State of the Union address and thought of your son James. Once again, bless you for raising a son who is now defending freedom. May God bless James while he serves his country!!
God Bless
Poor-Con, don't we all at some time or another but when we do that, after we have asked for forgiveness, we are giving the enemy a victory. I know you know that already, but we need to keep reminding each other of that fact. Because the truth is we are cleansed from ALL unrighteousness.
Thank you again for your kind words in regards to our son. We appreciate your prayers.
Thanks for dropping in for a visit. Always good to hear from you.
Claire
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