Living in the Spirit

September 7, 2022

Scripture Reading: Psalm 51:1-10

Prayer for Cleansing and Pardon
To the leader. A Psalm of David, when the prophet Nathan came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.

Have mercy on me, O God,
   according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
   blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
   and cleanse me from my sin.

For I know my transgressions,
   and my sin is ever before me.
Against you, you alone, have I sinned,
   and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are justified in your sentence
   and blameless when you pass judgement.
Indeed, I was born guilty,
   a sinner when my mother conceived me.

You desire truth in the inward being;
   therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.
Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
   wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Let me hear joy and gladness;
   let the bones that you have crushed rejoice.
Hide your face from my sins,
   and blot out all my iniquities.

Create in me a clean heart, O God,
   and put a new and right spirit within me.

I am writing this the day after James Coddington was executed in Oklahoma. He killed a friend after going on a rampage of stealing from stores to buy drugs. He had served 15 years in prison for the crime and had become a changed man. He peacefully accepted his death by human hands not by God’s timing.

Psalm 51 is one of my favorites. I usually do not quote the headings added by the publisher of the Bible cited below that I copy for these postings. I quoted it today because it describes why David prayed the prayer. His affair with Bathsheba had caught up with him. I take to heart Romans 3:23 since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. It reminds us of our need to maintain a close and meaningful relationship with God. I also do not believe any human has been given the right to pronounce final judgment on anyone. God always leaves open the opportunity for forgiveness and restoration. Humans should too.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us for not loving our neighbors by granting them the time to live that allows them to seek God’s forgiveness however long it might take until God decides their time to die. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.