We are here to help people love and worship God. We aim to be, and encourage others to become, committed and active disciples of Jesus,
who love God and worship him, who know the power of the Holy Spirit and who show God’s love in every part of their lives.
Psalm 51:1-13
Have mercy on me, O God, in your great goodness;
according to the abundance of your compassion
blot out my offences.
Wash me thoroughly from my wickedness
and cleanse me from my sin.
For I acknowledge my faults
and my sin is ever before me.
Against you only have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
So that you are justified in your sentence
and righteous in your judgement.
I have been wicked even from my birth,
a sinner when my mother conceived me.
Behold, you desire truth deep within me
and shall make me understand wisdom
in the depths of my heart.
Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean;
wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.
Make me hear of joy and gladness,
that the bones you have broken may rejoice.
Turn your face from my sins
and blot out all my misdeeds.
Make me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from your presence
and take not your holy spirit from me.
Give me again the joy of your salvation
and sustain me with your gracious spirit.
Psalm 51 is one of the great penitential psalms. It is a cry for mercy that is said to originate with King David when challenged by the prophet Nathan for his adultery and plotting the death of the husband of Bathsheba. This Psalm forms part of the prayers of Ash Wednesday.
What always strikes me in this prayer is that there is no attempt to make excuses, there is no evasion of responsibility, no extenuating circumstances are offered. It is a simple confession of guilt.
It was C.S. Lewis who wrote that too often, when we think we are confessing our sins to God, what we are in fact doing is offering Him excuses. If there are any excuses God already knows them, Lewis reminds us.
We can approach God asking simply for mercy because God is a God who forgives. We do not need to make excuses. Instead we simply and honestly confess to God, knowing that on the Cross Christ has already died for our sins. God is a God of mercy and forgiveness and of new life.
On Ash Wednesday we have the cross imposed on our foreheads as a sign of our repentance and also as a sign of the mercy of God upon which we depend.
The cross of Christ tells us that there is no sin, no mistake, that cannot be forgiven and healed. It tells us that no one is beyond the reach of God’s mercy. And so, because of Christ, we can approach the throne of grace with confidence, not in our own righteousness but in God’s great mercy and love.
May Christ be with you this Lent.
Amen.
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