Psalm 51

Some of you know that one of my biblical heroes is David.  The shepherd boy who slayed the giant.  The boy who became a king.  The king who became a sinner of outrageous magnitude.  And the sinner who became known as "a man after God's own heart."  No other Psalm speaks to me in quite the same way as this Psalm of David, shared here from The Message. I hope it will give you the same feelings of forgiveness, hope and the glory of God that it gives me every time I read it.  Enjoy, and have a blessed day.

Psalm 51

 1-3Generous in love—God, give grace! Huge in mercy—wipe out my bad record. 
   Scrub away my guilt, 
      soak out my sins in your laundry. 
   I know how bad I've been; 
      my sins are staring me down. 

 4-6 You're the One I've violated, and you've seen 
      it all, seen the full extent of my evil. 
   You have all the facts before you; 
      whatever you decide about me is fair. 
   I've been out of step with you for a long time, 
      in the wrong since before I was born. 
   What you're after is truth from the inside out. 
      Enter me, then; conceive a new, true life. 

 7-15 Soak me in your laundry and I'll come out clean, 
      scrub me and I'll have a snow-white life. 
   Tune me in to foot-tapping songs, 
      set these once-broken bones to dancing. 
   Don't look too close for blemishes, 
      give me a clean bill of health. 
   God, make a fresh start in me, 
      shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life. 
   Don't throw me out with the trash, 
      or fail to breathe holiness in me. 
   Bring me back from gray exile, 
      put a fresh wind in my sails! 
   Give me a job teaching rebels your ways 
      so the lost can find their way home. 
   Commute my death sentence, God, my salvation God, 
      and I'll sing anthems to your life-giving ways. 
   Unbutton my lips, dear God; 
      I'll let loose with your praise. 

 16-17 Going through the motions doesn't please you, 
      a flawless performance is nothing to you. 
   I learned God-worship 
      when my pride was shattered. 
   Heart-shattered lives ready for love 
      don't for a moment escape God's notice. 

 18-19 Make Zion the place you delight in, 
      repair Jerusalem's broken-down walls. 
   Then you'll get real worship from us, 
      acts of worship small and large, 
   Including all the bulls 
      they can heave onto your altar!

Because of Jesus,