LHC Midday Word: PSALM Fifty One

For the director of music.

A psalm of David.

When the prophet Nathan came to him

after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.

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 you are right in your verdict

and justified when you judge.

Surely I was sinful at birth,

sinful from the time my mother conceived me.

Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;

you taught me wisdom in that secret place.

Cleanse 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 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,

so that sinners will turn back to you.

Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,

you who are God my Saviour,

and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.

Open my lips, Lord,

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.

My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit;

a broken and contrite heart

you, God, will not despise.

May it please you to prosper Zion,

to build up the walls of Jerusalem.

Then you will delight in the sacrifices of the righteous,

in burnt offerings offered whole;

then bulls will be offered on your altar.

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Word by Word Meditations

by Fred Ursell

Psalm 51: “blot” (vv.1 & 9)

Today’s Psalm is one of the most staggering passages in the Bible. David is consumed by guilt-ridden conscience-racking agony, writing “my sin is ever before me” (v.3). Straightaway he pours out a plea for “mercy” (v.1), crying out to God to “blot out” (vv.1 & 9), “wash” (v.2) and “cleanse” (v.7) his awful stains. Due to his waywardness he knows he has thrown away the erstwhile sense of ‘wellness’ in his soul. He aches for that former close friendship with the Almighty, asking him to “restore … the joy of your salvation” (v.12).

Note: he had lost “the joy” (the result), not “salvation” itself (the source).

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READING

Psalm Fifty One

Read by David Suchet