A new Heart

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 only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the 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 broken rejoice. Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in 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. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. Deliver me from blood guiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. Do good to Zion in your good pleasure; build up the walls of Jerusalem; then will you delight in right sacrifices, in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on your altar. (Psalm 51 ESV)

Everything we do as a sin is not against another, or even ourselves. It is true that when we sin we can hurt others, and we can hurt ourselves. Usually the hardest person to forgive is ourselves, for the wrongs we have done to ourselves and to others. But the one I think we most forget about in the forgiveness equation is God.

You see God goes everywhere with us, and sees everything we do. He actually walks with us as we do the terrible things we do to sin against ourselves, our friends and most of all our creator! Every thing we do that is sinful is done to God. And there is no escaping this.

I think that is why this passage fro Psalm 51 is a part of our liturgy in the Lutheran denomination and many others. “Create in 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. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.”

O Lord I have strayed so far from you and done terrible things. Create a new heart within me a clean one, one that will love you and do what is right to you and my neighbor. Renew my spirit that I may have a power to move forward in the cleanliness you gave me. Do not cast me away from  you, but stay with me and help me to be upheld by your love and spirit that alone can make me clean…

Allow God to have all the muck, He already knows about. Then walk with Him in a new and wonderful life, upheld by His grace and mercy. Let Him remake your heart, so you can show forth His love!