1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.
4 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 judgment.
5 Indeed, I was born guilty, a sinner when my mother conceived me.
6 You desire truth in the inward being; therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.
7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you.
14 Deliver me from bloodshed, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your deliverance.
15 O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 For you have no delight in sacrifice; if I were to give a burnt offering, you would not be pleased.
17 The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
NOTE:
It's once again Lent, and I've been asked to send out Lenten devotions as I did last year. Feel free to share them with friends. You can subscribe by email/RSS at http://lentendevotions.blogspot.com
It's once again Lent, and I've been asked to send out Lenten devotions as I did last year. Feel free to share them with friends. You can subscribe by email/RSS at http://lentendevotions.blogspot.com
Thoughts:
It's Ash Wednesday: the one day of the church year that we focus exclusively on our brokenness -- on our nothingness -- on our failure to live up to what God created us to be. We allow ourselves to be smeared with ashes as a reminder that we started out as mere ashes, and will end up as nothing but ashes -- and we look inward to confess our sins, and realize that we don't deserve anything more than to be ashes. Don't get depressed about this, there is good news to come -- but today we only long for it....
Today, we break open our hearts and ask God to make them new and clean...
Today, we plead for God to stay with us in our brokenness...
Today, we hope only for God to fill us with righteousness and the strength to help others in our world.
In facing our sin honestly, we begin our journey into Lent with humility and openness to where God will lead us.
Prayer:
Lord, help us to examine ourselves and to put everything before you. Wash out the old muck and fill us with your love, desires, and passion. Use this season of Lent to change us, and draw us closer to you. In Jesus name, AMEN.
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These devotions are courtesy of Lutheran Campus Ministry at George Mason University. Join us for our on-campus Ash Wednesday services tonight in the Johnson Center BISTRO tonight at 7:47pm -- see http://GMU747.org for more information.
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