Daily Bread

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.
For you desire no sacrifice, else I would give it;
you take no delight in burnt offerings.
The sacrifice of God is a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

Psalm 51 has always held a special place in my heart. It is the Psalm I recite and make my own when I have messed up and want to lay myself open to God. The words resonate deeply with my own feelings of desperation and my need for both restitution and reconciliation.

The Psalmist echoes the words of the prophet Hosea, verses also spoken by Jesus, "For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings." (Hosea 6.6) These words are a reminder that there is nothing I can do to atone for my sins. There is nothing I can do to recompense for my misdoings, and all I can do is fall at God's feet and beg for mercy.

Thankfully the way of God is not the way of the world. The Psalmist is right though, that God is justified in sentencing us and judging us, only that the sentence and judgment has taken place at God's own hand, through the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus.

When I reflect on my own sinfulness and God's great mercy, all I can do is wonder at God's infinite love and respond by offering my own life in return, for it is all I have to give.

In my darkest moments, as I kneel before the goodness and compassion of God, there was never a truer word than these penned by singer-songwriter Matt Redman:

Jesus, what can I give, what can I bring
to so faithful a friend, to so loving a King?
Saviour, what can be said, what can be sung
as a praise of your name
for the things you have done?
Oh, my words could not tell,
not even in part,
of the debt of love that is owed
by this thankful heart.

Holy God
of infinite compassion and goodness
have mercy on me.
Blot out my offences
and cleanse me from my sin.
When I see the scars
you have borne for all humanity
I can only respond by
falling at your feet and humbly
giving myself to your service.
Have me. Have all of me.
For I am yours
this day and forever.