Lectio Divina: Restore To Me The Joy (Psalm 51)

Hi,

This is Mark Gladwin,

Also known as Brother Frederick James.

Thank you for joining me today for this Lectio Divina where our reflection and contemplation will be on Psalm 51.

You know,

As somebody who comes from the Protestant arm of the Christian church,

I believe one of the babies that we threw out with the bathwater during the Reformation,

Among other things,

Is the act of confession.

It said that confession is good for the soul.

And it's probably why,

Even in the New Testament,

In James' letter,

He writes,

Therefore,

Confess your sins to one another,

And pray for one another,

That you may be healed.

Confession has an incredibly powerful response.

When we confess,

We're actually allowing ourselves to purge the guilt,

The shame,

And other things that we carry because of the thing that we might have done wrong.

Confessing to somebody else,

However,

Has an incredible power too.

And within the Catholic context,

Keeping in mind that for the Catholic Church,

The priest is representative and symbolic of Christ in the midst of the community.

Confessing your sin to the priest was akin to literally confessing your sin to Christ.

And while for Protestants,

The act is seen as kind of,

Well,

If Jesus is,

If Christ is everywhere,

If Jesus is alive,

Then I can confess my sin on my own and I will still be heard,

Which is very,

Very true.

And sometimes human beings need to feel a response.

And to have someone say back that your sins are forgiven,

And to remind us of that,

To have someone lay their hands on our shoulder and say,

I forgive you and God forgives you too,

Has a very,

Very powerful thing to it.

This is essentially a purge moment so that we can feel clean again.

And just like in the Hebrew Scriptures,

Where God consistently says all the way through,

I do not need your sacrifice.

The fact is that sacrifice was given to the Israelite people because they needed it.

They needed an act in which they could feel contrite.

They needed an act in which they could literally bring their shame and guilt and sorrow for what they'd done before God and seek God's forgiveness in a very physical and tangible way.

Confession is like that.

And if we remember this,

We can see Psalm 51 in a very different light.

It's easy to read it and think that it's all about wallowing in pity and shame.

But it's not like that.

Like sacrifice,

God doesn't need us to repent if we believe that Christ died for all.

Then essentially,

We are all forgiven.

Our sin is taken away already.

But we need confession.

This is why it's good for the soul.

We need the opportunity to lay our confession out from ourselves.

And we need to know that we're forgiven.

This is not just healthy in spirit,

But it's healthy for the body as well.

This is why counseling is so important.

And it's why confession is something we probably should embrace again.

And so today as we contemplate on the words of Psalm 51,

Allow them to wash over you.

And allow the words of David as he doesn't just confess his sin,

But also embraces the other side of that.

The creating me a clean heart,

Oh God,

And renew a right and steadfast spirit within me.

And this is the outcome of your confession.

So my prayer for you today is that as you reflect on this Psalm,

You wouldn't just know the power of confession.

And you wouldn't just identify with David's words that you too carry this guilt and shame.

But you would know that you are forgiven.

That you would know that God's response to David is of course,

I will restore you.

I will allow that spirit to continue to reside in you.

For you are my child,

And you are loved,

And you are forgiven.

And so I invite you to sit and to center yourself for a moment.

To breathe in and out.

And let's begin our contemplation in silence of Psalm 51.

Have mercy on me,

Oh 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.

With 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.

Indeed,

I was born guilty,

A sinner when my mother conceived me.

You desire truth in the inward being,

Therefore teach me wisdom in my 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 crushed rejoice.

Hide your face from my sins,

And blot out all my iniquities.

Meet in me a clean heart,

Oh God,

And put a new and right spirit within me.

Do not cast me away from your presence,

And do not take your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation,

And sustain in me a willing spirit.

Soon I will teach transgressors your ways,

And sinners will return to you.

Deliver me from bloodshed,

Oh God,

Oh God of my salvation,

And my tongue will sing aloud of your deliverance.

Oh Lord,

Open my lips and my mouth will declare your praise.

For you have no delight in sacrifice.

If I were to give a burnt offering,

You would not be pleased.

The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit,

A broken and contrite heart,

Oh God,

You will not despise.

Have mercy on me,

Oh 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 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.

Indeed,

I was born guilty,

A sinner when my mother conceived me.

You desire truth in the inward being,

Therefore teach me wisdom in my 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 crushed rejoice.

Hide your face from my sins,

And blot out all my iniquities.

Create in me a clean heart,

Oh God,

And put a new and right spirit within me.

Do not cast me away from your presence,

And do not take your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation,

And sustain in me a willing spirit.

Then I will teach transgressors your ways,

And sinners will return to you.

Deliver me from bloodshed,

Oh God,

Oh God of my salvation,

And my tongue will sing aloud of your deliverance.

Oh Lord,

Open my lips and my mouth will declare your praise,

For you have no delight in sacrifice.

If I were to give a burnt offering,

You would not be pleased.

The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit,

A broken and contrite heart,

Oh God,

You will not despise.

Have mercy on her,

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 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.

Indeed,

I was born guilty,

A sinner when my mother conceived me.

You desire truth in the inward being,

Therefore teach me wisdom in my 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 crushed rejoice.

Hide your face from my sins,

And blot out all my iniquities.

Create in me a clean heart,

Oh God,

And put a new and right spirit within me.

Do not cast me away from your presence,

And do not take your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation,

And sustain in me a willing spirit.

Then I will teach transgressors your ways,

And sinners will return to you.

Deliver me from bloodshed,

Oh God,

Oh God of my salvation,

And my tongue will sing aloud of your deliverance.

Oh Lord,

Open my lips and my mouth will declare your praise,

For you have no delight in sacrifice.

If I were to give a burnt offering,

You would not be pleased.

The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit,

A broken and contrite heart,

Oh God,

You will not despise.

Gracious God,

As we rise from this time of meditation and contemplation on the scriptures,

And in particular this psalm,

May we rise knowing that we are forgiven.

May we rise knowing that in purging ourselves of the burdens that we carried because of our sin,

That you have filled that space with your love,

With your light,

And with your spirit.

And may we carry that into our day,

Remembering that as we have been forgiven,

We share that forgiveness with others.

As we've received forgiveness from you,

Strengthen us we pray,

That we also might forgive those around us.

Thank you for your presence,

Your everlasting presence,

Your steadfast presence,

Your loving presence.

We go in peace to love and serve the Lord.

In the name of Christ,

Amen.