Ash Wednesday

Jann Martin February 6, 2008

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Psalm 51: 1-12

Bible Lesson

¹ Have mercy upon me, O God,
   According to Your loving-kindness;
   According to the multitude of Your tender mercies,
   Blot out my transgressions.
² Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
   And cleanse me from my sin.
³ For I acknowledge my transgressions,
   And my sin is always before me.
⁴ Against You, You only, have I sinned,
   And done this evil in Your sight -
   That You may be found just when You speak,
   And blameless when You judge.
⁵ Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
   And in sin my mother conceived me.
⁶ Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts,
   And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.
⁷ Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
   Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
⁸ Make me hear joy and gladness,
   That the bones You have broken may rejoice.
⁹ Hide Your face from my sins,
   And blot out all my iniquities.
¹⁰ Create in me a clean heart, O God,
   And renew a steadfast 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 uphold me by Your generous Spirit.(1)

This is the Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to You, O Christ.

This is a Psalm of David. It is written after the prophet Nathan confronts David about his relations with Bathsheba. In 2 Samuel 12:1-14 Nathan came to King David with a story about a rich man and a poor man. The rich man had a large number of sheep and cattle, while the poor man had only one little lamb. When the rich man needed a lamb to prepare a feast for a visitor he took the poor man's lamb. David told Nathan that the rich man should be punished for taking the poor man's lamb. Then Nathan told David that this story was about him taking a soldiers wife, Bathsheba, while the soldier, Uriah was away fighting for David's kingdom. Later while Uriah was in a battle, David had him killed so he could have Bathsheba for himself. Then Nathan told David that the Lord was unhappy with him and that there would be calamity in his home. The child that was conceived with Bathsheba became ill and died.

When David wrote this Psalm he was making a plea with God for mercy, forgiveness and cleansing. Since David repented of all his wrongs, God forgave him. In verses 1-2 David is asking for his sins to be taken away. We each also need to ask God for forgiveness of our sins. In verses 3-4 he admits he has sinned against God by doing what is evil in God's sight. Unfortunately, we too have done evil in the sight of God and need to work at changing our ways. Then in verses 5-6 he speaks in reference to the sin we all have from birth. Our sin as a baby is that we are only concerned with our own wants and needs.

Then in verse 7 he is asking to be cleansed with hyssop. The hyssop branches were used in Egypt by the Israelites to put the blood of the lamb on the doorframe. This blood was to show the angel of death where God's people were so that they would not kill their first born. Being able to finally be free from Egypt and slavery was a reward for this act of faith by the people. This is now celebrated as the Passover. David references this as a way he too can be cleansed and free from his sins.

We have used verses 10-12 in worship asking God to cleanse us from our sins. To help us to be restored to His presence and have our sins washed away. Sometimes our sins can make us feel that we are separated from God. We only need to repent and ask for forgiveness and He will make us clean. The poem "Footprints in the Sand" by Mary Stevenson is a good visual of the fact that we are never really separated from God.

One night a man had a dream. He dreamed he was walking along the beach with the Lord. Across the sky flashed scenes from his life. For each scene, he noticed two sets of footprints in the sand: one belonging to him, and the other to the Lord. When the last scene of his life flashed before him, he looked back at the footprints in the sand. He noticed that many times along the path of his life there was only one set of footprints. He also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times in his life. This really bothered him and he questioned the Lord about it. "Lord, You said that once I decided to follow you, You'd walk with me all the way. But I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life, there is only one set of footprints. I don't understand why when I needed you most you would leave me." The Lord replied, "My son, my precious child, I love you and I would never leave you. During your times of trial and suffering, when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you."

Amen

©Jann Martin 2008