Ash Wednesday Reflection on Psalm 51

Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness:

according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.

Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.

For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.

 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight:

 that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest,

and be clear when thou judgest.

 

Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

 Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts:

and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean:

wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Make me to hear joy and gladness;

that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.

Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.

Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.

Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.

 

Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.

Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation:

and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.

O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.

 For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart,

O God, thou wilt not despise.

Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem.

Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness,

with burnt offering and whole burnt offering:

then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.

 

In entering the Lenten season, it is appropriate to remember that not only are we dust and to dust we shall return, but the reason why this is so:  our fallen nature, and our sinfulness that reaches to our very bones.  Death pursues all people and it is the common fate of everyone who enters the world, because everyone who enters the world was brought forth in sin from their mother’s womb.  We are a fallen race without the power to save ourselves, and any pretentions to the contrary are met with the solemnity of the grave.

 

It is, however, this realization that leads all people back to the prayers of the Psalmist, that God would in His tender mercies blot out our transgressions.  It is not a cheap appeal to avoid the consequences of evil, but a heartfelt yearning to be restored in a way only God can accomplish.  There is no power in men to achieve eternal life on their own, nor to absolve themselves of guilt through clever psychology, philosophy, or politics.  Our guilt is our own, and thus salvation must come to us from our Maker, apart from our own merit or worthiness.  To know ourselves as God knows us, that we were made for far greater things than the darkness we have brought upon ourselves, is to return to the Lord our God in faith and humility to receive His mercy and grace.

 

And what is to come of such grace received in humble faith, but the creation of a clean heart and a renewed spirit?  There in the knowledge of ourselves before the Law and the yielding of our will before the Word of God, is the majesty of our Savior’s Gospel.  For there is no soul ever born under the judgment of death, for whom the Son of God has not suffered and died so that they might live with Him forever.  His Word and Spirit pour forth in a life-giving flood upon all who trust in Him, giving them a new birth from above so that they will never be cast away from their Savior’s presence, and His Holy Spirit will never be taken away from them.  This is the restoration of salvation offered freely to every soul by the crucified and risen Jesus, that they might always be upheld by His freely given Spirit.

 

Such restoration and life cannot but shout forth the glories of their Savior, to declare to all who are lost in the darkness where light and life are to be found.  Those who transgress the Law and wonder at their calamity are taught where hope flows freely, where death is overcome, and where true righteousness blossoms forever.  Those who are saved by grace through faith in Christ alone, take up His Word as a sword of light to cleave the darkness, and lead others to the blessedness of forgiveness they have found… or rather, the blessedness of Christ which has found them.

 

It is God’s good pleasure to do good for His people, as He has not withheld even His own Son for our sakes.  In Jesus our sacrifices of vocation and duty are accepted, because they are wrapped in His righteousness.  While there is nothing we could offer for the forgiveness of our sins, God has offered Himself in our place, that we might never need fear sin, death, hell, nor the devil ever again.  We are restored in Jesus, that we might live in Jesus, and declare Jesus as Savior to all.  Soli Deo Gloria!  Amen.