Psalm 51 (Day 16): All

On this Monday morning, I am blown away by the speed of time -- it has already been sixteen (16) days since I began my 50 days of waiting for Pentecost Sunday (June 8). On that day, I will commemorate the day the Holy Spirit of the living God came to and rested upon individual followers of Christ. 

What an exciting season!

To aid my mind while waiting, I have been meditating upon David's penitential psalm. And, for several days now, I have been reflecting on verse 2 of Psalm 51, which reads,

"Wash away all my iniquity

and cleanse me from my sin."

God has graciously led you and me, dear fellow traveler, through the concept of washing -- involving water (God's Word), soap (Christ's blood), and friction (life's trials).

Today, we broach a new topic -- "all".

The above tiny three-letter word is no small thing. It refers to the wholeness, the fullness, the totality, the entirety, the completeness, the unreservedness of someone or something.

"All" is a predeterminer in language. It is employed to emphasize the commitment of the first thought to the second thought, or to underscore the pledge of the giver to the receiver.

In King David's case, we have already learned enough to grasp how eagerly he desired to be washed by God. This word -- "all" -- further depicts his commitment to surrender the totality of his request to God. 

Here, David is not asking for a short little rinse. He is asking for deep cleaning, intense scrubbing, total disinfecting; he is asking for a complete wash. He is pledging to God his unreserved acquiescence to whatever the Lord may choose to do in order to get the job done.

I wonder . . .

How often do I do just the opposite?

How often do I attempt to rinse off the first layers of my dirty self before approaching the throne of grace, as if God could not handle the job on His own? How often do I slap the Father's face with my insolent stinginess in this area when what He is after is my total surrender of control? How often do I say "all" when what I really mean "Lord, I will do most of it and when I am ready I'll let You take care of the leftovers"?

Gratefully, I have a God who does not wait for me to initiate. He Himself initiated the process of "all" by creating me, by seeking me out, by revealing Himself to me, by wooing me, by sacrificially giving Himself to me, by pledging His eternal commitment to me, by promising His unreserved love to me, and by completing the fullness of the washing I need in Christ's utterance "It is finished!"

"My sin -- O the bliss of this glorious thought:

My sin, not in part, but the whole

Is nailed to the Cross and I bear it no more,

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!"

Extracted from It Is Well with My Soul by Horatio Spafford