Psalm 51 (Day 40): Ain't Got Time to Die

Today is day 40 on my 50-day journey.
40 days already?
How did that happen?

40 days ago, I began this process of waiting for Pentecost Sunday (June 8) -- the day on which I will commemorate the coming of the Holy Spirit to individual believers. During this season of 50 days of waiting, I have been blessed to park myself in Psalm 51 as I seek to glean nuggets of wisdom from the Holy Spirit.

I embrace this psalm with gratitude and excitement because it is a precious gift from God. For forty days now, God has been slowly guiding me through this penitential prayer of David. As His Spirit slows me down to read and listen every day, I find myself amazed by the truths He reveals through His Word.

Please join me in prayer as I go to the Word:

Father,

thank You for Your wisdom.

Jesus,

thank You for Your Word.

Holy Spirit,

thank You for Your winsomeness.

Please open my heart, soul, mind, and body

to receive Your truths fully today.

In the precious name of Immanuel, I pray.

Amen!

For the past 39 days, I reflected on the psalm heading and the first 14 verses, reading:

For the director of music. 
A psalm of David.
When the prophet Nathan came to him
after David committed adultery with Bathsheba.

"Have mercy on me, O God,

according to Your unfailing love;

according to Your great compassion

blot out my transgressions.

Wash away all my iniquity

and cleanse me from my sin.

For I know my transgressions

and my sin is always before me.

Against You, You only have I sinned

and done what is evil in Your sight,

so that You are proved right when You speak

and justified when You judge.

Surely I was sinful at birth, 
sinful from the time my mother conceived me.

Surely You desire truth in the inner parts,

You teach me wisdom in the inmost place.
Cleanse me with hyssop and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones You have crushed rejoice.
Hide Your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity.

Create in me a pure heart, O God;

and renew a right spirit within me.

Do not cast me from Your presence

or take Your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of Your salvation

and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me.

Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,

and sinners will turn back to You.
Save me from bloodguilt, O God,
the God who saves me,
and my tongue will sing of Your righteousness."

Ps 51:1-14, NIV

Today, verse 15 leads me to embrace surrender in a brand new way. It reads,

"O Lord, open my lips,

and my mouth will declare Your praise."

The first 14 verses of this wonderful prayer portray David as a man whose previously elevated status received quite a humbling blow -- he sinned royally against God.

David's sin (as was revealed later) engendered severe repercussions that were manifested in broad daylight for all eyes to see. However, before any of that took place, David's own eyes failed to see the grossness of his sin until the prophet of God came to him. 

Any human soul pierced as David's was by Nathan's loving yet convicting words, "You are the man!" (2 Sam 12:7) would resort to speechlessness -- lips locked and mouth shut from shame. Yet God graciously opened David's lips as he humbly uttered, "I have sinned against the Lord" (2 Sam 12:13).

Could it be that you and I need to have our souls pierced today by the Word that is sharper than any double-edged sword? Could it be that our eyes need to see the grossness of sins unacknowledged, unrevealed, unconfessed, and unaddressed? Could it be that we need to rely humbly upon God's grace to send His Word, His Spirit, His messengers, His beautiful creation, and even the cumbersome realities of life's woes to search our hearts and confront us? Could it be that, when confronted, we need not embrace shame but, instead, humbly whisper, "I have sinned against the Lord" just like David? 

It is only then we can approach the throne of grace and genuinely encounter God in worship. It is only then our lips can be unlocked and our mouths opened to declare God's praise. It is only then every part of life -- our walk with God, our identity, our talents, our relationships, our work, our ministry, our consumption, our sexuality, our finances, our everything -- can be transformed by the unmistakable presence and grace of the Lord. It is only then we can join the choir, exulting:

"Lord, I keep so busy praisin' my Jesus

Ain't got time to die

'Cause it takes all of my time to praise my Jesus

all of my time to praise my Lord

If I don't praise Him the rocks gonna cry out

Glory and honor, glory and honor

Ain't got time to die."

-- Traditional Spiritual