Psalm 51 (Day 45): Thank You

Today, having been on this journey of waiting for 45 days, it is hard to believe that I am finally to the point of pondering the last verse of this penitential prayer of David.

Praise the name of Jesus!

Before we do so, let us humbly read the psalm heading and the first 18 verses:

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.

O Lord, open my lips,

and my mouth will declare Your praise.
You do not delight in sacrifice,
or I would bring it;
You do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart,
O God, You will not despise.

May it please You to prosper Zion,

to build up the walls of Jerusalem."

Ps 51:1-18, NIV

And now, verse 19 reads,

"Then You will delight 

in the sacrifices of the righteous,

in burnt offerings offered whole;

then bulls will be offered on Your altar."

So much has already been revealed through the previous eighteen verses. Yet, as I begin to pray through verse 19, I am blown away by all that is stored herein. This verse is packed with much fodder for thought, rejoicing, and spiritual nourishment. God's grace is such that the Holy Spirit is patiently decelerating me in order to guide my heart to digest with care and gratitude the myriad truths reserved for anyone with ears to listen to His voice.

Hence, like Habakkuk, for the remainder of these 50 days I will continue to "stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts [of prayer and meditation]; I will look to see what He will say to me [to convict and correct me], and what answer I am to give" (Hab 2:1, NIV).



Lord, thank You so very much for this psalm. Thank You for Your gracious teaching through it, through David, through Nathan, through Bathsheba, through Uriah, through the Israelites, and through Your bride--the church. 

Thank You that, through Christ, You do indeed delight in the sacrifices of the righteous--not that we are righteous, but because Christ has given us His own righteousness. Thank You for the Holy Spirit who enables us, wicked sinners, to offer our worship to You with genuine repentance--a sine qua non element of any offering deemed pleasing and acceptable in Your sight. 

Thank You for Your pure altar, Your throne of grace that continues to invite us to draw nearer and nearer to You. And so, Father, strengthen both our faith and our faithfulness, our dependence on You and our dependability as we continue to learn from Your gracious teaching day by day. We pray all of this in the name of Jesus. Amen!