Promise 113: A Clean Heart

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Psalm 51

New Living Translation

  For the choir director: A psalm of David, regarding the time Nathan the prophet came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.

1 Have mercy on me, O God,     because of your unfailing love. Because of your great compassion,     blot out the stain of my sins. 2 Wash me clean from my guilt.     Purify me from my sin. 3 For I recognize my rebellion;     it haunts me day and night. 4 Against you, and you alone, have I sinned;     I have done what is evil in your sight. You will be proved right in what you say,     and your judgment against me is just.[a] 5 For I was born a sinner—     yes, from the moment my mother conceived me. 6 But you desire honesty from the womb,[b]     teaching me wisdom even there.

7 Purify me from my sins,[c] and I will be clean;     wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 8 Oh, give me back my joy again;     you have broken me—     now let me rejoice. 9 Don’t keep looking at my sins.     Remove the stain of my guilt. 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God.     Renew a loyal spirit within me. 11 Do not banish me from your presence,     and don’t take your Holy Spirit[d] from me.

12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,     and make me willing to obey you. 13 Then I will teach your ways to rebels,     and they will return to you. 14 Forgive me for shedding blood, O God who saves;     then I will joyfully sing of your forgiveness. 15 Unseal my lips, O Lord,     that my mouth may praise you.

16 You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one.     You do not want a burnt offering. 17 The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit.     You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God. 18 Look with favor on Zion and help her;     rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. 19 Then you will be pleased with sacrifices offered in the right spirit—     with burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings.     Then bulls will again be sacrificed on your altar.

 

 

Psalm 51

The Message

51 1-3 Generous in love—God, give grace!     Huge in mercy—wipe out my bad record. Scrub away my guilt,     soak out my sins in your laundry. I know how bad I’ve been;     my sins are staring me down.

4-6 You’re the One I’ve violated, and you’ve seen     it all, seen the full extent of my evil. You have all the facts before you;     whatever you decide about me is fair. I’ve been out of step with you for a long time,     in the wrong since before I was born. What you’re after is truth from the inside out.     Enter me, then; conceive a new, true life.

7-15 Soak me in your laundry and I’ll come out clean,     scrub me and I’ll have a snow-white life. Tune me in to foot-tapping songs,     set these once-broken bones to dancing. Don’t look too close for blemishes,     give me a clean bill of health. God, make a fresh start in me,     shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life. Don’t throw me out with the trash,     or fail to breathe holiness in me. Bring me back from gray exile,     put a fresh wind in my sails! Give me a job teaching rebels your ways     so the lost can find their way home. Commute my death sentence, God, my salvation God,     and I’ll sing anthems to your life-giving ways. Unbutton my lips, dear God;     I’ll let loose with your praise.

16-17 Going through the m