Lent 5 | Psalm 51 (with Nick Locke)

Opening Song:
Create in Me (Psalm 51) by Paul Zach

Lyrics:
Create in me
A clean heart oh Lord
Create in me
A clean heart oh Lord

Against you only I’ve sinned
Done evil in your side
But you’ve shown me what I’ve done
With mercy in your eyes
Then wash my shame and guilty way
My wearies all renew
From all my sin into your face
Let me turn to you

Create in me
A clean heart oh Lord
Create in me
A clean heart oh Lord

So I will give you what you asked
A humble broken heart
A spirit burning down to ash
With a flame oh God
Then ask will be your mercy Lord
Transforming all of me
To every act and every way
Your love and glories speaks

Create in me
A clean heart oh Lord (Create in me a clean heart oh Lord)
Create in me
A clean heart oh Lord (Create in me a clean heart oh Lord)

Have mercy on me
According to your endless love
Have mercy on me
According to your endless love
Oh have mercy on me
According to your endless love
Have mercy on me
According to your endless love
According to your endless love
According to your endless love

Passage:
1 Be gracious to me, God,
according to your faithful love;
according to your abundant compassion,
blot out my rebellion.
2 Completely wash away my guilt
and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I am conscious of my rebellion,
and my sin is always before me.
4 Against you ​— ​you alone ​— ​I have sinned
and done this evil in your sight.
So you are right when you pass sentence;
you are blameless when you judge.
5 Indeed, I was guilty when I was born;
I was sinful when my mother conceived me.
6 Surely you desire integrity in the inner self,
and you teach me wisdom deep within.
7 Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
9 Turn your face away from my sins
and blot out all my guilt.
10 God, create a clean heart for me
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not banish me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore the joy of your salvation to me,
and sustain me by giving me a willing spirit.
13 Then I will teach the rebellious your ways,
and sinners will return to you.
14 Save me from the guilt of bloodshed, God —
God of my salvation —
and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.
15 Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 You do not want a sacrifice, or I would give it;
you are not pleased with a burnt offering.
17 The sacrifice pleasing to God is a broken spirit.
You will not despise a broken and humbled heart, God.
18 In your good pleasure, cause Zion to prosper;
build the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then you will delight in righteous sacrifices,
whole burnt offerings;
then bulls will be offered on your altar.
-- Psalms 51:1-19(CSB)

Musical Reflection:
It Is Well With My Soul (VILLE DU HAVRE) by Philip Bliss

Reflection Notes:
A hymn born in tragedy, “It is Well” was penned by Horatio Spafford after hearing that his daughters had all perished in a shipwreck. Through this devastation, Spafford and his wife clung to the promise of God’s goodness. Spafford’s immortal words were set to music by his good friend and hymn writer, Philip Bliss; Bliss titled the tune “Ville du Havre” after the ship on which Spafford’s children had died.

Prayer:
Hear, Lord, my prayer; let not my soul faint under your discipline, nor let me faint in confessing unto you all your mercies, whereby you have drawn me out of all my most evil ways, that you might become a delight to me above all the allurements that I once pursued; that I may most entirely love you, and clasp your hand with all my affections, and you may yet rescue me from every temptation, even unto the end.
-Augustine