Lenten Meditation: March 25, 2024
Daily Scripture Passage: Psalm 51:1-18
A broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise — Psalm 51:17
David has reached rock-bottom, faced with the consequences of his actions which have led to adultery and death. He knows where he came from—plucked from obscurity, not meriting kingship but receiving the anointing. Somewhere along the way, he gets lost.
This is a song of lamentation, poured from the soul of a man who sees clearly how he has fallen short. Almost half of the psalms are psalms of lamentation. They are songs which often start with a blunt outpouring of feelings about the present reality. They finish with praise.
True praise is that which has trod the path of lamentation. It is true praise because it is rooted in reality, because it has not been afraid to acknowledge the situation as it is and how it feels to be in it.
“Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow” (51:6). True praise confronts my brokenness and misery and chooses to acknowledge that God is still at work.
“Restore to me the joy of your salvation” (51:12). True worship recognizes that I am not my own source; it recognizes that something is lost and only God can restore it.
“A broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise” (51:16-17). True offering weighs my faults and beauty and humbly extends my hands to the One who still says, ‘come.’
David was lost and is found by the Almighty and All-Gentle—and this will be the pattern for the rest of his life. Our current reality, however broken or lost, is the first step of the journey through lamentation to true encounter with our God who saves.