Confession

Have mercy upon me, O God.
According to Your loving kindness;
According to the multitude of Your tender mercies,
blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin.

For i acknowledge my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.
Against You, and You only, have i sinned,
and done this evil in Your sight
that You may be found just when You speak,
and blameless when You judge.

Behold, i was brought forth in iniquity,
and in sin my mother conceived me.
Behold, You desire truth in inward parts,
and in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.

Purge me with hyssop, and i shall be clean;
wash me and i shall be whiter than snow.
Make me hear joy and gladness,
that the bones You have broken may rejoice.
Hide Your face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.

Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from Your presence,
and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,
and uphold me by Your generous Spirit.
Then i will teach transgressors Your ways,
and sinners shall be converted to You.

Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
The God of my salvation.
And my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness.
O Lord, open my lips
and my mouth shall show forth Your praise.
For You do not desire sacrifice, or i would give it;
You do not delight in burnt offering.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,
a broken and a contrite heart
These, O God, You will not despise.

Do good in Your good pleasure to Zion;
build the walls of Jerusalem.
Then You shall be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness,
with burnt offering and whole burnt offering;
then they shall offer bulls on Your altar.
-Psalm 51

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What a day. What a weekend. i needed those words so badly tonight.
The Word of God is the same, yesterday, today and forever.
If you do not know the Word of God, or if you are unsure whether or not what i just wrote is true, let me tell you something. i read the Bible, i follow what it says, but i also sin. And when i sin, i feel sad, i feel ashamed, i feel regretful. i wish i hadn’t. Sometimes, i can just talk to God, and tell Him how i feel, what i’m thinking, how sorry i am, apologize and turn away from what i’ve done. But other times, there is just so much ugliness, the burden is so heavy, i want to know that i’m not the only one in the whole world, or even in all of time that has ever felt that way. So i go to the Bible, and lo and behold, here the Psalmist shares my feelings. Words so eloquent, thoughts so raw, i am comforted and reminded that God is Just, but He is also Merciful. While i am not done with this (i might be working on it for a while), i am on the right track, and i know because i now have something in my heart that isn’t so ugly!