Lent Week 6 - Day 38

TODAY'S BIBLE PASSAGES
Exodus 28; Psalm 50:14-23; Matthew 22-24
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SUGGESTED FAST: SHOPPING FOR NON-ESSENTIALS
Consider fasting from shopping for anything that is not absolutely necessary this week. Reflect on the ways that God has provided for your every need. You could choose to start a list of God’s provision in your life, spend time praying for God to help you remember that He is your ultimate sustainer and giver of life or find small ways to be generous toward others in gratitude for what the Lord has given to you.
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PASSAGE: PSALM 51:7–12
Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice. Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.
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DEVOTIONAL
The picture of repentance that David lays out in Psalm 51 is a joyful return to the loving arms of his Savior. It doesn’t mean everything was perfect; in fact, the consequences of his sin were plain to see. Having lustfully desired another man’s wife, he takes her for himself and has her husband killed. David’s heart was in need of some serious cleansing! Recognizing the drastic nature of his sin, he cries out to God for healing and restoration. He recognizes that his sin is an affront against God and His holiness and that he needs God’s forgiveness and grace to change. Above all, he asks God to restore to him the joy of salvation granted by God alone. Salvation was not something earned, but something granted, and in David’s repentant state, he needed to be reminded of God’s gracious gift.
This needs to be our attitude in the midst of repentance. We need to be constantly reminded of the gracious salvation given by a merciful God. Our sin does not deny God’s favor for those who are in Christ, but it does lead us to forget it. Within our posture of repentance, we can ask God to lift us up with a willing spirit, which is another way of asking for a renewed spirit to do God’s will. We may have moments where we quench the Spirit (1 Thess. 5:19), temporarily losing our joy for God. While this doesn’t deny the reality of His indwelling Spirit, it does mean we need to ask the Lord for a restoration of joy. Like David, may we ask the Lord to renew our joy and the recognition of His presence in our life. He is faithful to forgive and to restore us!
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REFLECTION
How would you describe the relationship between repentance and joy?

When David is asking God to “purge me with hyssop” and “wash me,” what theological truth is he affirming about the character of God?

Is there any area of your life that needs restoration? Take a moment to lay that before the Lord in prayer.
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SONG: “Great Is Thy Faithfulness”
Great is Thy faithfulness O God my Father
There is no shadow of turning with Thee
Thou changest not, Thy compassions they fail not
As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be

Great is Thy faithfulness, great is Thy faithfulness
Morning by morning new mercies I see
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided
Great is Thy faithfulness Lord unto me

Summer and winter and springtime and harvest
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow
Blessings all mine with ten thousand beside
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PRAYER
God of mercy, you sent Jesus Christ to seek and save the lost. We confess that we have strayed from you and turned aside from your way. We are misled by pride, for we see ourselves pure when we are stained, and great when we are small. We have failed in love, neglected justice, and ignored your truth. Have mercy, O God, and forgive our sin. Return us to paths of righteousness through Jesus Christ, our Savior. –Book of Common Worship


Lent Guide Courtesy of The Village Church