You Desire Truth, Teach Me Wisdom: Psalm 51:1-12
Psalm 51:1-12
1Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
2Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin.
3For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
4Against you, you alone, have I sinned,
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are justified in your sentence
and blameless when you pass judgment.
5Indeed, I was born guilty,
a sinner when my mother conceived me.
6You desire truth in the inward being;
therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.
7Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones that you have crushed rejoice.
9Hide your face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.
10Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and put a new and right spirit within me.
11Do not cast me away from your presence,
and do not take your holy spirit from me.
12Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and sustain in me a willing spirit.
- Light a candle to remember Christ’s presence with you.
- Sit five to fifteen minutes in silent meditation paying close attention to the deep breath.
- As you breathe, consider how you desire God to cleanse you today.
- Be honest and humbly bring before God the way you have stumbled.
- Find an image that represents this and imagine taking this out of your body and placing it between you and God.
- Allow God to wash the image, blot out the iniquity and make it new and right.
- Watch God lovingly clean the image.
- Allow God to place the image in your heart.
- What restoration do you feel?
- Allow God to lovingly gaze upon you.
- What forgiveness do you feel?
- Allow God to renew a new right spirit within you.
- Do you need to let go of something to make room for this which God has to give you?
- Take note of the place in your body where God renews the right spirit within you so that you may call upon it when you need strength.
- What wisdom does God have to share with your secret heart today?
- Write this wisdom on your heart. Carry this wisdom in your day. Dream of this wisdom in your night. Share this wisdom when you are called upon.
- Give thanks to God for this time in prayer and for any new insights you have received.
- Share as you feel led in the reply box below.
Revised Common Lectionary Readings for Sunday, August 1, 2021, the Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)
2 Samuel 11:1-15
Psalm 51:1-12
Ephesians 4:1-16
John 6:24-35
If you use these prayers in other groups, please give credit to author. Permission to use in not-for-profit settings. (c) 2021 The Rev. Dr. Lil Smith, DASD
Rev. Dr. Lil Smith is a trained spiritual director, supervisor, and co-founder of Retreat House Spirituality Center in Richardson, TX. Upon completion of her spiritual direction training, Lil began Praying the Lectionary in 2011 as a spiritual practice for her morning prayer time. Instead of reading about someone else’s experience of God, it was important for her to create a prayer practice that would encourage felt sense experience of the Holy emerging from within. It dawned on her others might enjoy the practice, as well. So she began to share them on this site.
As you experience the practice of Praying the Lectionary, adopt a loving, caring, and compassionate stance. If the end of your prayer and meditation time is not pointing to love and hope, there is more work to do. Keep wrestling. God is faithful to your journey. Love and hope will emerge. Be gentle with yourself and befriend any judgment that arises in you.
