A Broken and Contrite Heart: Psalm 51-Supplication through the Scripture
A Broken and Contrite Heart
Psalm 51
“And he went out and wept bitterly”(Luke 22:62).
These words follow Peter’s realization of the fulfillment of Jesus’ words concerning his denial. Words that Peter vehemently declared would never happen. Just hours earlier as they sat around the Passover table, Jesus told His disciples that one of them would betray Him. And not only would one of them betray Him, but Jesus turned to Peter and told him that before the rooster crowed two times, Peter himself would deny Christ three times. Satan had asked to sift him as wheat, and the Lord had given permission.
That night Peter came face to face with the reality of his own frailty. Though he desired steadfast faithfulness to the Lord, and though he loved Jesus, his own flesh was weak. But this humbling which caused bitter weeping would be used by the Lord to strengthen the brethren. The Lord used it in order that Peter might warn those of the dispersion as well as us, “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world” (1 Peter 5:8-9).
David also felt this bitter sorrow. After David is confronted by Nathan for his sin with Bathsheba and the murdering of her husband, Uriah, he pens the personal lament of Psalm 51. Reading through Psalm 51, you can feel the intensity with which David cries out to God for cleansing, washing, forgiveness of sin. He recognizes that he desperately needs God to change him, not just in his behavior, but in his very heart. He knows God delights in truth in the inward being (51:6). He cries, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me” (51:10). He knows that God will not despise a broken and contrite heart (51:17). The cleansing and renewal David seeks results in praise.
What sin has caused you bitter weeping? What iniquity is always right there ready to trip you up? What sin makes you cry out, “Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?”(Romans 7:24) As you pray through the guide, wherever you see a blank, insert that specific sin, humbly confessing that sin and looking to God for forgiveness, cleansing, and the power to walk in obedience to Him.
Wash Me Thoroughly!
51:1-4 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.
Lord, I pray:
▫️Have mercy and compassion toward me this day, O God, according to Your faithful, covenant love and blot out my sin of ________.
▫️Wash me thoroughly from ______ in my inmost being and completely cleanse me from _______. I hate this sin and it grieves me to sin against You in this way!
▫️I know I have sinned against You by ______ and this is evil in Your sight, please renew the sense of awe in Your abundant grace and mercy which You have given me in Christ Jesus.
▫️In Your kindness and love, You have saved me, not on the basis of deeds which I have done, but according to Your mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom You have poured out richly on me, and I have been justified by grace and made an heir according to the hope of eternal life (Titus 3:4-7).
Whiter Than Snow
51:5-9 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. 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.
Lord, I pray:
▫️You delight in truth in my inward being, so cleanse me by Your Word from ______ and teach me Your wisdom in the secret places of my heart so that I can fight against _______. Help me to be aware of this sin and my conscience pricked so as to put this sin to death.
▫️Purge me from _______ and I shall be clean; wash me from _______ and I shall be whiter than snow. Though my sins are as scarlet, they will be white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool (Isaiah 1:18).
▫️Instead of guilt, grief, agony, despair, anger and frustration over ______, let me hear joy and gladness again; and let the bones which You have broken rejoice because You have forgiven and cleansed me.
▫️In Your compassion, blot out my sin of _____, and remove it from me as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12).
Clean Heart and Right Spirit
51:10-13 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. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you.
Lord, I pray:
▫️I need Your power at work in me to create in me a clean heart, O God! I cannot change my heart by my own willpower. What I hate, that I do; and this sin of ______ is what I have been clinging to for too long.
▫️Renew a right spirit in me. A spirit that loves the things You love and hates the things You hate. A spirit that is walking in step with Your Spirit and evidencing the fruit of Your Holy Spirit.
▫️Cast me not away from Your presence because of my ______, and take not Your Holy Spirit from me. In Christ I am Yours forever. Nothing can snatch me out of Your hand, and there is no condemnation for me because I am in Christ Jesus. He paid the debt I owed by His death on the cross, even the debt for my _______.
▫️Restore to be the joy of Your salvation and the light of Your presence. Uphold me with a willing spirit. I need Your help to continue to fight against this sin and to not give in or give up.
▫️Use me, Lord, to teach others Your ways and point others back to You so that they will forsake their own sin and return to You.
Broken and Contrite
51:14-17 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
Lord, I pray:
▫️Make me sorrowful about my _________ to the point of repentance, according to the will of God, without regret, producing in me an earnestness and zeal for what is right (2 Corinthians 7:9-11).
▫️My mourning over this sin would lead to dancing because of Your mercy and forgiveness, and my mouth and my lips would declare Your praise.
▫️I would truly have a broken and contrite heart over my sin, for You will not despise a broken and contrite heart.
Do Good
51:18-19 Do good to Zion in your good pleasure; build up the walls of Jerusalem; then will you delight in right sacrifices, in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on your altar.
Lord, I pray:
▫️You would do good to me in Your good pleasure, and not only to me, but to those in my family, my church, and my community.
▫️Together, as one people, we would be built up in Your ways and in Your truth. As a little leaven leavens the whole lump, so a little sinfulness can affect a whole group. Help us all to acknowledge and turn from our sins and offer right sacrifices to You.
May the Lord do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, for His glory and our good. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Photo credit to tompumford
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