A Clean Heart

Psalm 51 -- Deuteronomy 6:4-9 -- Psalm 118:21-29

"You shall love the Lord your God will all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might." I love this scripture! And, I love the English language. (I love all languages, actually. I can sit in a room filled with Italians or Russians or the French or Navajos or whatever and simply listen to them speak their languages. It's quite beautiful.) Anyway...I love this scripture for the promise it holds. The word shall means many things. It can be an order, a promise, a requirement, an obligation, a must. It can also be the will to do something or have something take place. But it can also mean something that is inevitable, something that will take place, something that will exist in the future. It is this meaning that gets me excited.

Since Wednesday, we've been looking at our sins. Considering what separates us from our God. David knew what separated him from God. He had just committed a multitude of sins--lust, envy, sexual promiscuity, lies, denial, and murder--to name a few. He begged for mercy. He begged for cleansing. He said, "I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you alone, have I sinned, and done what is evil in your sight." His repentance included sorrow, confession, and a commitment to sin no more. A beautiful model for us. But we don't like to look at our sin. It's uncomfortable. Depressing even. We live in a culture that teaches us not to feel guilty, to only feel good about ourselves. We live in a society with more affluence and yet more depression than any other.

Bishop Sally Dyck said, "...people in our culture need to confess their sins and receive the good news that they are forgiven. We all live in the pressure cooker of expectations and demands, where nothing is ever good enough for us or from us, and where our perfectionism, excuses and need to control take over. Confession and words of assurance bring exquisite relief..." (www.umc.org) The problem is getting to the assurance of forgiveness. We have to face our sin first. We have to confess our sin. It seems the closer I get to God, the more aware of my transgressions I become. And with that, the more filled with thanks I become for God's unending, unexplainable, unbelievable love. And, yet, I do believe.

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. I shall. Someday. Everyday more. Oh what a day it's going to be when I do love my God with all my heart, with all my soul, with all my might. When I can love myself, my desires, my things, my satisfaction...less. I shall. Because I have been given a clean heart. Because a new and right spirit is within me. Because my transgressions have been blotted out. I shall love my God with all my heart, and with all my soul, and with all my might. I shall.

O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. (Psalm 118:29)