Devotional for Board Retreat

Psalm 51

Psalm 51:1 NIV

1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.

Why do you think guild is such a powerful emotion?

1 Peter 5:5–7 NIV

5 In the same way, you who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” 6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

Does guilt shine a light on how we have ignored God?

What is the difference between understanding our sins and wallowing in guilt and shame?

Psalm 51:2 NIV

2 Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.

What do you think of when you think of washing?

The word wash literally means to launder.

In this case it refers to treading, kneading, or beating to make the garment clean with lye and soap.

How are we cleansed?

Psalm 51:3–4 NIV

3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. 4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge.

When you hear the story of David and Bathsheba what do you think?

2 Samuel 11:3–4 NIV

3 and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” 4 Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (Now she was purifying herself from her monthly uncleanness.) Then she went back home.

How often do you pray about the responsibility you have as a leader?

Psalm 51:5–6 NIV

5 Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. 6 Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb; you taught me wisdom in that secret place.

What do you think of when you read these two verses?

Psalm 51:7–8 NIV

7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice.

Does hyssop bring any images to your mind?

Exodus 12:21–22 (NIV)

Exodus 12:21–22 NIV

21 Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go at once and select the animals for your families and slaughter the Passover lamb. 22 Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin and put some of the blood on the top and on both sides of the doorframe. None of you shall go out of the door of your house until morning.

Leviticus 14:3–4 NIV

3 The priest is to go outside the camp and examine them. If they have been healed of their defiling skin disease, 4 the priest shall order that two live clean birds and some cedar wood, scarlet yarn and hyssop be brought for the person to be cleansed.

John 19:28–29 NIV

28 Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” 29 A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips.

Is there a connection?

Especially thinking about verse 8

Psalm 51:8 NIV

8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice.

Psalm 51:9–10 NIV

9 Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. 10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.