Press the arrow to listen to the Keith Green classic, “Create a Clean Heart in Me” while reading today’s devotion.
Scripture
Have mercy on me, O God,
because of your unfailing love.
Because of your great compassion,
For I recognize my rebellion;
it haunts me day and night.
Against you, and you alone, have I sinned;
I have done what is evil in your sight.
Create in me a clean heart, O God.
Renew a loyal spirit within me.
Do not banish me from your presence,
and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and make me willing to obey you. Psalm 51:1, 3, 4, 10-12
Observation
immediately after World War II, the ever energetic an engineering Germans rebuilt their pulverized nation back to factory specifications. One building, however, was left in ruins. The Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in Berlin remained a bombed out rubble. Why? The people of Germany wanted a daily reminder of the futility of war, so the building was left in ruins. Next door a new church was built. Inside that church a cross was fashioned from the nails of another bombed cathedral, Coventry Cathedral in England destroyed by German bombers.
We like to erect memorials to glory days, but some of the best monuments are the ones we raise to commemorate our lowest moments. Psalm 51 is a still photo of David’s heart just after Nathan’s confrontation. His heart would go on and grow on. Like all hearts it would wander. But Psalm 51 was like an old vinyl LP with etched grooves that his heart could replay in years to come. Because he took time to carefully record his heart condition he could retune his heart back to that humbled moment.
Application
Today I’m ending a sabbath that has filled nearly an entire year. It has been 10 months of living off of what has grown of itself and diverting myself from my normal routine. Today I enter the on ramp of life and merge into the frenzy of human activity. Life will speed up, but I don’t want to forget the state of my heart in this time. What lessons do I want to take from this Sabbath Season into the next epoch of my working?
Live in and work out of that sacred space between the Father and the Son.
God never forgets a promise.
Patience should make me excited for it has rewards.
Hope is unreasonable, so linger in vulnerable places where miracles happen.
Work hard at being myself so I never have to remember how to act.
Prove that you trust God by resting.
Don’t expect new seasons to be a rerun of old seasons, be different to make a difference.
Early in this sabbath I wrote an entry that sums up my desires for the days ahead: I Want to Make This World a Better Place.
Prayer
Father, please strengthen me for the work that is before me. Let my life be an ice chest full of Gatorade to re-hydrate the weary where the water does not flow. Amen.
