Create in Us New Hearts
This is from my Ash Wednesday sermon on February 22, 2023…
Gathering like this on Ash Wednesday is a special favor we do for each other and for ourselves. We begin our journey across the wilderness of Lent and straight to the mystery of Resurrection Life at the Paschal Feast – Easter. It is all connected: all that touches us today sends the vibration we will experience. Today we acknowledge sin honestly, confident that God hates nothing he has made, forgives the sins of all who are penitent, creates in us new and contrite hearts. We are even anointed this day with ash to signify our finitude and frailty, remembering that we are dust, and unto dust we shall return.
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.
Give me the joy of your saving help again *
and sustain me with your bountiful Spirit. (Psalm 51: 10-12 [BCP, p. 266])
In this, we plead with God to create a clean heart in us by the presence of the Holy Spirit, and to renew our spirits within us that they be made right and steadfast. There is a note of desperation in this fervent prayer. Hebrew scholar Robert Alter notes that the one praying uses a very strong verb in the line, “Cast me not out from your presence”, or in the prayer book, “Cast me not away from your presence.” He translates it “Do not flick me away.” [Like when you are reaching for something and find a spider has crawled up on your hand, and you flick it away from your presence, with a violent movement. David, King of Israel, whose cry for forgiveness this is, worries that his wickedness is so through and through, that he will be flicked away. He desires to be purged, washed, clean indeed: we all do. We want to be cleansed. We beg that our hearts be, renewed, recreated by the creative power of God’s holy Spirit. Make in us, everlasting God, new and contrite hearts, since you hate nothing you have made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent. We lament our sins; we acknowledge our wretchedness.
I thought about this word, Spirit, when I rose early this morning, and found that the wind was blowing hard Create in Us New Hearts — The Rev. David W. Price
This is from my Ash Wednesday sermon on February 22, 2023…
Gathering like this on Ash Wednesday is a special favor we do for each other and ourselves. We begin our journey across the wilderness of Lent and straight to the mystery of Resurrection Life at the Paschal Feast – Easter. It is all connected: all that touches us today sends the vibration we will experience. Today we acknowledge sin honestly, confident that God hates nothing he has made, forgives the sins of all who are penitent, and creates in us new and contrite hearts. We are even anointed this day with ash to signify our finitude and frailty, remembering that we are dust, and unto dust, we shall return.
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.
Give me the joy of your saving help again *
and sustain me with your bountiful Spirit. (Psalm 51: 10-12 [BCP, p. 266])
In this, we plead with God to create a clean heart in us by the presence of the Holy Spirit, and to renew our spirits within us so that they be made right and steadfast. There is a note of desperation in this fervent prayer. Hebrew scholar Robert Alter notes that the one praying uses a very strong verb in the line, “Cast me not out from your presence”, or in the prayer book, “Cast me not away from your presence.” He translates it “Do not flick me away.” [Like when you are reaching for something and find a spider has crawled up on your hand, and you flick it away from your presence, with a violent movement. David, King of Israel, whose cry for forgiveness this is, worries that his wickedness is so through and through, that he will be flicked away. He desires to be purged, washed, and clean indeed: we all do. We want to be cleansed. We beg that our hearts be, renewed, and recreated by the creative power of God’s holy Spirit. Make in us, everlasting God, new and contrite hearts, since you hate nothing you have made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent. We lament our sins; we acknowledge our wretchedness.
I thought about this word, Spirit when I rose early this morning and found that the wind was blowing hard and in gusts. I thought of how the word for wind, the word for Spirit, and breath are all the same in Hebrew and Greek. You know, in the poetry which reveals God as Creator in Genesis, we find the wind, in the beginning, the wind of the Holy Spirit is the power at work.
In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. (Genesis 1:1-2)
Fr. Bates has been kind in finding a scriptural devotion for us through Lent. He sends us, by email, a psalm to read every day, and some commentary, on the work of Fr. Peter Wallace. This morning you heard a bit of Psalm 51.
Create a clean heart in me, O God, and renew a faithful spirit within me. Ps 51:10
David the psalmist was devastated by his personal failure, His sin overwhelmed him. Humbly he turned to God, confessed his sin, pleaded for forgiveness and sought a fresh start. A clean slate. A faithful spirit, A renewed heart.
God can give the same to you today. You may be coming through a difficult time personally that has overwhelmed you with sadness, futility, or frustration. Whatever it might be, God will hear the cry of your hurting heart. And he will honor your desire to be cleansed.
If God could forgive and forget David’s sin if he could renew a right relationship with David, then God can do it with you—no matter what sinful blot darkens your heart. And if he God create the universe, then he can recreate your heart and spirit.
A new creation, a faithful spirit. They’re yours for the asking. —Fr. Peter Wallace