Lent and the Penitential Psalms

On Ash Wednesday morning, I awoke around three o’clock, just before the fourth watch of the night, and arose to drape the sacred cross of Christ, (affixed all year to my middle porch post), with the purple draping of contrition and repentance for sin. The seven Penitential Psalms I then read again, before composing this column essay. Those psalms instill within, and teach my spirit anew, each time I read them, the sacred truths of sincere penitence and divine forgiveness. And they supply through the divine grace of remembrance, the confirmation again of God’s merciful and free salvation, and the unmatched gift of trust in Him. Divine peace, joy unspeakable, and hope fulfilled are consequent gifts to all believers who love and trust the Lord. Thank You, Lord!

The seven psalms known to Hebrew scholars as the Penitential Psalms are Psalms 6, 32, 38, 51,102,130, and 143. Their sacred teachings can be fully grasped only by the believer, in the experience of reception by a repentant and submissive will, and in reverent consecration to God. Even as the psalmist has set them forth before the Lord, the witness of these appeals and the content of their holy teachings are borne to receptive spirits now, by the Holy Spirit, Paraclete and Teacher, as we read them in meditative prayer. Let us read again:

From Psalm 6:. “O Lord, rebuke me not in Thine anger, neither chasten me in Thy hot displeasure. Have mercy upon me, O Lord, for I am weak….O Lord, deliver my soul; oh save me, for Thy mercy’s sake.”

From Psalm 32: “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile….I acknowledged my sin unto Thee, and my iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and Thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin.”

From Psalm 38:. “O Lord, rebuke me not in Thy wrath; neither chasten me in Thy hot displeasure. For Thine arrows stick fast in me, and Thy Hand presseth me sore….For in Thee, O Lord, do I hope:. Thou wilt hear, O Lord my God….For I am ready to halt, and my sorrow is continually before me….For I will declare mine iniquity; I will be sorry for my sin.”

From Psalm 51:. “Have mercy upon me according to Thy lovingkindness; according unto the multitude of Thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Thy Sight….Behold, Thou desirest truth in the inward parts….Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me…Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation; and uphold me with Thy free spirit. Then will I teach transgressors Thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto Thee. For Thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: Thou delightest not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise.”

From Psalm 102:. “Hear my prayer, O Lord, and let my prayer come unto Thee….I am like a pelican of the wilderness; I am like an owl of the desert. I watch, and am as a sparrow alone upon the housetop….I said, O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days; Thy years are throughout all generations….Thou art the same, and Thy years shall have no end. The children of Thy servants shall continue, and their seed shall be established before Thee.”

From Psalm 130, its entire eight verses:. “Out of the depths have I cried unto Thee, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice: let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. If Thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness with Thee, that Thou mayest be feared. I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait, and in His Word do I hope. My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning. I say, more than they that watch for the morning. Let Israel hope in the Lord, for with the Lord there is mercy, and with Him is plenteous redemption. And He shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.”

And, in Psalm 143, the psalmist thirsts for, and seeks, the forgiveness and restoration given in the Lord’s mercy and lovingkindness, in God ‘s guidance and strength, through trust in that Holy Presence Who is not hidden: “I stretch forth my hands unto Thee: my soul thirsteth after Thee, as a thirsty land….Cause me to hear Thy lovingkindness in the morning: for in Thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto Thee.”

We, too, can pray for these blessings, as we, also, thirst, repent, turn, trust, and walk, in the way known to us through our Lord. Therein lies our promised hope.

Thanks be to God.