Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Prayer for Forgiveness
For the director of music. A song of David when the prophet Nathan came to David after David’s sin with Bathsheba.
51 God, be merciful to me
because you are loving.
Because you are always ready to be merciful,
wipe out all my wrongs.
2 Wash away all my guilt
and make me clean again.
3 I know about my wrongs.
I can’t forget my sin.
4 You are the one I have sinned against.
I have done what you say is wrong.
So you are right when you speak.
You are fair when you judge me.
5 I was brought into this world in sin.
In sin my mother gave birth to me.
6 You want me to be completely truthful.
So teach me wisdom.
7 Take away my sin, and I will be clean.
Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Make me hear sounds of joy and gladness.
Let the bones you crushed be happy again.
9 Turn your face from my sins.
Wipe out all my guilt.
10 Create in me a pure heart, God.
Make my spirit right again.
11 Do not send me away from you.
Do not take your Holy Spirit away from me.
12 Give me back the joy that comes when you save me.
Keep me strong by giving me a willing spirit.
15 This is what the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, says:
“If you come back to me and trust me, you will be saved.
If you will be calm and trust me, you will be strong.”
But you don’t want to do that.
16 You say, “No, we need horses to run away on.”
So you will run away on horses.
You say, “We will ride away on fast horses.”
So those who chase you will be fast.
17 One enemy will make threats,
and 1,000 of your men will run away.
Five enemies will make threats,
and all of you will run from them.
You will be left alone like a flagpole on a hilltop.
You will be like a banner on a hill.
18 The Lord wants to show his mercy to you.
He wants to rise and comfort you.
The Lord is a fair God.
And everyone who waits for his help will be happy.
4 Now God has left us that promise that we may enter and have his rest. Let us be very careful, then, so that none of you will fail to get that rest. 2 The Good News was preached to us just as it was to them. But the teaching they heard did not help them. They heard it but did not accept it with faith.[a] 3 We who have believed are able to enter and have God’s rest. As God has said,
“So I was angry and made a promise.
‘They will never enter my land of rest.’” Psalm 95:11
But God’s work was finished from the time he made the world. 4 Somewhere in the Scriptures he talked about the seventh day of the week: “And on the seventh day God rested from all his work.”[b] 5 And again in the Scripture God said, “They will never enter my land of rest.”
6 It is still true that some people will enter and have God’s rest. But those who first heard the way to be saved did not enter. They did not enter because they did not obey. 7 So God planned another day, called “today.” He spoke about that day through David a long time later. It is the same Scripture used before:
“Today listen to what he says.
Do not be stubborn.” Psalm 95:7-8
8 We know that Joshua[c] did not lead the people into that rest. We know this because God spoke later about another day. 9 This shows that the seventh-day rest[d] for God’s people is still coming. 10 For anyone who enters and has God’s rest will rest from his work as God did. 11 So let us try as hard as we can to enter God’s rest. We must try hard so that no one will be lost by following the example of those who refused to obey.
12 God’s word is alive and working. It is sharper than a sword sharpened on both sides. It cuts all the way into us, where the soul and the spirit are joined. It cuts to the center of our joints and our bones. And God’s word judges the thoughts and feelings in our hearts. 13 Nothing in all the world can be hidden from God. Everything is clear and lies open before him. And to him we must explain the way we have lived.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.