What Can I Offer Love

I can relate to the psalmist who wrote this verse. I can really relate to this verse. I've often found myself reflecting inward, starring down what seems a dark cavity void of hope, love or redemption. Could a God give life to this? Could the God the psalmist pleas with really seek to love the abysmal trenches of my heart?

Here in verse 17, the psalmist rejects the notion that burnt offerings are enough. He knows only that the condition of his heart is what matters to God. It's really all God is after, whether that heart is whole and happy or - in this case - incomplete and broken. Everything else is second.

The psalmist used another word: contrite. I looked it up. Contrite - sincerely penitent or feeling regret or sorrow, especially for one’s own actions; apologetic. You could say that, in verse 1, the psalmist began his prayer with contrite feelings: "Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions." Pay attention here; this is an "Ah ha!" moment. There's something else going on here. There's something about this writer's past, about his choices and actions, that has weighed heavy with him and initiated a response.

When my past creeps in, when my less than perfect actions begin scrolling across the peripheral plane like a movie reel, my first response feels much like carrying the weight of the world. I wonder what I was thinking and if can I ever reconcile or repair what I've done.

Then I remember Jesus.

I remember the message he shared with the world. I remember that he never picked favorites or missed an opportunity to show his love. I remember that he was dragged to a cross. I remember the cross, and what it's done. I remember that I CAN'T fix ... but he CAN and it is done. "When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished." John 19:30

I think prayer is a great place to start when we find our hearts broken and contrite. The psalmist began in a petition of prayer and repentance - "Have mercy on me, O God ... blot out my transgressions" - but ended in a position of grace - "In your good pleasure make Zion prosper ..." Accept the gift of grace. No, don't wait until you have it all together. Just take it, and let God in, let Love into the void of your heart. Rejecting the notion of grace denies that Jesus got it done and denies your heart of its one true love.

Created almost 2 years ago