Day 9

Another Chance (Psalm 51:7)

If you get nothing else from this vulnerably laden devotional today please get this—God loves you. And in case you didn’t know it, some of the sweetest sounds in our Father’s hearing is when you and I confess our sin and repent. Our God is eager to purify us and forgive us of all our sins. This is the good news of Jesus Christ!

This past weekend I preached a sermon on the Bible from 2 Peter which inevitably let me to Psalm 119, the longest chapter in our Bible, where verse 71 reads, “It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes.” The Psalmist is saying that even when God allowed trouble, or if we caused trouble for ourselves, the good news was that God brought us BACK to His ways and His word.  

Friend, God loves you so much. And He’ll do whatever it takes to bring you BACK to Him when you stray. That’s true unconditional love is it not? When we mess up, God is not done with us…He pursues us all the more. 

One of the glorious wonders of a fasting season is—Exposure. In our fast our hearts are more in tune. Our eyes are much more open. Our ears are more attentive. And God exposes our ‘stuff’ that we heretofore may not have been aware of. 

This sizes up David in the 51st Psalm. This account illustrates David’s sinful episode when he’d had an affair with Bathsheba and had her husband Uriah killed. You see David committed this treacherous act and was so deep in his sin that when Nathan the prophet rebuked him he wasn’t even aware that it was a real issue. God had to ‘expose’ his sin. And this beautiful Psalm is David’s response to God’s kindness to expose his sin. He cries our in the 7th verse, “Purge me!…” 

I guess that’s my heart today. I want the Lord Christ to touch my soul. Help me to walk in His ways. Purify me. Make me to be what He has destined me to be. Purge me O Lord! 

I remember starting my doctoral studies. When you get into a doctoral seminar for the first time you realize that there is people out there God made to be brilliant. Period. And you realize just how much you don’t know. Getting closer to Jesus seems to make you realize just how much you need Him all the more. And that’s good news. 

I invite you to steal away to Jesus today and ask Him to expose sin in your life. And perhaps He already has exposed some things He wants to deal with in your life. Thank Him for His kindness to desire to bring you all the more closer to Him while He cleanses you and restores you. 

There was an old gospel hit in the 90s by the Dallas Fort Worth Mass Choir. The song was entitled “Another Chance” and was atop the gospel charts those days because of its vulnerable and REAL message that resonated with so many of us. The lyrics went this way:


Every time I try to do the right thing

I always do the wrong thing

The only thing I seem to do is keep on messing up 

I’m so confused Lord I don’t know what to do

But you told me if I would seek your face

And turn from my wicked ways 

You would heal me, forgive me, and give me another chance

I’m sorry!

Forgive me! 

Clean me up

Jesus I didn’t mean to hurt you nor desert you 

Because I love you so much

I admit it that I did it

I didn’t mean to let you down

Jesus turn my life around 

And give me another chance