“Have mercy on me, God, according to your faithful love!
Wipe away my wrongdoings according to your great compassion!
Wash me completely clean of my guilt;
purify me from my sin!” – Psalm 51:1-2 (CEB)
After all of it, David does not explain. Psalm 51 is what the tradition hears him praying next, and its first move is not a defense. It is a request to be cleaned.
Have mercy on me. Wipe away my wrongdoings. Wash me completely clean. Notice he asks God to do the verbs. He does not promise to do better, or offer to make it up, or point at the pressure he was under. He hands it over.
That is harder than it sounds. Most of us would rather fix ourselves than be washed, because fixing keeps us in charge of the outcome.
Tomorrow we gather around this prayer in worship. Come as you are, with whatever you have been carrying. Nobody here has to arrive clean first. We worship at 8:30 and 10:15, and online worship is available at youtube.com/@mcphersonfirst.
God of faithful love, I stop explaining myself to you. Wash what I cannot reach. Meet me tomorrow with the mercy I keep forgetting to ask for. Amen.