Devotion 

Please Forgive Me

Frances Taylor 

This psalm of David is considered to be his plea to God to forgive him for his sin in taking the wife of Uriah the Hittite because he lusted after her and then making sure that Uriah was killed in battle. I'm sure that none of you are guilty of such a crime. But, even if one of us were, God can forgive us. David was king of Israel at this time, and his reign did not end because of this offense. In fact, even though the child that he had conceived through his sin died, Bathsheba becomes the mother of Solomon and the Davidic line continues. Although we might not be guilty of such serious sin, who of us can say we have never sinned? David recognized his sinfulness and pleaded with God for mercy and forgiveness. We, too, need to recognize our sins, take responsibility and beg God for mercy and forgiveness.

Lent is a good time to add an "examination of conscience" to your nightly prayers. This gives us a daily review of how we are doing. What opportunities have I taken advantage of in which I could show God's love? What chances did I miss, or totally reject? We need to remember that sins can be of omission too! The more aware we are of our behavior, the more the chance is that we will do the right thing. In college, I studied Russian and from the first month our teacher made us write down a sentence in Russian, even if it was only to say "it's cold!" But, the need to do the assignment meant that every day we needed to think in the little bit of the language we were learning. It's the same with the rest of our lives. If we are watching for opportunities to do the right thing, we are less apt to do the wrong.

Prayer 

Lord, during this season of Lent, make me more aware of my behavior so that I might recognize the wrongs I do and beg your forgiveness and mercy. Amen.