{RE:} Repent and Recreate

March 28th, 2022

Tuesday: Repent & Recreate

As we continue to reflect on repentance - let's remember that the call to repent is the call to "Stop and get ready to rethink everything!" This morning we will read a well-known psalm, thought to be King David's psalm of confession and repentance. I am posting it in the Message translation because it illustrates the effect that repentance has on our lives so well!

Read: Psalm 51 (MSG - selected verses)

Generous in love—God, give grace!
Huge in mercy—wipe out my bad record.
Scrub away my guilt,
soak out my sins in your laundry.
I know how bad I’ve been;
my sins are staring me down.

You’re the One I’ve violated,
and you’ve seen it all,
seen the full extent of my evil.
You have all the facts before you;
whatever you decide about me is fair.
I’ve been out of step with you for a long time,
in the wrong since before I was born.
What you’re after is truth from the inside out.
Enter me, then; conceive a new, true life.

Soak me in your laundry and I’ll come out clean,
scrub me and I’ll have a snow-white life.
Tune me in to foot-tapping songs,
set these once-broken bones to dancing.
Don’t look too close for blemishes,
give me a clean bill of health.

God, make a fresh start in me,
shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life.
Don’t throw me out with the trash,
or fail to breathe holiness in me.
Bring me back from gray exile,
put a fresh wind in my sails!
Give me a job teaching rebels your ways
so the lost can find their way home.
Commute my death sentence,
God, my salvation God,
and I’ll sing anthems to your life-giving ways.
Unbutton my lips, dear God;
I’ll let loose with your praise.

Reflect:

One of the themes in this passage is that repentance leads to new life. When Paul says that "anyone who is in Christ is a new creation," he means it! God wants to recreate us so that we can flourish the way he intended.

This version of Psalm 51 has given me words to pray in days/weeks/seasons of chaos:
- God, make a fresh start in me,
  shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life.
- Whatever chaos you face today, remember that the first thing Scripture tells us about God is that he can make incredible things out of chaos!
- Take a moment this morning to name the things that feel out of control or out of order in your life and pray these words. Ask God to re-create something beautiful from the chaos of your life.

This psalm also takes time to illustrate what it looks like to be re-created after repentance - even here and now!

When we repent, rethink, and walk a new path, it's like our lives have been freshly washed. Who doesn't love freshly washed sheets or when the stain comes out of your favorite shirt? What parts of you might need to be cleaned?
When was the last time you were "tuned into foot tapping songs"? No really! There is freedom and joy in dancing and celebrating- try it this morning! ;)
Have you ever felt like you were in a "gray exile"? Maybe even right now? Do you need "fresh wind in your sails"? What would that feel like?
When we have been set free and made new, we want to tell others about it. Ask God to give you "a job teaching rebels" his ways so that the "lost can find their way home"!

What parts of you have been re-created? Where is there still chaos? Ask God for a fresh start this morning. Repentance isn't about feeling badly or wracked with guilt. It's about turning and running toward the new life God has for you! It's about running out of the prison because he has commuted your sentence. Let's repent and be recreated!

Respond:

Soak me in your laundry and I’ll come out clean,

scrub me and I’ll have a snow-white life.

Tune me in to foot-tapping songs,

set these once-broken bones to dancing.

Don’t look too close for blemishes,

give me a clean bill of health.

God, make a fresh start in me,

shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life.

Don’t throw me out with the trash,

or fail to breathe holiness in me.

Bring me back from gray exile,

put a fresh wind in my sails!

Give me a job teaching rebels your ways

so the lost can find their way home.

Commute my death sentence, God, my salvation God,

and I’ll sing anthems to your life-giving ways.

Unbutton my lips, dear God;

I’ll let loose with your praise.

7 Comments

Add Your Comment

Nick Tebordo - March 29th, 2022 at 4:12am

Wow! What an incredible translation of Psalm 51, and it certainly fits with the sermon on Sunday-a Genesis 1-2 life out of chaos resonates. Working from a place of rest, we are ready for some “Toe Tapping Songs”. I am sensing the flow of the Holy Spirit. Jon Vaughan called us to prayer-to yearn for revival and renewal. We are seeing it happen-in our own life and in the lives of those around us. 4 people have entered the Kingdom of God this week. In my own journey, it has begun with repentance and deliverance. Out of the ashes, a new life is born-and we are drawing from a well that will never run dry! Off to prayer!

Ken Nellis - March 30th, 2022 at 8:52pm

Amen and amen! How great that four people committed their lives to Christ. Regarding the toe tapping songs, may I audition sometime?

Melody - March 29th, 2022 at 5:59am

"...a Genesis week..." is a very hard concept for me to absorb. If you ask me to think about a Genesis five -year-plan, or a Genesis decade, I'm in!

But honestly it can be very hard for me to focus on the small increments. I've been spending a lot of time recently, thinking about what will happen when I'm 70 (the age I think I'll retire) and I'm not even 60 yet!!

This is a flaw that I'm not sure I've really examined, so today's reading has given me something to work on ... for this Genesis week.

Susan Blais - March 29th, 2022 at 7:12am

This message version of psalm 51 has been refreshing for me. I always loved this Sam, but the idea of washing my sins as laundry had never occurred to me. I used to fret and worry about my old life, But it occurred to me that I have not friended recently because God has put a new song in my life. It is as if the Lord has said to “That song is getting pretty old“ and filled me with a new song. Don’t get me wrong, I will never forget the way I walked away from the Lord in the past, however, I believe the Lord has said to me “I have better things for you to do”.Thank you Lord for taking my spot and putting it through your heavenly laundry, and bleached it so that even iCan not see it any longer. You put a new song in my heart and yes it is a foot tapping song!

Chris Deming - March 29th, 2022 at 8:49am

I love all the Psalms. And I can definitely see a difference in my life as my day-to-days go by and I always ask the Lord for repentance and just to guide me and help me through whatever I got to go through through that day whatever obstacle I have to jump through just want him with me and help me and give me the right guidance through it all and I never thought about it as doing laundry so that's very awesome give me another way to think about it and I know no matter what he's always there always loving and accepting I'm waiting for us all to come to him..

David Edelstein - March 29th, 2022 at 10:47am

Certainly I've always thought of repentance when feeling sin, shame, and guilt. Thinking of repentance in a new way that leads to change and restoration brings to mind God's peace and joy. I rarely celebrate in my life. But during the singing in church, I see the small children jumping up and down. I've always viewed their dance as simply cute. I need to now view that as a child like response to our celebrating with God.

Nick Tebordo - March 29th, 2022 at 11:30am

Reading these comments blesses my heart! I know it blesses the Father’s heart!