Beautiful Progressions of Repentance, 1 of 3
Psalm 51
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- The Progression from Brokenness to Wholeness
- The Progression of Abiding in Humility
- The Progression of Abiding in Contentment
Introduction
Repentance is beautiful. Understanding it is the key to a life of increase and joy in the Holy Spirit. That is what I found in the early months of 2019 as Father unfolded these three progressions in Scripture. They are detailed but simple when read step by step. Toward the end of 2019, on 8/8 and 12/12, I experienced the beauty of repentance tangibly. I’m still trying to write about these revelations, but they were so personal that words currently escape me. My Scripture Study called The Tabernacle Hesed Moon – Living in His Undeserved Love was a start. This paper begins with the first of three progressions.
1 of 3 – The Progression from Brokenness to Wholeness (A Study in Psalm 51)
The word broken is mentioned in two verses in Psalm 51 (8, 17). Broken is the Hebrew shâbar meaning break, burst, crush, destroy, bring to birth. Our Father uses breaking to birth wholeness in our lives.
Following is an overview of David’s prayer from Psalm 51 with verse numbers. The green underlined words are the original Hebrew meanings of the bold, crimson words. These words convey different forms of cleansing and are a progression within the greater progression of the entire Psalm.
David’s Breaking David’s Birth into Wholeness
(1) Be gracious to me (13) Then I will teach
Blot out my transgressions erase, smooth over my sin (14) Then I will sing
(2) Wash me wash out my present sin (18) Then I will pray
Cleanse me wash out my future judgment (19) Then You will delight
(6) Fill me
(7) Purify me wash me on an ongoing basis
(8) Give me joy
(10) Create in me a clean heart wash me perpetually
(12) Restore joy
The next page contains the entire Psalm 51 and can only be easily viewed on the second page of the PDF here. This page is meant to be read from left to right across the page, so you can see the parallelism of the Hebrew writing. Parallelism is the repetition of concepts for emphasis.
- The crimson words represent the main points of progression.
- The blue text represents my notes.
- The orange text includes David’s remembrances of his sin and brokenness that are interspersed throughout the Psalm in a way that lets us know the extent of his contriteness.
- And again, the green underlined words represent the different forms of cleansing expressed by the original Hebrew words.
As you soak in Psalm 51, the progressions of David’s prayer become clear. When we sin, we find solace and restoration as we pray this prayer of repentance with confidence and walk into wholeness.
Shale Fragments™ - devotionals by Beth Ann Phifer is a division of Flower Girl Greetings, LLC. ©2020, All Rights Reserved.
Blessings and love in Him,
Beth Ann