Daily Devotion

June 24, 2006

Psalms 40:11-12 Withhold not thou thy tender mercies from me, O LORD: let thy lovingkindness and thy truth continually preserve me.  (12) For innumerable evils have compassed me about: mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of mine head: therefore my heart faileth me.

Hear the sinner’s prayer.  Hear the prayer of a broken man.  Is it as the guilty before the magistrate, as the weak before the mighty lord, or as the reed before the fury of a stormy wind? Nay; it is rather as the flower begging for the sun; as the land calling for the rain, and as the baby resting and trusting in the strong arms of the father.  

Have your iniquities taken hold of you?  Have they borne heavy on your heart to the point that you are not able to look up?  Are they so many? Do they keep your heart down in a constant state of depression?  

This do:  remember that you have done no evil that Jesus has not borne for you on the cross (1 Pet 2:24).  Remind yourself that God prefers the repentance of your broken heart to the sacrifices of your self-righteous perfection (Psa 51:17).  Do not think that you need to deserve the LORD’s mercy; if you deserved it, it would not be mercy.  Let your prayers emanate humility in the sweet savor of a repentant heart in need of the abundant graces of his LORD.

Hear now the songs of rejoicing; see now the angels dancing and shouting for joy.  The devil is licked at his own game, his power is reduced to naught, as virtue wins again.  

Luk 15:7 I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.  

Patrick Lumbroso
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