A Moving Threnody

A Reflection on the Psalm for September 15th, 2019:
​Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Psalm 51

R. I will get up and go to my Father.

1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy steadfast love;
according to thy abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. 
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin! 

R. I will get up and go to my Father.

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and put a new and right spirit within me. 
11 Cast me not away from thy presence,
and take not thy holy Spirit from me. 

R. I will get up and go to my Father.

15 O Lord, open thou my lips,
and my mouth shall show forth thy praise. 
17 The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

R. I will get up and go to my Father.

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Why do I love this psalm and keep a bookmark inserted in my Bible so that I can read it without searching for it? First, I think, because I feel the need to confess even the smallest of sins and have my spirit renewed in doing so. Secondly, it is a beautiful piece of poetry and lifts the spirit simply in reading it, or speaking it aloud.

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10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me.


I’ve been wrestling lately with ridding myself of “self” so that Jesus can fill me with HimSelf. There’s no room for Him if I keep dwelling on what I have done and not done, of going down wrong roads which sometimes are not wrong after all but feel like sin, of sinning and thinking it’s just a little sin and doesn’t mean much. Then there’s the constant threnody of “I’m not doing enough for God”. Jesus wants us always to come back to Him. No sin too great or too small can ever take away His love and grace.


15 O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.
17 The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.


Sometimes God has to pry my mouth open, especially when I am not feeling particularly holy or when I think I’ve been praying and getting nowhere. I have to let Him; through praise and thanksgiving. Don’t wait to “feel” it. That broken spirit and heart, with contrition can be so difficult. It’s much easier to make an offering; give something away that doesn’t cost so much. Father forgive me; endlessly intoned, in words, and sometimes just groans and long breaths. Fear can rob us of every open line to the Good, Good Father. Visualize Him taking you into His arms and lovingly caressing away every fear.  Like David, we can return to the Father’s arms over and over and over again. ​


​Judy Savoy

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