March 3, 2015
Psalm 51
Have mercy on me, God, according to your
faithful love!
Wipe away my wrongdoings
according to your great compassion!
Wash me completely clean of my guilt;
purify me from my sin!
Because I know my wrongdoings,
my sin is always right in front
of me.
I’ve sinned against you—you alone.
I’ve committed evil in your
sight.
That’s why you are justified when you
render your verdict,
completely correct when you
issue your judgment.
Yes, I was born in guilt, in sin,
from the moment my mother
conceived me.
And yes, you want truth in the most
hidden places;
you teach me wisdom in the
most secret space.
Purify me with hyssop and I will be
clean;
wash me and I will be whiter
than snow.
Let me hear joy and celebration again;
let the bones you crushed
rejoice once more.
Hide your face from my sins;
wipe away all my guilty
deeds!
Create a clean heart for me, God;
put a new, faithful spirit
deep inside me!
Please don’t throw me out of your
presence;
please don’t take your holy
spirit away from me.
Return the joy of your salvation to me
and sustain me with a
willing spirit.
Then I will teach wrongdoers your ways,
and sinners will come back
to you.
For the next three days we will look
at the Three General Rules of the United
Methodist Church and how they transformed and gave new life to the
individuals and community of the early Methodist movement. You will find a link to a website at
the bottom of today’s devotion where you can read them as originally written.
While the instructions that spell out how they should be practiced are dated,
the same rules are appropriate to lead us to a holy way of living. How do we practice them today?
Rule 1 – Do no harm, avoid evil of every kind.
Specifically,
John Wesley mentioned these:
Taking God’s
name in vain.
Working,
buying, or selling on Sunday
Drunkenness
Fighting,
quarreling, taking another to court, returning evil for evil
Uncharitable or
unprofitable conversation
Doing to others
what we would not want them to do to us
Doing what we
know is not for the glory of God
Wearing
expensive jewelry and clothes
Singing songs
or reading books that do not lead us to know or love God
Needless
self-indulgence
Laying up
treasure on earth
Borrowing what
you can’t pay back
Bishop
Rueben Job wrote a more contemporary explanation of these rules and asks us to
think of it in this way: Think of a group that is locked in
conflict, whether over a profound issue or one that is just silly. The conflict is real, the divisions
deep, and the consequences can often be devastating. If all who are involved can agree to do no harm, the climate
in which the conflict is going on is immediately changed. How is it changed? Well, if I am going to do no harm, I
can no longer gossip about the conflict.
I can no long speak disparagingly about those involved in the
conflict. I can no longer
manipulate the facts of the conflict.
I can no longer diminish those who do not agree with me and must honor
each as a child of God. I will
guard my lips, my mind and my heart so that my language will not disparage,
injure or wound another child of God.
I must do no harm, even while I seek a common good.[1]
Prayerfully consider these questions
and challenges from John Wesley and Reuben Job. Then read again Psalm 51, the prayer of confession prayed by
King David after the prophet Nathan had pointed out the harm and evil he had
committed in taking Bathsheba. (2 Samuel 11-12). Pray Psalm 51 as a prayer of confession and repentance.
To
read John Wesley’s General Rules of the Methodist Church
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