The Sovereign Love of God

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T he S eason of L ent

AshWednesday February 17, 2021

The Lenten Season, a forty-day period starting on Ash Wednesday and ending on Holy Saturday of Holy Week, calls us to reflect on Jesus’s suffering, crucifixion, and death. As disciples of the humble Nazarene, we embrace his lowliness and humility, seeking to share the mind of himwho was obedient to death, even death on a cross.

TODAY’S THEME Create in Me a Clean Heart, O God, Psalm 51.1-17

After Nathan exposed David’s adultery with Bathsheba, he confessed his sin to God. He pleaded for forgiveness according to his steadfast love and abundant mercy, and appealed to God for cleansing. David pleaded with God to remove his sin, to restore the joy of his salvation, and to create in him a clean heart and a right spirit. If God would not take his Holy Spirit from him, David promised to teach to sinners God’s ways, to sing of his forgiveness, and to praise God always. Our God responds to those who are contrite and humble before him.

Daily Devotional Guide

Preparing Our Hearts

Invocation: Our Prayer of Acclamation Almighty Father, Lord of heaven and earth, we confess that we have often sinned against Thee in thought, word, and deed. Have mercy upon us, O Lord; have mercy upon us, after Thy great goodness; according to the multitude of Thy mercies, put away our offences and cleanse us from our sins; through Jesus Christ Thy Son, our Lord. Amen. ~ Ps. 1i., adapted. (Fox, p. 39)