Life Verse

I was introduced to the idea of a "life verse" by Jon Acuff's website, Stuff Christians Like. He has a guest post on there about life verses that is pretty funny. I don't have a life verse and don't intend to procure one. But if I did, it would probably be Psalm 51...only because I go back to it over and over again.

As a side note, its pretty pathetic that only upon this reading with the intention of sharing with you, that I have realized that this particular Psalm is from David after he had been confronted by Nathan about his affair with Bathsheba. I'm not sure how that is going to alter the way I look at this verse, but it's strange that I never noticed that note in my Bible until now.

Anyway, I really like The Message's translation, so I decided I'd share it with you.

Generous in love--God, give grace!
Huge in mercy--wipe out my bad record.
Scrub away my guilt,
soak out my sins in your laundry.
I know how bad I've been;
my sins are staring me down.

You're the One I've violated, and you've seen
it all, seen the full extent of my evil.
You have all the facts before you;
whatever you decide about me is fair.
I've been out of step with you for a long time,
in the wrong since before I was born.
What you're after is truth from the inside out.
Enter me, then; conceive a new, true life.

Soak me in your laundry and I'll come clean,
scrub me and I'll have a snow-white life.
Tune me in to foot-tapping songs,
set these once-broken bones to dancing.
Don't look too close for blemishes,
give me a clean bill of health.
God, make a fresh start in me,
shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life.
Don't throw me out with the trash,
or fail to breathe holiness in me.

Bring me back from gray exile,
put a fresh wind in my sails!
Give me a job teaching rebels your ways
so the lost can find their way home.
Commute my death sentence, God, my salvation God,
and I'll sing anthems to your life-giving ways.
Unbutton my lips, dear God;
I'll let loose with your praise.

Going through the motions doesn't please you,
a flawless performance is nothing to you.
I learned God-worship
when my pride was shattered.
Heart-shattered lives ready for love
don't for a moment escape God's notice.

Make Zion the place you delight in,
repair Jerusalem's broken-down walls.
Then you'll get real worship from us,
acts of worship small and large,
Including all the bulls
they can heave onto your altar!

I love metaphors. (And apparently I also like linking to my own blog, since I've been doing it a lot lately ;)). I really like the laundry metaphor that The Message highlights. And the idea that God puts fresh wind in our sails. I think I like verse 15 the most though: Unbutton my lips, dear God; I'll let loose with your praise. It makes me think of a song that I really like. It's by Smalltown Poets, and it's called "No Kinder Savior". Give it a listen.