Lent, The Beginning Of A Fresh Start

Sermon – Lent, the beginning of a Fresh Start.

Scripture Lesson - Psalm 51:1-19, “Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love. Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins. Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin. For I recognize my rebellion; it haunts me day and night. Against you, and you alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in your sight. You will be proved right in what you say, and your judgment against me is just. For I was born a sinner, yes, from the moment my mother conceived me. But you desire honesty from the womb, teaching me wisdom even there. Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Oh, give me back my joy again; you have broken me, now let me rejoice. Don’t keep looking at my sins. Remove the stain of my guilt. Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit[d] from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you. Then I will teach your ways to rebels, and they will return to you. Forgive me for shedding blood, O God who saves; then I will joyfully sing of your forgiveness. Unseal my lips, O Lord, that my mouth may praise you. You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one. You do not want a burnt offering. The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God. Look with favor on Zion and help her; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Then you will be pleased with sacrifices offered in the right spirit with burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings. Then bulls will again be sacrificed on your altar.”

Introduction – I will not spend a lot of time explaining the history of Lent. Or how the observance moved from 40 hours of fasting before Easter. To 7 days of fasting and prayer called Holy Week. And by 325 AD, the church officially made it 40 days. Representing Jesus’ 40 days of testing in the wilderness at least that is what the “Readers Digest” says about the tradition of Lent. One thing is clear, Ash Wednesday is the beginning of a season of self-examination, repentance and rededication to God. Lent, beginning with Ash Wednesday on February 18, 2026, is a 40-day season of spiritual renewal, fasting, and prayer that offers a "fresh start" to break from unhealthy habits and deepen one's faith. It acts as a purposeful, reflective journey to reorder priorities and prepare for Easter, focusing on personal growth and inner conversion.

Psalm 51 is a profound psalm of repentance written by King David after his adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband, Uriah, as confronted by the prophet Nathan. It is a heartfelt plea for God's mercy, cleansing from sin, and inner renewal, emphasizing that true repentance stems from a broken spirit rather than empty rituals. Even the introduction to Psalm 51, a psalm of David to the director of music says, a psalm written “When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba. Putting that heading as a part of the song used in the temple for worship. Why can’t this just be a beautiful prayer that people can recite and say? So, David’s sin is recorded in 2 Samuel 11 for everybody to read. On top of that It is included in the worship section of the Hebrew bible. A constant reminder of what he had done.

The bible calls King David a man after God’s own heart. Yet we know he committed not just little sins, He Broke commandments. He Coveted, had a affair and then tried to cover it up and when that went wrong - he murdered. You see, Psalm 51 shows us how we can tell God that we are truly sorry for whatever we’ve done wrong. It provides a great example of an honest and heartfelt prayer of confession. It’s a great guide on how to ‘get right’ with God after we have gone astray.

So as we begin our journey of Lent, I pray that we examine ourselves and consider the hidden sin in our lives and take our sins seriously, and repent earnestly so we receive and rejoice in the good news of forgiveness and restoration. First, understand that Sin is serious!

1. Sin Is Serious. The first thing we should take from today’s psalm is that sin is serious. David’s sin is about more than eating too much chocolate or driving a few miles per hour over the speed limit – it is far more serious than that! A sinful act is any act of rebellion against our Heavenly Father, any act of disobedience against our good God, any act that is essentially selfish rather than selfless – any thought, word or deed we do at someone else’s expense.