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Key Bible Verse: Forgive me for shedding blood, O God who saves; then I will joyfully sing of your forgiveness (Psalm 51:14). Bonus Reading: Psalm 51:1-4, 7, 9-10

Jason Richards, a prisoner, stumbled onto what the Bible is all about. Here's the way he describes it:

"I hadn't been long in my sentence and I was very confused. I was carrying an awful lot of guilt. I was looking for answers. I read a lot. I read Buddhism. I read Islam. I started reading the Bible. And the more I read the Scriptures, the more I became aware of God.

"I didn't believe in God. I was actually an atheist—or at least I thought I was. But the more I read, the more I came to believe that God existed. And the more I became aware of God, the more I became aware that I was a sinner—and I got more and more desperate.

"Then one night I opened the Bible at the very first psalm. I started reading, and when I got to Psalms 50 and 51, I realized that God would forgive me. I didn't know [why Psalm 51 had been written] then. But the thing I knew was [today's Key Bible Verse]. I knew that God would forgive me. I didn't know anything about Jesus or the Bible or the Church. I just knew.

"I read all the rest of the psalms on my knees—and almost from that point for me they became psalms of praise. It was like I was beginning to worship, and I didn't know what worship was!"

—Tom Wright in For All God's Worth

My Response: I felt a desperate need for forgiveness, and the elation of being set free, when …

Thought to Apply: Saving faith is grasping God with the heart. —source unknown

Adapted from Touchdown Alexander (Harvest, 2006) by permission.

Copyright © 2008 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.
Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity.

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Prayer for the Week

Thank You, Lord, for psalms that show how a man after Your own heart approached You. Help me learn from them.

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