This first Sunday of Lent brings forth the underlying essence of its intention in the reading from Psalm 51. The psalm’s title, Miserere: Prayer for Cleansing and Pardon, clarifies its purpose as a penitential one, tied to David’s confession of his sin of adultery with Bathsheba and his crime of having arranged for the death of her husband, Uriah. While the psalm begins with the example of a particular sin, David’s act of violence against Uriah, it is the tip of the iceberg. Mark Water writes in Thoughts on Every Chapter of the Bible that sin is a brutal and undeniable aspect of the human condition. Hidden in the psalmist’s desperate plea is the key to healing, God’s creative mercy and grace that can take the dust off our broken hearts and generate an abundant life. The dramatic language of the psalm gives flesh to the deepest hurts in our lives and brings us into the center of the Lenten Seasons purpose, to return to oneness with God by calling on the Almighty to wash, purge, and recreate our broken lives. But this can only occur by passing through the gates of sin’s grief through an honest admission of our brokenness so that God’s grace and mercy can heal our hearts and souls.