A Clean Heart
Today’s Verse:
Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. ~Psalm 51:10
Psalm 51 is one of the more well-known psalms. It is David’s psalm of confession after he was confronted about heinous sins in his life. In this psalm, we are given humbling insight as to how sin affects us in our fellowship with God, and how we must respond. Foremost of the things David needed was a clean heart.
We see the remorse.
“Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.” David was grieving over his sin. He broke a minimum of four of the ten commandments when he sinned. David was the most miserable man alive when he realized that he could not hide his sin from God. In his remorse, he came to God, seeking His great mercies for his life. We must arrive at the place spiritually where we see our sin as God sees it. Until we do so, we will never realize how much God is grieved over our sin.
We see the repentance.
“For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.” Repentance is when there is a change of mind. David began by confessing his sins to God. He was completely truthful and transparent that he had sinned. He called his sins as crossing a forbidden line, evil, and depraved. Confession is when we agree with God about what He says about our sin. That’s what David was doing. He humbled himself and sought God carefully with many tears and a broken heart.
We see the request.
He asked God to blot out his sins, purge him with hyssop, and wash him so that he would be made whiter than snow. He requested that God create a new heart within him. He felt defiled and filthy. There is no better feeling than to know that your heart is clean and your spirit is renewed before God. Without a clean heart, nothing is right between us and God. Our worship, praying, service, giving, and relationships are broken. A clean heart represents reconciliation and acceptance. It means we can stand before God with a good conscience before Him and man.
We see the restoration.
David experienced the power of God’s forgiveness and restoration. He was restored in his fellowship with God. The joy of the Lord was restored in his life. The work of the Holy Spirit was restored. He was revived in his spirit about living righteously and bringing sinners to the Lord. He realized that a broken spirit and contrite heart are not despised by God. He was able to approach God with a true heart, and not in pretense or hypocrisy. We must read Psalm 32 in conjunction with Psalm 51. In Psalm 32, he described the happiness of being forgiven and his sins not being imputed to him. David got back his praise and peace. Let us not underestimate the importance of having a clean heart. "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God."
Have a cleansed God Morning!
Bible Reading Schedule: 2 Samuel 22-24