CREATE IN ME A CLEAN HEART, O GOD!
Psalm 51:1-3, 10-12 Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
[2] Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
[3] For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.
[10] Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
[11] Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.
[12] Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.
If you have a few minutes today, I highly recommend reading this entire chapter in (Psalm 51.) King David was at the lowest place in his life. He had sinned by having an affair with a married woman and then this woman became pregnant. He then, in an attempt to hide his sin, had the woman’s husband killed in a battle. David soon found out, you cannot cover up sin because it will surely find you out. For a while David thought he had gotten away with his sin, but sometime later a prophet named Nathan, who had been sent by God, came and confronted David about what he had done. Praise the Lord for God’s man who will deliver God’s message when we wallowing in our sin! David ended up paying a great price for his sins; a price he never intended to pay. This Psalm is his prayer to God as he comes clean with everything he had done. The depth of this prayer is powerfully heartfelt. David wasn’t asking the Lord to restore his heart; he was asking the Lord to make in him a brand new heart. A heart that was clean; to make something out of nothing! Only God could do that!
David knew that his heart was so sinful and so marred, so stained with the guilt and shame of his sin, that he needed God the Creator of all things to start all over within him and create something new. You see, a brand new heart would have no past sins, no spots or blemishes. This heart would be clean and pure before God. The word for clean that is used here means; without spot or blemish. There is no better feeling to the child of God than to have a clean and pure heart in the sight of God. This was David’s prayer as he cried out to God. He wanted a pure heart, a heart with no defects. The only way he could get this pure heart was to have God create one within him. This is the beginning of purity. It’s recognizing, just as David did, that the heart of man is not pure as it is. It is not, nor will it ever be, without blemish, without sin apart from a work of God. David acknowledged that he was born with a sinful heart. King David saw himself as God saw him. Only the hands of one who is pure can make a pure heart and it is only the Almighty Hand of God that can do this. The moment that David cried out, “Create in me…” he was confessing his need for a new heart because the word he used means to make something out of nothing. David knew a powerful secret when he used the word “create.” He knew that whatever his heart needed he could ask God to create it within him. In David’s case he needed to be made clean and needed to be made pure. In other words, David needed a clean heart created within him because his sin had made it unclean. My Christian friend, do you see the power in this truth?
What is it that you need right now? Is it a heart of love for the unlovable? Is it a heart of forgiveness toward someone else? Is it a heart of courage to face an insurmountable circumstance? Is it a heart of compassion or a heart of renewed joy? Is it a heart of peace because of the storm that is raging in your life? Maybe you are like David and you need a heart that is clean. Oh that we would all follow David’s example and know that God is able for HE is the Creator! David’s sin was great, but it was not too great for God! Today, if you need a new beginning, a new heart, and a clean and pure heart, it can be found humbly at the feet of Jesus Christ.
Bro. Lawrence Longworth
Isaiah 61:1 “the opening of the prison to them that are bound;”
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