"Create in Me a Clean Heart"

“Create in Me a Clean Heart”

Psalm 51: 10-13

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me by your generous Spirit.
Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners shall be converted to you.”

I have read through the Psalms so many times and marked verses in various colors as well as underlining in pen and pencil that some verses are hard to make out.  Several Psalms are ones I call my favorite, but to pick my absolute favorite one is impossible.  They have helped change the course of my life. 

However Psalm 51:10-13 is one that I have read more times than I can count.  Let me share my thoughts on this.  “Create in me a clean heart, O God” is simply asking God to help you become a better person by getting rid of your past sins and making you “as white as snow”.  In the book of Isaiah 1:18, it tells us that God wants to form a relationship with you.  How can you do that?  “Come now, and let us reason together," Says the LORD, "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”

There isn’t a person on earth that hasn’t sinned and we carry those sins throughout our life if something doesn’t change. How can I have a clean heart?  The answer comes from 1 John 1:7 “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” Take a moment to ask Jesus’ forgiveness of your past, your sins of the past and accept him as your Lord and Savior and your heart will be clean.

The next part of this verse is, “renew a right spirit within me.” What does this mean?  We can be a Christian, but we don’t always have a right spirit when dealing with others.  I have had people say to me, “Well I tithe every week even if I don’t want to.”  It might be the right thing to do, but not the right spirit of doing it.  Have you ever heard some people in church saying to another, “Oh, Darling; you look lovely today.  That dress is so pretty.”  Then they turn to another person and say, “Can you imagine wearing that to church?  It is so ugly on her.”  A complement spoken in the wrong spirit is better off not said at all.

“Don’t cast me away from your presence”; why would anyone feel that or say that unless they have denied the Lord in some way.  If you are afraid of God turning his back on you, you may feel that he might also remove the Holy Spirit from you.  What a terrible void that would leave in you.  Listen, God isn’t going to leave you if you think you’ve erred, He said he would never leave you or forsake you. The Holy Spirit is your Comforter; would a comforter leave you in a cold, dark place?  No, unless you walked away from Him.

There are times we have walked away from God and messed up really bad, but if you are born again, all you have to do is call on Him.  “Dear God, restore unto me the joy of your salvation.” You see, when we are disobedient to God or makes mistakes, we rob ourselves of the joy that God has given to us.  It’s almost impossible to be happy or glad in that place. We need joy in our life to be a child of God.

“Uphold me by your generous spirit.”  You could say it this way, “Uphold me by your Grace”.  God’s grace is so big and so kind. God said it himself in 2 Corinthians 12:9, “And He said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.”  When we have times of weakness in our attitudes; our character and our actions, God’s grace can flow over it all and His mercy will give us strength.

The last line of these verses is so clear; it begins with the word, ‘Then’.  This means after you take care of the previous things you will be prepared to show sinners (those who don’t believe) how you were saved and kept by God in his mercy.  Only then can you minister to the lost and they too can be converted and saved.  This verse is the key to serving God.  “Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners shall be converted to you.”

I believe, as Christians, we all want a fruitful life in Jesus Christ.  The Bible gives us all the tools to lead others to Jesus, but we must live for Him in order to succeed.  One day Christ will come back to this earth to get all those believers that are still alive and take them to heaven with him. The words of this old hymn describe it best.

                  What a Day That Will Be

“What a day that will be, when my Jesus I shall see
When I look upon his face, The One who saved me by his grace,
But when He takes me by the hand,
And leads me through the Promised Land,
What a day, glorious day that will be.”