A Clean Heart
A Clean Heart
A look at Psalm 51.
David wrote this psalm after his adultery with Bathsheba and his role in the subsequent death of her husband, Uriah. Nathan the prophet had come to David to confront David’s sin against God and man.
It has been said that David was a man after God’s own heart. He loved God with all that he had, yet in the midst of his passion for God, he fell dramatically in his sin.
But did not stay there.
Our sins may not be the same as David’s, but sin has the same effect in our lives as in David’s: distance from God. Sin is anything that distracts, diverts or absorbs our attention from God or His purposes: overtly or secretly, by omission or commission. This leaves no stone unturned.
Sin starts in the heart. The heart is where the wellspring of our being dwells; it is the essence of who we are. Often, we like David, fall. And like David, we need not stay there. We need to address our own heart and relationship with God. David knows his God; he knows Him intimately and begins with this verse:
“Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.
Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.
For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.
Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are right in your verdict
and justified when you judge.”
Psalm 51:1-4 NIV
He owns it!
He owns what he has done and states it is God who he has violated. It started with David and God. David not only admits his wrong but also makes no excuses or explanation, no, “It isn’t my fault, she was pretty, and her husband living got in the way of me having what I wanted.” David came to God unequivocally saying he was the one who violated the relationship between himself and God. “Whatever your verdict, what you feel is right God, I will accept as fair and just.” How hard is it for us to own when we are wrong? Regardless of the sin, whether in thought word or deed sometimes it’s hard. There is a prayer I learned long ago. “God grant me the courage to not turn away from you until I have faced you squarely. Without excuse or explanation but naked before you with the good and the bad.”
That took more courage than I could have imagined as all of my inward thoughts and my outward actions came rushing before my eyes. I wanted to move or explain or say something, say anything at that very moment. But, God in His graciousness and His love gave me the courage to stand without a word before Him, the God of the universe, creator of all mankind: my Heavenly Father. The Father that loved me so much He would not leave me in this place of guilt but brought me to a place of restoration. It started with my owning my sin as it did with David.
David goes on to say:
“Surely I was sinful at birth,
sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;
you taught me wisdom in that secret place.
Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.”
Psalm 51:5-8 NIV
As David acknowledges that although he was born sinful in his nature, God was already teaching him wisdom while still in his mother’s womb. David asserts God; “You are the one who can clean me You are the one who can direct me.” David then declares his hope with “let me hear joy and gladness.” This is the voice of God that he desperately wants to hear. He doesn’t care that God would hold him accountable; even if God crushed his bones, if he could hear joy and gladness, David would rejoice. He knew if he heard joy or gladness from God with God he could be restored both in his relationship to God and to man.
The next few verses are the preeminent verses in this chapter. It is the heart and soul of our walk with God.
“Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity.
Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.”
Psalm 51:9-12 NIV
Although we sin, although we fall, we implore God not to see the sin; but see His Son. We ask God to blot out our sin with Jesus’s blood, the price paid for our iniquity.
We pray God, create in us a pure heart. We want a heart that won’t deceive or betray us, but that is committed to a relationship that is sold out to God: with a bond that is punctuated with tenacity, perseverance, and steadfastness; a desire to be in God’s presence and filled with His Holy Spirit evidenced by a passion to be in right relationship with God our Heavenly Father.
When we find that passion, that perseverance to be in right relationship with God, we ask God to restore the joy of His salvation. Wow, how often do we consider God is restoring the joy of our salvation, but David says, “Restore to me the joy of your salvation.” The difference between the two is enormous! God sent His Son for the salvation of all mankind not just me. With the joy of “His salvation” there is an enormous strength! In Nehemiah 8:10 it says, “The joy of the Lord is my strength.”
So we ask God, with His strength and Love, to grant us a willing spirit to withstand all the temptations we face. We acknowledge that without God we always seem to slide a little by little, a compromise here and a small lie there.
We all fall short, but we don’t have to stay there. When we choose to own our sin, shortcomings, and weaknesses, then we have the ability to change. When we don’t own them, we deny ourselves the critical components to have a right relationship with God.
There are times in our lives that we need to pause, step back and stand squarely before God. We need to “own” we are not in the right place, and we need to do something about it. When we are willing to confess our sin to God (the very one who is quick and willing to forgive, restore and strengthen us) then we will be free. Free of those things that seem to constantly have us trip and fall.
Do we have the willingness today to stand before God and not turn away before we face Him squarely?
