Create in Me a Clean Heart, O God

David falls into sin. Terrible sin. Adultery, cover ups, scheming, and murder.

But God still loves David. God sees that what David did was evil, so God sends the prophet Nathan to confront David with his sin. What happens next makes all the difference.

Many powerful men in such situations angrily defend themselves and attack their accusers. David could have attempted to continue to cover his sin by saying Nathan was a false prophet and then having Nathan killed. But David humbles himself. He confesses his sin. He recognizes that God’s discipline in his life is right and just.

Some people wrongly think that David gets off easy because God allows him to remain King. Nothing could be further from the truth. While God loves David and forgives him, God also severely disciplines David for his own good and as a warning to us. David’s newborn son dies. Then one of David’s sons, Absalom, kills another one of his sons. Later, Absalom rebels against his father David. David is forced to flee from Jerusalem. The rebellion is eventually defeated, but Absalom is killed in the process. Do you think that several of his sons dying was a less severe discipline for David than if God had merely removed him from being king or even if God had killed him? Would you rather be struck dead, or see your children struck dead?

While God’s discipline is severe (and rightly so), this discipline is not intended to do ultimate harm to David, but to correct him. God does not stop loving David. And David does not stop loving God. In fact, David’s deepest longing after his sin is that his relationship with God not be destroyed.

Out of the depth of despair, realizing that his own sin has brought great suffering on himself and others, David is moved by the Holy Spirit to write a Psalm of confession and repentance.  The Holy Spirit has used this Psalm to guide and inspire the prayers of millions who have fallen into Satan’s traps and pits because of their own sin. I myself have been in such pits and have prayed this very prayer. God heard this prayer and answered it when David prayed it, and God will hear and graciously answer when we pray it. 

Let’s look at Psalm 51.

 

David prays this prayer after committing adultery and murder. No matter how terrible a sin you have committed, you can pray a prayer like this one and have hope for forgiveness and renewal. In fact, you should have even greater confidence in God’s grace than David had, because we know that Jesus died for our sins. We know that His sacrifice was so great, that it is sufficient to bring forgiveness and cleansing for even our worst sins:

ESV 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

 

The reason we have hope after we sin is not that our sins are trivial. Our sins are terrible. The reason we have hope is because of God’s “steadfast love” and “abundant mercy”.

God doesn’t have a little mercy. He has a huge, abundant supply of mercy and grace that is greater than all our sin.

 

Once my family went to a beach and my wife stepped on some tarry, oily stuff. She tried to wash it off in the ocean, but could not. Back in the room, we tried to scrub it off with soap and water. Our efforts to clean the spot were a complete failure. We asked a local person about it. They told us to use a few drops of kerosene. When we used the kerosene, the black spot came off completely and instantly.

What can wash away our sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus! Sin gunks up our hearts, minds, and souls. After we sin we need to be cleansed. We are totally unable to clean ourselves from sin. But God can cleanse us by the blood of Christ.

David does not attempt to ignore or minimize his sin. His hope is not that his sin is small, his hope is that God’s grace is great.

In one sense, of course, we do sin against other people. And we never want to minimize the ways in which our sins hurt others. But ultimately our sins are against God. God loves those other people whom we hurt. His law commands us not to act in ways that are unfaithful or harmful to others. It is always God’s law that we are breaking. Therefore, He has every right to judge us when we sin.

This verse does not mean that David’s mother was sinning when David was conceived or born. It means that we are born with a sinful nature. It’s not just specific sins that we need to be saved from (although we do need cleansing and forgiveness for those). At a deeper level, we need salvation because of who we are. We need to be radically transformed from the inside out, as we will see . . .

David understands that the effects of sin on our souls are deep and widespread. He takes time to pray that error will be replaced with truth, that his foolishness will be replaced with wisdom in his heart, and that his stains will be washed so clean that he will be whiter than snow. Sin robs us of joy. The sadness and brokenness of sin help drive us to repentance. But dark sadness is not intended to be permanent, and so David prays for new joy and gladness. You can pray for these things, too!

These verses are the very heart of David’s prayer. He longs for these things:

1.  A clean heart

2.  A renewed, right inner spirit

3.  God’s loving presence in his life

4.  God’s Holy Spirit to guide, empower, protect, and bless him

God answers this prayer! God gives these things even after we have stumbled into terrible sin. O! The amazing grace of God in Christ Jesus!

The Psalms were designed to be sung. The following song powerfully captures the heart of David’s prayer. When you realize you have stumbled and fallen into sin you can sing this song as your prayer.

As a result of being forgiven and having his soul cleansed and his spirit renewed, David rightly expects that God will use him to help other people who have fallen into sin. David also knows that God’s grace will result in forgiven sinners opening our mouths to sing and shout God’s praise.

Have you been forgiven? Praise Him!

Sing one of your favorite songs about forgiveness, like Amazing Grace. Or sing along with this happy song praising God for washing away our sins:

You don’t have to go through religious rituals to find forgiveness. You do need to have a broken heart over your sin. If you don’t, pray that God will reveal to you the awfulness of your sin and will break your heart over it, not to destroy you, but in order to prepare you for renewal.

David has been praying for his own renewal. But at the end of his prayer, he turns his thoughts to God’s people.  Finish your own prayer by praying that God will build up His church.

You have brothers and sisters in Christ who need to experience God's grace and cleansing today. Perhaps sharing this post with them will help lead them to repentance and renewal. I pray God will use these thoughts based on Psalm 51 to help many.

Hebrews 13:16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others . . .