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PSALM 51:10 “CREATE IN ME A CLEAN HEART O GOD; AND RENEW A RIGHT SPIRIT WITHIN ME.” (KJV, NKJV, ASV)
Create a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. (NASB)
Create a new, clean heart, O God, filled with clean thoughts and right desires. (NLB)
Create a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. (NIV)
Many versions of the Bible begin Psalm 51 with the explanation, “A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone into Bathsheba.” No kidding!
I have often wondered, how could a man like David, whom the Bible claimed was a “man after God’s own heart,” do what David did? We are always quicker to judge than we are to look in a mirror.
I will not go into my sins. A wise man once said, “Confession may be good for the soul, but it is bad for the reputation.” I sure don’t want to ruin your opinion of my reputation or make you think I could ever be as bad as David. Let’s not discuss the fact that my parents gave me the same name.
Another of my faults is that I pretty much “wear my reputation on my sleeves.” That means I am not even close to being good at hiding my frailties, failures and weaknesses. I have many of those and most who know me well enough, know that I do.
If you do not know King David’s most famous sin, take a good read through 2 Samuel 11. I’ll wait for you to go through it. It is a sordid story and the Bible does a thorough job telling it. If you read beyond the initial completed sin you will see many issues that follow David’s sin. Psalm 51:10 is about the last issue I will mention, but I must talk about the first issues and what this Psalm is NOT about:
I am convinced that all men are tempted like David was. If not the temptation of lusting after a woman (let alone lusting after another man’s wife), we are always wanting what we don’t have.
David should have been on the battlefield (2 Samuel 11:1). He should not have been gazing on the site of a woman bathing, even if she was up on the roof. He should not have taken her for himself, had sex with her, then try to cover it up by having her husband killed in battle. And, thinking he had covered his tracks, it should not have had to take the prophet Samuel to convict him of his sin. See 2 Samuel 12.
David was not praying “Create in me a clean heart,” after he had sex with Bathsheba. I have no doubt that, if he was a man after God’s own heart, the GUILT of his sin was with him from the moment of the conception of his sin (no pun intended). Notice that the guilt he experienced did not lead him to repentance.
David certainly did not pray “Create in me a clean heart” while he was covering up his sin. This sentiment really wasn’t the motivation for his conviction when Samuel confronted him, when he repented after he was caught nor whenever David eventually received forgiveness for his sin. No, certainly, the plea to the Lord for a clean heart came once David started dealing with the CONSEQUENCES of his sin.
My experience has been that the cry, “Lord, please create in me a clean heart,” comes well after I have been dealing with an unclean heart for a long time, just like David. The big clue is in the rest of that verse, “and RENEW a right spirit within me.”
We are not preaching to those who have never known the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ in their lives. The Bible clearly tells us we are “dead in our trespasses and sins” before we are “born again” and receive eternal life. Folks, if you have never given your life to Jesus; if you have never acknowledged your lostness, asked Jesus to forgive you for your sins and accepted His free gift of eternal life, please do that now!
No, we can never plead for a clean heart if we have never enjoyed the knowledge of ever having had one. We cannot pray, “renew a right spirit within me,” if we are still living in our trespasses and sins. Give your life to Jesus today.
Unfortunately, as with the example of David, and the example of almost any Christian we might have ever known, when we are saved the truth is we will still sin. I am convinced that David was “a man after God’s own heart” long before this episode in his life. But, the burden of the consequences (or results) of his sin (and our sins) are what brought him to the point of understanding that the “clean heart” he once had disappeared with his sin.
I don’t know if it was immediately after the child he and Bathsheba bore through this sin died that David pleaded for God to restore in him that clean heart. Maybe it was right after Samuel declared to David, “You are that man” (2 Sam 12:7). Samuel declared one of the consequences when he told David the “the sword will never depart from your house.” (verse 10)
Maybe it was when Samuel declared that other men would now sleep with his wives and “you did this in secret, but the Lord will repay you in broad daylight before all Israel,” David would plead for a clean heart. David certainly declared in verse 13, “I have sinned against the Lord.” Notice right after that, Samuel declares “The Lord has taken away your sin.” Was it then?
No, I think it was maybe months or even years after suffering from the consequences of this sin David realized his need. Only after being constantly reminded that some sins carry bad results, David pleaded that he could return to that state of having a clean heart again. How often do we return to our old ways, our sinful nature, and maybe even repent and receive forgiveness for them only to find out the heart has been severely affected by that act of disobedience?
I believe the Lord answers that prayer for a clean heart. He can take what we have made into an unclean heart, and make it clean again! I think He is anxious to restore a right spirit within all of us. I think He understands our weaknesses and longs to have a restored, holy relationship with us.
I do think, however, that He hopes that we would pray, “Lord create in me a clean heart” BEFORE we sin! I think He would like it if He didn’t always have to renew a right spirit within us, but wants us to keep that right spirit all the time.
I recognize, from my experiences in life, that I may never arrive at total freedom from temptation and sins this side of heaven. I know some who teach that kind of doctrine. I have just not met any of them who have gotten there yet.
I have to admit that I have not arrived there yet. I do know that I still disappoint the One who died for all my sins when I want to go right back to them. I pray I will arrive (and daily strive to arrive) at that point where I will always have victory over temptation and sin. But so far, it seems like if I give in and submit to my temptations instead of to the Holy Spirit, I fail, I fall and I sin.
Jesus is always right there with me…He does not leave me. He wants me to feel the guilt and conviction of my sins and plead for forgiveness. And, He always forgives me when I ask.
My sins separate me from the living, loving relationship Jesus wants to have with me every day. If I choose to live a way not pleasing to the Lord, my heart will ache. It will experience grief through the conviction of the Holy Spirit. If I dwell there too long, serious damage can come from that separation…even though the Father would never want that for us. Such sin can create a very dirty heart in us and He so wants us to have clean hearts.
If we take the instructions of this prayer of David truly to heart, the truth is we need to pray, “Create in me a clean heart” every day. Yes, the prayer is effective when we have drifted off from the center of His will for us, maybe into deep sin. Yes, this prayer is an effective tool to ward off temptation before we take, even the first step into sin. But it may be that David, even as we should, discovered that this prayer is most effective if we pray it every day!
First thing of the day, maybe over that first cup of coffee, I want to start praying, “Lord, create in me a clean heart today.” I know that might easily become nothing more than a habit that can turn into routine. But maybe, if I turn my heart toward Him first thing every morning and, as I look at the morning sun rising in the east, I pray for Him to, once again, purify, sanctify and clean up whatever might have been left from the day before that did not glorify Him, He might be able to use that prayer to guide every next day into one that follows the direction of a clean heart.
Some day…hopefully in this lifetime…I will get to experience a life that does not ever “look at Bathsheba.” Maybe not. And for my sins, I know I have one who saves me from them. However, I have to believe that if I can learn to pray, “Lord, create in me a clean heart, and renew a right spirit within me” BEFORE I am drawn away into that sin, maybe I can create the atmosphere where I won’t have to pray it long after the consequences of those sins do their best to wreck my life. What do you think?
Questions to consider: Am I the only Christian who struggles with sin after I was saved? Is it possible to NOT sin? Do we recognize that the Lord wants us to deal with any sin in our life immediately? What happens to us if we allow habitual sin to dominate our lives? Have you ever tried applying this verse to your situation when you are tempted? Is it possible that memorizing this verse and applying it every time we are tempted might keep us from giving into that temptation? What other things can create hearts in us that need cleaning? What should it feel like when the Lord answers this prayer and does create in us a clean heart again?
Other Scriptures to study: James 4:7 “SUBMIT to God. RESIST the devil and he will flee from you.” James 1:14 “Each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings death.” Any wonder why our hearts would start to feel like they are not clean? Titus 2:14-15 “…He might purify for Himself His own special people…” James 4:8 “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you…purify your hearts…”
A Song to Remember: “Create in Me a Clean Heart” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7Hk3WFUMvo
 
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