“Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”

What is your first instinct when another driver cuts you off?  When the alarm clock goes off in the morning?  When you pick up the phone and it is another telemarketer?  When someone treats your rudely?  When you make a mistake? When you sin?

Do you pray like David?

“Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”

Psalm 51 gives us a clear view of King David’s response to his sin of adultery and murder.  However what we see IS NOT his first reaction.  No, David’s first reaction was to cover it up.  It wasn’t until the prophet Nathan rebuked David. The way in which Nathan rebuked David was absolutely brilliant.  You can read about it in 2 Samuel 12.  Nathan tells David a story about a rich man and poor man.  The rich man takes the only sheep the poor man had.  He butchers and cooks it for a meal for himself.  Meanwhile the rich man had plenty of sheep of his own.  When David heard the story he was outraged.  He was so angry David said,

“The rich man deserves to die!”

No sooner had David spoke these words that Nathan said,

“You are the man!”

Those words of Nathan must have been like a sword that cut David’s heart. Convicted by the truth, he could no longer stand behind his first instinct to hide, or justify his sins, or to rationalize his sinful actions.  This might work with other people.  It might work with Bethsheba.  It wasn’t going to work with God.  When Nathan said,

“You are the man.”

It was like he was the chief juror in a court of law announcing the verdict that David was guilty of adultery and premeditated murder.

I suppose David could have denied it. He could have declared his innocence. But this is not what David did. He responded to the charges by praying and writing Psalm 51.

David appealed to God.

“Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love,
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgression.”

Notice David did not try to explain himself or his sin to God.  He did not appeal to God on the basis of who he was, or his previous years of faithfulness.  No, he appealed to the unfailing love of God.  We may fail in our love to God, but God never fails in His love or His commitment to people who acknowledge their sin and rely on His mercy.

David acknowledged His sin.

“For I know my transgression
and my sin is always before me.
Against You, You only have I sinned
and done what is evil in Your sight.”

When David said,

“Against You, You only have I sinned…”

David was not belittling his sin against Bathsheba or her husband Uriah. He was doing what we all to often fail to do which, is to acknowledge that every sin we commit is against God. While other people maybe victims of our sin, ultimately every sin offends God. Sin in any form is rebellion against God’s way of living. David admitted to this and appealed to God.

“Cleanse me with hyssop,
and I will be clean;
wash me,
and I will be whiter than snow.”

He wasn’t trying to appease God.  Unlike me when I was a child. When I got in trouble I remember I could sweet talk myself out of more trouble by turning on the tears and sweetly telling my mother, “I’m sorry Mommy. I love you.”

This is not what David was doing. As Ron Susek states in his book, God Will Answer David isn’t trying to appease God; rather he is throwing himself upon a merciful, faithful and compassionate God to bring appeasement to himself, to settle the disturbance caused by sin. David isn’t seeking forgiveness as much as he is seeking complete restoration of his relationship with God. This evident in his use of the words

“cleanse me with hyssop.”

The hyssop branch was used by the Israelites in Egypt to place the blood of the lamb on the doorframes of their homes so that the angel of death would pass over their homes.

“Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice.”

Up until now everything David had done, turning to the unfailing love of God, expressing his awareness of his sin and appealing for forgiveness is good and right. But the next step David took is perhaps the most important.

“Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”

David didn’t want to be a repeat offender of God. He did not want a face-lift so that he could look good to his people. He wanted a heart transplant. He wanted his heart and his mind to be transformed and renewed. As Paul states in Romans,

“Do not be conformed to this world,
but he transformed by the renewing
of your mind in God’s Word.”

Since the Garden of Eden humanity has been born as sinners. Our natural inclination is to please ourselves rather than God. Like David we all too often follow that inclination.  It does not matter what our sin may be.  If we have any hope of living a life that God desires we must ask God to cleanse us from within.  We must clear our heart and spirit for new thoughts and new desires, specifically for God’s Word and Spirit.

All of David’s acts would mean nothing if he did not desire to change his attitude, his inward self. This holds true for you and me. When we surrender our natural inclination to sin, for a Holy Spirit led life our desire will be as David’s.  David said,

“O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will
declare Your praise.”

John Newton has a similar story to tell. It is story you and I know very well. It is a story that we proclaim every time we sing Amazing Grace.

Whether it is Psalm 51, Amazing Grace or 1John 1:9, which states,

Or some other verse God is calling us to open up the parts of our lives that we try to keep deeply hidden from others and particularly God. God wants open access. Open access so that He

“Create in us a pure heart
and renew a steadfast spirit within me
and restore the joy of your salvation.”

What’s stopping you?