Recently I remembered when in washing a pot, I splashed some of the residue onto my blouse. Immediately I went to spray stain remover but even after going through the wash cycle, the faint outline of the spots could be seen. The spots brought some Scripture to mind.
“Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me.” (Psalm 51:10, NLT)
David knew confession was the only way to receiving forgiveness for the wrongs he had done. But David desired more ”“ he desired a heart that would not repeat the sin, nor fall back into it.
David also knew his heart would fail him, and only God could give him a heart that would be loyal. David needed a clean heart and so do we.
The word “create” is bara in Hebrew and has been defined:
“This means to generate into existence … implies craftsmanship. It describes bringing something which wasn’t into existence or re-creating something into something new.”
(NLT Study Bible, Hebrew and Greek Word Studies)
The word “renew” in this verse is khadash:
“This means to return an object to a condition or state that is the same as a prior condition.”
(also from the NLT Study Bible, Hebrew and Greek Word Studies)
“But if we confess our sins to him,, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.” (1 John 1:9, NLT)
Let the pronouns stand out ”“ one in particular ”“ “our”. It is our sin and He cleanses us. We need to have hearts which confess quickly, feel remorse and repent sincerely. May He not only cleanse us from our wickedness, but also keep us from repeating it. May we not “fool ourselves” (see 1 John 1:8) into thinking we have no sin, do not sin, or go a day without sinning.
Here is the amazing act which God does in our hearts. He takes our soiled hearts and handcrafts them into something new, the condition they were meant to be from the beginning.
“Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.” (Psalm 51:7, NLT)
Prayer: Lord, thank You for causing this verse to fall new and personal. Help us to come quickly to You, to keep a short account. May our hearts not deceive or fool us into thinking we have no sin. May You, by Your Holy Spirit, bring conviction and remorse quickly. Keep our hearts tender towards Your voice calling us to repentance each and every day. Amen.
** This is an edited post which first at Woman to Woman Ministries.
Photo by Paweł Czerwiński on Unsplash
Today I am joining … Inspire Me Monday and Remember Me Monday .
Amen!
I’ve been so thankful for that passage. I grieved over David’s sin, but I am so grateful for these verses that I’ve relied on so many times.
I am so grateful for His grace and mercy which He extends so freely to His people when we come to Him.
I am so thankful that it is never too late to cry out to God, “Create in me a clean heart.” Just like the splash of stain on your blouse, our hearts can encounter a stain at any time. We need renewal. Thank you for this encouraging message.