Skip to main content

Give Me a Clean Heart

"Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me." Psalm 51:10

Several shows on television feature home renovations. In these shows, people take houses that most would consider dumps and transforms them into show homes. The stars of one such show pride themselves on finding the smelliest, dirtiest, grossest homes, and rehabilitating them into homes that attract multiple buyers and fetch high prices. 

Psalm 51 is a chapter in which King David asks the Lord to renovate and rehabilitate his heart. David asks for God’s mercy and erasure of his transgressions. In 2 Samuel 12, David saw Bathsheba, committed adultery with her, and murdered her husband. This led to a whole series of consequences. His friend Nathan checked him and helped him see that his sin was against God. 

David cries out to God in Psalm 51, not just for forgiveness of his actions, but an overhaul of his spirit. You see, David had already transgressed in his heart before he committed his series of sins. In Matthew, Jesus teaches us that “For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.” Matt 15:19 

We must be careful to not trick ourselves into asking for God’s forgiveness so we can simply act right and do the right things. That was how the Pharisees lived, that is how self-righteous people live. We need to ask Him to makeover our hearts and fix our very nature so we can BE right. Yes, we want forgiveness of the wrong that we do, but more so we want God to fix our hearts, to change us, so our lives can honor Him.  

Sin starts in the heart, so we cry out, “Lord, create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” The Lord, being the ultimate home flipper, takes our dirty hearts, our sinful thoughts, and our raggedy intentions and transforms us into showcases of His glory. 

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Church on Trial

  Church on Trial He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God? Micah 6:8 Here’s a brief summary of Micah 6. Through the prophet, God put His people on trial and, as if in court, made a case against them. He testified of His goodness to them and witnessed that they had rebelled and rejected Him in return. After being put on trial, the people replied to His charge by essentially saying, “You ask too much!” They listed a string of rituals and impossible requests. They essentially told God that He was impossible to please. “What do You want from us?”, they implored. God’s response was one not filled with rules and temple rituals, but one that instructs them on how to ultimately please Him. What was God saying through the prophet? What is He saying to His people? Do Justice. Love Mercy. Walk Humbly. Do Justice - Give yourselves to others and, don't just seek justice, but serve justice. Ac...
Post a Comment
Read more

Back to Basics

As a young singer in high school, I had the privilege of being able to take voice lessons. Altogether, I took lessons for about 15 years or so. Although singing can be fun and is a performance art, voice lessons are not very glamorous. It is marked by hours of mundane practice - woodshedding. The most common teaching theme I learned was, “Don’t get too fancy” and “Practice the fundamentals.” They stressed that for me to grow as a vocalist, I needed to practice my vocalises and stick with the basics of sound vocal production. Only then would I be able to perform increasingly difficult pieces. The Apostle Peter instructs, "Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation." (1 Peter 2:2 NIV) Peter’s allusion to babies and milk is interesting. How basic is that? I’m reminded of the instruction given to us in my childhood congregation when someone got saved. The instruction was to 1) Read your bible and pray daily and 2) Fast. It was ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Now That We’ve Found Love, What Are We Going to Do With It?

Isaiah 61:1: “The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners…”  You, who are popular music buffs, probably recognize the title of this devotion from a song originally recorded by The O’Jays in 1973. It was written by the prolific producing and songwriting duo, Gamble and Huff. The song has been covered and recreated in multiple times from Martha Reeves to Heavy D and continued to be recorded by others well into 2010. Every time I hear it, the hook reels me in, whether slow, fast or in a reggae style. The lyrics for all of these versions recount some unrequited love where the pursuer is attempting to convince his or her love interest to take what they have to the “next level”.  The lyrics are a little goofy, but I’m drawn to this title because I, we, have truly found Love and Love has found us...
Post a Comment
Read more