Create In Me A New Heart

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.

(Psalm 51:1-12)…..Have mercy upon me, O God, According to Your lovingkindness;
According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions. ² Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin. ³ For I acknowledge my transgressions, And my sin is always before me. ⁴ Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight – That You may be found just when You speak, And blameless when You judge. ⁵ Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me. ⁶ Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom. ⁷ Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. ⁸ Make me hear joy and gladness, That the bones You have broken may rejoice. ⁹ Hide Your face from my sins, And blot out all my iniquities. ¹⁰ Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. ¹¹ Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. ¹² Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.

How many of us have sinned and come to the realization that we need a clean heart? Well, praise the Lord this morning because that would have never happened in your life if it wasn’t for His love for you. The clean heart being the result of us being drawn to the Lord in repentance. In David’s case, when he sinned with Bathsheba, he did belong to God but fell into this sin, and was in great grief over it. We have seen and heard what David wanted from God because of the grieving his sin had caused.

1. He wanted mercy – (51:1)
2. He wanted loving-kindness – (51:1)
3. He wanted his sin blotted out – (51:1)
4. He wanted to be washed from his iniquity – (51:2)
5. He wanted to be clean – (51:2)
6. He wanted his sin purged from him – (51:7)
7. He wanted – joy – gladness – rejoicing – retuned to him – (51:8)

Now notice what is David’s request from God. “Create in me a clean heart, oh God, and renew a steadfast spirit in me.” What is David asking for?The word used for create here is the word “bara,” which is the same word used in (Genesis 1:1) (Genesis 1:27) (Isaiah 40:26). It means to create out of nothing. David is saying, “Create in me a clean heart out of nothing, that is, causing something to exist where there was nothing before, that my heart might be made pure, that my affections and feelings might be made right. A new heart is what is needed because there is nothing in David’s heart that God can use, so mending it or changing it will not work. His heart is altogether corrupted and must be made new.

We too need a clean heart just like David, but why? The heart, when affected by sin, becomes deceitful and wicked (Genesis 6:5) (Ecclesiastes 9:3) (Jeremiah 17:9) (Romans 3:10-18) (Hebrews 3:12) (2 Peter 2:12-14). You see, The heart is a source of defilement within a man (Mark 7:20-23). Notice what comes out of such a heart….

1. Evil thoughts
2. Adulteries – illicit sexual relations by a married person – even in the heart – (Matthew 5:27-28)
3. Fornications – illicit sexual activities of various kinds – prompted by lust – (1 Thessalonians 4:1-8)
4. Murders – taking life intentionally – which is connected to hate in the heart – (1 John 3:15)
5. Thefts – stealing – including shoplifting – pilfering – etc.
6. Covetousness – greediness – which makes one an idolater – (Ephesians 5:5) (Colossians 3:5)
7. Wickedness – evil acts – done with malice (desire to inflict harm or suffering)
8. Deceit – acting with guile (cunning deception) with the intent to defraud
9. Lewdness – unrestrained and unconcealed immoral behavior – closely related to lust – (Romans 13:13)
10. An evil eye – a Hebrew idiom (way of saying) for stinginess – (Proverbs 28:22) 
11. Blasphemy – slander – verbal abuse against God or man
12. Pride – arrogance – boastful opinion of one’s self – often with contempt toward others
13. Foolishness – lack of common sense – with moral and spiritual insensitivity

The heart is the power plant that motivates and activates all of one’s actions. If it is polluted, it will produce all of what we have just read and more, and that certainly would be no good to anyone. But, If it is clean, it will produce the God-pleasing fruits of (Galatians 5:22). A clean heart is one that has been washed and cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ. The sinner who believes in Christ Jesus has such a clean heart (2 Corinthians 5:17). But David prays that God would renew him by restoring a steadfast (upright) spirit within him.Similar to the clean heart, but this deals with our determination to do right. He desires a heart that will stand firm against all the temptations of the evil one and that will constantly follow God’s Word and will (Psalm 119:9-12) (1 Corinthians 15:58). Is this something you also want from the Lord? If it is, ask him and He will give it to you.