Clean Heart

Psalm 51:10-12

We all make blunders in life. Some of them are funny (in the long run). Some of these misfortunes actually make other people laugh. Some of them, however, are so bad that they completely destroy lives. The reality is that we all sin, stumble, and fall. We commit blunders on a daily basis. The question we should ask is not “Do we commit blunders?” because we really do. The question is: “How should we respond to our own blunders?” (We must forget about the blunders of others. Let them deal with their own sins. Sometimes we are better in solving other people’s problems than dealing with our own inconsistencies.)

One of the best things about the Bible is its honesty. It does not conceal the faults of even its greatest characters.  The Bible admits and even celebrates the human-ness of those who follow God. Abraham, immediately after receiving the call from God, went to Egypt and prostituted his wife Sarah to Pharaoh for the sake of self-preservation. Noah who survived the flood was a drunk. Saul, the anointed king, had a great inferiority complex and was full of envy. Samson was a playboy. Even the disciples of Jesus Christ were portrayed to be arrogant self-exalting cowards. The Bible narrates several shameful and ugly stories of how great men and women of God fall. One of the most tragic of these stories is David’s.

David was described in Acts 13:22 as “a man after God’s own heart.” This does not mean that David was perfect from the moment he was born up to when he died. In fact, the Bible records that he actually fell into many temptations. It is not like he committed only one sin. No. He committed several. His sins were very grievous – sins that would completely destroy anyone’s reputation today.

• He was self-indulgent and lazy. The Israelites were waging war against the Ammonites, but “David remained at Jerusalem” (2 Sam 11:1). He should be leading his army in battle, but he stayed home. What did he do at home? Verse 2 explains: “It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king’s house.” (11:2).
• He saw Bathsheba bathing, and slept with her, even though he knew that she was married to a soldier in the battlefield (11:2-4).
• When Bathsheba got pregnant, he wanted to frame Uriah to be the father of the child. When this planned failed, he arranged for Uriah to die in battle (11:14-15).
• When Uriah died, David took Bathsheba as his wife
• The result of his actions is clear: “the thing that David had done displeased the Lord” (11:27).

 David composed Psalm 51, as a reflection and response to the prophet Nathan’s rebukes. Thus, Psalm 51 reveals the heart of a sorrowful sinner who wants to be restored. The psalm reveals the contents of David’s heart.

In Psalm 51, we read David’s confession of his sins:

•   “I know my transgressions” (51:3a)
•   “my sin is ever before me” (51:3b)
•   “Against you… I have sinned and done what is evil in your sight” (51:4)
•   “I was brought forth in iniquity” (51:5a)

 Secondly, he sought God’s forgiveness:

•   “blot out my transgressions” (51:1) – to transgress is to go against a code of conduct
•   “wash me thoroughly from my iniquity” (51:2a)
•   “cleanse me from my sin” (51:2b)
•   “purify me with hyssop” (51:7a)
•   “wash me” (51:7b)
•   “blot out my iniquities” (51:9b)

 And he continued to ask from God:

Create in me a clean heart, O God,
    and renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from your presence,
    and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
    and uphold me with a willing spirit (Ps 51:10-12)

For someone who committed many grievous sins, David had the nerve to ask a lot from God. He had the face to say “give me this” and “grant me that.” His prayers do not make sense to us. Most of the time, we think that when we commit sin against God or against someone, the best thing to do is to stay away. We think that God is so angry with us that He does not wish to see us at all. In fact, many Christians who have sinned against God choose to take a week or a month off from church. They do not wish to open their Bibles or even pray because they feel unworthy to come before God with requests. They stop their ministries, because they feel unworthy to serve God.

But David shows us a different way. He had the audacity to ask from God, even if he knew He sinned. What we need is boldness of hope in the midst of despair and sin. David’s prayer teaches us what we should aspire for when we fall.

David showed us the right attitude when we sin against Him. Instead of hiding away from God or taking a break, we must be more pro-active in seeking Him. Why is this so? Because the good news of the kingdom is that every human being who sinned has the right to ask for forgiveness. Every human being who has fallen low has the right to ask God to lift him up. Every human being who is tarnished by sin has the right to aim for purity. Every human being who has gone astray has the right to return to God. Every human being who is filled with sorrow has the right to ask for the joy of the Spirit. Every human being who sinned has the right to repent. Every human being who feels empty has the right to be filled again. Every human being who is lost has the right to return to the right track.

Every human being who has a sinful heart can ask God for a new heart. David prayed, “create in me a clean heart, O God.” Jesus proclaimed that “Out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander” (Matt 15:19). Yahweh Himself also proclaimed: “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure” (Jer 17:9). The Hebrew word used for “create” in Psalm 51:10 is bara, which is the term used in Genesis 1 to describe God’s action when He created the world. The prayer, therefore, is not to just to cleanse a heart that is dirty or to cure a diseased heart. The prayer is for God to provide him a new heart, which God will create out of nothing—a previous non-existing heart. It involves like a heart transplant, in which the existing one needs to be discarded and replaced with a new one. We can ask God for this. We have the right to ask and plead before God.

Every human being whose spirit is thoroughly soaked in darkness can ask God for a right spirit. David prayed, “renew a right spirit within me.” We must learn to admit that we are not perfect. Our spirits are easily influenced by our preferences. We can have a bitter and envious spirit because others are better than us. We can have a proud spirit, just because we are doing this and that. We can have an apathetic spirit that simply does not care about God and other people. We can have a consumerist spirit. We can have a narcissistic spirit. But when we have these things, we have the right to ask God to give us a right spirit.

Every human being who is guilty of sin can ask God’s presence to remain in Him. David prayed, “Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me.” We live in a chaotic world, and we need God’s hand to hold us. When we sin, we might feel that God would let us go and we would be alone in the world. This is scary because the moment we are alone, we are lost. But this does not need to be the case. We can ask God to remain with us.

Finally, every human being who is bombarded by guilt and shame because of sin can ask God for the joy of salvation. David prayed, “Restore to me the joy of your salvation.” When we sin, we are filled with guilt and shame. Satan also bombards us with lies and accusations that snuff our joy out. It is true that God brings sorrow upon us when we sin, but this godly sorrow should not remain with us forever. Sorrow leads to repentance, which leads to restoration. We must believe in God’s grace to forgive. 

Grace is available for all of us. It is a terrible lie of the devil that we do not have the right to ask from God because we have sinned against Him. It is a terrible deception to think that we are unworthy before God and present our requests to Him. The truth is that God is always waiting for us. He has a cellphone that He always looks at, and our number is in there. He is just a text away. He is just a prayer away. What we need is the audacity and the thickest face ever to come to God and make our requests.