Create And Renew
Are you in need of a new heart and a right spirit? So was David and he asked for just that.
I need a pure heart and a right spirit. Forreal. There’s been so much that has happened in the last year that has built up a lot within me. I thought I was on my way up, but I was actually on my way down. This is what happened with our good friend, David too.
In 2 Samuel 11, David commits adultery with Bathsheba. David is supposed to be at war with his army like any good commander-in-chief of this time, but instead he stays back. When he stays back, he sees Bathsheba bathing, sees that she is beautiful and sends for her. He sleeps with her and then she becomes pregnant. To hide the pregnancy, he sends for her husband, Uriah, to cover it up. But her husband is such a loyal soldier, that he does not even want to be comforted by his wife. So David has to go a step further to conceal the pregnancy and kills Uriah. David is chillin’ until Nathanael the prophet approaches him and tells him about his sin. Nathan starts off with a story about a poor man and a rich man. The rich man essentially steals the little that the poor man has. At this story, David burns with anger and says “As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this must die! He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.” Nathan says “You are the man!”
Hunny chills.
This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: “I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.”
This trips me up because God said if all of this had been too little, I would have given you more. Man that breaks my heart. God desired to give David anything his heart desired had it been pure. Imagine how God wants to give us so much. In Luke 12, God says he is pleased to give us the [his] kingdom, but sometimes the lust of life trips us up and we desire things that are not for us or not ours to begin with.
It’s even more heartbreaking because though God is a merciful God, he is a lawful God. There is a sword for a sword.
David breaks over his sin and writes Psalm 51. Psalm 51 is one of those scriptures that makes you want to cling close to God. I do wholeheartedly believe that sometimes we fall so that we can get closer to God and know that we are in dire need of him. Verse 10 of the ESV version says, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” David asks for two things: a clean heart and a right spirit.
Create in me a clean heart. Man- that’s a heavy prayer to ask for as an imperfect human. You don’t know what can come up out of it when you ask. All the secret hidden, dark things. But this is what God desires for us to have. Not that we won’t be imperfect, but we will be striving to be purified. David asks for God to create in him a clean heart. What does it mean to create? Create means to bring something into existence. He does not ask for a renewed heart like he asks for a renewed spirit, but he asks for the creation of a clean heart. That’s because he knew that the old heart wouldn’t do. The old heart is what got him in trouble in the first place. The old heart is what got him to skip our on war and sleep with a married woman. When we have drifted off the path- a new heart is what is needed.
He then asks for God to renew a right spirit within him. In other versions, it says steadfast, but I like this version. It signifies that something was wrong. But a steadfast spirit is the right spirit. You see, David once had a right and steadfast spirit. One that wanted to obey all of God’s commands. One that would not touch innocent blood. What he needed was a renewal of spirit. There’s only one right spirit too- and that’s the Holy Spirit.
When we drift off the path (for various reasons), it’s important to get our heart clean and our spirit renewed. A clean heart needs to be created because the exisiting heart can’t continue with a repentant life. We need a clean heart to repent- a clean slate. We need renewal and revival of the right heart- a striving heart.
I asked God to purify my heart and the result was ugliness laid bare. When you ask for a clean heart, be mindful of what comes out. The judgemental, lazy, envious part of me came out like no other and instead of dealing with my new-found thorn, I asked God to take it away, forgetting that I asked for a clean heart. A clean heart will lay your subconscious bare and cause you to reflect on who you are as a person.
Today I ask, are you in need of a clean heart and is your spirit in need of renewal? If so, ask God who lovingly gives to all without fault and he will help you on the journey towards a clean heart and a renewed, fighting spirit for the life he has for you.
And that, is the 211
