Create In Me a Clean Heart O God

8-4-24

Hoonah-Hadley

Psalm 51:1-12

Call to Worship Psalm 51:1-12

Daily Verse Psalm 51:10

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” It is not an error this morning that our lesson and Call to Worship are one in the same. It is always the hope and goal that God’s word will be written on the tablet of our  heart, that we will read it, memorize it, cloth ourselves with it, use it, become it, recite it, sing it, praise it. This morning is no exception, but there are top 5 or top 10’s and we do have a disposition to play favorites. John Stott, respected and loved among believers around the world, has selected some Psalms, offers insight into these in the form of a book titled: “Favorite Psalms”.  51 is among his choices and verse 10 is personally used in prayer several times a day.  It is our observation that as the carpet needs vacuumed, the windows cleaned and the truck washed on a regular basis, so it is with our hearts, they need a daily, if not hourly, even minute by minute cleansing. John Piper says we need to be baptized every day.  The devil went down to Georgia, and Hadley, and Hoonah, and Butler, and…1 Peter 5:8-9 “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him…” After this looser tempted Christ, he waited for an “opportune time” to return. Though we have victories in Jesus, Satan does not go away quietly, he’s a prowler, a stalker, an ever-present danger that we must guard our hearts and minds against, we do that by daily baptism’s, daily washings, daily cleansing, daily prayer, daily meditation. Come to the well, and come to the well, and come to the well, and drink.

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Jesus Himself loved the Psalms. He quoted them often. One of the main reasons we are drawn to the psalms is that they speak the universal language of the human soul. 1904 Rowland Prothero wrote in his book The Psalms in Human Life, “contains the whole music of the heart of man.” Psalm 51 is closely associated with 2 Samuel 12:13 where David confesses, “I have sinned against the Lord.” This psalm is a result of that sin. David wrote it but we inherited the same fallen nature as he did, that’s why it is easy to borrow it and make it our own because it does apply to us. If you read the offering in 2 Samuel 11:26-12:13 the stage is set on the occasion of the Bathsheba and Uriah incident. The prophet Nathan was sent by God to rebuke him and one of the main themes of our lesson is David’s quote in verse 13, “I have sinned against the Lord.” He repeats this in Psalm 51:3-4 “For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against You, You only have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight.” The king confesses, owns up to it, acknowledges it, and so we are to do the same. 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” God knows our sin, there is nothing hidden from His sight but His covenant requires a conversation with us, including the confession of our sins. In fact, let us back up a couple verse’s here in 1 John to vs. 7 “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” The one who walks with God is always moving in the right direction. (Roy Lessin) The commonality in these 2 verses of 1 John is “all”.  He cleanses us from “all” unrighteousness, and He cleanses us from “all” sin. There is no debate, no argument, all is all. There is a simple equation in cleansing here: confession + walking= cleansing (forgiveness)

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“Just a closer walk with Thee, grant it Jesus is my plea, daily walking close to Thee, let it be, dear Lord, let it be.” (unknown) It’s no secret Psalm 51 is a prayer of repentance. We can suggest it was a private prayer, a private confession, it is after all King David petitioning God to be merciful, to “blot out” his transgressions, but here in the psalter it is given to the “Chief Musician” and made into song for public worship for all the world to see. Thank God He shines light in the darkness that we might be made well. “It’s hard to hide while you stink inside.” (Pastor Tolan Morgan) Our sermon title could very well have been “Repentance”. Repentance is a biblical mandate. John the Baptist in Matthew 3:2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” In Matthew 4:17 Jesus begins His Galilean ministry, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” To repent is to make a change for the better because of remorse or contrition for one’s sins. In Jeremiah 15:9 repentance comes with an “if”. “If you repent, I will restore you.” Herein is your choice vs. chance debate. Mark 1:15 “Repent and believe the good news!” Luke 13:3 “But unless you repent, you too will all perish.” Acts 3:19 “Repent, then, and turn to God.”  In Revelation 2:5 to the church in Ephesus “…repent…or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.” Choice not chance determines your destiny. It’s really simple, if you repent, you will be restored, if you don’t, you will perish. We’ll not elaborate further other than to say, our eternal dwelling rests upon and “if” and/or an “unless”, your choice. The decision is easy, holding fast to it with every word, breath and step is the hard part. Repentance is God’s will for your life, that not one will perish, but that wily loser has other ideas, he’s looking for a soul to steal. He paints it every way imaginable, makes it “easy”, pleasing. It’s not, He’s a liar.

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Psalm 51:5 “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.” Aside from Christ, this verse sums up humanity of which all are a part. God is no respecter of people, no color, race or geographical location is immune from verse 5. Vs. 6 “Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts…” This truth has a name, His blood was shed at Calvary, the foundation of freedom was wrought on yonder hill. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart. Read 1 John 4:12-16 “…By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us…” True freedom comes from the author of it, and it is His “desire” for that “truth”, His Son Jesus Christ, to dwell within us. Vs. 7 “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.” David is likely referring to Leviticus 14 here and the ritual for cleansing lepers. There are some deep waters here but in a nutshell these ceremonial cleansings restored the diseased individual to God and His people. “Wash me” can be found in the Laws of Purification in Numbers 19, mainly in verses 17-19, but David continues the theme and he does not stray from the answer, repentance and his trip to the laundromat. He is a man after God’s own heart. He is confessing, praying, seeking, asking. He is sincere and diligent and knows there is only one way to be cleansed. He is focused and determined and stays the course. Vs. 10 “Create in me a clean heart…” The key here is “Create”. David knows there is no hope in the original, old heart. Set it out at the curb, start over. You can put some puddy on the old truck, you can buy one of those cheap “wishing wells”, but if the transmission is shot and there is no depth to your well wishes you’re on the road to nowhere. Only grace can lead you home and only God can create. “And renew a steadfast spirit within me.” David understands the necessity, that only God can do it, and it starts within. Amen.