psalm 51:10-13
Psalm 51:10-13:
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. 11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. 12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. 13 Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.
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" The mechanism of the human body is built to regenerate naturally. Every time we take in a breath, then exhale, we get a clean slate in our lungs. Every beat of our heart offers us a clean slate of oxygen-fed blood moving through and cleansing our body. Every moment we are alive, our cells change, regenerate and grow, giving us a cleaner slate of health.
In addition to our human bodies, creation can offer us emotional renewal (if we take a moment to notice its lessons). Every morning when the sun comes up, life starts anew – literally. Babies are born, oxygen is pumped back into the atmosphere by our forests, rain and sunlight bring growth. Creation, by its nature, offers us the daily hope of a clean slate. Perhaps the most powerful intimation is on a spiritual level. The Bible is full of reminders like the one in Psalm 51:10: "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me." |
" No man can be renewed without as real and true a manifestation of the Holy Spirit’s energy as he felt at first, because the work is as great, and flesh and blood are as much in the way now as ever they were. Let your personal weakness, O Christian, be an argument to make you pray earnestly to your God for help. Remember, David when he felt himself to be powerless, did not fold his arms or close his lips, but he hastened to the mercy-seat with “renew a right spirit within me.”
Let not the doctrine that you, unaided, can do nothing, make you sleep; but let it be a goad in your side to drive you with an awful earnestness to Israel’s strong Helper. O that you may have grace to plead with God, as though you pleaded for your very life—“Lord, renew a right spirit within me.” He who sincerely prays to God to do this, will prove his honesty by using the means through which God works. Be much in prayer; live much upon the Word of God; kill the lusts which have driven your Lord from you; be careful to watch over the future uprisings of sin. The Lord has his own appointed ways; sit by the wayside and you will be ready when he passes by. Continue in all those blessed ordinances which will foster and nourish your dying graces; and, knowing that all the power must proceed from him, cease not to cry, “Renew a right spirit within me.” |
" Although David sinned against Bathsheba, her husband, and David’s other wives, he realized he ultimately sinned against God. Therefore his heartfelt prayer was “Against you, you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight…” (Psalm 51:4).
In verses 7-8, he begged God to “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have broken rejoice.”
David felt crushed under the conviction of his offenses against God. Then in verses 10-12 he not only asked for a clean heart, but for a renewed spirit, too. He also asked that he not be cast away from God’s presence and that the Holy Spirit not be taken from him.
According to The Ryrie Study Bible, in the Old Testament, the holy spirit was particularly related to service, rather than salvation. Thus, David was asking God not to take away his service as the anointed kind of Israel. David asked that God restore the joy of his salvation, as he was likely tired of going through the motions and not experiencing the fullness and joy that comes from living uprightly with a clear conscious. Finally, David asked God to give him a willing spirit to obey. In other words, David was praying “Give me a strong desire to obey so I don’t break Your heart again.” |
" A backslider, if there be a spark of life left in him will groan after restoration. In this renewal the same exercise of grace is required as at our conversion. We needed repentance then; we certainly need it now. We wanted faith that we might come to Christ at first; only the like grace can bring us to Jesus now. We wanted a word from the Most High, a word from the lip of the loving One, to end our fears then; we shall soon discover, when under a sense of present sin, that we need it now. No man can be renewed without as real and true a manifestation of the Holy Spirit’s energy as he felt at first, because the work is as great, and flesh and blood are as much in the way now as ever they were. Let thy personal weakness, O Christian, be an argument to make thee pray earnestly to thy God for help. Remember, David when he felt himself to be powerless, did not fold his arms or close his lips, but he hastened to the mercy-seat with “renew a right spirit within me.” Let not the doctrine that you, unaided, can do nothing, make you sleep; but let it be a goad in your side to drive you with an awful earnestness to Israel’s strong Helper. O that you may have grace to plead with God, as though you pleaded for your very life–“Lord, renew a right spirit within me.” He who sincerely prays to God to do this, will prove his honesty by using the means through which God works. Be much in prayer; live much upon the Word of God; kill the lusts which have driven your Lord from you; be careful to watch over the future uprisings of sin. The Lord has his own appointed ways; sit by the wayside and you will be ready when he passes by. Continue in all those blessed ordinances which will foster and nourish your dying graces; and, knowing that all the power must proceed from him, cease not to cry, “Renew a right spirit within me.”
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" Think for a moment about what does it mean for God to “put a new and right spirit within me.”? In David’s case, the new and right spirit is a humble spirit that seeks not to take advantage of one’s position and power. However, there are many other reasons why a person might benefit from a new and right spirit. Jealousy, envy, resentfulness, and hate are all attitudes that produce a negative spirit. If we are honest with ourselves we will know when it is time for a” new and right spirit.” However, sometimes its not easy to change yourself. That is why David asked God to change his spirit
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