Bowling Green Covenant Church

“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 unto me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners will return to You.”—Psalm 51.10-13 [ESV]

As a kid blue jeans and grass stains were as natural a combination as milk and Oreo cookies. Grass stains were the bane of my mother’s existence come laundry day. Forty years ago there was only way to get grass stains out—soak the jeans in detergent overnight followed by a vigorous scrubbing before being put in the washing machine. More often than not, thanks to mom’s hard work, the grass stains came out.

Grass stains are stubborn, but they can be removed. The stains left on the heart made by our sin are not so easily removed. In fact, they are impossible to remove. Hence, David’s request (plea is more like it), “Create in me a clean heart, O God,…” Above all else what we need most is a clean heart.

Lent, the time leading up to the passion, crucifixion, death and resurrection of Jesus, is the appropriate time to consider David’s petition in Psalm 51. The particular sin that prompted David to ask God for a clean heart was his adultery with Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11-12). At first, David tried to cover up his sin. And for a brief time the cover-up succeeded. Then one day the prophet Nathan confronted David about his sin. Nathan’s act took courage when you consider that David was the king and he had arranged the murder of Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah, as part of his cover-up.

Psalm 51 is David’s response to Nathan’s courageous act. It is a genuine confession of sin. Most notably, it is an authentic assessment by David of the real cause for his sin. His sin was not caused by poor parenting, not the result of his environment, not the result of his station in life, and certainly not the result of Bathsheba’s taking a bath on her roof in plain sight of the King. No, the cause of David’s sin was congenital. He, like you and me, was born with a cheating heart. “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me,” (v. 5). David is not blaming his parents. He is simply pointing out that the offspring of two people who themselves have cheating hearts is going to be a boy with a cheating heart. Stated plainly, David was a natural born sinner.

And so are we. We are all in need of a heart transplant from the moment we are conceived.

But I have good news (and it is a heck of a lot better than saving money on car insurance). God has promised to answer David’s prayer. In Ezekiel 36.26, 27 the LORD God says this, “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey all My rules.” This new heart is what Jesus meant when He spoke of His coming so that we might have life and have it abundantly (John 10.10).

Psalm 51 reminds us that God has promised to give a new heart and a fresh start to anyone who confesses faith in Jesus Christ. Sin has stained us permanently. God’s solution is not only to remove the stain by cleansing it with Jesus’ blood, but to give us a new heart and a new spirit.

That is good news worth celebrating, preferably with a glass of milk and Oreo cookies.

You think about that.

MM