Renewed!

Renewed!

Psalm 51:10 AMPC

[10] Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right, persevering, and steadfast spirit within me.

As it has always been clearly laid out in previous devotions, God does not condone sin in anyone, no matter how close the person has been to God. The words of today's verse were said by David, a man that God Himself said He had found as a man after His own heart. There were things David did quite well, one of which was his fervent devotion to and praise of God. According to records, at least 75 psalms (50%) in the bible are attributed to David. One would imagine that this would give David an edge when it came to sin. However,  as we know, unconfessed sin always gets punished by God. In this case, David had seen a beautiful woman, and without thinking of the consequences, slept with her, and when he had found out she was pregnant, he took steps to implicate the husband. When his schemes failed, he then killed the husband and took in the wife, even though the husband had been one of his mighty men of valour. 

How do you think you could hide anything from a God who made the heart and eyes, and can see and discern even the deepest secrets of a man's heart? In this case, even though David schemed in secret, he was found out, and his punishment was very public. However, for David, he knew he had done wrong, and he had to make his way straight with God. For all of us too, there is a lesson here for us. When we are confronted by our wrong, and are convicted by the Holy Spirit that we need to correct something, how do we react? Do we give excuses for the behaviour, or do we take immediate steps to right the wrong? The song of David in the verse above is very relevant to the repentance and return that God demands from those who He loves and corrects. The old man is set in his ways and cannot be saved. It is always the new man, the one God gives, that can respond the right way to the corrections of God. 

That is why the song above needs to be a daily prayer. Only God can birth and sustain a clean heart in any man. By nature, man is susceptible to sin; in fact, in the same psalm, David admitted that even at birth, sin is already part of man's nature. It takes God working in and on a man to bring about the nature that He can use. The clean heart will not happen by accident, and it cannot be formed or created the way a man can design and build a house. It is the result of God's work in a man's heart. Submission to God is the way to getting this clean heart. When sin comes, it pollutes a man's spirit and only God can cleanse and renew it. Just like David knew only God could help him, so must I know that only God can do a work in me that will last for eternity. I surrender my heart to Him. I ask Him to do what He needs to do, so He can bring me into eternity with Him, in line with His perfect will. Nothing in this earthly plane can make up for the loss of eternal life with God. God's time of favour is here.