Psalm 51:10-12 - Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation And sustain me with a willing spirit.
It is hard to imagine the anguish David felt when he penned these words. All of his victories, all of his triumphs, all of the miracles God had done in his life were suddenly negated by his affair with Bethsheba and the murder of Uriah.
David was a man who leaned on God, who sought strength from Him, who knew the scriptures. David had lived in victory, had been delivered from enemies, he had even danced with unparalleled joy before The Lord. Yet now, in this moment, he was crushed by the consuming defeat of sin.
In this passage of Psalm 51, David cries out to God for mercy. He longs in his heart for the relationship to be restored. Suddenly, through the revelation of the prophet Nathan, David sees his sin as God sees it.
It is so easy to convince ourselves that we are some somehow justified in our sin; that we really aren't as bad as "those other people". Yet God is calling out to us. His Spirit is seeking to reveal the truth of what sin does to us. He is longing for us to cry out to him "Create in me a clean heart, O God!"
And because of Christ, we live in the hope of 1 John 1:19. "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."