A Clean Heart

King David of Israel proclaimed in Psalm 51:10, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.” What is a “clean heart?” I believe it is a heart not weighed down by guilt, or by fear, or by others’ expectations of us.  A clean heart is pure, one that is honest before the Lord, one that is honest within the deepest part of us, in our soul.

To pretend is worthless. It gets us nowhere. God sees deeply within us, even inside the motivations of our hearts. To embrace reality–deep within us–is a brave act. To seek a clean heart is to proclaim to God, “I am who I am. I make mistakes. I am sorry. But I trust you to help me as I move forward.” He always does.

Growth in our faith is often progressive, but slowly, over time. God knows this. Most of the greatest leaders in both the Old and New Testaments took a long time to “get it together.” That was OK. God understood. He worked with each of them where they were–He does the same with us today.

What does it mean to ask God to “put a new and right spirit within me” as King David did?  I believe it is asking God to help realign our priorities, and to remind us of what is—above all else—most important. God is a “Creator God” who made the world and everything in it, so He is certainly capable of creating an improved spirit within His believers.

Trust Him. He will bring you through.