Give me a Clean Heart

Create in me a clean heart, O God,

And renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Do not cast me away from Thy presence,

And do not take Thy Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of Thy salvation,

And sustain me with a willing spirit.

Then I will teach transgressors Thy ways,

And sinners will be converted to Thee. 

(Psalm 51:10-13, NASB)

Next week begins the season of Lent – Ash Wednesday is next week - 14 February, Valentine’s Day on the civic calendar.  While many of us may come from traditions of faith where we aren’t accustomed to paying lots of attention to the Christian Calendar, hopefully we do come from a place in life that has taught us of our need for God’s grace.

These words from Psalm 51 were first spoken by King David, after his “Lent-like meeting” with the prophet Nathan. To spend these 40 days leading up to Easter Sunday in pursuit of a “clean heart” and a “steadfast spirit within us” would not be a bad exercise in spiritual discipline. The potential is that we might encounter the presence of God in these 40 days in new and refreshing ways because we are so focused on Him. That would not be a bad result of such discipline.

All of us perhaps would be blessed by a sense of being restored to “the joy of Thy salvation” and sustained by God to have a “willing spirit.” Not to be trite – but there is a sense that suggests if King David – a man after God’s own heart despite his failures – could be blessed by such gifts, then surely we can.

At the end of Peter’s second sermon in Acts (3:12-26) the apostle describes our potential with God when we “repent and return” with rather glorious vocabulary. Our sins are wiped away and “times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.” Peter then reminds those listening to him that we await “the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient times.”

When David seeks out God in order to be restored to the joy of his salvation, it may very well be that he is anticipating what you and I experience in coming to Christ. “Seasons of refreshing” in which we anticipate God’s “complete restoration.”

May I encourage you during this season of Lent – or if you don’t like that term, simply in these days leading up to Easter – to join with me in seeking to discover anew “the seasons of refreshing” that are to characterize our life in Christ. May we discover with new power and new opportunities for influence, the “joy of our salvation.”