Greetings, Precious Family:

May the Peace of the Lord be with you always.

Family, this evening I was thinking about the song Create In Me A Clean Heart and the Psalm of David regarding creating a clean heart in him.

Why did David ask for a clean heart? What does a clean heart allow in terms of relationship with God? Why is a clean heart  necessary in order to have a relationship with God?

David was a true worshipper of God. The one thing that always affects a true worshipper’s relationship with God is SIN.

In Psalm 51, David is pleading with God to restore his heart so that he can worship God the way he used to. The only problem is that David had broken several commandments, including lusting after another man’s wife, adultery, and murder. All of which put more and more separation between David and God.

The separation from God was literally torturing David. He stripped himself from everything and cried out to God to say, “I will do whatever it takes to restore my relationship with you. Please restore our relationship, Lord.”

May today’s scripture passage also serve as our prayer. If there is anything separating you from God, meditate on Psalm 51 and turn it into a prayer.

Scripture Passage of the Day

Psalm 51

New International Version

Psalm 51^[a]

For the director of music. A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.

¹ Have mercy on me, O God,
    according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
    blot out my transgressions.
² Wash away all my iniquity
    and cleanse me from my sin.

³ For I know my transgressions,
    and my sin is always before me.
⁴ Against you, you only, have I sinned
    and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are right in your verdict
    and justified when you judge.
⁵ Surely I was sinful at birth,
    sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
⁶ Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;
    you taught me wisdom in that secret place.

⁷ Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
    wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
⁸ Let me hear joy and gladness;
    let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
⁹ Hide your face from my sins
    and blot out all my iniquity.

¹⁰ Create in me a pure heart, O God,
    and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
¹¹ Do not cast me from your presence
    or take your Holy Spirit from me.
¹² Restore to me the joy of your salvation
    and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

¹³ Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
    so that sinners will turn back to you.
¹⁴ Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
    you who are God my Savior,
    and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.
¹⁵ Open my lips, Lord,
    and my mouth will declare your praise.
¹⁶ You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
    you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
¹⁷ My sacrifice, O God, is^[b] a broken spirit;
    a broken and contrite heart
    you, God, will not despise.

¹⁸ May it please you to prosper Zion,
    to build up the walls of Jerusalem.
¹⁹ Then you will delight in the sacrifices of the righteous,
    in burnt offerings offered whole;
    then bulls will be offered on your altar.

Video of the Day

Rev. Marcia Davis, BA, MA

Covington, GA (USA)