Clean Me Up: Create, Renew, Restore!

Now that’s a lot happening right there but that’s not where I want us to focus our attention today. I said all of that just to give you the what’s happenings in our text in Psalms 51.

It was only after David was confronted with his sin that David repented, therefore writing this Psalm. And David is no different than you and I because there are some sins in our lives that we know we have, yet they have gone un-repented because there’s no Nathan in our lives to confront us.

Well just call me Nathan today because I need to let you know that your sin will find you out. And David wrote this Psalm to repent, but it is also here to remind us of the need to repent and get right with God.

David gives us a good model to look at in this Psalms when it comes to repentance. This is one of my favorite passages in the Bible, and yes, how many of us know that there are patterns and structures we should know when we confess and repent. Well come with me as we look at 3 quick things about Create, Renew, and Restore today.

First Look at what David does in this Psalms, he acknowledges and repents of his sin in verses 1-6. Then starting in verse 7 he begins to request some things from the Lord. In verse 7 he ask the Lord to Clean him up. In verse 8 he asked the Lord to make him hear joy and gladness. In verse 9 he asks for God to Hide his face from his sins and blot out his iniquities.

And then our text picks up where David prays, Lord Create (Somebody say “Lord Create!”). Create in me a clean heart. Well I have to admit I was a little confused as to what David meant when he prays “Create in me a clean heart.” After all here was a man that was said to be a man after God’s own heart so why would he need the Lord to Create in him a clean heart. Well I had to look up that word create on dictionary.com and it says to create means to cause to come into being, as something unique that would not naturally evolve or that is not made by ordinary processes.

Well that helped me understand some things because I was reminded that David has already asked the Lord to Purge him and clean him up in verse 7. So it would only make since that after he was purged and cleaned that, he would request from God, the creator of all things, to create something new in place of what used to exist inside of him.

He didn’t pray “Lord correct my old heart.” He realized his old heart was so rotten that he needed more than just a patch job.

What used to exist before was a heart that had been tainted.

What used to exist before was a heart that had been corrupted.

What used to exist before was a heart that had been ruined.

What used to exist before was a heart that had been spoiled.

What used to exist before was a heart that had been stained.

What used to exist before was a blemished heart.

What used to exist before was an infected heart.

What used to exist before was a dirty heart.

What used to exist before was a foul heart.

It may sound a little ridiculous or extreme to some at first, but then I’ll have ask you “is there anything too hard for God?” David didn’t say Lord just patch up my old heart, instead he said Lord cut off the old me and create in me a new me. Lord generates in me, Lord Produce in me, Lord Construct in me a clean heart!