Create in me a Clean Heart
By
Bishop Melvin L. Maughmer, Jr.
OPENING: - Luke 2:40 says “And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him”. God desires for us to mature and become wise in Him. As we grow spiritually grow spiritually and mature in Christ, we gain wisdom for with maturity come wisdom. Wisdom I would say Biblically is the ability to discern what is true right and enduring and the understanding to apply that in our everyday life going deeper and far beyond mere intellect but encompasses a deep understanding and reverence for God, His ways, and His principles.
In the Original Glorious Church in Chillicothe Ohio, the church my father Pastored for many years and now my youngest brother is Pastor and the church I attended until I started Pastoring, there was a Senior Deacon named Deacon Doy McCrary. I remember about 25 years ago he made this statement “I repent everyday”. In my spiritually immature mind, I was how and why do you repent every day because like so many people I believed repentance is limited to something we do to receive salvation instead of an expression of who I am. We get stuck so often on repentance is the beginning process of salvation because Acts 2:38 says “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost”, so we think repentance starts us on the road of salvation, when in actuality true repentance is a characteristic of salvation more than and act or process.
WATCH THIS: - Romans 5:8 “ But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”. That is salvation offered which produces within us the characteristic of repentance. Because of what He did for me I desire to turn from my wicked ways and follow Him. Repentance means changing your mind, soul, spirit, and our heart which is the seat of our will, intellect, and emotions so that our views, values, goals, ways, and thoughts are changed, and we live life differently.
It is through repentance that we agree and align with God and are determined to live in obedience and pleasing to God. The Bible says in Jeremiah 17:9-10 “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings”. It is this reason that repentance is not just an act done once but a characteristic of who we are in God.
David said in Psalms 51:10 “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me”.
Create in me a Clean Heart.
PRAYER
SCRIPTURE: - Psalms 51:10 “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me”.
TRADITIONALLY: - There are 7 Psalms known as Penitential or Psalms of Repentance they are 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, and 143. These Psalms reflect the cry of deliverance, yes from sin but even more so a deliverance from the heavy, depressive, oppressive, and destructive guilt that comes from sin. So often the enemy is not out there in the world but is present inside, deep in the depths of our being where our emotions are rooted. We have all done, said, or thought something then had to deal with the guilt that followed, although the act may have been forgiven the guilt must still be dealt with.
Psalms 51 is a cry from that very place of guilt, a position that is caused by a self-broken relationship with God. It is a prayer of repentance that confesses not a few simple sins like I lied, or I slipped, but focuses on the sinful nature, o wretched man that I am[p . It brings understanding to the fact that the condition of sinful self is not just in need of forgiveness for a wrong done, but deliverance from myself. Deacon McCrary understood that fact, he understood that all that is in the world is the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life and it is these struggles we face literally from within and is the reason we must repent every day.
UNDERSTAND: - This struggles from within and the reason we must repent daily is not a salvation issue, we are not repenting to receive salvation, that we did already, this repentance is because we are in the flesh. Paul said in Romans 7:15, 19-21, 24&25 “For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin”.
LET’S LOOK AT PSALMS 51:10 “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me”.
Create in Hebrew is “Bara” this is the same word found in Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created (Bara) the Heavens and the Earth”. It is a word used only of an action that God can do. For only God can bring into existence that which was never there, it is creating restoring and reconnecting me in a proper relationship with God. Remember the heart is deceitful who can know it. The problem is not God, the problem is not even the manifestation of the sins like adultery, murder, drunkenness those are the manifestation, the acts of sin the problem is in me, my heart is deceitful, my thoughts are carnal, my eyes are lustful, and then there is that thing called pride.
in me So often we want to blame someone or something else, the Devil made me do it, they got on my last nerve, let’s be real she was just so fine. David didn’t blame Bathsheba, he didn’t blame God, he didn’t blame the Devil he understood that the problem was in him. So he is not asking God to create a new world, He is not asking to make people better. He understands that the issue is personal, it lies within him, and you, and me. When he says in me it shows he understands my character is messed up, it is not lining up with God’s Word, principle, values, ethics, and morales. So create “Bara” take something that isn’t there and create it in me. Develop the character I don’t have, form the desire to please you that is not there, mold me and make me what you want me to be.
clean heart - The Hebrew word for heart, lev. The biblical mindset, the lev is much more than merely the organ that tirelessly pumps blood through our veins. The lev is the core and it represents the inner self. It is what causes us to love, cry, sin and empathize. It is the seat of our emotions, our will, and our intellect; however, on such a deeper level in our consciousness, intuition, and communication with God. Another way of saying it is it is the very Spirit of man. In our consciousness we decide what is lawful or not, within our Intuition we know what is right and what is wrong, what is pleasing to God or not and the 3rd is Communication with God which is the most important part of a relationship because once the communication is gone everything else falls apart.
So, David is saying Create “Bara” make something out of nothing in me, within the seat of my consciousness, my intuition, and my communication with God a clean heart.
and renew a right spirit within me. This is the request for a spirit which is conscious of its relation to God, and set free from the anxiety, stresses, and character of sin, a spirit firm and settled, established and immovable in its obedience and its faith. It is a that is steady and unmovable against our own lustful desires and sensitive to the will and word of God. Without a right spirit there will not be that ability in our character to stand against all that is in the world the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life. A right spirit will be able to bear up against the wiles of the enemy without breaking, it will handle the steady pressure of the world’s weight, it will stand erect, upright and unbent having a sure footing and solid foundation in God, and have His strength, energy, and soundness infused into every fiber of our being.
CLOSING:- When we look at Psalm 51 and we take a honest look at our own lives in connection with the Will and Word of God we must check our personal relationship and ask the question m I aligned properly with God, Have I sinned against Him, am I truly in a proper relationship with God like He wants me to be, if Jesus followed me for a day, at work, at school, in the car what would He have witnessed in my life.
So I pray this prayer a David prayed:- Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest. Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Fix my heart so that I may be used by thee. I’m not worthy of all these blessings but please give me a clean heart and I will follow thee. I’m not asking for the riches of this land and I’m not asking for high men to know my name. Please give me a clean heart so that I may follow thee.
Bishop Melvin L. Maughmer, Jr.
