Psalm 51 is King David’s public confession of his sin!  Instead of blaming others or making excuses,
David knew the real problem was in his own heart! I’ll never forget years ago
hearing Dr. Adrian Rogers make the statement; “Mankind only really faces two
major problems, sin and death”.  First let me remind us that, thank God, Jesus Christ has already dealt with both of
them for every human being! He took our sin upon Himself and paid the penalty
for it on the cross with His own death.

 

David
knew it was his own heart that needed be made right with God, and that is why
after he prayed in the first verses of this chapter (vv. 1-7), to be “washed
and cleansed from his sin”, in verses 8-12, he prayed and asked that the
Lord would “create in him a clean heart and renew a right spirit within
him.”  He desperately needed the Lord to heal his “broken spirit” and to make him willing to obey the Lord (v. 12). 

I realize today as we look at this passage that we are living in a country that
has a major problem with “sinful hearts and broken spirits”.  In Matthew 24:12-44, Jesus said these words
about the last days just before His coming: “And because lawlessness will
abound, the love of many will grow cold” (v. 12)… “But as the days of
Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days
before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in
marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the
flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be”
(vv.37-39).

Genesis 6:5-13 tells us what it was like in the days of Noah: “Then the LORD saw
that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the
thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (v. 5)… “The earth also
was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. So God looked
upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their
way on the earth” (vv.11-12).

We had another mass shooting yesterday and the media and politicians, and even
some so-called preachers, will blame everything on the wrong things! My friend,
it is not a gun, race, or hate problem. It is a “heart” problem! The Old King
James Version says it this way: “…that every imagination of their hearts was
only evil continually” (Gen. 6:5). Jesus said in Mark 7:20-23: “…That
which cometh out of the man, that defiles the man. For from within, out of the
heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts,
covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy,
pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the
man.”

Until we learn to deal with the right issue it will only get worse. (2 Timothy
3:1-13). David asked for more than cleansing, as important as that is; he wanted his entire being to be restored so he could
serve the Lord acceptably. He wanted the joy of the Lord within him (see v. 12),
and the face of the Lord smiling upon him (10:1; 44:24; 88:14; 104:29).
"Joy and gladness" is a Hebrew phrase meaning "deep joy."

David asked the Lord to create a new heart within him and to give him a steadfast
spirit that would not vacillate. Verse 10 is the central verse of Psalm 51, and
it expresses the heart of David's concern. David knew that the inner person—the
heart—was the source of his trouble as well as the seat of his joy and
blessing, and he was incapable of changing his own heart. Only God could work
the miracle (Jer. 24:7; Ezek. 11:19; 36:25-27).

The phrase "willing spirit" in verse 12 refers to David's own spirit,
as in verse 10. A "willing spirit" is one that is not in bondage but
is free and yielded to the Spirit of God, who ministers to and through our own
spirit (Rom. 8:14-17).

It isn't enough simply to confess sin and experience God's cleansing; we must also
let Him renew us within so that we will conquer sin and not succumb to
temptation.

God bless!