Psalm 51:10
Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
David knows that deep down, in his heart, he is a sinner.
His adultery and murder were not an accidental, out-of-character slip-up. They were the outworking of his lifelong sinful nature. And so he needs more than forgiveness. More than just having his sin wiped from God's record of his life. He needs a new nature. A new heart. This isn’t the prayer of a man becoming a believer for the first time - we know that David is already a follower of God. He has a new nature as well as his sinful nature. But as often as his heart is corrupted by sin, it needs to be made pure again. And as well as a pure heart he needs something else. A steadfast spirit. An inner perseverance to continually say No to sin and Yes to obeying God. It would be ridiculous to come to God for forgiveness of his sin if he fully intended to go back and live the same way again. But he knows that he cannot change unless God changes him.
In the same way, when we confess our sins to God and ask for forgiveness because of the death of Jesus, we also need more than that. We need the Holy Spirit to strengthen our desire to turn away from sin. We need him to grow in us a steady determination to live more and more like Jesus, and less and less like our sinful nature. We need him to strengthen our conviction that
it is possible to fight against sin. We need him to make us resolute for that fight.
Today, let's each pray as David does here: Create in me a
pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
