Psalms of Comfort 1: Psalm 51

Psalm 51

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.

The Christian church celebrates Pentecost tomorrow, marking the birth of the Christian church, the day the Spirit of God came upon the believers in a powerful life transforming way.

Spirit, Spirit, Spirit; today’s Psalm is all about the Spirit. The setting is Davids repentance and cry to God after breaking God’s commandments with Bathsheba. The Prophet Nathan confronted him and this is the reaction.

“Create in me a pure heart” — David recognised that his heart was not pure. David had accomplished much in the service of the Lord and the Spirit of God had been with him. But his heart had become dirty.

My strimmer has been working overtime because of this warm weather. The grass is shooting up. There is an air filter in it and from time to time it needs cleaned because it becomes dirty. If I don’t clean it, it clogs up and the machine stops working. We encounter much in our lives that can leave us feeling contaminated. Over a period of time it can build up and really clog up our relationship with God.

“Do not take your Spirit from me” — David felt that because of what he had done God would remove the Spirit from him. Sometimes, it is when you are faced with losing something that you realise you can’t do without it.

“Renew a steadfast Spirit within me” — The word for renew means to rebuild. The Spirit or the effectiveness of the Holy Spirit in our lives can be seriously degraded and contaminated by our sin and it needs to be rebuilt and restored. For that we need willing hearts, and for that we need God’s help.

“Grant me a willing Spirit” David asks God. Let that be our prayer today. Come Holy Spirit.