Psalm 51:10-12 *
In the name of Christ Jesus, dear friends:
Here are some statistics from the American Heart
Association. At least 58.8 Americans
suffer from some form of heart disease (that’s about one in four). 50 million of us suffer from high blood
pressure, and one out of every three doesn’t even know it.
More uplifting statistics. Since 1900 cardiovascular disease (CVD) has
been the leading cause of death in our country every year except one,
1918. Every 29 seconds an American
suffers a coronary event. Every 60
seconds someone dies from one.
More heartwarming statistics. At least 250,000 people die of heart attacks
every year before they reach the hospital. Half of heart attack victims wait two hours or
more before getting help. And CVD takes
the lives of more people than the next seven causes of death put together.
If you think that cardiovascular disease is predominantly a
male disease, think again. CVD is the
number one killer of women, and the disease claims the lives of more than
500,000 females every year, more than the next sixteen causes of death
combined.
If these statistics are making bacon and eggs sound a little
less appealing this morning, if you can feel your arteries hardening, if you
can feel your blood coagulating, if you are wondering to yourself if its time
to think about a heart transplant, you are not alone.
Before there were pacemakers, before the invention of the
heart monitor, long before anyone had ever heard of angioplasty or bypass
surgery, David recognized that he needed a new heart. And it wasn’t because he was concerned about
high cholesterol or blood pressure.
David was troubled by his sin, sin that damaged his
relationship with God, sin that threatened to destroy his faith in God. And so King David got down on his knees and
prayed: “Create in me a pure heart, O
God” (Psalm 51:10).
The words of this prayer recorded in Psalm 51 are
appropriate for us to consider as we celebrate the festival of Pentecost. Today we remember the sanctifying work of the
Holy Spirit. Today we give thanks for
the gift of the Holy Spirit. Today we
kneel down next to David and pray…
CREATE IN ME
A CLEAN HEART, O GOD
I. A heart that recognizes its
sin
II. A heart that rejoices in its Savior
III. A heart that reflects its gratitude
Whenever you read something, it doesn’t matter if it’s a
novel or a newspaper article, it is helpful to know
something about the background of the author.
Where was the writer raised?
Where did he go to school? How
have his life experiences shaped his view of the world? Answers to these questions allow the reader
to get inside the author’s head, to understand the thoughts behind the words.
In the Bible we find all kinds of biographical information
about the author of Psalm 51. David was
the son of Jesse from
That’s an impressive list of accomplishments. That’s the kind of stuff you would want to
include on a resume. But it doesn’t tell
the whole story. And it doesn’t tell us
what motivated David to pick up a pen and start writing.
The heading for Psalm 51 does. It tells us that David wrote it “when the prophet Nathan came to him after
David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.” David had fathered a child
out of wedlock. David had committed
murder to cover it up. And no one knew
anything about it, no one except God.
The Lord sent the prophet Nathan to confront David with his
sin. He told the king a story about a
rich man who seized and killed another man’s one and only lamb. And when David expressed his outrage at this
terrible injustice, Nathan cut him to the heart with these condemning words: “You are the man” (II Samuel 12:7)!
It wasn’t a giant slayer or a kingdom builder who wrote
Psalm 51. The author was a weak and
lowly sinner. The author was a man who
felt the full weight of his guilt. And
on tear stained pages he wrote these words: “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according
to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from
my sin” (1,2).
All of this background information helps us understand
David’s state of mind. All of this helps
us understand what David meant when he prayed: “Create in me a pure heart, O God” (10).
When David looked into his heart, he didn’t like what he
saw. He saw shameful lust. He saw heartless deception. He saw sinful pride. And in his prayer David looked to God as his
only hope. The God who created the
heavens and the earth, the God who created everything out of nothing, God and
God alone could give him a new heart.
An angiogram is a medical procedure that allows doctors to
see inside the human body. Here is how
it works. The physician inserts a thin
tube, called a catheter, into a blood vessel, usually in the upper thigh, all
the way up to the heart. Once the catheter is in place, the physician can
inject the dye through the catheter and into the coronary arteries. When this
has been done, x-ray pictures can be taken.
The procedure is valuable because it gives the doctor an
accurate picture of the heart. An x-ray
will show if any arteries are blocked or damaged, but it can’t show
everything. It can’t probe beneath the
surface. It can’t show the spiritual
cause of our physical problems. It can’t
photograph the sin that is stored up inside.
There is only one tool that can expose sin. The law of God demands: “Be perfect.” The law says: “You aren’t perfect.” The law says: “You will never be perfect.” The law of God leaves us with this harsh
diagnosis: “If you want to survive, you need a new heart.”
There is a good reason why Jesus is called the Great
Physician. Not only does he diagnose our
spiritual sickness. He is also quick to provide us with the divine cure. The Lord has given each one of us a new
heart, a heart that rejoices in its Savior.
David’s prayer continues: “Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me”
(11). Who or what was on David’s
mind when he wrote these words? Perhaps
he was thinking about his predecessor Saul, the first king of
Saul was tall, dark and handsome. Saul had been handpicked by God to lead God’s
people. Saul had everything going for
him…except for the fact that he didn’t always listen to God…except for the fact
that he wasn’t always patient enough to wait for God…except for the fact that he
decided he didn’t need God. And because
King Saul had forsaken the Lord, the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul (II
Samuel
Maybe David was afraid that history was about to repeat
itself. Maybe David was afraid that he
was following in Saul’s footsteps. He didn’t
want that to happen. He wanted to God to
be with him. He needed God’s Spirit to
guide him. And so he pleaded with the
Lord: “Lord, please don’t send me away.”
I don’t want you to get the wrong impression. This was not the prayer of a man who was afraid
that everything was slipping away. This
was the prayer of a man with a renewed appreciation for what he had. He had the Holy Spirit. He had the promise of a Savior. He had the forgiveness of sins. He stood in God’s presence as God’s child,
and he was determined to never leave.
I can’t hear the sound of a rushing wind this morning. I don’t see any tongues of fire on your
heads. I am not about to speak in
tongues. But the Holy Spirit is among us
too. The Holy Spirit is here because
God’s Word is here.
It doesn’t matter how many will be added to our number today
(five people will be confirmed in the
Because we have a Savior who died on the cross to take away
our sins, our hearts rejoice. Because we
have a Savior who rose from the dead, our hearts rejoice. Because we have a Savior who ascended to
prepare our places in heaven, our hearts rejoice. Because God has created in us new hearts,
because the Holy Spirit lives in our hearts, we rejoice. And our new hearts will reflect our
gratitude.
David knew what he had done.
David knew what he deserved.
David recognized that he was the object of God’s amazing grace, and he
was profoundly grateful.
David was grateful for a second chance. He was grateful because the Lord allowed him
to live. He was grateful for all of
God’s blessings, but he wasn’t afraid to ask for one more. And so he prayed: “Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and grant me a willing
spirit, to sustain me” (12).
David didn’t ask for much.
All he wanted was a willing spirit.
All he wanted was a chance to thank God for his salvation. David wanted the faith that lived in his
heart to bear abundant fruit in his life.
In Galatians Paul talks about fruit. The fruit of the Spirit consists of “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (5:22). Did you notice what these fruits have in
common? They aren’t actions. They are attitudes, attitudes that lead to
all kinds of faith-filled actions. And
they all come from the same Spirit.
David expressed his faith in the poetry of his psalms. Mary’s faith caused her to treasure up all
these things and ponder them in her heart.
The faith of the shepherds led them to glorify and praise God for
everything they had heard and seen. In
faith the disciples left everything to follow Jesus, and then they risked
everything to proclaim Jesus.
I could go on, but I believe that these examples make the
point. There isn’t only one right way
for believers to serve God. There are
many ways for us to thank God. But no
matter what we do, every godly desire, every kind word, every good deed, comes
from a single source, the Holy Spirit.
The Spirit gives us willing spirits. The Spirit enables us and empowers us to
reflect the gratitude we feel in our hearts.
And it is the Spirit who kindles in us the desire to grow in God’s Word
and go with God’s Word.
You might be aware that today’s sermon text has been set to
music. Sometimes called the Offertory,
these words are sung by the congregation as a response to the sermon. The original author of this prayer was King
David, but it is our privilege this morning to make this prayer our own.
So let’s stop talking about it. Let’s do it.
Let’s ask God to create in us clean hearts, hearts that recognize our
sin, hearts that rejoice in our Savior, hearts that reflect our gratitude.
Amen.