Psalm 51

1 HAVE MERCY upon me, O God, according to Your steadfast love; according to the multitude of Your tender mercy and loving-kindness blot out my transgressions.

2 Wash me thoroughly [and repeatedly] from my iniquity and guilt and cleanse me and make me wholly pure from my sin!

3 For I am conscious of my transgressions and I acknowledge them; my sin is ever before me.

4 Against You, You only, have I sinned and done that which is evil in Your sight, so that You are justified in Your sentence and faultless in Your judgment.(A)

5 Behold, I was brought forth in [a state of] iniquity; my mother was sinful who conceived me [and I too am sinful].(B)

6 Behold, You desire truth in the inner being; make me therefore to know wisdom in my inmost heart.

7 Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean [ceremonially]; wash me, and I shall [in reality] be whiter than snow.

8 Make me to hear joy and gladness and be satisfied; let the bones which You have broken rejoice.

9 Hide Your face from my sins and blot out all my guilt and iniquities.

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right, persevering, and steadfast spirit within me.

11 Cast me not away from Your presence and take not Your Holy Spirit from me.

12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and uphold me with a willing spirit.

13 Then will I teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners shall be converted and return to You.

14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness and death, O God, the God of my salvation, and my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness (Your rightness and Your justice).

15 O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall show forth Your praise.

16 For You delight not in sacrifice, or else would I give it; You find no pleasure in burnt offering.(C)

17 My sacrifice [the sacrifice acceptable] to God is a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart [broken down with sorrow for sin and humbly and thoroughly penitent], such, O God, You will not despise.

18 Do good in Your good pleasure to Zion; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.

19 Then will You delight in the sacrifices of righteousness, justice, and right, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering; then bullocks will be offered upon Your altar.

Psalm 51 – Amplified Version

There is something more important than any outward manifestation of our faith that may show.

Our heart.

We may life the purest life of anyone we know, but if our heart is not pure, our works amount to a pile of crap… literally.

But if our hearts are pure, the offerings of our lives will be met with delight by God.

So I ask, how is your heart?

Is God on the throne, or are you?  Do you covet the things of this world, or do you set them aside in the pursuit of God?

I will admit that often when I look at my own heart, it is a dark place – more often than I’d care to admit!  But God will cleanse our hearts if we ask Him to.  He will cleanse them day after day, moment after moment, all we must do is ask.

And so I ask.

Dear God, I come before you today and ask.  Create in me a clean heart.  Clean house – get the cobwebs out of those dusty corners.  Take the trash to the dump, take the stuff I don’t need to goodwill.  Put the stuff I do need where it goes so I can find it.  I know that I have neglected some rooms of my heart (much as I neglect certain rooms of my house) and they have gotten filled up with so much stuff it’s hard to get in.  I ask that You would clean them out, and show me how to keep from re-accumulating so much stuff.

Then Lord, I ask that You would renew Your Spirit within me.  Fill my life with your peace.  Fill my mind with Your ways and cause my heart to hurt for those that You hurt for.  Help me to see this world through Your eyes – and cause me to be your hands and feet to reach out to them.

Thank you, Lord, that You love me.  Even when I am prideful and arrogant and angry and willful and obstinate and say or do things that hurt others.  Thank you for showing me the areas in my life that need to be worked on.  And thank you for walking by my side as I learn to be more like You.

Teach me Your ways.  Inscribe Your statutes upon my heart that I may not forget them.  Help Your Word to be my daily bread – the food that I need to survive each day – and don’t let me starve any longer.

Draw me close to You.  Break my heart for the things that break Yours.  Teach me humility.  And above all, help me to not get in the way of You.  Help me to point people to You.. only to You.