Psalm 51:1–19 (ESV)
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right 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 I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. 14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness. 15 O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. 16 For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. 18 Do good to Zion in your good pleasure; build up the walls of Jerusalem; 19 then will you delight in right sacrifices, in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on your altar.

Last week and now this week, we are talking about renewing our walk with God. From David’s prayer in Psalm 51, we can learn many things about what it means to renew our walk with God.

Let’s recap what we saw last week:

Renewal comes…
1. When we confess our sin to God (1, 2)
“blot out my transgressions.” “Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.”

2. When we confess that we have sinned against God (4)
“Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight.”

3. When we acknowledge that we are separated from God by sin (3)
“For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.”

4. When we acknowledge that God can forgive our sin (1, 2)
“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!”

5. When we allow God to cleanse us thoroughly and completely (7)
“Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.”

Now let’s begin to look at the results of renewal.

1. GOD GIVES US A NEW MAKEOVER (10)
“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.”

Here is an amazing paradox. We have the ability to make our hearts dirty, but we do not have the ability to make our hearts clean again. Nor do we have the ability to keep our hearts clean.

The word for “create” here is the same word as in Genesis 1:1: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” It means to make out of nothing. David was crying out for God to make, to create in him a new and clean heart. In other words, there was nothing in David’s heart that God could use. He was not asking for renovation or reformation. He was asking for something new.

Sometimes we hear the invitation, “Give God your heart.” May I ask you, “What do you think God wants with that old dirty, filthy heart of yours or mine?” He doesn’t want it. God is not asking anybody to give Him his heart. He wants to give us a new and clean one.