Psalm 51:10–19 (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.

Last week, we examined David’s prayer of confession.

Now, we are looking 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.”

2. THE HOLY SPIRIT’S PRESENCE AND EMPOWERMENT RETURNS TO US (11)
“Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.”

In 1 Samuel 10:6 when God told Samuel to anoint Saul to be King, Samuel predicted that the Spirit of the Lord would rush upon him. But because of Saul’s sin, God removed His Spirit from him.

1 Samuel 16:14 (ESV)
“Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and a harmful spirit from the Lord tormented him.”

David was very aware that Saul was removed from the kingship for his sin (signified in the OT by the departure of the Holy Spirit).

David could never forget the moment God empowered him for kingdom usefulness.
1 Samuel 16:13 (ESV)
“Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward..”

The thought of losing the empowerment of the Holy Spirit drove him to plead for God not take away His Spirit and remove him from his kingship as He had done to Saul.

Before Christ came, died on the cross and ascended into heaven, the Holy Spirit did not indwell people. He came upon them to empower them for works of service to the Lord.

In the New Testament, the Spirit does not leave believers. At the moment of salvation, He indwells them.
John 14:16–17 (ESV)
16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

Romans 8:9 (ESV)
9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.

Though the Holy Spirit indwells us, as Christians we can still lose the power of the Holy Spirit. The power for usefulness in the kingdom we refer to as the filling of the Holy Spirit.

The reality is that a Christian may be cast aside from service because of sin. Even the Apostle Paul was concerned about this reality, so he took measure to be sure it never happened to him.
1 Corinthians 9:27 (ESV)
“But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.”

We should all pray for the consistent filling of the Holy Spirit, so that we might be useful to God’s work.

Ephesians 5:17–18 (ESV)
“Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,..”

The comparison of being drunk or being filled is clear. We are either out of control or we are under the control of the Spirit of God. So which is worse, being drunk or not allowing the Sprit to fill us?