A CRY FOR CLEANSING: (Part 4 of 6) Having a pure heart begins with a cry for cleansing. The Holy Spirit is calling for repentance and cleansing from the defilement of sin. It is imperative that we ask the Lord to search our heart and expose any and all sins, so we can confess it and forsake it. Remember the warning of Psalm 66:18 “If I regard sin in my heart the Lord will not hear me!” If we give sin a safe hiding place in our hearts it will hinder our communication with God. We will do well to ponder the prayer of King David in Psalm 51. This is the greatest of the penitential psalms and has a very powerful prayer of confession of sin and call for forgiveness. David’s confession comes after being confronted and rebuked by the prophet Nathan. The lesson we see is that no one can get to a place or position where they are not accountable for his or her conduct. Our nation certainly needs to hear this lesson… that power and position do not release you from living a life accountable to God. This Psalm starts with a cry of confession. David clearly declares himself to have sinned and to be in need of God’s mercy. “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. Wash me throughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin” (Psalm 51:1-2). But the prayer goes on to petition the Lord not only cleanse the heart, but renew and restore—renew my spirit, restore my joy! “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit with me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and uphold me by Your generous Spirit” (Psalm 51:10-12). David wants to be more than a forgiven sinner. He wants to become a pure vessel of the Lord. In essence he is crying out “make me more of what you want me to be. Because of your goodness and loving kindness, cause this defeat to bring new levels of victory in my life!”
Posted on: Wed, 03 Sep 2014 21:43:04 +0000
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