God Creates a New Heart Psalm 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, o God, and renew a faithful spirit within

me. This is a heart cry for renewal. Sin clouds our heart, our conscious, making it difficult to read. A steadfast spirit is a faithful spirit, deeply grounded in Gods Favor (Grace) and truly appreciates the state that it finds itself in. Steadfast Faithfulness in Gods Grace makes the heart crystal clear, squeaky clean (pure). Sin is so destructive that our heart in its natural state cannot be cleaned up and made to be acceptable, because inside we are empty and void of life, like a desert. Imagine trying to make a desert into a luscious garden. This is an impossible task without Gods Wisdom. It is all too easy for a lush garden to be made into a desert. All that is needed is neglect. Neglect to do the tasks and the purpose God gave and watch your amazing garden degenerate into empty, dry, lifeless void. Only God can take nothing and create something (ex nihilo), especially something incredibly amazing and beautiful. Only God can take the hopeless and create Hope. Only God can take something consumed with death and create something that blossoms and abundantly overflows with Life. Only God can make all things impossible be possible. The Heart is the rudder of the soul (Treasury of David). This is why it is so vitally important. As long as we are in control, we are going to be weaving in and out in a completely messy and reckless fashion. The risk of be being shipwrecked is

greater. When we let go and let God then we can be made into something incredibly beautiful, something beyond anything that anyone ever thought possible. The word used for create is bara, the same word used for creation in Genesis 1:1. This word shows the making of something where there was nothing before. David wasnt crying out so much for a new substance, but mainly acknowledging that he needed something that he didnt have, that only God could give. A heart that has been destroyed by sin, mending just doesnt get it. It needs to be made new. This is what the salvation in Christ Jesus does, makes us completely new. The heart that David is asking God for is a heart that does not give in to temptation. It stands strong, unmovable, and unshakeable against sin and anything that leads into it. David is asking God to restore his heart back to what it was before he fell into the mess temptation laid out for him. The right spirit that David was asking God for was a constant spirit, or more properly, a spirit made erect, to stand up, to be firmly established. (Ephesians 6:14) David is asking for a spirit firmly established in Gods Favor, His Grace. When David asks God to renew, he is asking to be rebuilt or repaired in the manner that cities are rebuilt or repaired. Psalm 51 is the heart cry of one who walked so closely with God, but got distracted by temptation and followed it right into a mess of trouble. It is the heart cry of one longing to be restored back into the right relationship with God, pleading with his Love to mercifully pour out his Favor (Grace) instead of His Wrath. It takes courage to A.S.K. for what is undeserved. Guess what? His Love is so great that when we Ask, Seek and Knock (A.S.K.), He responds by Answering, Giving and Opening. (Matthew 7:7-8)

Ezekiel 36:26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you. I will remove your stubborn hearts and give you obedient hearts. God restores us, not because of anything we have done, and certainly not because we deserve his healing and restoration. He restores us because it restores His Name. His Healing and Restoration proves His Love. He succeeds where we fail. He completely removes blots and blemishes that stick to us. These blots and blemishes hinder us from being in right relationship with Him. When God released his people to the surrounding nations, the heathen nations saw this as weakness on Gods part. This is why God Heals and Restores. It shows those around us who dont know Him that He alone is God above every other god. He heals and restores and for the sake of His Name. God not only cleans us from the mess caused by the past, but He also sets up preventions from future messes. God covers us completely; past, present, and future. When He covers us so completely, he saves us from the harsh consequences that sin brings (death). When God saves us from the consequences of our past messes, then He is able to pour out His Blessings upon us. Gods Blessings make us blush in shame because we KNOW that we dont deserve them. This shame isnt meant for us to drop down and not get back up, but rather it is intended that we should TURN around from the mess we were rescued from and REPENT, not doing it anymore.

The new heart has a new way of thinking. No longer does it think towards the sinful, but rather its thoughts are directed towards the holy. It no longer desires the carnal, but hungers after the spiritual. The new heart is a sanctified heart. It is a heart that has Gods Word written on it. The new heart is taken from the state of being rock hard, cold, senseless and unfeeling to being soft and tender, warm, heated with the fiery passion of our Heavenly Father. The new heart is a heart with purified and refined desires and passions. There is better understanding, better judgment in the new heart God gives us. It is so new, we find ourselves wanting to do what we never desired to do before. This heart knows how to really enjoy Life and all the various aspects of it. This new heart is a heart that loves. It feels Gods Love and shares His Love with others. The new heart is the heart that cannot live without Him or His Love; even the mere thought of not being able to be in His Presence is the darkest, most frightening thought.