New Testament Truth
Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me. . . . Restore to me again the joy of your salvation. Psalm 51:10, 12
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The Hebrew word for “create” is bara; it means “to create something out of nothing.” When we read in Genesis 1:1 that God created the heavens and the earth, the word translated “created” is the same bara, reflecting the supernatural creative dynamism by which God brings something out of nothing. This was David’s prayer. He wanted God to perform a heart transplant, an out-with-the-old, in-with-the-new procedure. He desired a completely new heart, one that had never existed before. David wasn’t praying simply to have the old heart restored; he wanted it regenerated. He wanted a “new nature.” Therefore, David took his sin and guilt and his desire for a brand-new beginning to the Father and asked him to restore his joy.
As with David, when we sin, we lose the joy of the salvation God gives us. Yet the Lord loves nothing more than to create in us a clean heart and to restore that joy daily. This was the purpose of the cross. To make a way for us to know constant fellowship with the Father through new mercies and grace each morning and to live in the bright and beautiful joy of his salvation.
Prayers:
FATHER, how blessed I am to have the chance to live each day with a brand-new heart . . . a pure heart . . . a supernaturally regenerated heart full of the breath of your Spirit. Create in me a clean heart, and restore to me the joy of your salvation.
Quotes:
A heart in every thought renewed And full of love divine, Perfect and right and pure and good, A copy, Lord, of thine.
Charles Wesley (1707–1788)
The One Year Bible Readings for today are: Song of Songs 5:1–8:14; 2 Corinthians 9:1-15; Psalm 51:1-19 and Proverbs 22:24-25.
