Psalm 51:10-12 - Getting Right With God.
Psalm 51:10-12 - Getting Right With God.
Psalm 51:10-12 (ESV) 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.
Psalm 51 is the result of a tough - but right - decision.
Here, David confesses his sins in order to restore his broken
relationship with God. The other psalms in this reading also involve tough
decisions about how we live and relate to God. The relationship we have
with God can suffer ups and downs just as our human relationships
can, and this involves confession and reconciliation...
Has sin ever driven a wedge between you and God, making him
seem distant? David's sins destroyed his ability to enjoy anything,
even God's salvation (Psalm 51:3-17). David was confronted with his
adultery with Bathsheba, could not deny it, and sought to repent. In his
prayer he confessed his sin and cried, "Restore to me the joy of your
salvation" (51:12).
God wants us to be obedient to his Word so that we can have a
close relationship with him. But when we disobey God and try to cover
up our sin rather than confess it, we hurt our relationship with
him, driving the wedge between us and God even further. Confess any
sin that stands between you and God. You may still have to face the
consequences, as David did, but God will give back the joy of your
relationship with him. [The One Year Through the Bible Devotional by Dave
Veerman]
It's safe to say that not a believer alive today has avoided
those "desert" times when he or she just didn't feel the presence of
God. It's a problem that all of us have to confront at some point
along the way. Even King David, who was a man after God's heart (see
Acts 13:22) knew what it was like to feel isolated from God. No doubt
it's why he wrote, "Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do
not take Your Holy Spirit from me," in Psalm 51:11.
Many factors can make us feel distant from our heavenly
Father. Sometimes, it's a matter of our accuser, the devil, whispering
in our ears and speaking his deception. At other times, these
"distant" times turn out to be seasons when God is trying to bring us
closer to Himself. But sometimes it's a matter of our need to do some
inner "housecleaning."
Nothing can make us feel more distant from God than our own
unconfessed sin. While our stumbles don't make God love us one bit less,
they do drive a wedge between us and Him, much like some offense can
drive a wedge between even the most loving and devoted husband and
wife.
Throughout the Book of Judges, we read how Israel had sinned
and drifted in its devotion to God. Many times when our hearts
become entangled with sin and the things of this world, God allows us
to experience a feeling of distance between Him and us. This is
exactly what Israel felt in those dark days.
Israel should have recognized the Lord's coolness and lack of
nearness. Instead, the people of God continued to worship Baal without
regard for God's intimate love for them. Therefore, God allowed them to
experience a time of testing. In Judges 6 we read that "Israel was greatly
impoverished because of the Midianites, and the children of Israel cried out
to the LORD" (v. 6). Here we see at work an important principle
regarding repentance and regaining favor with the Lord.
When we realize our error and cry out to God, He comes to us.
He never comes, however, as if being summoned by a superior. He
comes when our hearts have been broken and when at last we realize our
need for Him. When we humbly confess our sins and our dependence on
Him, He hears our prayers and brings deliverance from sin (see Judg.
6:11).
If you are experiencing a time of coolness in your devotion
to God, don't hesitate to turn to Him in prayer. Confess any known
sin, and ask Him to restore the sweetness of His fellowship to your
heart. [Life Principles SB By Charles Stanley re Psa. 51:11]
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.
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. [Praying Through
The Bible By Fuller]
David wrote the famous words of Psalm 139: "I can never
escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence!" (v.
7); "You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded
in your book" (v. 16); "When I wake up, you are still with me!" (v.
18). In other words, God is always with us, always aware of our every
thought, always by our side.
This is the same David who, having sinned and been
disciplined, pleaded with God not to banish him from the Presence. He begs
for the Holy Spirit not to be taken from him. That's because David
knows the difference between God's omnipresence and His relational
Presence. He knows his sin has cost him some degree of intimacy with God,
and he wants that intimacy back. The comfort and peace he once felt
with God's Spirit are gone.
We live in a different age and know that being born of the
Spirit makes for a different relationship - a relationship in which we
are united with Him. He doesn't leave us. Still, the experience is
similar. It's possible for us to lose intimacy with Him and to feel
distant through our own neglect, indifference, and sin. We may not be
banished from His Presence, as David feared, but we can certainly feel
alienated. We sense a breach when things aren't right. Our own sin adds an
unwanted dynamic to our relationship with God. We know He always accepts
us when we turn to Him, but we remain unsettled about the
possibility of discipline and correction. It's easy then to slip into
performance mode, trying to make things right by our behavior. And it never
works. Repent and trust that His Presence is still with you. Rest in
His mercy and enjoy His peace. [The One Year Experiencing God's
Presence Devotional by Chris Tiegreen]
LINKS FOR FURTHER STUDY ON THIS PASSAGE:
http://www.abible.com/devotions/2004/20040831-1102.html
http://www.abible.com/devotions/2009/20090309-0030.html
GREAT VIDEO CLIP - ONE OF THE BEST
http://www.youtube.com/embed/WGnEuGwvXqU?rel=0
SPECIAL VIDEO CLIP ON SEEKING GOD FIRST
http://vimeo.com/31489782
EXCELLENT VIDEO SERIES ON EXPERIENCING GOD:
http://sda.biggytv.com/watch/Revive!_-_Dwight_Nelson:_Experiencing_Gods_Grace/revive/
EXCELLENT SERIES ON RESTORING THE POWER by John Bradshaw
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRogO1SxoZN15Boa7BMon4BouVMdteVaq
EXCELLENT BIBLE PROPHECY SERIES - Prophecies Decoded By Dr. Ron
Clouzet:
1. Coming Soon: A New Superpower -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTcZ-oQGWUw
2. 2012 and Signs of the End of the World -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVgTGGGO33c
3. Armageddon and the Seven Last Plagues -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcFPUq2JAiU
4. War in Heaven Between Michael and the Dragon -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGnb54Qo_Lg
5. Revelation's Three Angels' Messages -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msy6mZLQ7EA
6. The Lamb Slain and the Seven Seals -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xdpQdli9J0
7. A New Revelation of Jesus Christ -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9b2IwriWwY0
8. The Anti-Christ and the Cults that Follow Him -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDKzf5Z6VPQ
9. In Search of the Ark of the Covenant -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oc6IM9cm2SU
10. The Greatest Issue in the Book of Revelation, Part 1 -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLQbWSpTUXs
11. The Greatest Issue in the Book of Revelation, Part II -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUQr_DHJYMc
12. How to Keep God's Holy Day, Part 1 -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rX5HtCx90oY
13. How to Keep God's Holy Day, Part 2 -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPR5Pu8_1rM
14. Taking a Stand at the Time of the End -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7caCWSrpGU4
15. The Longest Time Prophecy in the Bible -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvAsJGlmrmE
16. Doctrines of Demons and the Mystery of Death -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJHE1cyLlcY
17. The Fall of Babylon the Great -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O70xfBDKxVQ
18. The Mark of the Beast and the Seal of God -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rqm1xgG9NuM
19. Israel and the Rapture of the Church -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMZhsKEzPPA
20. The United States in Bible Prophecy -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6-umijrrKI
21. The Beauty and the Beast of Revelation -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2cLfTDQyQg
22. The Remnant's Use of Time, Treasure, and Talent -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CMdmIIHCUY
23. The One Thousand Year Millennium -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFbu9WsSK0Y
24. Revelation's Lake of Fire -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DccBQcLZGso
25. Heaven and the Apocalypse -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiXDN9_d0Mw
26. A Messenger for the Last Days -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSAgxCcNSqM
27. Christian Standards for Today -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFHCFFoRw98
28. The Work of the Holy Spirit in Your Life -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiwYeGKQg58
