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Psalm 51 was written after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba. The events as recorded in 2 Samuel 11 reveal that David’s attempt to conceal his sinful actions led to the death of Bathsheba’s husband Uriah. Make no mistake, nothing is ever concealed from God. In 2 Samuel 12, God sent a prophet to rebuke David. In 2 Samuel 12:13 David admits: “I have sinned against the Lord.”
The words of Psalm 51 testify of David’s pain of knowing that he sinned against God. They testify of David’s awareness that only God could help him.
Psalm 51:10 states: Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me (NIV).
David knew what he needed, and he knew that only God could do it. That is, David needed God to create in him a heart that was pure. A heart that would stand firm against fleshly desires.
I do not know about you, but without God’s help I am incapable of changing my heart. Without God’s help, the best I can do is to create safeguards for myself, such as changing my behavior. Truth be told, these safeguards merely cover up, or conceal, areas of my heart that are not yielded to God.
Am I saying that we should not change our behavior? Not quite. Changing our behavior, without God working the change in us, will never result in a walk that is pleasing before God.
As believers, we must know that the enemy is crafty and will use any means possible, any opportunity, to get us to fall into temptation. A heart that is yielded to God is the only true way to have victory over temptation.
So what should a believer do?
Psalm 139:23 states: Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!
We can certainly search ourselves. And we should. But only God can look deep within us. God has a heart of perfect love and we can trust Him to search our hearts. So let us allow God to search us and create in us a clean heart. Let us also ask God for the grace we need to keep our hearts yielded to Him.
Except where indicated, scripture references are from the American Standard Version (ASV), Darby Translation (DARBY), or King James Version (KJV) – all public domain.
