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By Austin Bishop
Guest Columnist

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right[ spirit within me.

— Psalm 51:10 ESV

Spiritual and moral failures can be devastating to both those who fail and those affected by that failure.

How thankful we should be for the salvation provided to us through the blood of Jesus Christ, but also the willingness for God to not only forgive us, but to provide redemption and restoration.

Psalm 51 was written after David had been confronted by the prophet Nathan about the King’s affair with Bathsheba. Even though David was a man after God’s on heart, he still allowed his flesh to lead him down a spiritually deadly path. After his eyes and heart were opened to the severity of his failure he didn’t simply ask for forgiveness, he sought and pleaded for restoration and change.

There is a huge difference in the two requests.

When we fail God we need to do more than ask forgiveness. I am thankful for grace because without it my cause before God would be hopeless. Grace is certainly sufficient to cleanse us before God, But in order to get ourselves realigned with all that God has for us, we need true repentance and must, must, MUST have a heart that desires to be changed.

The two things that David asks God for in Psalm 51:10 are very powerful and give us a clear outline of the very attitude we should have when approaching Him about our failures and missteps.

We can’t self clean our dirty heart. That requires the power and love of God Himself. Every morning ask God to create that clean heart inside of yourself, and then make sure that you yourself aren’t doing things that bring in filth.

The second part of David’s request is just as important as the first. If we don’t have the right spirit within us our heart won’t remain clean for long. Intention matters. How we act upon our thoughts matter. What we allow to dwell inside of our heart, minds, and soul matters.

The spirit inside of us must be renewed.

I truly thank God for forgiveness with all of my heart, but what all of us need to seek is a clean heart created by God and the renewal of a right spirit.

Austin Bishop has been a professional journalist for more than 45 years and is an ordained Assemblies of God minister. Those wishing to receive his daily devotional/Bible study notes may sign up by texting 601-938-2471 and asking to be added to either the morning or afternoon list.