Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 51:10
Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
10. Create in me ] Rather, Create me, i.e. for me. The word is used of the creative operation of God, bringing into being what did not exist before: and so in the parallel line renew should be rather make new (Vulg. innova better than Jer. renova). It is not the restoration of what was there before that he desires, but a radical change of heart and spirit. A right spirit should rather be a stedfast or constant spirit (Psa 57:7; Psa 78:37; Psa 112:7), fixed and resolute in its allegiance to God, unmoved by the assaults of temptation. Such a clean heart and stedfast spirit, the condition of fellowship with God (Mat 5:8), the spring of a holy life, can only come from the creative, life-giving power of God. Cp. the prophetic promises in Jer 24:7; Jer 31:33; Jer 32:39; Eze 11:19; Eze 18:31; Eze 36:26; and see 2Co 5:17; Gal 6:15; Eph 2:10; Eph 4:24.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Create in me a clean heart, O God – The word rendered create, bera’ – is a word which is properly employed to denote an act of creation; that is, of causing something to exist where there was nothing before. It is the word which is used in Gen 1:1 : In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth, and which is commonly used to express the act of creation. It is used here evidently in the sense of causing that to exist which did not exist before; and there is clearly a recognition of the divine power, or a feeling on the part of David that this could be done by God alone. The idea is, however, not that a new substance might be brought into being to which the name a clean heart might be given, but that he might have a clean heart; that his heart might be made pure; that his affections and feelings might be made right; that he might have what he was conscious that he did not now possess – a clean or a pure heart. This, he felt, could be produced only by the power of God; and the passage, therefore, proves that it is a doctrine of the Old Testament, as it is of the New, that the human heart is changed only by a divine agency.
And renew a right spirit within me – Margin, a constant spirit. The Hebrew word – nakun – means properly, that which is erect, or that which is made to stand up, or which is firm or established. It is used to denote
(a) that which is upright, right, proper: Exo 8:26; Job 42:8; Psa 5:9;
(b) that which is right, true, sincere, Psa 78:37;
(c) that which is firm, constant, fixed.
This would seem to be the meaning here. He prays for a heart that would be firm in the purposes of virtue; that would not yield to temptation; that would carry out holy resolutions; that would be stedfast in the service of God. The word renew here means to be or to make new; to produce something new. It is also used in the sense of making anew, as applied to buildings or cities in the sense of rebuilding or repairing them: Isa 61:4; 2Ch 15:8; 2Ch 24:4. The word here would naturally convey the idea that there had been formerly a right and proper spirit in him, which he prayed might now be restored. The language is that of one who had done right formerly, but who had fallen into sin, and who desired that he might be brought back into his former condition.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 51:10
Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
A clean heart
I. The blessing asked for. It may refer to two distinct graces, conversion or entire sanctification. For when a man is converted there is still in him an inclination to evil, the struggle between the flesh and the spirit: his soul is not altogether pure. He has need of a more complete sanctification, of deliverance from all sin. And to this our text may be referred. A clean heart is one purified by the Holy Spirit from everything that is contrary to holiness. And it is also a constant heart. Renew within me a constant spirit–so may the words be translated. There is, then, the idea of constancy and establishment (2Co 13:9; 2Co 13:11; 1Pe 5:10). And there is no entire sanctification without it. The Spirit who inspired David with the prayer of our text is the same who dictated to the apostles the pictures of Christian virtues united together, which compose sanctification. David is persuaded that sanctification implies perfect sincerity: Behold, Thou desirest truth within; he knows that it comprises the wisdom which is the fruit of the instruction of the Holy Spirit: Thou didst teach me, or make me to know wisdom in the secret of my heart (Psa 51:6).
II. The dispositions from which the prayer of David proceeded. It is evidently a fervent prayer, which causes his whole being to rise towards God. But by what way he had been brought to make this request is not the essential thing for us to know. What is clear is that David had fallen very grievously; that his repentance was deep and painful; and that serious reflections on the inward cause of evil occupied his mind. It was his outward sin which obliged him to look within, and attentively examine the state of his heart and tendency to evil. It is as if he had said, What Thou ditestes is not only sin manifested without, but its inward principle; the sin which is hidden in the heart, and which is the cause of outward evil. The Christian cannot, indeed, have at first a perfect view of his inward pollutions. When conversion has been prompt and marked, when the sorrow for past sins has been deep, the agreeable feelings which succeed that sorrow as a consequence of our faith in Christ, the lively joy, the fervent love, check for a time the manifestations of evil. Sin is struck down and bruised; its power is broken. Perhaps God also, in His Fatherly wisdom and tenderness, does not permit His feeble child to see all his corruption from the beginning of his new life. That painful revelation might discourage him if it were made before his faith was strengthened. But if the evil is not yet evident, it is real; the light of the Holy Spirit will manifest it at the right time. And oh, what discoveries he speedily makes! What a mixture in his best actions, and in his whole life! What pride! What envy! What evil thoughts! What avarice! What a legion of other guilty feelings!
III. The most powerful encouragements to faith.
1. The fact that the Holy Spirit inspires that request is to you a sufficient proof that it is agreeable to God, and that He will hear it. Can you suppose that God would reveal to you the existence of a malady of which you could not be healed? Would He take pleasure in tormenting you by the view of impurity which He would not remove? Such a supposition would dishonour God. Courage, then, ye afflicted ones who heartily take part in the prayer of David, and say, O God, create in me a clean heart! That prayer itself is the pledge of your deliverance.
2. A further encouragement is found in the fact of God Himself delivering His Son to death for you. When it is well understood and felt, is it not a powerful motive to sanctification? Does it not make an irresistible appeal to our love?
3. But, further, the commandments of God enjoin upon us sanctification. Be ye holy; for I am holy. Does not every commandment imply a promise of grace to accomplish what it requires? I bind you, then, not to limit the Holy One of Israel. Wait to receive now the blessing of a pure heart. Begin to ask for it as you have never yet done. Seek it in tim spirit of Jacob when he wrestled with the Lord. (J. Hogart.)
Davids cry for purity
I. A remarkable outline of a holy character. He possessed the Holy Spirit, or he could not have prayed that that Spirit might not be taken from him. God had departed from Saul, because Saul had refused His counsel and departed from Him; and Sauls successor, trembling as he remembers the fate of the founder of the monarchy, and of his vanished dynasty, prays with peculiar emphasis of meaning, Take not Thy Holy Spirit from me. A right spirit–a constant or firm spirit is the meaning. Then consider the third element in the character which David longs to possess–a free spirit. He who is holy because full of Gods Spirit, and constant in his holiness, will likewise be free. That is the same word which is in other places translated willing–and the scope of the psalmists desire is, Let my spirit be emancipated from sin by willing obedience. This goes very deep into the heart of all true godliness. And so the psalmist prays, Let my obedience be so willing that I had rather do what Thou wilt than anything besides.
II. Desires for holiness should become prayers. David does not merely long for certain spiritual excellences; he goes to God for them. There are some of you that are wasting your lives in paroxysms of fierce struggle with the evil that you have partially discovered in yourselves, alternating with long languor fits of collapse and apathy, and who make no solid advance, just because you will not lay to heart these two convictions–your sin has to do with God, and your sins come from a sinful nature. Because of the one fact, you must go to God for pardon; because of the other, you must go to God for cleansing. There, in your heart, like some black well-head in a dismal bog, is the source of all the swampy corruption that fills your life. You cannot stanch it, drain it, sweeten it. Ask Him, who is above your nature and without it, to change it by His own new life infused into your spirit. He will heal the bitter waters. He alone can.
III. Prayers for perfect cleansing are permitted to the lips of the greatest sinners. Such longings as these might seem audacious, when the atrocity of the crime is remembered, and by mans standard they are so. Let the criminal be thankful for escape, and go hide himself, say mens pardons. But here is a man, with the evil savour of his debauchery still tainting him, daring to ask for no mere impunity, but for Gods choicest gifts. Does not a prayer like this seem as if it were but adding to his sin? But, thank God, it is not so. Let no sin, however dark, however repeated, drive us to despair of ourselves, because it hides from us our loving Saviour. Though beaten back again and again by the surge of our passions and sins, like some poor shipwrecked sailor sucked back with every retreating wave and tossed about in the angry surf, yet keep your face towards the beach where there is safety, and you will struggle through it all, and, though it were but on some floating boards and broken pieces of the ship, will come safe to land. He will uphold you with His Spirit, and take away the weight of sin that would sink you, by His forgiving mercy, and bring you out of all the weltering waste of waters to the solid shore. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
Purity
I. Inquire into the meaning of a clean heart, or the proper ingredients and expressions of such a temper of soul.
1. A fixed habitual abhorrence of all forbidden indulgences of the flesh. This is that which principally constitutes a clean heart; and from this all the other fruits and expressions of such a temper will proceed.
2. All past impurities, either of heart or life, will be reflected on with shame and sorrow (Jer 31:19; Eze 16:63; Eze 20:42-43).
3. A clean heart imports that the heart is actually freed in a good measure from impure thoughts and irregular desires; or at least that they are not entertained with pleasure and delight. He cannot be at rest till they are dispossessed and gone.
4. A clean heart discovers itself by a cautious fear of the least degrees of impurity. He dares not allow himself to go to the utmost bounds of things lawful, because he reckons himself to be then upon a precipice.
5. A clean heart necessarily implies a careful and habitual guard against everything which tends to pollute the mind (Pro 4:23). All loose and vicious company will be avoided as much as may be by those who have a clean heart. Intemperance will be carefully avoided by those who have an earnest concern to maintain their purity.
II. Represent the obligations that lie upon us to seek after such a purity of heart.
1. A ruling inclination to sensuality is directly contrary to the purity and holiness of the Divine nature.
2. Sensuality has a special tendency to extinguish the light of reason, and to unfit for anything spiritual and sacred.
3. Sensuality is most contrary to the design and engagements of Christianity. Our Lord inculcated the strictest purity upon all His disciples; not only an abstinence from gross outward acts, but from polluting thoughts and desires (Mat 5:27-30).
4. The blessed hope with which Christianity inspires us, lays us under a forcible engagement to present purity.
(1) Those of the contrary temper are absolutely excluded, by the express declarations of the Gospel, from the kingdom of God (1Co 6:9-10).
(2) On the contrary, the promise of the future blessedness is most plainly made to the pure in heart (Mat 5:8). (J. Evans, D. D.)
The uncleanness of the heart, and how it is cleansed
I. If the heart must be created anew before it can be a clean heart, certainly, before it is thus new-formed, it is an impure and unclean heart. And this that is here implied is frequently in the Scriptures directly affirmed (Gen 7:5; Jer 17:19; Mar 7:21). All the evils that are in the world are but evidences of the impurity of the heart, that unclean fountain and original of them.
II. wherein the uncleanness of the heart consists. A clean heart is such a heart as hath clean desires and affections; an unclean heart is that which hath unclean and impure desires, a heart full of evil concupiscence.
III. The causes of this uncleanness of the heart.
1. The impetuousness and continual solicitations of the sensual appetite, which continually sends up its foul exhalations and steams into the heart, and thereby taints and infects it.
2. The weakness and the defect of the imperial part of the soul, the reason and understanding.
IV. How it comes to pass that a heart thus naturally unclean is cleansed, which in general is by a restitution of the soul to its proper and native sovereignty and dominion over the sensual appetite; and those lusts that arise from the constitution of the body, and the connection of the soul to it. (Sir M. Hale.)
Reformation of heart the main thing needed
This is the main thing desirable, even purity and cleanness of heart, that God would bestow this blessing upon us. This is that which the Scriptures does abundantly commend unto us in sundry places (Psa 73:1; Psa 24:3-4; Mat 5:8). This cleanness and purity of heart is commended as the principal thing to be pursued by us, upon a double account.
1. As of the greatest eminence, considered in itself: The heart is the best part of a man; therefore there is cause for desiring of the cleanness of that above all the rest. As we see in an house, one would have all the rooms clean in it; but if there be any, better than another, some choice and peculiar chamber that we desire should be so especially. This now is the condition of the heart, it is the best room in all the house: it is best for the constitution of it; and therefore it should be best likewise for the qualification: it is best for its use and employment, and therefore it should be best likewise for its ordering and disposition: that which is the best of us, should be the best in us. We value rooms according to the guests which we entertain into them; and this is the pre-eminence of the heart, wherein God Himself takes special delight to dwell, and to reside; and therefore we should take special care for the cleaning of it, not to put such a worthy guest and friend as He is into a foul and impure lodging: the heart should be clean for its eminence.
2. It should be so also for its influence; and according to this sense especially are we to take it here in this place, in this desire of David. He was now upon the business of repentance, and amendment of life, to set upon a new course of life over what he had of late taken up; and now see here where he lays the groundwork and foundation of such a business as this, namely, in the cleansing of his heart–Create in me a clean heart, O God; he begins with that; this is the spring and fountain of all amendment and reformation whatsoever. They that desire to reform their lives, they must endeavour to reform their hearts; they must labour to have right spirits in them, or else all will be in vain unto them, whatsoever they apply themselves to as concerning this matter. The reason of it is clear, because the heart is the original and spring of all evil, as our Saviour Himself hath told us (Mar 7:21). (Thomas Horton, D. D.)
A clean heart
Heart comprehends not only feeling, but intellect and will. It suggests the impulsive; the sphere of the emotions and sympathy, of hatred and of love. It suggests the directive; the realm of plans and of judgment, the sphere and home of thought. It suggests the executive; the power which prosecutes purpose, the forces of persistence and resistance; the offensive and defensive energies of the life. The dominion of the heart is inclusive of the threefold sovereignty of emotion, intellect and will. A clean heart is, therefore, very much more than refined and sensitive feeling. It is also inclusive of illumined and clarified discernment; of healthy and wholesome will. Create within me a clean heart is a very wealthy and comprehensive prayer; make my feelings like clean fire, make my thought like a sea of glass. Make my will like a loyal soldier, incapable of mutiny. How is this splendid aim to be gained? By an act of creation. Create in me a pure heart, O God. There is something in creation that is revolutionary: it is the gift of a seed. John Stuart Mill said that a revolutionary force entered into his life on the day he came to know the lady who was afterwards to be his wife. The experience is a commonplace in ordinary life. Intimacies mark the beginnings of revolutions. A father says, It was a bad day when my lad became intimate with such a one, and he mentions the name with bitterness and shame. But why a bad day? A revolutionary force got hold of him, bad principle possessed him. The seed of devilry was implanted, which worked itself out in all manner of unworthiness and sin. The first step in the creation of devilry is to become related to one. On the good side and on the bad the revolutionary in life is occasioned by the establishment of a new relationship. The first requisite in the creation of the Godlike life is relationship with God. Life is revolutionized when man comes into conscious communion with his Maker. Let me illustrate. Here is a reservoir supplying the needs of a great town. The waters become poisoned and defiled. The vast mains become the agents of destruction, the vehicles and purveyors of disease. Epidemics break out. Pestilence abounds. Let me assume that on pure and unpolluted heights there are discovered unmeasured resources of water, clean and undefiled. Let us assume that we could connect the corrupted mains with the clean and wholesome flood. The linking of the two would be the beginning of a revolution. The epidemic would not be obliterated in a day, even with the opening of the crystal flood. But in the revolution would be the potency of health. And here am I, a member of a race, down whose waterways flow currents of diluted and defiled life. That truth is not only proclaimed in the Scripture, it is the doctrine of modern science. One calls it the legacy of Adam, the other the bequest of heredity. In Adam all die; the elements of corruption are transmitted; the reservoir from which I drink has been defiled. Now let us assume that I could become related to some reservoir in the heights, some pure river of water of life. How then? What I bespeak as an assumption has been proclaimed as a gospel. I can change the reservoirs; as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. The heredity can be changed; heirs of Adam, we can become heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ. The first element in the new creation is a new relation. We become new creatures when we become one with Christ. The revolution is succeeded by evolution. Becoming the heir of God, and joint-heir with Christ, I am subjected to a discipline which is intended to develop all the wealth of my inner life. The discipline is intended to discharge the twofold ministry of instruction and chastening. (J. H. Jowett, M. A.)
Reformation must begin at the heart
A reformation which beginneth at the members and external actions is neither true nor constant. As if a man intending to dress his garden, and purge it from thistles and such-like weeds, would cut off the upper part and leave the roots, which would spring up again: so if thou wouldest chastise thy body and let thine heart remain luxurious, it is nothing. The heart is the fountain, wherefrom springeth all evil, the root from which all sin groweth. He speaketh not of the substance but of the affections and qualities of the heart. No honest man will lodge in a filthy house, or drink or eat except the vessel be made clean; and God cannot abide in a foul, swinish heart. Keep thine heart diligently, saith the Spirit. As a vessel of gold or silver being through long use wasted and broken, is sent to the goldsmiths to be renewed, so our hearts worn by sin must be sent to God, that He may put them in the fire, end east them in a new mould, and make them up again. Alas, that we are careful to renew everything, clothes, vessels and all, only careless to renew our hearts. (A. Symson.)
Renew a right spirit within me.
Gracious renewal
I. There is absolutely necessity for Gods renewal of us if we would persevere.
1. Nothing that God has made is self-existent. Not the angels even. The very mountains crumble, and the great rivers have to be perpetually refilled from the mountain snows.
2. This is especially true of all wherein life is. Jobs war-horse, whose neck is clothed with thunder, must humble himself to his stall and to his provender. Samson himself must have a cleft opened in the rock that he may drink, for though he has slain the Philistines, yet will he perish if his thirst be not quenched.
3. Your own inner consciousness says the same. What downward tendencies there are in us all. We could travel down-hill to hell easily, but upwards to heaven how hardly!
4. And if we will not see this we may be made to, and that terribly, by some surprising sin. See the occasion of this psalm.
5. Unconscious backsliding from God will certainly be upon us unless we experience the renewals of Gods Spirit. The Church has rest now-a-days, and is where Pilgrim was when he went through the enchanted ground, and the air was heavy, and he had much ado to keep himself from sleeping. Perhaps it is a truthless legend that the holidays of Capua ruined the veterans of Hannibal, but if it be a legend in his case, it is a fact in ours. Therefore we do need to pray, Renew a right spirit within me. And because of–
II. Our own powerlessness to do this. Without me, said our Lord, we can do nothing; but we do not fully know all that means. When a ship is in sailing order and in good condition, yet she cannot speed on her voyage of herself: even though the sails be spread, there is no hope of her making her port unless the wind shall blow. For to renew a soul is as when Christ called forth Lazarus from the grave: it is to go directly opposite to nature. Who can make water run up-hill, or suspend the cataract in mid-air? Every grace is wanted that was needed in our first conversion. Then pray this prayer, but pray it not falsely, as you will if you use not the means through which God works. He is a hypocrite who asks the Lord to visit him and then nails up his door.
III. The blessed results of such renewal–this another argument for our praying this prayer. What joy, what activity, how useful you will be: how light will be the load of this worlds trials.
IV. Remember gospel obligations to renew our covenant with God.
1. It was well for you at the first to make this covenant.
2. Jesus often renews it with us, and–
3. All He has done for us binds us to it. You that have gone astray, pray this prayer. If the Church for thy backslidings has had to cast thee out, if there be still a desire in thy soul to return, Christ waits for thee. And whoever we be, young or old, men or women struggling amid the worlds cares, or young men and maidens, or young children, come now and renew your vows unto God. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
A right spirit
1. By spirit we are to understand either the rational part distinct from the animal, or (which I rather incline to) the rational part in the refinings of it; the more eminent and divine ray of understanding and will; the mind of the mind and the soul of the soul. If there be any part better than other, to be still better in that; not only in the body, but so much the more in the soul; and not only in the soul and mind, but so much the rather in the spirit of it, which is the bent and bias of the mind, the vigour and activity of it, he would be best in that. Now, accordingly, we should ourselves endeavour hereunto likewise. There are none which are so wicked as those which are spiritually wicked; nor none which are so good as those which are spiritually good. Look by how much grace and holiness does at any time take hold on our spirits, so much the better still we are.
2. The second is what is meant by right.
(1) In this expression David desires an even carriage of heart, that is, a right spirit, neither turning to the right hand nor to the left, but equally poised and ballasted in him: and so he does hereby show us what is likewise desirable of ourselves, even integrity and uprightness of spirit.
(2) A firmness of purpose; our heart settled and resolved. This is very requisite and necessary for us in these regards.
(a) In regard of the excellency of the things themselves which are here commended to us: the better anything is, the more cause have we to be resolved upon it, and constant to it.
(b) In regard of the natural inconstancy of our own hearts: the more uncertain we are of ourselves, the greater need have we to make ourselves sure by a fixedness and constancy of resolution, and thereby as it were to bind ourselves up.
(e) In regard of the manifold temptations and attempts which are upon us to take us off. There are so many baits laid to unsettle us, that unless we peremptorily determine ourselves, we shall never be sure; we have many assaults upon us to shake us, and to make us let go our hold, for which cause we have need to endeavour after this constant spirit. (Thomas Horton, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 10. Create in me a clean heart] Mending will not avail; my heart is altogether corrupted; it must be new made, made as it was in the beginning. This is exactly the sentiment of St. Paul: Neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation; and the salvation given under the Gospel dispensation is called a being created anew in Christ Jesus.
A right spirit within me.] ruach nachon, a constant, steady, determined spirit; called Ps 51:12, ruach nedibah, a noble spirit, a free, generous, princely spirit; cheerfully giving up itself to thee; no longer bound and degraded by the sinfulness of sin.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Create in me a clean heart; seeing I have not only defiled myself by these actual sins, but also have a most filthy heart, corrupted even from my birth, Psa 51:5, which nothing but Gods almighty and creating power can purify, do thou effectually work in me a holy frame of heart, whereby both my inward filth may be purged away, and I may be prevented from falling into such actual and scandalous sins.
Renew that good temper which before this apostacy I had in some measure, be pleased graciously to restore it to me with advantage.
Right, Heb. firm, or constant, or steadfast, that I may not be so easily shaken and cast down by temptation, as I have been, but that my resolution may be more fixed and unmovable.
Spirit; temper or disposition of soul or spirit; as the word spirit is very frequently used in Scripture.
Within me, Heb. in my inward parts. He wisely strikes at the root and cause of all sinful actions.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
10. Createa work of almightypower.
in meliterally, “tome,” or, “for me”; bestow as a gift, a heart free fromtaint of sin (Psa 24:4; Psa 73:1).
renewimplies that hehad possessed it; the essential principle of a new nature had notbeen lost, but its influence interrupted (Lu22:32); for Ps 51:11 showsthat he had not lost God’s presence and Spirit (1Sa16:13), though he had lost the “joy of his salvation”(Ps 51:12), for whose returnhe prays.
right spiritliterally,”constant,” “firm,” not yielding to temptation.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Create in me a clean heart, O God,…. Which was now defiled with sin, and of which being convinced, he was led more and more to see the impurity of his heart and nature, from which all his evil actions flowed; and being sensible that he could not make his heart clean himself, and that this was the work of God, and a work which required creating power, he entreats it of him: for as the first work of conversion is no other than a creation, or a production of something new, which was not before; so the restoring of a backslider, as it goes by the same name, it requires the same power; and as the implantation of grace at first, and particularly of faith, is a work of almighty power; so the same power must be put forth to bring it into exercise, after falls into sin; that it may afresh deal with the heart purifying blood of Christ, which only can make it clean, and is what is here meant;
and renew a right spirit within me; by which is designed, not the Holy Spirit of God k; for he is the renewer; nor the spirit or soul of man as to its essence; but with respect to the qualities of it; and here it signifies a renewing of the inward man, or an increase of grace, and causing it to abound in act and exercise; and intends a spirit of uprightness and integrity, in opposition to dissimulation and hypocrisy; a spirit “prepared [and] ready” l to every good work,
Mt 26:41; “one firm” m and unmoved from obedience to the Lord, by sin, temptations, and snares; a heart fixed, trusting in the Lord, and comfortably assured of an interest in pardoning grace and mercy.
k Vid. Zohar in Gen. fol. 107. 3. l “paratum seu promptum”, Gejerus, Michaelis; so Ainsworth. m “Firmua”, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
In the second part, the prayer for justification is followed by the prayer for renewing. A clean heart that is not beclouded by sin and a consciousness of sin (for includes the conscience, Psychology, S. 134; tr. p. 160); a stedfast spirit ( , cf. Psa 78:37; Psa 112:7) is a spirit certain respecting his state of favour and well-grounded in it. David’s prayer has reference to the very same thing that is promised by the prophets as a future work of salvation wrought by God the Redeemer on His people (Jer 24:7; Eze 11:19; Eze 36:26); it has reference to those spiritual facts of experience which, it is true, could be experienced even under the Old Testament relatively and anticipatively, but to the actual realization of which the New Testament history, fulfilling ancient prophecy has first of all produced effectual and comprehensive grounds and motives, viz., ( = ), , (Tit 3:5). David, without distinguishing between them, thinks of himself as king, as Israelite, and as man. Consequently we are not at liberty to say that (as in Isa 63:16), = , is here the Spirit of grace in distinction from the Spirit of office. If Jahve should reject David as He rejected Saul, this would be the extreme manifestation of anger (2Ki 24:20) towards him as king and as a man at the same time. The Holy Spirit is none other than that which came upon him by means of the anointing, 1Sa 16:13. This Spirit, by sin, he has grieved and forfeited. Hence he prays God to show favour rather than execute His right, and not to take this His Holy Spirit from him.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God! In the previous part of the psalm David has been praying for pardon. He now requests that the grace of the Spirit, which he had forfeited, or deserved to have forfeited, might be restored to him. The two requests are quite distinct, though sometimes confounded together, even by men of learning. He passes from the subject of the gratuitous remission of sin to that of sanctification. And to this he was naturally led with earnest anxiety, by the consciousness of his having merited the loss of all the gifts of the Spirit, and of his having actually, in a great measure, lost them. By employing the term create, he expresses his persuasion that nothing less than a miracle could effect his reformation, and emphatically declares that repentance is the gift of God. The Sophists grant the necessity of the aids of the Spirit, and allow that assisting grace must both go before and come after; but by assigning a middle place to the free will of man, they rob God of a great part of his glory. David, by the word which he here uses, describes the work of God in renewing the heart in a manner suitable to its extraordinary nature, representing it as the formation of a new creature.
As he had already been endued with the Spirit, he prays in the latter part of the verse that God would renew a right spirit within him But by the term create, which he had previously employed, he acknowledges that we are indebted entirely to the grace of God, both for our first regeneration, and, in the event of our falling, for subsequent restoration. He does not merely assert that his heart and spirit were weak, requiring divine assistance, but that they must remain destitute of all purity and rectitude till these be communicated from above. By this it appears that our nature is entirely corrupt: for were it possessed of any rectitude or purity, David would not, as in this verse, have called the one a gift of the Spirit, and the other a creation.
In the verse which follows, he presents the same petition, in language which implies the connection of pardon with the enjoyment of the leading of the Holy Spirit. If God reconcile us gratuitously to himself, it follows that he will guide us by the Spirit of adoption. It is only such as he loves, and has numbered among his own children, that he blesses with a share of his Spirit; and David shows that he was sensible of this when he prays for the continuance of the grace of adoption as indispensable to the continued possession of the Spirit. The words of this verse imply that the Spirit had not altogether been taken away from him, however much his gifts had been temporarily obscured. Indeed, it is evident that he could not be altogether divested of his former excellencies, for he seems to have discharged his duties as a king with credit, to have conscientiously observed the ordinances of religion, and to have regulated his conduct by the divine law. Upon one point he had fallen into a deadly lethargy, but he was not given over to a reprobate mind;” and it is scarcely conceivable that the rebuke of Nathan the prophet should have operated so easily and so suddenly in arousing him, had there been no latent spark of godliness still remaining in his soul. He prays, it is true, that his spirit may be renewed, but this must be understood with a limitation. The truth on which we are now insisting is an important one, as many learned men have been inconsiderately drawn into the opinion that the elect, by falling into mortal sin, may lose the Spirit altogether, and be alienated from God. The contrary is clearly declared by Peter, who tells us that the word by which we are born again is an incorruptible seed, (1Pe 1:23😉 and John is equally explicit in informing us that the elect are preserved from falling away altogether, (1Jo 3:9.) However much they may appear for a time to have been cast off by God, it is afterwards seen that grace must have been alive in their breast, even during that interval when it seemed to be extinct. Nor is there any force in the objection that David speaks as if he feared that he might be deprived of the Spirit. It is natural that the saints, when they have fallen into sin, and have thus done what they could to expel the grace of God, should feel an anxiety upon this point; but it is their duty to hold fast the truth that grace is the incorruptible seed of God, which never can perish in any heart where it has been deposited. This is the spirit displayed by David. Reflecting upon his offense, he is agitated with fears, and yet rests in the persuasion that, being a child of God, he would not be deprived of what indeed he had justly forfeited.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(10) Right spirit.So LXX. and Vulg.; but the constant of the margin is nearer the Hebrew, and better.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
10. Create in me a clean heart The spiritual work, heart renewal, is constantly before the royal penitent, and this is nothing less than a new creation. The word create is the strongest known in the Hebrew for bringing into being that which did not before exist, as Gen 1:1. Comp. Eph 2:10; Eph 4:24; and “ new creation,” 2Co 5:17; Gal 6:15. The renewal of the heart by creative energy is a purely evangelical idea.
Right spirit The word means a steadfast, established mind; one that could stand firm and resist temptation. See Psa 78:37
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
A Prayer For Transformation ( Psa 51:10-13 ).
Genuine repentance seeks not only forgiveness, but transformation of life. It is no good asking for forgiveness if we intend to do it again. So David wanted not only to be forgiven but also to be restored into the way of obedience in which he had once walked, for then only could his fellowship with God be restored. And he knew that this required the powerful activity of God within him.
Psa 51:10-13
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And make new a steadfast spirit within me.
Cast me not away from your presence,
And take not your holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
And uphold me with a willing spirit.
I will teach transgressors your ways,
And sinners will be converted to you.
‘Create in me a clean heart, O God, and make new a steadfast spirit within me.’ The word used for ‘create’ is the one which is regularly used of God’s creative power. It indicates the bringing about of something new. It suggests that he sees his sins as having been so heinous that he needs a new creation to take place within him. His ‘heart’, his mind, will and emotions, needs to be reconstituted because the old has been damaged beyond repair. And only God can do it. This is confirmed by the second verb which means to ‘make new’. He feels that he has failed God so utterly that there has to be a wholly new beginning. A ‘clean’ heart is a heart free from all taint of sin, including being free from adultery (Num 5:28). It is a heart which knows and obeys God (Jer 24:7; Jer 32:29; Eze 11:19; Eze 36:26). A steadfast spirit is one that will keep free from succumbing to temptation.
The Law spoke of two kinds of sins. ‘Sins done in ignorance, that is, unwittingly’, for which forgiveness and atonement could be obtained through the offering of sacrifices, and ‘sins with a high hand’ for which the penalty was death. They were acts of open and deliberate defiance of God. Adultery and murder were seen as ‘sins with a high hand’. There was no atonement for them. For those only God acting directly could remit the ultimate penalty.
So David is calling on God to perform the ultimate miracle, the total transformation of his inner life. His awareness of his guilt is so great that he is convinced that nothing less will do. He knows that in God’s eyes his old self is under sentence of death. He is therefore pleading for a new self.
What is described here is precisely what happens when a person commits himself to Jesus Christ for salvation. He becomes a new creation. Old things pass away and all becomes new (2Co 5:17; Eph 2:10; Eph 4:24). He receives a ‘clean’ heart and a ‘steadfast spirit’. It is only the pure in heart who can ‘see God’ (Mat 5:8). Thus from then on he has to put to death the old man, and respond to the new (Rom 6:2-11; Eph 4:22-24). In a sense therefore this prayer cannot be prayed by a Christian, who when he becomes aware of sin knows that his new life is still intact. He prays for renewal rather than making new. But the principle is the same. He still needs God’s powerful work within in order to be renewed.
‘Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your holy Spirit from me.’ This is speaking of a special enduement of the Spirit for God’s work, not simply of the presence of the Holy Spirit in a believer. David was very conscious of the fact that he enjoyed a unique privilege. God had taken way His Spirit from Saul and had rejected Saul (1Sa 16:14; compare 1Sa 15:11; 1Sa 15:23 ; 1Sa 15:35; 1Sa 16:1) and had put His Spirit on David (1Sa 16:13). Now he was very fearful lest God would do the same to him as he had done to Saul. To be cast from the king’s presence was an indication of rejection, and an indication that the person was no longer suitable to serve the king. In the same way David had visions of this happening to him before God. He is not talking of ‘loss of salvation’ but of loss of acceptability and usefulness. He does not say, ‘restore to me your salvation’, but ‘restore to me the joy of your salvation’.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.’ Earlier (in Psa 51:8) he had prayed for joy and gladness to be restored to his inner man. Now he repeats his request. He had missed the joy of the Lord for so long that he had not realised it. But now it has come home to him with full force, and he prays for it to be restored. The joy was joy in God’s ‘salvation’, the status of being a forgiven sinner. ‘Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered — in whose spirit there is no guile’ (Psa 32:1-2). Note the connection of forgiveness of sins with a right spirit within. Here also he connects the two as he prays for a willing spirit, a ‘made new’ spirit (Psa 51:10). This willing spirit parallels his anticipated joy in salvation. Alternately he was praying that God would have a willing spirit towards him. He had sinned deeply with a high hand. In that case he was recognising that the choice lay wholly with God as to whether He forgave him or not, so it was then a question as to whether God was so willing. He was praying that He would be, a prayer shown as answered in 2Sa 12:13. But the parallel suggests that the willing spirit was to be David’s (all the other parallels are repeating two parallel ideas).
‘I will teach transgressors (rebels) your ways, and sinners (offenders) will be converted to you.’ These words connect closely with the previous ones. It is only if he is still acceptable in God’s presence and still His anointed one, that he will be in a position to use his position and authority to teach others the right way, and to face men up with their rebelliousness and their offences. His own need of restoration has brought home to him the precarious situation of others before God. But he can only help them if he himself has been restored. It is those who are most conscious of what God has done for them, who seek humbly to help others. He is not bargaining with God. He is asserting his intention once he himself has been restored.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
New Obedience as a Fruit of Faith
v. 10. Create in me a clean heart, O God, v. 11. Cast me not away from Thy presence, v. 12. Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation, v. 13. Then will I teach transgressors Thy ways, v. 14. Deliver me from blood-guiltiness, v. 15. O Lord, open Thou my lips, v. 16. For Thou desirest not sacrifice, v. 17. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, v. 18. Do good in Thy good pleasure unto Zion, v. 19. Then shalt Thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Psa 51:10. Create in me a clean heart A clean heart, is a heart free from those impure and disordered passions of which David had too fatally felt the effects, and in possession and under the influence of those sacred dispositions of piety, holiness, and virtue, in which the moral rectitude and purity of the mind consists. A right spirit, is more properly a firm, constant, determined spirit. It implies such a resolution and firmness of soul, as through grace should effectually secure him against the power of all future temptations. See 2Co 5:17. Eph 2:10. Mudge renders it, A spirit firmly steady.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
DISCOURSE: 591
TRUE RENOVATION OF HEART
Psa 51:10. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
PARDON and peace are the first blessings which a penitent will seek. But no true penitent will be satisfied with them: he will desire with no less ardour the renovation of his soul in righteousness and true holiness The psalm before us gives a just epitome of the penitents mind. David begins with fervent supplications for pardon: Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving-kindness; according to the multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out my transgressions! He comes afterwards to implore a sense of Gods forgiving love: Make me to hear joy and gladness, that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. He then desires a restoration of his soul to the divine image: Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
In these words we may see,
I.
The great constituents of true piety
A mere reformation of life, however exemplary, will be no better than the painting of a sepulchre, which is full of rottenness and all uncleanness. If we would be approved of our God, we must have,
1.
A clean heart
[The heart of fallen man is full of evil [Note: Ecc 9:3.]: and from it, as from its proper source, all manner of evil proceeds [Note: Mar 7:21-23.]. God himself has testified respecting it. that all its thoughts and imaginations are evil [Note: Gen 6:5.]. Hence there is an in dispensable necessity, that it should be renewed by grace: for, if left in an unrenewed state, it could not enjoy heaven, even if it were admitted there. Being altogether corrupt, it could not delight itself in the presence of a holy God, or find satisfaction in those exercises of praise in which the glorified saints and angels are incessantly engaged. To find happiness in God and holy exercises, it must acquire a totally different taste: or rather, it must be wholly changed: it must be cleansed from all its corrupt propensities: it must be made averse from sin: and all its powers must be sanctified unto the Lord.]
2.
A right spirit
[By a right spirit is meant a constant spirit. A man, even after he is once cleansed, is yet prone to sin. He is beset with temptations both from without and within: and he needs to be strengthened with might in his inner man, in order that he may be able to withstand them. It will be in vain that he has been once cleansed from the pollutions of the world: if he be ever again entangled with them and overcome, His last end will be worse than the beginning [Note: 2Pe 2:20.]. He must be steadfast, immoveable, and always abounding in the work of the Lord [Note: 1Co 15:58.], if ever he would find acceptance at the last. He must endure unto the end, if ever he would be saved.]
Seeing that these things are so necessary, let us inquire,
II.
How they are to be obtained
They are not the work of man, but of God alone. They are Gods work,
1.
In their commencement
[The giving of a clean heart is justly called a new creation: Create in me a clean heart, O God. Hence he that is in Christ is called a new creature [Note: 2Co 5:17.]. When we survey the heavenly bodies, we see and know that they cannot have been the work of any created being: the impress of Divinity is stamped upon them. And not less certain is it that a new heart must be the gift of God. True it is, that God has said, Make you a new heart, and a right spirit: for why will ye die [Note: Eze 18:31.]? But it is also true, that God has promised to give it to us: I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness and from all your idols will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh [Note: Eze 36:25-26.]. Here all is the gift of God: and it is to be obtained from God in the exercise of prayer and faith. It is our duty to have a clean heart: and therefore God says, Make you one. But, since we cannot do it of ourselves, we are to turn the command into a petition: Create it in me, O God! And, to shew us that such petitions shall not be in vain, God makes our petition the subject of an express promise: A new heart will I give you This points out the true way of obtaining all spiritual blessings: we must be sensible that it is our duty to possess them: but, from a consciousness of our inability to obtain them by any efforts of our own, we must cry to God for them, and plead with him the promises which he has given us in the Son of his love. Laying hold on these promises, we shall obtain the strength which we stand in need of; and shall be enabled to cleanse ourselves from all filthiness, both of flesh and spirit, and to perfect holiness in the fear of God [Note: 2Co 7:1.].]
2.
In their progress
[Stability of mind is as much the gift of God as regeneration itself: it is He alone that can make us perfect; establish, strengthen, settle us [Note: 1Pe 5:10.]. We need only look to David for an illustration of this truth. What man ever lived, on whom you might depend more fully than on him? He was a man after Gods own heart: disciplined in the school of adversity, and honoured with divine communications to as great an extent as the most favoured of the sons of men. Yet behold, how he fell! Look at Solomon too. Who, that had seen him at the dedication of the temple, would have ever supposed that he should betray such weakness and folly as he did, during the greater part of his reign? Alas! what is man, if left to himself; if left only for a single instant? If God be not with him to uphold him, he will become the sport of every temptation, driven to and fro with every wind, whether of sentiment or of feeling [Note: Eph 4:14.]. He must be assisted in every part of his duty, whether of putting off the old man. or putting on the new. The same Almighty power which raised Christ from the dead must work mightily in him [Note: Eph 1:19-20.]. to renew him in the spirit of his mind [Note: Eph 4:23-24.], till the whole work of God be perfected within him: and to the latest hour of his life his prayer must be, May the very God of peace, who brought again from the dead the Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, make me perfect in every good work, to do his will; working in me that which is well-pleasing in his sight, through Christ Jesus [Note: Heb 13:20-21.]!]
Address,
1.
Those who feel no need of such a change as is described in our text
[By the generality, such a change is deemed no better than a wild enthusiastic conceit: and if a man have been baptized into the faith of Christ, and been enabled to maintain an honourable and consistent walk through life, he is conceived to be in a state of perfect safety. But had not Nicodemus been admitted into covenant with God in the way prescribed by God himself, and in the only way in which any were or could be admitted under the Mosaic dispensation? and was he not a person of most exemplary character? Yet to him did our Lord say again and again, Ye must be born again; and if a man be not born again, he cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven [Note: Joh 3:3; Joh 3:5; Joh 3:7.]. To get rid of this awful admonition, many will identify regeneration with the act of baptism, under an idea that the inward grace must of necessity accompany the outward sign. But if this be the case in one sacrament, it must be equally so in the other: whereas we are told, that a man may partake of the Lords supper unworthily; and, instead of being saved by it, may only eat and drink his own damnation [Note: 1Co 11:29.]. And so may a man render baptism the means of his more aggravated condemnation; as Simon Magus actually did: for he continued as much in the gall of bitterness and the bond of iniquity after his baptism, as he was before, with the additional guilt of his hypocrisy in having applied for baptism in a state altogether unworthy to receive it [Note: Act 8:21-23.]. Beloved Brethren, whatever men may say, you must be born again of the Spirit, as well as of water: you must become new creatures in Christ Jesus: and if God create not in you a clean heart, and renew not in you a right spirit, Satan himself may hope for heaven as well as you: for, if there be any truth in the word of God, without holiness, real, inward, universal holiness, no man shall see the Lord [Note: Heb 12:14.].]
2.
Those who profess to have experienced it
[There are two things against which I would particularly take occasion to guard you: the one is presumption; the other is despondency.
You have probably heard persons speak of divine grace being an imperishable seed: which, once bestowed, must of necessity bring a man to glory. But it is the word of God which is the only imperishable seed [Note: 1Pe 1:23.]: nor is there in the universe a man who is authorised to say, I cannot fall. To enter into this subject at large, is beyond my present purpose. The man who cannot see his frailty in the character of David, and his inability to restore himself in the long impenitence of David, will probably be left to learn these things by bitter experience. But to every man among you that has an ear to hear, I would say, Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall [Note: 1Co 10:12.]. And if I were speaking even to a prophet of the Most High, and he as eminent as David himself, I would whisper in his ear this salutary caution, Be not high-minded, but fear [Note: Rom 11:20.].
Yet, if there be here one who has fallen into sin, I would say, Despair not, as though there were not mercy enough in the bosom of your God to pardon you, or power enough in his arm to keep you. Yea, if, like David, you had committed the aggravated crimes of adultery and murder, I would still point you to the great Sacrifice, even to the Lord Jesus Christ: and would put into your mouth that prayer of David, Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow [Note: ver. 7.]. I would, however, remind such an one, that it will not be enough for him to obtain pardon and peace: he must have a clean heart created in him, and a right and constant spirit renewed within him, if ever he would see the face of God in peace. Yet I would add, that there is nothing impossible with God: and that he who magnified his mercy in the salvation of an adulterous and murderous David, will cast out none who come to him in humility and faith, as David did.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
Pardon alone, without the renewings of the Holy Ghost, will not complete the mercy. Hence, David prays not only to be cleansed, but to be renewed, to be strengthened by the Holy Ghost against any future sins. It is as if David had said, Lord, I see that the want of thy Holy Spirit to restrain those vile affections of mine first led to the sin of adultery, and adultery next led to murder. Lord, I beseech thee, take not thine Holy Spirit from me; take, Lord, whatever else thou art pleased to take, for I deserve nothing but punishment from thee; but, oh! take not thy unspeakable gift, lest I should fall yet more foully. Here, Lord, I must plead! Oh! turn me not away. Reader, there is nothing a child of God dreads so much as the absence of the Comforter. Oh! precious Jesus! remember thy promise, in which thou didst say, He shall abide, with you forever; Joh 14:16 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
Ver. 10. Create in me a clean heart, O God ] His heart was woefully soiled with the filth of sin and the work of grace interrupted; he therefore prayeth God to interpose and begin it again, to set him up once more, to rekindle those sparks of the spirit that lay almost quite smothered; to put forth his Almighty power for that purpose, to farm that Augaean stable of his heart; to sanctify him throughout in spirit, soul, and body; and to keep him blameless unto the coming of his Son 1Th 5:23 .
And renew a right spirit within me
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psalms
DAVID’S CRY FOR PURITY
Psa 51:10 – Psa 51:12
We ought to be very thankful that the Bible never conceals the faults of its noblest men. David stands high among the highest of these. His words have been for ages the chosen expression for the devotions of the holiest souls; and whoever has wished to speak longings after purity, lowly trust in God, the aspirations of love, or the raptures of devotion, has found no words of his own more natural than those of the poet-king of Israel. And this man sins, black, grievous sin. Self-indulgent, he stays at home while his army is in the field. His moral nature, relaxed by this shrinking from duty, is tempted, and easily conquered. The sensitive poet nature, to which all delights of eye and sense appeal so strongly, is for a time too strong for the devout soul. One sin drags on another. As self-indulgence opened the door for lust, so lust, which dwells hard by hate, draws after it murder. The king is a traitor to his subjects, the soldier untrue to the chivalry of arms, the friend the betrayer of the friend. Nothing can be blacker than the whole story, and the Bible tells the shameful history in all its naked ugliness.
Many a precious lesson is contained in it. For instance, It is not innocence which makes men good. ‘This is your man after God’s own heart, is it?’ runs the common, shallow sneer. Yes; not that God thought little of his foul sin, nor that ‘saints’ make up for adultery and murder by making or singing psalms; not that ‘righteousness’ as a standard of conduct is lower than ‘morality’; but that, having fallen, he learned to abhor his sin, and with deepened trust in God’s mercy, and many tears, struggled out of the mire, and with unconquered resolve and strength drawn from a divine source, sought still to press towards the mark. It is not the attainment of purity, not the absence of sin, but the presence and operation, though it be partial, of an energy which is at war with all impurity, that makes a man righteous. That is a lesson worth learning.
Again, David was not a hypocrite because of this fall of his. All sin is inconsistent with a religious character. But it is not for us to say what sin is incompatible with a religious character.
Again, the worst sin is not some outburst of gross transgression, forming an exception to the ordinary tenor of a life, bad and dismal as such a sin is; but the worst and most fatal are the small continuous vices, which root underground and honeycomb the soul. Many a man who thinks himself a Christian, is in more danger from the daily commission, for example, of small pieces of sharp practice in his business, than ever was David at his worst. White ants pick a carcase clean sooner than a lion will.
Most precious of all is the lesson as to the possibility of all sin being effaced, and of the high hopes which even a man sunk in transgression has a right to cherish, as to the purity and beauty of character to which he may come. What a prayer these clauses contain to be offered by one who has so sinned! What a marvellous faith in God’s pardoning love, and what a boldness of hope in his own future, they disclose! They set forth a profound ideal of a noble character; they make of that ideal a prayer; they are the prayer of a great transgressor, who is also a true penitent. In all these aspects they are very remarkable, and lead to valuable lessons. Let us look at them from these points of view successively.
I. Observe that here is a remarkable outline of a holy character.
Now as to that fundamental petition, ‘Take not Thy Holy Spirit from me,’ one thing to notice is that David regards himself as possessing that Spirit. We are not to read into this psalm the fully developed New Testament teaching of a personal Paraclete, the Spirit whom Christ reveals and sends. To do that would be a gross anachronism. But we are to remember that it is an anointed king who speaks, on whose head there has been poured the oil that designated him to his office, and in its gentle flow and sweet fragrance, symbolised from of old the inspiration of a divine influence that accompanied every divine call. We are to remember, too, how it had fared with David’s predecessor. Saul had been chosen by God; had been for a while guided and upheld by God. But he fell into sin, and-not because he fell into it, but because he continued in it; not because he did wrong, but because he did not repent-the solemn words are recorded concerning him, that ‘the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him.’ The divine influence which came on the towering head of the son of Kish, through the anointing oil that Samuel poured upon his raven hair, left him, and he stood God-forsaken because he stood God-forsaking. And so David looks back from the ‘horrible pit and miry clay’ into which he had fallen, where, stained with blood and lust, he lies, to that sad gigantic figure, remembered so well and loved by him so truly-the great king who sinned away his soul, and bled out his life on the heights of Gilboa. He sees in that blasted pine-tree, towering above the forest but dead at the top, and barked and scathed all down the sides by the lightning scars of passion, the picture of what he himself will come to, if the blessing that was laid upon his ruddy locks and his young head by the aged Samuel’s anointing should pass from him too as it had done from his predecessor. God had departed from Saul, because Saul had refused His counsel and departed from Him; and Saul’s successor, trembling as he remembers the fate of the founder of the monarchy, and of his vanished dynasty, prays with peculiar emphasis of meaning, ‘Take not Thy Holy Spirit from me !’
That Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, had descended upon him when he was anointed king, but it was no mere official consecration which he had thereby received. He had been fitted for regal functions by personal cleansing and spiritual gifts. And it is the man as well as the king, the sinful man much rather than the faulty king, that here wrestles with God, and stays the heavenly Visitant whom his sin has made to seem as if He would depart. What he desires most earnestly, next to that pardon which he has already sought and found, is that his spirit should be made holy by God’s Spirit. That is, as I have said, the central petition of his threefold prayer, from which the others come as natural consequences.
And what is this ‘holiness’ which David so earnestly desires? Without attempting any lengthened analysis of the various shades of meaning in the word, our purpose will be served if I point out that in all probability the primary idea in it is that of separation. God is holy-that is, separated by all the glory of His perfect nature from His creatures. Things are holy-that is, separated from common uses, and appropriated to God’s service. Whatever He laid His hand on and claimed in any especial manner for His, became thereby holy, whether it were a ceremony, or a place, or a tool. Men are holy when they are set apart for God’s service, whether they be officially consecrated for certain offices, or have yielded themselves by an inward devotion based on love to be His.
The ethical signification which is predominant in our use of the word and has made it little more than a synonym for moral purity is certainly not the original meaning, as is sufficiently clear from the fact that the word is applied to material things which could have no moral qualities, and sometimes to persons who were not pure, but who were in some sense or other set apart for God’s service. But gradually that meaning becomes more and more completely attached to the word, and ‘holiness’ is not only separation for God, but separation from sin. That is what David longs for in this prayer; and the connection of these two meanings of the word is worth pointing out in a sermon, for the sake of the great truth which it suggests, that the basis of all rightness and righteousness in a human spirit is its conscious and glad devotion to God’s service and uses. A reference to God must underlie all that is good in men, and on the other hand, that consecration to God is a delusion or a deception which does not issue in separation from evil.
‘Holiness’ is a loftier and a truer word than ‘morality,’ ‘virtue,’ or the like; it differs from these in that it proclaims that surrender to God is the very essence of all good, while they seek to construct a standard for human conduct, and to lay a foundation for human goodness, without regard to Him. Hence, irreligious moralists dislike the very word, and fall back upon pale, colourless phrases rather than employ it. But these are inadequate for the purpose. Man’s duties can never be summed up in any expression which omits man’s relation to God. How do I stand to Him? Do I belong to Him by joyous yielding of myself to be His instrument? That, my friends! is the question, the answer to which determines everything about me. Rightly answered, there will come all fruits of grace and beauty in the character as a natural consequence; ‘whatsoever things are lovely and of good report,’ every virtue and every praise grow from the root of consecration to God. Wrongly answered, there will come only fruits of selfishness and evil, which may simulate virtue, but the blossom shall go up in dust, and the root in stubble. Do you seek purity, nobleness, strength, and beauty of soul? Learn that all these inhere in and flow from the one act of giving up yourself to God, and in their truest perfection are found only in the spirit that is His. Holiness considered as moral excellence is the result of holiness considered as devotion to God. And learn too that holiness in both aspects comes from the operation and indwelling in our spirits of a divine Spirit, who draws away our love from self to fix it on Him, which changes our blindness into sight, and makes us by degrees like Himself, ‘holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners.’ The Spirit of the Lord is the energy which produces all righteousness and purity in human spirits.
Therefore, all our desires after what is good and true should shape themselves into the desire for that Spirit. Our prayer should be, ‘Make me separate from evil, and that I may be so, claim and keep me for Thine own. As Thou hast done with the Sabbath amongst the days, with the bare summit of the hill of the Lord’s house among the mountains, with Israel amidst the nations, so do with me; lay Thine hand upon me for Thine own. Let my spirit, O God! know its destination for Thee, its union with Thee. Then being Thine, it will be clean. Dwell in me, that I may know myself Thine. Seal me with that gracious influence which is the proof that Thou possessest me, and the pledge that I possess Thee. “Take not Thy Holy Spirit from me.”‘ So much for the chief of these petitions, which gives the ideal character in its deepest relations. There follow two other elements in the character, which on either side flow from the central source. The holy spirit in a man will be a right spirit and a free spirit. Consider these further thoughts in turn.
‘A right spirit.’ You will observe that our translators have given an alternative rendering in the margin, and as is not seldom the case, it is a better one than that adopted in the text. ‘A constant or firm spirit’ is the Psalmist’s meaning. He sees that a spirit which is conscious of its relation to God, and set free from the perturbations of sin, will be a spirit firm and settled, established and immovable in its obedience and its faith. For Him, the root of all steadfastness is in consecration to God.
And so this collocation of ideas opens the way for us to important considerations bearing upon the practical ordering of our natures and of our lives. For instance, there is no stability and settled persistency of righteous purpose possible for us, unless we are made strong because we lay hold on God’s strength, and stand firm because we are rooted in Him. Without that hold-fast, we shall be swept away by storms of calamity or by gusts of passion. Without that to steady us, our own boiling lusts and desires will make every fibre of our being quiver and tremble. Without that armour, there will not be solidity enough in our character to bear without breaking the steady pressure of the world’s weight, still less the fierce hammering of special temptation. To stand erect, and in that sense to have a right spirit-one that is upright and unbent-we must have sure footing in God, and have His energy infused into our shrinking limbs. If we are to be stable amidst earthquakes and storms, we must be built on the rock, and build rock-like upon it. Build thy strength upon God. Let His Holy Spirit be the foundation of thy life, and then thy tremulous and vagrant soul will be braced and fixed. The building will become like the foundation, and will grow into ‘a tower of strength that stands four-square to every wind.’ Rooted in God, thou shalt be unmoved by ‘the loud winds when they call’; or if still the tremulous leaves are huddled together before the blast, and the swaying branches creak and groan, the bole will stand firm and the gnarled roots will not part from their anchorage, though the storm-giant drag at them with a hundred hands. The spirit of holiness will be a firm spirit.
But there is another phase of connection between these two points of the ideal character-if my spirit is to be holy and to preserve its holiness, it must be firm. That is to say, you can only get and keep purity by resistance. A man who has not learned to say ‘No!’-who is not resolved that he will take God’s way in spite of every dog that can bay or bark at him, in spite of every silvery voice that woos him aside-will be a weak and a wretched man till he dies. In such a world as this, with such hearts as ours, weakness is wickedness in the long run. Whoever lets himself be shaped and guided by anything lower than an inflexible will, fixed in obedience to God, will in the end be shaped into a deformity and guided to wreck and ruin. Dreams however rapturous, contemplations however devout, emotions however deep and sacred, make no man pure and good without hard effort, and that to a large extent in the direction of resistance. Righteousness is not a mere negative idea, and Scripture morality is something much deeper than prohibitions. But there is no law for us without prohibitions, and no righteousness without casting out evil that is strong in us, and fighting against evil that is attractive around us. Therefore we need firmness to guard holiness, to be the hard shell in which the rich fruit matures. We need a wholesome obstinacy in the right that will neither be bribed nor coaxed nor bullied, nor anyhow persuaded out of the road in which we know that we should walk. ‘Add to your faith manly vigour.’ Learn that an indispensable requisite of holiness is prescribed in that command, ‘Whom resist, steadfast in the faith.’ And remember that the ground of all successful resistance and the need for it are alike taught in that series of petitions, which makes a holy spirit the foundation of a constant spirit, and a constant spirit the guard of a holy spirit.
Then consider, for a moment, the third element in the character which David longs to possess-a free spirit. He who is holy because full of God’s Spirit, and constant in his holiness, will likewise be ‘free.’ That is the same word which is in other places translated ‘willing’-and the scope of the Psalmist’s desire is, ‘Let my spirit be emancipated from sin by willing obedience.’ This goes very deep into the heart of all true godliness. The only obedience which God accepts is that which gladly, and almost as by an instinctive inward impulse, harmonises the human will with the divine. ‘Lo! I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do Thy will, and Thy law is within my heart.’ That is a blessed thought, that we may come to do Him service not because we must, but because we like; not as serfs, but as sons; not thinking of His law as a slave-driver that cracks his whip over our heads, but as a friend that lets us know how we may please Him whom it is our delight to obey. And so the Psalmist prays, ‘Let my obedience be so willing that I had rather do what Thou wilt than anything besides.’
‘ Then ,’ he thinks, ‘I shall be free.’ Of course-for the correlative of freedom is lawful authority, and the definition of freedom is willing submission. If for us duty is joy, and all our soul’s desires flow with an equable motion parallel to the will of God, then there is no sense of restraint in keeping within the limits beyond which we do not seek to go. The willing spirit sets us free, free from the ‘ancient solitary reign’ of the despot Self, free from the mob rule of passions and appetites, free from the incubus of evil habits, free from the authority of men’s voices and examples. Obedience is freedom to them that have learned to love the lips that command. We are set free that we may serve: ‘O Lord! truly I am Thy servant; Thou hast loosed my bonds.’ We are set free in serving: ‘I will walk at liberty, for I keep Thy precepts.’ Let a willing, free spirit uphold me.
II. Observe, too, that desires for holiness should become prayers.
And still further, looking at the one deed, he sees in it something more than an isolated act. It leads him down to its motive; that motive carries him to the state of mind in which it could have power; that state of mind, in which the motive could have power, carries him still deeper to the bias of his nature as he had received it from his parents. And thinking of how he had fallen, how upon his terraced palace roof there the eye had inflamed the heart, and the heart had yielded so quickly to the temptations of the eye, he finds no profounder explanation of the disastrous eclipse of goodness than this: ‘Behold! I was shapen in iniquity.’
Is that a confession or a palliation, do you think? Is he trying to shuffle off guilt from his own shoulders? By no means, for these words are the motive for the prayer, ‘Purge me, and I shall be clean.’ That is to say, he has learned that isolated acts of sin inhere in a common root, and that root a disposition inherited from generation to generation to which evil is familiar and easy, to which good, alas! is but too alien and unwelcome. None the less is the evil done his deed. None the less has he to wail in full consciousness of his individual responsibility: ‘Against Thee have I sinned.’ But the effect of this second discovery, that sin has become so intertwisted with his being that he cannot shake off the venomous beast into the fire and feel no harm, is the same as that of the former-to drive him to God, who alone can heal the nature and separate the poison from his blood.
Dear friends! there are some of you who are wasting your lives in paroxysms of fierce struggle with the evil that you have partially discovered in yourselves, alternating with long languor, fits of collapse and apathy, and who make no solid advance, just because you will not lay to heart these two convictions-your sin has to do with God, and your sins come from a sinful nature. Because of the one fact, you must go to God for pardon; because of the other, you must go to God for cleansing. There, in your heart, like some black well-head in a dismal bog, is the source of all the swampy corruption that fills your life. You cannot stanch it, you cannot drain it, you cannot sweeten it. Ask Him, who is above your nature and without it, to change it by His own new life infused into your spirit. He will heal the bitter waters. He alone can. Sin is against God; sin comes from an evil heart; therefore, if your longings for that ideal perfectness are ever to be fulfilled, you must make prayers of them, and cry to Him who hears, ‘Create in me a clean heart, O God! take not Thy Holy Spirit from me.’
III. Finally, observe that prayers for perfect cleansing are permitted to the lips of the greatest sinners.
Thank God we have such an example for our heartening! Lay it to heart, brethren! You cannot believe too much in God’s mercy. You cannot expect too much at His hands. He is ‘able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.’ No sin is so great but that, coming straight from it, a repentant sinner may hope and believe that all God’s love will be lavished upon him, and the richest of God’s gifts be granted to his desires. Even if our transgression is aggravated by a previous life of godliness, and have given the enemies great occasion to blaspheme, as David’s did, yet David’s penitence may in our souls lead on to David’s hope, and the answer will not fail us. Let no sin, however dark, however repeated, drive us to despair of ourselves, because it hides from us our loving Saviour. Though beaten back again and again by the surge of our passions and sins, like some poor shipwrecked sailor sucked back with every retreating wave and tossed about in the angry surf, yet keep your face towards the beach, where there is safety, and you will struggle through it all, and though it were but on some floating boards and broken pieces of the ship, will come safe to land. He will uphold you with His Spirit, and take away the weight of sin that would sink you, by His forgiving mercy, and bring you out of all the weltering waste of waters to the solid shore.
So whatever thy evil behaviour, come with it all, and cast thyself before Him, with whom is plenteous redemption. Embrace in one act the two truths, of thine own sin and of God’s infinite mercy in Jesus Christ. Let not the one blind you to the other; let not the one lead you to a morbid despondency, which is blind to Christ, nor the other to a superficial estimate of the deadliness of sin, which is blind to thine own self. Let the Cross teach thee what sin is, and let the dark background of thy sin bring into clear prominence the Cross that bringeth salvation. Know that thou art utterly black and sinful. Believe that God is eternally, utterly, inconceivably, merciful. Learn both, in Him who is the Standard by which we can estimate our sin, and the Proof and Medium of God’s mercy. Trust thyself and all thy foulness to Jesus Christ; and, so doing, look up from whatsoever horrible pit and miry clay thou mayest have fallen into, with this prayer, ‘Create in me a clean heart, O God! and renew a right spirit within me, take not Thy Holy Spirit from me, and uphold me with Thy free Spirit.’ Then the answer shall come to you from Him who ever puts the best robe upon His returning prodigals, and gives His highest gifts to sinners who repent. ‘From all your filthiness will I cleanse you, a new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you, and I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes.’
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Psa 51:10-13
10Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11Do not cast me away from Your presence
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
12Restore to me the joy of Your salvation
And sustain me with a willing spirit.
13Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,
And sinners will be converted to You.
Psa 51:10-13 This strophe also has several prayer requests (imperatives, jussives) which call for a personal faith renewal. This must be brought about by the sovereign acts of God, but the psalmist must present himself for it to be done.
1. create in me a clean heart BDB 135, KB 153, Qal imperative, cf. Eze 36:26-27; he desires a miracle or recreation (bara used only of God, Gen 1:1)
2. renew a steadfast spirit within me BDB 293, KB 293, Piel imperative, cf. Psa 78:37
3. do not cast me away from Your presence BDB 1020, KB 1527, Hiphil imperfect used in a jussive sense, cf. 2Ki 13:23 and negative in 2Ki 24:20; Jer 7:15
4. do not take Your Holy Spirit from me BDB 542, KB 534, Qal imperfect used in a jussive sense, cf. Isa 63:10-11; Eze 36:26-27
5. restore to me the joy of Your salvation BDB 996, KB 1427, Hiphil imperative
6. sustain me with a willing spirit BDB 701, KB 759, Qal imperfect used in a jussive sense to match #3,4
Notice the emphasis on the internal, personal aspect of faith (i.e., Isa 26:9). The result of this spiritual renewal will be
1. I will teach transgressors Your ways BDB 540, KB 531, Piel cohortative; note the fellowship and knowledge of God must come first, cf. Ezr 7:10
2. sinners will be converted (lit. turn back) same verb as Psa 51:12 a, to restore, but Qal imperfect
Psa 51:10 heart See SPECIAL TOPIC: THE HEART . Mankind’s unique creation in the image and likeness of God (cf. Gen 1:26-27) and personally fashioned/formed by God (Gen 2:7), makes him a
1. physical creature, like the other animals on this planet (cf. nephesh, see notes at Psa 3:2 and Gen 35:18 online)
2. spiritual creature, uniquely suited for fellowship with God; this spiritual aspect goes by several metaphors/analogies/terms
a. heart, i.e., Psa 36:1; Psa 39:3; Psa 55:4; Psa 109:22
b. kidneys/bowels, i.e., Psa 22:14; Jer 4:19; Jer 31:20; Lam 1:20; Lam 2:11
c. spirit, i.e., Isa 57:16; Zec 12:1
d. thoughts, Psa 94:19
spirit The term (BDB 924) is used several times in this Psalm.
1. a steadfast spirit, Psa 51:10
2. Your Holy Spirit, Psa 51:11
3. a willing spirit, Psa 51:12
4. a broken spirit, Psa 51:17
SPECIAL TOPIC: SPIRIT IN THE BIBLE
Psa 51:11 b Many commentators believe this line of poetry is a reference to 1Sa 11:6; 1Sa 16:14; 1Sa 18:12, where Saul initially had the Spirit but after his repeated sins, the Spirit left him and went to David.
My own denomination has used this Psalm, especially Psa 51:12, to assert that no one can lose their salvation because it says, restore the joy of Your salvation. However, Saul’s spiritual status is uncertain. I have chosen to at least provide my understanding of these issues by
1. referring you to the SPECIAL TOPIC: APOSTASY (APHISTMI)
2. referring you to the SPECIAL TOPIC: PERSEVERANCE
3. inserting the following SPECIAL TOPIC: ASSURANCE
Your Holy Spirit In most of the OT, the Spirit is a force of God (i.e., Gen 1:2), not a distinct person (but note Isa 63:10-11). However, this concept of the personhood of the Spirit is developed in the NT. Two Special Topics help clarify the point.
SPECIAL TOPIC: THE PERSONHOOD OF THE SPIRIT
SPECIAL TOPIC: THE TRINITY
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Create. Hebrew. bara’, as in Gen 1:1. The new heart is not the old one changed, but newly created: i.e. “begotten” by God, as in Joh 3:6-8.
right = steadfast. Compare Psa 78:37; Psa 112:7.
spirit. Hebrew. ruach. App-9. Put by Figure of speech Synecdoche (of Part), for whole character.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Psa 51:10-13
Psa 51:10-13
THE PRAYER FOR RENEWAL
“Create in me a clean heart, O God;
And renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from thy presence;
And take not thy Holy Spirit from me.
Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation;
And uphold me with a willing spirit.
Then will I teach transgressors thy ways;
And sinners shall be converted unto thee.”
“Create in me a clean heart” (Psa 51:10). Here is the Old Testament anticipation of the New Testament doctrine of the New Birth. “If anyone be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things have passed away; all things are become new” (2Co 5:17). This means: `O God, do more than forgive me, more than purify me, more than cleanse me; create in me a clean new heart that I may truly serve thee.’
“Cast me not away from thy presence” (Psa 51:11). It seems that David here may have remembered God’s casting away King Saul, and that this is a plea that a similar fate may not be executed upon David, a fate which he nevertheless feels that he deserves.
“Take not thy Holy Spirit from me” (Psa 51:11). We know that David indeed was in possession of the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit inspired him in writing the Psalms, as Jesus himself testified (Mat 22:43). The New Testament speaks of several things that men may do to the Holy Spirit. (1) They can resist Him; (2) they can grieve him; (3) they can lie to Him; (4) they can insult Him; and (5) they can quench Him (1Th 5:19). Certainly the conduct of David regarding Bathsheba was a grief to the Holy Spirit.
“Restore … the joy of salvation” (Psa 51:12). This verse teaches that although David had once enjoyed salvation, his sins had resulted in his having lost it. What a tragic desolation it is for any child of God to lose the joy of God’s service because of the cancer of sin in his heart.
“Then will I teach transgressors thy ways” (Psa 51:13). In this, it appears that David already anticipates the joys of God’s forgiveness and restoration, therefore vowing to teach others the way of life and to bring sinners to God.
E.M. Zerr:
Psa 51:10. The outward and physical acts of David’s sins had been ended and he had bitterly mourned in repentance over them. The inner man was next considered in relation to God. Create . . . clean heart meant to help him have a heart that would be clean of any desire to repeat such a sin as he had committed.
Psa 51:11. David was an inspired man and such an honor would not be fitting in one who was guilty of such grievous sins as he had committed unless he received cleansing from the guilt. In that view he made this earnest plea to God for divine mercy.
Psa 51:12. Restore means to reinstate him in the spiritual favor of the Lord.
Psa 51:13. A man who is under the guilt of transgressions himself is in no position to exhort others. David wished to be cleared of the guilt hanging over him so that he could contact others who were out of the way.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Create: 2Co 5:17, Eph 2:10
clean: Psa 73:1, Pro 20:9, Jer 13:27, Jer 32:39, Eze 11:19, Eze 18:31, Eze 36:25-27, Eze 36:37, Mat 5:8, Act 15:9, 1Pe 1:22
renew: Rom 12:2, Eph 4:22-24, Col 3:10, Tit 3:5
right: or, constant, Psa 78:8, Psa 78:37, Jos 14:14, 1Ki 15:3-5, Act 11:23, 1Co 15:58, Jam 1:8
Reciprocal: Lev 16:30 – General 1Ch 29:18 – keep Psa 23:3 – restoreth Psa 24:4 – pure Psa 73:13 – washed Psa 80:7 – Turn Psa 119:5 – General Psa 119:36 – Incline Pro 28:13 – whoso Eze 36:26 – new heart Mat 18:3 – Except Luk 8:15 – in an Luk 8:35 – in his Joh 3:6 – born of the flesh Joh 3:10 – and knowest 2Co 4:16 – is 2Co 7:1 – let Gal 5:17 – the flesh Eph 4:23 – be 1Ti 1:5 – a pure Heb 6:6 – to renew Heb 10:22 – a true Jam 4:8 – purify
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
A CLEAN HEART
Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
Psa 51:10
Three things must happen before anything can be created. The Spirit of God must move upon the face of it, the word of God must speak to it, and the blood of Christ must wash it.
I. If you wish to be Gods children indeed, the Holy Spirit must work in your heart.As the Spirit moved over the face of the waters, so must the Holy Spirit move in your heart. The Holy Spirit is often compared to water, because water makes clean.
II. The Bible is the Word of God.When God made the world, He spake with His mouth. Now His speech is in the Bible. In Eph 5:26 we read: That He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Wordthat is, the Bible.
III. And Jesus Christ, we know, must cleanse us too.The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.
IV. Suppose you have a clean heart, will it keep clean?Here comes the beauty of the text. It says, Create in me a clean heart, O God; and the next part says, Renew itRenew a right spirit within me. This is what we want every day. If clean to-day, it will be dirty to-morrow. Therefore we must say, Renew it over and over again. Renew a right spirit within me.
Rev. James Vaughan.
Illustration
We learn at once what David meant by a clean heart. He meant a heart which loathes and abhors all forbidden indulgences of the flesh. I do not read Society novels; but I have seen criticisms in secular magazines which seem to show that a fixed abhorrence of the sins of uncleanness no longer prevails as it should do in our midst. If men and women loathed these vile sins they would not read books which are dominated and permeated by them. There are many, I fear, who, while abstaining themselves from acts of impurity, find a secret and sinful pleasure in throwing open the whole realm of thought and imagination to uncleanness and sensuality. And yet the control of our thoughts and imaginations is more than half the battle in maintaining personal purity. A clean heart is one which never harbours an unclean thought. Those thoughts and imaginations which the lascivious entertain with pleasure and delight, the pure in heart turn away from with disgust. And a clean heart is always a cautious and watchful heart. It runs no unnecessary risks. It prays, with all earnestness and sincerity, Lead us not into temptation. This is why Gods people are so careful and strict as to what books they read, what company they associate with, and what places of entertainment they attend. Davids sin was due to an unguarded look. It is no exaggeration to say that half an hours licence to the thoughts and imaginations, letting them roam at will through forbidden regions of sensuality and uncleanness opened to us by novel or picture or play, may leave upon us such a stain that ten, twenty, or thirty years will not see the end of the mischief done.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
51:10 {i} Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
(i) He confesses that when God’s Spirit is cold in us, to have it again revived, is as a new creation.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The psalmist’s petition now turned to thoughts of spiritual renewal. In contrast to his natural sinful heart (Psa 51:5), David sensed the need for a clean heart. He requested a spirit more faithful to the Lord than his natural spirit (inclination) to depart from the Lord.