Isaiah 56-58
2 Thessalonians 2
“…with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self…to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” Ephesians 4:22-24
In Psalm 51, David’s prayer moved from confession to pleading for God’s mercy and asking for God to cleanse him. Afterwards, David transitioned his prayer into a cry for renewal. He said, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from Your presence or take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me” (Psalm 51:10-12). David was deliberate in his choice of words. The biblical Hebrew word for “create” is bārā’, which is the same word that was used in Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” The word “create” carries with it the idea of
radical newness, like how God brought something into the world out of nothing. Additionally, every time bārā’ is used in Scripture, God and God alone is the subject of that verb. Why? Because only God can bring about radical newness, something that was not there.
David was not looking for just some small reformation of the heart. David was crying out to God for nothing less than a new work of creation that was necessary to deal with his heart. Also, did we notice the word “spirit” appears three times? Why? Because David was aware of the fact that the solution needed to be deep within his spirit. The word “spirit” in biblical Hebrew is actually indistinguishable from “heart.” In other words, “spirit” and “heart” are not one particular compartment in our life, they are what affect everything else, as Proverbs 4:23 warns us: “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”
Just like how the Holy Spirit brooded over the darkness of initial creation in Genesis 1:2 (“Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters”) and brought order out of the chaos and gave shape to the shapeless and filled the empty, David was asking for God to do the same with his heart. David was not interested in superficial solutions because he was not superficial in dealing with his sin.
After being created anew, David asked for a steadfast spirit in him. In other words, David was asking God to maintain it, where he did not want to forget and slip backwards, but for God to do the kind of work within him and maintain that forward motion so that he would keep moving in the right direction. Can we see how radical the renewal was that David felt he needed in his heart?
Lord God, only You are able to create something from nothing. I ask that You create in me a new heart and grant me a willing spirit to remain steadfast in You. Thank You, Lord.
2 Thessalonians 2
“…with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self…to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” Ephesians 4:22-24
In Psalm 51, David’s prayer moved from confession to pleading for God’s mercy and asking for God to cleanse him. Afterwards, David transitioned his prayer into a cry for renewal. He said, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from Your presence or take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me” (Psalm 51:10-12). David was deliberate in his choice of words. The biblical Hebrew word for “create” is bārā’, which is the same word that was used in Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” The word “create” carries with it the idea of
radical newness, like how God brought something into the world out of nothing. Additionally, every time bārā’ is used in Scripture, God and God alone is the subject of that verb. Why? Because only God can bring about radical newness, something that was not there.
David was not looking for just some small reformation of the heart. David was crying out to God for nothing less than a new work of creation that was necessary to deal with his heart. Also, did we notice the word “spirit” appears three times? Why? Because David was aware of the fact that the solution needed to be deep within his spirit. The word “spirit” in biblical Hebrew is actually indistinguishable from “heart.” In other words, “spirit” and “heart” are not one particular compartment in our life, they are what affect everything else, as Proverbs 4:23 warns us: “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”
Just like how the Holy Spirit brooded over the darkness of initial creation in Genesis 1:2 (“Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters”) and brought order out of the chaos and gave shape to the shapeless and filled the empty, David was asking for God to do the same with his heart. David was not interested in superficial solutions because he was not superficial in dealing with his sin.
After being created anew, David asked for a steadfast spirit in him. In other words, David was asking God to maintain it, where he did not want to forget and slip backwards, but for God to do the kind of work within him and maintain that forward motion so that he would keep moving in the right direction. Can we see how radical the renewal was that David felt he needed in his heart?
Lord God, only You are able to create something from nothing. I ask that You create in me a new heart and grant me a willing spirit to remain steadfast in You. Thank You, Lord.
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