And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.īeloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.

Who does not lift up his soul to what is false No matter how dirty we are, God can create in us a clean heart.8 “ Blessed are a the pure in heart, for b they shall see God. In spite of all that David did, and all that we do, God is willing to forgive because Jesus paid the penalty that we deserve. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1: 8–9).

The apostle John also tells us, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. Because of the sacrifice of Christ, any sinner can ask God for forgiveness, that is, for a clean heart, and he will receive it. David was forgiven not because of any works he did to earn forgiveness, but simply because he asked in faith. Paul uses Psalm 32 as an example of salvation apart from works (Romans 4:6–8). “Rejoice in the LORD and be glad, you righteous I will counsel you with my loving eye on you. “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go “Therefore let all the faithful pray to youĪnd surround me with songs of deliverance. Whose sin the LORD does not count against them Psalm 32 tells of the great relief that David felt when he confessed, and in this psalm he encourages others to confess their sins as well: “ Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean Įven though David suffered consequences for his sin, which are outlined in 2 Samuel 12, he was forgiven and restored to spiritual fellowship with God. You taught me wisdom in that secret place. Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb Sinful from the time my mother conceived me. Psalm 51:1–10 is filled with poetic descriptions of forgiveness and cleansing, identified in italics below: His request “create in me a clean heart” is simply another way of asking for forgiveness and spiritual cleansing. Psalm 51 is that confession and plea for forgiveness. When David was through trying to hide his sin, he confessed it freely. For day and night your hand was heavy on me my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.” David admitted to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord” (2 Samuel 12:13). Although David had tried to hide his sin, it was eating away at him inside, as he records in Psalm 32:3–4: “When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man!” (2 Samuel 12:7). David was overcome with anger and exclaimed, “As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this must die! He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity” (2 Samuel 12:5–6). He told of a rich man who took advantage of a poor man by stealing his only lamb, a pet, which he killed to feed to his guests. He does so using a parable that David could relate to. In 2 Samuel 12, the prophet Nathan confronts David. The last sentence of 2 Samuel 11 tells us, “But the thing David had done displeased the Lord” (verse 27). When it was all done, he thought he had succeeded in covering it up and destroying all the evidence. He then engaged in deception and finally in murder, corrupting others in the process.

He had committed adultery and possibly rape, as the language used in this case is also used of rape his summoning of and sleeping with Bathsheba was certainly an abuse of royal authority. Obviously, David did not have a clean heart after this. David first tried a cover up, and, when that did not work, he arranged for the murder of Bathsheba’s husband. Some time later, she notified him that she was pregnant with his child. King David saw Bathsheba, a married woman, and lusted after her. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.” The subtitle to Psalm 51 clarifies the situation: “A psalm of David. When David prays, “Create in me a clean heart,” he is asking God for forgiveness.

Clean hands and a pure heart song