It Is God Who Does The Work!

10  Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11  Do not cast me away from Your presence,
  And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
12  Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,
And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.
13  Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,
And sinners shall be converted to You.

 (Verse 10) - Create in me a clean heart, O God – Spurgeon said: “What! has sin so destroyed us, that the Creator must be called in again? What ruin then doth evil work among mankind! “Create in me.” I, in outward fabric, still exist; but I am empty, desert, void. Come, then, and let thy power be seen in a new creation within my old fallen self. Thou didst make a man in the world at first; Lord, make a new man in me!”  The short answer to this is yes!  The word rendered “create,” 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 need for divine “power,” or a perception 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. In the seventh verse he asked to be clean; now he seeks a heart suitable to that cleanliness; but he does not say, “Make my old heart clean;” he is too experienced in the hopelessness of the old nature. He would have the old man buried as a dead thing, and a new creation brought in to fill its place. None but God can create either a new heart or a new earth. Salvation is a marvelous display of supreme power; the work in us as much as that for us is wholly of Omnipotence. The affections must be rectified first, or all our nature will go amiss. The heart is the rudder of the soul, and until the Lord take it in hand we steer in a false and foul way. O Lord, thou who didst once make me, be pleased to new make me, and in my most secret parts renew me.  This, he knew, 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 an act of the divine agency.

And renew a right spirit within me – Literally “A constant spirit.” It was there once, Lord, put it there again. The law on my heart has become like an inscription hard to read: new write it, gracious Maker. Remove the evil as I have entreated thee; but, O replace it with good, lest into my swept, empty, and garnished heart, from which the devil has gone out for awhile, seven other spirits more wicked than the first should enter and dwell. The two sentences make a complete prayer. “Create” what is not there at all; “renew” that which is there, but in a sadly feeble state.  The Hebrew word for “right” 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; Ps. 5:9);

(b)   That which is right, true, sincere, (Ps. 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 steadfast 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; 2 Chr. 15:8; 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.

(Verse 11) - Cast me not away from thy presence - Throw me not away as worthless; banish me not, like Cain, from thy face and favor. Permit me to sit among those who share thy love, though I only be suffered to keep the door. I deserve to be for ever denied admission to thy courts; but, O good Lord, permit me still the privilege which is dear as life itself to me.  That is, Do not reject me, or cast me off entirely; do not abandon me; do not leave me in my sin and sorrow. The language is derived from the idea that true happiness is to be found in the “presence” of God, and that to be exiled from him is misery. (Compare Ps. 16:11; 31:20. See also Ps. 140:13).

And take not thy Holy Spirit from me - Withdraw not his comforts, counsels, assistances, quickenings, else I am indeed as a dead man. Do not leave me as thou didst Saul, when neither by Urim, nor by prophet, nor by dream, thou wouldst answer him. Thy Spirit is my wisdom, leave me not to my folly; he is my strength, O desert me not to my own weakness. Drive me not away from thee, neither do thou go away from me. Keep up the union between us, which is my only hope of salvation. It will be a great wonder if so pure a Spirit deigns to stay in so base a heart as mine; but then, Lord, it is all wonder together, therefore do this, for thy mercy’s sake, I earnestly entreat thee. 

It is not certain that David understood by the phrase “thy Holy Spirit” precisely what is now denoted by it as referring to the third person of the Trinity. The language, as used by him, would denote some influence coming from God producing holiness, “as if” God breathed his own spirit, or his own self, into the soul. The language, however, is appropriate to be used in the higher and more definite sense in which it is now employed, as denoting that sacred Spirit - the Holy Spirit - by whom the heart is renewed, and by whom comfort is imparted to the soul. It is not necessary to suppose that the inspired writers of the Old Testament had a full and complete comprehension of the meaning of the words which they employed, or that they appreciated all that their words might properly convey, or the fullness of signification in which they might be properly used in the times of the Gospel. (Compare 1 Pet. 1:10-12). The language used here by David - “take not” - implies that he had been formerly in possession of that which he now sought. There was still in his heart that which might be regarded as the work of the Spirit of God; and he earnestly prayed that that might not be wholly taken away on account of his sin, or that he might not be entirely abandoned to despair.

We must, at this point, underscore that we are talking about an Old Testament economy here.  The mechanics of spirituality were different then than they are now.  Christ had not died in time and space, and thus, the payment for sin, though logically complete and sure in the mind of God, had not yet become a actual fact of accomplishment.  Thus, there was a difference in how the presence of God manifest itself to believers in the Old Testament age, as opposed to the New.  Believers in the New Testament age are fully clean and sin has been fully and actually dealt with. That salvation was no less sure and no less effectually, in a practical sense in the Old Testament, but there was still the practical matter of sin awaiting the work of Christ to actually pay its penalty in order to be removed.  And so, difficult as it is to imagine, it was apparently possible for the believer in the Old Testament to be without the Spirit of God.  The economy or mechanism by which God operated in the lives of believers was simply different in that age than it is now, and thankfully so!

 (Verse 12) - Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation – Salvation he had known, and had known it as the Lord’s own; he had also felt the joy which arises from being saved in the Lord, but he had lost it for awhile, as we have noted, and therefore he longed for its restoration. ‘None but God can give back this joy; he can do it; we may ask it; he will do it for his own glory and our benefit. This joy comes not first, but follows pardon and purity: in such order it is safe, in any other it is vain presumption or idiotic delirium.  Literally, this is: “Cause the joy of thy salvation to return.” This underscores that he had formerly known what was the happiness of being a friend of God, and of having a hope of salvation. That joy had been taken from him by his sin. He had lost his peace of mind. His soul was sad and cheerless. Sin always produces this effect. The only way to enjoy religion is to do that which is right; the only way to secure the favor of God is to obey his commands; the only way in which we can have comforting evidence that we are his children is by doing that which shall be pleasing to him: (1 John 2:29; 3:7, 10). The path of sin is a dark path, and in that path neither hope nor comfort can be found.

And uphold me with thy free spirit – Conscious of weakness, mindful of having so lately fallen, he seeks to be kept on his feet by power superior to his own. That royal Spirit, whose holiness is true dignity, is able to make us walk as kings and priests, in all the uprightness of holiness; and he will do so if we seek his gracious upholding. Such influences will not enslave but emancipate us; for holiness is liberty, and the Holy Spirit is a free Spirit. In the roughest and most treacherous ways we are safe with such a keeper; in the best paths we stumble if left to ourselves. The praying for joy and upholding go well together; it is all over with joy if the foot is not kept; and, on the other hand, joy is a very upholding thing, and greatly aids holiness; meanwhile, the free, noble, loyal Spirit is at the bottom of both.  What David’s intent here is:  Sustain me; keep me from falling. The words “with thy” are not in the original, and there is nothing there to indicate that by the word “spirit” the psalmist refers to the Spirit of God, though it should be observed that there is nothing “against” such a supposition.

The word rendered “free” means properly “willing, voluntary, ready, prompt;” (1 Chr. 28:21; Exo. 35:5). Then also the word means liberal, generous, noble-minded; (Isa. 32:5, 8; Prov. 17:7, 26). It would seem here to mean “a ‘willing’ spirit,” referring to David’s own mind or spirit; and the prayer is, that God would uphold or sustain him “in” a “willing” spirit or state of mind; that is, a state of mind in which he would he “willing” and “ready” to obey all the commands of God, and to serve him faithfully. What he prayed for was grace and strength that he might be “kept” in a state of mind which would be constant and firm (Ps. 51:10), and a state in which he would always be found “willing” and ready to keep the commandments of God. It is a proper object of prayer by all that they may be always kept in a state of mind in which they will be willing to do all that God requires of them, and to bear all that may be laid on them.

(Verse 13) - Then will I teach transgressors thy ways - As an expression of gratitude, and as the result of his own painful experience. He would show them, from that experience, the evil and the bitterness of sin in itself; he would show them with what dreadful consequences sin must always be followed; he would show them the nature of true repentance; he would show them what was required in order that sin might be forgiven; he would encourage them to come to that God who had forgiven him. So the Savior charged Peter, from his own bitter experience in having fallen under the power of temptation, to strengthen and encourage those who were struggling with the depravity of their own hearts, and who were in danger of falling: “And when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren,” (Luke 22:32).

It was his fixed resolve to be a teacher of others; and assuredly none instruct others so well as those who have been experimentally taught of God themselves. Reclaimed poachers make the best gamekeepers. The degree of S.S., or Sinner Saved, is certainly more needful for a soul–winning evangelist than either M.A or D.D. The pardoned sinner’s matter will be good, for he has been taught in the school of experience, and his manner will be telling, for he will speak sympathetically, as one who has felt what he declares. The audience the Psalmist would choose is memorable - he would instruct transgressors like himself; others might despise them, but, “a fellow feeling makes us wondrous kind.” If unworthy to edify saints, he would creep in along with the sinners, and humbly tell them of divine love. The mercy of God to one is an illustration of his usual procedure, so that our own case helps us to understand his “ways,” or his general modes of action: perhaps, too, David under that term refers to the preceptive part of the word of God, which, having broken, and having suffered thereby, he felt that he could vindicate and urge upon the reverence of other offenders.

And sinners shall be converted unto thee - My fall shall be the restoration of others. Thou wilt bless my pathetic testimony to the recovery of many who, like myself, have turned aside unto crooked ways. Doubtless this Psalm and the whole story of David, have produced for many ages the most salutary results in the conversion of transgressors, and so evil has been overruled for good.  They would see from his case the evil of transgression; they would learn from his example that mercy might be found; they would be persuaded to flee from the wrath to come. The best preparation for success in winning souls to God, and turning them from the error of their ways, is a deep personal experience of the guilt and the danger of sin, and of the great mercy of God in its forgiveness. No man can hope to be successful who has not experienced this in his own soul; no one who has, will labor wholly in vain in such a work.

The New Testament is clear that is God Who must work within us in order both to will and to do that which is of His good pleasure.  Nothing could be more instructive to us in how we live the Christian life.  There must be this understanding if we are to excel and be all that God desires us to be.  We must recognize that any ability in us to serve and please God is His own doing and not our own.  It is His hand in our lives that creates in us those abilities and facilities that bring about service and true joy.  It is only from this platform that we can be sure that first things are first and that we are properly looking to our own abilities and responsibilities.

That being said and kept firmly in mind, there is still responsibility here.  We must both will and do that which is of God’s good pleasure.  God does not do it for us in the active sense.  What I mean is that we are not entirely passive, and it is not a matter of our being passive and just waiting for God to do the thing for us.  We must take action and do the things that are pleasing to Him.  The willingness and the ability, ultimately, come from Him, but the doing of it cannot be left undone on our part. 

The balance between these two is admittedly delicate, but it is a balance that we must seek to strike and uphold.