A Thought For The Week Of February 8, 2016

"Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me." (Psalm 51:10) There's an implicit assumption being made in this verse that none of our hearts are truly clean. "Create in me a clean heart, O God" seems to be in the nature of a type of ongoing petition. On the one hand that could come across as a bit discouraging. It suggests that no matter where I am in my life of faith, the problems of the world still confront me, and try as I might - my heart is not clean. Of course, John Calvin and his supporters would agree wholeheartedly - the doctrine of total depravity bears witness to this! And, ultimately, while being a very real and serious and honest commentary on human nature, this verse really shouldn't be discouraging. If we are to repeatedly petition God to create a clean heart in us, after all, it must be because we believe that God can can do such a thing - which is a given if we believe in the omnipotence of God - and that God will do such a thing - which is a given if we believe in the unconditional love of God. So this is a good petition; a good prayer to start every day with - even if it's a short one. It expresses an understanding of our nature and our need and our conviction that God is both powerful enough to do what I'm asking and loving enough to want to do what I'm asking. And the benefit of believing this is clearly spelled out - "renew a steadfast spirit within me." In other words, keep me strong in faith and always aware of God's great power even when everything around me seems to be a mess. It's a powerful verse - more powerful than the small number of words within it would suggest.