Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. Psalms51:10-12
I preached about this on Sunday, but it's not letting me go...
David had failed disastrously, horribly and cataclysmicly.
His response was to rush to God and confess:
- that he was guilty
- and that he had no way of getting better
And so he asks God to heal him and make him better:
- not because he fears punishment or losing his crown
BUT because he doesn't want to lose God's presence and Spirit.
David has enjoyed a closeness and intimacy with God that he just doesn't want to lose.
- He's willing to eat humble pie
- He's willing to ask for major renovations of the soul
- He's willing to let God loose in his life.
It leaves me quizzing myself.
What do I do when I stumble off the path?
Do I miss closeness and intimacy with God or is my heart so hard that I don't miss His presence and the still small voice of the Spirit?
Does my pride ("I can fix this myself!") or my infatuation with darkness keep me from running to Him? Or will I, like David, rush to God who is the only one who can fix me?
Today may our closeness to Him be so important to us that we will be quick to rush to God when we stumble or slip.
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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/
