Renew My Spirit, Lord

Installment #12 of my self-assigned project to study the "re" words in God's Word. (For further explanation of this undertaking, refer to the entry titled "Reach, Read and Reap" from February 3, 2011.)

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Renew


(verb) to restore, revive, reestablish, recover or make new again

"Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me." Psalm 51:10

In the midst of a prayer of confession to God (Psalm 51), David begins to ask the Lord to change him. The effects of sin in his life had created an unclean heart, a waning spirit, distance from the Lord, loss of joy in life, loss of joy in his salvation, and lack of motivation (vs. 10-12). He pleads with God in these verses to restore and renew his life after confessing his sins and seeking the Lord's forgiveness. He is apparently miserable and desperately desires a change. He is not concerned so much about his reputation as he is about getting the corruption of sin out of his life. Having no ability of his own to make his heart clean and new, he turns to the Lord, the One whose Word is all about making things new.

Not only does David ask for God to make him clean, he asks the Lord to "renew a steadfast spirit within". David, like me, was prone to inconsistency. He was praying and asking God to revive a spirit of perseverance and consistency in him so that he might stay clean before the Lord, in close communion with Him and retain the joy of his salvation, thus making him an effective witness for the Lord.

I am reminded of these lyrics from the 1700's hymn, "Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing" by Robert Robinson...

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.

Lord, I too am prone to wander and desire to be steadfast instead. Would You renew a steadfast spirit within me, I pray? In Jesus' name I ask this, amen.