Lord, Work on Me!

Creating a Clean Heart: God’s Transformative Power

Bible Passage: Psalm 51:10–12

Our text captures David's heartfelt cry for God to effect a deep, transformative change within him after his moral failure. In these few verses, David acknowledges his need for divine intervention to restore not just his relationship with God, but his very identity as God’s chosen king. His request for a clean heart and a steadfast spirit reflects an understanding that true repentance goes beyond apologies; but it involves deep, spiritual renewal and a desire to reflect God’s character in every aspect of life. This text emphasizes the importance of humility and vulnerability before God in our pursuit of spiritual renewal. It calls us as believers to openly confess our shortcomings, reminding us that God binds up the brokenhearted and restores paths to righteousness. And I want to encourage us this morning, to seek God's transformative power in our own lives, knowing that hope and renewal are available to us, through sincere repentance. Understand that God’s grace is sufficient to bring about true transformation in our lives. That when we acknowledge our sins, combined with a plea for God to change us, it leads to renewed hearts and spirits, which enables us to live faithfully in His presence. Change begins with God’s work in our hearts. And that might not mean much to everybody, because for some of us, we’re never the ones at fault, for some of us somebody else is always the blame for why we do what we do. But I wish I had a few open, honest and real Christians in here that feel the way I do, when I say that Lord, sometimes it’s me! Lord sometimes I’m just battling against my sin nature, and nobody forced me to sin, nobody twisted my arm to make me do it, but I’m being transparent Lord when I say that I did it simply because of how wretched I am! And that’s why I cry out LORD, WORK ON ME!!!

Psalm 51 is known as David’s confession psalm! It is a prayer of repentance. The superscription before verse 1 says, “to the chief musician. A psalm of David when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. We know that David was an anointed warrior, we know that David was an anointed musician, we know that David was an anointed King of Israel, we know that David was a man after God’s own heart, but even with all of the anointing that David had on his life, David had some issues.

2nd Samuel 11 says that it happened in the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle(spring was a good time to mount a campaign because they could be assured of good weather and abundance of food along the way.) And the Bible says that David sent Joab and his servants, and the Israelite army into battle but David stayed behind! Now that’s where David’s troubles began. Daivd, the king, was supposed to be at battle with his troops, but David chose to stay behind. It doesn’t tell us why he chose to stay behind, but we can conclude, that all that would come of this maybe could have been avoided, if only David would have been, where David was supposed to be! Maybe David would not have faced temptation and given in to temptation, had he been, where he was supposed to be. And brothers and sisters, a lot of time we get into trouble, because we are not where we’re supposed to be! Where we’re supposed to be is in bible study! Where we’re supposed to be is in Sunday School! Where we’re supposed to be is in church fellow shipping with like-minded believers(as iron sharpens iron, so too ought one man to sharpen another)! Where we’re supposed to be is on our knees in prayer! And a lot of times we find ourselves being tempted and giving in to the temptation, simply because we are not where we’re supposed to be! Jesus said pray! That ye enter not into temptation, because the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak! Oh I’m trying to help somebody, maybe even myself, but when we as believers are not where we supposed to be, that’s when we start getting in trouble! Because when we come to bible study, when we come to Sunday school, when we come to church, and when we spend time in prayer, it strengthens the inner man to be able to bring the outer man into subjection not to the will of the flesh, but to the will of the spirit! It’s not rocket science, that the more you cater to the flesh, the more vulnerable you are to fleshy desires! That’s why the Bible tells us to walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. All I’m trying to say, is that when you strengthen the inner man, he helps you hold out in the face of temptation!

David should have been, where he supposed to have been! But because he wasn’t, David got out of bed one evening and was walking along the rooftop of the king’s house. And from the roof, he saw a woman bathing, and boy was she something fine! And can I just pause and tell you, that the enemy has studied you and knows what you like and don’t like! He knows what's appealing to you, and what’s not appealing to you! He’s not going to tempt you with anything that’s not tempting to you! You’ll just ignore that. But he knows how to get your attention to make you stop and think about somethings!

And so David saw this fine woman and sent for her and even though they told him this woman had a husband named Uriah, David still slept with the woman! And to make matters worse, she ended up getting pregnant! And now when the soldiers come back home from battle, David tries to send Uriah home, hoping he would lay with his wife, so nobody would suspect that when the baby comes, it would be anybody else’s but Uriah’s. But Uriah doesn’t go home, he stays with his brothers in battle and slept at the king’s door. And when David got word, he told Joab, in the next battle, put Uriah on the front line so that he would die in battle! Sin after sin, to cover up another sin! And so Joab does as instructed and Uriah is killed in battle! And so now David thinks he is home free, and nobody will ever find out what he had done!

But here comes Nathan the prophet of the courts to speak a word from the Lord to King David! Nathan told David this parable, “There were two men in one city, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had exceedingly many flocks and herds. But the poor man had nothing, except one little ewe lamb which he had bought and nourished; and it grew up together with him and with his children. It ate of his own food and drank from his own cup and lay in his bosom; and it was like a daughter to him. And a traveler came to the rich man, who refused to take from his own flock and from his own herd to prepare one for the wayfairing man who had come to him; but he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.” And get this church, the scripture says, that David’s anger was greatly aroused against the man, and David said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this shall surely die! And he shall restore fourfold for the lamb, because he did this thing and because he had no pity.”

*Isn't it amazing how quick we are to point out and judge everybody else's sin, but never our own?!

But Nathan told David, “YOU ARE THE MAN!” God said with all that I have done for you! I anointed you king, I delivered you from the hand of Saul, I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives, and I gave you the house of Israel and Judah, and if that had been too little, I would have given you much more! But why have you despised the commandment of the Lord to do evil in His sight!

1. Plea for Purity

Psalm 51:10

Preaching Illustrations from Church History Illustration 3 > Sin

In the early 1900s the Australian pastor Henry Howard once preached a strong message on sin. Afterwards, an officer of his church said to him, “Mr. Howard, we don’t want you to talk as plainly as you do against sin. Call it a mistake if you will, but do not speak so plainly about sin.”

Howard took down a small bottle and showed it to the man. It was a bottle of strychnine, and was marked, “Poison.” He said, “I see what you want me to do. You want me to change the label. Suppose I take of this label of ‘Poison’ and put on some mild label, such as ‘Essence of Peppermint;’ don’t you see what happens? The milder you make your label, the more dangerous you make your poison.

If I label poison, poison, I call it for what it is and I stand a better chance of staying away from that! But if I change the label on the outside, and don’t deal with the poison on the inside, now I’ve created false advertisement, and somebody may think that it's actually something good on the inside, when it’s really poison! And too many times, we as Christians, are too busy changing labels on the outside and we never deal with the poison on the inside, and so we look good on the outside, but on the inside we’re toxic! On the inside we're full of jealousy! On the inside we’re full of hatred! On the inside we’re full of envy! On the inside we’re full of deceit! On the inside we’re full of poison! And we wonder why folks are coming to church and leaving the church at an alarming rate, it’s because the folks on the inside are poison! That’s why David didn’t pray to God for an exterior fix, but said create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me! God this work that I need is an inside job! He said God my heart has been contaminated with the stain of sin and I need You to purify my heart! And since God, You are my creator, I bring back to You to fix that which is broken within me!

When we acknowledge our brokenness before God, that is the starting point for His transformative work in our lives! The Bible says that if we confess our sins, He is able to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness! That word create, literally means to transform!

Just like David did, we can turn to God in moments of failure, and seek the purity that only God can provide! But we must learn how to trust God, and be vulnerable and open before God to allow the deep change He can bring!

2. Pray for Presence

Psalm 51:11

For him, the whole point of cleansing and restoration was to renew his relationship with God! David didn’t want a God who cleansed him, yet remained distant! Brothers and sisters, I want to inform you, that it is important to maintain spiritual proximity to God, even when we feel distanced by sin! Because sin can cause you to feel so far away from God that you no longer feel His indwelling presence! And when you don’t feel His presence, you don’t feel as if you’re operating under the anointing of God! And that’swhat the enemy wants, he wants you to feel as if the presence of God has left you all by yourself! But this prayer that David prayed in the Old Testament, is not quite the same as how we view it in the New Testament! You see the Holy Spirit of old, moved upon men and women to accomplish the will of God, but under the new covenant, the Holy Spirit no longer moves upon us, but it indwells us! And so His Spirit is always within us! However, two people cam be present in the same room, and yet feel completely isolated from each other! And I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be near God, and not be able to feel His presence! I need the presence of God in my life!

David understood how the Spirit of God was with Saul, but because of Saul’s continued disobedience and unrepentant heart, God rejected Saul as king and removed His Spirit from Him! And because David really had a heart for God, and someone was brave enough to show David the error of his ways, David repented before God, and said God, don’t take Your Spirit from me! And I want God’s Spirit to always be present in my life, because where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty!

3. Promise of Joy

Psalm 51:12

Maybe, reclaiming the joy of salvation could be transformative. David understood the power of joy in God and restoration in His Spirit. Sometime during struggles, recalling the joy of salvation helps to renew both hope and commitment in our spiritual walk. This joy can empower believers to live a life reflective of God’s love and grace, paving the way for a steadfast spirit to lead us.

How this passage could point to Christ: Reflecting on this theme, Christ embodies the ultimate expression of God's desire to purify and transform His people. Through His death and resurrection, believers are offered the opportunity for complete renewal and a fresh start, as He makes all things new. The promise of the Holy Spirit, who will dwell within us, is an extension of God’s guarantee to continually work within our hearts for sanctification and transformation.

Big Idea: Genuine transformation begins when we humbly approach God, asking Him to create a clean heart within us—it is by His grace and power that we can experience true renewal and become reflections of His love in the world.