“Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” —Psalm 51:10 (NIV)
Today is the first day of Lent. For most of my church life, I didn’t attend a church that even mentioned Lent — or Advent, for that matter. Only recently have I begun to learn something about the liturgical year and its impact on your spiritual growth.
Lent is a season of reflection, repentance, and renewal. It calls us to examine our hearts in God’s presence, acknowledge our straying, and seek His transforming grace.
Psalm 51 is David’s cry for mercy after confronting his own sin. He does not ask for self-improvement or a second chance—he asks for a new heart.
“Create in me a pure heart, O God.”
The word “create” reminds me of Genesis, when God formed the heavens and the earth from nothing. David understands that he cannot achieve purity of heart on his own. He needs God to do creative work within him—to make his heart clean, whole, and new. We, too, must come to God with this humble request, knowing that true transformation is His work, not ours.
I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. (Ezekiel 36:25 – 27 NIV)
“Renew a steadfast spirit within me.”
How often do we feel unsteady, pulled in different directions, and prone to wander? Sin weakens our devotion, making us distracted and divided in heart. But God can renew within us a spirit that is firm, faithful, and steadfast in love for Him.
O to grace how great a debtor daily I’m constrained to be!
Let that grace now, 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.
(Written by Robert Robinson, 1758)
On this first day of Lent, I ask God to shine a light in my heart to reveal my need for His renewal. You may also have suppressed sins, burdens too heavy to carry, or wounds not yet healed.
Lent is an opportunity to come before God in humility and ask Him to purify and strengthen us.
Prayer
God, You who promised us new hearts
Whole and holy, the Spirit within
Moving us to do Your will,
Shine Your light in the dark corners
Of our lives, in each room, even those behind closed doors
May the light of Your love reveal our need for You –
And may Your kindness lead us to repentance –
For Your glory and our good.
Amen.
