A New Heart
“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” David asks this of the Lord in Psalm 51 verse 10. We know David to be described as a “man after God’s own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14; Acts 13:22) which may make his request for a clean heart seem unnecessary but really should show how vital it is for us to pursue a clean, new heart ourselves.
The concept of the heart and what the heart does for man is mentioned in the Bible over 700 times. There are frequent examples of what many refer to as “heart posture” or the idea of where your heart is and where the intention of your heart lies. Our hearts can be filled with gladness or numbed by the things around us. A common heart posture mentioned in the Bible is a hard heart, like we see in Pharaoh as he refuses to let the people of the Lord go. But why are our hearts such an important matter? Why should we be concerned about the status of our hearts? The Lord tells us in Genesis 8:21 that “the intentions of man’s heart is evil from his youth.” As a result of the sin in the Garden of Eden, man has gravitated towards the wickedness of the world making it essential to shield our hearts from sin.
The Israelites struggled to keep their hearts from straying as God knew they would. In Deuteronomy 5, Moses recounted the covenant the people had made with the Lord and reminded them of the laws and statutes they were to follow. In being reminded of this, the people recount the fear they had of witnessing the glory of the Lord, and they ask Moses to be their intercessor so that they do not die in the presence of the Lord, promising they will do as the Lord commands. God hears what the people have said and tells Moses they are right, that His presence could consume them but almost longingly says in verse 29 “Oh that they had such a heart as this always, to keep all my commandments, that it might go well with them and their descendants forever.” He understands their hearts are prone to evil and their God-fearing will not last long. Despite this, there are many laws regarding their hearts like Deuteronomy 6:5-6 “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all of your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.” And Deuteronomy 11:16 “Take care lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them.”
Regardless of the abundance of laws aiming to deter the straying and hardening of the Israelites' hearts, as time went on, they continually strayed farther and their hearts became like stone even when in captivity. Throughout all of this, God stayed near and sent priests, Judges, and Prophets to turn the people's hearts back to God. The prophets Jeremaiah and Ezekiel both speak in detail on the status of the Israelite’s hearts. Jeremiah preaches a message of coming destruction while mourning over the unwillingness of the people to change. In Jeremiah 5:23, the prophet warns, “But this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart; they have turned aside and gone away.” In chapter 12 verse 2, he talks of the fact that the Israelites speak as if they are near to God but they do not have Him in their hearts. Jeremiah rebukes the people for their hearts, begging them to understand that “the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick” (Jeremiah 17:9) and that God’s anger will not turn back until He has accomplished His goal of returning the people's hearts to Him. Ezekiel's message is similar to that of Jeremiah's as he urges the people to see that Jeremiah was right; Jerusalem has been destroyed and God wants them to turn back to him. While Jeremiah was sorrowful, Ezekiel has more hope in what is to come. He tells the people in Ezekiel 36:26 that the Lord declares, “I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” There is renewal coming for the people, a cleansing of the heart like David requested.
This level of radical change is only possible through our rebirth in Jesus Christ. As we put on Christ in baptism, we are “buried into death and raised in newness of life” (Romans 6:4). Our only hope to have our sick hearts of stone removed from us is to have them replaced by the heart of Christ living in us. Colossians 2:9-13 sums up this idea beautifully: “For in Him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in Him, who is the head of all rule and authority. In Him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised with Him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised Him from the dead. And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our trespasses.” In Deuteronomy 30:6, God tells the people of this new circumcision of Christ that is not a circumcision of the flesh but of the heart. He says “And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.” This circumcision, this death with Christ is our only hope, our only chance at life, true everlasting life. Despite knowing us to be people who would stray from Him, God’s perfect plan gives us a lasting solution to our hard hearts. He places in us a new heart, the heart of Christ, circumcised and pure through the waters of baptism. What a beautiful gift, something we have to work to keep daily. As we said, David prayed for a clean heart; he knew that his human nature would not be enough to keep his heart pure. We need God’s help also. We need to heed the words of David as he did not just ask the Lord for a clean heart, he worked to fill that clean heart with the law of the Lord. He meditated on the law and kept it on his heart so that he would not sin. God tells us in Hebrews 8:10 of the new covenant that he has made with us: “I will put My laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” So take your clean heart, written on by God, and fill it with His holiness so that you may love Him with your heart and soul and so that you may live.