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

Have you ever done something wrong and someone found out about it? How did you feel? Was it hard to face the person who caught you? What was your response when your sin was found out? If this is something that you have experienced, then you are in good company. Our verse for today is the response of King David when he was caught for having an affair with Bathsheba and having her husband murdered.

I remember when I was a teenager I was shopping with my mom at a department store in Springfield, Ohio called Hills. I was planning on going on a camping trip with my friends at a small lake in my hometown that night. I was browsing the fishing tackle section of the store a saw a box of fishing lures. I didn't have any money and really thought those new lures would help me catch some fish. So, I took the lures out of the package and put them in my sock. Yes, I was going to steal them.

I went around the store casually looking at different items and waited on my mom to finish her shopping and go through check out. As I was walking around the store, I noticed a man following me. When I went down one isle, he seemed to be in the isle next to me. I thought it was odd but didn't think anything about it. 

Finally, my mom finished with her shopping and made her way through check out and then out the door to the car. Suddenly I heard someone say "Miss, could you stop for a minute? I need to speak to you about your son." Yes, you guessed it, it was the man who was following me throughout the store. He told my mom that he was with store security and wanted to speak with her about me. He said that he saw me steal some fishing lures and wanted us to go back to his office in the store. 

We went back to his office, and he asked me to pull up my pants leg and found the lures. My mom started to cry, and I was so embarrassed and ashamed of what I had done. The hurt I saw on my mom's face devastated me. The man had us fill out some paperwork and told us that we would get a call, with a court date to stand before a judge on the charge of shop lifting. We left the store and the ride home was long and uncomfortable. Mom grounded me from going on the camping trip and leaving the house for a couple weeks. It is an event in my life that I will never forget. To this day I have not stollen anything.

Stealing a box of fishing lures is nothing compared to adultery and murder. My sin was small in comparison to David's. I can't imagine how David felt when Nathan, the prophet, confronted him with his sin. David, "A man after God's own heart" (1 Sam 13:14 and Acts 13:22) must have been crushed when his sin with Bathsheba was revealed. We see in Psalms 51:10-13 what David's response was when he realized he had sinned against the God he loved. He could only say, "Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me." (NIV)

The thing we learn when our sin has been exposed is that God is merciful. He is the only one to renew and restore our lives. We really are no different than King Daivid. We are human. We can't live a holy life in our own strength. When we sin and it is revealed to us, God does not disown us. God comes to us by His Holy Spirit and offers us hope and forgiveness. He does not overlook our sin; He deals with it and restores us back into a right relationship with Him.

Is there a sin in your life that God has exposed? Do you feel you have nowhere to go? Do you feel this sin can never be forgiven, and you have lost any hope of restoration? Let these verses in Psalms bring you hope and comfort of God's ability to create in you a pure heart and a renewed life. God will never cast you aside but will give you the power, by his Holy Spirit, to be restored and renewed to accomplish his purpose.

Prayer-Dear Lord Jesus, I realized there is nothing I can do that will cause you to love me any less or any more. You are a merciful God and long to forgive and restore me back to a close relationship with you. Forgive me for thinking you don't care about me and my sin. You died so I could have all my sins forgiven. I trust you to create in me a pure heart that longs for you and your presence. Thank you, Lord, for your mercy and grace. In Jesus' Name, Amen!

Note: I never got a call with a court date and never had to stand before a judge on the charge of shoplifting. God is merciful.