Create in me a clean heart, O God.

We are all born with a physical heart in our body, and we can feel it beating. It keeps us alive.

We are also born with a soul, but we cannot see it. The Bible sometimes calls our soul a heart, because just as our physical heart is the center of our physical life, so our soul is the center of our spiritual life. When David prays, “Create in me a clean heart, O God,” he is asking God to make his soul, or spiritual heart, clean.

Our soul, or spiritual heart, is the center of who we really are. Our soul will go on living even after our bodies are buried in the ground. Where will we go on living? Well, if we have a clean soul, or spiritual heart, then we will live in heaven forever; but if our spiritual heart has never been made clean by Jesus’ blood, we will go to hell forever.

Heaven is the kingdom where God lives. The Bible tells us it is a beautiful kingdom without sorrow or pain or tears. Hell is a terrible kingdom where Satan lives, and where sorrow, pain, and tears never stop.

But children, the sad thing is that we often think that we are good people. We believe that our spiritual heart is clean enough and we don’t need any help. We do not pray to God, “Create in me a clean heart, O God.”¹PSALM 51:10a

If we are feeling fine, we do not need to go to the doctor; but if we become very sick and want to be better, we will gladly go to the doctor with the hope that, with God’s blessing, he may be able to help us. Our spiritual heart is no different. If God shows us how dirty our hearts are with sin, then we will call to Him, because we will hate sin the way God hates it. We will be sorry that we have offended such a good God, so we will pray, “Create in me a clean heart, O God.”

God is able and willing to give clean spiritual hearts to boys and girls because of who Jesus is and what He has done. He does that when He teaches us to be very sorry for our sins, which we call repentance. He gives us to trust only in Jesus Christ for salvation and for a clean heart, which we call faith. Ask the Holy Spirit to bless God’s Word to your spiritual heart, so that you may repent and believe in Jesus Christ alone for salvation. Then your spiritual heart will be made clean in Christ.