Advent Week 3 - Psalm 51- Renewal
- Anglican Chaplain ETF
- 3 days ago
- 2 min read
Our theme this evening is renewal — not as the world understands it, but as the psalmist prays it. “Create in me a clean heart, O God.” Renewal, you see, is not self-improvement; it is God’s re-creation of the heart. We do not mend ourselves. We are made new by the same power that once called light out of darkness.
First, the cry for renewal. Psalm 51 is not the prayer of a man seeking only forgiveness, but of one who longs to be changed. David has confessed; he has been pardoned — yet he yearns for more. Forgiveness removes the guilt; renewal restores the strength to walk uprightly. Every true penitent desires not simply to be cleansed, but to be made whole.
Second, the divine work. “Create in me,” he says — create. The Hebrew word is bara, used in Genesis for God’s act of bringing forth creation from nothing. This is no moral tune-up, no mere turning over a new leaf. It is new creation. Only God can do this work. Our resolutions and disciplines may be good, but they are not enough. The human will cannot purify itself any more than darkness can generate light. Renewal is the miracle of God’s grace — the Spirit brooding once again over the chaos of the human heart, saying, “Let there be life.”
Third, the outcome. A renewed heart does not remain silent. David continues, “Then will I teach transgressors thy ways, and sinners shall be converted unto thee.” When God renews the heart, gratitude becomes witness. Renewal always overflows — in mission, in joy, in compassion. The heart that has been recreated begins to beat in rhythm with the heart of God.
And so, as Advent draws to its close, we prepare not merely to celebrate a birth long past, but to receive the Incarnate Word anew. Advent ends where Christmas begins — with a clean heart
ready to welcome Christ. He who once came to Bethlehem now comes to dwell within us. May our prayer be the psalmist’s prayer:
“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.”
Amen.