THE TELL-TALE HEART

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God." Matthew 5:8 (CSB)

We talked yesterday about David’s great sins of adultery and murder. Yet, he is considered a man after God’s heart. How does one who has sinned in a great way become pure in heart?

In Psalm 32 David records how he felt during that terrible time when he was trying to cover up his sin. He said, “When I kept things to myself, I felt weak.”

Edgar Allen Poe wrote a story called “The Tell-tale Heart.” In that story, the main character has committed murder and he buries the body of the victim in his basement. But the murderer is unable to escape the haunting guilt of his deed. He begins to hear the heartbeat of his dead victim. A cold sweat pours over him as that heartbeat goes on and on, relentlessly, getting louder and louder. Eventually, it becomes clear that the pounding which drove the man mad was not in the grave below but in his own chest.

You get the feeling that that’s how David felt when he committed the sins of adultery and murder. The guilt he felt became almost unbearable.

So God sent a prophet to David. God loved this king, loved him too much to let him go on covering up and thus damaging himself and his entire kingdom by this hidden sin. So God sent the prophet Nathan to David. When David was confronted, he acknowledged the terrible sin he had committed. He fell on his face before God and out of that experience of confession comes this beautiful fifty-first Psalm.

As we return to Psalm 51, there are several things that I want us to notice as we focus on verse 10, where David writes: “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” (Psalm 51:10).

Verse 10a – Create a new heart

Verse 10b, 11 – Renew our spirit

Verse 12 – Restore the Joy of Salvation

Being pure in heart means that our heart and actions match.  All the time, in every way. And this can be established by confession, repentance, and forgiveness from God.

Could you be called a person after the heart of God? If not, what do you need to do today to correct the situation?