Psalm 51: 10-12

This Psalm has recently been on my heart. After our discussion over David at church on Sunday, I have not been able to get these words out of my mind. This psalm is thought to have been written after the incident concerning David and Bathsheba. I am not completely sure why, but these words keep ringing out to me:

"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."

 Psalm 51:10-12

I love this. I love how his desire after everything that he has been through is to have a pure heart, and to have the joy of the Lord restored in him. 

I wonder, what if every time I went through something that caused pain in my life, whether by my own hand or the hands of others, if in those moments, I prayed for a pure heart and for the joy of the Lord to be revealed in me? How different would those situations be? 

I have been thinking about things that I have gone through and how in the midst of those trials I continue to focus on the ways it is hurting me and the ways I am being destroyed and what the outcome for me will be. One problem with all of this: Me. 

My prayer is not that I focus on me in the midst of hurt, but instead I focus on the renewing of my heart and the joy of our Father. The joy that cannot be destroyed. The joy that brings peace and understanding. 

Create in me a pure heart. Show me your joy. Let you be what sustains me. 

That is my prayer.