A Clean Heart and a Right Spirit

The point: Seek to avoid David's example of sin, but emulate his example of repentance.

A character in Pilgrim's Progress reasons that if he can emulate saints' virtues, he can also emulate their sins. Martin uses this to warn against misinterpreting David's sin as an excuse for one's own, emphasizing that saints sin against their renewed desires, unlike the unregenerate who sin with impunity.

Let us, by the grace of God, seek to avoid his example of sin, but emulate his example of repentance. As I was listening in my tape recorder the other day, traveling to another ministry, there is this character that appears in Book 2 of Pilgrim's Progress who reasons that he may, if he emulates the virtues of the saints, he may with equal ease and vehemence emulate their sins. He says, if I have the virtues of David, why may I not emulate the sins of David? If I have the virtues of Abraham, why may I not lie as did Abraham?

1:16 - 1:55 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: David's primary concern is the restoration of his relationship with God, not happiness, but holiness. Martin defines 'create' as God's sovereign, omnipotent act of bringing…

David's fickle spirit is contrasted with Daniel, who purposed in his heart not to defile himself, illustrating what a steadfast spirit looks like.

And then he parallels that prayer by saying, Renew a right spirit within me. To renew something is to bring it back to its original state. And David is asking that God would renew within him a right, or better translated, a steadfast spirit. He's confessing, O Lord, when I have sinned, as I have sinned, I did so because my spirit was fickle.

6:22 - 6:52 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: David's primary concern is the restoration of his relationship with God, not happiness, but holiness. Martin defines 'create' as God's sovereign, omnipotent act of bringing…

The children of Israel's grumbling and desire to return to Egypt in the wilderness wanderings is cited from Psalm 78:37 as an example of an 'unright' or unsteadfast spirit, paralleling David's confession.

The same accusation is brought in Psalm 78, 37 about the children of Israel. And it says that the root of all of their problems in the wilderness wanderings, where they disobeyed God and grumbled and complained and would not believe Him, is summed up in this little phrase, and their spirit was not right. Same word in the Hebrew. Their spirit was not steadfast with God.

7:19 - 7:44 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: David's repeated focus on 'inward parts,' 'hidden part,' 'heart,' and 'spirit' reveals the essential inwardness of the Christian life. Martin argues that David's sin began with a…

Martin explains that David's sin with Bathsheba, beginning with his walk on the rooftop, could only have happened because his heart had first grown cold and his spirit unsteadfast, illustrating the inwardness of sin's origin.

let me not wander from thy commandments. He says in another Psalm, I will praise thee with my whole heart. You find David again and again occupied with the inwardness of Christian expression. experience, David had come to the terrible realization that in failing to guard his heart long before he ever took that walk upon the rooftop of the palace and looked out and saw that Sheba and then all the sordid story that follows, David realizes that that course of action beginning with that walk upon the rooftop could never have begun unless his heart had

21:14 - 21:57 Read in full sermon

The point: If God has given you a clear word about some area of your life (e.g., finances, hidden sin, attitude, relationships) and you are not steadfast in obeying Him, there will be a breakdown that issues in other sin.

David's direct disobedience to Deuteronomy 17:17 by having six wives before Bathsheba is used as an example of an unsteadfast spirit and how prior, seemingly lesser, sins can lead to greater moral failures.

reason temptation ensnared me and I was brought into the grip of sin was that first of all my spirit had been rendered fickle, perhaps through carelessness, failure to watch, failure to pray. Whatever the causes were, I have some theory of my own, and I think it's substantiated in Scripture. God had said in Deuteronomy 17, 17, the king shall not multiply unto himself wives. David in direct disobedience to that command when God had been saying that when he would give them a king and they be brought into the land, that their king should not copy the kings

22:35 - 23:19 Read in full sermon

The point: May God grant that we shall follow David's example in being concerned about the inward parts.

If the heart grows cold and the spirit fickle, the 'slightest breeze of temptation carries us along like it was a mighty gale,' illustrating how an unguarded heart makes one vulnerable to sin.

But you let the heart grow cold and let the spirit become unsteadfast and fickle. And the slightest breeze of temptation carries us along like it was a mighty gale. Isn't this true?

27:41 - 27:56 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin addresses the objection that perfect purity is unattainable this side of heaven. Using the analogy of marriage, he argues that while perfection is not fully attainable, it…

The analogy of a husband and wife striving for perfection in their marriage, knowing they will never fully attain it, is used to illustrate how believers should pursue perfect heart purity and steadfastness, even while acknowledging that full perfection is only in heaven.

But the acknowledgment and understanding that perfection is not attainable until we see Him face to face does not hinder the true child of God from making perfection His goal and His prayer. Let me illustrate on a human level. I'm thinking a lot these days of marriages and weddings. I married off the fourth.

31:22 - 31:43 Read in full sermon