How do we respond to failure? All of us fail sometime. But the test of our religion is not in being perfect, but in being able to get back on track after we’ve messed up. And the first step to recovery is confession.
David realized that he messed up and he wanted to get right. In Psalm 51, David turns to the only One who can help him: “God, show me Your favor…wipe out my lawless acts. I got weak on my journey; I got too full of myself, and I’ve made a mess out of things. I’ve been wrong, but I’m ready to get right. So I’m asking You to wash me. Then I will be clean; purge me and I shall be whiter than snow. Create a pure heart in me. Give me a new spirit that is faithful to You. Give me back the joy that comes from being saved by You. Give me a spirit that obeys You. That will keep me going.”
We need God to create pure hearts in us. Creation is making something from nothing. And when it comes to matters of heart, David is saying that there is nothing recyclable about his heart. His heart is filled with weakness; his heart is cluttered with personal ambitions and desires. And so he asks God not to remake his heart, but to create in him a new heart—a Godly heart, a Spirit-led heart; a mission-minded heart; a loving heart; a compassionate heart; a heart that’s willing to hear and to heed God’s voice.
Then, David asked God to give him a faithful spirit. Faithful refers to fidelity. We need to be unwavering in our purpose; we need to be fixed in our resolve that we are going to do and be what the Lord called us to do and to be. We are here to call people from darkness into the marvelous Light; we are here to inspire people to praise and worship God on the basis of the God they see on display in us.
And David says that, when these things happen, when a new heart is created in us and when a steadfast spirit is renewed in us, something wonderful happen as a result—people will be saved: “Then I will teach your ways to those who commit lawless acts. And sinners will turn back to you.”
Failure is not the end of us. There is recovery available to us.
(We invite your comments. Feel free to share this devotion with your friends and invite them to subscribe by forwarding their email address to the Pastor at: fredjeffsmith@gmail.com.)
Mornings with Shiloh airs on WVLA Channel 33 each weekday at 6:58 a. m. CST. Mornings with Shiloh is available on our Youtube channel at 8:00 a.m. CST.
CLICK THE LINK BELOW TO ACCESS OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL:
https://www.youtube.com/@ShilohMBCBR/videos
Want to get more involved at Shiloh?
Browse our Ministries