If You Are a Believer, Please Don't Pray Psalm 51

“God, will you please create in me a clean heart?”

“What? I already did! Will you please believe Me?”

Psalm 51 was probably written after David’s sin with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband. Under the Old Covenant, this was the right attitude and prayer. But NOT in the New Covenant.  What David desperately longed for, God has already done for us in Christ. But if we don’t believe the miracle Christ started within us we will never experience the benefits. 

If we pray what David prayed, we are asking God to do things He has already done in Christ. Our prayers will actually keep us from realizing the truth, believing it, and enjoying life in the New Covenant.

As my friend likes to say, “I can’t enter a room I’m already in. But if I believe it, I can enjoy it.”

Let's look at Ps 51:1-12 in comparison to the New Covenant:

Old Covenant- Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love. According to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. 

New Covenant-
Heb 10:10- “By that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”

​Old Covenant- Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. 

New Covenant-
1 John 2:12- “I write to you, dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of His name.”

Old Covenant- For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. 

New Covenant-
Rom 8:1- “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

Old Covenant- Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean.  Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 

New Covenant-
1 Cor 6:1- “But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” 

Old Covenant- Create in me a pure heart, O God. 

New Covenant-
Ezek 36:26- “I will give you a new heart…” 

2 Cor 5:17-18- “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” 

Old Covenant- Renew a steadfast spirit within me.  

New Covenant-
Ezek 36:27- “I will put a new spirit in you…I will put my Spirit in you” 

Old Covenant- Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.  

New Covenant-
John 14:16-17- “The Father will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth.”

Heb 13:5- Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." 

What We Don’t Need
​
We don’t need a clean heart or a new spirit.  We need to believe we already have been given a new heart and His Spirit.  We must not beg for forgiveness.  He has already forgiven us ONCE FOR ALL! Thank Him for the forgiveness He has already given!

What We DO Need:  Keep Renewing Our Minds and Believe the Truth of the New Covenant

New Covenant
Rom 12:2- “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

“Well, OK. But what’s the harm in praying Ps 51?”

The harm is FEAR, UNCERTAINTITY, UNBELIEF!  
We will never know the peace, joy, rest, and confidence with God that only comes from knowing and believing in what the New Covenant has done and is doing within us.  And that’s much too high a price to pay!