Psalm 51:10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

I think this one verse, along with this Psalm as a whole, reveals why David was “a man after God’s own heart.” (Acts 13:22) David knew that he needed to be cleaned up, and he knew that he couldn’t do it for himself, so he asked God to do it. That’s the very core of getting saved, according to the New Testament Gospel! Even long before the cross, David grasped that God was holy, he wasn’t, and if he was going to be acceptable to God, God was going to have to do something about it. It was not being irresponsible for David to ask God to create a pure heart in him, because he knew he couldn’t do it himself, and that his old heart was past cleaning up. He knew from painful experience that his current spirit was shaken by all sorts of external circumstances, so he asked God to strengthen him. We are prone either to want to fix ourselves, or to give up and say, that’s just the way I am. Neither attitude is appropriate for a child of God. We need to keep pressing into Him, asking and allowing Him to clean up all the “toxic waste” that’s in us, whether we recognize it ourselves or not. If we will do that, we will indeed be “transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory,” as His Word promises. (2 Corinthians 3:18)

This is a truth I have sought to communicate throughout my ministry, with varying degrees of success. Japanese are great ones for wanting to clean themselves up, or conversely, deny that they have a problem. Of course, neither attitude accepts the grace of God. That puts me in the position of depending on the grace of God myself, because I know the job needs to be done, and yet I cannot do it in my own strength. That’s actually not a bad place to be! I am never to let the magnitude of the task cause me to give up, or to be less than diligent, but rather look forward to how God is going to solve these problems that are totally beyond me. He has given us a vision of Omura once again being the foremost Christian city in the nation (next year marks the 450th anniversary of the baptism of the first Christian feudal lord in the nation), but taking the city from where it is now to that condition is totally beyond my abilities. I need to praise God and look forward to what He is going to do! In that, I need to be faithfully committed to Him, fully obedient in whatever part He has for me to play in what He is doing. If I will do that, then many will indeed stop their rebellion and their striving and turn to Him in repentance and faith, for their salvation and His glory.

Father, thank You for this reminder. You’ve taken me from personal salvation to societal transformation as I have written, and I didn’t expect that. Keep me from failing to receive anything You do because of failing to expect and/or recognize it. Keep me open to all that You are doing in me, so that I may be fully available for all You want to do through me, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!