Blessed are the pure in heart,
For they shall see God. (Matthew 5:8 NKJV)
Does this seem like an impossibility to you? Do you feel as though you’ve seen too much, done too much and had too much done to you to ever have a pure heart? God knows that I have felt this way for most of my life. Though you don’t know my heart, and though I can’t know yours, God knows. Indeed, it was God who described the condition of everyone’s heart.
9 “The heart is deceitful above all things,
And desperately wicked;
Who can know it?
10 I, the Lord, search the heart,
I test the mind,
Even to give every man according to his ways,
According to the fruit of his doings. (Jeremiah 17:9-10 NKJV)
So, knowing this, how could Jesus, bless those with a pure heart? Do they really exist? And, knowing this, how could He make it seem possible for anyone to achieve this? I’ve been dreaming about this message all night, as the Lord placed scripture after scripture into my heart, and if you’ve longed to see God, but despaired of it ever happening, because of the things you’ve done in life, have I got good news for you! For, as Jesus said in Matthew 19:26, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
Let’s look at King David. King David had it all. He loved the Lord, and God had blessed him with the kingdom of Israel, and the love of his people. He walked uprightly before God, and was seen on many occasions singing and dancing before the Lord. And yet, like you and me, King David’s heart was just as deceitful as our hearts are. Do you remember what happened?
During the time of year, when kings went to war, we discover that King David stayed behind, in Jerusalem. For whatever reason, David chose not to be where he should have been, and after waking from a nap, he walked out onto the roof and looked around. And while he was standing there, he saw a woman of unusual beauty taking a bath.
Now, instead of averting his eyes from her and leaving his perch on the roof, David he sent a servant to find out who she was. After discovering that she was married, you would have thought that this man of God would have forgotten about her, but instead, he summoned her to his presence and committed adultery with her. Before too long, Bathsheba (the woman) informed David that she was pregnant.
It never occurred to David that he should repent, and ask for her husband’s (Uriah) or God’s forgiveness. Instead, he began to plot, to cover his sin. Have you ever been there? When you’ve sinned against God and man, have you tried to cover it up? Though it shames me, I’d be lying if I said that I’ve never tried to hide my sins.
David sent a message for Uriah to come home, hoping that he and his wife would have sex, and then Bathsheba could claim that their child was Uriah’s. However, it turns out that Uriah was a much more honorable man than David was, and he refused to enjoy the comfort and pleasure of sleeping with his wife, while his fellow soldiers were suffering in the midst of the war. David didn’t give up, though. He invited Uriah to dinner that evening, and got him drunk, hoping to get him to sleep with his wife, while under the influence, but even then, Uriah refused to betray his duty to his fellow soldiers.
So, rather than repenting and confessing his sin to Uriah and to God, David plotted another plan… one that involved Uriah’s murder. David sent Uriah back to the front lines, where the battle was the fiercest, and ordered the other men to be pulled back, so that Uriah would be killed in battle.
When Bathsheba, Uriah’s wife, learned that Uriah had been killed in battle, she mourned for him. Then, once her period of mourning was over, David married her, and she became one of his wives. Before long, she gave birth to a son. But the Lord was displeased with what David had done. (1 Samuel 11 NLT)
Indeed, God was so unhappy about what David had done, that he sent Nathan, the prophet, to confront him with his sin. When he realized that Nathan speaking of his sin, David confessed and repented of it, and God forgave him. However, the consequences for David’s sin were great. (1 Samuel 12 NLT) Still, knowing the consequences of his sin, David prostrated himself before God, confessed his sin and repented.
1 Have mercy upon me, O God,
According to Your lovingkindness;
According to the multitude of Your tender mercies,
Blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
And cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I acknowledge my transgressions,
And my sin is always before me.
4 Against You, You only, have I sinned,
And done this evil in Your sight—
That You may be found just when You speak,
And blameless when You judge.
5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
And in sin my mother conceived me.
6 Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts,
And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.
7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Make me hear joy and gladness,
That the bones You have broken may rejoice.
9 Hide Your face from my sins,
And blot out all my iniquities.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me away from Your presence,
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,
And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.
13 Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,
And sinners shall be converted to You.
14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
The God of my salvation,
And my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness.
15 O Lord, open my lips,
And my mouth shall show forth Your praise.
16 For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it;
You do not delight in burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,
A broken and a contrite heart—
These, O God, You will not despise.
18 Do good in Your good pleasure to Zion;
Build the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then You shall be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness,
With burnt offering and whole burnt offering;
Then they shall offer bulls on Your altar. (Psalm 51 NKJV)
Beloved, oftentimes, we think that because our sins are forgiven, we shouldn’t suffer the consequences for those sins, but this isn’t true. Though Jesus paid for our sins on the cross, in this world, we still suffer sin’s consequences. Yet, if we truly repent, as David did, though we pay the consequences of our sin, we can still be washed clean, even as David was. Do you wonder if David will ever get to see God, because of his sin? I believe he will, for even in the New Testament, David is referred to as a man after God’s own heart.
And when He had removed him, He raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.’ (Acts 13:22 NKJV)
Even after these terrible sins against God and man, David remained a man after God’s own heart. Doesn’t that give you hope? It gives me great hope. Yet, if what Jesus said is true, then how can our heart be made pure, so that we, too, can see God? We must do as David did, and repent and confess our sin to God…
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9 NKJV)
Do you want to see God? Then you must have a pure heart. How can you have a pure heart? Confess your sins to God, repent from them, and ask Him to cleanse your heart, just as David did, and your heart, beloved reader, will be made pure, and you will see God.
© 2019
Cheryl A. Showers
Burning Fire Shut Up In My Bones 