Refreshed heart

I have not read Psalms in a long time. I had forgotten how refreshing for the soul it can be. Today I read Psalm 51.

In verse 1 it says "Have mercy on me O God, according to your unfailing love." Unfailing love. That, to me is such a difficult concept to grasp. My love for people is so conditional upon their behavior that I don't understand how God can have an unfailing love. What if God loved people like I do? I know I would not stand a chance to ever see my home in Heaven. I fail Him daily but he is always there to pick me up, dust me off and let me try again.

Verse 18 says "Create in me a pure heart O God and renew a steadfast spirit within me." This needs to be my prayer every day. Most of the time when I try to walk away from sin, I am only addressing the action of that sin. Where does sin come from? It comes from the heart. Garbage in, garbage out as they say. What you allow your senses to take in, your heart will put out. I think you can fake the funk for a while but sooner or later, a fake is found out for what they really are.

Verses 16 & 17: "You do not delight in sacrifice or I would bring it, you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are: a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart, O God you will not despise. My actions mean nothing if my heart is not right. I can pretend to be a great Christian, but if my heart is not right with God, it is all a waste of my time.