Bible Strands
Psalms 51:10
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — David addresses God in a moment of penitence, positioning his request between a plea for sin removal and a fear of divine abandonment.
The words — The text employs בָּרָא (bara') for "create" and חָדַשׁ (chadas) for "renew," denoting a direct divine act to produce purity and a steadfast spirit within the speaker's inner being.
The thread — The request for internal renewal aligns with Ezekiel 11:19's promise of a new spirit and singleness of heart, while 2 Corinthians 5:17 and Ephesians 4:22 extend the language of divine transformation to the believer's new identity and moral conduct.
Why it lands — The verse requires a reader to acknowledge that lasting spiritual change originates from God's action rather than human self-improvement.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
Cross-references
- Ezekiel 11:19 And I will give them singleness of heart and put a new spirit within them; I will remove their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh,
- 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come!
- Ephesians 4:22 to put off your former way of life, your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;
- Matthew 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
- Ezekiel 18:31 Cast away from yourselves all the transgressions you have committed, and fashion for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Why should you die, O house of Israel?
- Romans 12:2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.
- Ezekiel 36:25 I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols.
- Acts 15:9 He made no distinction between us and them, for He cleansed their hearts by faith.
- Titus 3:5 He saved us, not by the righteous deeds we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.
- 1 Peter 1:22 Since you have purified your souls by obedience to the truth so that you have a genuine love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from a pure heart.