HEBREW WORD STUDY – KEEP CREATING IN ME – BARA’ LI ברא לי
Psalm 51:10: “Create in me a clean heart, O’God and renew a right spirit within me.”
A couple of years ago I did a study on Psalms 51:10 but lately I have been drawn back to this verse as I believe God wants to show me more. This time I feel the need to focus on the words create in me a clean heart.
Maybe for some of us, it is enough that God still answers prayers, still provides for us. But for David that was almost irrelevant. He longed to feel the presence of God, he ached for those times when he and God shared their hearts while he was just a shepherd boy. After he sinned with Bathsheba he knew his heart was not right with God. Yet, like so many of us, we go about our business and are never really aware of the fact that God presence is not like it once was. We shrug it off, pretend nothing has changed. We still say yippee and all that during worship but never give it much thought until a Nathan comes along and makes us realize the gravity of our sin. It is then like David we repent and we cry out to God to give us a clean heart. For many of us, like David, we are not in this relationship with God for a paycheck, we just wanted things to be ok between us and God. So we sense David’s heart. We are forgiven yet with a heart still filled with jealousy, envy, self-interest, and fear.
How often, like David, do we beg God for a clean heart. A heart that isn’t corrupted with self-interest, but a heart that only longed to bring pleasure to God. Yeah, the score between God and us was settled 2,000 years on an old rugged tree and we claim Him as our Heavenly Father, Yet, there are still areas of disobedience in our hearts that prevent us from enjoying that relationship with Him. We try and try, like David, to change those attitudes of our heart and plead with God to change it.
David’s heart was broken because the God that he so loved, could not look upon him. Thus, he cried out: “Lev tahor bara’ li” Create a pure heart for me. David tried mightily to make things right with his God. But he finally realized that his only hope was for God to bara (create, form out of nothing) a pure heart. Not only that but to renew a right spirit. The Hebrew words are chadesh (restore) and nakon (focus) my spirit within me. David is not only asking for a new heart but a restored spirit and a spirit that is focused on God and not the things of this world that would lead him into disobedience.
So we pray for a clean heart. Jesus died so He could create a clean heart. Yet we feel no different. We are still felt troubled. Maybe you don’t feel this way, but I sure do and I felt God gently guiding me back to David’s heart were I found that he also felt the same way, but he asked God to open his lips and then his mouth will speak forth praise. I opened my lips but my mouth was not speaking forth the praise.
Then I realized that God wants that relationship restored a million time more than I want it. So like Moses before the burning bush kneeling and saying: “I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.” God responded: “I will be your mouth and teach you what to say.” I realized that when I could not find the words to praise God, He would then open my mouth to fill it with the words that spoke exactly of the love I have for Him. He would use that love as the basis for the pure heart He would create in me, a clean heart acceptable unto Him.
Just one problem I no sooner get this newly created heart and I muddy it up again. I feel prompted to look much closer at the word barah – create. Nothing new, it is in a simple Qal imperative (command form). But wait, David is pleading with God for a new heart, he is not commanding God for a new heart. Why would this be in an imperative form, at least it is in the Masoretic text? Rabbi Samson Hirsch seems to disagree with the Masoretic text. He feels this is really in an imperfect form. Ah yes, it seems our Jewish friends have a better understanding of David’s heart than we Christians. You see, as an imperfect verb this could be rendered as continually or keep creating in me a pure heart. God has hired a full-time janitor to continually clean up our hearts. Every day, every hour He is creating a new heart in us. This janitor, its name is Blood of Jesus.
I am young, but maturing in faith, and have been seeking more and more of God’s heart, digging through His text and finding great understanding is often paired with the experiences (good or bad) He gives us. (always meant for good). I am so thankful this is where He has led me in my desire to explore Hebrew meanings behind otherwise slightly off- or miss-translated words and phrases. Chaim Bentorah, I am grateful for your encouraging words that reflect Christ and bring other believers together from all over the world to bask in God’s word and delight in Him. The further I grow the more excited I am! Your much needed reminders have me smiling at God!
Thank you,
Sydney
I used to think of ‘restoration’ (as currently mentioned in today’s society) giving the word picture of an old tattered, stained, threadbare chair sitting in the corner needing to be ‘restored’. I would imagine the stripping off and replacing of the upholstery, sanding down the wood and re-painting and straightening the frame. The finished product would be the ‘resemblance’ of a chair prior to any wear or tear. No longer have any scuffed marks on the legs or worn cloth on the seat. It looked new. I thought THAT is not what I want of my heart – to be taken back to how I was before all the ‘wear & tear’ on my life. But like you, I studied David’s words in Psalm 51 – desiring God create in him a pure heart. I love ‘bara’ … used exclusively of God – Sovereignty bringing into existence what wasn’t and now is. (my definition). Moses uses it in Genesis 1 – ‘God created…’ and following each description ‘saw that it was good.’ David understood the creating from nothing – new materials – new results. David knew he didn’t have within himself, the ingredients (if you will) of what it took to have a pure heart. Only God can do that. As you said, ‘keep creating in me!’ Thank you for your writing and it continues to find its way to my inbox, I am grateful and challenged by it.
A couple of weeks ago while going back over a part of psalm 119 which I had partially forgotten I was struck by the verse 29 “remove from me the way of lying and grant me your law graciously.” It exploded in my spirit because it was “remove from me the way of lying ( in my heart). I felt the Lord was saying that often our understanding of his truth has been hidden from us and we can believe incorrectly. I was also shown that sometimes we retain guilt deep inside for things we have done and fail to open our heart to God and allow Him to heal us inside. I always believe that if God shows me something it also applies to me as well. So I look to myself first but I have realised how damaging this is to a “clean heart” and I feel it its a major issue. A clean heart is our need. I personally think David was amazing for his understanding of so much.
Shalom and Sabbat Shalom!
I am so tankefull to G_d that I came across The Hebrew Word Study a few days ago and it was and became what I was eager to find and hoped one day to find and suddenly “I found”! Thanks to Yahushua/ Jesus, Amen.
Todays word BARA’ LI ברא לי was difficult for me to find in the Norwegian bible translation of Pslm 51:10, it was not there at all??? I looked up different translations on my eSword software and could not find exactly the for me great and helpful BARA’ LI ברא לי transelation you served me today: “KEEP CREATING IN ME” which made the word “a live” a still going prosses in my heart “keep going on”….
I will treasure todays teaching in my heart, it makes me hope that I am still in His hand and Hi is still working in me. Thank you!
Roy,
I have recently found Open Hebrew Bible in MySword software for tablet and phone very helpful.
Just a suggestion,
Gadar
This was Beautiful
Thank you for helping me to understand Jesus in me
Good lesson, I am both holy and sanctified in God’s eyes because of what Jesus did. God also sees me as perfect, Heb 10:12, 14. But the issue is that my heart does not see me that way and therefore my heart condemns me which causes me to stay away from God instead of drawing near. At this stage I will not even believe that the blood can clean me. If I would just behold Jesus, renew my mind
as to who I am in Him then I can be transformed into His image.
Sweet Mary! There is nothing, absolutely nothing that can separate us from the LOVE of God! Condemnation is so different from conviction. Condemnation makes us run FROM Jesus but conviction causes us to run To HIM! Condemnation is never from our awesome God but from the old devil who comes to kill, steal and destroy. Condemnation steals our peace, which destroys our ability to run to him. The thief comes when our guard is down. Isn’t that what thieves do? They Wait for the time when no one is looking…or when we are asleep? Wake up to the light of your Lord because he died for you. Had you been the only person on the earth he would of gone to the cross and died a painful death just for you. KING Jesus’s blood is sufficient! And He continually creates a new heart for us! How awesome is that? Let Jesus love on you!
It was Romans 8:1 That Martin Luther read in the original Greek that changed his life and started the reformation 500 years ago. “There is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.” The church, family, friends and even your own heart may condemn you but because of the blood of Jesus, He will never condemn you. One of the enemies greatest tools to bring the believer is condemnation. (I think you said that already, doesn’t hurt to repeat). Chaim
Thank You Jesus!! Yes, create in me by Your blood a clean heart every day and every hour!!! Your presence Lord!!!!