Psalms 51:10

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, etc.] Which was now defiled with sin, and of which being convinced, he was led more and more to see the impurity of his heart and nature, from which all his evil actions flowed; and being sensible that he could not make his heart clean himself, and that this was the work of God, and a work which required creating power, he entreats it of him: for as the first work of conversion is no other than a creation, or a production of something new, which was not before; so the restoring of a backslider, as it goes by the same name, it requires the same power; and as the implantation of grace at first, and particularly of faith, is a work of almighty power; so the…”

“Create--a work of almighty power. in me--literally, "to me," or, "for me"; bestow as a gift, a heart free from taint of sin (Psa 24:4; Psa 73:1). renew--implies that he had possessed it; the essential principle of a new nature had not been lost, but its influence interrupted (Luk 22:32); for Psa 51:11 shows that he had not lost God's presence and Spirit (Sa1 16:13), though he had lost the "joy of his salvation" (Psa 51:12), for whose return he prays. right spirit--literally, "constant," "firm," not yielding to temptation.”

“Create in me a clean heart, O God - The word rendered “create,” ברא berâ' - is a word which is properly employed to denote an act of “creation;” that is, of causing something to exist where there was nothing before. It is the word which is used in Genesis 1:1 : “In the beginning God “created” the heaven and the earth,” and which is commonly used to express the act of creation. It is used “here” evidently in the sense of causing that to exist which did not exist before; and there is clearly a recognition of the divine “power,” or a feeling on the part of David that this could be done by God alone. The idea is, however, not that a new “substance” might be brought into being to which the name…”

“Create - Work in me an holy frame of heart, whereby my inward filth may be purged away. Right - Heb. firm or constant, that my resolution may be fixed and unmoveable. Spirit - Temper or disposition of soul. Psalms 51:12”

“51:10-12 God’s Spirit renews and recreates the human spirit. 51:10 A loyal spirit yields the inner qualities of constancy and perseverance.”

“Create: Co2 5:17; Eph 2:10 clean: Psa 73:1; Pro 20:9; Jer 13:27, Jer 32:39; Eze 11:19, Eze 18:31, Eze 36:25-27, Eze 36:37; Mat 5:8; Act 15:9; Pe1 1:22 renew: Rom 12:2; Eph 4:22-24; Col 3:10; Tit 3:5 right: or, constant, Psa 78:8, Psa 78:37; Jos 14:14; Kg1 15:3-5; Act 11:23; Co1 15:58; Jam 1:8 Psalms 51:11”

“In the second part, the prayer for justification is followed by the prayer for renewing. A clean heart that is not beclouded by sin and a consciousness of sin (for לב includes the conscience, Psychology, S. 134; tr. p. 160); a stedfast spirit (נכון, cf. Psa 78:37; Psa 112:7) is a spirit certain respecting his state of favour and well-grounded in it. David's prayer has reference to the very same thing that is promised by the prophets as a future work of salvation wrought by God the Redeemer on His people ( Jer 24:7; Eze 11:19; Eze 36:26); it has reference to those spiritual facts of experience which, it is true, could be experienced even under the Old Testament relatively and anticipatively,…”