Create in Me a Clean Heart

A Book for Your Lenten Journey

Psalm 51. Do you know it?

Martin Luther once said Psalm 51 is the clearest picture of repentance in all of Scripture.

Sin is acknowledged.
Mercy is sought.
Grace is trusted.

I’ve carried that sentence with me for years, and for just as long I’ve wanted to write an in-depth study of this psalm.

As a pastor, I read Psalm 51 every Ash Wednesday. Year after year, it would pass by in the rhythm of the liturgy, familiar and powerful, but always too quickly. I realized, though, I never had the space—or thought I never would—to slow down enough to really live inside it. To follow its movement.

To let it search me personally, not just liturgically.

That’s what I’ve been doing these past months as I prepared for Lent: going deep into Psalm 51.

The Prayer of Someone

Psalm 51 is not the prayer of someone trying to improve. It is the prayer of someone who has been found out. Someone who has stopped defending himself. Someone who, as Evelyn Underhill put it, is finally ready to stand unprotected before God. Words will not save him. Excuses will not help. Even sacrifice itself will no longer suffice.

That is why the Church has always returned to Psalm 51 during Lent.

Coming soon on Amazon

Lent is not a season for trying harder. It is a season for telling the truth. It slows us down long enough to notice what we have learned to live with: managed sin, half-confessions, quiet compromises, and promises we no longer expect to keep. Psalm 51 brings all of that into the light of God’s mercy—and it refuses to rush the work.

Read slowly, the psalm deepens.

Derek Kidner once observed that David’s crime was no freak event. It was, in character, an extreme expression of the warped creature he had always been. Psalm 51 is the place where David finally stops pretending otherwise. He does not ask for his crown back. He asks for his heart, as John Chrysostom said.

The book is designed as a daily reader throughout Lent. Small groups will be blessed to read it together. Spouses too. Clergy will appreciate the in-depth review of a well-known psalm.

Lent is Fast Approaching

I’ll be releasing this book very soon. It’s called Create in Me a Clean Heart, and it’s meant to be a companion for Lent. I’ll also use it as the foundation for daily Lenten emails for paid subscribers, beginning on Ash Wednesday.

To offer and to ask:

1. If you are able to read a chapter or two in advance and provide feedback, I’d be grateful. I only need about 12-15 people who can read one or two chapters right away. (Less than 1,000 words in each.) If that is you, please email me at the address behind this button.

2. Lent will be rich this year. This book will help. But I will also provide a lot of bonus content through The Anglican. It will be for Paid Subscribers, so if you want a full Lent experience, please sign up for the Premium subscription.

3. I never use a paywall for my coverage of the ACNA (which is a lot!). It's free, but as the saying goes, it isn’t cheap. Every article takes me hours to put together. I’m committed to keeping them free for all, but if you can join as a Paid Subscriber, all the better. It will redound to your credit!

More soon.

Grace and peace,

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The Anglican is the Substack newsletter for LeaderWorks, where I share insights, encouragement, and practical tools for clergy and lay Christians. I’m also an author of over a dozen books available on Amazon.

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