King David's Prayer

Children's Sermon: King David's Prayer (Psalm 51:10)

Hi kids, today we are going to talk about King David's prayer.

I am sure that all of you have seen one of these. It's called a stethoscope. Who uses a stethoscope? That's right, a doctor. And what does the doctor do with it? Right again! The doctor listens to what is going on inside of our bodies. A person might look very healthy on the outside and yet have something wrong on the inside.

Many doctors want to see their patients once a year for a checkup . Do you ever go to the doctor for a checkup? If so, you know the routine. They check to see how tall you are and how much you weigh. They look in your eyes, ears, nose, and throat. Then, the doctor takes the stethoscope, which feels as if it has been kept in the refrigerator, and listens to see if your heart beat is strong and steady. Any unusual sound may tell the doctor that something is wrong with your heart. If the doctor finds something wrong, you might need some medicine to make it well. Sometimes a doctor finds something wrong and has to operate to fix it. There have even been some cases when a person needed a whole new heart. Isn't it wonderful that God has given us doctors who can fix our heart when something goes wrong?

Our Bible story today is about a man named David. You remember David, don't you?  David was a shepherd boy that God made to become a king.  He also slew the giant Goliath with a sling shot.  David loved God with all his heart, but he didn't always do what God wanted him to do.   Sometimes, David had heart trouble.  Oh, it wasn't the kind of heart trouble you could hear with a stethoscope, but David knew he had heart trouble. He knew that he had sinned and done wicked and evil things in God's sight. So, what did David do about his heart problem? He went to the One that he knew could fix it -- he went to God. David prayed to God and said, "O God, I have sinned against you and I have done evil things in your sight. Create in me a clean heart, and give me a right spirit."

Sometimes you and I have heart problems too. We might have some things in our heart that shouldn't be there. Things like bitterness, anger, jealousy, selfishness, pride, and greed. When we come to church, everything may look great on the outside, but God may look inside and see that our heart isn't right. When we know that we have a heart problem, we need to do what David did. We need to pray to God and say, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me." Do you have some things in your heart that shouldn't be there? I do! Let's ask God to fix it!

Dear Father, we know that you can see what is in our heart and we know that there are some things there that shouldn't be there. Create a clean heart in us, O God. Amen.