AC 9818 - Spirit

AC 9818 [5]
Create in me a clean heart, O God;
and renew a steadfast spirit in the midst of me.
Cast me not away from before Thee,
and take not the Spirit of Thy holiness from me.
Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation;
and let an ingenuous spirit uphold me.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and a contrite heart God doth not despise.
(Psalms 51:10-12, 17);

"a clean heart"
denotes a will that is averse to evils, which are unclean;
"a steadfast spirit"
denotes the understanding and faith of truth;
"a broken spirit," and "a broken heart,"
denote a state of temptation
and the consequent humiliation of the life of both of these.
That "spirit" denotes life, is plain from each of the above expressions.
The Divine truth, from which is this life, is "the Spirit of holiness."

[13]
That by the "Spirit" is meant the Divine truth that proceeds from the Lord,
is evident from many passages in the Word.
The reason why the Divine truth that proceeds from the Lord
is signified by "the Spirit of God,"
is that the whole life of a person is thence,
and those have heavenly life who receive this Divine truth in faith and love.
That this is "the Spirit of God," the Lord Himself teaches in John:

The words that I speak to you are spirit, and are life.
(John 6:63)