Clean on the Inside

“Let your fingers be clean, and your fingernails wellgroomed,” I read. “Do not touch your ears or nose with your bare hands.” I wasn’t working through the latest advice from the NHS, but rather reading some quotes from a translation of Les Contenances de Table, a thirteenth-century text on table manners for medieval Europe. While it seems we’ve always had guidelines to help us maintain physical cleanliness, our spiritual cleanliness is literally out of our hands; something King David knew all too well for himself.

After David was confronted about his affair with another man’s wife, he realised there wasn’t a sacrifice or good deed that could clean the stain of sin in his heart (Psalm 51:16). What could he do? He got on his knees: “My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit” (v. 17).

David knew that through his selfish actions he had sinned against God (v. 4) and that God was the only One who could forgive, restore and cleanse his heart. In humility he asked: “Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin” (v. 2).

No matter how messy our hearts become, David’s prayer shows that it’s not up to us to try and clean ourselves. Rather our role is to humbly and honestly confess our sins to God (v. 3) so that He alone can wash us “whiter than snow” (v. 7). Chris Wale - Daily Bread