The great sanitizer

1HAVE MERCY upon me, O God, according to Your steadfast love; according to the multitude of Your tender mercy and loving-kindness blot out my transgressions. 2Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and guilt and cleanse me and make me wholly pure from my sin! 3For I am conscious of my transgressions and I acknowledge them; my sin is ever before me. 4Against You, You only, have I sinned and done that which is evil in Your sight, so that You are justified in Your sentence and faultless in Your judgment. 5Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity; my mother was sinful who conceived me . 6Behold, You desire truth in the inner being; make me therefore to know wisdom in my inmost heart. 7Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean ; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Psalm 51:1-7 (AMP) David writes this Psalm after he is confronted with his sin with Bathsheba. He is not merely confessing to God or asking him for absolution because he has been caught. He is seriously grieved that He has committed a huge infraction and has, in essence, broken God’s heart! What is our response when we have broken God’s heart? Do we not realize that our sins make God sad? It doesn’t matter how minute or large they are, our sins put a tare on the fabric of our fellowship with God and He is grieved. We know that we have occasion to sin, we sin daily by word, deed, motive, attitude, omission, and commission. We were born into sin and shaped in iniquity even at conception as David points out. But we are without excuse. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through Jesus Christ, we can be whole and clean. In order to be clean and right before a holy and just God, we must seek his cleansing. It is certainly not something we can do ourselves as we wash ourselves ceremoniously each day. We must recognize our shortcomings, confess them, and say what God says about them. We cannot cover up our sins or look at them trivially. We must cry out as David did for God’s mercy! Surely without his mercy, we could not stand before Him! What are you struggling with today? Is it pride? Is it covetousness? Is it laziness? Is it too shameful for you to say aloud? Whatever it is, know that you have a Father who wants to lead you to wholeness. Whatever is hindering you or fracturing you or preventing you from walking in the newness of life to which you have been called, know that God is there. He is willing, ready, and able to throw His blanket of mercy around you and pull you out from the cold. His steadfast love is the great sanitizer of all sanitizers, ready to wash you and make you clean before Him so that you can walk in wholeness and continue to do those things He has already preordained just for you!