There are a number of phrases that many people believe are from the Bible that are actually not found anywhere in Scripture. “Cleanliness is next to godliness” is one of these phrases. While it is not from the Bible, it is a very old proverb believed to be found in the Babylonian and Hebrew religious tracts. In 1791, John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist church, made a reference to the expression in one of his sermons in the form we use it today. Wesley wrote, “Slovenliness is no part of religion. Cleanliness in indeed next to Godliness.”
Our current culture seems to thrive on hygiene. Most of us most likely have a bottle, or two, of hand sanitizer in our purse, cars, and kitchen among other places. We have rituals for cleaning and would be embarrassed if someone considered us, or our homes, unclean. Cleaning is necessary, and can be therapeutic, but it doesn’t bring us one step closer to God. The dirt that keeps us from God, sin, is deep in our hearts. No matter how much we scrub, we can never clean our sinful hearts. Only the blood of Jesus can clean us in a way that brings us next to God.
It is when we become aware of our sinfulness that the grace of God can truly transform our lives. We cannot be pardoned of our sins without first acknowledging that we have sin that needs pardoning. It is in this broken repentant state that Jesus meets us.
This is where we find David in Psalm 51. David was the greatest king of ancient Israel and in God’s words, “a man after my own heart.” (Acts 13:22) Yet he committed adultery with Bathsheba, the wife of one of his best soldiers, Uriah. When David learned that Bathsheba was pregnant with his child, he had Uriah killed to cover up his adultery. He wrote this psalm of lament after the prophet, Nathan, was sent by God to confront him for his sins. David recognized his sin and his deep need for forgiveness. He felt conviction for his sin, so much so, it felt like that of broken bones (v.8).
Over and over again in Scripture God pleads with his children to recognize their sin for what it is so that they might repent and so that he might show mercy.
"Yet even now," declares the Lord, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments." Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster. Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the Lord your God? - Joel 2:12-14
David identified that his sin with Bathsheba was ultimately a sin against God (v. 4). He confessed his sin and sought the Lord’s forgiveness. Whenever we identify sin in our lives, we need to confess it and receive God’s forgiveness. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
Confession involves honesty. We have to freely admit what we’ve done. We don’t excuse it or blame others for it. We also don’t merely confess our sin in broad strokes as in “Forgive me of all my sins.” We need to be specific about the sins we’ve committed, both those of commission and omission. In Psalm 32, David wrote, “I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin”.
Such confession requires that we humble ourselves before the Lord. We have to recognize that God is God and we are not. We have to rest and rely on his mercy and grace for us. Through the blood of Jesus, we are forgiven, justified, and made righteous. This psalm of lament can shape our own prayers. May we too come before God in honesty and humility, resting in his love and mercy.
Psalm 51
1Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. 4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge. 5 Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. 6 Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb; you taught me wisdom in that secret place.
7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. 9 Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.
10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11 Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, so that sinners will turn back to you. 14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, you who are God my Savior, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness. 15 Open my lips, Lord, and my mouth will declare your praise. 16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. 17 My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.
18 May it please you to prosper Zion, to build up the walls of Jerusalem. 19 Then you will delight in the sacrifices of the righteous, in burnt offerings offered whole; hen bulls will be offered on your altar.
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