Cleanse Me

Search me, O God,
And know my heart today;
Try me, O Savior,
Know my thoughts, I pray.
See if there be
Some wicked way in me;
Cleanse me from every sin
And set me free.

I don't always go on and on about the tough things connected with my disability, but there's one thing that I don't think I'll ever get used to.  Somebody else giving me a shower.  It's not fun... it is... so personal.  And maybe you know what I'm talking about if you've ever been in a hospital and have had a nurse give you a bed bath.  It's awfully intimate, awfully uneasy when somebody else comes at with you with soapy washcloth... 

It can even be uneasy when it's God doing the cleaning.  Cleanse me, O God, like the song says.  Or like David the psalmist says, "Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow."  Asking the Lord to give your soul a scrubbing can be a little uneasy and very intimate.  Sometimes, down right embarrassing depending on the sin. 

But this is why I love this beautiful old hymn...

I often sing it to the Lord in my time of prayer right before I confess my faults and failures. Confession means to agree with God about our sins. At no other time in prayer will you look more closely at your own spiritual growth during your time of confession. And God does not ask us to confess our sins because he needs to know what we've been up to, but because He knows we need to search our hearts and know our thoughts and understand who we really are way down deep. Acknowledging sins in a specific way is the best approach to prayerful confession. Because God did not generally die for your general inequities, He died specifically. Your specific sins. And just in case your having trouble discovering those specific things about yourself that need confession, try this song...singing this hymn the next time you pray, "Cleanse me O God and know my thoughts..."  

Does your soul need a scrubbing?  C'mon, admit it.  And then let the Lord help you clean up your act... and you might try singing this old song while you're taking that shower.  

Music:  By J. Edwin Orr and Maori Melody c 1986 Word Music 

Previously aired as program #4744 on 7/6/00

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