Cleansed From Sin: Psalm 19

How do we get cleansed from sin? It’s not of our own doing. We can ask for forgiveness and be cleansed (1 John 1:9), but we do not do the cleansing. God does. In Psalm 19 in The Message it says near the end:

“Clean the slate, God, so we can start the day fresh!

            Keep me from stupid sins,

            from thinking I can take over your work;

Then I can start this day sun-washed,

            Scrubbed clean of the grime of sin.”

God cleans the slate and scrubs clean the grime of our sin. In this passage it identifies sin as anything we do that tries to take over God’s work. Doing that gets in God’s way. We need to get out of God’s way and let Him cleanse us and give us a fresh start to each day. We are only made clean through God’s grace and actions.

Only He can keep me from “stupid sins.” In the New American Standard Bible it says, “presumptuous sins.” The definition of presumptuous is to go beyond what is right or proper or to be excessively forward. To me that says putting ourselves in the position of God or trying to do God’s work would be excessively forward and out of place. That would be going beyond what is right or proper.

So focusing on God and trying to do His will for us can keep us from presumptuous sins. And, “then I can start [each] day . . . scrubbed clean of the grime of sin.” Again the only way I see this happening in our lives is for us to be focused on God and doing things His way. It means keeping a proper perspective and not trying to do God’s work for Him. It means letting Him forgive me and cleanse me. It’s the only way to have a clean slate.