CLEANSING BEFORE COMFORT! How do we ask for forgiveness? We must ask for forgiveness in sincerity and humility of heart. This is what God requires. “Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow” (Psalm 51:6-7). Remember Psalm 51:6 reads ‘inward parts’, meaning the innermost being. This is the heart – the communication point for the Holy Spirit (Romans 9:1). If we are to ask for forgiveness, we should ask for forgiveness in the ‘inner part’, not in the form of fasting and praying or waving of hands in worship without a thorough reformation of heart and life. What David was saying was that it was only after a thorough cleansing that he would be able to experience the joy of salvation. How do we then come before God in sincerity and humility of heart? We can come before Him when we ask Him not to comfort us until He cleanses us from our sin. In other words, we are seeking first the Kingdom of God, which is the salvation of our soul (Matthew 6:33).
