Read Psalm 51:10
This verse was David's prayer as he confessed his sins to the Lord. Sin defiles the heart. You may say, "Well, no one can see that. David didn't look any different after he sinned." But when your heart is defiled, everything is defiled. Solomon wrote, "Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life" (Prov. 4:23).
Suppose you turn on a faucet at home, and out comes dirty water. You go to the hardware store, buy a brand-new faucet (a more expensive one), install it and turn it on. Out comes dirty water. Obviously, the problem is not the faucet but the water source. So it is with us. Jesus said, "Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks" (Matt. 12:34). The heart is the center of our lives, and sin defiles it. This is why David said that everything around him was defiled: his eyes (Ps. 51:3), his ears (v. 8), his heart (v. 10) and his spirit.
Sin also weakens the spirit. All of us want an enthusiastic, steadfast spirit. But David was vacillating. Every time he saw someone, he wondered, What does he know about me? Whenever people were talking together in a corner, David wondered, Are they talking about me? He had a dirty conscience, a vacillating spirit.
God can create a new heart and give a steadfast spirit. How? Not by our excuses but by our confession. We are so prone to excuse our sin. Instead, David confessed his sin, and God forgave him. Yes, David had to pay dearly for his sin. He suffered the discipline of God. But God cleansed his heart, strengthened his spirit and created something new within.
What is your heart condition? Is it clean or dirty? Unconfessed sin in the heart defiles the whole body. Never hold onto a sin or cover it; confess it immediately. When you do, God can cleanse and restore you.
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