What Do You Hear?

Read Psalm 51:7-9

When we sin, it does terrible damage to our spiritual life. David's sin affected his eyes, but it also affected his ears.

"Make me hear joy and gladness" (v. 8). Keep in mind that David was not only a soldier but also a singer. He would come back from the battlefield, put down his sword and pick up his harp. He played it and sang praises to God. He listened to the choirs in God's house as they sang praises to Him. David's ears were open to the music of heaven--but not in this psalm.

David heard sorrow and sadness. The choir was off-key. Everything he heard was wrong. We, too, have days like that. When we are not right on the inside, nothing is going to be right on the outside. The good news will be bad news, and the bad news will be worse news. No wonder David prays, "Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow" (v. 7). He also asks to be purged with hyssop, the little shrub the Jews used to put blood on the doorposts at Passover. "The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin" (I John 1:7), if we confess our sins.

If your ears have not been hearing joy and gladness, perhaps the problem is not around you but within you. Perhaps your heart needs to be cleansed. When your heart is tuned to the music of God and the harmony of heaven, then everything around you will remind you of the Lord.

Unconfessed sin leaves you with a dirty heart. When your heart is not right, you don't hear joy and gladness--the music of God. Confess your sin to the Lord, and He will forgive you and restore you.

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