Many nations today have machines that do the washing of clothes. You put your clothes in the machine along with some soap and turn the machine on. Later you come back to take the clothes out.

During Bible times, clothes were washed a much different way. The clothes would be taken to a stream, pool or watering trough. The clothes would be dipped into the water several times. Then the clothes would be placed upon a flat stone and beat with a club or another rock. The clothes would be rinsed with water.

In Psalm 51:2 we read, "Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin." The Hebrew word here for "wash" means to "wash by beating or kneading." This is the word used for the way they washed clothes in this manner.

David was saying that he wanted God to do whatever was necessary to make him clean from his iniquity. Tradition tells us that this psalm was written by David after he had committed a terrible sin. Nathan the prophet had come to David and made him admit what he had done wrong. Then David prayed, asking God to forgive him and cleanse him.

We can learn much from David's attitude in this psalm. When we do something wrong, we should be willing to admit it and then ask God for forgiveness. Sometimes it may not be easy to do what is right. Sometimes the results of our sins will cause us great sadness. We must be willing to accept responsibility for our actions. And we must be willing to ask God to do whatever is necessary to make things right. We must be willing to ask him to "wash" us completely.

Of course, the best thing to do is not commit sin. We should be striving to always live right and do what God would have us do. The only way we can be sure we are living right is to continue to study his Word. We should constantly read it and study it to know what God has told us to do.

One of the first sounds to greet the ear of people early in the morning during Bible times was the sound of the grinding of grain. In villages of Palestine, the grain was ground by handmill. This was to obtain flour for cooking.

Women normally did the grinding. They usually began early in the morning and worked at it for half a day. The sound of the grinding was not really musical, but it was a soothing sound to those in Palestine. It was a sound that represented the comfort of home and the sound of having plenty.

In Jeremiah 25:10 we read, "Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle." God was telling about sending the Babylonians to enslave the Israelites. The Israelites would become slaves. They would no longer have the pleasures of being a free people or of being a prosperous people. God was going to punish them for not following his commands.

God has given us the Bible so that we can know what to do to obey him. He loves us and wants us to live with him in heaven. We will not grind grain in heaven, but we will be in our eternal home. We will have the constant pleasure of being in the presence of God. We will hear only good sounds and we will have the pleasure of the ultimate home, heaven.