clean hands and a pure heart

We bow our hearts, we bend our knees -
O Spirit come make us humble.
We turn our eyes, from evil things -
O Lord we cast down our idols

So give us clean hands, give us pure hearts;
Let us not lift our souls to another.
Give us clean hands, give us pure hearts;
Let us not lift our souls to another -

O God let us be a generation that seeks
That seeks Your face, O God of Jacob -
O God let us be a generation that seeks
That seeks Your face, O God of Jacob.

Give us clean hands; (O give us clean hands -)
Give us pure hearts; (Oh, and give us pure hearts -)
Give us clean hands; (Let us not lift our souls to another -)
O God, O God we cry out -

Give us clean hands, give us pure hearts;
Let us not lift our souls to another.
Give us clean hands, give us pure hearts;
Let us not lift our souls, let us not lift our souls -

O God let us be a generation that seeks
That seeks Your face, O God of Jacob -
O God let us be a generation that seeks
That seeks Your face, O God of Jacob.

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This song hardly fails to remind me of something I consistently have to aim for, even though I know I will never fully succeed here on this earth; our hands are washed, but we dirty them again almost immediately. Other than the verse from which the key line of the lyrics are taken (Psalm 24:3-4), this also consistently reminds me about the passage on faith without works being dead (the second part of James 2).

I guess right now, though it seems a really superficial interpretation of the song and verses, clean hands and a pure heart are something I really need. The song ties in to a struggle that I find comes up very often in my life - namely, the problem of discipline, both in the professional area (i.e. work) and also elsewhere, in the form of my own spiritual walk, relationships with friends and family, even how I spend my time.

Time and time again, I do feel that God has touched my life with this song; He has reminded me of it many times, such as during the Primers' retreat last year (I think), many isolated incidents over the past 2 years or so, and actually quite recently, on the Sunday before the 3rd May (26 April I believe), when it came to mind while I was praying about my own issues with work and discipline. It's meant a lot to me, and consistenly serves to remind me to evaluate my own actions and responses to a situation to some extent after the situation has passed.