Psalm 51

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

(Psa 51:7)

This Psalm comes on the heels of David’s sin with Bathsheba, his attempts to cover it, and his confrontation with Nathaniel the prophet. We see here not only a heart of true confession and repentance, but also an INCREDIBLE AMOUNT OF FAITH in the GRACE OF GOD. Look with me at verse 7 and the two statements he makes.

1. Purge me with Hyssop and I shall be clean – The reference to Hyssop here is beautiful. It comes from Leviticus 14 and deals with the law for the cleansing of a leper. David identifies himself here as an unclean man, one who had lost the rights and privileges of fellowship with God and His people because of the greatness of his sin. He writes here not as if hyssop itself can bring about a magical cure, but he points to that which it symbolizes. Notice, he doesn’t ask a priest to “purge” him, but the LORD HIMSELF. He realizes that even as great as his sin was, the Lord himself could purge him, and if He did, David would be CLEAN. – This word clean means UNCONTAMINATED… David realized that the cleansing the Lord brings is complete, every stain is removed!
2. Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow – Whiter than snow… notice, it is as if David picks the purest, whitest thing he can think of; and then he says the Lord can make him cleaner. Snow can pick up contaminates on its way down, it can quickly become impure… but the Lord could remove ever hint of contamination from David’s life… He could literally bring about a complete and total cleansing.

So, what about you and me? Do you believe that God can wash you COMPLETELY? Do you believe He has really forgiven you for EVERYTHING? May we place great faith in the grace of God, and like David walk as men and women who KNOW they have been made pure!