Psalm 51 (Day 24): Clean and Forgiven

"Cleanse me with hyssop,

and I will be clean;

wash me,

and I will be whiter than snow."

The above quote constitutes the whole of verse 7 from Psalm 51 -- a psalm penned by David after the prophet Nathan confronted him regarding his adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of Uriah the Hittite. In this penitential psalm, David repents of his sin and pleads for merciful cleansing to God, as I have pondered the previous six verses:

"Have mercy on me, O God,

according to Your unfailing love;

according to Your great compassion

blot out my transgressions.

Wash away all my iniquity

and cleanse me from my sin.

For I know my transgressions

and my sin is always before me.

Against You, You only have I sinned

and done what is evil in Your sight,

so that You are proved right when You speak

and justified when You judge.

Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.

Surely You desire truth in the inner parts,

You teach me wisdom in the inmost place."

Two days ago, I reflected upon the reason for David's repeated request of washing. Yesterday, I focused on the word "hyssop" and the symbolic role it plays in David's plea for deep heart cleansing in the face of an outright holy God.

As I turn my attention to the teaching the Holy Spirit has in store for me on this twenty-fourth morning of my 50 days of waiting for Pentecost Sunday, let me go to the Father in prayer:

Thank You, Lord, for the daily mercies You renew to Your people without fail. Open my mind and heart and body, I pray, that I may receive today the wisdom You choose to impart for Your glory, for my edification, and for the advancement of Your Kingdom on this earth and in Heaven. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen!

Fittingly, God's white-hot holiness leads me to reflect upon the two fragments "and I will be clean" and "and I will be whiter than snow."

Today's verse -- verse 7 -- connects and likens the two fragments by using a sequential pattern: if a then b. In this case, a is represented by the two initial fragments "cleanse me with hyssop" and "wash me." Logically, it means that the certitude of b (being clean and becoming whiter than snow) materializing is incumbent upon the pre-existence of a (being washed and being purged with hyssop).

The only being whose pre-existence is validated by Scripture is God Himself. It therefore follows that only He is qualified to purify, wash, cleanse, and purge humans of filth or dirt. This divine and gracious purging that must take place implies (among other things): 

     -  the total deletion of sinful data in God's records
     -  the utter removal of thoughts deemed undesirable by God
     -  the complete riddance of selfish views opposing God's plan and promises
     -  the full elimination of guilt and shame before the Father's gracious white throne

This concept takes me back to my college days when I used to sing the following lyrics written by Keon Olguin:

"White as snow, white as snow

Though my sins were as scarlet

Lord, I know; Lord, I know

That I'm clean and forgiven

Through the power of Your blood,

Through the wonder of Your love,

Through faith in You I know that I can be

White as snow."

In this life, just like David, I have had opportunities to see the crimson stain of my sins. I have tasted the gall of my selfishness, pride, ingratitude, impatience, insolence, and the like. However, God's Word tells me that I have been redeemed, cleansed, washed, and purified.

How?

How is that possible?

Through the hyssop of Christ

Through the blood of the Lamb

Through the wonder of the Son's love

O, perfect love!

And His love is fierce.

Christ's love soars above sentiment.

His love is the wildest, mightiest, most thunderous force in the cosmos. It can whisper; it can roar. It can convict; it can redeem. It reveals a God who loves and loves and loves . . . and takes delight . . .

in me

in you

in those who hear, accept, heed, receive Him -- the great I AM.

It is through that love, agape, that the Father sent Nathan to David. It is agape that whispered, roared, and convicted the psalmist to write Psalm 51 and to confess, repent, and exult because our God is gracious, merciful, and compassionate.

Thus, David's penitent prayer portrays a man who had faith that God could forgive and wash the very desire to sin against the Father completely out of his system. Indeed, you and I, too, are called to place our faith in the power of Christ's blood alone as our sin -- any known or unknown sin -- gets purged out of us.

Thank You, Holy Spirit, for empowering us to love and live by Your standard -- our sin scrubbed by the hyssop of the Cross, our will washed in humility, our heart ever rejoicing in Heaven's best for the sake of the gospel. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen!