Snow

1 Have mercy on me, O God,
because of your unfailing love.
Because of your great compassion,
blot out the stain of my sins.
2 Wash me clean from my guilt.
Purify me from my sin.
3 For I recognize my rebellion;
it haunts me day and night.
4 Against you, and you alone, have I sinned;
I have done what is evil in your sight.
You will be proved right in what you say,
and your judgment against me is just.
5 For I was born a sinner—
yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.
6 But you desire honesty from the womb,
teaching me wisdom even there.

7 Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Oh, give me back my joy again;
you have broken me—
now let me rejoice.
9 Don’t keep looking at my sins.
Remove the stain of my guilt.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God.
Renew a loyal spirit within me.
11 Do not banish me from your presence,
and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me.

12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and make me willing to obey you.
13 Then I will teach your ways to rebels,
and they will return to you.
14 Forgive me for shedding blood, O God who saves;
then I will joyfully sing of your forgiveness.
15 Unseal my lips, O Lord,
that my mouth may praise you.

16 You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one.
You do not want a burnt offering.
17 The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit.
You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.
18 Look with favor on Zion and help her;
rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then you will be pleased with sacrifices offered in the right spirit—
with burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings.
Then bulls will again be sacrificed on your altar.

Have you ever spilled mustard or ketchup on a clean, white suit or sweater you were wearing? It’s a stain you can’t hide—and it can be embarrassing if you have to stand up and speak in front of people with that fresh stain showing!

King David had a much more serious problem with a stain. The prophet Nathan confronted him about it and told him that it needed to be addressed (2 Samuel 12:1-13). Was there any way to remove the stain of sleeping with another man’s wife and then murdering her husband? Sometimes we think we can cover up the stains of our sins by placing blame elsewhere. But the stains remain.

In Psalm 51, David writes, “Cleanse me with hyssop.” The word for “cleanse” here literally means “un-sin.” Imagine being able to push an “undo” button to wipe out something wrong you have done! Hyssop was a plant with brush-like branches, and in ancient Israel it was used for purification rites. Moses dipped a hyssop branch in blood and used it to sprinkle people and objects to declare them purified (Hebrews 9:19-23). Hyssop was also used to spread blood on the doorframes of Israelites’ houses before they were freed from slavery in Egypt (Exodus 12:21-23).

This pointed to the blood of Jesus, which “purifies us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). As Christians, we know that there is one cleansing agent—the blood of Christ—that can wash away our sins. So if we repent and ask God for forgiveness, we will be cleansed, for Jesus’ sake.

“Lord Jesus, I long to be perfectly whole. . . . Break down every idol, cast out every foe; now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.” Amen.