Psalm 51:7, Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
King David was very sorrowful in his heart because he sinned against God. He did a wicked thing. He took another man’s wife for himself and killed that man treacherously. God was angry with David, and He rebuked him sharply through His prophet Nathan.
David broke down before God in repentance. He pleaded with the LORD to forgive his sins. He felt so filthy. He could not bear the shame because his life was so strained with sin. So he prayed that the LORD would wash away his sins.
Do you know why David prayed, “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean”? In his day, an animal was sacrificed for the forgiveness of sin. The priest would dip a branch of a plant called hyssop in the animal’s blood and sprinkle it upon the people. David had in mind the sprinkling of blood with hyssop when he pleaded for the forgiveness of his sins.
The shedding of blood in the animal sacrifice was to show that one day the Lord Jesus would come and give Himself to be the sacrifice for our sins. Jesus came as the “Lamb of God” to take away our sin. So He bled and died on the cross. Now if you confess your sins and plead to the Lord for forgiveness, you will be washed and made even “whiter than snow.”
(My Soul’s Delight - Illustrated Devotions, Volume 1, written by Rev Dr Prabhudas Koshy)
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