Psalm 51:1-12, “Wash me with hyssop, I will be cleansed!”
Today’s given text comes from Psalm 51:1-12 about sin and its solution.
Last week, we covered how a spiritual giant, David, fell and degenerated
into an adulterer and murderer. David, who “sat down” instead of “going
out” to war, took a woman who belonged to his military man, Uriah. David
slept with Bathsheba, and she got pregnant. To cover up his adultery, David
summoned Uriah from the battlefield with the expectation that he would go
to his house and sleep with his wife to deceive that the baby was Uriah’s.
But Uriah, a righteous man, didn’t go to his house; instead, he slept at the
entrance to the palace during his stay in Jerusalem, although David did
everything to entice Uriah to go to his wife, such as making him drunk or
commanding or persuading him to go to his house but to no avail. Uriah
told David that when the battle was engaged against the enemies on the
battlefield, where his fellow military men and his commander were camped
in the open country, along with the Ark of Covenant, he could not possibly
think of going to the comfort and his wife. When David saw that all his
efforts to deceive the baby Bathsheba conceived was Uriah were futile, he
decided to kill Uriah on the battlefield. He sent Uriah back to battle with a
letter to the military commander, Joab, to put Uriah on the front line, where
the fighting was the fiercest. That was how David killed Uriah to cover his
sin.
In 2 Samuel 12, God sent the prophet, Nathan, to confront and rebuke
David for his evil actions. Verses 7-10, God said, “I anointed you king over
Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave your master’s
house to you and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel
and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even
more. Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his
eyes? You struck down Uriah with the sword and took his wife to be your
own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. Now, therefore, the
sword will never depart from your house because you despised me and
took the wife of Uriah to be your own.”
When confronted with his sins, David sat down on his knees and pleaded
with God for mercy and grace for his iniquities. Today’s text is David’s
heartfelt and desperate prayer for forgiveness for his sins. From today’s
text, we can learn about sin, its effects, and its consequences—most
importantly, how to remove the guilt and stains of sin from the innermost
soul.
First, we need to know that no one is without sin, even newborn babies,
until we exterminate the sinful nature within us. If we read verses 5-6,
“Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.”
These verses do not mean David was born out of a sinful relationship; that
isn’t the idea. Neither should it be taken as an excuse for his sins by
saying, “Look how bad I started– what else could be expected?” It instead
shows that David thoroughly realized the depths of human sin, that it goes
beyond specific sinful actions all the way to a stubborn sinful nature, the
one humans are born with. From similar passages like these, we gain an
understanding of original sin – the idea that all humans are born sinners,
receiving a sinful nature as descendants of Adam and Eve. Humans are
born with a sinful nature that is inclined to sin always. That is why we must
watch out and guard against sinning no matter who we are until we become
one with God, being exterminated of our sinful nature by the grace of God.
Those who have not met God have a hard time accepting that they are
sinners. When we receive the Holy Spirit, the first thing He does is help us
realize how sinful we are. Realizing our sinful nature is the first step in our
faith journey.
Secondly, until we resolve our sins, the guilt will always remain with us.
Verse 3 says, “I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.”
We can see that in the many months between the time David committed
these sins and this confession, he had not escaped the sense of sin as he
said, “It was always before him. No matter what he might have done to
ignore his guilt, he could not succeed but suffered from its torment. That is
what sin does to us. We cannot escape from the burden of sin. One cannot
have genuine rest, joy, or inner peace unless one resolves one’s sins and
guilt. Many people, not knowing what to do with the sense of guilt, try to
ignore them or resort to alcohol and drugs, parties, or being busy not
thinking about them, trying to bury them deep down. The root cause of
anxiety attacks, all sorts of phobias, depression, and self-mutilation can be
traced back to guilt, shame, and sin.
What is worse, if our sin is not resolved, our connection or the
communication line with God will be blocked. We can never have the sense
that we are in God and God is in us. Isaiah 59:1-2, “Your iniquities have
separated you from your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you
so that He will not hear.” Are you anxious? You do not have inner peace?
Examine your heart and see what is bothering you. If an unresolved sin and
guilt are in the way, it must be resolved immediately.
Another thing to note is that when we sin, God is there, seeing, hearing,
and recording our sins. Verse 4, “Against you, have I sinned and done what
is evil in your sight.” David realized that God was there, and God was
looking when he did his evil. God was not absent from the bedroom of
adultery or the place where the command to kill Uriah was given. David felt
that his sin was committed in all its filthiness while God himself looked on.
Because David belonged to God, he was aware of God’s seeing eyes when
sinned. “No one but a child of God cares for the eyes of God,” Charles
Spurgeon said. If we are God’s children, we cannot help but be conscious
of God’s presence when we sin. If we are not aware of what we are doing,
gossiping, criticizing, or plotting against neighbors and people is evil in
God’s eyes, not having a guilty conscience or the urge to repent and not do
it again, then we might have to ask ourselves if we belong to God. There
are people, even in the church, who sin against God and people yet do not
have a guilty conscience or awareness of their evil tongues and actions.
Not everyone who is in the church belongs to God. Only those who follow
Christ in his footsteps in serving, obeying, and caring with humility God will
recognize as His own.
Lastly, there is nothing but the blood of Jesus that can wash away our sins
and guilt. David looked for God to do a work of spiritual and moral
cleansing, recognizing the atoning sacrifice of the lamb of God. Verse 7,
“Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter
than snow.” “Hyssop” here was used to apply the blood of the Passover
lamb (Exodus 12:22), the type of Jesus Christ our Redeemer. Hyssop was
also used to sprinkle the priest’s purifying water (Numbers 19:18.) In this
context, David petitions the Lord to be his priest by taking the hyssop
sprinkled and declaring him cleansed from all sin. We see from here that
David didn’t think for a moment that he could cleanse himself. He needed
God to cleanse him and to do it through the blood of the lamb of God. Only
His blood, Jesus’ blood, can wash away our sins. Amen!