Un-Sinned / David Jeremiah

Un-Sinned Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me hear joy and gladness, that the bones You have broken may rejoice. Psalm 51:7-8   On the night before the exodus of the Hebrew slaves from Egypt, Moses gave instructions to the people. That night, the Lord would bring judgment on the firstborn sons of Egypt—but not on the Hebrew families. They were to take hyssop and paint their doorways with sacrificial blood. Upon seeing the blood, the “destroyer” would pass over their homes (Exodus 12:22-23).

Recommended Reading: 1 Corinthians 6:9-11

Hyssop was a plant that was used to sprinkle blood during ritual cleansings. The image of hyssop came to David’s mind as he composed Psalm 51 in the wake of his sin against Bathsheba and her husband, Uriah. In verse 2 he prayed God would cleanse him from his sin, and in verse 7 he pictured how: “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean.” Scholars suggest that the word cleanse means to “un-sin”—to make me as I was before I sinned. That’s what God does when He forgives us. Christians are not called sinners in the New Testament but saints (holy ones). After being forgiven, God sees us as “whiter than snow.”   God does not demand a beautiful vessel for His work, but He does demand a clean one. Quoted by R. A. Torrey