0520. The Method

The Method

"Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

"Hide Thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities" (Psa_51:7,Psa_51:9).

We now consider practically the same words as were considered in our first division. In each case, there is, however, an added thought. We have in Psa_51:7, "Purge me," in Psa_51:2 we had, "Cleanse me." Both in Psa_51:2 and Psa_51:7, we have, "Wash me." We also had "Blot out," in Psa_51:1, and we have, "Blot out," in Psa_51:9. Let us observe the additional thoughts.

1. "Purge me with hyssop." The added thought is in the word "hyssop." Psa_51:2, stated what David wanted done. Psa_51:7 sets forth how it must be accomplished. David has in mind the "sin offering;" "purification by blood." The hyssop was used, as described in Num_19:6, Num_19:18. It is also set forth in Exo_12:22. The children of Israel were commanded to take the hyssop, dip it in the blood and sprinkle it upon the upper door posts and the two side posts. Thus our key verse uses hyssop as a type of the sprinkled blood.

There is no other method through which our sins are purged. When Christ’s Blood is refused, sins remain. If cleansing is desired, it is the Blood that makes clean. "And the Blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin."

2. "Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." In Psa_51:2, David sought washing from all iniquity. Psa_51:7 shows the additional thought in the results of the washing: "whiter than snow."

There is nothing cleaner, nothing purer, nothing whiter than a forgiven sinner, or a sin-forgiven saint. "Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow."

3. "Hide Thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities." The added thought here is in sins not only "blotted out" but also forgotten. David felt that his sins had been ever before God-that God knew them all; God held them all against him. David now pleads that, since his sins are cleansed with hyssop, and washed whiter than snow, that therefore God will hide them from His face. This is exactly what God did. In the 3d Psalm the record is set down: "I cried unto the Lord with my voice, and He heard me out of His holy hill." "I laid me down and slept; I awaked; for the Lord sustained me." Surely David’s prayer was answered and he was brought once more into the fullest and sweetest fellowship with his God. His sins were gone, his iniquities were blotted out.

When Christ hung upon the Cross bearing our sins, then the Father hid His face. But, when sin and sins were all put away, when Christ had finished His substitutionary work, then once more the Father’s face shone upon Him. The great sorrow that overwhelmed David, was, that he felt himself cast away from God’s presence. He yearned for the fellowship, once more, which he had enjoyed in the days gone by. He could not bear to live apart from God. His iniquity had separated between himself and God, and he sought forgiveness with a return to fellowship in view.

Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR