Nothing haunts the Christian mind more than unconfessed and unrepented sin! Like David, we feel it to the very core of our being. We may try to escape it by staying active; keeping our minds preoccupied with work, media, and hobbies; or numbing it with alcohol, drugs, and other distractions.
No matter what we try, it always comes back. The memories, the shame, and the guilt continue to produce physical and emotional pain in our lives. David described it this way in Psalm 32:3-4: “When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer.” After his sin with Bathsheba, David cried out, “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow” (Psalm 51:7).
What a strange request: “Purge me with hyssop.” It’s only strange because we don’t know much about hyssop these days. Hyssop is a flowering plant that produces essential oils used for healing tea and other purposes. However, David had a different kind of healing in mind, something far greater than momentary relief. He was thinking back to the Passover when Israel had been enslaved in Egypt.
Exodus 12:21-23 records the story. “Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said unto them, Draw out and take you a lamb according to your families, and kill the passover. And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the bason, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the bason; and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning. For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you.”
David, like other faithful Old Testament believers, looked backward and forward at the same time. He looked back to the Passover lamb in Egypt and forward to the Passover lamb on the Cross. David cried out for the one thing anyone who acknowledges their sin will cry for: cleansing.
When our sin truly becomes ugly to us, when it produces pain in our hearts and sickness in our stomachs, we long for cleansing. We want to be free from the dark residue of sinful thoughts, desires, words, and actions. Like David, we must surrender, by faith, to the cleansing grace of Jesus.
What does surrender by faith look like?
First, reflect on your actions and thoughts. Acknowledge any wrongdoings and confess them through prayer to the Lord (1 John 1:8-9) and to a spiritually-trustworthy friend (James 5:16).
Second, seek spiritual cleansing and healing through the promises of God’s Word and the blood of Jesus. Just as David sought purification through the metaphor of the blood on hyssop, when doubt creeps into your mind, repeat the promises of God’s Word and pray, “Father, the enemy or my mind is reminding me of my sin. But Your Word has promised it is forgiven, and I am cleansed from it. I believe in Your promises, now please help my mind find rest. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”
Third, surround yourself with a spiritually-supportive community. Share your struggles and seek guidance from those who can offer wisdom and encouragement.
By acknowledging our sin, trusting the cleansing power of Jesus’ blood, and finding a community of Jesus’ followers, we experience freedom from the weight of sin and the cleansing power of the grace of Jesus. Why not start this new year with a new start and a clean heart?
David never sang the old hymn, “Nothing but the Blood,” but I am sure if he hears it in Heaven, he will rejoice with us:
What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Oh, precious is the flow,
That makes us white as snow.
No other fount I know,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
About the Writer: Robert Posner pastored two churches for 26 years before a moral failure brought his world crashing down around him. After years of recovery and reconciliation, he and his wife Judy became Certified Professional MentorsTM and founded 2416 Ministries, to help men build and maintain biblical sexual integrity and to help their wives find healing from the trauma of betrayal. Learn more at 2416ministries.org.
