I have thought for years that Psalm 23 is perhaps the most “sublime” Poem of them all, of the 150 in the Psalter. Of course the “balance” of Psalm 2 can never be surpassed. Or the “motivation” of Psalm 1. Or the “praise” of Psalm 150. Or the “participation” of Psalm 148. Or the stark “retribution” of Psalm 83. Well, it’s just a great Book!
But still, I have recently added Psalm 51 to my “list” of favorites!
I am beginning to think that here David saw the whole Bible concept of “Mercy” more clearly than some of the New Testament writers even! James, in particular.
Today I’d like to show you 4 views of “Forgiveness” in Psalm 51. Four parallel thoughts about God’s great Grace, Mercy, Love, willingness to pardon!
David has sinned.
David has chain sinned, serially so.
Lust, adultery, murder, lying … then covering it all as if innocent!
Until … conviction overwhelmed his soul.
Until he realized the depth of his sin.
His rebellion.
His perversion.
His great loss.
Yesterday’s Lesson is an exposition of the three foregoing definitions of sin.
But today the Psalmist prays for forgiveness.
Using four verbs.
Beginning with “blot out.”
Next, “wash me.”
Then, “cleanse me.”
Finally, “purge me with hyssop.”
These words are found in verses 1, 2 and 7, in that order.
Wow!
“Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies BLOT OUT my transgressions. 2 WASH ME throughly from mine iniquity, and CLEANSE ME from my sin. 3 For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. 4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest. 5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me. 6 Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. 7 PURGE ME WITH HYSSOP, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.” Psalm 51:1-7
“Blot out” (used again in verse 9) is “machah” in Hebrew. It means “to exterminate.” Actually it is translated “to destroy” 6 times in the Old Testament! It has the idea of “wiping” something clean, too. In Exodus 17:14 “machah” is expressed: “put out” (of remembrance). That’s beautiful!
“Wash” is “kabas.” Itmeans “to clean” something by “stomping on it!” To tread it under foot! It’s the word used to describe what the ancient clothes cleaners did! They carried the garments to the river, applied plenty of strong soap (lye based) … and scrubbed and beat and walked all over (while in the water) the clothes … until the spots were gone! That’s what David is asking God to do to him! Is he serious about repentance? Yes!
“Cleanse” is “taher” in Hebrew, “made pure!” Folks, it’s one thing to be spot-free, quite another to be made “pure!” The ideas of Mercy and Forgiveness here are deepening, progressing! This (“taher”) is a quality ascribed to God Himself in Exodus 24:10. “And they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his CLEARNESS.” A sinner, made pure, like God! That’s New Testament justification!
Lastly, “purge me with hyssop.” The verb “purge” as used here is hard to explain. It’s literally the verb “to sin,” spelled “chata.” And the (Mercy-filled) idea is likely that of “a sin offering.” If so, this implies blood, shed blood! And is a Picture of Jesus, the Lamb of God! An innocent little thing … dying for the sins of a guilty man! The addition of “hyssop” (a plant growing in Israel) links the request to the ritual of the cleansing of the “leper!” David is identifying himself as a moral “leper!” Unclean, terminally ill … unless touched by God! Remember too … the Jews Passover night applied the blood of the sacrificial lamb to the doorposts by means of a stalk of hyssop!
What views of God’s Lovingkindness!
Yet this is not “cheap” forgiveness!
God is Merciful, but still Righteous!
Sin’s consequences, ultimately, were met at Calvary!
Jesus paid it all.
— Dr. Mike Bagwell
The Lord willing, more tomorrow about David, about Psalm 51.