Isaiah 53-55
2 Thessalonians 1
“For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.” Psalm 103:11-12
Imagine we are eating a hotdog and somehow, we end up with drops of ketchup and mustard on our shirt? What do we do to get the stain out of our clothes? We try our best to wash it out. Likewise, David made a similar sentiment when he acknowledged the sin that he did when he committed adultery with Bathsheba. He called out to God, pleading, “Cleanse me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones You have crushed rejoice. Hide Your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity” (Psalm 51:7-9).
What is “hyssop?” Hyssop was a plant used by the priests in Israelite worship. The priest would take the leaves of the plant to make a brush and use it to sprinkle the blood of the animal sacrifice upon the altar. Hence, from David’s use of liturgical worship language in his prayer, we could see that his thoughts had moved to the public and corporate dimension of his life. Because of his sin, David felt defiled and unworthy to worship God. Thus, David cried out for purging, for cleansing and for washing as well as for the cries of joy to be restored. It was like David expressing his desire: “God, I need You to cleanse me, rid me of this defilement so that I can get back into Your presence and worship You and celebrate with all of God’s people.”
If there was one thing that David could not stand, it was not being able to worship God. Scripture called David “a man after God’s own heart”— although David was not perfect, as he committed sins, the thing that made David a man after God’s own heart was that he could not stand the thought of not worshipping God. This is why when David said, “Hide Your face from my sins,” he was telling God not to look at his sins; on the flip side, he was also asking God not to hide His face from him. Why? Because the face of God is the presence of God and David longed to be back in an intimate communion with God.
May we take a moment and examine ourselves: what do we do when we become aware of something that is out of kilter—some action, some feeling, some attitude, some emotion—do we pray like David, calling out our transgression, iniquity and sin and asking God to cleanse us? Whatever we have done, there is no sin too big that God cannot forgive us when we come before Him in true repentance. He will cleanse us.
Gracious God, I come to You confessing my transgression, iniquity and sin. Thank You for Your forgiveness and for cleansing me.
2 Thessalonians 1
“For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.” Psalm 103:11-12
Imagine we are eating a hotdog and somehow, we end up with drops of ketchup and mustard on our shirt? What do we do to get the stain out of our clothes? We try our best to wash it out. Likewise, David made a similar sentiment when he acknowledged the sin that he did when he committed adultery with Bathsheba. He called out to God, pleading, “Cleanse me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones You have crushed rejoice. Hide Your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity” (Psalm 51:7-9).
What is “hyssop?” Hyssop was a plant used by the priests in Israelite worship. The priest would take the leaves of the plant to make a brush and use it to sprinkle the blood of the animal sacrifice upon the altar. Hence, from David’s use of liturgical worship language in his prayer, we could see that his thoughts had moved to the public and corporate dimension of his life. Because of his sin, David felt defiled and unworthy to worship God. Thus, David cried out for purging, for cleansing and for washing as well as for the cries of joy to be restored. It was like David expressing his desire: “God, I need You to cleanse me, rid me of this defilement so that I can get back into Your presence and worship You and celebrate with all of God’s people.”
If there was one thing that David could not stand, it was not being able to worship God. Scripture called David “a man after God’s own heart”— although David was not perfect, as he committed sins, the thing that made David a man after God’s own heart was that he could not stand the thought of not worshipping God. This is why when David said, “Hide Your face from my sins,” he was telling God not to look at his sins; on the flip side, he was also asking God not to hide His face from him. Why? Because the face of God is the presence of God and David longed to be back in an intimate communion with God.
May we take a moment and examine ourselves: what do we do when we become aware of something that is out of kilter—some action, some feeling, some attitude, some emotion—do we pray like David, calling out our transgression, iniquity and sin and asking God to cleanse us? Whatever we have done, there is no sin too big that God cannot forgive us when we come before Him in true repentance. He will cleanse us.
Gracious God, I come to You confessing my transgression, iniquity and sin. Thank You for Your forgiveness and for cleansing me.
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