Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Psalm 51:7
There are two things I shall try to talk about, as God shall help me. The one is that sin is a very foul thing: David says, "Purge me," "Wash me." The other is that the cleansing must be very great: this process of hyssop sprinkling and of washing must be very potent, for he says, "I shall be clean." "I shall be whiter than snow."
1. First than, a little about THE DEFILEMENT.
Sometimes, it has been asked by unconverted men, "Why do you talk so much about atonement? Why should he require the shedding of blood and the endurance of great suffering?" Sinner, if you had a right sense of sin, you would never ask such a question. In asking that question, you speak upon the supposition that God is such a one as yourself. But he hates sin, he sees in sin such loathsomeness as you have never dreamed of; there is, to him, such horrible abomination,such a heinousness, such a detestableness and uncleaness about sin, that he could not pass it by. If he did, he would bring upon his own character the suspicion that he was not holy. Had God passed by human sin without a substitutionary sacrifice, the seraphim must have suspended their song "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts." The Judge, who winks at sin, is the abettor of sin. If the supreme Ruler does not punish sin, he becomes himself the patron of all guilt,and sin may take its rest beneath the shadow of his wings. But it is not so: and sinner, God would have you know, and have angels know, and have devils know, that however lightly any of his creatures may think of sin, and however foolishly simple man may toy with it, he knows what a vile thing it is, and he will have no patience with it. "He will by no means spare the guilty."
2. And now we shall have a few words upon THE POWER OF THE CLEANSING.
Whom can it cleanse? That is the first question. David answers it, for he says, "It can cleanse me." He meant himself. I would not exaggerate David's sin, but it was a very frightful one. What could be more dreadful than for a man so highy-favored, who had so much light, so much communion with God, and who stood so high as a light in the midst of the nation, to commit two crimes so accursed as those which we must lay at his door - adultery and murder? While my blood runs chill at the very thought of his having committed them, yet in my soul I am glad that the Holy Spirit ever permitted such a black case to stand on record. What an encouragement to seek pardon it has been to many who have sined as foully as David did! If thou canst bend thy knee, and pray David's prayer, thou shalt get David's answer, "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean." What if thou hast even defiled thy neighbor's wife? What if thou hast even smitten thy neighbor to his heart, and left him dead upon the earth? These two crimes will damn thee to all eternity excpt thou shalt find pardon for them through the blood of Jesus; but there is pardon for them there. If thou lookest up to where that blood is streaming from the hands and feet and side of Jesus; if thou doest trust thy broken spirit in his hands, there is pardon for thy crimson sins to be had just now. Is there a harlot here? O poor fallen woman, I pray that Christ may so forgive thee that then thou wilt wash his feet with thy tears, and wipe them with the hairs of thine head! Is there a thief here? Men say that you will never be reclaimed, but I pray the eternal mercy, which saved the dying thief, to save the living thief.
Another question is,When will it cleanse? It will cleanse now. It will cleanse at this moment. He who trusts Christ is saved the moment that he trusts. His sin is blotted out the instant that he accepts Christ as his Substitute, and justifies God in smiting sin in the person of theSavior.
(C. H. Spurgeon, Spurgeon MInistries, PO Box 1673, Kingston, Ontario, Canada, K7L 5C8)
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