Cleanse Me with Hyssop

 

	“Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.”
	—Psalm 51:7

Long before the “Fuller Brush Man” went from door to door selling his wares, people used the natural herb, hyssop, for cleaning and scrubbing. In addition, this branch carried strong fragrant blooms that often proved useful for many purposes. If you scrubbed with hyssop, you meant business—something like a mother taking a rough washcloth to her son’s dirty face.

In Psalm 51:7, he meant serious business with God when David said:

“Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.”

David knew his sins had defiled him and separated him from God. He not only expressed sorrow over his sin, he meant to put it behind him and serve God from then on with a purity his Lord would accept.

Hyssop is mentioned frequently in Scripture besides this reference, especially in the Old Testament.

In Exodus 12:22, before the destroying angel came through Egypt on the night of the Hebrews’ escape, they were told to take hyssop and use it to spatter blood on the doorposts of their homes. This blood symbolized the protection God would give these families, while all others were destroyed.

In Leviticus 14:3-7, the Lord told Moses to instruct the priest to use hyssop in cleansing lepers’ skin.

In Numbers 19:18-19, hyssop was prescribed again for the cleansing of unclean persons.

In Hebrews 9 in the New Testament, we find a description of the history of Moses using the hyssop branch to sprinkle blood on the scroll, the people, the tabernacle, and everything used in the ceremonies.

God’s attention to detail in His word is pretty incredible. According to John 19:28-30, at the death of Jesus on the cross, He said, “I am thirsty.” In that moment, the hyssop branch was lifted with a sponge dipped in vinegar to His lips, just before He gave His final word, “It is finished.”

While hyssop carries no magic potion to cleanse us from sin, as David seems to have requested, it does nevertheless convey the intent of God to “scrub us” of our rebellion and moral filth. When Jesus hung on the cross, His blood was shed as the agent of our purification.

Let hyssop, the “little plant with the big purpose,” reminds us daily of the cleansing power of that shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and the resulting forgiveness that God has given us as a gift of His mercy, grace, and love. God reaches out to us and scrubs, sprinkles, and cleanses us in order to bring us back into fellowship with Him that we may serve Him with all of our hearts, minds, souls, and strength.