Psalm 51:6-7

Psalm 51, we're going to read verses 1 through

7. Verses 1 through 7. Be gracious to me, O God,

according to your lovingkindness, according to

the greatness of your compassion, blot out my

transgressions, wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,

and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions

and my sin is ever before me. You only I have

sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so

that you are justified when you speak and blameless

when you judge. Behold, I was brought forth in

iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.

Behold, you desire truth in the innermost being,

and in the hidden part you will make me know

wisdom. Here's our text for today. Purify me

with hyssop. and I shall be clean. Wash me, and

I shall be whiter than snow. As we continue considering

Psalm 51, I think it's a good thing to do by

way of reminder, just for us to meditate for

a moment and consider for a moment why we...

do expositional preaching. Why we give ourselves

to looking at the Word of God in an in -depth

way and drawing out its meaning. Drawing out

the connections that are present. Drawing out

the truth that is present. And doing our best

not to put in our own meaning, and our own spin

on things. Expositional preaching helps us to

receive the most out of the Word of God. We want

to know what God has to say. We want to know

all that God has to say for His church. Therefore,

we have to mine The scriptures. We have to dig

in them. So as we look at Psalm 51, we don't

do this just to fill our heads with information,

do we? We come and we continue to look at Psalm

51 because we need to know what Psalm 51 has

to say for our lives. Because we believe that

we are justified men and women as David was a

justified man. And David dealt with sin as we

deal with sin. So Psalm 51 has truth for us from

God. And we want to know what it says. Psalm

51 helps us understand what it means to walk.

in fellowship and communion with God. Psalm 51

helps us understand what it means to be a better

penitent sinner, meaning to better repent of

our sins. We need, brothers and sisters, better

repentance in our lives. Psalm 51 helps us understand

what it means to confess our sin to God. Brothers

and sisters, we need to confess our sin better

to God. Psalm 51 helps us understand what it

means to have faith in Jesus Christ. All of us,

every single one of us, each one of us in this

room need to have a stronger Faith in Jesus Christ.

We all need more godly sorrow. So Psalm 51 helps

us in all of these things. It's relevant for

our lives. It would be a dangerous thing to hear

and read and learn about confession and repentance

and faith and to hear about these things. And

to learn about these things. But never take from

the word of God. And apply these things to your

life. It would be a dangerous thing to sit week

in and week out. Under the preaching of Psalm

51. And never learn what it means to repent better.

To confess better. To have a greater and a stronger

faith in Jesus Christ. Sit under the preaching

of God's word and receive the truth that is in

the scripture and let it affect your faith. Let

it affect your repentance. Let it affect your

confession. Let it affect your fellowship and

your communion with God, brothers and sisters.

That's the purpose. That's why we continue going

through Psalm 51. That's why we continue expositing

the Word of God Sunday after Sunday after Sunday.

Because we need these things desperately because

of the waywardness of our hearts. Because of

the sinfulness of our hearts. We need constant

reminder that we need to repent. So, by way of

reminder, Take these things, sit under these

things, receive these things, accept these things

into your heart, into your mind, into your soul,

and let them affect you, your will, your behavior,

your life. Now, as we come to Psalm 51, verse

Psalms 51:7

7, where David cries out, Purify me with hyssop,

and I shall be clean. Wash me. and I shall be

whiter than snow. He is alluding to something

that we've already touched on briefly previously.

And that's the reality that David is likening

his sin to that of leprosy and its effects in

his life. By his referencing hyssop, we know

that he is referencing leprosy. and the ceremonial

purification and the rites and rituals of the

ceremonial law that had to do with leprosy. Leprosy

had unpleasant effects, not just physically,

but spiritually, emotionally, and in reality,

on the one who had leprosy. We read in Leviticus

Leviticus 13 · chapter mention

chapter 13, And Leviticus chapter 13 is all about

Leviticus 13 · chapter mention

the removal of the one who is unclean. The removal

of the one who has leprosy. Here's what we read.

As for the leper, this is in verse 45 and 46.

As for the leper who has the infection, his clothes

shall be torn and the hair of his head shall

be uncovered. He shall cover his mustache and

cry, unclean, unclean. He shall remain unclean

all the days during which he has the infection.

He is unclean. He shall live alone. His dwelling

shall be outside the camp. Those words may not

mean that much to us because we're so far removed.

But to that leper? His whole life was just turned

upside down. He's kicked out of his house. He's

removed from his dwelling, which he stayed in.

His belongings are burned. And he's forced to

make his disease known publicly. And anytime

somebody comes near or walks by, what does the

leopard have to cry out? Unclean, unclean, making

everybody known, everybody aware that he is infected,

that he is unclean, that he is dirty, that he

is impure. And more than that, he has to live

outside the camp alone. That means that he's

cut off, in a sense, from the worship of God.

He's cut off from fellowship and communion with

the God of Israel who redeemed him. This means

that he's separated. From the people of God,

all the rights, the privileges, the blessings

that come from being a part of the nation of

Israel, the leper is removed from it. The leper

is cut off from it. He can't get to them because

he is unclean. David is likening the effects

of his sin To leprosy. He's saying that his sin.

Has shut him out. From the divine presence. He's

saying that his sin. Has deadened him. And has

shut him out. And has removed him. From all the

blessed privileges. And the graces that come.

As being a part of the new covenant. As a part

of the covenant. And being a child of God. He's

saying that his sin. has separated him from the

people of God. It's put a barrier between him

and God's people. It's put a barrier between

him and God himself. This is what sin does, isn't

it, brothers and sisters? Sin removes us. It

separates us. It puts distance between us. It

isolates us. Sin is separating in nature. Do

you know why? Because when the soul becomes corrupted,

there comes an aversion to that which is holy,

that which is righteous, that which is good.

Sin gives the child of God. A distaste for God

himself because of the pollution that's in the

soul. Sin draws us away from that which is holy

and that which is good and that which is righteous.

And that's what David is saying in verse 7. Now,

as we examine this text in verse 7, there's three

things that we need to look at. The first. Being

the means that God has given for purification

and cleansing. We read in verse 7, David says,

Purify me with hyssop and I shall be clean. He

doesn't simply say purify me, wash me like he

did before. But now he makes a reference to that

which is the means that he is to be washed with

or washed by. Hyssop. So what is hyssop? Hyssop

was a green and a very furry and a leafy herb

that was used in several rituals and rites of

the ceremonial law in the Old Covenant. Now remember,

the leper has gone out of camp because of his

uncleanness. That was chapter 13 of Leviticus.

If we turn to chapter 14 of Leviticus, we read

of the restoration of the leper back to camp.

And what are the means that are appointed by

which the leper can return to camp? That's the

question we need to look at. Starting in chapter

14, verse 1. Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

This shall be the law of the leper in the day

of his cleansing. Now he shall be brought to

the priest and the priest shall go out to the

outside of the camp. Thus the priest shall look.

And if the infection of leprosy has been healed

in the leper, then the priest shall give orders

to take two live clean birds and a cedar wood

and cedar wood and a scarlet string and hyssop

for the one. who is to be cleansed. To the priest,

the priest, I'm sorry, shall also give orders

to slay the one bird in an earthenware vessel

over running water. As for the live bird, he

shall take it together with the cedar wood and

the scarlet string and the hyssop and shall dip

them and the live bird in the blood of the bird

that was slain over the running water. He shall

then sprinkle seven times the one who is to be

cleansed from the leprosy and shall pronounce

him clean and shall let the live bird go free

over the open field. David is appealing to hyssop,

which has to do with the sacrificial blood. That

would restore him to camp. He's appealing to

the sprinkling of the blood. That which would

restore him, which would renew him to the people

of God. David is referencing the ceremonial law.

And images and symbols and types and parts of

the ceremonial law. He's referencing hyssop.

But he's looking. to God to fulfill these realities

in his life. He's not going to the ceremonial

law to be cleansed of his inward purification,

is he? No, but the ceremonial law gives him these

categories, gives him these pictures, gives him

these ideas, so that he knows unclean can become

clean through the cleansing of blood and hyssop.

So the ceremonial law is helping him understand

these redemptive ideas. It's pointing him, what?

To the reality that he knows he needs sacrificial

blood to be cleansed on his insides. He understands.

So what does he do? He goes to God in faith.

And he believes that God is going to do this

for him. He's looking to the means. And he's

going to God for the reality that the ceremonial

law is symbolically portraying and putting forward.

We have much fuller revelation than David. We

have a closed canon, brothers and sisters. Whereas

David was dealing with types and shadows, And

he was looking to God in faith to fulfill these

realities. We know the great sacrifice which

we must appeal to for fresh sprinkling in our

lives. And the new covenant to be washed and

cleansed, don't we? It's the sacrifice of the

Lord Jesus Christ. It's the sacrifice of Jesus

Christ. His blood which purifies and cleanses

and washes. And we must go to God, seeking out

that sprinkling. Hebrews 9, 13 helps us in our

understanding of this a great deal. We read in

Hebrews 9, 13, sorry, 13 through 14. For if the

blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of heifers

sprinkling, he's alluding to... Hyssop there.

Hyssop was used in the offering of the heifer.

So hyssop is involved. Hyssop is later referenced

in the book of Hebrews. For if the blood of goats

and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling

those who have been defiled sanctify for the

cleansing of the flesh. Here it is. How much

more will the blood of Christ who through the

eternal spirit offered himself without blemish

to God. Cleanse your conscience from dead works

to serve the living God. We look not to this

idea of sacrificial blood. We look... To the

Lord Jesus Christ, his death on the cross, his

atoning work. We know that it's his blood, his

death, his sacrifice, his work alone, which is

sufficient to cleanse us of our sins. And it's

the only place that we can go for cleansing.

It's the only place we can go for purification

of our sins. And brothers and sisters, it is

utterly sufficient for this purpose. It is utterly

sufficient for this purpose. His sacrifice was

once for all. When we talk about being restored

with the Lord after sinning, when we talk about

renewal and moral purification, it's not so much

about the nature of our sin. As it is about the

nature and the efficacy of the death and the

sacrifice of Jesus Christ. What is so bad about

your sin that his death is insufficient to cover

it? How is it that you are so bad that you cannot

be cleansed, that you cannot be purified, that

you cannot be washed by his blood? There is no

sin so bad, so grievous, so horrible that his

blood will not wash you of it. That his blood

will not cleanse you of that sin. It's about

the nature and the efficacy of his sacrifice.

Didn't Jesus say it is finished? Has he not obtained

eternal redemption? Is it not done? Is sin not

taken care of by the blessed work of the Son

of God? Did the Lord not receive him on the third

day and accept his sacrifice as sufficient and

adequate and confirm the sufficiency of His death

and His sacrifice in the resurrection? Was God

not pleased to declare that Christ's sacrifice

was efficient in raising Him from the dead and

declaring that He is the Son of God in power?

Brothers and sisters, His sacrifice is effective

to cover sins. His sacrifice, His blood, is the

only thing that can. Where else are you looking?

Where else do you go to have your sins washed?

Where else can you go to have your wickedness

cleansed from you? There's nowhere else to go.

You must cry out with David, purify me with hyssop.

But our cry is purify me with the blood of Christ.

We must go to the Lord Jesus Christ because he's

the only appointed means that God has given for

purification, cleansing, and for atonement in

the life of any sinner, any at all, must go to

Christ. This leads us to the second thing, the

priest being looked to for purification and cleansing.

The leper had to have the ritual purification

administered by the priest. It was only the priest

that could administer the ritual purification

with hyssop. The leper would have worked with

the priest, would have gone to the priest, would

have had to dealt with the priest, would have

heard from the priest, would have followed the

priest's instructions. would have obeyed the

priest, would have submitted to the priest. Why?

Because he wanted to be cleansed. He wanted to

return to camp. He wanted to go back to the worship

of God. He wanted to be restored. David isn't

looking to a man in this text as his priest.

David isn't looking horizontally to anybody to

be his priest and administer the sprinkling blood

of Christ. He's looking to heaven. He's looking

to God. He's looking to a divine priest. He's

looking to a heavenly priest. He's looking to

the Lord himself to impart purification and cleansing

in his life. But he is looking to a priest. He's

looking to the Lord to impart his gracious influence

in his life. to sanctify and cleanse his soul.

This is an act of faith on the part of David.

Because he doesn't know all the details explicitly

as we do. He's believing, he's trusting that

God will accomplish this reality in his life.

He's trusting that God will in fact purify him

of his sins. He's believing that his priest in

heaven will in fact cleanse him and make him

whiter than snow. It's an act of faith, brothers

and sisters. He's looking to God. He's looking

to his priest by faith for cleansing, for sanctification,

for holiness. for renewal, for moral purification.

He's believing. We've talked a lot about repentance

and confession in Psalm 51. But in talking about

those things, we mustn't forget and we mustn't

neglect faith. True faith that is necessary and

required. for restoration, brothers and sisters.

It's not just repentance that leads to restoration

with God. It's trust in our great high priest

who leads to restoration with God. What's the

significance of faith in sanctification? We'll

touch on this a bit later. But we see that faith

is just as necessary as repentance. The two must

always be present, though they may not always

manifest themselves at the same time or in the

same way. Faith and repentance must always be

present because God uses faith and repentance,

but primarily faith, to sanctify the sinner.

to restore the sinner. It's through faith as

an instrument that Christ sanctifies his people.

So faith is vitally important, and it must be

faith in Christ as our high priest. We think

about repentance, and the Bible describes repentance

as repentance toward God. God is holy. God is

righteous. God is just. God is offended. But

God in a general way is not the object of our

faith, brothers and sisters. God in a general

and a vague way is not the object on what we

believe. We believe in the Lord Jesus Christ,

the God -man. We believe in his life, his death,

and his resurrection. We believe in his priestly

work of atonement and sacrifice. So yes, we must

have repentance with regards to our sin, but

we must also have faith which rests squarely

on the Lord Jesus Christ and on his work, believing

that he will continue to minister to us. That

he will continue to save us. He will continue

to sanctify us through his spirit from heaven.

Looking to him as David looked to God. Looking

to the Lord Jesus Christ in heaven who is our

great high priest. Trusting in him to do that

which David was trusting in God for. To purify

us of our sins. To cleanse us and to wash us

of our iniquity. We must deal with our sins.

That's the reality of it, brothers and sisters.

We must deal with our sins. But we must deal

with Christ by faith. We must deal with Christ

by faith and we must deal with our sins. We must

do both. When we repent, we must trust in Christ

and his death and his sacrifice. Believing what

he has done. People trust in all kinds of things.

People believe in all kinds of things to be restored

with God. I dare say that we trust in all kinds

of things to try and make ourselves right with

God again after we have sinned. Some people.

Trust and put their faith in service. Meaning,

I've sinned. I feel bad. This isn't good. I have

guilt. I'm just going to serve more. I'm going

to trust that in my service and my good deeds

and my good works, I'll be restored. Some people

trust in ministry. This is something that pastors

deal with, that elders deal with. Trusting in

the work of the ministry. Well, I'm in the ministry.

I'm going to keep pressing on. I'm going to do

good. I'll be good. I'll be good to go. I'll

be right with God. We can't put our faith in

these things. Some people look to the secular

world and secular instruction. What's all the

rage at the moment? Influencers. What's all the

rage? It's those people who have lots of practical

wisdom for our life. Brothers and sisters, that

won't make you right with God. It won't restore

you in your fellowship and your communion with

God. Getting up earlier, working harder, and

putting practical principles into work, into

your life, that won't fix your communion and

fellowship with God. You can't put your faith

in any of that stuff. Some people put their trust

and their faith in secular books and self -help

teaching. Brothers and sisters, that will not

restore you to communion and fellowship with

God. Some people put their faith in repentance

and confession, believing. That if I just repent,

I will be restored no matter what. All I have

to do is say these words and go through this

action. What do they do? The same thing the Church

of Rome does. Separating out these duties and

giving them merit and worth and value in and

of themselves separate from Christ. Brothers

and sisters, this is the danger we have to consider

whenever we think about these things. There is

no value, there is no worth, there is no effectiveness

in repentance, there is no value, and there is

no effectiveness in confession if it's not connected

to Jesus Christ. We can trust in those things.

We can trust in tradition. There's any number

of things we can trust in, but none of them,

not a single one, will restore you to fellowship

with God. Your faith must be placed in Jesus

Christ, trusting him and his sacrifice to restore

you to the Lord. A lot of people, I really don't

think their issue necessarily is repentance.

I think it's where they put their faith. It's

not a matter of forsaking their sin. It's a matter

of... What they trust in. I imagine one of the

struggles. In our area. And I know one of my

struggles. Is trusting in a self -righteous attitude.

And self -righteous wisdom. And self -righteous

supposed good deeds. Brothers and sisters. This

will not restore us to fellowship with God. This

does not lead to joy. This does not lead. To

fellowship with God. Faith in Christ and repentance

toward God lead to restoration. Lead to purification

and cleansing. David is looking to God as his

high priest and we must look to the Lord Jesus

Christ as our great high priest. Now we've considered

the means and we've considered the priest. The

last thing we have to look at is the certainty

of cleansing that's spoken of. David is certain

of this reality. It's amazing when we look at

this text. Listen to these words. I shall be

clean. I shall be whiter than snow. He has confidence

that this will be a reality in his life. That

he will possess this reality in his life. That

this will be a reality in his soul. He even says

that he'll be whiter than snow. He's talking

about the fact That he believes there's abundant

cleansing power in God's cleansing. Meaning,

it's not just that he's going to make me white.

He's going to make me whiter than white. He's

not just going to make me clean. He's going to

make me cleaner than clean. He's going to make

me purer than pure. See, the basis for his confidence

is... The sacrifice. The basis for his confidence

is the priest. Because he knows that the sacrifice

God appoints will in fact cleanse of sin. He

knows that God, his priest, will cleanse him.

It's interesting that He uses the word wash in

verse 7. He says, wash me. That word is actually

used in verse 8 of Leviticus chapter 11. It's

Leviticus 11 · chapter mention

referring to the clothes that the leper has to

wash. It carries this idea that they have to

be manhandled. The clothes have to be rubbed

hard. They have to be beaten almost. It's a forceful

cleansing. It's a forceful washing because the

impurity is so deep. David is confident that

God himself will do this in his life. It's important

for us also to understand and recognize that

David doesn't say these things independently

of what he said before or after. When we consider

this text, when we consider any text, brothers

and sisters, we can't take that verse and solely

take the truth in that verse and separate it

as independent from everything around it. Because

its meaning is dependent somewhat on the meaning

of the context in the verse before it and the

verse after it. Everything helps inform our understanding

of the meaning. So we have to consider what came

before, what preceded this, and what follows

in order to understand the confidence and the

certainty that David has in this cleansing and

purification. What comes before this? Faith and

repentance. Faith and repentance. Now earlier

I told you we'd get to this. Why is faith and

repentance so essential and so important for

restoration, for sanctification, brothers and

sisters? We all know, because we've heard Reformed

teachers say it, we've heard R .C. Sproul say

it, we've heard our favorite preachers say it,

that faith is the instrumental means or cause

of justification. We've all heard that. We've

all understood that meaning, that faith is the

instrument or the cause or the means by which

justification is imputed and given and declared.

Faith is the instrumental cause or means of our

sanctification as well, brothers and sisters.

So why is it important that we have faith and

repentance? Why is it important that we repent

of our sin? Because it's through our faith that

Christ actually purifies us and cleanses us.

And it's not like justification where the weakest,

the smallest degree of faith will equally be

justified in the sight of God. Christ cleanses,

Christ sanctifies, Christ purifies through faith.

He works in the lives of his saints through that

blessed gift of believing in him. So why do we

keep saying you need to repent of your sin? You

need to trust in Christ? Why is repentance important?

Because it shows that you have faith. How do

you know that you have saving faith? How do you

know that you have ongoing, truant, persevering

faith? Because of ongoing and true perseverance

in your life. So it's necessary in order for

sanctification and our great high priest to work

in our life that we believe in him. That we trust

in him. That we repent of our sins. Because it's

through that that he works in our life. That

he exerts his gracious influence into our soul

and purifies us and cleanses us and washes us.

Believe in Christ, its significance, its necessity

for restoration, for renewal, for moral purity

in your life according to the law of God. Now,

this certainty also precedes certain things in

the psalm. Not just does it follow faith and

repentance, but it's important, and I think this

is a hopeful moment in the psalm. This certainty

precedes... What do we read in the next verse?

Joy and gladness. It precedes usefulness. It

precedes worship that's willing and heartfelt.

So certainty with regards to the means that God

has given to be cleansed is what leads to joy

and gladness. It's what leads to true, meaningful,

heartfelt worship in our lives. It's what leads

us back to the camp, brothers and sisters. It's

what restores us to the rights and privileges

of Israel as a leper would, but we experience

the rights and the privileges of the new covenant.

David is confident. that he will be restored,

that he will return to the camp. Now, let me

offer you three applications of this for our

lives. The first is that we are helped in our

understanding of apathy and antipathy towards

holy and divine things. Why would, and we've

touched on this, why would a person have antipathy

or have an antagonistic spirit or a distaste

for the worship of God, for fellowship, for the

preaching of God's word, for prayer, for Bible

studying, for meditation on the word of God?

Because there's unresolved, undealt with, unrepented

of sin remaining in their life. We all know that

feeling. Every single one of us know that feeling.

You sit down to read or study your Bible, and

you just don't want to. You don't desire to,

you don't long to, and you'll do anything and

everything but read that Bible. What is that?

That's our corrupt nature. Working in enmity

and hostility towards holy and divine things.

Now that's magnified when we have willful, volitional,

unrepentant sin in our life. It gives us an aversion

to the corporate worship of God. Unrepentant

of sin tells you to stay home and avoid that

singing and that conviction and that preaching

and those people because it makes me uncomfortable.

I don't like it. I don't like the way it makes

me feel. Brothers and sisters, that's an aversion.

That's an antipathy, or we could say that's complacency

regarding divine and holy things because of unrepentant

of sin potentially in your life. Examine your

hearts, brothers and sisters. Do you have hostility

in your heart towards divine things? Do you have

enmity in your soul against the preaching of

the word of God, against the word of God itself?

Maybe that's because you have unrepented of and

undealt with sin in your life. Maybe it's because

you're not believing in the Lord Jesus Christ

as you ought to be believing in the Lord Jesus

Christ. Think about the table. What would keep

somebody from coming to the table? What would

keep you from coming to the table? What would

give you hesitancy from coming to this table,

the blessed table that Christ has appointed to

his church? undealt with, unrepentant of sin

in your life. That's what keeps us from God's

holy things, God's blessed things. Deal with

the sin and go into the camp. Deal with the sin

in your life and go to the holy thing and be

blessed and be edified and be built up. Give

up your sin, forsake it, and lay hold of Christ

by faith and be strengthened. and return to fellowship

with God. So we're given help in this in our

lives. But we're also warned about the danger

of defilement and pollution in the life of the

saint. It's real. Why does David, a saint, a

justified man, why does he need to be purified

and cleansed? Because he's defiled and polluted.

It is just a reality. It's just as much a reality

in the life of a Christian as it is in the life

of the unregenerate and non -Christian. What

we do, what we say, what we participate in, what

we see, what we surround ourselves with are transgression

of God's law. Our sins of omission, they have

impacts that are real on our person. Real defilement

and real pollution enter into our soul. It's

almost as though when we sin, it draws out our

corrupt nature more and more and more. And it

pollutes us more and more and more. And the more

we sin, the more our corrupt nature takes hold

again. The more we sin, the more it lays hold

and it grabs us. And it's harder to shake. It's

harder to get rid of. Pollution and defilement

are a real thing in the life of the one who knows

Jesus Christ. What we look at matters. How we

act matters. Whether or not we sin actually matters

in the life of our souls experimentally, in our

hearts. Actual effects, actual results. Consider

that, brothers and sisters. It's real. Lastly,

we are exhorted to repent, believe, and pray

with David, to cry out to our great high priest.

We are exhorted. to join David in his cry, not

just for the forgiveness of sins, brothers and

sisters, but also for purification and cleansing

in our life. Don't stop at forgive me, Lord.

Continue and press on and ask the Lord to purify

you and make you holy, to cleanse you from your

defilement and your sin and your wickedness in

your life. Continue praying. Press on and be

diligent in prayer. Join together with David.

When you sin, go to the throne quickly and cry

out for purification and holiness. For cleansing

from the defilement you just brought upon your

soul. And trust in your great high priest that

he will in fact purify you and cleanse you of

your sin. That he will work through your faith.

in your soul to sanctify you and make you holy

in this life, brothers and sisters.