DHP Lent Devos 2021

Feb 19 - Spencer Burton

“Purge 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 that you have broken rejoice. Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.” Psalm 51:7-12

“Man! Whatchu mean whiter than snow?!”. My primary proclaimed this as we dove into the depths of the historical accuracy of God’s word and in this quote we see two main themes of this passage; purification and providence.

“Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be made clean.” A bold and powerful statement. The proclamation to be purged is not one to be taken lightly. To purge something is to rid it of anything that is unwanted typically in an abrupt or violent way. David wants to be gutted and stripped like a child does to their garlic bread. He wants the inner man in himself to be wiped out. He doesn’t want to simply be replaced or destroyed. He desires to be purified and his whole being (mind, body and soul) to become righteous. In first century Israel, hyssop was used for purification rituals. The priest would dip the hyssop branch into the blood and sprinkle it over the altar or the sacrifice. This is what David is implying when he is offering himself up as a sacrifice to the living God.

David is also making known and proclaiming the Lord’s sovereignty and providence over his life. He acknowledges Yawhew is the Lord, Priest, and Shepherd of his life. “Let me hear joy... Let these bones that you have broken rejoice.” David was broken over the altar of the Lord, sharing the sentiment of Paul in Romans 12, that we would make ourselves as a living sacrifice. He acknowledges the Lord’s hand through it all, not that the Lord caused him to sin, he is able to see his brokenness as the Lord pulls him into his grace. “There is fullness of joy in the presence of the Lord.” Likewise we to should examine the parts of us that our blocking the light from fully shining through

Feb 18 - Spencer Burton

“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy 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. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.” Psalm 51:1-6

This is a Psalm of repentance, a plea to be forgiven, a cry to be washed clean. It is a prayer and a confession David is asking to be sung in his courts. Even in David’s position as king, he recognizes himself as a man still in desperate need of Yahweh to intercede on his behalf. He knows his sin must be ever before him because in the light is where the righteous live. He is not trying to hide his sins but hopes his vulnerability may encourage his people to come before God in the same way.

His faith is not rooted in his chariots, his title, or the battles he has won, but in the one who has appointed and anointed him. From the start of the Psalm, we see the humble state of David as he comes before the Lord asking for mercy. He doesn’t attempt to justify his actions or diminish the weight of his sin. He simply asks for mercy, a cleansing only Jesus can bring.

In Hebrew culture they have pools filled with living water called Mikvah. In order to become ceremonially clean or before you entered into the holy place, you would have to wash in this pool. The water was important and couldn’t be dead, which means it had to have movement. For example, a river, lake, and the ocean are all bodies of living water. Because of the sacrificial system under the Mosaic Law, the mikvah was used constantly. You would have to endure the process of the sacrifice itself but also the act of physically cleaning yourself. Similar to the sacrifice, the mikvah also points to a future spiritual reality found in Jesus Christ. Jesus is a mikvah. In fact, He is a walking mikvah. He is THE living water and in Him we are perpetually washed clean.

This is the type of cleaning that David is asking for when he says, “Wash me thoroughly”. He needs something more than what the world has to offer. He needs the promises found in being covered by the blood of his coming Messiah.

Feb 17 - Aaron Jalovec

Check out our Advent Devotional from last year at advent.dalehouse.org.