Whiter than the Snow
“Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.” (Psalm 51:7)
Last month, a small group of us enjoyed a visit to the Gambia, a small country on the West Coast of Africa. Gambia is well known as a beautiful and welcoming country, with temperatures in the mid to high 30’s at this time of year. It is a predominantly Muslim population, therefore Christ is known only as prophet, rather than as the Saviour of sinners.
Having felt the searing heat of Gambia, not known in our Hebridean climate, it was a shock to the system to come back home to the recent snowfall and freezing conditions. We may not experience as much snow as other countries, but snow is something that is never experienced in Gambia.
A heavy snowfall brings great excitement, particularly amongst young children who take to the slopes with their sledges, build snowmen and hone their skills in the art of snowball flights! For the rest of us, snow often brings back fond childhood memories of happier, more carefree days.
When a fresh snowfall glistens as a white blanket on the land, there is something particularly pure and beautiful about it. Scripture speaks about snow in such terms, but it also speaks of something that is whiter than snow.
David prayed, “wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.” In his prayer, a murderous, adulterous David, had recognised his sin, begged the Lord for mercy, and anticipated forgiveness. The Scriptures tell us that it is only the blood of Christ that can cleanse us from our sin. Whether we are in the Gambia, where Christ is little known, or here in Scotland, where we have had a great Gospel heritage which we have turned from, we are no different. We are all in need of recognising and repenting from our sin, whilst looking to Jesus as the only one who can cleanse us from our sin and make us whiter than the snow.
There is spiritual crisis less or more affecting the church and even worship.This is simply because we are professing Christ without yielding to his works for our salvation. We are yearning for heaven without recognizing Christ to grant us that salvation. In this,I’m saying let us look at this verse -Psalm 51:7.We were made to understand that David has sinned but he returned to God in repentance and confession of sin.David does not refer to physical cleaning, rather, he is asking God to cleanse him spiritually as he confess his sin(1 John 1:8-19).Meaning it is important to note that such sensitivity to sin and confession of it is a mark of a true believer,but the lack of such is evidence that a person may still be in an unconverted state.The verse is a voice of faith as well as a prayer;that;thou will purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean, wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. This should be our application ,for we cannot do without sin,because of our fallen and sinful nature. God is ever ready to mold us into new creatures. He is the potter and we are the clay.This should be our consciousness.