Prayer an Index of the Heart
J. Addison Alexander, D. D. Psalm 51:7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Men's prayers are this. And they show, also, how far men agree with one another, for if we sincerely unite in the prayers of other men, whether living or dead, this shows that we feel as they did and believe what they believed. But it is better to follow the prayers of the Bible, for they are free from the infirmity and error to which merely human prayers are liable. And to provide us with such true patterns of prayer is one reason why the Bible contains so many prayers. If we adopt them we cannot err. And this is especially true of this fifty-first psalm: it teaches the penitent sinner how to pray. Let us take the one petition contained in the text as showing this. I. It implies conscious defilement. There is the consciousness of sin. II. AN INTENSE DESIRE FOR CLEANSING. This does not always co-exist with thee sense of defilement, Many men love their sin too well to give it up, and hence could not pray this prayer. III. THE CONSCIOUSNESS THAT CLEANSING MUST COME FROM OTHER HANDS THAN HIS OWN. It is a confession of inability on the sinner's part to cleanse himself. Else he would not come thus to God. IV. BELIEF THAT GOD CAN CLEANSE HIM. "Purge me and I shall be clean, wash me," etc. And he believes that the cleansing will be complete. Many men are willing to be partially cleansed, but not wholly. But this man not only desires perfect cleansing, but believes that God can thus cleanse him. He says, "I shall be whiter than snow." V. THIS PRAYER IMPLIES FAITH IN THE ATONEMENT OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST. Some amongst the heathen, and yet others, have desired entire deliverance from sin, but have not known how it is to be accomplished. But this prayer points to that which was the type of Christ's Atonement — the blood sprinkled with hyssop. Now, unless we accept these teachings, which are all plainly implied in this prayer, we can never make it our own: but if we do, then be sure our prayer shall not long be left unanswered. (J. Addison Alexander, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. WEB: Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean. Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.