“Cleanse me with hyssop and I will be clean; wash me and I will be whiter than snow.” (Psalm 51:7 NIV)
It was said in our service yesterday how believers need to detox from the world. The fear of this long and strange season clings to our frames and seeps into our hearts. To detox is to flood our systems with something strong and pure, to overwhelm ourselves with the Spirit and flush out everything else.
I read of hyssop and I think of the Wailing Wall, and also the tunnels below nearest to the original site of the Holy of Holies. The women there were so focused, rocking over their prayer missives and tucking slips of paper and nosegays of green herbs in the cracks. I’ve wondered if the small fistfuls of green wasn’t hyssop – our tour guide did not know. Hyssop is the most biblical plant I can bring to mind, referenced from Exodus to the Gospels.
Hyssop was an Old Testament medicinal herb, a pain-reliever with healing qualities. We first note that hyssop is the God-directed paintbrush for the blood on the doorposts during Passover, hinting at a someday Messiah that would provide salvation and healing alike. Hyssop was again employed to splatter the people and the parchment; sealing the covenant when Moses assembled the Tabernacle (Hebrews 9:19 NIV). Hyssop was prescribed to disinfect a household from leprosy in Numbers and there it was the exact metaphor chosen by King David to scrub his soul clean after his sin with Bathsheba. Lastly, hyssop was the pain-relieving plant offered to and rejected by our Savior struggling to breath on the cross. I wonder if it wasn’t insulting, a bit like offering a baby aspirin to a hospice patient.
In any case, a suffering, sorry King David asks the Lord to scour his soul, to create in him a clean heart. We know from the psalms that follow, God honored the sorry king’s request. He restores a right spirit to this sin-crushed leader. We read his words and realize that we, too, can come to altar for the spiritual detox we require.
CoVid-19 has been incredibly contagious from the very first news report. The actual infection seems to be easily transferred, but far more that that – the fear, frustration, misinformant and anger that has accompanied this pandmemic is far-reaching and soul-catching. Perhaps the only way to purify our hearts and minds is through large doses of God’s presence. We flood our systems with worship, and the Word, we pray through all the places we feel weak and we are detoxed of the world and made strong in the Spirit.
“Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit in me.”
(Psalm 51:10 NIV)
Lord, we see where the world seeps in with fear and panic. Please flood our frames today with power and truth. Flush out the anxiety so skillfully stoked by our media and replace with with peace that passes understanding. Scrub the cracks and crevices of our souls with Your supernatural disinfectant and fill us up again with Your strong and capable Spirit. Help us hold our ground with You. Amen.