What does it mean to be “whiter than snow” (Psalm 51:7)?

Response

The phrase “whiter than snow” symbolically describes the state of someone who has received forgiveness from God, been cleansed of sin, and redeemed.

King David penned Psalm 51 during his darkest moment of self-awareness following his adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband, Uriah. In this fourth “penitential psalm,” we see David genuinely repenting and confessing his sins (Psalm 51:3-5). Trusting in God’s abundant mercy, David earnestly asks: “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow” «Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. », (Psalm 51:7, ESV).

Hyssop was a small shrub used in the ceremonial cleansing of lepers under the Old Testament law. It was dipped in the sacrificial blood of an animal and sprinkled seven times on the person needing purification (Leviticus 14:6-7). David symbolically referred to hyssop in Psalm 51 to express his desire to be purified from sin. God’s forgiveness would make him “whiter than snow,” in a spiritual sense.

David recognized the depth of his sin, likening himself to a soiled garment in need of thorough washing. Only the most powerful remedy could cleanse him. David even traced his iniquity back to its origin, the corruption of original sin: “For I was born a sinner—yes, from the moment my mother conceived me” «Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; And in sin did my mother conceive me. », (Psalm 51:5, NLT).

David’s prayer then shifted towards restoration and renewal. It was as if David could hear the call for.The forthcoming cry of God’s heart through the prophet Isaiah: “Wash yourselves and be clean! Get your sins out of my sight. Give up your evil ways” «Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; », (Isaiah 1:16, NLT). So David pleaded with the Lord, “Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow,” foreshadowing Isaiah’s words, “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool” (Isaiah 1:16-18;NLT).

David’s prayer to be washed and made whiter than snow prefigured “the greater, more perfect” appropriation of God’s grace, forgiveness, and salvation made available through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ: “So Christ has now become the High Priest over all the good things that have come. He has entered that greater, more perfect Tabernacle in heaven, which was not made by human hands and is not part of this created world. With his own blood— not the blood of goats and calves— he entered the Most Holy Place once for all time and secured our redemption forever. Under the old system, the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer could cleanse people’s bodies from ceremonial impurity. Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins” (Hebrews 9:11-14;NLT).

We may consider our transgressions to be worse than David’s, but there are no sins that the blood of Jesus Christ cannot cleanse. Saul of Tarsus, the persecutor of Christians who became the great apostle Paul, was told by Ananias at his conversion, “Get up and be baptized, an

Wash away your sins by calling on His name” «And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord. », (Acts 22:16, HCSB). The apostle John affirmed, “If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin. . . . If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:7-9).

Like every Christian, we have flaws and must repent and draw near to the Lord in our darkest moments of failure, asking Christ “who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood” «and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, », (Revelation 1:5) to forgive us and wash our guilt-stained souls whiter than snow (Hebrews 10:19-23).

The book of Revelation describes a group of redeemed people as those who “have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” «And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. », (Revelation 7:14). It is through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross—the shedding of His blood—that we are redeemed and rescued from the kingdom of darkness and transferred to the kingdom of God (Revelation 5:11-13).