Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Psalm 51:7
I only found the word ‘snow’ twice in the Bible. Snow seems to be as scarce in Scripture as it has been in southwest Michigan this winter.
Both times snow is mentioned, however, it is in reference to how we or our sins will be after encountering the cleansing power of God’s forgiveness. In Psalm 51, the writer says that when God washes us, we are whiter than snow. And in the very first chapter of his book, the prophet Isaiah writes that although our sins are like scarlet, through God’s forgiveness they shall become as white as snow.
Even though I’m one of those people who likes to have snow for Christmas but then would prefer to see it go away for another year, I still enjoy seeing an occasional fresh snowfall, one that covers everything with that clean, beautiful coating of white. However, a covering is all that it is.
While I might look out over the deck and yard, out into the woods and see that beautiful blanket, I know what still lies beneath it. The cracks in the driveway that make roller blading impossible will be there when the snow melts. The rusty lawn chair will still need painting in the spring – the rust isn’t gone, just covered up. Poison ivy along the trail will return come summer. Things look better with the snowy covering, but they really haven’t changed.
But when God’s Word speaks of snow, it refers to a profound change. God doesn’t just cover up our sins like a linen cloth might be spread over an old table. Rather, there is a miraculous change. The sinner is washed, sins removed completely, we are made holy again in God’s sight, and we are indeed whiter than snow.
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