As a blanket of snow covered many of our homes this weekend, our minds couldn’t help but think of the spiritual significance of snow. Even though I live in the South now (where we had flurries, and it still shut down schools), I’m a former New Englander. I have such a clear picture in my mind of the morning after a snowfall, waking up and looking outside my window to see the sun glistening like diamonds on an almost blindingly white blanket of snow covering the ground. Untouched. Perfect. The snow has covered the brown, dead grass beneath, and has turned the bleak world of winter into a scene of sparkling beauty. It seems magical, really.
But what David is pleading for here in the verse that inspired this hymn is not magic. It’s a miracle. We may have made a huge mistake or might be spiritually dead inside. But when that moment of repentance comes, when we awaken to the reality that we can’t do this on our own, and we need the Lord’s help, He is there to cover us in His love. He promises to wash our hearts of sin if we accept Him through the miracle of salvation, and in His eyes we will be as spotless as the snow.
