Hi, this is Joni Eareckson Tada with a word you’ve never heard.
Welcome to “Joni and Friends.” And you are going to be fascinated by this because I bet you’ve read this word before, and you don't even know it. I stumbled across it when I was memorizing Psalm 51 out of the King James Bible (because I can’t reach for a hardbound Bible and, you know, flip it open, turn the pages … my hands don’t work!). Except, when I read the Bible on my iPad, then turning pages is very easy, but that’s another radio program. Back to my point: The reason I memorize the Word of God is because I don’t have hands, I can’t hold a book and I want to have it handy. I can't get up, walk across the room, and get a Bible off the shelf. So for instance, at night when I am in bed and it’s impossible to reach for anything, I have to have it in my heart. So, for me, memorizing Scripture is the practical thing to do.
And on this occasion, I was memorizing Psalm 51, David’s song of repentance. And I really like the King James Version for memorizing. For me, it’s easier. It’s familiar. I was raised in the Reformed Episcopal Church where we read the Book of Common Prayer. And that Book was written the same time as the King James Bible, so I’m comfortable with the language. They’re unusual words, but even that makes them easier to memorize, a little like poetry. And for some reason my mind is able to retain King James language better.
Well, when I was memorizing Psalm 51, I was stopped short at the second verse. I re-read it and thought for certain the publisher had made an error. Because in the King James it says, “Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.” Now I know what you’re thinking: “She said that word wrong. It’s not supposed to be throughly, it should be ‘wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity’ right?”
Well, that’s exactly what I thought. In fact, I was memorizing it that way until I looked closer at the spelling of the word. It is spelled "throo-ly." I went ahead and checked other King James Bibles printed by different publishers and I was astounded to see the same thing: the word "throo-ly." So I did a little research on this and I learned that in Elizabethan language, the English of the 16th century, the word ‘throughly’ literally means "through and through," like, scrubbing something inside out. I guess the best paraphrase might be, “Lord, wash me inside out from mine iniquity — through and through.” Wow, I was so heartened to read that. Some translations like the NIV say, "cleanse me from my sin," but somehow, that doesn't quite convey the idea of through and through, does it.
Well, it’s not many times that I prefer English from the 16th century, but this time, I do. Because I just don’t want God to just scrub the outside of my soul, helping me to get rid of surface sins; no, I want him to do more than cleansing me from my sin — I want Him to wash me through and through, clean clear through. "Holy Spirit, make my heart Spic N Span, clean!” Unfortunately, the word ‘throughly’ it really doesn’t exist anymore. In fact, when I wrote it on my computer, my automatic spell check kept trying to change it to ‘thoroughly.’ But I’m with Shakespeare; I’m with Queen Elizabeth; I’m with King James on this one. Lord Jesus, don’t just do an exterior job on my character, get out the "Mr. Clean Magic Eraser," get rid of every vestige of hidden sins. And, friend, that’s my prayer for you today. In fact, 1 Thessalonians 5:23 says (in modern English, I might add) it says, “May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. There, it says it as the Elizabethans would. And the good news: The one who calls you is faithful and He will do it.
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