Psalms 51:1-19
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.
1 Have mercy upon me, O God,
According to Your lovingkindness;
According to the multitude of Your tender mercies,
Blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
And cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I acknowledge my transgressions,
And my sin is always before me.
4 Against You, You only, have I sinned,
And done this evil in Your sight—
That You may be found just when You speak,
And blameless when You judge.
5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
And in sin my mother conceived me.
6 Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts,
And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.
7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Make me hear joy and gladness,
That the bones You have broken may rejoice.
9 Hide Your face from my sins,
And blot out all my iniquities.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me away from Your presence,
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,
And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.
13 Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,
And sinners shall be converted to You.
14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
The God of my salvation,
And my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness.
15 O Lord, open my lips,
And my mouth shall show forth Your praise.
16 For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it;
You do not delight in burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,
A broken and a contrite heart—
These, O God, You will not despise.
18 Do good in Your good pleasure to Zion;
Build the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then You shall be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness,
With burnt offering and whole burnt offering;
Then they shall offer bulls on Your altar.
This is a song of confession of sin and repentance of a broken spirit leading to forgiveness and deliverance. It was written by King David after Nathan the prophet confronted him because he had gone in to Bathsheba, another man’s wife after sending Uriah to his death to take her to himself (2 Samuel 12:7, 9, 13). David realized and admitted his sin to God and confessed it as such without excuse or explanation. He asked for mercy in forgiveness for his heinous sin because of God’s greater mercy than his sin. He asked God to blot it out, to erase all trace of the power of that sin over him (though not the consequences, which he was still responsible for). When we acknowledge our sins as the psalmist, we too can be washed clean with the cleansing sacrifice of the life given by the blood of Jesus Christ instead of the blood of our own lives (Genesis 9:4, Leviticus 17:11, Ephesians 2:13, 1 John 1:7). All our sin is against God, and His word rightly and justly accuses us from birth as sinners in the hands of an angry God apart from repentance and mercy to restoration and reconciliation. We are all born in sin (Romans 5:12), and this is what we must confess to Him, not just the sins we continue to commit throughout our lives. That confession of our sinful nature is being truthful inwardly leading to outward effectual repentance. Truth is admitting or confessing to God our sins, being honest with Him and ourselves, not covering our own sin, but looking for God to cover it. God’s forgiveness makes us white in His righteousness by atoning and eternal effectiveness. We find joy as David did when forgiven by the absolution which only God alone can provide - no priest, pastor, or pope can confer what the Almighty alone can do. God blots put our sin and sees them no more as verse 9 spells out for us. God’s grace of forgiveness not only provides a clean heart, but also a steadfast assurance in our hearts knowing that He will never leave or forsake us because of our sin once confessed and forgiven (Hebrews 13:5). Forgiveness gives us deep-seated joy by His Spirit within, and leads us to bear witness of that forgiveness and reconciliation with God (in Christ) to others for their own salvation from sin’s curse. David asked specifically for forgiveness for shedding the blood of Uriah when confronted by Nathan, setting an example for us to praise His righteousness and thanksgiving for His deliverance. Sacrifices of animals in rituals is not the means to covering our sin, but a change by God and His righteousness leading to a broken spirit and humble heart from full knowledge of our sin and a resulting offering of ourselves as living sacrifices (Romans 12:1). God does good, and He builds the New Jerusalem for us as the former for His anointed king. Our living sacrifices of resulting good works after the free grace of deliverance from sin’s penalty in Christ are what is pleasing to God (Ephesians 2:8-10). May we learn from King David’s sin how great our own sinfulness is and the just penalty for it, praising Him for covering our sinful nature and ongoing sins forevermore!
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