“Have mercy on me, O God, because of your loyal love! Because of your great compassion, wipe away my rebellious acts! Wash away my wrongdoing! Cleanse me of my sin! For I am aware of my rebellious acts; I am forever conscious of my sin. Against you – you above all – I have sinned; I have done what is evil in your sight. So you are just when you confront me; you are right when you condemn me. Look, I was guilty of sin from birth, a sinner the moment my mother conceived me. Look, you desire integrity in the inner man; you want me to possess wisdom. Sprinkle me with water and I will be pure; wash me and I will be whiter than snow. Grant me the ultimate joy of being forgiven! May the bones you crushed rejoice! Hide your face from my sins! Wipe away all my guilt! Create for me a pure heart, O God! Renew a resolute spirit within me! Do not reject me! Do not take your Holy Spirit away from me! Let me again experience the joy of your deliverance! Sustain me by giving me the desire to obey! Then I will teach rebels your merciful ways, and sinners will turn to you. Rescue me from the guilt of murder, O God, the God who delivers me! Then my tongue will shout for joy because of your deliverance. O Lord, give me the words! Then my mouth will praise you. Certainly you do not want a sacrifice, or else I would offer it; you do not desire a burnt sacrifice. The sacrifices God desires are a humble spirit – O God, a humble and repentant heart you will not reject. Because you favor Zion, do what is good for her! Fortify the walls of Jerusalem! Then you will accept the proper sacrifices, burnt sacrifices and whole offerings; then bulls will be sacrificed on your altar.”
— Psalms 51:1-19
Lengthy psalm, and I haven’t heard any reason to doubt the tradition that this was by David after he sinned against Bathsheba and Uriah.
Interesting that even the NET notes that vv 18-19 read as if they are from the exilic period. Why would David want the walls of Jerusalem to be fortified? He reigned during the most secure and prosperous time in Israel’s history. It makes sense that this psalm was read throughout their story and eventually edited to include further prayers for the people. Once they repented, the walls would be fortified and sacrifices could continue. They, as we, should adopt the heart of David here.
It’s always important to remind ourselves how poetry works in Hebrew. Second line (or third) usually helps us understand first in some way (either contrastive or fuller explanation). Some many of these verses are just saying the same thing twice in deeper sense.
“Having mercy” and “wiping away rebellious acts” would be similar and it’s all because of God’s love/compassion. Nothing David has done or said could motivate God. It’s solely based on God’s mercy.
The heart of repentance is first aware of doing wrong. This is acknowledgement that motives, actions, thoughts, are all against God’s moral law.
Some versions (and interpretations) stick with the “I have sinned against ONLY you.” Hebrew allows for that, and David is certainly focusing on his relationship break with YHWH, but there’s no need to separate his actions against Uriah and Bathsheba (and the baby). Shoot, and the army and whoever else was affected. (He should have been leading them in war.)
Due to parallelism, there’s no need to see David admitting that his birth was a sinful situation. He is simply acknowledging that he has been sinful since he was a child. And the second line confirms it. This can hardly be a proof text for original sin/guilt. I’m not denying the doctrine or some version of it, but this verse is not saying David was a sinful embryo. That abuses the genre.
YHWH wants David to possess wisdom…after all he is the king. He has to rule and make decisions. And yes, he is a regular human as well. Wisdom affects the mind and heart, which would play out in actions.
Would need to look at the cultic practices of sprinkling water in the tabernacle to see the relationship between washing and the forgiveness of sin. What is David asking here? So much about sacrifices and how it cleanses the tabernacle. Only one or two sacrifices really deal with the sinner (Day of Atonement, and the sinful lamb goes into the wilderness). But yes, there is ultimate joy in being forgiven. You can feel David’s sense of guilt in this passage. Freedom comes from forgiveness.
Isa 1:18 is another passage where God “reasons” with Israel about forgiveness and their sins become “white as wool” and then “snow.” I understand the biblical contexts. I know we have adopted biblical language straight from the text, but I have read a few articles of how our old and modern songs alike may be heard by all people of color. Why is the goal to be white as snow? A good listening point and perhaps worth tweaking language.
Do not take Holy Spirit. David is not scared of “losing salvation.” He doesn’t even have those categories of thinking. Remember his predecessor. Saul royally screwed up multiple times. God rejected him as king, and the Spirit left Saul. OT function of Spirit was distinct from NT. It came upon people for specific tasks for limited time periods (sometimes lengthy seasons or “reigns”). David does not want to lose God’s Spirit, presence, power.
NET makes note that the “sacrifice” discussed later in passage is not a sacrifice for sin. There were other offerings required by law. David says (poetically) those are not nearly as important as a repentant heart.
Lots of good thoughts in this psalm, worthy of reflection, not just when we feel guilt or conviction. Should be a regular reminder of our humble position before God. He is full of compassion and mercy. Forgiveness is ours in Christ.
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