Structure
This psalm is a straightforward confession of rebellion against God with a plea for Him to restore David and the promise of a faithful life in the future. Intimacy with God reigns within this psalm: It is in direct address, with 45 appearances of either the pronoun “You” or an imperative verb directed to God.
The psalm is divided into two parts, which form mirror images, reflecting each other in subject matter.
Scribal Notes
This is not part of the official psalm but worship notes for the musical director.
For the leader. A psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came to him after he had come to Bathsheba.
The scribal notes incorporate a barbed pun, engaging in clever word play. Here, “come” has two meanings. The first means “arrival,” referring to Nathan entering the king’s chambers. The second, refers to David, where “come” means “sexual intercourse.”
Verses 1-2
Psalm 51 opens with a piling up of pleas for cleansing and of words describing the past action of the psalmist, King David. He begins with a series of pleas in the imperative voice: grace me, blot out, wash, and cleanse. These pleas are grounded in the essential character of God’s being: according to your “faithful love” (chesed) and “compassion” (racham). These two verses echo the classic expression of God’s mercy, grace, and forgiveness in Exodus 34:6: “Yahweh, Yahweh God: compassionate and gracious… abounding in faithful love…”
Grace me, O Elohim,
as befits Your faithful love.In keeping with Your abundant compassion,
blot out my rebellion.Again and again, wash me from my guilt,
and from my sin, cleanse me.
“Elohim”: The generic word for God, which, in the Hebrew, can either be a singular or plural.
“grace”: Hebrew, chanan. This is usually translated as “mercy.” However, the verb not only means “have pity on” but also includes bringing a reality of renewal.
“rebellion”: Hebrew, pesha. The traditional translation of “transgression” is altogether too pallid. The fundamental idea expressed by pesha is to “to rebel, revolt.”
“Again and again”: The Hebrew repeats “many,” rabah, multiplying the effect of the washing.
David does not appeal to his personal efforts at repentance, tears, or remorse but to God’s “faithful love” and “abundant compassion.”
Verses 3-4
David now admits his role in his guilt and the seriousness of the situation.
For I know my rebellion,
and my sin is ever before me.Against You, You alone, have I sinned,
and done what is evil in Your eyes.So, You are righteous when You sentence,
and blameless when You judge.
Isn’t David guilty of sinning against others and God? Yes! David, however, only addresses God. Why? Scripture reveals that sin against another is also a sin against God.
- In Genesis 39:9, Joseph tells Potiphar’s wife when she tries to get him to have sex with her: “No one has more authority in this house than I do. He [Potiphar] has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. So, how can I commit such a terrible evil and sin against God?”
- When Nathan confronted David with his sin in 2 Samuel 12, David replied: “I have sinned against Yahweh” (vs. 13).
Verses 5-6
Indeed, I was born in guilt;
in sin, my mother spawned me.Indeed, You desire truth in the inmost being;
in what is secret, make wisdom known to me.
“guilt”: Hebrew, avon, which means perversity, depravity, iniquity, and guilt. Every person has an inborn tendency toward evil because of his inherited sinful condition. We find this reality expressed elsewhere in the Old Testament: 1 Kings 8:46; Job 4:17, 14:4, 15:14, 25:4; Proverbs 20:9. So also the New Testament: Romans 5:12, 19, 7:13-21; Ephesians 2:1-3
“spawned”: Hebrew, yacham. This verb is also the word used to describe animals in heat.
“inward”: This word is derived from the verb “to cover, to conceal,” which in this psalm refers to inner thoughts or wisdom. It can also refer to one’s genitals. So, a bit of “word play” is going on here, for if David had truth in his “inward being,” he would have lived out that truth with his genitals.
Verses 7-9
Purify me with a hyssop that I may be clean.
Wash me that I may be whiter than snow.Let me hear joy and gladness.
Let the bones that You crushed rejoice.Hide Your face from my sins,
and blot out my iniquities.
“hyssop”: This recalls God’s mandated rituals to remove impurity. Hyssop was used to sprinkle water in cases of a plague indoors (Leviticus14:49-51) or contact with the dead (Numbers 19:8-19). Through this imagery, David metaphorically admits that what he did turned him into a plague and killed him.
“joy… gladness… rejoice”: David now moves beyond the sin and asks for restoration. The Psalm here uses beautiful alliteration, seeking the sounds of joy and gladness: tasmieni sason wesimha.
Verses 10-12
Create a pure heart in me, O Elohim,
and renew a resolute Spirit within me.Do not fling me from Your presence,
or take Your Holy Spirit from me.Return to me the joy of Your salvation,
and sustain me with a generous Spirit.
“create”: “Create,” first expressed God’s act of calling the world into existence (Genesis 1:1). Isaiah used “create” to speak of God’s transformation of reality: what emerges is now something new and different (Isaiah 41:20; 45:8, 12; 65:17-18). Through “create,” David asks God to bring into existence what was not there before. Unless God speaks a reality into being, we will not have it.
“heart”: “Heart,” a parallel to “spirit,” is not the seat of emotions as we think in English. In Hebrew, that would be the “kidneys” or “bowels.” Heart is closer to our mind and will, the location of decision, action, and loyalty. As the seat of both the intellect and the power of decision, the heart cannot simply be reformed—it requires a new creation.
“resolute”: Hebrew, nakon, connotes stability, firmness, which at first seems strange when applied to a wind, breath, or spirit, but this means a firm resolve or strong will.
“fling”: Hebrew, laqach. This verb has a connotation of violent action, which the conventional translation of it as “cast” does not convey.
“holy”: “holy,” which refers to God’s breath, which is in the living creature (Gen 2:7, 7:22). If God were to withdraw His divine breath, life would stop (see Psalm 104:29-30). This is broader than our thinking of “Holy Spirit.”
“joy of your salvation”: The spirit of holiness that David begs to receive within himself is the “joy of [God’s] salvation,” which he earlier experienced in his life (1 Samuel 16:13).
God’s Spirit recreates the psalmist. We find the three references are in parallel positions:
- renew a resolute Spirit within me
- do not… take Your Holy Spirit from me
- sustain me with a generous Spirit
The desire for a resolute Spirit moves to God’s Spirit of holiness. From there, David wishes to be reconciled not only to his God but also to the human race: “sustain me with a generous Spirit.” This is the generosity of God being lived out by David being generous toward others.
David doesn’t only ask for an outward conformity to God’s design but an interior resolve and transformation. The three descriptions point to a transformed person, with firm resolve, based on God’s life which breathes in and through him, and which expresses itself in a generous life.
Now ready to live in his newly received freedom, David commits himself to share with others the ways of Yahweh.
Verses 13-14
Then I will teach Your ways to rebels,
and sinners will return to You.Save me from bloodshed, O Elohim, O Elohim of my salvation,
and my tongue will sing in Your righteousness.
With tongue, lips, and mouth, the psalmist will teach those who have rebelled against God, having learned from the depths of his own despair.
Verses 15-17
O Adonai, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.For You do not desire a sacrifice,
and You take no pleasure in a burnt offering.The sacrifices of Elohim are a broken spirit:
A broken and crushed heart, O Elohim, You will not spurn.
“Adonai”: “Lord,” a title, spoken in place of Yahweh out of reverence.
In Leviticus 1-7, God instructed the people of Israel on His sacrificial system. Leviticus 6:2-7 reveals that if someone defrauds, robs, or slanders a neighbor, he must first restore what he took to its rightful owner—with an additional 20 percent of its value! Only then, may the person go to the priest and present a guilt offering. With God, inward and outward actions are to match.
These verses do not dismantle God’s commanded rituals for His people. Instead, they confront an outward sacrifice without the matching sacrifice of spirit and heart.
Verses 18-19
Show goodness in Your favor to Zion.
Rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.Then You will desire the sacrifices of righteousness, burnt and whole offerings.
Then bulls will be offered on your altar.
Jerusalem was the location of God’s Temple, where He promised to deliver His forgiveness to His people. If God “showed goodness” to Jerusalem, then it would be well for David and for the people of Israel. If that were not the case, could the psalmist ever experience true mercy, compassion, and faithful love?
If someone were to read verses 16-17 of this psalm as a rejection of ritual in favor of repentance, the final two verses of this psalm point out the error of such an understanding. A repentant heart leads someone to meet God where He promises to be with life and forgiveness. Instead of undercutting outward rituals and acts, these verses show that a broken spirit and crushed heart (repentance) brings someone to meet God where He promises to be in His instituted rituals.
In the New Covenant, the proper praying of this psalm understands the Old-Covenant sacrifices as finding their fulfillment in Christ’s sacrifice on the cross and His delivery of salvation in the Lord’s Supper.
Conclusion
The first two sections of this psalm are both bridged and clarified by two terms that appear seven times each. “Sin” appears six times in the first section and once in the second. We find Elohim [God] once in the first section and six times in the second.
Sin, so present in the beginning fades into oblivion and is replaced by God, with sin disappearing in the second half in the same ratio that God appears. God’s presence vanquishes sin: David is emptied of sin and filled with grace. So also with us: Where God’s presence comes to us, sin is vanquished and is replaced with His grace.
Christ in the Psalm
Jesus demanded the repentant attitude that David displayed in this psalm. Jesus’ first command in the Gospel of Mark is “Repent and believe the gospel!” (Mark 1:15). The tax-collector who humbly prayed, “God, have mercy on me, the sinner,” was the one whose prayer was heard (Luke 18:13-14). However, the Pharisee’s proud and boastful heart was too self-focused and was turned away from God.
Though sinless Himself, Jesus humbly assumed the condition of sinful man. “God made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we would become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). He was “who was tempted in every way that we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). By becoming both sin for us (our sin) but also being sinless (in His essence and being), Jesus becomes one with us praying our psalm as He intercedes for us before the Father.
The psalm calls out, “Deliver me from bloodshed.” This refers to David’s murder of Uriah. In the context of this psalm, “deliver me from bloodshed” means the guilt associated with what David did. In the end, however, sin is the cause of death, which is why Jesus had to die for sin when He took it all into Himself.
Jesus, the incarnation of God’s righteousness, then becomes our salvation. He takes our sin and dies our death, giving to us from His “faithful love.” Only from what God the Father gives us through Jesus Christ, in the Holy Spirit, are we then saved and can then live the life of faith.
Praying the Psalm
P: Grace me, O Elohim,
C: as befits Your faithful love.
P: In keeping with Your abundant compassion,
C: blot out my rebellion.
P: Again and again, wash me from my guilt,
C: and from my sin, cleanse me.P: For I know my rebellion,
C: and my sin is ever before me.
P: Against You, You alone, have I sinned,
C: and done what is evil in Your eyes.
P: So, You are righteous when You sentence,
C: and blameless when You judge.P: Indeed, I was born in guilt;
C: in sin, my mother spawned me.
P: Indeed, You desire truth in the inmost being;
C: in what is secret, make wisdom known to me.P: Purify me with a hyssop that I may be clean.
C: Wash me that I may be whiter than snow.
P: Let me hear joy and gladness.
C: Let the bones that You crushed rejoice.
P: Hide Your face from my sins,
C: and blot out my iniquities.P: Create a pure heart in me, O Elohim,
C: and renew a resolute Spirit within me.
P: Do not fling me from Your presence,
C: or take Your Holy Spirit from me.
P: Return to me the joy of Your salvation,
C: and sustain me with a generous Spirit.P: Then I will teach Your ways to rebels,
C: and sinners will return to You.
P: Save me from bloodshed, O Elohim, O Elohim of my salvation,
C: and my tongue will sing in Your righteousness.P: O Adonai, open my lips,
C: and my mouth will declare your praise.
P: For You do not desire a sacrifice,
C: and You take no pleasure in a burnt offering.
P: The sacrifices of Elohim are a broken spirit:
C: A broken and crushed heart, O Elohim, You will not spurn.P: Show goodness in Your favor to Zion.
C: Rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
P: Then You will desire the sacrifices of righteousness, burnt and whole offerings.
C: Then bulls will be offered on your altar.C: Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
