WHERE WE ARE IN THE STORY
Like many of the Psalms, Psalm 51 is a prayer to God for forgiveness of sin. In this Psalm, David has been confronted by Nathan the prophet after David committed adultery with Bathsheba and had her husband, Uriah, killed with the sword. David is guilty of sexual sin, murder, and abuse of power. Many kings, when confronted with their sin, dug in their heels. But not David. He confesses his sin and begs God’s forgiveness.
Psalm 51:1-19
1Be gracious to me, God, according to Your faithfulness;
According to the greatness of Your compassion, wipe out my wrongdoings.
2Wash me thoroughly from my guilt
And cleanse me from my sin.
3For I know my wrongdoings,
And my sin is constantly before me.
4Against You, You only, I have sinned
And done what is evil in Your sight,
So that You are justified when You speak
And blameless when You judge.
5Behold, I was brought forth in guilt,
And in sin my mother conceived me.
6Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being,
And in secret You will make wisdom known to me.
7Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
Cleanse me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8Let me hear joy and gladness,
Let the bones You have broken rejoice.
9Hide Your face from my sins
And wipe out all my guilty deeds.
10Create in me a clean heart, God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11Do not cast me away from Your presence,
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
12Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,
And sustain me with a willing spirit.
13Then I will teach wrongdoers Your ways,
And sinners will be converted to You.
14Save me from the guilt of bloodshed, God, the God of my salvation;
Then my tongue will joyfully sing of Your righteousness.
15Lord, open my lips,
So that my mouth may declare Your praise.
16For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it;
You do not take pleasure in burnt offering.
17The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
A broken and a contrite heart, God, You will not despise.
18By Your favor do good to Zion;
Build the walls of Jerusalem.
19Then You will delight in righteous sacrifices,
In burnt offering and whole burnt offering;
Then bulls will be offered on Your altar.
BACKGROUND
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO REPENT OF OUR SINS?
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO REPENT FROM THE HEART? WHAT IS THAT LIKE?
The focus of this Psalm is repentance. Repentance is a necessary component in our relationship with God. This is because all of us have sinned, and there is no one who has not sinned. We all need to confess our sin to God and repent.
As we will see, there is nothing that David could have done to make up for the sins that he committed: the sins of abuse of power, adultery, and murder. How do you make up for such sins? You can never take them back, especially murder.
Consider what David was facing regarding punishment for his sin. The punishment for abuse of power was to lose that power. He could lose his kingship. The punishment for intentional adultery was death under the law. And the punishment for murder under the law was also death. Yet, we know from the story of David and Bathsheba that David did not experience these punishments. He had consequences that he had to face for what he did, but he did not experience the full weight of God‘s justice. Because of his true repentance, he was restored in his relationship with God and did not experience God’s justice.
EXAMINATION
(V.1-3) Be gracious to me, God, according to Your faithfulness; according to the greatness of Your compassion, wipe out my wrongdoings. Wash me thoroughly from my guilt and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my wrongdoings, and my sin is constantly before me.
LOOK CAREFULLY AT THIS PASSAGE. WHAT IS THE BASIS OF GOD’S FORGIVENESS?
The first thing that David does when praying a prayer of repentance is to recite God’s faithfulness and compassion. David knows he has sinned before the Lord. He can’t take back murder and adultery. But he knows that God can regard him as if he’s never sinned, which is why he says, “Wipe out my wrongdoings.” Notice the words about forgiveness that he uses. Wipe out. Wash me. Cleanse me. Notice the words he uses about his sin. Wrongdoings. Guilt. Sin. His guilt before the Lord is great, and only the greatness of God can forgive it.
(V.4) Against You, You only, I have sinned and done what is evil in Your sight.
David sinned against Uriah by having him murdered. David sinned against Bathsheba by killing her husband and seducing her. He sinned against his wives by committing adultery. He sinned against his kingdom by abusing his power. But ultimately, all sin is against God. Especially when we consider all that God had done for David. He gave him great spiritual favor all his life. He used him to write Scripture. Made him king over Israel. Preserved his life in wars. Expanded his kingdom and influence. Made him rich. Gave him children. And promised him a lasting legacy beyond his years. Yet, in spite of all of this, David sinned against the Lord by abusing the power God had given him, committing adultery and murder. By using these words, David is not denying his sin against others. Rather, he is emphasizing his sin against God’s faithfulness and blessing in his life.
(V.5) Behold, I was brought forth in guilt, and in sin my mother conceived me.
WHAT DOES DAVID MEAN WHEN HE SAYS HE WAS BROUGHT FORTH IN GUILT?
David is not saying that he was conceived in adultery. He had a married father and mother and siblings. Rather, he is acknowledging his sin nature. David is saying that it is his nature to commit sin. This was not only true of David, but it is also true of us. We all have a sin nature. II Chronicles 6:36 says, “There is no one who does not sin.” The Apostle Paul taught this in Romans 5:12 when he said, “Through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all mankind, because all sinned.” He also said in Romans 7:14, “I am fleshly, sold into bondage to sin.” Thankfully, for the Christian, we have been set free from sin and don’t have to obey it if we don’t want to. “Our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for the one who has died is freed from sin” (Romans 6:6-7). And “Consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Romans 6:11).
(V.6) Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being, and in secret You will make wisdom known to me.
What matters more in our walk with Christ is not only what we do in our bodies, but what we entertain in our thoughts and heart. Truth in the innermost being is a reference to the heart. If Jesus Christ is not the chief affection of our lives, then temptation is easier to succumb to. Without a heart and mind centered on God’s word and will, we easily fall. “We are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ” (II Corinthians 10:5).
Jesus talked about abiding or remaining in him and his word. “Remain in Me, and I in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself but must remain in the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; the one who remains in Me, and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:4-5).
Centering our thoughts and emotions on love for Christ and his word establishes truth in the innermost being.
(V.7,9) Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean; cleanse me, and I will be whiter than snow…hide Your face from my sins and wipe out all my guilty deeds.
WHAT KIND OF SACRIFICE DID DAVID NEED TO BE FORGIVEN OF HIS SINS OF ABUSE OF POWER, ADULTERY, AND MURDER?
Hyssop in biblical times was a type of mint. Its aroma came through crushing its dried leaves. When Israelites marked their doorposts with lamb’s blood during the Passover, they used hyssop as a brush, which likely signified that God was marking His people as “pure” and not targets of judgment. David uses this imagery, saying he will be clean like one cleansed with hyssop. He is using the imagery of the Passover. The Passover was the sacrifice that brought forgiveness for all sins of the nation. It is a foreshadowing of the ultimate Passover in Christ, when God would pass over our sins because of the sacrifice of Christ. That is the kind of sacrifice that David needed.
Notice the words David uses here. Clean. Cleanse. Whiter than snow. Wipe out my guilty deeds. He combines these with a plea for God to hide your face from my sins. In other words, do not look upon my sin. In Christ, God hides his face from our sins. He does not look upon us as sinners, but as righteous in Christ. It’s as if when he sees us, he sees his son.
This is all powerful imagery. David is asking God for the complete removal of his sin, to look upon him as if he had never sinned. Normally, that would be impossible. God cannot excuse sin. Yet, when David throws himself on God’s mercy, it becomes possible. David knew this was possible because he knew Scripture. God declared of himself in Exodus 34:6-7, “The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in faithfulness and truth; who keeps faithfulness for thousands, who forgives wrongdoing, violation of His Law, and sin…”
(V.10) Create in me a clean heart, God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Now we come to that part of this Psalm that has been repeated in many prayers and in song. David recognizes that the central problem of his sin is not in what he did in his body or how he acted, but that he has a heart problem. He recognizes the wickedness of his own heart. The prophet Jeremiah recognized this as well. Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is more deceitful than all else, and is desperately sick; Who can understand it?” David confesses that he needs a change of heart, something he cannot do of himself. He needs the Lord to recreate his heart.
(V.11-12) Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and sustain me with a willing spirit.
HAVE YOU EVER FELT SEPARATED FROM GOD BECAUSE OF WHAT YOU HAVE DONE? WHAT WAS THAT LIKE?
David is voicing what we all feel when we sin against the Lord and are struck by the seriousness of what we’ve done. We feel separated from God; that he’s no longer with us. Our joy in Christ seems to be wiped away. There is a break in the relationship. Only one thing can restore us: forgiveness.
One thing to note. David asks God not to remove his Holy Spirit from him. David knew that this is what happened to his predecessor, Saul. “The Spirit of the LORD left Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD terrified him‘ (I Samuel 16:14). David feared the same could happen to him. Saul disobeyed the Lord, and that was the result. David disobeyed the Lord, so he feared the same. But the difference between Saul and David is that David had a heart of repentance. Saul did not.
You and I also have a promise from God. Though we may sin and experience a break in our relationship with the Lord. He promises not to leave us. “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, so that He may be with you forever” (John 14:16). The promise is forever; thus, he will never leave. Hebrews 13:5 says, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”
(V.14) Save me from the guilt of bloodshed, God, the God of my salvation; then my tongue will joyfully sing of Your righteousness.
Here David finally names his greatest sin: bloodshed, murder. Adultery was bad enough, but how do you apologize to your victim for murder? Dead is dead. David knew the penalty for murder was death. He knew that if God were to exercise his justice upon him, he would die for his sin. If God could judge him, then only God could save him. And if he saves him, “Then my tongue will joyfully sing of your righteousness.” David seeks a complete turnaround based solely on God’s free expression of forgiveness. There is nothing else he can do to gain forgiveness. Not even make a sacrifice. Look at the next verse.
(V.16-17) For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, God, You will not despise.
WHY DOES DAVID SAY THAT GOD DOES NOT DELIGHT IN SACRIFICE?
David cannot offer an animal sacrifice for his sin because there was no sacrifice for murder, for intentional sin. Of all of the sacrifices listed in the Old Testament, there was none to wipe away the sin of murder. David could only throw himself on God’s mercy. There was only one true sacrifice he could give: a broken heart. This doesn’t mean just acknowledging his sin and confessing it. It means that deep in his heart he must truly and desperately grieve over what he has done. That is a sacrifice that God will accept, no matter what was done. God always responds favorably to a broken and contrite heart.
(V.19) Then You will delight in righteous sacrifices, in burnt offering and whole burnt offering; then bulls will be offered on Your altar.
A moment ago, David said that God did not delight in sacrifice. Then, in the next breath, he says that God will delight in righteous sacrifices. Once we are restored in relationship with God, then our sacrifices honor him. In the Old Testament, the animal sacrificial system represented bridging our sin and separation from God so that we could know him. You and I have the reality of that in Christ. Christ’s sacrifice literally washes away our sins and bridges the gap so that we can know him completely, giving us access to God in a way that animal sacrifices never could.
What David is doing is looking forward to God‘s forgiveness and the restoration of his relationship with him. He is looking forward to restoring normalcy in his relationship with God because of God‘s mercy and love. Of course, we know from the story of David and Bathsheba that David would have to suffer consequences because of his sin over many years, but his relationship with God was restored to normal, and that is what he begged for. That is what he cared about more than anything else. That his heart would be right with God.
INTERPRETATION
What is the author’s big idea?
God restores us to himself through true heartfelt repentance.
This is a type of prayer that we should all master in our spiritual lives. Expressing repentance from the heart, from deep within our hearts, is the key to always making sure we have a right relationship with God.
It is possible to confess our sin without feeling any heartfelt repentance for what we’ve done. When that happens, we are not guaranteed a restored relationship with the Lord because we don’t feel it in our hearts. We sometimes think that if we just say what we’ve done, that might be all that we need to gain God‘s forgiveness. But that is not true. True repentance involves deep sorrow in the heart for what we’ve done and having a contrite spirit. Those are the things David said God will not ignore.
APPLICATION
Ultimately, all sin that we commit is sin against God. God is the source of our blessings. He himself is the source and definition of all that is moral, what is right and wrong. We would not know morality had it not been for God giving us his law and a conscience that helps us know right from wrong. So, when we confess our sins to God, we should, like David, acknowledge God’s faithfulness and great mercy toward us. His forgiveness grants us salvation and the experience of knowing him.
How have you established truth in the innermost being in your life? What kind of priority do you give to Scripture reading, study, prayer, and practice? Taking time every day in Scripture and prayer will conform our hearts to be more and more like Christ. Especially when it comes to praying prayers of repentance. When we repent of our sin and dedicate ourselves to truth in the innermost being, our hearts will change to become more like him. Then we can think what he thinks, feel what he feels, and do what he does.
Our hearts, without Christ, are deceitfully wicked. You’ve heard the phrase, “Follow your heart.” The reality is that’s bad advice. Our hearts will lead us astray every time. What we need is God’s heart on a matter and the leading of the Holy Spirit to direct us. We can probably all think of times we did our heart’s desire and it led us to sin or astray. I know I can. Yet, when we follow the prompting of the Holy Spirit, he overrides our sinful hearts and takes us where he wants us to go, literally, morally, and spiritually.
When was the last time your heart was broken over something you had done? When I think of my sin, it breaks me that I’ve disregarded the suffering and blood of Jesus by sinning against his sacrifice. When I sin, even intentionally, that weighs on me. It’s like walking on his blood. I must confess and fall on God’s mercy.
Consider that when we sin, we are walking on his blood. It makes me think of Hebrews 10:29. “How much more severe punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?” When you sin, turn immediately to God’s mercy and ask his forgiveness. Ultimately, when we truly repent of our sin, our relationship can be completely restored to normal as if we had never sinned. We may have to suffer some consequences for what we may have done, whether those things be large or small, but ultimately our relationship with God will be restored because of true, heartfelt repentance in Christ.
