Psalm 51

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.

1 Have mercy on me, [Be gracious to me] O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.

2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!

This is one of those rare psalms where we have an exact context in which it was written. 2 Samuel 12 records the conversation between Nathan and David. It is a brilliant approach to confront someone who is superior in rank -- tell a story with a clear moral lesson and then show the listener that he himself is the antagonist in the story. All of the guilt that David had been keeping inside came gushing forth, and this psalm is the result. It’s significant that it follows Psalm 50, a psalm where God speaks and judges his people for their disobedience while they maintained the outward appearance of obedience. This was David in a nutshell. He committed horrible crimes while maintaining his persona as spiritual leader. Like Arthur Dimmesdale in Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter, David was tormented internally and did not find rest until he came clean with his crimes. David makes four requests in two verses: have mercy on me, blot out my transgressions, wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. He uses the three Hebrew words for sin to communicate the totality of his failure. He employs two metaphors for this action. The first is the blotting out of transgressions, suggesting a covering over of the sin, as if it did not occur. Imagine your sin in writing, a list of your acts of rebellion, page after page, every thought and action of deceit, lust, greed, and selfishness. Ask God to take a thick black marker and mark through them, redacting them from the record, as if they had never happened. God certainly does see and know every sin we’ve ever committed, and yet he chooses to cover up that record. In Psalm 130:3, the psalmist writes, “If you, O LORD, kept a record of iniquities, who could stand? But with you is forgiveness.” The theological word for this is atonement, referring to the lid to the box that contained the law, the ark of the covenant. On this lid the blood of the innocent was sprinkled to cover our violations of the law. In 1 John 2:2 Jesus is identified as the atoning cover for us. The second metaphor is that of washing and cleaning, removing the dirt and stain to restore the original appearance. It is applying water and some type of solvent to break up the stain chemically so that it is free from its bonds to the surface and is then removed, diluted by the water and rinsed away. This is something that we do every day, and each time we wash our hands can remind of us God’s continual cleansing. Again John employs this same metaphor in 1 John 1:9 - “When we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Again, Jesus is the cleansing agent. His love is the solvent that releases sin from its hold on our lives, and as the water of life, his life carries those sins away. These four requests are rooted in the character of God, not David’s goodness or willpower. He appeals to the steadfast love of God and his abundant mercy as the only source of his restoration. So we are saved by grace, not by works, nothing to brag about here. 

3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.

4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.

David describes a near universal experience. We know our sins. Of course there may be unintentional things that we do that qualify, but for the most part, we have no trouble identifying what it is that we are doing and thinking that is wrong, that is, if our consciences are working. I suppose someone whose conscience has been seared may have less of an awareness of sin, but I suspect that deep down everyone recognizes the internal disharmony that is the result of sin. In a practical sense, David’s sin was always before him because it involved other people (it always does), and he sees them every day. He can’t avoid them. His pregnant wife Bathsheba, his other wives and children, the palace staff who facilitated the deeds, members of Uriah’s family who eyed him with vengeance. Sexual sin may be committed in private, but it has long-term public implications. Even as David tried to justify his behavior over the months that followed, he acknowledges that his sin is always before him. He can’t escape his guilt. It is the Telltale Heart. When David ponders what he has done, he confesses that his sin is against YHWH alone. Of course this is not literally true because he has sinned against Bathsheba, Uriah, their families and children, as well as his own family and children, his community, and the men in his army. Sin is never individual. It is always communal. What David is acknowledging is that his sin is ultimately against God and his law, and God will be his ultimate judge. David will be judged by others, but the judgment that matters most is that of God’s -- whether guilty or innocent. If God declares you guilty, there is no escape. You will experience His wrath (often in the form of the consequences of your actions). If God declares you innocent, the judgment of others ultimately doesn't matter. You will be affected by the judgment of others, but you remain innocent before God -- transgressions blotted out, sins cleansed and washed. David’s confession is the starting point for forgiveness. He declares that God is just and blameless in his judgment and he throws himself at his mercy. This is where forgiveness begins for us as well -- acknowledging our sin and our guilt before God, recognizing the consequences of our sin for others even if we didn’t intend for them to be hurt. Surrendering to his judgment, and as we will see later in the psalm, repenting. 

5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.

6 Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being,  and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.

David continues his confession by going all the way back to the beginning. He acknowledges that he has always failed to live up to divine perfection. This is not a verse about original sin nor is it suggesting that there is something sinful about the sexual act in marriage. This is hyperbole that is consistent with the general understanding in the Bible and in ancient religions that mankind is inclined toward evil. Left to ourselves we will more often choose selfishness over love for our neighbor. In this moment where David’s sin has been exposed for the world to see he is acutely aware of his moral deficiencies which have gone back to his earliest memories. Using the words for iniquity and sin, David connects this verse with his requests for removal of these in verse 2.  Iniquity refers to an inner disposition of disharmony while sin is understood as “missing the mark”, failing to meet the standard. These two words reflect the inward and outward aspects of sin. The LORD wants truth in the inward being. “Inward being” is a single occurrence word in the Bible, so it’s meaning is not completely clear. Likewise its parallel, “in the secret heart.” Some commentators suggest this is referring to the womb (see Psalm 139:13-16), connecting this verse to the previous, the idea being that while we tend toward sin, God has also placed his moral law in our hearts in the womb. This is consistent with what Paul says in Romans 2 about the law of God written on our hearts so that none of us is without excuse. In short, we tend toward sin but there is also an internal moral compass that is constantly trying to correct us, our conscience nudging us to the right paths. This has been placed there by God who wants us to have internal and external harmony, moral integrity within and peace with others. David acknowledges this and prays by implication that this harmony and integrity might be restored. Because sin is a universal experience, every person can relate to this statement. Even at our best, sin is always present, pulling us toward selfishness and pride. And yet there is also a moral compass within us that desires to pull us to truth north with the power like that of the earth’s magnetic field. Wherever we are and whatever we are doing, it tells us what is right and wrong, and urges us to align our lives with truth. This is God’s delight and it is the essence of wisdom. 

7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

The word translated “purge” is from the root of the word “sin, to miss the mark”. In the Piel form here it means to purify from uncleanness. It is the only occurrence of the word in that form in the Psalms, and here it links this series of prayers with the early series in verses 1 and 2 as David comes full circle with his requests for removal of sin. It suggests this meaning, “Let my uncleanness be missing” as the ceremonial act of sprinkling sacrificial blood by means of the hyssop plant cleanses the worshiper. Hyssop was the same plant that was used to sprinkle blood on the doorposts of the Israelite houses for Passover, and it was the same plant that was used to elevate the wine vinegar that was smeared on Jesus’ face on the cross. The dark red of the blood on the hyssop plant is contrasted with the whiteness and purity of snow in the parallel line. There is something magical and mysterious about snow. It can all be explained scientifically and meteorologically, but that doesn’t make it any less amazing when snow begins to fall and quickly blankets everything in sight. It covers everything from the ugliness of a junkyard to the brown earth and bare trees of winter. Snow was likely a rare occurrence in Jerusalem, so it’s appearance must have been considered particularly miraculous, a sign of God’s power to cover sin and uncleanness. Snow is a picture of atonement (covering) and grace. It’s not something we can manufacture ourselves. It comes from above. It makes everything appear fresh and clean. David wants a fresh start. We all do when we’ve sinned. We want a clean slate, wiped clean by a cleansing agent. It’s interesting from a medical standpoint that blood is used as a metaphor for cleansing because that is one of its primary functions in the body. It carries away the toxins that have been manufactured in metabolic processes and carries them to organs where they can be processed and removed from the body. Another important function is to bring life-giving elements to each cell of the body, oxygen and nutrients to fuel growth, movement, and repair. The ancients understood that life was in the blood, and so it’s an appropriate metaphor for life in the spirit as well. David’s prayer here circles back to his request in verse 2, a prayer for cleansing and washing. The agents of cleansing: blood and snow. As metaphors blood reminds us of internal cleansing (as in the way blood removes unseen toxins from the body) and snow of external cleansing (as in covering from sight and then washing away with water as the snow melts), 

8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice.

9 Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.

David prays for his restoration using a series of metaphors. First, he asks to hear the sounds of joy and gladness again. Since his public moral failure, his family life presumably has been tense. I imagine him brooding and moody as he contemplates how to extricate himself from this situation. His family members likely avoided him because of this, and meal conversation was at a minimum or at least very awkward as Bathsheba’s pregnancy became more obvious and David’s infidelity and corruption became the talk of the town. Life ceased to be a joy and instead, each day was another series of emotional wounds. Second, he prays that the bones that YHWH broke would rejoice. The bones represented the deepest part of a person, so pain is described as most intense when it emanates from the bone. David expresses this from the perspective that God caused this pain, and that it is true in a roundabout way. Of course David committed the deeds, but because of the way that God designed humans as moral beings, hidden sin inevitably crushes the bones. It cannot help but eat at us from the inside out. We can’t escape it. And even though we may blame God for it, pain is the gift that alerts us to the fact that something is wrong and we need to get it fixed before it gets worse. That infection can become gangrenous and before you know it, you can lose a leg or a life. David blames God for his pain, but he knows that he himself is the root cause, and this prayer indicates that there will be joy on the other side. The third metaphor is that of God hiding his face from David’s sins. “Look away God, Stop staring at me.” The all-knowing, penetrating gaze of God has not turned away from David from the night this all began, and David wants it to stop -- not God’s presence of course, but the guilt that it induces. David prays, impossibly, that God would turn away from looking at him and his sin. The only way that a just God can do this is to cover those sins with something. Ceremonially speaking, that was the blood of an innocent life. Theologically, this is ultimately the atoning blood of the Son of God. Finally, David returns to the previous metaphor of blotting out of sins, like one might blot out words on a page using ink. Along the same lines as a covering, it is a prayer that David could have a fresh start

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right [steadfast] spirit within me.

David moves the focus of his petition from removal to replacement. Literally, “ a heart clean create in me God.” The word “create” is the same as Genesis 1:1 where God speaks the cosmos into existence out of nothing. Not to make too much of this because it is poetry that is prone to hyperbole, but the use of the word “create” here suggests that David is aware that he brings nothing to God for him to shape. In an act of grace, God must create a clean heart out of what is essentially nothing. The phrase “a clean heart” occurs again in Psalm 73:1 where the psalmist, “keeps his heart pure” and in the beatitudes in Matthew 5:8 where “the pure in heart will see God.” Both of those contexts suggest that the presence of God is key. Just as God moved into the world he created in Genesis, his spirit hovering over the surface of the deep, God creates a clean heart within us and then willingly moves in to dwell within us. That is the thrust of the verse that follows as well. The fact that God gets inside of us is highlighted in the phrase, “renew a right spirit within me.” The use of the word “renew” suggests that David had once experienced this. As a young man this is how he burst on the scene in 1 Samuel 17, a steadfast, faithful heart who was utterly convinced of the reality and supremacy of YHWH. Somewhere along the way, that young man became an all-powerful king and his steadfastness before God was cast aside as unnecessary. Afterall, he had everything he needed and desired without God. David longs for those days, and so he prays that God would make him faithful again. The heart was the seat of the intellect in Hebrew thought and the spirit was the center of the will. Having pleaded for removal of his sin, David now desires the replacement of that sinful unbelieving heart with a pure heart and a spirit of faithfulness. 

11 Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me.

12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.

Verses 10-12 form a unit with the word “spirit” the common thread that ties them together. First David prays for a right spirit within himself (v. 10) and then for God’s Holy Spirit not to be taken from him (v. 11). Then in verse 12 he prays, “uphold me with a willing (or generous) spirit.” The word for spirit is literally “breath” or “wind”, something that cannot be seen but is very real, powerful, and life-giving. Jesus refers to this meaning in John 3 when he speaks of being born of the spirit. Like the wind, we do not know where it comes from, but we know its power. David equates God’s Holy Spirit with his presence. He had a front row seat to what it looked like when God removes his Holy Spirit from someone. Saul descended into a personal hell when he exalted himself over God and rejected His presence. David was a victim of that spiritless man, and he knew that but for the grace of God, he could be that man. He was walking on the same path, but his choice to repent was the difference between them. There are few references to the Holy Spirit in the OT, but it’s clear that the spirit of God is his very real but unseen presence. No one could ever see God and live, but God’s presence could be experienced in a variety of ways -- his voice whispering in our ear saying, “this is the way, walk in it”, his power on display in delivering us from sure defeat (Psalm 18 where David recounts personal victory and Psalm 46 where the community experiences God’s saving presence), his presence in our darkest moments (Psalm 23:4 -- even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, you are with me). Someone in his sovereignty, God gives us the freedom to walk away from him and reject his presence. These verses represent a turning point where David changes direction and vows to be a faithful partner as he asks for a restoration of joy, that the bones that God has crushed would rejoice once more. The “willing spirit” in verse 12 I had always thought to refer to David’s spirit, but it is actually God’s spirit, a spirit of willingness to restore, a spirit of grace and generosity that enables David to move forward, to escape his pit of guilt and shame. Grace is all over this psalm. David has nothing to offer but himself and his promise, and this is enough for God in his magnificent grace. 

13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you.

David makes his first promise related to his repentance. He will teach rebels God’s ways and as a result, sinners will return to God. David has previously described himself in this psalm and a rebel and a sinner. A transgressor (rebel) is one who has violated the laws of God, one who has crossed the line, gone out of bounds. David had violated everyone one of the ten commandments as it relates to one’s neighbor (don’t lie, steal, commit adultery, murder or covet) -- all of this in the context of one primary event. God gave us tremendous freedom within the boundaries of the law, but David wanted more. He wanted something outside the fence. The grass was greener, but there was also a bear that proceeded to maul him as soon as he tasted the grass. That’s how sin always works. It promises pleasure but delivers pain. David’s experience with that is on display as a lesson for all. However, his experience of confession,  repentance, and restoration is also on display for our education. He shows how one can heal from their wounds through the experience of God’s grace, recognizing the deep pain that they have caused others and that they will carry through the rest of their lives. Every one of us can return. This is the gospel. This is good news to everyone locked up in a prison today -- literally or figuratively. Those who have sinned (missed the mark) can return to God, to society, to their family, to emotional health. David’s actions and words here show us the path, the way of God, the way of restoration. So great is God’s power and grace that he can redeem anything. He can take any awful thing that we have done, and he can make something good come out of it. It’s now easy, it’s not quick, it’s not simple, but it is possible for God to redeem anyone and anything. Just ask David. We are reading his story today, and every day, people are turning their lives around just like David did. He has been dead for over 2,000 years, but he is still teaching transgressors God’s ways.  

14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God,  O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.

15 O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.

David’s next prayer is for deliverance from bloodguiltiness. This is literally the word, “blood”. David has indirectly shed innocent blood, that of Uriah, one of his mighty men, his inner circle. (Incidentally, this connection suggests that David may have had his eye on Bathsheba for some time). David figuratively had blood on his hands and the law required an “eye for an eye and a life for a life”. Did repentance mean that David needed to surrender his life to Uriah’s family to do justice? He was the king, so he was the law, and as the highest judge in the land, he had the authority to avoid its consequences. This is what he chose to do. But knowing that Uriah’s family still had the legal right to take his life, David prays for deliverance from them. I suppose this fear followed David the rest of his life, but he had prayed about it and placed his life in God’s hands, identifying God as his salvation. This then is a prayer that acknowledges the consequences of one’s sin while at the same time asking that those consequences be nullified by God’s gracious intervention. How often have I prayed this prayer: Forgive my sin and don’t let me experience the full consequences of that sin. David’s second prayer is that he could worship once more. The fact that he says, “open my lips” suggests that they have been closed, silenced when it comes to genuine worship. He mouthed the words and sang the songs, but his heart was not in it. Here David’s life demonstrates for us that we can’t truly worship when we are unrepentant. It is a farce, a lie, a show when we outwardly perform acts of worship while harboring sin inwardly and indulging in the flesh. As a worship leader, David could not stand before the congregation and lead with authority when there were secrets that he hadn’t even shared with God. There’s no record of David confessing his sin before his people (they knew it anyway), so this doesn’t mean that leaders need to bare all before the flock. But they do have to bare all before God before stepping up to lead others in worship. A clean heart, truth in the inner being, a right spirit -- these are the qualities that give a leader authenticity and authority to lead. There are no shortcuts. 

16 For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.

17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

As David continues to describe his newfound ability to worship, he states an important principle about worship. God doesn’t delight in sacrifice and whole burnt offerings (see Psalm 50). He doesn’t need these things because they are already his. What can be given him are a broken spirit and a broken and crushed heart. The use of the word despise is a strong way of suggesting that God not only is not pleased with heartless acts of ritual worship, he actually hates them because they are devoid of relationship. Somehow the God of the universe desires a relationship with us, with each one of us. The ritual acts of worship that we might perform today -- singing, listening to a sermon, taking communion -- these can actually be barriers to that relationship that he desires because they deceive us into thinking that we are actually pleasing God by them. The word translated contrite here is the same as in verse 8 where he describes his bones as having been crushed. Does God want us in pain? The answer is “yes” if that pain turns our attention to Him and the good life that he offers. As a parent, I don’t want my children to experience pain, but if they are headed down a self-destructive path, I’m praying for pain to get their attention before it’s too late. David’s emotional and relational pain is beyond what I can grasp, but it was that pain that drew him to repentance. Romans 2:4 tells us that it’s the kindness of the Lord that brings us to repentance. Sometimes that kindness may be experienced as pain in the form of deep inward brokenness, heart and bone. What we bring to God that is of value to him is a willing spirit, a humble willingness to trust Him again. Our deepest need is to trust in the One who is faithful, and sin takes us on a path away from that One out of self interest and fear. You don’t have to be rich, powerful, or talented to offer something of worth to God. He just wants you. 

18 Do good to Zion in your good pleasure; build up the walls of Jerusalem;

19 then will you delight in right sacrifices, in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on your altar.

David’s final prayer moves to the community. He recognizes that his sin has done damage to others, most obviously the families involved, but particularly because he is king, the entire country has suffered from broken trust they now have in their leader. This has left the community vulnerable to attack, both foreign and domestic. An attack will still come from his own son Absalom in the years to come, but in the meantime, David prays for a restoration of trust and security for the city. He also prays for a restoration of genuine worship. In the previous verses David stated that God doesn’t desire ritual sacrifice and offering, rather he wants genuine love and devotion from the heart. Presumably the same is the case for the nation as David describes the restoration of generous sacrifices and offerings in corporate worship in Zion. Just as David’s failure impacted his entire community, his restoration can have the same effect. Others can learn from his mistakes and avoid them. His bold confession can be a catalyst for others to confess as well. He can lead the way in repentance and genuine worship, and as he prayed in verse 13, he will teach sinners God’s ways. It’s a happy and hopeful ending to a psalm that begins in dark desperation. God doesn’t desire our crushing because he’s some kind of masochist. He desires it out of a pure love, a love that is not tainted by selfishness because there’s nothing in it for him. He wants what’s best for us. He desires for our heart’s deepest need to be met. That need is for a relationship with our creator. He knows that we cannot truly flourish without it, and if it takes a crushing of the spirit and a breaking of the bones to bring us to that place, then so be it. Surgeons inflict pain in order to heal. Doctors prescribe poison to kill cancer. God has prescribed a process for healing in this psalm. Private and public confession are not easy, but they are how we are healed. As James says, “therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working (James 5:16). Rebuild the walls, worship once again.