PS. 51 Confession & Repentance

Ps. 51

Ps. 51

1  Have mercy on 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!

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.

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.

7  Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;

wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

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.

10  Create in me a clean heart, O God,

and renew a right spirit within me.

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.

13  Then I will teach transgressors your ways,

and sinners will return to you.

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.

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.

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.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ps 51:1–19.

Context

With this psalm being titled: “To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the Prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.” We are able to gain a lot of context on the time place and reasoning of this Psalm.

We can find what this Psalm is referencing in 2 Sam. 11-12

2 Sam. 11-12

The Israelites are at war with the Ammonites but for some reason David is still in Isreal while his people are off fighting. This is odd because during this time it was customary for the king to be out with his army during war time. So as we start this chapter we already see David beginning to slip and do things he is not supposed to be doing.

David arises from his couch, sees Bathsheba bathing & asks who she is. Someone within his court tells David that she is Uriah’s wife, one of David’s soilders.

David sends for her anyways. They sleep together and Bathsheba becomes pregnant and once David finds out he comes up with a plan to try and trick Uriah into beliving that it is his.

When tricking Uriah doesn’t work David simply just has him killed by telling his general Joab to put Uriah in the front line and once the battel begins to draw his soilders back leaving Joab unprotected.

Bathsheba & David get married and have their kid Soloman. Then the prophet Nathan shows up.

Nathan tells David a proverb about a man who had everything and instead of staying within the confience of his own posecions the weathly man steels the one and only thing that a poor man has and cars about.

David hears this parable and becomes enraged with righteous anger

Nathan revils that David is the rich man and Uriah is the poor man and that the Lord is not happy.

Which leads us into psalm 51 with David showing remorse and praying to God.

Content

Psalm 51:1–2 “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!”

David begins with asking for God’s forgivness based on God’s own character. (According to His stead fast love and abundant mercy)

David knows here that he has completely missed the “mark” and has sinned against God which he also mentions in V.4

He is not asking for forgiveness based on his own merit and history but purely based on the fact that he knows that God is loving, caring, & merciful.

Psalm 51:4–6 “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. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.”

David continues here with confession, how he has ultimately sinned against God, and that what ever God decides to do he will be just and blameless for whatever punishment the Lord decides to give David.

We see phrases in here such as “blot out my transgressions, wash me from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin” these are all somewhat vague and over arching, it is important to note that this Psalm was made for a congregational setting, which we can tell from the title “To the choirmaster” With these words not being plural it eludes to the fact that we should simply just pray these prayers of forgivness in an over arching manner saying “please Lord forgive me for all of my sins” but we should be specific in what we are asking forgivness for in the manner of confession. Based on what we can see when we look deeper into this scriptures litarary context.

Then in verses 5-6 David points out his sinful nature Psalm 51:5 “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.”

This is not necessarily saying that David conception was a sin but that at the moment he was conceived sin was apart of his nature

And due to that sinful nature David must rely on God to teach him the ways of righteousness. Seen in V6

Just like David we all have a sinful nature but despite this fact we cannot allow it to be an excuse for our behavior. Also with that point we are unable to be righteous. We NEED God’s help, guidance, and teaching, to even attempt to live the way that God has called us.

Psalm 51:7–12 “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice. Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.”

We begin to see David seeking comfort and forgiveness. But first and foremost he asks for forgiveness before that comfort.

David’s sins are great and crushing as we see the imagrey in V.8 that it is breaking his bones, the weight of conviction is crushing to him. He has sinned and David relizes that he has an unclean heart and is unable to fix it within himself so he asks for help from God.

The hyssop was a common herb used for cerimonial cleaning and was also used to spread the blood of the lamp over the doorways during passover in exodus.

David’s first concern is forgiveness. He knows that he is unworthy of God’s comfort and love due to the sins that he has commited but his true desire is to right with the Lord.

Many of times I tell my kids that if they were truly sorry the would no longer do what they did to get them in trouble if we truly examine our selves how often do we ask for forgivness from the same sin?

How often do we pray for forgiveness truly for the comfort and relife of conviction rather than to be in true right standing with God? And to be relativly worthy of that rightstanding?

We can see a beutiful picture of David pleading for forgiveness, not soley due to the fact that David wants to avoid the penelty of his actions ( we see this reinforced in V.3-4 where he says that whatever punishment God decides he will be just. Knowing that the punishment for his actions is death) But David’s true desire is to be holy, to be blamless in Gods eyes to have his sins and trangressions bloted out from His book.

Isaiah 43:25““I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.”

Then and only then does David ask for comfort from his convictions for his spirit to be renewed and his broken bones from said conviction to rejoice.

Our first and formost concern is to be within rightstanding with God, not to just be relived of the conviction of our sins but to truly be made righteous. For those sins to be completly bloted out, for us to be made holy in His eyes and for us to completly turn from our sins.

It is only once David has asked for a clean heart and for his sins to be bloted out that we requests to be in rightstanding and to be within God’s presence again. To stay amongst God and to be with His spirit.

Psalm 51:16–19 “For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. Do good to Zion in your good pleasure; build up the walls of Jerusalem; then will you delight in right sacrifices, in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on your altar.”

- God doesn't just want “payment” for our sins such as offerings & sacrifices. He wants our heart.

Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary on the Bible Chapter 51

The good work wrought in every true penitent, is a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart, and sorrow for sin. It is a heart that is tender, and pliable to God’s word

We see in verses 16 & 17 that it is not just about payment. David has sinned against God but God is not looking to get “even.” What God is after is the heart.

Sin should break our hearts as it does God’s. Sin creates a divide between us and God and what God is after is to eliminate that divide. The only way that that is possible it coming to God with a true and repentative heart. Not making light of our sin however small it may seem it still is sin wether it be murder & adultery or simple “harmless” lie.

This is the sacrifice and offering of repentance that God desires.

So we must come to God knowing that we have done wrong and not making light of it. with a true desire to regain that connection with Him. We have all had times that we have been withholding something from someone we are in relationship with and it causes a friction. To have a true meaning full relationship with God we must lay all of our cards on the table and come to Him with a humble heart.

Conclusion & Review

Ultimately David sinned against God, we see him here in this Psalm going to the Lord with a repentitive heart. Beginning with confession, pleasing for forgivness, then to be taught how to be good and to follow God’s will, and finally attempting to be back into God’s good grace.

Just as David did we must come to God with a true repentative heart. Asking for forgivness and being completely honest with ourselves. We all have things that we are not proud of such as a specific sins that mark our life. Even though God knows them all we still must confess our sins, our relationship with God is a true relationship we must invite Him into the messy parts of our life and allow Him to do the work in our lives so that we may turn from our sinful ways and live a life more pleasing to God.