Psalms Reading – 2.17.2022
Psalm 51
For the director of music. A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.
1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.
according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge.
5 Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
6 Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb; you taught me wisdom in that secret place.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge.
5 Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
6 Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb; you taught me wisdom in that secret place.
7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.
10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
11 Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, so that sinners will turn back to you.
14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, you who are God my Savior,
and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.
15 Open my lips, Lord, and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
17 My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.
14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, you who are God my Savior,
and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.
15 Open my lips, Lord, and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
17 My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.
18 May it please you to prosper Zion, to build up the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then you will delight in the sacrifices of the righteous, in burnt offerings offered whole;
then bulls will be offered on your altar.
19 Then you will delight in the sacrifices of the righteous, in burnt offerings offered whole;
then bulls will be offered on your altar.
We clearly know the circumstances of when this psalm was penned and prayed first by David. The king, the spiritual leader of the nation, had committed adultery and murder. (2 Samuel 11-12.)
In this passionate prayer of confession, David poured out his heart, asking for forgiveness after Nathan the prophet had exposed his sins. It is written from David’s perspective before he had experienced forgiveness in contrast to Psalm 32 which speaks of the delight of confessed sin.
It reminds us that the best among us can sin and mess up in an ugly fashion. Even greater than that, it reveals the beauty of God’s grace to forgive and cleanse if we are humble and willing to confess.
David gives us an emotional prayer that we can use as our own to express our repentant heart.
David, not only wanted to be forgiven, but given a clean heart and a renewed and faithful spirit to be placed within him. He pleaded for God would not to cast him away from His presence and asked for his joy to be restored that had been robbed by his overwhelming guilt. He did not stop there.
On the other side of this, he promised to sing God’s praise and teach others how they can turn back to God. This the very thing he did by writing this prayer for the billions who would go on to pray it!
Memory Verse: Psalm 51:10, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”
Question(s) to Consider: What encouragement does this psalm give you? What does it tell you about God? Of the many declarations and petitions in this prayer, which one speaks to you the most?