시편 Chapter 51

Translation: ESV

1

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.

Key Message

God's forgiveness is grounded not in our merit but in his steadfast love and abundant mercy.

▸This is the opening verse of David's great penitential prayer, composed after the prophet Nathan confronted him regarding his adultery with Bathsheba.

This is the opening verse of David's great penitential prayer, composed after the prophet Nathan confronted him regarding his adultery with Bathsheba. The two key terms 'steadfast love (hesed)' and 'mercy (rahamim)' represent God's covenantal faithfulness and compassionate grace. David appeals not to his own merit or righteousness, but solely to the character of God. This petition is a classic expression of the truth that human forgiveness depends not on human effort but on divine grace.

Related Verses

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end.Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance?
2

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

Key Message

The defilement of sin can be completely removed only by God.

▸'Wash (kabas)' depicts the vigorous action of laundering cloth, while 'cleanse (taher)' denotes ritual purity.

3

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

Key Message

True repentance begins with acknowledging and facing one's sin.

▸Genuine repentance begins with an honest acknowledgment of one's sin.

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.

Key Message

All sin is ultimately rebellion against God, and God's judgment is always righteous.

▸The confession 'against you only have I sinned' reflects a profound theological insight: even though David sinned against Bathsheba and Uriah, the ultimate object of all sin is God.

5

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

Key Message

The problem of human sin is not merely behavioral but existential, requiring a fundamental transformation.

▸This verse serves as a foundational text for the doctrine of original sin, confessing that the human propensity toward sin is present from birth.

6

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

Key Message

God desires truth in the inward being rather than outward behavior, and wisdom grows from within.

▸God desires truth in the innermost being rather than external behavior.

7

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

Key Message

God's act of cleansing is a thorough transformation that removes sin completely, making the sinner whiter than snow.

▸Hyssop was the plant used in Levitical purification rites to sprinkle the cleansing water (Lev.

8

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

Key Message

The pain caused by sin reaches the deepest parts of one's being, and God's forgiveness restores even those depths.

▸'The bones you have broken' is a vivid image of the spiritual and psychological pain caused by sin.

9

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

Key Message

Forgiveness is God turning his face from sin — no longer remembering it.

▸'Hide your face from my sins' is a plea for God not to look upon the sins — for God's face turned toward sin means judgment, while God's face turned away means forgiveness.

10

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.

Key Message

Inner transformation comes not through human effort but only through God's new creation.

▸'Create (bara)' is the same verb used for creation in Genesis 1, and in biblical Hebrew it is used exclusively with God as its subject.

11

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

Key Message

God's presence and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit are the most precious gifts to a believer.

▸This is the most urgent plea in David's prayer — not to be banished from God's presence and not to have the Holy Spirit withdrawn.

12

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

Key Message

Restoration after repentance includes not only the forgiveness of sin but also the recovery of the joy of salvation and willing devotion.

▸The joy of salvation is the gladness of being first forgiven, but sin can cause this joy to disappear.

13

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

Key Message

The restored sinner becomes a witness who leads others to God through personal experience.

▸The restored sinner becomes a witness who teaches other sinners the ways of God through personal experience.

14

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

Key Message

Even the gravest sin falls within God's forgiveness, and the forgiven person becomes one who sings of God's righteousness.

▸'Bloodguiltiness' directly references David's sin in the indirect killing of Uriah.

15

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

Key Message

True praise becomes possible only when God opens our lips.

▸David feels that because of sin he has lost the right to praise God, and that only when God himself opens his lips can praise be possible.

16

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

Key Message

God desires genuine repentance of the heart, not formal sacrifice.

▸This verse contains the prophetic insight that God takes greater delight in inner repentance than in external sacrifice.

17

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

Key Message

The sacrifice God desires is a broken and contrite heart, which he will never despise.

▸This verse is the theological climax of Psalm 51.

18

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

Key Message

Personal restoration leads to communal restoration, and the repentant person intercedes for the community.

▸David's personal prayer of repentance transitions into intercession for the community.

19

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

Key Message

Once genuine inner repentance has occurred, outward worship becomes what God delights in.

▸After emphasizing inner repentance over external sacrifice in verses 16-17, David here restores the value of outward worship.