Psalm 51

What Psalm 51 means

David does not start with excuses. He starts with God's character: have mercy according to thy lovingkindness and the multitude of thy tender mercies. Then he names his sin with three different words, transgressions, iniquity and sin, and asks God to blot out, wash and cleanse. Verse 4 is striking because he had wronged Bathsheba and Uriah, yet he says, "Against thee, thee only, have I sinned": all sin is first against God.

Verses 5-9 go deeper. David says he was shapen in iniquity, meaning the problem is not one bad act but his own heart. He asks to be purged with hyssop, the plant used in Israel's cleansing rituals, and promises the result: "wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." He asks God to hide his face from his sins and to let crushed bones rejoice again.

Verses 10-13 are the centre. "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me." The word create is the same verb used in Genesis 1, used only of God, as if David knows only a new act of God can fix him. He asks not to be cast away or to lose God's holy spirit, and to have the joy of salvation restored. Then he will teach other sinners the way back.

Verses 14-17 explain what God wants. David asks to be delivered from bloodguiltiness, the guilt of Uriah's death. He knows no animal sacrifice can pay for this: "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise."

The last two verses turn from the king to the city: do good to Zion, build the walls of Jerusalem, and then right sacrifices will please God again. A forgiven leader prays for the people he had put at risk.

Background and context

The KJV title reads: To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. The story is in 2 Samuel 11-12: David took Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite, and arranged Uriah's death in battle. God sent Nathan with a parable about a rich man who stole a poor man's lamb, and when David was angry, Nathan said, "Thou art the man."

David confessed, "I have sinned against the LORD," and Nathan told him the LORD had put away his sin. The title presents Psalm 51 as the prayer behind that confession, and because it is addressed to the chief Musician, many readers think it was meant to be sung in public worship.

Key verses

Cross references

• 2 Samuel 12:7 Nathan confronts David: "Thou art the man."And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul;
• 2 Samuel 12:13 David confesses, and Nathan tells him the LORD hath put away his sin.And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.
• Isaiah 1:18 Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
• Ezekiel 36:26 God promises a new heart and a new spirit.A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
• Psalm 34:18 The LORD saves such as be of a contrite spirit.The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.
• Hosea 6:6 God desired mercy, and not sacrifice.For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
• Romans 3:4 Paul quotes verse 4: that thou mightest be justified in thy sayings.God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.
• 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us.If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.