Psalms 51 Footnotes

Ps 51 Often referred to as David’s confession of sin, this passage is a meditation on what it means to be aware of sin and the need to be forgiven. The superscription describes it as a sequel to Nathan’s confronting the king with taking Uriah’s wife, Bathsheba (2Sm 12:1-15).

51:4 David had sinned against Uriah and Bathsheba, but the confession acknowledged that sin is, first of all, against God; the expression “you alone” simply intensifies that thought.

51:8 Because of the seriousness of his sin, David could not go into the sanctuary to join God’s praises. Here he asked for forgiveness so that he could do that, with his petition implied: “[Tell me I am forgiven so that I may] hear joy and gladness.”

51:10 The heart is the spiritual nature of a person, the center of the will, the capacity for making choices. The prayer is for God to re-create (renew, as the parallelism in the verse shows) that spiritual side, lest he continue to make wrong choices. Forgiveness may not be enough to solve the problem; there must be a complete spiritual renewal. The forgiven worshiper is not the old person cleaned up; he is a new person (Ezk 18:31; 1Co 5:17).

51:11 At Pentecost the risen and ascended Christ sent his Holy Spirit (Ac 2:32-33) to abide with every believer. But before the incarnation and resurrection of the Son of God, the Spirit appears to function differently in the life of the people of God. The Spirit “came upon” or “indwelt” people responsible for administering the rule of God: prophets, priests, and kings. The presence of God’s Spirit set them apart and enabled them to lead (Is 61:1), but his indwelling was not always permanent as it is in the NT. Thus, when Saul sinned against the Lord and was rejected from kingship, the Spirit left him (1Sm 16:14). David the king probably had this possibility in mind. His prayer is a typical OT petition that he not be removed from service because of his sin. Christians would not express this thought in the same way; since Jesus Christ lives and reigns, his Holy Spirit indwells them permanently as the seal of eternal life. Still, NT believers can pray the same thing David meant: “Do not banish me from your presence.” (On the Holy Spirit in the OT, see Jdg 3:10; 1Sm 18:12.)