Psalms 51:1-15

1 ¹Have mercy on me,^[a] O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your ²abundant mercy ³blot out my transgressions.

2 ⁴Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and ⁵cleanse me from my sin!

3 ⁶For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.

4 ⁷Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil ⁸in your sight, ⁹so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.

5 Behold, ¹⁰I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.

6 Behold, you delight in truth in ¹¹the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.

7 Purge me ¹²with hyssop, and I shall be clean; ¹³wash me, and I shall be ¹⁴whiter than snow.

8 Let me hear joy and gladness; ¹⁵let the bones ¹⁶that you have broken rejoice.

9 ¹⁷Hide your face from my sins, and ¹⁸blot out all my iniquities.

10 ¹⁹Create in me a ²⁰clean heart, O God, and ²¹renew a right^[b] spirit within me.

11 ²²Cast me not away from your presence, and take not ²³your 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 ²⁴return to you.

14 Deliver me from ²⁵bloodguiltiness, O God, O ²⁶God of my salvation, and ²⁷my tongue will sing aloud of your ²⁸righteousness.

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

Psalms 51:1-15 Meaning and Commentary

To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. The occasion of this psalm was the sin of David with Bathsheba, signified by "going in to her"; an euphemism for "lying with her"; which sin was a very aggravated one, she being another man's wife, and the wife of a servant and soldier of his, who was at the same time exposing his life for his king and country's good; and David besides had many wives, and was also king of Israel, and should have set a better example to his subjects; and it was followed with other sins, as the murder of Uriah, and the death of several others; with scandal to religion, and with security and impenitence in him for a long time, until Nathan the prophet was sent to him of God, to awaken him to a sense of his sin; which he immediately acknowledged, and showed true repentance for it: upon which, either while Nathan was present, or after he was gone, he penned this psalm; that it might remain on record, as a testification of his repentance, and for the instruction of such as should fall into sin, how to behave, where to apply, and for their comfort. The history of all this may be seen in the eleventh and twelfth chapters of the second book of Samuel.

Cross References

• 1. See Psalms 4:1
• 2. See Psalms 106:45
• 3. ver. 9; Isaiah 43:25; Isaiah 44:22; Acts 3:19; Colossians 2:14
• 4. ver. 7; Isaiah 1:16; Jeremiah 4:14; Malachi 3:3; Acts 22:16
• 5. Hebrews 9:14; 1 John 1:7, 9; [Leviticus 13:6]
• 6. Psalms 32:5; [Proverbs 28:13]
• 7. Genesis 20:6; Genesis 39:9; 2 Samuel 12:13; [1 Corinthians 8:12]
• 8. Luke 15:18, 21
• 9. Cited Romans 3:4
• 10. Romans 5:12, 19; Ephesians 2:3; See Job 14:4; Job 15:14
• 11. Job 38:36
• 12. Exodus 12:22; Leviticus 14:4; Numbers 19:18; Hebrews 9:19
• 13. [See ver. 2 above]
• 14. Isaiah 1:18
• 15. Psalms 35:10
• 16. Psalms 44:19; Isaiah 38:13
• 17. Jeremiah 16:17
• 18. [See ver. 1 above]
• 19. 1 Samuel 10:9; Jeremiah 24:7; Ezekiel 11:19; Ezekiel 36:26; Ephesians 4:23, 24
• 20. Psalms 24:4; Matthew 5:8; Acts 15:9
• 21. Lamentations 5:21
• 22. Psalms 102:10; 2 Kings 13:23; 2 Kings 17:20; 2 Kings 24:20; Jeremiah 7:15
• 23. Romans 8:9; Ephesians 4:30
• 24. [Luke 22:32]
• 25. 2 Samuel 11:17; 2 Samuel 12:9
• 26. Psalms 24:5
• 27. Psalms 35:28; Psalms 71:8, 15, 24
• 28. [1 John 1:9]

Footnotes

• [a] Or Be gracious to me
• [b] Or steadfast