Psalms 51:1-11

For the director of music. A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.

1 ^[a]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.

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.

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.

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.

Psalms 51:1-11 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. S 2 Samuel 24:14; S Psalms 9:13
• 2. S Psalms 25:7; S Psalms 119:88
• 3. S Nehemiah 9:27; Psalms 86:15; Isaiah 63:7
• 4. S 2 Samuel 12:13; S 2 Chronicles 6:21; S Nehemiah 4:5; Acts 3:19
• 5. S Psalms 39:8; Isaiah 43:25; Colossians 2:14
• 6. S Ruth 3:3; Jeremiah 2:22; Jeremiah 13:27; Acts 22:16; 1 John 1:9
• 7. Proverbs 20:30; Isaiah 4:4; Ezekiel 36:25; Zechariah 13:1; Matthew 23:25-26; Hebrews 9:14
• 8. Isaiah 59:12
• 9. S 1 Samuel 15:24
• 10. S Genesis 20:6; Luke 15:21
• 11. Romans 3:4*
• 12. S Leviticus 5:2; Job 14:4
• 13. S Job 5:7
• 14. Psalms 119:66; Psalms 143:10; Proverbs 2:6
• 15. S Job 9:4; S Job 34:32; Psalms 15:2
• 16. Isaiah 4:4; Ezekiel 36:25; Zechariah 13:1
• 17. S Exodus 12:22; Leviticus 14:4; S Numbers 19:6; Hebrews 9:19
• 18. Isaiah 1:18; Isaiah 43:25; Isaiah 44:22
• 19. Isaiah 35:10; Jeremiah 33:11; Joel 1:16
• 20. S Exodus 12:46
• 21. Jeremiah 16:17; Zechariah 4:10
• 22. S 2 Samuel 12:13
• 23. S Psalms 24:4; Psalms 78:37; Matthew 5:8; Acts 15:9
• 24. Ezekiel 18:31; Ezekiel 36:26
• 25. Psalms 27:9; Psalms 71:9; Psalms 138:8
• 26. S Genesis 4:14; S Exodus 33:15
• 27. Psalms 106:33; Isaiah 63:10; Ephesians 4:30

Footnotes

• [a]. In Hebrew texts 51:1-19 is numbered 51:3-21.