My Notepad
Author | King David |
Style | Song/Poetry |
Subject | Psalms 51 Repentance of Sin (specifically Murder, Adultery (maybe rape), Manipulation |
Hey everyone! Glad you came back!
This week we are talking about repentance again! In Psalms 51 we see a super clear picture of what repentance looks like, when King David repents specifically of his sin that involved another man’s wife (Bathsheba).
The full story can be found in 2 Samuel 11-12 and it is a story of murder, adultery (possibly rape), and a cover up. If that is where that event ends it would be an absolute tragedy. The good news is that we know that David repents and sings about it in Psalms 51 so lets DIG IN!
VERSES 1-3: FOCUS: DAVID & his SIN
1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! 3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.
David begins with a request to God. Have mercy on me God, he says, according to your steadfast love. Notice that his request is for God to deal with him according to who God is, and not who David is.
Isn't that what we all want? For God to love us and deal with us according to who HE is and not who we are? I know that's true for me. If God deals with me based on who I am, then I am toast. If God deals with me based on who He is, Who Jesus is, Then I am righteous.In the first 3 verses Davd mentions 3 categories of sin…
Transgressions: Crossing the line; Willful disobedience
Iniquities: Crookedness of character; the root of sin
Sin: Falling short, or Missing the mark
Don't miss this, David is apologizing on all 3 fronts, for missing the mark, for not even aiming at the target, for who he is and how bent his heart isMy sin is ever before me when I read this, it's almost like I can hear him say, “I know I'm gonna betray you again God.
Verses 4: All Sin Is Vertical
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.
Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight,
When i first read this i was like “well i bet Bathsheba would have something to say about that” After all, he slept with her, got her pregnant, manipulated her husband to cover it up and eventually he had her husband killed.
So how can he say such a thing?
I don't think the point is that his actions didn't hurt anyone but God. The deeper truth here is that ALL sin, regardless of who we hurt with our sin, is vertical. You see, the truth is that because God is creator and lawgiver, all sin is first and foremost against God.The second part of this verse lets us know that David knows what he deserves.
He basically says, because of what ive done, you would be right to pronounce and enact judgment against me.
I own this sin. I deserve judgment. Because you are good, and just.
Verses 5: Born in Sin?
Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.
I don't think he was alluding to his mother conceiving him while being unfaithful
I think what he is getting at is that he was always going to be a sinner.
His father was a sinner, His mother was a sinner, they gave birth to a…sinner
This is the predicament we all find ourselves in. ever since the first conceived child, we have a nature that is bent toward sin.
Don't believe me?
I get it. But here is the thing.
When a child sees something he/she wants, he takes it.
When a child wants something and can't have it, he screams. He doesn't consider your feelings, he doesn't ask for permission, he wants what he wants and is totally selfish.
We aren't naturally giving, considerate, or selfless. Because of sin in the world, we have to learn this.
Verse 6: God’s Character
Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being,
and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.
God delights in truth. When we see ourselves for who we are, and how much we need our God, we honor our King.
Wisdom in the secret heart I wish I had something insightful to say about this but really lol i just dont. The only thing I can add is this… In the past when I have sinned, and have been convicted of it in my heart, I learn something from it.
I learn that God’s ways are so much better than mine.
I learn to aim my heart toward God, and by default, away from sin.
Verse 7-9: Clean me
7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.
Hyssop was an herb that was used in many purification rituals in those days.
David says, purge me, wash me,
Purge and wash here may not sound like it, but these are very aggressive words. In the original language, wash here carries with it the idea of beating something clean
If you clean me then i will be clean… meaning i dont have the ability to clean myself. I need you God.
Look at verse 8, David asks for joy and gladness, and rejoicing.
Have you ever done something so wrong that it affected you at a very core level?
Everything seemed darker
Everything hurt
There was no sense of hope and joy
The only thing you felt was fear and dread and doom and pain
Verse 9 he asks God to hide His face from his sin. And blot out his iniquities.
It's like he is saying please dont look at me. Don't deal with me according to my sin
Verse 10: New heart
Create in me a clean heart,
O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
I have soiled and stained the heart you've given me. Forgive me and create in me a new heart
The word david uses for create here is usually used to describe when God creates like ONLY GOD can, from nothing
So what he is saying is simple. If you clean it, I will muck it up again . please give me a new heart that can be transformed to have a posture towards you.
Another way to say this is "a steadfast spirit"
Sound familiar? In the beginning he was begging God to act according to HIS steadfast love, now he's asking that God makes him like God.
Not as in, equal footing, but make me able to look like you
Verses 11-12 Don’t Leave me
11 Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.
Please don't leave me
Dont take away from me your presence
Dont throw me out like trash
Put me back in right standing with YOU God.
Renew my joy
Renew my standing
Renew a heart that is willing to serve you
Verse 13-15: the result
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. 14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness. 15 O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.
David is saying, when not if .
When you restore me then I will teach and sinners will return to you.
When you deliver me from my guilt and condemnation, I will worship
When you open my lips, I will tell of your glory!
See David is not making deals here.
He is saying that I don't deserve to teach until you restore me.
He is saying that I don't deserve to worship until you deliver me
He is saying that i dont deserve to tell of your glory until you open my lips
Verse 16-17: You Cant Fool God
16 For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise
If we look at these verses in light of the verses before it we get even more clairity…
I cant teach, i cant worship, I cant tell of your glory until i am restored
I can't just go through the motions of burnt offerings. Until you have given me a new heart, and restored me, then it would be in vain.
The sacrifices you accept are real ones
From the heart
From a heart that knows how much it NEEDS God
From a broken and contrite heart
Verse 18-19: ????
18 Do good to Zion in your good pleasure; build up the walls of Jerusalem; 19 then will you delight in right sacrifices, in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on your altar.
Im going to be honest here… I have zero clue what to do with verse 18
Unless it is a metaphor for his restoration.
Assuming that 18 is a metaphor for David's restoration then verse 19 falls into place.
When my heart is new and aimed at God, then God will accept the sacrifices
The nation will be restored as well
Jerusalem will worship you once again