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Psalm 51 Commentary

David Repents, “… Sinful From Birth”

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KEY THOUGHT: Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
And in sin my mother conceived me. [Psalm 51:5 NKJV]

Kindly read your Bible before going through the commentary!

Psalm 51 NKJV

A Prayer of Repentance

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.

51 Have mercy upon me, O God,
According to Your lovingkindness;
According to the multitude of Your tender mercies,
Blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
And cleanse me from my sin.

3 For I acknowledge my transgressions,
And my sin is always before me.
4 Against You, You only, have I sinned,
And done this evil in Your sight—
That You may be found just [a]when You speak,
And blameless when You judge.

5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
And in sin my mother conceived me.
6 Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts,
And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.

7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Make me hear joy and gladness,
That the bones You have broken may rejoice.
9 Hide Your face from my sins,
And blot out all my iniquities.

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me away from Your presence,
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.

12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,
And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.
13 Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,
And sinners shall be converted to You.

14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
The God of my salvation,
And my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness.
15 O Lord, open my lips,
And my mouth shall show forth Your praise.
16 For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it;
You do not delight in burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,
A broken and a contrite heart—
These, O God, You will not despise.

18 Do good in Your good pleasure to Zion;
Build the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then You shall be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness,
With burnt offering and whole burnt offering;
Then they shall offer bulls on Your altar.

Footnotes

a. Psalm 51:4 LXX, Tg., Vg. in Your words

New King James Version (NKJV)

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Psalm 51 Commentary

Chapter 11 of the second volume of Samuel comes up first. David has sinned and he has tried everything possible to cover up his sin.

Then the prophet Nathan shows up. We know David’s many big sins leading up to this point. We also know the prophet’s message to David. But what impact did God’s word have on David? We have this great psalm for the details.

Repentance. It all started with an acknowledgment of his sins. David called them sins, transgressions, and iniquity. Each term projects an aspect of David’s understanding of his wrongdoing.

By the term transgression, David knows he has contravened God’s holy law. By the term iniquity, David understands it as extreme wickedness.

He is the wicked man who seeks God’s mercy – what we all should be doing when caught in moments of wickedness.

Sin may cause pain and suffering in the lives of others. It may cause a temporary thrill and perceived advantage to the sinner. But the real victim of sin is the Creator God. Hence, what we do or don’t do to the least of the Lord’s brothers we do or don’t to the Lord Himself.

David is an interesting criminal. He openly tells the Judge that the list of charges against him is nothing. He has been a criminal all his life, from birth! What a way to exculpate oneself!

So how does the LORD help one born a sinner? From the beginning. Rebirth. “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” Verse 10. Forget the bad heart. It cannot mend. Give me a new one.

David points to the work of the Christ. With a renewed heart, let me have right ambitions, aspirations, and hopes. Shape my desires.

Then the plea: “Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me”

As an anointed lad, David had the difficult job of praying away the demons that tormented King Saul. Of course, this happened when the Spirit left King Saul. He knew the consequence of losing the Holy Spirit. It shouldn’t happen to him.

Sin has left David in very bad shape. He is low and feels empty. Typical of sin! Therefore, he prays: “Restore to me the joy of your salvation.” Let the LORD deliver him from the guilt of bloodshed.

Interestingly, there is no record of David going to offer his sin offering at the Sanctuary. He knew there was something better. “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: A broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.” Verse 17.

Here is something to think about. The long-awaited scepter is in David’s hand. That is the blessing of Judah. It reflects very strongly the blessing of dominion as per the original mandate. Genesis chapter 1 verse 28.

But when you see David in torn clothes and laid on the floor in repentance, away from his throne, then you know dominion means more than just political administration, political power, political freedom, and political authority.

In his moment of extreme wickedness, David failed to rule over sin. It mastered him in the manner of sinful Cain, leading to murder.

The Body of Christ should be more concerned about this lack of dominion rather than the political dominion that envisions prosperity, success, wealth, physical authority, and physical wellbeing.

David understood this problem and prayed: Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then I will be blameless, innocent of great transgression. Psalm 19 verse 13.

Indeed, let no sin rule over us!

Loving Scripture….

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24 thoughts on “Home”

  1. It has been exciting learning how God can make things happen to his choosen one, God workout something wonderful and fulfils the promises he made to the father of Joseph.

    God’s words remains true so are his promises and indeed it has been God working out the salvation of man Kind by Grace through Faith alone.

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  11. Profound. My life needs a new introduction to God. Not that I have been right, but because God desires to help me… I see an amazing Grace here. Having broken the first commandment, still God looks for me and helps me to build up with him… And live for him. A littles knowledge of the Lord will ignite my passion and desire to serve him. This morning I pledge to seek, live and serve the Lord Jesus Christ and His purposes everyday of my life.
    Beautiful lesson

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  12. The Lord reintroduces himself and shows Israel, He is all they need. Some boast in horses and others in chariots but we’ll boast in the Lord. He is able and the only one worthy of our trust. Lord teach me how to always look up to you at all times and not focus on my strength or capabilities. This is my prayer

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  14. This far too common today. Just do something that seems like true worship yet it’s intent and actual practice is not even close to the set standard by the Lord. I personally feel challenged of some things we do in our personal lives, the focus of many churches and ministries today. We’ll need to realize the Lord must be worship as he has personally guided. Provides a good start of my reflection today

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  15. In those days when there was no King everyone did as they pleased. This is a good reminder to us that we are on own when the King of Kings isn’t leading our lives we’ll be doing what is not right and the results will show clearly how life without Christ looks like. We thank God that even when it looks like he’s not there, he’s behind the scenes working. I have learnt to trust in the Lord always.

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  16. Iam seeing this being stressed… There was no King in Israel… So lawlessness is the order of the day. This shows how heartless and wicked man can be with out the right King in his life. He can do anything. May the Lord help us to allow Christ in our lives that every aspect of our lives is changed and we yield ourselves to him alone.

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  17. I’m sure as the two daughters in-law stayed in Naomi’s home they learned about the God of Israel and appreciated His works among his people. Ruth’s determination and what she says moves my heart. She’s convinced she must go with Naomi and wants to spend her life with her, this relationship was strong especially between a mother inlaw and a daughter in-law. Yet Ruth stays and how she puts it shows the depth of her heart, I’ll go with with you, your people will be my people, your God will be my God…

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