Psalm 51

Introduction

We, as Christians, should be marked by humility (Colossians 3:12). We realize we have nothing good in and of ourselves (Romans 7:18). We know God hates pride (Proverbs 6:16-17), and opposes it, while giving grace to the humble (James 4:6). Humility permeates throughout all of Scripture. We are told in Philippians that we should model ourselves after Christ, “who, as He already existed in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied Himself by taking the form of a bond-servant and being born in the likeness of men” (Philippians‬ ‭2:6-7). Christ, as our example, shows the ultimate humility. The One “from whom to whom and through whom are all things” (Romans 11:36), displays unfathomable humility by the act of becoming one of us. When we increase our humility, we come to a more accurate realization of who Christ is.

I would make the case that no other psalm, or chapter, in the Bible gives us quite the same picture of humility that Psalm 51 gives. Here we find King David, at a time when he had found success in all areas of life, by worldly standards. He was more powerful, from a ruling standpoint, than he had ever been in his life. But God sent the prophet Nathan to call him out after one of the most horrendous rampages of sin that we see from a person in the Bible. David, the boy who fought wild beasts successfully as a shepherd, and destroyed Goliath to save the Isrealites from the Philistines as a young man, had sinned atrociously against God. We see it described in 2 Samuel 11. I encourage reading the chapter. I also encourage reading the next chapter to see Nathan’s rebuke. It’s a very cinematic description. David points to the description he hears and condemns. Nathan exposes that he is discussing David’s very actions.

In summary, David arrived at the culmination of multiple sins. He was staying out of battles, implying possible fear and laziness. The chapter describes him as walking around with free time in the middle of wartime as king. This gave way to lust for Bathsheba, seeing her during his free time. Specific sins don’t travel alone. They like to bring other sins with them. In David’s perversion, he desired her so much that he had her husband Uriah sent out to the front of the battlefield, in short, indirectly murdering him. This is an extreme, and more consequential, version of our flawed justification of our sins. I can picture him feeling as though he had not acted out of his power to decide who would be on the front lines. He knew the Law of God passed down by Moses and was desperately looking for a way to get around it.

An All Time Low

The description at the top of the psalm states “To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.” After the humiliation of knowing that he had greatly angered the Lord by his depravity, David writes Psalm 51. In his utter shame and humiliation, David cries out in verse 1-2:

“Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin!”

This pathetic man, who had received all the blessing the earth had to offer, only to spit in the face of the Law given by his God, now knows that he is in desperate need. He doesn’t look inward for justification. He looks outward to God’s attributes. He calls to mind what he knows about God. He knows God is steadfast in love (Lamentations 3:22-23), abundant in mercy (Psalm 86:5, 86:15, Numbers 14:18), able to blot out transgression (Isaiah 43:25), and cleanse from sin (Leviticus 16:30). This is one of my favorite prayers in the Bible. Thankfully, it doesn’t take acting out on adultery and abuse of military power to pray this.

We see Jesus expositing the Old Testament Law by showing its true meaning, that if we have hatred for our brother, we can stand in judgement with murderers (Matthew 5:21-22). He speaks afterwards, that whoever looks lustfully has committed adultery in their heart (Matthew 5:27-28). We all sin more than we know. In Psalm 19:12, David puts it this way; “Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults.” 1 John 1:8 says that if we say we are without sin, we lie. Wrestling with his own sin in Romans 7, we see Paul make the grand conclusion “Wretched man that I am!” He answers the question, “Who will save me from this body of death?” with praise to Jesus, our Savior. As Christians, the more we look inward, the more we see our need for a Savior, and David, echoed later by Paul, see we have a gloriously sufficient and loving one.

Against You Alone

After praying to God, to treat him with his sin, according to His love and mercy, he describes his current state in more detail. David continues:

“For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
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.
Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
and in sin did my mother conceive me.
Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being,
and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.”

The part that has always stood out to me when reading this portion is how he makes the statement that against God alone, has he sinned. My first thought is “What about Uriah?” It seems like having him put on the front lines to have his wife would qualify as sinning against him. I believe while this is an understandable response when we read things like this in the Bible that confuse us, we ultimately see our initial thoughts are incorrect. We can bring questions to God’s Word confidently, trusting the Holy Spirit to lead us to truth, as he describes here. “Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.” I’m getting ahead of myself a little here. David starts off saying that he has recognized the severity of his sin. He then follows with the nature of what his sin is. Ultimately, sin is against God alone. Other sinners, like Uriah and Bathsheba, although the specific nature of their sins are not described, we know are included in the “all” of “All have sinned” (Romans 3:23), with ourselves guilty. Every breaking of the Law of God is against the Law Maker. We, as humans, can be sinned against in terrible ways. However, a difficult truth here is that we would never come up with the Law of God and therefore, when others sin against us, it is ultimately God who is sinned against. We would only bring devastation if God did not write His law on our hearts (Romans 2:14-16).

White As Snow

David then continues to expand upon his need. The thought process starts in a position of need, stating how God is amply the one to supply, then continues on to describe the nature of his need. He now returns to the solution. We know about the One who gives it. We now get to see how that looks in relation to Father God and his rebellious son. He springs forth supplication after supplication with what he trusts will result from these things. This is what he is trusting God to do in response to his state in order to be restored and justified. It’s not the ritual of sacrifice, but the act of God to forgive his sins.

“Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones that you have broken rejoice.
Hide your face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from your presence,
and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and uphold me with a willing spirit.”

Rise Up

David does not stay in his shame. He trusts in God’s character instead of his feelings. He moves forward in faith, accepting the consequences of his actions. He speaks in the future tense to say “Once you do this, I know I will return to living for you in faith.” He knows when God forgives, He doesn’t just leave stagnant. Grace moves. He continues:

“Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will return to you.
Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God,
O God of my salvation,
and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.
O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.”

What follows is one of my favorite foreshadows to the coming of Christ and the fact that God does not change. The Old Testament God is the New Testament Christ. They are the Triune God of Scripture. He “changeth not.” (Malachi 3:6) David says,

“For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;
you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
Do good to Zion in your good pleasure;
build up the walls of Jerusalem;
then will you delight in right sacrifices,
in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings;
then bulls will be offered on your altar.”

This paragraph will be a simplification of a major Biblical theme. It’s definitely the tip of the iceberg and yet it can be simplified. The end of the psalm here shows that God has always been looking at our hearts. The sacrificial system passed down through the Law of Moses was in place and had physical requirements, but these were not mere motions of unlocking God’s favor. God is, and has always been interested in the heart behind the action. This was before the historical incarnation of Christ on earth, so the return after God revived His people was just to rightly return to the sacrificial system of Moses, but we know the whole story. Christ has come in space and time. He died and rose again.

We don’t do religious activities hoping to gain the favor of God, but in our humility we approach Him with hearts realizing it’s all of grace. God looks at our hearts and sees what was a dead sinner (Ephesians 2:1-10), yet he regenerates us to see our need and the impossibility of us always having perfect intentions. We pray to him to cleanse us. We trust in Him that He will. He does so more than sufficiently, and will continue to for all eternity.

If you have made it here and haven’t put your trust in Jesus to be the sacrifice that cleanses you and brings you into perfect fellowship with God, I plead with you to see that you too have sinned in your heart. You’ve done things that are not with good intentions, whether religious or outright rebellion against his Law. Thankfully, God has provided the perfect sacrifice in Christ. He made Christ who did not sin, to take your sin on the cross. It was the perfect sacrifice needed. You can live with His righteousness in God’s sight (2 Corinthians 5:21).