TEACHING NOTES Introduction In this series we are learning about prayer from studying prayers recorded in the Bible. The fact that these prayers are recorded for us indicates that we are intended to learn from them. The prayer we are studying today is David’s famous prayer of repentance. This prayer teaches us so much about how to deal with our sin and seek forgiveness. ‌ Psalm 51 To the Choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. ‌ The Subtitle: Many of the Psalm have a heading or subtitle to give the reader additional information about the Psalm. The subtitle of Psalm 51 tells us that it was written by David to or for “the choirmaster” (Heb. menasseah - perpetual, enduring). The ancient Greek Old Testament reads “To the end.” This may mean that this Psalm was meant to be used on a regular basis or perpetual. The subtitle also tells us the context of this Psalm. David had an affair with Bathsheba, from which she became pregnant, and had her husband Uriah sent to the frontlines of war so he would be easily killed (2 Samuel 11). Nathan the prophet confronted David, which led David to repent (2 Sam. 12). This Psalm is David’s prayer of repentance. There is also a Hebrew wordplay behind the English “went to” and “gone in” that reads like an ancient pun in the Hebrew text. Nathan “went to” David to confront him and lead him to do the right thing, while David “went in to” Bathsheba to do the wrong thing. ‌ Psalm 51:1-2 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! ‌ Mercy = Heb. hanan - favor, grace, compassion. ‌ According to = Heb. k - like, as, in the same way. ‌ Steadfast love = Heb. hesed - loyalty, faithfulness. ‌ Abundant mercy = Heb. rob rahame - wealth or plentiful compassion. ‌ Notice that David appeals to God’s grace, love, and mercy before he has even mentioned his sins. His prayer begins with God’s character. ‌ Blot out my transgressions = Heb. meheh ani pesha - wipe clean my relational wrongs. ‌ Wash me from my iniquity = Heb. kabbese harbeh ani avon - cleanse fully my premeditated evil. ‌ Cleanse me from my sins = Heb. tahare ani hattah - purify my misdeeds. ‌ David admits that he is guilty of all three kinds of wrongdoing. ‌ Three Hebrew Words for Wrongdoing: 1. Hattah = Sin - missing the target 2. Pesha = Transgression - relational trespass 3. Avon = Iniquity - premeditated evil ‌ Psalm 51:3–6 3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. 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. 5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. 6 Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. ‌ I know my transgressions = Notice that this prayer is not about sin in general, but about specific sins that David knows he has committed. When we ask God for forgiveness, we need to confess our sins specifically. ‌ My sin is ever before me = David’s sins were “ever before” him. The Hebrew phrase here is tamid negdi, which means “continually in front of.” This means that David could not get away with nor from his sins. His actions and his guilt were haunting him. ‌ Against you only have I sinned = This should make us pause and ask: “How could David say that he has only sinned against God?” If we know the story from 2 Sam. 11-12, we know that David sinned against God, Bathsheba, Uriah, Joab, and David’s army. Everyone knew that David sinned against multiple people, but there was a tendency is Israel to forget that sins against people are sins against God. In this prayer, David is focused on the fact that his sin against people are most importantly sin against God. For David, this is a much bigger problem. Why? The Torah states that David should have been killed or at least exiled from Israel, if he refused to repent (Ex. 20:17; Lev. 18:29). In 2 Sam. 12:13 David confesses, “I have sinned against the LORD.” Then the prophet Nathan responds with “The LORD also has put away [passed over] your sin; you shall not die.” This means that David will not be executed nor exiled, but he will suffer major consequences for his sins. ‌ That you may be justified = Everyone reading this prayer in the ancient world knew David’s story and all of the consequences his suffered for his sins. David is acknowledging that these consequences were justified because he had “utterly scorned the LORD” (2 Sam. 12:14). David and Bathsheba’s child dies. David’s family rebells against him. One of David’s sons Amnon raped his sister Tamar. As a result, one of David’s other sons Absalom kills Amnon. Later Absalom conspires to overthrown David and make himself king of Israel. In short, David suffered the consequences of his sins for the rest of his life. David knew that God’s judgments were righteous, even though they may seem extreme to us. In Psalm 51 David wants everyone to know that these consequences were justified. This kind of humility is a sign of true repentance. ‌ I was brought forth in iniquity = This part has been used by later Christians to teach the doctrine of Original Sin—the idea that every child is born in sin and is guilty of sin from birth. This teaching began in heretical groups in the late 200s AD, but was popularized by St. Augustine in the 400s AD. Much later the western church followed Augustine’s ideas and the Protestant Reformers further developed this doctrine. However, this was NOT the teaching of the ancient church. The ancient church taught that every person becomes a sinner when we begin to sin. Everyone sins because we are not in Eden and are surrounded by sin and temptation. We are not born already guilty of sin. As far as David’s comments here in Ps. 51:5, David is referring to his parents sinning when they conceived him. Ancient interpreters understood David to mean that his parents did something sinful when they conceived him. In other words, David is simply saying that his parents were sinners and he has followed in their footsteps. ‌ You delight in inner truth = God delights in “truth in the inward being” or “honesty of the inner self.” We often portray one thing on the outside and another on the inside. We can appear to be godly, while still being sinful under the surface. This is spiritual hypocrisy that other people cannot see. But God sees what is on the inside. God wants our inner self to match our outer self. ‌ You teach me wisdom in the secret heart = This Hebrew phrase is difficult to translate, but it means something like “you teach me wisdom deep within” or “you teach me the hidden things of your wisdom.” In other words, God wants to teach us wisdom that the world cannot give us. Since God desires for us to be honest at the innermost level, He gives us wisdom at the innermost level. ‌ Psalm 51:7–9 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. ‌ Purge me with hyssop = Or “Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be pure.” The Torah gave many instructions about purity and impurity. There were many rituals that the Israelites had to follow before approaching the tabernacle/temple. Hyssop was used to sprinkle or throw water on a person during a purification ritual (Ex. 12:22; Lev. 14:4; Num. 19:18). ‌ Whiter than snow = Several purification rituals included taking a bath (kind of like a baptism). This is what “wash me” is referring to here. To be washed whiter than snow is a metaphor for total purification. This phrase also appears in Isaiah 1:18 “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.” ‌ Note: In the Old Testament, purification was done by the impure person and a priest. This had to be done before the person could approach God’s house. David knows that his sins were in the category of iniquities of which had no remedy for atonement—other than to be exiled. So David is asking God for mercy and asking God to do the cleansing Himself. Several passages look forward to a time when God Himself would wash or purify His people once and for all (Jer. 31:31-34; Ezek. 36:25-27). In the New Testament, Jesus says that He is the source of this cleansing water/Spirit (John 4:10; 7:37-39). And on the cross, blood and water come out of Jesus as He gave over the Spirit (John 19:30, 34). ‌ Let me hear joy and gladness = Since David’s sins, transgressions, and iniquity is ever before him (on his mind constantly), he is asking for forgiveness and relief. He wants to have joy again. ‌ Hide your face from my sins = In Jeremiah 16:17 God says, “For my eyes are on all their ways. They are not hidden from me, nor is their iniquity concealed from my eyes.” When David asked for God to hide His face from his sin, he is asking for God to forgive and remember his sin no more. ‌ Blot out all my iniquities = In other words, “erase my record of wrongs.” There are passages in the Bible that speaks of heavenly books or records. David is asking for his record of sins to erased. This is a metaphor for forgiveness. Later in the New Testament Paul writes that love “keeps no record of wrongs” (1 Cor. 13:5 NIV). Because God is love (1 John 4:16), God wants to forgive us. Later, as a result of his repentance and forgiveness David writes, “The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love” (Ps. 103:8) and “as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us” (Ps. 103:12). ‌ Psalm 51:10–12 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within 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. ‌ Create a clean heart = Again, David is asking for inner purification. The Hebrew word for create here is bara, which is the same word used in Gen. 1:1 to refer to God creating something that did not yet exist. It’s as if David is asking for God to create something new in him. Obviously, David’s heart had become wicked. The only solution is a new heart. ‌ Renew a right spirit in me = The Hebrew word for “renew” here is haddesh, which means “to restore.” David started out good, but had become corrupt and full of lust. Now he is asking God is restore his spirit. ‌ Cast me not from your presence = In the Torah, the penalty for David’s sin would have been death or exile from Israel. Unrepentant adulterers were not allowed to remain in the land around God’s presence. God told Israel that if unrepentant sin was allowed to remain in the land, His presence would withdraw from Israel. However, repentance allows us to remain or abide with God’s presence. God will not leave us if we remain repentant. ‌ Take not your Holy Spirit from me = David knew that Saul, the previous king of Israel, disobeyed God and the Holy Spirit left him as a result (1 Sam. 16:14). David knew this because he tried to help Saul with this problem (1 Sam. 16:23). Now David fears that his sins will lead to same conclusion. He is afraid that God will withdraw His Holy Spirit and leave him vulnerable to demons. ‌ Restore the joy of your salvation = Salvation in the Bible refers to be delivered or set free from enslavement. David had been enslaved to sin, lust, lying, and murder. Previously, David had been known for his joyful worship. Now he wants to have joy in being forgiven and set free. ‌ Uphold me with a willing spirit = Here David is asking for the ability to remain faithful. A willing spirit is the inner drive to live according to God’s Word. ‌ Psalm 51:13–15 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. ‌ Then I will teach transgressors your ways = Once David has repented and been forgiven, he can now share his experience of God’s grace with others. This was actually the job of the king of Israel. The king was commanded in Deut. 18:18-20 to have his own copy of the Torah and to read it daily. The king, along with the priests, were to lead the people to obey God’s Word. ‌ Sinners will return to you = David believed that the story of his forgiveness would help other sinners to return to God. ‌ Deliver me from bloodguiltiness = David was not only guilty of adultery and deceit, he was also guilty of murder or bloodguiltiness. ‌ My tongue will sing your righteousness = David would end up writing numerous Psalms/songs about God’s love and grace. Psalm 103 is one of the best examples of this, but there are also many others. ‌ Psalm 51:16–17 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. ‌ You will not delight in sacrifice = There was no sacrifice for adultery and murder in the Torah. This means there was no way to atone for these sins with the usual system of sacrifice. This does not mean forgiveness was impossible, but that only God could choose to forgive without sacrifice. ‌ Not pleased with burnt offering = Later in the books of the prophets, God criticizes Israel for offering sacrifices without repentance and obedience. In other words, they were just going through the motions of sacrifice and expecting God to bless them. In the modern world, we might compare this to a people who attend church, sing the songs, and take Communion but are not living for Christ the other six days of the week. As we will see in the next line of this Psalm, God is not pleased with religion without faithfulness. ‌ The sacrifices of God = David says that the “sacrifices of God” are “a broken spirit” (Heb. nisbarah ruah - a shattered spirit). In other words, God is more interested in true conviction and repentance than in stale religions acts. Sacrifices were understood as a gift to God. So, it would be wrong to offer a sacrifice to God without offering God true repentance and faithfulness. ‌ Psalm 51:18–19 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. ‌ Do good to Zion = Zion was another name for Jerusalem, which was considered the mountain of God—God’s dwelling place on earth. After confessing his sins and repenting, David now turns to pray for others, specifically his city and nation. David has sinned against his own nation by failing to obey God’s laws for kings. Now that David has repented, he prays for the nation he sinned against. ‌ Build up the walls = In the ancient world, the walls of a city determined the safety and strength of the city. This prayer is asking God to protect His people. ‌ Then will you delight in right sacrifices = Once God’s people are truly repentant and faithful, God will delight in their sacrifices/gifts to Him. ‌ How Psalm 51 Guides Prayer: Warning: Grievous sin is one choice away for all of us. Appeal: Ask for God’s grace and mercy. Conviction: Realize who you sinned against. Confession: Admit that your sin is your fault. Intercession: Pray for those you sinned against. ‌‌ How to Respond ‌Prayer: Ask God to reveal what needs to change. ‌Repentance: Agree with God and repent of sin. ‌Worship: Thank God for what He is doing in you. ‌Communion: Take Christ in and renew faithfulness.