Wisdom & Poetry · Old Testament

Psalms 51

Psalm 51: a plea for mercy, a clean heart and a broken spirit

General context

The speaker asks God for mercy according to his lovingkindness and tender mercies, to blot out his transgressions, wash him thoroughly from iniquity and cleanse him from sin. He acknowledges his transgressions, says his sin is ever before him, and that he has sinned against God only and done this evil in his sight, so that God is justified when he speaks and clear when he judges. He says he was shapen in iniquity and conceived in sin, and that God desires truth in the inward parts and will make him know wisdom in the hidden part. He asks to be purged with hyssop and washed whiter than snow, to hear joy and gladness so that the bones God has broken may rejoice, and for God to hide his face from his sins and blot out his iniquities. He asks God to create in him a clean heart, renew a right spirit, not cast him from his presence or take his holy spirit, restore the joy of his salvation and uphold him with a free spirit; then he will teach transgressors God's ways and sinners will be converted. He asks deliverance from bloodguiltiness so that his tongue may sing of God's righteousness, and asks the Lord to open his lips for praise. God does not desire sacrifice or delight in burnt offering; the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, and God will not despise a broken and contrite heart. The psalm closes asking God to do good to Zion and build the walls of Jerusalem; then God will be pleased with sacrifices of righteousness and bullocks on his altar.

Cited passages: Psalms 51:1, Psalms 51:2, Psalms 51:3, Psalms 51:4, Psalms 51:5, Psalms 51:6, Psalms 51:7, Psalms 51:8, Psalms 51:9, Psalms 51:10, Psalms 51:11, Psalms 51:12, Psalms 51:13, Psalms 51:14, Psalms 51:15, Psalms 51:16, Psalms 51:17, Psalms 51:18, Psalms 51:19

Psalms 51 (KJV)

¹Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.

²Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.

³For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.

⁴Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.

⁵Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

⁶Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.

⁷Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

⁸Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.

⁹Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.

¹⁰Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

¹¹Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.

¹²Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.

¹³Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.

¹⁴Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.

¹⁵O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.

¹⁶For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.

¹⁷The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

¹⁸Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem.

¹⁹Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.

This page shows the King James Version. In the app, reading opens in the Berean Standard Bible unless you have chosen another translation. The reader includes five translations: the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), the King James Version (KJV), the World English Bible (WEB), the Bible in Basic English (BBE), and the American Standard Version (ASV). Search covers three of them: Berean Standard, King James, and World English. Basic English and American Standard readers search the King James words.

Historical context

The text as printed here carries no heading; verse 1 opens with "Have mercy upon me, O God", so this source names no author or occasion for the psalm, and the speaker is never named. Every verse is addressed to God by a single "I". The sin is never described: the speaker calls it "my transgressions", "this evil" and asks deliverance from "bloodguiltiness", which is the one word that hints at its kind, without any event, victim or setting. "The bones which thou hast broken" is stated as God's doing without saying what happened. The closing request to "build thou the walls of Jerusalem" is the only place named and gives no date. Verse 4 is quoted in the Letter to the Romans: "as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged". Verses 16 and 19 stand side by side: God "desirest not sacrifice" now, yet will later "be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness"; the text does not reconcile the two beyond the word "Then" that ties the second to the building of Jerusalem's walls.

Cited passages: Psalms 51:1, Psalms 51:4, Psalms 51:14, Psalms 51:8, Psalms 51:18, Romans 3:4, Psalms 51:16, Psalms 51:19

Literary context

The poem is a chain of imperatives to God: have mercy, blot out, wash, cleanse, purge, make me to hear, hide thy face, create, renew, cast me not away, take not, restore, uphold, deliver, open. Washing is the governing image, with hyssop, snow and the doubled "wash me", while "blot out" frames the confession at verses 1 and 9. The confession itself deepens in three steps: I acknowledge, against thee only, shapen in iniquity. Two vows begin with "Then": teaching transgressors after restoration, and the altar's sacrifices after Zion's walls. The middle of the psalm asks for interior things, a clean heart, a right spirit, the holy spirit not withdrawn, and the statement about sacrifice puts a broken spirit in the place of burnt offering. Lips closed by guilt are asked to be opened for praise. The rejection of sacrifice echoes God's own words in Psalm 50, "Will I eat the flesh of bulls", and the final verse restores bullocks to the altar on new terms.

Cited passages: Psalms 51:7, Psalms 51:9, Psalms 51:4, Psalms 51:13, Psalms 51:19, Psalms 51:10, Psalms 51:17, Psalms 51:15, Psalms 50:13

Key moments

Have mercy upon me (Psalms 51:1). The speaker asks God to blot out his transgressions according to his lovingkindness.
Against thee only (Psalms 51:4). He says he has sinned against God only, so that God is justified when he judges.
Purge me with hyssop (Psalms 51:7). He asks to be purged and washed whiter than snow.
Create in me a clean heart (Psalms 51:10). He asks for a clean heart and a renewed right spirit.
Take not thy holy spirit (Psalms 51:11). He asks not to be cast from God's presence or lose his holy spirit.
A broken and contrite heart (Psalms 51:17). He says the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, which God will not despise.
Build the walls of Jerusalem (Psalms 51:18). He asks God to do good to Zion and build Jerusalem's walls.

For reflection

The speaker says he sinned against God only, and the one word he uses for the wrong is bloodguiltiness; what does it mean to confess in that way, with no one else named?