THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION

Psalms: God's Nurture Of The Inner Man In The Life Of Faith

LI: David's Prayer Of Confession For His Adultery And Murder

(Psalm 51:1-19)

I. Introduction

A. Psalm 51 has been greatly used by believers of all eras (Bible Know. Com., O. T., p. 832), showing its great need as a pattern for finding forgiveness for great sins before a perfectly holy, righteous God.

B. The psalm offers not only a pattern for confession, but insight on crucial doctrines, so we view it as follows:

II. David's Prayer Of Confession For His Adultery And Murder, Psalm 51:1-19.

A. The introductory remarks in the English Bible comprise the first two verses in the Hebrew text (Kittel, Bib. Heb., p. 1019), so we stay with the verse numbering arrangement of the English Bible for clarity in this lesson.

B. We thus translate Psalm 51:1-19 as follows: (v. 1) "Have mercy on me, O Elohim, according to Your loyal love; according to Your great compassion blot out my transgressions." (v. 2) "Wash away my great iniquities and purify me from my sin." (v. 3) "For my transgressions I myself acknowledge, and my sin is always in front of me." (v. 4) "Against You, and You only have I sinned, and done what is evil in Your sight. (I say this so) that You may be proved right when You speak and justified when You make a verdict (on my sin)." (v. 5) "Surely in iniquity I was brought forth, and in sin did my mother conceive me ("conceive" [yaham] is used elsewhere only of animals, so David uses this term as an emotional device to express his disgust at himself; B. D. B., A Heb.-Eng. Lex. of the O. T., p. 404)." (v. 6) "Surely You desire faithfulness in the inward parts, and in the innermost place (soul) You make me to know wisdom." (v. 7) "Purify me with hyssop, and I will be morally clean; launder me and I will be whiter than snow." (v. 8) "Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones [fig. for "emotional anguish," Ibid., B. K. C., O. T., p. 832] You have crushed rejoice." (v. 9) "Cover Your face from my sin, and blot out all my iniquity." (v. 10) "Create in me a morally pure heart, O Elohim, and renew in me a spirit that is firmly established toward uprightness." (v. 11) "Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me." (v. 12) "Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and grant me a willing spirit (to do right) to support me (in righteousness)." (v. 13) "I will teach transgressors Your ways and sinners will turn back to You." (v. 14) "Rescue me from blood guiltiness, O Elohim, the Elohim Who saves me, and my tongue will sing of Your righteousness." (v. 15) "O Adonai, open my lips, and my mouth will declare Your praise." (v. 16) "For You do not delight in sacrifice; and You do not take pleasure in burnt offerings." (v. 17) "The sacrifices of Elohim are a crushed spirit; a crushed heart and a crushed down heart, O Elohim, You will not regard with contempt." (v. 18) "In Your good pleasure make Zion prosper; build up the walls of Jerusalem." (v. 19) "Then (emph.) You will delight in righteous sacrifices, burnt offerings and whole offerings; then (emph.) bulls will be offered on Your altar."

C. We note significant observations and applications of this psalm that edify believers today (as follows):

1. The 2 Samuel 11:1-4 context for David's adultery shows his failure to stick to his calling to war as Israel's king had led to his temptation and sin, so one must stay focused on God's assignment to avoid a lot of sin!

2. David exampled that forgiveness even of great sins such as adultery is available through true confession, and true confession involves the sinner's admitting his sin (v. 4) so that God can forgive him, 1 John 1:9.

3. God's forgiveness is total, so His restoration to fellowship with Him after sin is complete (v. 7-10), but the effects of sin are always problematic, seen in the 2 Samuel 12:13-14, 9-12 predictions by God's prophet.

4. There are three other important doctrinal issues that are raised in this psalm (as follows):

a. David was a sinner at conception (v. 5), (1) the doctrine of original sin (Rom. 5:12) since a person starts to exist as a sinner at conception, (2) and abortion at any trimester takes a human life! (Exodus 21:22-23)

b. David's request that God not take His Holy Spirit from him (v. 11) reflects what could occur only in the dispensation of the Mosaic Law. Today, the Holy Spirit forever seals us believers, John 14:16; Eph. 4:30.

Lesson: Though David committed adultery and sought to cover it up with murder, when he faced his sin and confessed it to the Lord, he received God's complete forgiveness, but he had to live with sin's tragic consequences.

Application: (1) May we learn from David's experience to avoid much sin by relying on the Holy Spirit to stick to God's calling. (2) If we sin, may we face it and confess it for full cleansing (1 John 1:9), knowing we must live with sin's effects! (3) May we heed the doctrines taught in Psalm 51 in light of all Scripture -- belief in (a) original sin, (b) that abortion at any time takes a human life and (c) that the Holy Spirit forever seals believers today.