Reading Psalm 51 for Transformation

Psalms 51–72 offer a Davidic core at the heart of Books II–III. Most of the psalms include “Of David” or are untitled except for Ps 72 (“of Solomon”). Ps 72 concludes with “The prayers of David son of Jesse are ended” (72:20).  Moreover, eight of these psalms (Pss 51, 52, 54, 56, 57, 59, 60, and 63) include in the heading references to challenges in David’s life from the books of Samuel.  By linking psalms to difficult episodes in David’s life, the Psalms remind us that even godly kings such as David still faced challenging seasons. As we seek to live out God’s missional in the world, we must recognize that this commitment will not translate into a worry free or storm less life. For the next two weeks, we will explore these Davidic prayers as models for our own during times of need.

We begin with one of the most well known psalms from Book II: Psalm 51. Psalm 51 is a penitential prayer (prayer for forgiveness). The others are Pss 6, 32, 38, 102, 130, and 143.

Ps 51 is a model prayer of repentance, sorrow, restoration and renewal. In 2 Samuel 11–12, David sinned greatly, but turned wholeheartedly to the LORD. Israel’s great king committed adultery with a woman named Bathsheba. Then after Bathsheba became pregnant with David’s child, he ordered her husband Uriah murdered. The words in Ps 51 attempt to capture the spirit of his prayer as a model for all God’s people on how to pray when we have sinned. It serves as a reminder of the grave burden and consequences of sin, but also of the great mercy of God.

God desires for us to walk faithfully in love of God and neighbor, but when we do sin, God invites us to pray.  As Jesus’ followers, we have this promise, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

The psalmist cuts to the heart of the matter in vv. 1–2:
Ps 51
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.

51 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!

There are no excuses, hedging, or nuances in the psalmist’s words. He opens immediately with a request for God’s mercy and grace. The psalmist can pray boldly because he knows God’s character. He bases his request on God’s faithful love and abundant compassion. These are God’s core characteristics. The psalmist recognizes his guilt and uncleanness before God. God is his only hope. Verse two imagines sin and transgression as a filthy contamination that needs to be cleansed in the same way that dirty cloths must be washed.

The opening verses of Psalm 51 may remind readers of the prayer of the tax collector in Luke 18:13, “Lord, be merciful to me a sinner.” This was a prayer that Jesus affirmed as one that God answers. So it will be with those who pray Ps 51.

How do verses 1–2 teach us about praying to God for forgiveness?
What are areas in your life for which you need to ask for God’s mercy and grace?

Now let's look at the rest of Psalm 51:
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.
 
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.
 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.
 
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.
 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.
 
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.
 
 The psalmist’s remaining prayer breaks up into three sections: vv. 3–9, 10–17, and 18–19.
 
Verses 3–5 summarizes the psalmist’s sorrow. There are no excuses—just confession of guilt. The psalmist does not attempt to hide wrongdoing, but admits that they are ever present burdens (v. 3). Moreover, the psalmist recognizes that these sins are against God. Yes, when we sin, we hurt others and ourselves, but our sins are ultimately against our loving Creator (v. 4). It is to God we will answer. The psalmist ends this section with a categorical confession of lostness (v. 5). His recent failures are recurring patterns. He has been trapped in sinful cycles since conception. The psalmist recognizes his inability to save himself. There is only one solution: the mercy, grace, and unfailing love of God. Often God’s greatest work begins on the ruin of our lives when we turn to him fully.
 
In verses 6–8, the psalmist again requests cleansing. The psalmist continues his view of his sinfulness as a stain that needed removed (cf. v. 2). The psalmist recognizes that his inner life does not line up with the expectations and will of God (v. 6). He asks  for God’s cleansing (v. 7) so that he can return to a life of joy and fulfillment. Sin will weary us. We must be sensitive to our need for God’s grace and turn to the LORD whenever we stray from God’s ways.
 
Verses 9–17 focus on specific for renewal and include vows of actions that the restored psalmist will take. Verses 9–12 lyrically capture the heart and passion of this prayer. The link to David is powerful. The great king has sinned and the stakes are sky high. David throws himself fully into the arms of God knowing that only God can restore him. He wants his sins and inquity removed (v. 9), but more importantly he wants his moment by moment relationship with God to be healed (vv. 10–12). This requires a work beginning in his inner core—his heart. Remember that heart refers to the will, intentions, and thinking center of a person.
 
In verses 13–17, the psalmist vows to teach others the way of the LORD and to confess publicly the praise of God. Experiences of God’s grace must always be spread and shared with others. Moreover, v. 17 reminds us of the posture with which we must approach God. Confession must be authentic. The psalmist is shattered by his sin. He approaches God not with sacrifices, but by freely admitting brokenness and lostness.
 
Psalm 51 concludes with a prayer that moves beyond the sorrowful psalmist to include blessings for Jerusalem/Zion (vv. 18–19). This is a reminder that our prayers must move beyond ourselves. Sin is subtle. It continually attempts to guide us into a deeper sense of individual entitlement and self-centered focus. The mark of the truly repentant in part is the ability to pray beyond our personal needs for the good of the community around us.

How specifically does Psalm 51 teach you to pray when you have sinned?
 
Describe how the psalmist understands restoration, renewal, and forgiveness.

Blessed is the One Who is Forgiven: Learning to Pray Ps 32

Ps 32 is a lament psalm that serves to teach us how to pray for forgiveness. It is the second of the traditional penitential psalms that we introduced with Ps 6 (the others are Psalms 38, 51, 102, 130, and 143). Psalm 32 offers profound reflection on sin and forgiveness in its two parts: vv. 1–5 and 6–11. It also includes the role of the community of faith in the process of sin, confession, and forgiveness.

¹ Blessed is the one
    whose transgressions are forgiven,
    whose sins are covered.
² Blessed is the one
    whose sin the Lord does not count against them
    and in whose spirit is no deceit.

³ When I kept silent,
    my bones wasted away
    through my groaning all day long.
⁴ For day and night
    your hand was heavy on me;
my strength was sapped
    as in the heat of summer.

⁵ Then I acknowledged my sin to you
    and did not cover up my iniquity.
I said, “I will confess
    my transgressions to the Lord.”
And you forgave
    the guilt of my sin.

⁶ Therefore let all the faithful pray to you
    while you may be found;
surely the rising of the mighty waters
    will not reach them.
⁷ You are my hiding place;
    you will protect me from trouble
    and surround me with songs of deliverance.

⁸ I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
    I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.
⁹ Do not be like the horse or the mule,
    which have no understanding
but must be controlled by bit and bridle
    or they will not come to you.
¹⁰ Many are the woes of the wicked,
    but the Lord’s unfailing love
    surrounds the one who trusts in him.

¹¹ Rejoice in the Lord and be glad, you righteous;
    sing, all you who are upright in heart! 

    NIV

Vv. 1–2 open Ps 32 with two related beatitudes. This is a psalm about being happy. This is a theme of the Psalter. We’ve seen the word “happy” in our readings of Psalm 1:1, 2:12, and 146:5. Happy means living in a state of God’s blessing.

   What is indicative of being in a state of God-given blessedness according to Psalm 32? It is the experience of the forgiveness of sin. Verses 1–2 reflect on a life of grace: the blessing of forgiveness and a life marked by faithfulness in response to God’s grace. This psalm invites its pray-ers to reflect on our lives before God and our community to be sensitive to our brokenness and bring our sins and failures to the only source of cleansing: the LORD.

   Verses 1–2 makes three statements about sin and forgiveness. The psalmist uses three different words for sin: transgression, sin, and iniquity. The psalmist also deploys three different verbs for God’s response to it: forgiven,  covered, and does not impute. The richness of the vocabulary reminds us of the seriousness of the problem. Psalm 36:1–4, which we will look at this week, likewise offers a broad description of sin. Sin is serious business. God calls us to love God and love others (including ourselves). Sin is the totality of acts and motivations that move us away from living fully as the people whom God created us to be. Sin finds its root in self-will apart from living moment–by–moment in relationship with God. It involves outright acts of rebellion and times when we miss the mark (intentional or unintentional). Broadly it also includes an attitude or will that continually intends or desires a path contrary to God’s loving ways.

   Part of the story of us all is the problem of our brokenness. Sin drags on us. It hurts us. It weighs on us in the depths of our beings. Verses 3–4 describe the psalmist’s own testimony of sin’s effects on the psalmist. Yet this psalm contains good news. God does not leave us in our struggles, alienations, and despair due to our sin. God acts to cleanse us. 

   What does it take to experience God’s cleansing? All it takes is voicing our need for God. In verse 5, the psalmist models the response of the faithful: confession and acknowledgement to God. When we recognize our faults and flaws, this opens us up for the work of God in our lives. The psalmist testifies that God has indeed forgiven him. 

   The second half of Ps 32 serves as a witness to the community about good news of forgiveness. Verse 6 opens with an exhortation to all in faithful relationship with God to continue to pray. The apostle Paul will later advise some of the earliest Christians, “Pray continually” (1 Thes 5:17). Prayer connects us with God. We abide in God through prayer. The psalter has explored prayers of praise and prayers for help. Prayers of confession remind us that we must stay in relationship with God even when we have created the mess that surrounds us.

   The faithful will find security with God. The psalmist moves from exhortation to the faithful to direct address of God. God secures the psalmist’s future despite the sins that he committed and confessed. This does not mean that the psalmist escaped any consequences. He hinted at them in verses 3–4. But our text does declare the consequences are finite in comparison with God’s infinite capacity to forgive and create a new future for the psalmist. This is good news for the psalmist and for us!

   Verses 8–9 introduces a new voice to the psalm. In these verses, someone from the community, perhaps a priest, speaks wise counsel and instruction into the psalmist’s life. This is a critical component for the psalmist as he lives into the experience of forgiveness and restoration. There were reasons for wrong behavior and actions. If the root causes of sin are not addressed, we can easily turn them into recurring patterns. As part of the experience of forgiveness that Ps 32 envisions, the community comes alongside of the forgiven psalmist to provide guidance so that the psalmist does not embody the worst characteristics of a horse or mule—a lack of understanding. The Christian faith is not a solitary adventure. God’s people exists to serve as a missional community that reflects God’s character. Our sins mute our witness to the world. As a community of faith we need each other’s support, prayers, and guidance as we seek to follow Jesus into the world on mission. Verses 8–9 invite us to listen to our community at the times of our own deep need for forgiveness.  
   
   Verses 10–11 bring Ps 32 to a conclusion by announcing a sure foundation for living our lives. The psalmist briefly mentions the challenges and woes of the wicked. If we choose to live in our sins, we will experience hardships. This is true for all people. But there is good news: the LORD’s committed and faithful love abides with all who trust and find true security in the LORD. When we choose the way of faith and faithfulness, we are able to live in the joy that verse 11 invites us to embody. Our rejoicing serves as a testimony to the watching world.  

How the Psalms Understand and Deal with Human Sin: Pss 32 and 36 as Case Studies

One of the presuppositions of Scripture is that humanity is lost apart from the grace, love, and kindness of God. God’s grace and love manifest most fully in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus our Messiah. Due to human sin, we all find ourselves living with the fruit of our own actions as well as the actions of others (past and present). Sin manifests itself in guilt, shame, alienation, brokenness, and injustice. God’s mission is to reverse the results of sin by creating a missional people through whom God will bless the nations (Gen 12:3, Exod 19:5–6, 1 Peter 2:9). The Risen Jesus sends us into this world. Paul summarizes the plight and possibility of our world this way: “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,  and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” (Rom 3:23–24).

How do we pray as we seek to live faithfully in our lost and fallen world? Psalms 32 and 36 focus on human sin and wickedness. They address this issue from two different perspectives. Both are psalms of lament, but they have different intentions.

Psalm 32 is a lament for the forgiveness of sin. It serves a key role in the psalter by teaching us how to pray when we as God’s people act unfaithfully and find ourselves in need of God’s forgiving grace. Psalm 32 models a prayer of confession so that we can experience God’s cleansing grace anew and refocus our lives on God’s mission.

Psalm 36 is a lament about wickedness. It is similar to Ps 1 in its stark contrast of two diametrically opposed ways of making it through the world. Psalm 36:1–4 paints a dark and bleak picture of the world and humanity apart from God’s grace. It locates the cause of sin in a self-centeredness that plagues men and women. No good comes from this way of life.

In contrast, the second half of the psalm focuses on the beauty and love of the LORD. Sin, self-centeredness, and alienation do not have to be the final verdict on life. In fact, it is pointless and illogical in contrast to the lavishness of God’s grace, love, and faithfulness that is freely available to all who seek the LORD.

As we reflect carefully on these two psalms in the next two blog post, we have an opportunity to ponder sin on one hand and God’s love and grace on the other. Both are present in the world, but only God’s love will be for all eternity. At this point it is worth reflecting on this question: What would it look like for you to settle the issue of sin and begin to align yourself fully with the love and grace of the LORD?