The Bible

Psalms 51

¹ For the Chief MusicianMusician. A PsalmPsalm of DavidDavid; when NathanNathan the prophetprophet camecame unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Have mercymercy upon me, O GodGod, according to thy lovingkindness: According to the multitude of thy tender merciesmercies blot out my transgressionstransgressions.

² Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquityiniquity, And cleanse me from my sinsin.

³ For I knowknow my transgressionstransgressions; And my sinsin is ever before me.

⁴ Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, And done that which is evilevil in thy sightsight; That thou mayest be justified when thou speakest, And be clear when thou judgest.

⁵ Behold, I was brought forth in iniquityiniquity; And in sin did my mothermother conceive me.

⁶ Behold, thou desirest truthtruth in the inward parts; And in the hidden part thou wilt make me to knowknow wisdomwisdom.

⁷ Purify me with hyssophyssop, and I shall be clean: Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snowsnow.

⁸ Make me to hearhear joy and gladness, That the bonesbones which thou hast broken may rejoice.

⁹ HideHide thy faceface from my sinssins, And blot out all mine iniquitiesiniquities.

¹⁰ CreateCreate in me a cleanclean heartheart, O GodGod; And renew a right spirit within me.

¹¹ Cast me not away from thy presence; And take not thy holy Spiritholy Spirit from me.

¹² RestoreRestore unto me the joy of thy salvation; And uphold me with a willing spirit.

¹³ Then will I teach transgressors thy waysways; And sinners shall be converted unto thee.

¹⁴ Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O GodGod, thou GodGod of my salvation; [And] my tonguetongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousnessrighteousness.

¹⁵ O Lord, openopen thou my lipslips; And my mouthmouth shall showshow forth thy praise.

¹⁶ For thou delightest not in sacrifice; else would I givegive it: Thou hast no pleasure in burnt-offering.

¹⁷ The sacrifices of GodGod are a brokenbroken spirit: A brokenbroken and contrite heartheart, O GodGod, thou wilt not despisedespise.

¹⁸ Do good in thy good pleasurepleasure unto ZionZion: BuildBuild thou the walls of JerusalemJerusalem.

¹⁹ Then will thou delight in the sacrifices of righteousnessrighteousness, In burnt-offering and in whole burnt-offering: Then will they offer bullocks upon thine altaraltar.

Study the Inner Meaning

Chapter summary

Exploring the Meaning of Psalms 51

By Rev. Julian Duckworth

Psalm 51 is called "A prayer of repentance".

Its heading says it is a psalm of David from when Nathan the prophet reprimanded him after he had gone in unto Bathsheba. It's a cry of despair, full of deep repentance and the plea to be cleansed from the sins he has committed. The psalm shows a clear pattern through its words; by openly acknowledging the sin the speaker gets more understanding about the way of the Lord and about life. The psalm also shows a growing assurance and trust in the Lord and his acceptance of this cry.

This psalm, at a deeper level, also describes Jesus’ prayer to overcome the sins of his human nature which he took upon himself in becoming human. The Lord, unlike David, didn't give into temptations – John 8:46 has the Lord asking, “Which of you convicts me of sin?” – so His prayer is to have the strength to withstand the tendencies inherent in his human nature. The Lord was severely tempted in his humanity.

For us, this psalm is one we can relate to and feel is our own prayer when we see the ways in which our thoughts rise up out of our self-love or our proprium (our selfhood). True repentance is not remorse for some wrong we have done, although this can be part of our spiritual progress; it has far more to do with us giving our attention to thoughts and moods which suddenly rise up and plague our intention to be true to the Lord. (Divine Providence 121, 122)

This psalm mentions things which have to do with the Lord and things which have to do with us. Words like "mercy, loving kindness, just, judge, washing, presence, and good pleasure" speak about the Lord, while "transgressions, iniquities, evils, and sins" speak about us. The overall idea is that the Lord longs to give to us what is his, so that we know he is there with us and that he completely understands our human frailty. In being what we are like in ourselves, we will keep going astray. We continually need to bring ourselves before the Lord to be restored.

The Lord’s mercy is the His wish to save us and regenerate us, so that we will be drawn - and wish to be drawn - to heaven, which is where the Lord is. Mercy is not instant in its activity, but it is perpetual. (See Heaven and Hell 522)

‘Washing’ is another divine quality, but we need to be careful in understanding it. It is not the Lord washing our wrongs away as if they had never been done. Our wrongs may need to be brought back to us, not to taunt us, but to remind us of our need of the Lord and our wish to do no more wrongdoing. The true idea of washing is for us to ‘wash ourselves’ and to feel we have been washed, so that we can go forward stronger than we were. (See Divine Providence 151 and Apocalypse Explained 475.5)

‘Transgressions’ are evils we might do which come from a perverted understanding. (Arcana Caelestia 9156)

‘Iniquities’ are evils we do intentionally because we have twisted our thinking to justify doing them (Apocalypse Explained 475)

‘Evils’ are what we do because we are born with an imperfect human nature. (See The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine 79 near the end)

‘Sins’ are evils we do intentionally because a love of evil has taken hold of us. (Arcana Caelestia 5726)

The phrase “Purge me with hyssop” means being cleansed by external truths or truths which we see and which confront us, demanding that we correlate our life to them. (Arcana Caelestia 7918)

The phrase “Let the bones which you have broken, rejoice” is describing the appearance to us that during temptation the Lord has broken us, whereas the very opposite is true, that the Lord is defending us and being our bones. So in truth, we may rejoice. ‘Bones’ spiritually mean truths because bones support the body and truths the spirit. (Arcana Caelestia 3812.8)

Overall, this is a psalm which, for us, can help us move on from seeing the number and range of our imperfections through to understanding, appreciating and acting on the truth that the Lord can and will lead us to restoration and wholeness if we go to Him.

From Swedenborg's Works

Main explanations:

The Inner Meaning of the Prophets and Psalms 301

Other references to this chapter:

Arcana Coelestia 2180, 3147, 3812, 4007, 5385, 7918, 8339, ...

Apocalypse Revealed 140, 254, 378, 392, 507

Divine Love and Wisdom 383

Doctrine of the Lord 49

Doctrine of the Sacred Scripture 87

True Christian Religion 143, 156, 158, 252, 573, 671, 773

References from Swedenborg's drafts, indexes & diaries:

Apocalypse Explained 167, 183, 196, 294, 391, 475, 660

Coronis (An Appendix to True Christian Religion) 23

Scriptural Confirmations 14, 89

Commentary

Exploring the Meaning of Psalms 51

By Rev. Julian Duckworth

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Exploring the Meaning of Psalms 51

Exploring the Meaning of Psalms 51