Psalm 51

1 Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.

3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.

4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are proved right when you speak
and justified when you judge.

5 Surely I was sinful at birth,
sinful from the time my mother conceived me.

6 Surely you desire truth in the inner parts ;
you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.

7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.

9 Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity.

10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

11 Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.

12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will turn back to you.

14 Save me from bloodguilt, O God,
the God who saves me,
and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.

15 O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.

16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.

17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart,
O God, you will not despise.

18 In your good pleasure make Zion prosper;
build up the walls of Jerusalem.

19 Then there will be righteous sacrifices,
whole burnt offerings to delight you;
then bulls will be offered on your altar.

In youth group Tuesday, we went over Psalm 51. It was really good. This Psalm, David wrote after he had sinned with Bathsheba. It's a Psalm of repentance.

Anyways, here's just a few of the things that we, as a youth group, pulled out of this Psalm.

1. "Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions."

David is saying a few of God's attributes in the beginning, saying, "You Lord are loving, You are full of compassion." He, David, pleads with God to have mercy on him. He knows he's sinned! He pleads, "Blot out my transgressions!" He wants them removed forever! Not just the blood of an animal covering them, he pleads for his sins to be obliterated! Kent also pointed out, how David came with a humble heart. He pleads for forgiveness! He doesn't just say, "Well, God, I uh, sinned so yah, could you please forgive me?" He realizes the weight of sin and that what he did was wrong and only God can forgive him.

2. "Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin."

As Thomas L. pointed out, David basically says the same thing 3 times.

"...blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin."

He's been convicted and doesn't want his sin anymore. He wants it gone, blotted out, washed away, he wants to be clean!

4. "Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are proved right when you speak
and justified when you judge."

As Andrew W. said, at first glance you do a double take. Like woah! Wait a minute! He says,

"Against You [God], You only, have I sinned and done what is evil in You sight,"

David had committed a sin with Bathsheba, than murdered her husband, Uriah, or had him killed, then because of David's sin God let Bathsheba's first born die. And yet, David says it's against God that he's sinned?! Why? He goes to the very root of the problem. From the second he first started committing the sin, he was sinning against God. He acknowledges that and is repenting of it so that, God is proved right when He speaks and justified, or have reasons, when He judges. David knows what he did. He knows it was wrong. And he's saying, "God, you are justified that yes it is I who have sinned. And I have sinned against you."

7. "Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow."

Ok, I didn't know what hyssop was, so for those of you like me [ ;) ] here's a definition: A wild shrub of uncertain identity whose twigs were used for sprinkling blood during sacrifices. So in here David is beseeching God to please cleanse him with hyssop, not just the sprinkling, he wanted to be covered, he wanted to be washed, so that he could be whiter than snow. He wanted to be cleansed from his sin!

9. "Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity."

In verse 3, he's saying how his sin is always before him. So here he's begging God to turn His face away from his sin! He's begging Him to blot it out. Whenever I hear blot, I always think of white out. And I think that's what he's wanting done. He doesn't want it erased, (At least with me an eraser never takes everything away) he wants his sin blotted out. Blotted out so that he can't see it.

10. "Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11. Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
12. Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me."

Now he's begging for a pure heart. He wants to be clean! He wants a new slate, and a steadfast or steady spirit. He doesn't want to sin again. He doesn't want to be cast away from God's presence but wants Him to restore unto him the joy of His salvation! He's already repented of his sin, and now he wants to be clean and experience the joy of the Lord again.

13. "Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will turn back to you."

This was interesting, David went from saying what a sinner he is, to asking for forgiveness, to now saying that he will teach transgressors God's way. David knew what he did was wrong, he repented of his sin, God forgave him, and now he wants to go tell other sinners what God does! He forgave him! And restored joy unto him!!!! Wow!

18. "In your good pleasure make Zion prosper;
build up the walls of Jerusalem."

This also was a contrast. He goes from saying everything he was before, to talking about Jerusalem and Zion? It's a metaphor. He is asking God to build up the walls of his heart to guard him against sin. And to make him prosper in the Lord according to God's will. :)

Anyways, we had a lot more of a discussion about it, but here's just a lil'. It's definitely a great Psalm showing how we need to be humble when we come before God to repent!