Chapter 51

David, when Nathan came to him after Bathsheba.

2021 - So this is a Davidic Psalm in Book 2.

1st Stanza, 1 To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. [Psa 51:1 ESV]

Once David is reminded that God already knows about his unconfessed sin, the first thing David prays is for mercy, based on God's love, and not on his own merit.  David knows he cannot earn forgiveness for this sin. 

2021 - In vs 2:  2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! [Psa 51:2 ESV], David wants the sin to go away.  He wants it off him like dirt after a bath.  He's asking God to wipe it away and it reads as if he wants no consequences.  He wants to be free of it so he can move on, as if it never happened.  Don't we all want that!?  But this is not what happens.

2nd, Full confession, without excuse, sin from one born in sin, deserving the judgement of God.

2022 - This verse:

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. [Psa 51:4 ESV].  Is this yet another reason that God let sin enter the world?  So that by his forgiveness he might show how merciful he is, and so that it may be absolutely shown that only He is perfect.  If we sin, we throw gasoline on the fire of our own condemnation by God.  Our sins prove that hell is what we deserve, and His forgiveness honors Him.

I think this is probably true, but I don't think it is a post.

3rd, 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. [Psa 51:10 ESV]  Besides forgiveness, David yearns for the innocence he had before, the clear conscience he had before.  The seeking spirit and the close relationship he had to God, undiminished by this great sin.  That is the great loss that sin causes - a broken relationship, which may be mended, but never quite what it was before.

4th, David knows that sacrifices will not earn God's forgiveness here.  Only a broken spirit and a contrite heart are acceptable sacrifices in this case.

2023 - This one:  14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness. [Psa 51:14 ESV].  David is not just talking about Bathsheba here.  He is withholding nothing in his confession.  He is guilty of murder, and confesses that also to God. 

2022 - Here is the verse:

17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. [Psa 51:17 ESV].  David was under the Law, yet he understands that it is not the works - not the act of making a sacrifice - that God honors.  Obeying the Law is not like paying for merchandise or services.  Mindless ritual can never appease God.  So...why then did he implement the Law?  The Law was between God and Israel.  I don't think ti was so much for individuals as it was a "gauge" of national faithfulness.  And with it's specific rules, it showed each person that living a perfect life - even with only 613 rules to follow - was impossible.  It remained impossible until the Pharisees came along and redefined and diluted the rules - and added some of their own - to make it possible for them to claim perfection under the Law.  They were not.  They were in fact as far the other way as they claimed to be perfect.  David knew that sacrificing a thousand bulls without repentance in his heart would be a waste of a thousand bulls.  What God wants is repentance, submission, and relationship.

5th, Prayer for Jerusalem.

2022 - Vss 18, 19 seem to bear out that the Law is about the nation.  When Zion is right, God accepts their sacrifices.