2 Let all my wrongdoing be washed away, and make me clean from evil.
Make me free from sin with hyssop: let me be washed whiter than snow.
And from Jesus Christ, the true witness, the first to come back from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who had love for us and has made us clean from our sins by his blood;
And I will put clean water on you so that you may be clean: from all your unclean ways and from all your images I will make you clean.
And now, why are you waiting? get up, and have baptism, for the washing away of your sins, giving worship to his name.
And having a great priest over the house of God, Let us go in with true hearts, in certain faith, having our hearts made free from the sense of sin and our bodies washed with clean water:
O Jerusalem, make your heart clean from evil, so that you may have salvation. How long are evil purposes to have a resting-place in you?
For if the blood of goats and oxen, and the dust from the burning of a young cow, being put on the unclean, make the flesh clean: How much more will the blood of Christ, who, being without sin, made an offering of himself to God through the Holy Spirit, make your hearts clean from dead works to be servants of the living God?
But if we are walking in the light, as he is in the light, we are all united with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son makes us clean from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we are false to ourselves and there is nothing true in us. If we say openly that we have done wrong, he is upright and true to his word, giving us forgiveness of sins and making us clean from all evil.
And I said to him, My lord, you have knowledge. And he said to me, These are they who came through the great testing, and their robes have been washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Psalms 51
Commentary on Psalms 51 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
PSALM 51
Ps 51:1-19. On the occasion, compare 2Sa 11:12. The Psalm illustrates true repentance, in which are comprised conviction, confession, sorrow, prayer for mercy, and purposes of amendment, and it is accompanied by a lively faith.
1-4. A plea for mercy is a confession of guilt.
blot out—as from a register.
transgressions—literally, "rebellions" (Ps 19:13; 32:1).
2. Wash me—Purity as well as pardon is desired by true penitents.
3. For … before me—Conviction precedes forgiveness; and, as a gift of God, is a plea for it (2Sa 12:13; Ps 32:5; 1Jo 1:9).
4. Against thee—chiefly, and as sins against others are violations of God's law, in one sense only.
that … judgest—that is, all palliation of his crime is excluded; it is the design in making this confession to recognize God's justice, however severe the sentence.
5, 6. His guilt was aggravated by his essential, native sinfulness, which is as contrary to God's requisitions of inward purity as are outward sins to those for right conduct.
6. thou shalt make, &c.—may be taken to express God's gracious purpose in view of His strict requisition; a purpose of which David might have availed himself as a check to his native love for sin, and, in not doing so, aggravated his guilt.
truth … and …wisdom—are terms often used for piety (compare Job 28:28; Ps 119:30).
7-12. A series of prayers for forgiveness and purifying.
Purge … hyssop—The use of this plant in the ritual (Ex 12:22; Nu 19:6, 18) suggests the idea of atonement as prominent here; "purge" refers to vicarious satisfaction (Nu 19:17-20).
8. Make … joy—by forgiving me, which will change distress to joy.
9. Hide, &c.—Turn from beholding.
10. Create—a work of almighty power.
in me—literally, "to me," or, "for me"; bestow as a gift, a heart free from taint of sin (Ps 24:4; 73:1).
renew—implies that he had possessed it; the essential principle of a new nature had not been lost, but its influence interrupted (Lu 22:32); for Ps 51:11 shows that he had not lost God's presence and Spirit (1Sa 16:13), though he had lost the "joy of his salvation" (Ps 51:12), for whose return he prays.
right spirit—literally, "constant," "firm," not yielding to temptation.
12. free spirit—"thy" ought not to be supplied, for the word "free" is, literally, "willing," and "spirit" is that of David. "Let a willing spirit uphold me," that is, with a soul willingly conformed to God's law, he would be preserved in a right course of conduct.
13. Then—Such will be the effect of this gracious work.
ways—of providence and human duty (Ps 18:21, 30; 32:8; Lu 22:32).
14. Deliver—or, "Free me" (Ps 39:8) from the guilt of murder (2Sa 12:9, 10; Ps 5:6).
righteousness—as in Ps 7:17; 31:1.
15. open … lips—by removing my sense of guilt.
16. Praise is better than sacrifice (Ps 50:14), and implying faith, penitence, and love, glorifies God. In true penitents the joys of pardon mingle with sorrow for sin.
18. Do good, &c.—Visit not my sin on Thy Church.
build … walls—is to show favor; compare Ps 89:40, for opposite form and idea.
19. God reconciled, material sacrifices will be acceptable (Ps 4:5; compare Isa 1:11-17).