Psalm 51: October 11—When I have sinned

Sep 24, 2009
By MARK A. RATHEL

Mark Rathel is professor of theology at The Baptist College of Florida in Graceville.

The influential psychiatrist, Karl Menninger operated a famous mental health hospital in Kansas City. He bemoaned the loss of the concept of sin and personal responsibility in his book Whatever Became of Sin? Menninger contended that modern denial of sin, as evidenced by the use of alternative better-sounding terms, produced psychological trauma. According to Menninger, humans readily acknowledge sin as weakness, mistake, or a problem in the social environment. Man needs to recover a definition of sin as moral guilt and assume responsibility.

Centuries prior to Menninger’s famous book, David personally experienced release from the haunting trauma inflicted by sin. For a period, David evaded his responsibility for his sins. He became a bare shell of a human being. His “bones became brittle” (Ps. 32:3). His bones shook with fear (Ps. 6:2). He groaned all day (Ps. 32:3). He felt the heavy hand of God pressuring him (Ps. 32:4). Sin drained all the strength out of his body (Ps. 32:4). At night, his tears of grief flooded his pillow (Ps. 6:6).Sin became a burden that pushed him down (Ps. 38:4-6). Sin affected David’s life emotionally, mentally, and physically.

Psalm 51 provides a model prayer of repentance. David violated the commands of God concerning adultery and murder (2 Sam. 11:1-12:23).The Psalm instructs people today of the gracious nature of God, the depths of sin, and the costliness of repentance.

First, David’s prayer highlights the nature of God (Ps. 51:1). David did not attempt to bargain with God. David neither shifted blame to Bathsheba nor attempted to justify his sins in light of the pressures of his office. David’s actions deserved death. The mightiest man in the kingdom cast himself upon the mercy of God.

Notice the beautiful threefold description of the nature of God in Psalm 51:1. First, God is merciful. The Hebrew term expresses the attitude of a superior to an inferior. The superior owes nothing to the inferior but responds with unmerited favor. Second, God is faithful love. The Hebrew term highlights God’s covenant loyalty to His people. Third, God is compassionate, a term that may be translated “pity.”

Second, David’s prayer illustrates the depth of sin (Ps. 51:1b-2). The ugliness of sin necessitates the gracious mercy of God. David provided a three-fold description of sin. First, sin is rebellion. Rebellion is willful violation of known will of God, in other words, a treasonous act. David knew the commandments prohibited adultery and murder, yet he committed the sins anyway. Further, sin is guilt (HCSB) or iniquity (KJV). Sometimes an individual claims, “My sin does not hurt anyone.” Sin injures the sinner. Iniquity describes sin as morally crookedness, pollution, perversion, or depravity. Like a cancer, sin warps the sinner. Finally, sin is missing the mark. The term “sin” derives from the practice of hunting. A hunter “sinned” when he missed the target. Sin, then, is missing the target of God’s will.

Third, David’s prayer describes the cost of repentance (Ps. 51:1a-2). David requested that God “blot out” or expunge the record of his treasonous rebellion from the book of records. In addition, David appealed for God to wash the ingrained pollution from his life. The imagery behind “wash” is the action of washing clothes. Before modern machines and detergents, an Israelite “washed” clothes by beating the dirt from the clothes between two rocks. David prayed, “Lord, beat the ingrained pollution from my life.” Finally, David beseeched God to cleanse him from his missing the target. The verb “cleanse” possibly depicts a religious concept. In this case, David sought “cleansing” from the defiling nature of sin. More likely, however, is the imagery of the cleansing process used in removing dross from precious metals (Mal. 3:3). Removing the dross often involved the process of pouring out the melted metal and picking out the dross with tweezers. “Blot out! Wash by beating out! Pick out!” David prayed with intensity.

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