EXEGESIS

ON

PSALM 51: 6-9

(COURSE CODE: BB019)

HOPE IN SUFFERING AND JOY IN LIBERATION: STUDY OF HEBREW POETRY AND WISDOM
LITERATURE

SUBMITTED TO: DR. JAGAT SANDRA (COURSE INSTRUCTOR)

SUBMITTED BY: THANMI MARAM (BD IV)

PSALM 51: 6-9

INTRODUCTION
This psalm is the fourth and the greatest among the penitential individual lament (psalms
6, 32, 102, 130 & 143). In this particular psalm, David confessed the sins he has committed against
Bathsheba (adultery) and Uriah (murder). This psalm stands out to be a popular model of
confession for God’s people. If any chapter in the Bible reveals the high cost of sinning, this psalm
stands out to be one.
CONTEXT
This particular pericope falls under the second book of psalm (42-72). These psalms are
brought together from various sources: the sons of Korah, who were temple musicians (42-49);
Asaph, the founder of another temple group (50); David (51-65; 68-70); Solomon (72). There are
three anonymous psalms: 66, 67, and 71.1
This particular psalm comes from David’s blackest moment of self-knowledge, yet it
explores not only the depths of his guilt but some of the farthest reaches of salvation. 2 It came out
of David’s sin with Bathsheba (2 Sam. 11–12) and his futile attempt to cover it up.3
This is a psalm attributed to David. It is written when the prophet Nathan entered to him,
just as he had entered to Bathsheba. This is a superscription and places the psalm in a historical
time frame, in the context of a particular event in the life of King David. 4 David was in residence
in Jerusalem while his armies were battling the Ammonites, spies Bathsheba, the wife of one of his
military general, bathing on her rooftop. He sends for her, had intercourse with her, and then
conspires to have her husband, Uriah killed in battle (2 Sam 11). When Nathan confronts David
with the implications of what he has done with Bathsheba, David’s only words were, “I have sinned

1
Derek Kidner, Psalms 1-72, vol. 1 of Kidner Classic Commentaries (London: IVP, 2014), 182.
2
Kidner, Psalms 1-72…, 206.
3
Warren W. Wiersbe, With the Word Bible Commentary (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1997), Ps 51:1.
4
Nancy deClaisse-Walfod, Rolf A. Jacobson, Beth LaNeel Tanne, The Book of Psalms (Grand Rapids:
Eerdmans Publishing, 2014), 453.
against the Lord” (2 Sam. 12:13). This psalm follows David’s confession of sin and his plea for
forgiveness.
In psalm 32, there is a proposal of the need to confess sin but psalm 51 moves closer to “the
centre of the crisis of alienation”5 and gives us a model of confession. David did not utter one word
of excuse for the sins he had committed, nor did he seek to tone down the gravity of his offense to
blame others for what he has done.6 In contrast with other penitential psalms, this psalm bears the
marks of deep inner grief over sin.7
The title explains the situation out of which this psalm arose (2 Samuel 11). Delitzsch called
this psalm “the first of the Davidic Elohim- psalms.”8 This particular unit is a petition for
restoration.
STRUCTURE
a. David acknowledges his sin (v.6)
b. David’s prayer for restoration/ requests for God’s forgiveness (vv. 7
c. A renewal of his joy (vv. 8-9)
VERSE ANALYSIS
VERSE – 6
BEHOLD, THOU DESIREST TRUTH IN THE INWARD BEING; THEREFORE TEACH ME WISDOM IN MY
SECRET HEART.9

David’s guilt was intensified 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. The phrase “thou
shalt make,…” can 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, intensified his guilt. The word truth … and …wisdom—are terms often used for piety
(compare job 28:28; Ps 119:30).10
God’s wishes are intentions: desiring truth he will teach … wisdom, not deplore its absence.
A series of futures not imperatives, begins with 6b, to the end of 8.11
‘inward parts’- David recognizes that sin is primarily a matter of attitude, and this must be
dealt with before the problem of wrong actions can be resolved.12

5
Walter Brueggeman, The Message of the Psalms (Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1984), 98.
6
Carl Armerding, Psalms in a Minor Key (Chicago: Moody, 1973), 96.
7
H. C. Leupold, Exposition of the Psalms (Grand Rapids: Bake Book House, 1969), 398.
8
Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Psalms, vol. 3 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Co.),
133.
9
Revised Standard Version (RSV)
10
Robert Jamieson, Fausset, A. R., David Brown, A Commentary, Critical and Explanatory, on the Old and
New Testaments (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997), Ps 51:6.
11
Kidner, Psalms 1-72…, 209.
12
The Open Bible: New King James Version. electronic ed. (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1998),
Ps 51:6.
VERSE 7.
PURGE ME WITH HYSSOP, AND I SHALL BE CLEAN; WASH ME, AND I SHALL BE WHITER THAN

SNOW.

Verses 7 to 12 is a prayer for forgiveness and purifying.

Hyssop is an aromatic plant used in the ritual (Ex. 12:22; Num. 19:6, 18). This suggests the
prominent idea of atonement. The word purge refers to vicarious satisfaction (Num. 19:17-20).13
Thou shalt purge me with hyssop suggests to the cleansing of the leper, sprinkled seven times with
the sacrificial blood into which the bunch of hyssop was dipped as a sprinkler (Lev. 14:6f). It can
also be referred to the ritual for cleansing those who had come into contact with a dead body (Num.
19:16-19). In either case it ended with the forthright pronouncement, ‘and he shall be clean’- a
promise which David takes up in the first person. He also knows from that context the special word
for purge, to which the nearest equivalent would be ‘de-sin’ (Lev. 14:49; Num. 19:19). David
pictures the final sequence in the ritual, the washing of clothes and body. But the descriptive touch,
whiter than snow, is all his own: a flash of realization that with God there are no half-measures.14
VERSE 8.
FILL ME WITH JOY AND GLADNESS; LET THE BONES WHICH THOU HAST BROKEN REJOICE.
‘bones’ here is a figure of speech for the framework of the entire person. It indicates that
David was experiencing personal collapse under guilt (cf. Ps. 32:3, 4)15
There is no need to substitute fill me for the Hebrew text ‘thou shalt make me hear…’, by
which David seems to picture the outcast’s return into society, greeted by the sounds of welcome
and festivity. He uses the verb rejoice for the climax of his forgiveness- ‘let the bones dance which
thou hast broken’, he looks for no half-hearted help.16 The forgiveness will change distress into
joy.17
VERSE 9.
HIDE THY FACE FROM MY SINS, AND BLOT OUT ALL MY INIQUITIES.
This verse, with its echo of verse 1 completes the first part of the psalm, in which the
emphasis has been mostly on guilt and its cleansing. This verse leads to the gravity of salvation.18
In the Israelite ceremony for restoring a cleansed leper, a brush made of hyssop was used
to sprinkle him with sacrificial blood, and his body was washed with pure water. David refers to

13
Brown, A Commentary, Critical and Explanatory…,
14
Kidner, Psalms 1-72…, 209.
15
John Jr. MacArthur, The MacArthur Study Bible, electronic ed. (Nashville: Word Pub., 1997), Ps 51:8.
16
Kidner, Psalms 1-72…, 209.
17
Brown, A Commentary, Critical and Explanatory…,
18
Kidner, Psalms 1-72…, 209.
this ceremony as he asks God for cleansing from his sin. Once cleansed, he wants to be restored to
a life of joy and gladness (6–9; cf. Lev 14:1–9).19
CONCLUSION
This psalm tells us three important aspects of sin.20
a. Sin hurts the sinner.
b. Sin hurts others.
c. Sin hurts God.
In midst of these hurts, God is merciful and gracious and forgives when we come in repentance
and faith (1 John 1:9). David wanted not cheap forgiveness and therefore he came with a broken
heart.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Armerding, Carl. Psalms in a Minor Key. Chicago: Moody, 1973.
Brueggeman, Walter. The Message of the Psalms. Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1984.
C. Fleming, Donald. Concise Bible Commentary. Chattanooga, Tenn.: AMG Publishers,
1994.
Delitzsch, Franz. Biblical Commentary on the Psalms, vol. 3. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans
Publishing Co.
Jamieson, Robert., Fausset, A. R., David Brown, A Commentary, Critical and
Explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments. Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.,
1997.
Kidner, Derek .Psalms 1-72, vol. 1 of Kidner Classic Commentaries. London: IVP, 2014.
Leupold, H. C. Exposition of the Psalms. Grand Rapids: Bake Book House, 1969.
MacArthur, John Jr. The MacArthur Study Bible, electronic ed. Nashville: Word Pub.,
1997.
The Open Bible: New King James Version. electronic ed. Nashville: Thomas Nelson
Publishers, 1998.
Walford, Nancy deClaisse, Rolf A. Jacobson, Beth LaNeel Tanne. The Book of Psalms.
Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing, 2014.
Wiersbe, Warren W. With the Word Bible Commentary. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1997.

19
Donald C. Fleming, Concise Bible Commentary (Chattanooga, Tenn.: AMG Publishers, 1994), S. 200.
20
Wiersbe, With the Word Bible Commentary…,