Seder 124: Two Questions on Psalm 51:3-5

 Psalm 51, a prayer of repentance, was written by David when he was confronted by Nathan the prophet about his adultery with Bathsheba and his arranging the death of her husband Uriah (see 2 Sam 12).    

In a sermon at Church of the Messiah on July 25, 2026, Kyle Kettering discussed two questions raised by Psalm 51:3-5, where David acknowledges the fact that he has sinned greatly and has no excuse.  

The first question is from verse 4, where David confesses, "Against you, you only, have I sinned, and done what is evil in your sight."  What does David mean here?  Surely David also sinned against Bathsheba and Uriah.  There are a number of scriptures that speak of someone sinning against another person, including:

• Genesis 42:22, which speaks of Joseph's brothers sinning against him;
• 1 Samuel 2:25, which contrasts sinning against a man and sinning against God;
• Luke 15:21, where the prodigal son acknowledges sinning against both God and his father.

Kyle explained that David is saying, "Since it was your standard that I violated, however you decide to punish me will be appropriate."  As the king of Israel, he was accountable to the God of Israel for his behavior.  He had violated God's standards, not someone else's.  

A second, harder question is raised by verse 5.  In the ESV, this verse says, "Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me." This verse is often cited as a proof text for the Christian doctrine of original sin.  Kyle observed, however, that it is not necessarily a good idea to make a poetic text like a psalm carry a lot of weight in a theology debate.  (The key text on original sin is Romans 5, which is part of a theological discourse.)

Kyle went on to explain that there are other possible translations of verse 5.  One issue is the translation of chet, the Hebrew word for "sin" in this verse.  This is a word that usually means sin or impurity but can sometimes mean purity or cleanness.  A discussion of Jewish sages on this point is recorded in the Talmud in Niddah 31b, where a couple of examples are cited.  One is in Numbers 14:52, which is about the cleansing of a moldy house.  The other is Psalm 51:7 ("Purge me with hyssop ..."), just a couple of verses after the one in question.

With this information in mind, it follows that another possible translation of verse 5 could be, "Behold, I struggled with iniquity, but in purity my mother conceived me."  This translation has David taking full responsibility for what he has done---rather than saying original sin made him do it---which is consistent with the thrust of the psalm.

A lesson here, Kyle said, is that we should approach the biblical text with caution and humility to ensure, as much as possible, that we do not misrepresent it.  

Seder 72: Psalm 51---Prayer for Forgiveness and Renewal

 Psalm 51, one of the seven "penitential psalms," is also one of the few psalms connected to a specific episode in the life of David.  The superscription associates it with the time when David is confronted by Nathan about his sins of adultery and murder (2 Sam 12).  

Ben Witherington points out in Psalms Old and New that there are some verbal links between 2 Sam 12 and this psalm.  In 2 Sam 12:9 Nathan declares that David has done "evil in his [i.e., God's} sight," something that David confesses in Psalm 51:4.  David admits in in 2 Sam 12:13 that he has "sinned against the Lord", which he also goes on to confess in Psalm 51:4.

When David came to a full realization of the magnitude of what he had done, he knew that he had no recourse but to throw himself upon God's mercy, relying upon the merciful nature expressed in Ex 34:6-7.  He knew that God's judgment delivered to him by Nathan was right.  

David also knew that his problem ran deeper than a handful of specific sins.  Human sin can be pervasive (v 5), and a moral cleansing from God would be needed to restore David's relationship with his Creator.  "Create in me a clean heart," David prayed in verse 10.  The word for "create", bara, is a kind of creating that only God can do.  David did not want to end up like Saul, who had lost the "spirit of a sound mind" after he had failed to obey God as king.  

David looked forward to praising God and helping in the restoration of others after his own renewal.  He also prayed for spiritual renewal in Israel.  For him and for the nation, he knew that humble repentance was a prerequisite for the offering of acceptable sacrifices.

Paul quoted Psalm 51:4 in Romans 3:4 in support of God's reliability.  Richard Hays has proposed that in the early chapters of this epistle, Paul was playing a Nathan-like role, with the reader as David.  At the end of Romans 1 Paul detailed how pagans had strayed far from God.  But lest the reader become too smug, Paul went on to add that all of us have sinned and need God's forgiveness. 

Psalm 51 is associated in Jewish tradition with Shabbat Shuvah, the special Sabbath of repentance that falls between the Feast of Trumpets and Day of Atonement.  In 2021, that Sabbath fell on Sept 11.  At Church of the Messiah, Kyle Kettering spoke about the meaning and importance of repentance, referring also to Matt 4:12-17 and Hosea 14.