properly · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix
God
אֱלֹהִ֣ים'E.lo.Him
H430
gods in the ordinary sense · noun, common masculine plural absolute
lovingkindness
כְּחַסְדֶּ֑ךָke.chas.De.kha
H2617
kindness · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
multitude
כְּרֹ֥בke.Ro
H7230
abundance (in any respect) · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
mercies
רַ֝חֲמֶ֗יךָra.cha.Mei.kha
H7356
compassion (in the plural) · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
out
מְחֵ֣הme.Cheh
H4229
properly · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine singular
transgressions
פְשָׁעָֽיfe.sha.'Ai
H6588
a revolt (national · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Acts 3:19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the L…
Isaiah 44:22 I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee.
Isaiah 43:25 I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.
Psalms 51:9 Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.
Colossians 2:14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cros…
Psalms 69:16 Hear me, O LORD; for thy lovingkindness is good: turn unto me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies.
2 Samuel 11:2-12:13 And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king’s house: and from the roof he…
Ephesians 1:6-8 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Psalms 51:1-6
The title has reference to a very sad story, that of David's fall. But, though he fell, he was not utterly cast down, for God graciously upheld him and raised him up. 1. The sin which, in this psalm, he laments, was the folly and wickedness he committed with his neighbour's wife, a sin not to be spoken of, nor thought of, without detestation. His debauching of Bathsheba was the inlet to all the other sins that followed; it was as the letting forth of water. This sin of David's is recorded for warning to all, that he who thinks he stands may take heed lest he fall. 2. The repentance which, in this psalm, he expresses, he was brought to by the ministry of Nathan, who was sent of God to convinc…
Have mercy upon me, O God,.... David, under a sense of sin, does not run away from God, but applies unto him, and casts himself at his feet, and upon his mercy; which shows the view he had of his miserable condition, and that he saw there was mercy in God, which gave him hope; and upon his bended knees, and in the exercise of faith, he asks for it;
according to thy lovingkindness; not according to his merits, nor according to the general mercy of God, which carnal men rely upon; but according to his everlasting and unchangeable love in Christ; from which as the source, and through whom as the medium, special mercy comes to the children of men. The acts of special mercy are according to the…
Psalm 51:1-2
1. Have mercy upon me, O God: according to thy lovingkindness; according to the multitude of thy compassions, blot out my transgressions. 2. Multiply to wash me from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
1. Have mercy upon me. David begins, as I have already remarked, by praying for pardon; and his sin having been of an aggravated description, he prays with unwonted earnestness. He does not satisfy himself with one petition. Having mentioned the loving-kindness of the Lord, he adds the multitude of his compassions, to intimate that mercy of an ordinary kind would not suffice for so great a sinner. Had he prayed God to be favorable, simply according to his clemency or good…
The Church Fathers
Beloved, let us praise her, through whom we have been saved. Let us love her; let us prefer her to wealth. Let us have a merciful soul apart from wealth. Nothing is more characteristic of a Christian than mercy. There is nothing that unbelievers and all people are so amazed at as when we are merciful. For we ourselves are often in need of this mercy and say to God, "Have mercy on us according to the greatness of your mercy." Let us begin first ourselves; yet we do not begin first. For he has already shown his mercy that he has toward us. But, beloved, let us follow second. For if people have mercy on one who was merciful, even if he has committed countless sins, God is much more merciful.
Psalm 50 [51] shows the complete repentance of a sinner when David, who had gone into Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite and was rebuked by the prophet Nathan, said, "I have sinned." Immediately he deserved to hear "The Lord has removed your sin from you." For he, who had added homicide to adultery and was moved to tears, said, "God, have compassion on me according to your great pity, and according to the multitude of your mercies take away my iniquity." Since a great sin needed great mercy, he added, "Wash me completely from my iniquity, and my offense is always before me. I have sinned against you only"—for a king did not fear anyone else—"and I have done evil in your sight so that you will be justified in your speaking and you overcome when you judge." "For God has included all things under sin so that he may be merciful to all." He made so much progress that he who a little earlier had been a penitent sinner became a master and was able to say, "I will teach the unjust your ways, and sinners will be converted to you." Since confession and beauty are before God, the one who confesses his sins and says, "My wounds have been destroyed and become putrefied," changes the foulness of his wounds into a healthy state. But "he who hides his sins will not prosper."
Finally, holy David successfully gained divine mercy because, having been converted by the humility of a contrite heart, he condemned the evil he had done by acknowledging it and did not put off punishment by doing penance for the lust of the evil deed he had fallen into; because, if he had not punished the cause of the guilt in which he was held, without a doubt he would have been punished. Having been converted to penance, he acknowledged his crime, fearing lest he would have to acknowledge the penalty by being condemned. By doing penance, he punished himself by acknowledging what he wanted to be overlooked by the Lord in himself. Finally, since he said, "Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin." Immediately following this he added, "For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me." He acknowledged his sin, not that by sinning he might increase it the more, but that by repenting, he might wash it away; and so the domination of sin, which blameworthy enjoyment had brought in, true conversion removed. And because David, converted with all his heart, groaned, he was immediately saved and thus in him was fulfilled what is commanded through the prophet: "If you are converted and groan, you will be saved."
Dictionary and topics
Bath-sheba — Daughter of the oath, or of seven, called also Bath-shu’a (1 Chr. 3:5), was the daughter of Eliam (2 Sam. 11:3) or Ammiel (1 Chr. 3:5), and wife of Uriah the Hittite. David committed adultery with…
Blot — A stain or reproach (Job 31:7; Prov. 9:7). To blot out sin is to forgive it (Ps. 51:1, 9; Isa. 44:22; Acts 3:19). Christ’s blotting out the handwriting of ordinances was his fulfilling the law in our…
Repentance — There are three Greek words used in the New Testament to denote repentance. (1.) The verb metamelomai is used of a change of mind, such as to produce regret or even remorse on account of sin, but not…
Affliction, Prayer Under · For pardon and deliverance from sin — For pardon and deliverance from sin
Confession Of Sin · Should be accompanied with: Prayer for forgiveness — Should be accompanied with: Prayer for forgiveness
Conscience · GUILTY — GUILTY
Conviction · OF SIN — OF SIN
Desire · SPIRITUAL — SPIRITUAL
Homicide · DAVID’S REPENTANCE FOR, AND CONFESSION OF, THE MUR — DAVID’S REPENTANCE FOR, AND CONFESSION OF, THE MUR
Loving-Kindness Of God, The · Saints: Look for mercy through — Saints: Look for mercy through
Mercy Of God, The · Should be: Pleaded in prayer — Should be: Pleaded in prayer
Prayer for the remission of sin. Concerning the interchangeable names for sin, vid., on Psa 32:1. Although the primary occasion of the Psalm is the sin of adultery, still David says פּשׁעי, not merely because many other sins were developed out of it, as his guilt of blood in the case of Uriah, the scandal put into the mouths of the enemies of Jahve, and his self-delusion, which lasted almost a whole year; but also because each solitary sin, the more it is perceived in its fundamental character and, as it were, microscopically discerned, all the more does it appear as a manifold and entangled skein of sins, and stands forth in a still more intimate and terrible relation, as of cause and effec…
Pss 51–65 These psalms of David share a common thread in their reflection on the experience of evil. In Ps 51, the psalmist confesses the evil he has done and asks God’s forgiveness. Psalms 52–64 lament specific evils that David experienced. A song of praise (Ps 65) brings David’s laments to an end.
Ps 51 This moving prayer for restoration asks for God’s favor, mercy, forgiveness, and cleansing. Out of a broken spirit, the psalmist confesses and accepts responsibility for his sin (51:3-6), then petitions God to remove his guilt and renew him inwardly (51:7-12). The psalmist then recommits himself to a lifestyle of wisdom and joy in the service of God and others (51:13-17).
51:title regardi…
Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
Have mercy upon me, O God. He appeals at once to the mercy of God, even before he mentions his sin. The sight of mercy is good for eyes that are sore with penitential weeping. Pardon of sin must ever be an act of pure mercy, and therefore to that attribute the awakened sinner flies. "According to thy lovingkindness." Act, O Lord, like thyself; give mercy like thy mercy. Show mercy such as is congruous with thy grace.
"Great God, thy nature hath no bound: So let thy pardoning love be found."
What a choice word is that of our English version, a rare comp…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
— Exhibits the: Mercy of God
Prayer · Plead in the: Mercy of God — Plead in the: Mercy of God
Remorse · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
