psalm-51:1-3,-psalm-51:6-17-niv

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 51:1-19

Title.—(RV) ’For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David: when Nathan the prophet’ came unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.’ It is impossible not to feel the general appropriateness of this Ps. to the occasion mentioned in the title, and there is no historic OT. figure except David to whom we can point as an illustration of the great sin and deep penitence which are the theme of the Ps. The theory that the speaker is the nation of Israel hardly accounts for the highly personal tone of the... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 51:1

(1) Blot out.—The figure is most probably, as in Exodus 32:32-33, taken from the custom of erasing a written record (comp. Numbers 5:23; Psalms 69:28). So LXX. and Vulg. Isaiah, however (Isaiah 44:22) uses the same word in a different connection, “I will blot out thy sins as a cloud.” A fine thought that the error and guilt that cloud the mind and conscience can be cleared off like a mist by a breath from heaven.Transgressions.—See Psalms 32:1. The word seems to imply a wilful throwing off of... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 51:2

(2) Wash me thoroughly.—Literally, Wash me much, whether we follow the Hebrew text or the Hebrew margin. The two clauses of the verse are not merely antithetic. The terms wash and cleanse seem to imply respectively the actual and the ceremonial purification, the former meaning literally to tread, describing the process of washing clothes (as blankets are washed to this day in Scotland) by trampling them with the feet, the latter used of the formal declaration of cleanliness by the priest in the... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 51:3

(3) For I.—There is an emphatic pronoun in the first clause which we may preserve, at the same time noticing the difference between the violation of the covenant generally in the term transgressions in the first clause, and the offence which made the breach in the second. (See Note Psalms 51:1.) Because I am one who is conscious of my transgressions, and (or, possibly, even) my offence is ever before me.The thought that he had been unfaithful to the covenant was an accusing conscience to him,... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Dictionary of Texts - Psalms 51:1-19

Psalms 51:0 Verse 8. 'Thou tellest my wanderings; put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?' a verse frequently in the mouth of Archbishop Usher, one of the best and most learned men of his time born in Dublin, 1580, driven to and fro through England and Ireland amid the troubles in Church and State, during one of the most troublous times in our history, and at length finding the rest he often sighed for at Reigate in England, 1655, after he had preached the Gospel for... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Bible Commentary - Psalms 51:1-19

Psalms 51:1-19THE main grounds on which the Davidic authorship of this psalm is denied are four. First, it is alleged that its conceptions of sin and penitence are in advance of his stage of religious development; or, as Cheyene puts it, "David could not have had these ideas" ("Aids to Dev. Study of Crit.," 166). The impossibility depends on theory which is not yet so established as to be confidently used to settle questions of date. Again, the psalmist’s wail, "Against Thee only have I... read more

Arno Clemens Gaebelein

Arno Gaebelein's Annotated Bible - Psalms 51:1-19

Psalms 51:0 The Confession 1. Conviction and prayer for forgiveness (Psalms 51:1-8 ) 2. Prayer for cleansing and restoration (Psalms 51:9-13 ) 3. Blood guiltiness acknowledged (Psalms 51:14-17 ) 4. Prayer for Zion (Psalms 51:18-19 ) This great penitential Psalm, according to the inscription, was the outburst of confession and repentance of David when Nathan had uncovered his sin. Well has it been said, “So profound a conviction of sin, so deep and unfeigned a penitence, so true a... read more

John Calvin

Geneva Study Bible - Psalms 51:1

51:1 [To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet {a} came unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.] Have mercy upon me, O God, {b} according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.(a) To reprove him, because he had committed horrible sins, and lain in the same without repentance more then a whole year.(b) As his sins were many and great, so he requires that God would give him the feeling of his excellent and... read more

John Calvin

Geneva Study Bible - Psalms 51:2

51:2 Wash me {c} throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.(c) My sins strike so fast in me, that I have need of some singular kind of washing. read more

John Calvin

Geneva Study Bible - Psalms 51:3

51:3 For I {d} acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin [is] ever before me.(d) My conscience accuses me so, that I can have no rest till I am reconciled. read more

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 51:1-19

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 51:1

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 51:2

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 51:3

Expositor's Dictionary of Texts - Psalms 51:1-19

Expositor's Bible Commentary - Psalms 51:1-19

Arno Gaebelein's Annotated Bible - Psalms 51:1-19

Geneva Study Bible - Psalms 51:1

Geneva Study Bible - Psalms 51:2

Geneva Study Bible - Psalms 51:3

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