# Psalm 51 📖: Create in Me a Clean Heart
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[[-Psalm Overview]] | [[Psalm 50]] | [[Psalm 52]]
> [!info] Table of Contents
> [[#📜 Scripture Text (NET)]]
> [[#📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary]]
> [[#🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights]]
> [[#🧠 Chapter Summary]]
> [[#✝️ Christ in This Chapter]]
> [[#🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application]]
> [[#💬 Discussion Questions]]
> [[#✍️ Key Verses to Remember]]
> [[#🔗 Related Passages/Cross Reference]]
> [[#🙏 Devotional Reflection]]
> [[#📂 Internal Notes]]
## 📜 Scripture Text (NET)
(The NET Bible: New English Translation. Biblical Studies Press, 2005)
For the music director, a psalm of David, written when Nathan the prophet confronted him after David’s affair with Bathsheba.
[[#Verse 01.]] Have mercy on me, O God, because of your loyal love.
Because of your great compassion, wipe away my rebellious acts.
[[#Verse 02.]] Wash away my wrongdoing.
Cleanse me of my sin.
[[#Verse 03.]] For I am aware of my rebellious acts;
I am forever conscious of my sin.
[[#Verse 04.]] Against you—you above all—I have sinned;
I have done what is evil in your sight.
So you are just when you confront me;
you are right when you condemn me.
[[#Verse 05.]] Look, I was guilty of sin from birth,
a sinner the moment my mother conceived me.
[[#Verse 06.]] Look, you desire integrity in the inner man;
you want me to possess wisdom.
[[#Verse 07.]] Cleanse me with hyssop and I will be pure;
wash me and I will be whiter than snow.
[[#Verse 08.]] Grant me the ultimate joy of being forgiven.
May the bones you crushed rejoice.
[[#Verse 09.]] Hide your face from my sins.
Wipe away all my guilt.
[[#Verse 10.]] Create for me a pure heart, O God.
Renew a resolute spirit within me.
[[#Verse 11.]] Do not reject me.
Do not take your holy Spirit away from me.
[[#Verse 12.]] Let me again experience the joy of your deliverance.
Sustain me by giving me the desire to obey.
[[#Verse 13.]] Then I will teach rebels your merciful ways,
and sinners will turn to you.
[[#Verse 14.]] Rescue me from the guilt of murder, O God, the God who delivers me.
Then my tongue will shout for joy because of your righteousness.
[[#Verse 15.]] O Lord, give me the words.
Then my mouth will praise you.
[[#Verse 16.]] Certainly you do not want a sacrifice, or else I would offer it;
you do not desire a burnt sacrifice.
[[#Verse 17.]] The sacrifice God desires is a humble spirit—
O God, a humble and repentant heart you will not reject.
[[#Verse 18.]] Because you favor Zion, do what is good for her.
Fortify the walls of Jerusalem.
[[#Verse 19.]] Then you will accept the proper sacrifices, burnt sacrifices and whole offerings;
then bulls will be sacrificed on your altar.
## 📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary
###### Overall.
###### Verse 01.
###### Verse 02.
###### Verse 03.
###### Verse 04.
###### Verse 05.
###### Verse 06.
###### Verse 07.
###### Verse 08.
###### Verse 09.
###### Verse 10.
###### Verse 11.
###### Verse 12.
###### Verse 13.
###### Verse 14.
###### Verse 15.
###### Verse 16.
###### Verse 17.
###### Verse 18.
###### Verse 19.
## 🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights
1. The heading places this psalm after Nathan confronted David about his sin with Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11 to 12).
2. Psalm 51 is one of the seven traditional "Penitential Psalms" (Psalms 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, 143).
3. Hyssop (51:7) was a plant used to sprinkle blood or water in rituals of cleansing (Exodus 12:22; Leviticus 14:4-7).
4. The word for "wash" in 51:2 and 51:7 was commonly used for washing clothes by scrubbing or treading them.
5. The verb "create" in 51:10 is *bara*, the same word used in Genesis 1:1 and always with God as the subject.
6. Psalm 51:11 is one of only three places in the Old Testament that use the phrase "Holy Spirit" (see also Isaiah 63:10-11).
7. David may have been thinking of Saul, from whom the Spirit of the Lord departed (1 Samuel 16:14).
8. Paul quotes 51:4 in Romans 3:4 to show that God is right when He judges.
9. Gregorio Allegri's famous choral setting of this psalm, the *Miserere*, was written for the Sistine Chapel in the 1600s.
10. Many scholars think the prayer to rebuild Jerusalem's walls (51:18-19) was added later for worship during or after the exile.
## 🧠 Chapter Summary
> [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way.
## ✝️ Christ in This Chapter
Christ is the One whose blood washes us whiter than snow (51:7). David asked God to blot out his sins, and in Jesus God forgives and cleanses us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:7-9).
## 🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application
> [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way.
## 💬 Discussion Questions
1. David appeals to God's loyal love and great compassion, not his own goodness (51:1). Why does true confession start with God's character?
2. David asks God to create a clean heart in him (51:10). Why is a new heart something only God can give?
3. God does not despise a broken and repentant heart (51:17). What does genuine repentance look like in your life?
## ✍️ Key Verses to Remember
- 📖 verses 1-2: David appeals to God's loyal love and great compassion to wipe away his sin.
- 📖 verse 10: Create for me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
- 📖 verse 17: God does not despise a humble and repentant heart.
## 🔗 Related Passages/Cross Reference
- 🔗 [[2 Samuel 12#Verse 01.|2 Samuel 12:1-13]] - Nathan confronts David.
- 🔗 [[1 John 01#Verse 07.|1 John 1:7-9]] - God is faithful to forgive and cleanse us.
- 🔗 [[Ezekiel 36#Verse 25.|Ezekiel 36:25-27]] - God promises a new heart and a new spirit.
- 🔗 [[Isaiah 01#Verse 18.|Isaiah 1:18]] - Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be white as snow.
- 🔗 [[Romans 03#Verse 04.|Romans 3:4]] - God is proven right when He speaks.
## 🙏 Devotional Reflection
📝 SOAP: [[Psalm 51- SOAP|Constantly Return to the Basics]]
## 📂 Internal Notes