The psalm singer David? The psalm opens, thus, with what we may describe as a piling up of pleas for cleansing and of terms describing the past actions of the psalmist. Hesed is a difficult word to render into English; it has to do with the relationship between two parties of an agreement or a covenant. In Exodus , God and the people of Israel entered into a covenant relationship at Mt. Now, therefore, if you obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession out of all the peoples.
In other places in the Hebrew Bible, sins against humans are considered to be sins against God e. In other words, David wanted to address the primary causes and consequences of his sinful behavior -- his sinful heart and his need to be cleansed by God. Incidentally, we know from additional Scripture passages that Bathsheba later became an official wife of the king.
She was also the mother of David's eventual heir: King Solomon see 2 Samuel None of that excuses David's behavior in any way, nor does it mean he and Bathsheba had a loving relationship. But it does imply some measure of regret and repentance on David's part toward the woman he had wronged. This mention of "hyssop" is important. Hyssop is a small, bushy plant that grows in the Middle East -- it's part of the mint family of plants.
Throughout the Old Testament, hyssop is a symbol of cleansing and purity. This connection goes back to the Israelites' miraculous escape from Egypt in the Book of Exodus. On the day of the Passover, God commanded the Israelites to paint the door frames of their houses with lamb's blood using a stalk of hyssop.
See Exodus 12 to get the full story. Hyssop was also an important part of the sacrificial cleansing rituals in the Jewish tabernacle and temple -- see Leviticus , for example. By asking to be cleansed with hyssop, David was again confessing his sin. He was also acknowledging God's power to wash away his sinfulness, leaving him "whiter than snow. Interestingly, this Old Testament practice of using sacrificial blood to remove the stain of sin points very strongly to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
Through the shedding of His blood on the cross , Jesus opened the door for all people to be cleansed from their sin, leaving us "whiter than snow. Once again, we see that a major theme of David's psalm is his desire for purity -- for "a pure heart.
Just as importantly, David wasn't seeking only forgiveness for his recent transgressions. He wanted to change the entire direction of his life. He begged God to "renew a steadfast spirit within me" and to "grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. In addition to forgiveness, he wanted the joy of having that relationship restored. This is an important section of the psalm because it shows David's high level of insight into God's character.
Despite his sin, David still understood what God values in those who follow Him. This version of the psalm addresses some of these concerns, using more nuanced words to describe sin, cleanliness , and purity; it is an attempt to make the psalm at least a bit more inclusive and culturally aware. The melody and harmony seek to emphasize attitudes of both repentance and hope.
In my opinion it is not helpful to lead the congregation into a time of confession and leave them to wallow in self-denigration and self-pity. This version of the psalm is intended to lead us through self-reflection and confession into worship, adoration , and hope. Have mercy Lord, and in your love, cleanse me from all my guilt. For I can see the wrong I've done; I'm con scious of my sin. Lord you are right in judg ing me; truth is what you re quire. Having been warned not to let the sun go down on our anger, we made sure to cover all possibilities of sins we may have committed during the day.
Will you forgive me? Thus we slept in the peace of the slightly remorseful. When I read Psalm 51 written by David after his sin with Bathsheba , I realize how lacking my childhood confessions were. Actually, even many of my confessions in adulthood leave much to be desired. I wrote my book, Real: the surprising secret to deeper relationships , to I show that repenting and receiving forgiveness from God leads to real relationships with others, because it leaves us with nothing left to hide.
The first step to meaningful confession is understanding what sin is.
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