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Psalm 51

To the leader. A Psalm of David, when the prophet Nathan came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.


1 Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against you, you alone, have I sinned,
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are justified in your sentence
and blameless when you pass judgement.
5 Indeed, I was born guilty,
a sinner when my mother conceived me.
6 You desire truth in the inward being;*
therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.
7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones that you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and put a new and right* spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me away from your presence,
and do not take your holy spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and sustain in me a willing* spirit.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will return to you.
14 Deliver me from bloodshed, O God,
O God of my salvation,
and my tongue will sing aloud of your deliverance.
15 O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 For you have no delight in sacrifice;
if I were to give a burnt-offering, you would not be pleased.
17 The sacrifice acceptable to God* is a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
18 Do good to Zion in your good pleasure;
rebuild the walls of Jerusalem,
19 then you will delight in right sacrifices,
in burnt-offerings and whole burnt-offerings;
then bulls will be offered on your altar.

This is better


1
1 For the leader. A psalm of David,
2
when Nathan the prophet came to him after his affair with Bathsheba.
3
Have mercy on me, God, in your goodness; in your abundant compassion blot out my offense.
4
Wash away all my guilt; from my sin cleanse me.
5
For I know my offense; my sin is always before me.
6
Against you alone have I sinned; I have done such evil in your sight That you are just in your sentence, blameless when you condemn.
7
2 True, I was born guilty, a sinner, even as my mother conceived me.
8
Still, you insist on sincerity of heart; in my inmost being teach me wisdom.
9
3 Cleanse me with hyssop, that I may be pure; wash me, make me whiter than snow.
10
Let me hear sounds of joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
11
Turn away your face from my sins; blot out all my guilt.
12
A clean heart create for me, God; renew in me a steadfast spirit.
13
Do not drive me from your presence, nor take from me your holy spirit.
14
Restore my joy in your salvation; sustain in me a willing spirit.
15
I will teach the wicked your ways, that sinners may return to you.
16
Rescue me from death, God, my saving God, that my tongue may praise your healing power.
17
Lord, open my lips; my mouth will proclaim your praise.
18
4 For you do not desire sacrifice; a burnt offering you would not accept.
19
My sacrifice, God, is a broken spirit; God, do not spurn a broken, humbled heart.
20
5 Make Zion prosper in your good pleasure; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
21
Then you will be pleased with proper sacrifice, burnt offerings and holocausts; then bullocks will be offered on your altar.

RE: Psalm 51..

Yes, this was written by David when the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba. It certainly is a plea for mercy (which is often repeated), forgiveness, and cleansing. David, the once innocent Shephard boy, who slew the enemy, Goliath, has proved himself weak and human and fallen into sin and away from the Lord and in this Psalm he implores the mercy and forgiveness of God.

Not only had he committed adultry with Bathsheba but he virtually designed the death of her husband by sending him into the front lines in battle. He certainly had reason to repent.

I think we need to realize that this action was not a solitary one. His sins hurt many people as well as the Israelites. He was an anointed king.

David repented in sorrow and contrition for his sins. And God forgave him. I think this tells me that God will forgive even our anointed leaders when they sincerely repent. And God does forgive us when we sincerely repent. He sees the heart..people see the face.

Even though we come back to God and in the sacraments we can receive forgiveness and healing from Him, there can be natural consequences of our sins. David married Bathsheba but his family was never the same again and he suffered greatly.

I think a lot of people in our culture today think sin is okay as long as nobody gets hurt. But someone always gets hurt and usually more than just the sinner or sinners. Sin is missing the mark which is what David did and it does mean going against God in some way.

/3 Cleanse me with hyssop, that I may be pure; wash me, make me whiter than snow./

Hyssop branches were used by the Israelites in Egypt to place the blood of the lamb on the doorframes of their homes. It was to keep them safe from the passing death (cf. Exodus 12:22) In this one can see an image of the Blood of the Lamb of God -- Jesus, who on Calvary has delivered us from the clutches of death and given us the opportunity to receive eternal life.

I particularly like the image of snow in this verse. It reminds me of the freshly fallen snow I saw so many times in the many winters we lived in Alaska. That was really white and clean snow. A beautiful image of cleansing and forgiveness.

Thanks to Pani Rose for posting this meaningful Psalm of David. It is certainly a prayer for us all to pray.

/3 Cleanse me with hyssop, that I may be pure; wash me, make me whiter than snow./

Blessings from,

Porter

A public confession.

My zeal is consuming me. That can be good and in many ways it is. I need to be consumed. But I think my zeal is causing fissures between my spirit and the spirit of others who are equally loving of the Church. I will take a couple of days and pray this prayer and discern my next steps.

CDL

Don't examine yourself too hard... and tip over into scruples. Examine your intentions and let that be enough.

The peace that Jesus brings is a peace between a man and his own conscience. He did not come to bring peace between men.

Patience, courage, boldness, charity, justice and not revenge � virtues we are to practice � and the results of these are - an every more attention to our conscience.

Jesus was not then, and is not now, a people-pleaser.

Remember that the meaning of the work �meek� in old English is to be � firm � and human politics can erode that quickly.

The results of this (as it regards how others chose to respond) has to do with their own holiness as well � so don't be confused as there is nothing you can do about that. So others will respond in varied degrees. Just as you respond to others according to your own weather. There is no way around that. If fact, if you find that everyone agrees with you too often and for too long � you should take that as a sign to examine yourself (have I become a people-pleaser?).

Cheers my brother and a mention of me in prayer when you visit the Temple of Conscience. I count a mention from you - as most valuable - most valuable.


Thanks.
-ray

Dan, you are not being overly scrupulous here. I think this kind of self monitering behooves us all. And praying Psalm 51 is good. Doing that myself.

In Christ,

Mary Jo

To Brother Daniel, in Christ

Even if the heart bleeds, we must love. In any way.
Not putting the foundation on our zeal, but always in the Risen Lord Jesus Christ. No our zeal, always the will of God, Who works wonderfully in unexpected ways...
We cannot do anything without Christ.
Love, mercy, long-patience. Even if we bleed...
Sincere prayers...

May God watch over your soul, dropping in your soul the myrrh of His mercy and love and peace.

The sign of God is peace.

Here the Psalm 51 is Psalm 50.
But also is Psalm 69 or 70 there.

Unworthy, Marian +

Thanks for the kind thoughts. I continue in prayer.

Dear Mr. Carson,

I haven't sensed anything amiss with you, but who am I to talk from the recent things that have happened on the board concering myself?

Nathan,

The older we get the more precisely we must speak because more people depend upon our precision. There was nothing wrong with what you said. Every generation makes steps that are not as useful to the next as could be. I don't think you meant any disrespect toward a former generation. In reality we are all grateful for the work of our anscestors and we are grateful to be included through adoption into the family. Truth be known there isn't one of us who hasn't been adopted into the family if we are indeed in the family. So there aren't any of us who are excluded. I know nothing about this new translation except that some are for it because the present translation seems inadequate and some are against it even though they know the present one is inadequate they fear what a new one will bring. Looking at all of the issues surrounding this new translations two things seem clear. First, there is some reason for both attitudes. The main reason for reservations are veiled in secrecy though I believe I've figured them out. God will reveal this in time. Second, though I think our bishops would have been wiser to have shared the translation with the people some time ago the bruhaha will in time blow over. This issue as Father Loya has indicated is not as big as some think. Let us not be distracted from what needs to be done.

Dan L

Dear Marian...

If you have written any poetry or prose, I would be honored if you let me read some.

Please answer me either here or in private.

-ray

The other day at the doctors office these verses kept running through my head, and I was praying them continuously. I was praying asking God what they were about and when I saw the news on Gaza I knew...
We must pray this Scripture that the Church gave us so long ago and is so venerable in our prayer as Church, not just for ourselves, but for God's Holy City Jerusalem. Repenting constantly of our sins for they are always before us, and seeking God's face for his mercy because our sins are just as responcible for the falling of Jerusalem as those who are present to it in the natural.

God says his word will not return to him void. When we pray before him with a contrite and humble spirit, he will not spurn us and he rebuild the land - the heart of man - that is so bound on the destruction of God's Holy Place. As he rebuilds us, we are able to move freely, reaching out and touching, praising his Holy Name, using the athority of Christ, just as Christ did those who are hurting, sick, or lost, they will be restored. That when we put his word into action then we come knowing that HE WILL DO JUST WHAT HIS WORD SAYS HE WILL DO! Pani Rose
16
Rescue me from death, God, my saving God, that my tongue may praise your healing power.
17
Lord, open my lips; my mouth will proclaim your praise.
18
4 For you do not desire sacrifice; a burnt offering you would not accept.
19
My sacrifice, God, is a broken spirit; God, do not spurn a broken, humbled heart.
20
5 Make Zion prosper in your good pleasure; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
21
Then you will be pleased with proper sacrifice, burnt offerings and holocausts; then bullocks will be offered on your altar.

During the incensations the deacon prays this psalm in a quiet voice. As such the psalm marks our need of repentance and reconciliation with God. The pslam as prayed by the deacon in the liturgy is seen as preparation and purification of all creation in order to partcipate in the Sacred Mysteries.