Mazmur 51:3-4

51:3 For I am aware of ¹  my rebellious acts;

I am forever conscious of my sin. ² 

51:4 Against you – you above all ³  – I have sinned;

I have done what is evil in your sight.

So ⁴  you are just when you confront me; ⁵ 

you are right when you condemn me. ⁶ 

Mazmur 51:11-13

51:11 Do not reject me! ⁷ 

Do not take your Holy Spirit ⁸  away from me! ⁹ 

51:12 Let me again experience the joy of your deliverance!

Sustain me by giving me the desire to obey! ¹⁰ 

51:13 Then I will teach ¹¹  rebels your merciful ways, ¹² 

and sinners will turn ¹³  to you.

[51:3]  ¹ tn Heb “know.”

[51:3]  ² tn Heb “and my sin [is] in front of me continually.”

[51:4]  ³ tn Heb “only you,” as if the psalmist had sinned exclusively against God and no other. Since the Hebrew verb חָטָא (hata’, “to sin”) is used elsewhere of sinful acts against people (see BDB 306 s.v. 2.a) and David (the presumed author) certainly sinned when he murdered Uriah (2 Sam 12:9), it is likely that the psalmist is overstating the case to suggest that the attack on Uriah was ultimately an attack on God himself. To clarify the point of the hyperbole, the translation uses “especially,” rather than the potentially confusing “only.”

[51:4]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew term לְמַעַן (lÿma’an) normally indicates purpose (“in order that”), but here it introduces a logical consequence of the preceding statement. (Taking the clause as indicating purpose here would yield a theologically preposterous idea – the psalmist purposely sinned so that God’s justice might be vindicated!) For other examples of לְמַעַן indicating result, see 2 Kgs 22:17; Jer 27:15; Amos 2:7, as well as IBHS 638-40 §38.3.

[51:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “when you speak.” In this context the psalmist refers to God’s word of condemnation against his sin delivered through Nathan (cf. 2 Sam 12:7-12).

[51:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “when you judge.”

[51:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “do not cast me away from before you.”

[51:11]  ⁸ sn Your Holy Spirit. The personal Spirit of God is mentioned frequently in the OT, but only here and in Isa 63:10-11 is he called “your/his Holy Spirit.”

[51:11]  ⁹ sn Do not take…away. The psalmist expresses his fear that, due to his sin, God will take away the Holy Spirit from him. NT believers enjoy the permanent gift of the Holy Spirit and need not make such a request nor fear such a consequence. However, in the OT God’s Spirit empowered certain individuals for special tasks and only temporarily resided in them. For example, when God rejected Saul as king and chose David to replace him, the divine Spirit left Saul and came upon David (1 Sam 16:13-14).

[51:12]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and [with] a willing spirit sustain me.” The psalmist asks that God make him the kind of person who willingly obeys the divine commandments. The imperfect verbal form is used here to express the psalmist’s wish or request.

[51:13]  ¹¹ tn The cohortative expresses the psalmist’s resolve. This may be a vow or promise. If forgiven, the psalmist will “repay” the Lord by declaring God’s mercy and motivating other sinners to repent.

[51:13]  ¹² tn Heb “your ways.” The word “merciful” is added for clarification. God’s “ways” are sometimes his commands, but in this context, where the teaching of God’s ways motivates repentance (see the next line), it is more likely that God’s merciful and compassionate way of dealing with sinners is in view. Thanksgiving songs praising God for his deliverance typically focus on these divine attributes (see Pss 34, 41, 116, 138).

[51:13]  ¹³ tn Or “return,” i.e., in repentance.