Psalms 25:6-7

25:6 Remember ¹  your compassionate and faithful deeds, O Lord,

for you have always acted in this manner. ² 

25:7 Do not hold against me ³  the sins of my youth ⁴  or my rebellious acts!

Because you are faithful to me, extend to me your favor, O Lord! ⁵ 

Psalms 51:1

Psalm 51 ⁶ 

For the music director; a psalm of David, written when Nathan the prophet confronted him after David’s affair with Bathsheba. ⁷ 

51:1 Have mercy on me, O God, because of ⁸  your loyal love!

Because of ⁹  your great compassion, wipe away my rebellious acts! ¹⁰ 

Psalms 130:3-4

130:3 If you, O Lord, were to keep track of ¹¹  sins,

O Lord, who could stand before you? ¹² 

130:4 But ¹³  you are willing to forgive, ¹⁴ 

so that you might ¹⁵  be honored. ¹⁶ 

Psalms 130:7

130:7 O Israel, hope in the Lord,

for the Lord exhibits loyal love, ¹⁷ 

and is more than willing to deliver. ¹⁸ 

Psalms 143:1-2

Psalm 143 ¹⁹ 

A psalm of David.

143:1 O Lord, hear my prayer!

Pay attention to my plea for help!

Because of your faithfulness and justice, answer me!

143:2 Do not sit in judgment on ²⁰  your servant,

for no one alive is innocent before you. ²¹ 

[25:6]  ¹ tn That is, “remember” with the intention of repeating.

[25:6]  ² tn Heb “for from antiquity [are] they.”

[25:7]  ³ tn Heb “do not remember,” with the intention of punishing.

[25:7]  ⁴ sn That is, the sins characteristic of youths, who lack moral discretion and wisdom.

[25:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “according to your faithfulness, remember me, you, for the sake of your goodness, O Lord.”

[51:1]  ⁶ sn Psalm 51. The psalmist confesses his sinfulness to God and begs for forgiveness and a transformation of his inner character. According to the psalm superscription, David offered this prayer when Nathan confronted him with his sin following the king’s affair with Bathsheba (see 2 Sam 11-12). However, the final two verses of the psalm hardly fit this situation, for they assume the walls of Jerusalem have been destroyed and that the sacrificial system has been temporarily suspended. These verses are probably an addition to the psalm made during the period of exile following the fall of Jerusalem in 586 b.c. The exiles could relate to David’s experience, for they, like him, and had been forced to confront their sin. They appropriated David’s ancient prayer and applied it to their own circumstances.

[51:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “a psalm by David, when Nathan the prophet came to him when he had gone to Bathsheba.”

[51:1]  ⁸ tn Or “according to.”

[51:1]  ⁹ tn Or “according to.”

[51:1]  ¹⁰ tn Traditionally “blot out my transgressions.” Because of the reference to washing and cleansing in the following verse, it is likely that the psalmist is comparing forgiveness to wiping an object clean (note the use of the verb מָחָה (makhah) in the sense of “wipe clean; dry” in 2 Kgs 21:13; Prov 30:20; Isa 25:8). Another option is that the psalmist is comparing forgiveness to erasing or blotting out names from a register (see Exod 32:32-33). In this case one might translate, “erase all record of my rebellious acts.”

[130:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “observe.”

[130:3]  ¹² tn The words “before you” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The psalmist must be referring to standing before God’s judgment seat. The rhetorical question expects the answer, “No one.”

[130:4]  ¹³ tn Or “surely.”

[130:4]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “for with you [there is] forgiveness.”

[130:4]  ¹⁵ tn Or “consequently you are.”

[130:4]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “feared.”

[130:7]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “for with the Lord [is] loyal love.”

[130:7]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and abundantly with him [is] redemption.”

[143:1]  ¹⁹ sn Psalm 143. As in the previous psalm, the psalmist laments his persecuted state and asks the Lord to deliver him from his enemies.

[143:2]  ²⁰ tn Heb “do not enter into judgment with.”

[143:2]  ²¹ tn Heb “for no one living is innocent before you.”