Psalms 51:1

Psalm 51 ¹ 

For the music director; a psalm of David, written when Nathan the prophet confronted him after David’s affair with Bathsheba. ² 

51:1 Have mercy on me, O God, because of ³  your loyal love!

Because of ⁴  your great compassion, wipe away my rebellious acts! ⁵ 

Psalms 86:5

86:5 Certainly ⁶  O Lord, you are kind ⁷  and forgiving,

and show great faithfulness to all who cry out to you.

Psalms 86:13

86:13 For you will extend your great loyal love to me, ⁸ 

and will deliver my life ⁹  from the depths of Sheol. ¹⁰ 

Psalms 86:15

86:15 But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and merciful God.

You are patient ¹¹  and demonstrate great loyal love and faithfulness. ¹² 

Psalms 86:1

Psalm 86 ¹³ 

A prayer of David.

86:1 Listen ¹⁴  O Lord! Answer me!

For I am oppressed and needy.

Psalms 21:13

21:13 Rise up, O Lord, in strength! ¹⁵ 

We will sing and praise ¹⁶  your power!

Isaiah 55:7

55:7 The wicked need to abandon their lifestyle ¹⁷ 

and sinful people their plans. ¹⁸ 

They should return ¹⁹  to the Lord, and he will show mercy to them, ²⁰ 

and to their God, for he will freely forgive them. ²¹ 

Isaiah 63:7

A Prayer for Divine Intervention

63:7 I will tell of the faithful acts of the Lord,

of the Lord’s praiseworthy deeds.

I will tell about all ²²  the Lord did for us,

the many good things he did for the family of Israel, ²³ 

because of ²⁴  his compassion and great faithfulness.

[51:1]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Heb “a psalm by David, when Nathan the prophet came to him when he had gone to Bathsheba.”

[51:1]  ³ tn Or “according to.”

[51:1]  ⁴ tn Or “according to.”

[51:1]  ⁵ 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.”

[86:5]  ⁶ tn Or “for.”

[86:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “good.”

[86:13]  ⁸ tn Heb “for your loyal love [is] great over me.”

[86:13]  ⁹ tn Or “for he will have delivered my life.” The verb form indicates a future perfect here.

[86:13]  ¹⁰ tn Or “lower Sheol.”

[86:15]  ¹¹ tn Heb “slow to anger.”

[86:15]  ¹² tn Heb “and great of loyal love and faithfulness.”

[86:1]  ¹³ sn Psalm 86. The psalmist appeals to God’s mercy as he asks for deliverance from his enemies.

[86:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “turn your ear.”

[21:13]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “in your strength,” but English idiom does not require the pronoun.

[21:13]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “sing praise.”

[55:7]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “Let the wicked one abandon his way.” The singular is collective.

[55:7]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and the man of evil his thoughts.” The singular is collective.

[55:7]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “let him return.” The singular is collective, meaning “let them.”

[55:7]  ²⁰ tn The imperfect with vav (ו) conjunctive after the jussive indicates purpose/result.

[55:7]  ²¹ sn The appeal and promise of vv. 6-7 echoes the language of Deut 4:25-31; 30:1-10; and 1 Kgs 8:46-53, all of which anticipate the exile and speak of the prerequisites for restoration.

[63:7]  ²² tn Heb “according to all which.”

[63:7]  ²³ tn Heb “greatness of goodness to the house of Israel which he did for them.”

[63:7]  ²⁴ tn Heb “according to.”