1. Sin committed by David

Psalm 51 is well known as a poem of repentance and forgiveness of the king David. Jewish people sung together the lyrics which tell the story of sin and forgiveness. David committed sins and was accused by the prophet Nathan. Then he repented following the words of Nathan. The caption of the poem presents the scene. ; - A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.

The majority of modern scholars in biblical studies deny the legendary authorship.*1 They considered the poem to be a work written in later centuries. But we read it today as a song sung by the king himself. Because that fictive point of view should allow us to feel vividly the essence of the poem.

The nature of the sin is detailed in 2 Samuel 11 and 12: When Israel was at war against the Ammonites David sent Joab out with the whole Israelite army to destroy the Ammonites and besiege Rabbah, the chief city of the Ammonites. However the king himself stayed in Jerusalem. One evening, David saw a woman bathing from the roof of the palace. The woman was so beautiful that he sent someone to find out about her. She was Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, one of his men. David sent messengers to get her and slept with her. In consequence, Bathsheba got pregnant. David sent for Uriah and made him go home. David tried to push Uriah to lie with Bathsheba to conceal the fact that the pregnancy of Bathsheba was the result of the adultery. But It didn¡Çt work as he wished. Because Uriah was strongly reluctant to accept such a privilege while Joab and other men were camping in the open fields. Uriah might guess at what had happened between the king and Bathsheba in his absence. So David wrote a letter to Joab, in which he said, ¡ÈPut Uriah in the front line where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die.¡É Then he sent it with Uriah. As a result, Uriah was killed by enemies during the battle. An adultery ended in an indirect murder. Thus one sin generated another. Then David received Bathsheba, the widow of Uriah, in the palace as one of the king¡Çs wives. Bathsheba there gave birth to a boy, the fruit of the adultery.

The Book of Samuel put the conclusion to the story after telling it in a cool tone ; - But the thing David had done displeased the Lord.(2 Samuel 11:26)

In Gentile cultures, David¡Çs behavior might not be shameful. But, as regards Jewish righteousness, such an act must be judged and condemned by God. Besides the king was an anointed man chosen by God. Therefore ; - The Lord sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, “There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor.(2 Samuel 12:1)

And Nathan said to Davide, ¡ÈThere were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb which he cherished like his own child. When a traveler came to the rich man, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the guest.¡É(see 2 Samuel 12:1-4)

¡ÈThe rich man¡É implied David but he was not aware of the rhetoric of Nathan. So David cried our at the end of the story. ; - ¡ÈThe man who did this deserves to die! (2 Samuel 12:5)¡É

Nathan responded to him, ; - ¡ÈYou are the man! (2 Samuel 12:7)¡É Then he continues ; - The God of Israel, says: ¡ÈI anointed you king over IsraelI and gave Soul¡Çs and his wives. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. Why did you what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah to steel his wife.¡É(see 2 Samuel 12:7-10)

The accusation led David to admit his sinful act and confess; - ¡ÈI have sinned against the Lord.¡É (2 Samuel 12:13)

*1 Authorship of Psalm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psalm#Authorship_and_ascriptions

2. Psalm 51 as David¡Çs story

Psalm 51 reflects the repentance of David ; - Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.( Psalm 5:11-2)

David sinned against God. As a result, he lost peace in soul. The sin can be washed away only by God with forgiveness. So David prays God for mercy by admitting his sinful existence to be cleansed. ; - For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge. (Psalm 51:5-8)

David stole the wife of Uriah and made him killed. Though it seems a crime against a person, it was in real sense a sin against God. Therefore David said, ¡ÈI have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight against you.¡É Furthermore he recognized that the sin was embedded in him before the birth. ; - Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.(Psalm 51:7)

It means that all humans are sinful by nature, regardless of acts and behaviors. David was sinful in the nature, not merely because of the adultery and murder. Such an existence cannot be purified with personal efforts. Therefore he begs God ; - ¡ÈCleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice.(Psalm 51:7-8)¡É

His entity, not only the sin, must be washed and cleansed in order to receive God¡Çs forgiveness. Only in that way, he could be new born. David prays God for that purification ; - Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.(Psalm 51:9-10)

He might pray falling drops of sweat like blood. He was aspiring to metamorphosis of his nature.
And the salvation is an event which alters the nature of a person. Then, those who received the salvation should begin to pray for others¡Ç sake. ; - Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you. Save me from bloodguilt, O God, the God who saves me, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.(Psalm 51:13-14)

Here comes the essential part of the poem ; - You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. (Psalm 51:16-17)

Forgiveness was given in response to the repentance, not to earthy sacrifices. We must bring to God our broken and contrite heart, not burnt animals nor offerings. And David prayed in believing that God should accept such a heart and give mercy.

As I said before, the poem wasn¡Çt written probably in the time of the king David, despite the caption. It might be a post-Exilic work. Nonetheless, it was and is very popular to the Jewish and Christians as a song of David by himself. Mr. Saburoh Takahashi, a Japanese sociologist explain why:
— Israelites found the core of faithful life in the poem which portrays David, the sinful, broken then repentant king.—

Jewish people admired David. Because he admitted sins in spite of his social status and repented before God. They found him great because he was faithful to God, not because he was a glorious king. Humans can be great by admitting sins and repenting, not by being sinless. Nobody can be sinless.

3. Reading it as our story

By reading the poem as a confession of repentance by David , we project personal experiences into it. I present an example. Bill Clinton, the 42nd President of the United States, was accused for extramarital sexual relationships. He openly repented by giving an apology by quoting Psalm 51 at that time :
— But I believe that to be forgiven, more than sorrow is required - at least two more things. First, genuine repentance - a determination to change and to repair breaches of my own making. I have repented. Second, what my bible calls a ‘’broken spirit¡Ç¡Ç(Psalm 51:17) ; an understanding that I must have God’s help to be the person that I want to be; a willingness to give the very forgiveness I seek; a renunciation of the pride and the anger which cloud judgment, lead people to excuse and compare and to blame and complain. *1–

The apologetic poem of David teaches us a lot. David was the king of Israel. So whatever he did, Jewish people must not dare accuse him officially. Nonetheless God unveils sins which could be concealed from human eyes. In ordinary secular sense, it might seem rather natural that a extremely powerful man yield to sinful desires as Mr. Clinton did. But to God¡Çs eyes, the king deserved judged and punishment. Matthew wrote in the line of ancestors of Jesus ; - ¡ÈDavid was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife¡É(Matthew 1:6) whereas other mothers¡Ç mane were not noted in the line. That way, Gospel writer underlined that the genealogy of Jesus was also marked with a sin like other ordinary humans.

All humans are born in middle of sins and must bear them. For that reason, Jesus came to the world to save us. Each of our family trees also contains morally stains. Autobiography writers naturally exclude them from the contents. Even if not, they should be strongly reluctant to unveil them. All of us have something to conceal in the past. But God knows all and, regardless of our sinful stains, invites us.

Today¡Çs invocation verses are 2 Samuel 12:13-14 ; - Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.¡É Nathan replied, “The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. But because by doing this you have made the enemies of the Lord show utter contempt, the son born to you will die.”

Nathan gave those words after David¡Çs repentance. Even thought the sin was forgiven through repentance, its result must be payed. It seems unfair that the son born to David and Bathsheba must die. Because the baby didn¡Çt commit sinful act. But God decided on it. The boy was the sacrifice. And the same act must be done for us. Someone must redeem the result of our sin, despite forgiveness. And the Gospels tell that Jesus carried out the task as Christ. He died on the Cross for that purpose. In other words, he redeemed our sinful existence with his precious blood.

Which factor does separate believers in God and others ? All humans committed or commit sin. However those who believe in God accept God¡Çs judgement under pains. Then God shows mercy to them for sufferings and allows to live again. In contrast, those without faith try to conceal their sins. They don¡Çt admit their own nature and reject the judgement. Therefore there is no forgiveness for them. Thus they cannot have peace in soul. God¡Çs judgement is the first step to the peaceful spirit. Once we admit what we really are, the path to blessings opens before us. The Gospels give that lesson unceasingly.

*1 Clinton¡Çs apology quots http://www.perfectapology.com/clinton-apology-quotes.html