Psalms 51:1
in Psalms 51Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your loving devotion; according to Your great compassion, blot out my transgressions.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: According to the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
KJV
Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
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This verse in Psalms 51
Commentary
3 notes on this verseon Psalms 51:1-4
Psalm 50 [51] shows the complete repentance of a sinner when David, who had gone into Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite and was rebuked by the prophet Nathan, said, "I have sinned." Immediately he deserved to hear "The Lord has removed your sin from you." For he, who had added homicide to adultery and was moved to tears, said, "God, have compassion on me according to your great pity, and according to the multitude of your mercies take away my iniquity."
This site's exposition
according to Your loving devotion
on Psalms 51:1-2
Spurgeon read the opening as a plea resting on mercy alone, according to Your loving devotion. Three verbs ask for the sin's removal, blot out, wash clean and cleanse. The last two treat sin as a stain.
The record, by era
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Have mercy upon me, O God. He appeals at once to the mercy of God, even before he mentions his sin. The sight of mercy is good for eyes that are sore with penitential weeping. Pardon of sin must ever be an act of pure mercy, and therefore to that attribute the awakened sinner flies. "According to thy lovingkindness." Act, O Lord, like thyself; give mercy like thy mercy. Show mercy such as is congruous with thy grace.
The words behind it
7 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| חָנֵּ֣נִי | choneni | show favor to me | H2603 → | 78 times |
| אֱלֹהִ֣ים | ʾelohim | O God | H430 → | 2601 times |
| כְּחַסְדֶּ֑ךָ | kechasdekha | according to covenant loyalty your | H2617 → | 247 times |
| כְּרֹ֥ב | kero | according to [the] greatness of | H7230 → | 149 times |
| רַ֝חֲמֶ֗יךָ | rachameikha | compassion<s> your | H7356 → | 45 times |
| מְחֵ֣ה | mecheh | wipe out | H4229 → | 36 times |
| פְשָׁעָֽי׃ | feshaai | transgressions my | H6588 → | 93 times |
חָנֵּ֣נִיshow favor to me
choneniH2603 →78 times
אֱלֹהִ֣יםO God
ʾelohimH430 →2601 times
כְּחַסְדֶּ֑ךָaccording to covenant loyalty your
kechasdekhaH2617 →247 times
כְּרֹ֥בaccording to [the] greatness of
keroH7230 →149 times
רַ֝חֲמֶ֗יךָcompassion<s> your
rachameikhaH7356 →45 times
מְחֵ֣הwipe out
mechehH4229 →36 times
פְשָׁעָֽי׃transgressions my
feshaaiH6588 →93 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Isaiah 43:25I, yes I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake and remembers your sins no more.
it leads to
- Micah 7:18–19
Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity and passes over the transgression of the remnant of His inheritance—who does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in loving devotion?
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Hebrews 8:12
For I will forgive their iniquities and will remember their sins no more.”
- Hebrews 10:17
Then He adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.”
- Jeremiah 31:34
No longer will each man teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ because they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I…
- Isaiah 1:18
“Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are as red as crimson, they will become like wool.
- Micah 7:18–19
Through
Acts 3:19Repent, then, and turn back, so that your sins may be wiped away,
it leads to
- Isaiah 43:25
I, yes I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake and remembers your sins no more.
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 44:22
I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud, and your sins like a mist. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Acts 2:38
Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
- Isaiah 43:25
Where this verse is studied
By subject
Forgiveness35 verses
Mercy35 verses
On this page
Studies3
On this verse
On this chapter
About Psalms
This page draws on Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 2; Jerome, LETTER 122.3 and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.