Psalms 51:3
in Psalms 51For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For I know my transgressions; And my sin is ever before me.
KJV
For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.
⋯
This verse in Psalms 51
Commentary
15 notes on this versePsalm 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
my sin is always before me
on Psalms 51:3-5
David's transgressions are always before him, and verse 4 names the One they were against, You only. Verse 5 carries the confession behind the act to the condition David was born in, the sinful state the church calls original sin. Calvin read David as consenting to God's own judgment.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers4 voices
Finally, holy David successfully gained divine mercy because, having been converted by the humility of a contrite heart, he condemned the evil he had done by acknowledging it and did not put off punishment by doing penance for the lust of the evil deed he …
As the holy old man Pachomius was journeying to his own monastery and had come near the desert called Amnon, legions of demons rose both on his right hand and on his left, some following him and others running in front of him, saying, "Behold …
"For mine iniquity I acknowledge, and my delinquency is before me ever" (ver. 3). I have not put behind my back what I have done, I look not at others, forgetful of myself, I pretend not to pull out a straw from my brother's eye, when there is a beam in my eye; my sin is before me, not behind me. For it was behind me when to me was sent the Prophet, and set before me the parable of the poor man's sheep. For saith Nathan the Prophet to David, "There was a certain rich man having very many sheep; but a poor man his neighbour had one little ewe sheep, which in his bosom and of his own food he was feeding: there came a stranger to the rich man, nothing from his flock he took, for the lithe ewe sheep of the poor man his neighbour he lusted; her he slew for the stranger: what doth he deserve?" But the other being angry doth pronounce sentence: then the king, evidently knowing not wherein he had been taken, declared the rich man deserving of death, and that the sheep be restored fourfold. Most sternly and most justly. But his sin was not yet before him, behind his back was what he had done: his own iniquity he did not yet acknowledge, and therefore another's he did not pardon. But the Prophet, being for this purpose sent, took from his back the sin, and before his eyes placed it, so that he might see that sentence so stern to have been pronounced against himself. For cutting and healing his heart's wound, he made a lancet of his tongue. ...
Singing to the Lord, we have asked Him to turn away His face from our sins, and to blot out all our crimes. But you can notice, Brothers, that in the same psalm we have heard: For I acknowledge my iniquity, and my sin is ever before me. However, it is said to God elsewhere: Do not turn away your face from me, to whom we have said: Turn your face away from my sins. While therefore man and sinner are one person, man says: Do not turn away your face from me, the sinner says: Turn your face away from my sins. This is thus said: Do not turn away your face from the one whom you have made, turn your face away from what I have done. Your eye, he says, distinguishes both, lest the nature perish because of the vice. You have made something, and I have made something. What you have made is called nature; what I have done is called vice. Let the vice be healed, so that nature may be preserved.
The Medieval Church1 voice
"Because." Here he confesses his guilt. And first, he confesses the guilt. Second, he shows this confession to be acceptable to God. First, therefore, he confesses the guilt. Second, he aggravates the guilt, at "against you alone have I sinned." Third, he demonstrates its origin, …
8 more voices on this verse
The Reformation1 voice
For I know my transgressions, and my sin is continually before me. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done evil in thy sight; that thou mayest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest. Behold, I was born in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:92%@v3-5
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Nathan said, Thou art the man. He had such a deep sense of it that the was continually thinking of it with sorrow and shame. His contrition for his sin was not a slight sudden passion, but an abiding grief: " My sin is ever before me, to humble me and mortify me, and make me continually blush and tremble.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
For I acknowledge my transgressions,.... Before God and man.
The Nineteenth Century5 voices
For I acknowledge my transgressions. Here he sees the plurality and immense number of his sins, and makes open declaration of them. He seems to say, I make a full confession of them. Not that this is my plea in seeking forgiveness, but it is a clear evidence that I need mercy, and am utterly unable to look to any other quarter for help. My pleading guilty has barred me from any appeal against the sentence of justice: O Lord, I must cast myself on thy mercy, refuse me not, I pray thee. Thou hast made me willing to confess.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
A plea for mercy is a confession of guilt. blot out--as from a register. transgressions--literally, "rebellions" (Ps 19:13;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
For I acknowledge my transgressions. Here he sees the plurality and immense number of his sins, and makes open declaration of them. He seems to say, I make a full confession of them. Not that this is my plea in seeking forgiveness, but it is a clear evidence that I need mercy, and am utterly unable to look to any other quarter for help. My pleading guilty has barred me from any appeal against the sentence of justice: O Lord, I must cast myself on thy mercy, refuse me not, I pray thee. Thou hast made me willing to confess. O follow up this work of grace with a full and free remission! And my sin is ever before me. My sin as a whole is never out of my mind; it continually oppresses my spirit. I lay it before thee because it is ever before me: Lord, put it away both from thee and me. To an awakened conscience, pain on account of sin is not transient and occasional, but intense and permanent, and this is no sign of divine wrath, but rather a sure preface of abounding favour.
For I acknowledge my transgressions - I know, I feel, I confess that I have sinned. My sin is ever before me - A true, deep, and unsophisticated mark of a genuine penitent. Wherever he turns his face, he sees his sin, and through it the eye of an angry God.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
For I acknowledge my transgressions - literally, I know, or make known. That is, he knew that he was a sinner, and he did not seek to cloak or conceal that fact. He came with the knowledge of it himself; he was willing to make acknowledgment of it before God. There was no attempt to conceal it; to excuse it. Compare the notes at Psa 32:5. The word ““for”” does not imply that he referred to his willingness to confess his sins as an act of merit, but it indicates a state of mind which was necessary to forgiveness, and without which he could not hope for pardon. And my sin is ever before me - That is, It is now constantly before my mind. It had not been so until Nathan brought it vividly to his recollection (2Sa 12:1 ff); but after that it was continually in his view. He could not turn his mind from it. The memory of his guilt followed him; it pressed upon him; it haunted him. It was no wonder that this was so. The only ground of wonder in the case is that it did not occur “before” Nathan made that solemn appeal to him, or that he could have been for a moment insensible to the greatness of his crime. The whole transaction, however, shows that people “may” be guilty of enormous sins, and have for a long time no sense of their criminality; but that “when” the consciousness of guilt is made to come home to the soul, nothing will calm it down. Everything reminds the soul of it; and nothing will drive away its recollection. In such a state the sinner has no refuge - no hope of permanent peace - but in the mercy of God.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| פְ֭שָׁעַי | feshaai | transgressions my | H6588 → | 93 times |
| אֲנִ֣י | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| אֵדָ֑ע | ʾeda' | I know | H3045 → | 945 times |
| וְחַטָּאתִ֖י | vechatati | and sin my | H2403 → | 295 times |
| נֶגְדִּ֣י | negdi | [is] before me | H5048 → | 151 times |
| תָמִֽיד׃ | tamid | continually | H8548 → | 104 times |
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
פְ֭שָׁעַיtransgressions my
feshaaiH6588 →93 times
אֲנִ֣יI
ʾaniH589 →874 times
אֵדָ֑עI know
ʾeda'H3045 →945 times
וְחַטָּאתִ֖יand sin my
vechatatiH2403 →295 times
נֶגְדִּ֣י[is] before me
negdiH5048 →151 times
תָמִֽיד׃continually
tamidH8548 →104 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
Proverbs 28:13He who conceals his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy.
it leads to
- 1 John 1:8–10
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
- Psalms 32:3–5
When I kept silent, my bones became brittle from my groaning all day long.
- Job 31:33
if I have covered my transgressions like Adam by hiding my guilt in my heart,
- Luke 15:18–24
I will get up and go back to my father and say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.
- Jeremiah 3:12–13
Go, proclaim this message toward the north: ‘Return, O faithless Israel,’ declares the LORD. ‘I will no longer look on you with anger, for I am merciful,’ declares the LORD. ‘I will not be…
- 1 John 1:8–10
Through
Psalms 32:5Then I acknowledged my sin to You and did not hide my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah
it leads to
- Proverbs 28:13
He who conceals his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 2 Samuel 12:13
Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” “The LORD has taken away your sin,” Nathan replied. “You will not die.
- Psalms 51:3–5
For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.
- Proverbs 28:13
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies17
On this verse
On this chapter
About Psalms
This page draws on 14 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 51; Augustine of Hippo, Sermon 19; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 2; Fulgentius of Ruspe, ON THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS 1:12.3; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, LETTER 122.3; John Calvin, Commentary on the Book of Psalms; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Pachomius the Great, PARALIPOMENA 8:14 and Thomas Aquinas, Exposition on the Psalms of David.