A Psalm of David
A Prayer of Repentance
Written after the prophet Nathan confronted David about his sin with Bathsheba. This psalm has been called the greatest of the penitential psalms—a model of true repentance and faith in God's mercy.
Read Psalm 51 in your preferred translation. Verse 10—"Create in me a clean heart, O God"—is highlighted as the central prayer of the psalm.
1Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.
2Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!
3For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.
4Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.
5Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.
6Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.
7Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice.
9Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.
10Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
11Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
12Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.
13Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you.
14Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.
15O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.
16For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
17The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
18Do good to Zion in your good pleasure; build up the walls of Jerusalem;
19then will you delight in right sacrifices, in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on your altar.
English Standard Version
Explore the depth of David's prayer through careful examination of each section.
Verses 1-2
David opens with an appeal to God's character, not his own merit. He calls upon God's lovingkindness (Hebrew: chesed) and tender mercies (rachamim)—covenant love and deep compassion.
The verbs are urgent and desperate: blot out (machah), wash (kabas), cleanse (taher). David asks God to erase, scrub, and purify. He knows his sin cannot be hidden or minimized—it must be completely removed.
Verses 3-6
True repentance begins with honest acknowledgment. David does not excuse himself or blame circumstances. His sin is ever before him—a constant weight on his conscience.
"Against You, You only, have I sinned"—though David wronged Bathsheba and murdered Uriah, he recognizes that all sin is ultimately against God. This is the heart of biblical confession: sin is a vertical problem before it is horizontal.
David acknowledges his sinful nature from birth (v. 5), not to excuse himself, but to show the depth of his corruption. He needs more than behavior modification—he needs transformation from the inside out.
Verses 7-12
Here is the heart of the psalm—David's desperate plea for divine intervention. Hyssop was used in purification rituals (Leviticus 14, Numbers 19), symbolizing the need for priestly cleansing.
Verse 10 contains the climactic request: "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me." The Hebrew word bara (create) is used only of God's creative activity. David asks for nothing less than a new creation.
David fears losing God's presence (v. 11)—remembering Saul, from whom the Spirit departed. He longs for restored joy and a willing spirit to sustain him in obedience.
This section echoes the promise God would later make through Ezekiel: "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh" (Ezekiel 36:26).
Verses 13-17
Restoration leads to proclamation. David promises to teach others God's ways so that sinners will return to Him. His experience of grace becomes testimony.
The "sacrifice" God desires is not ritual offering but a broken spirit and contrite heart. This was radical in the ancient world—the idea that God valued internal disposition over external performance.
David anticipates what Jesus would teach: true worship is "in spirit and truth" (John 4:24). The outward forms without inward transformation are worthless.
The superscription tells us this psalm was written "when the prophet Nathan came to [David] after he had gone in to Bathsheba" (2 Samuel 11-12). David, the man after God's own heart, had committed adultery and murder—yet this psalm shows his path back to God.
Nathan's confrontation was not immediate. David lived with his sin for perhaps a year, during which time his conscience tormented him (as described in Psalm 32:3-4). When Nathan finally exposed David through the parable of the poor man's lamb, David's response was immediate: "I have sinned against the Lord."
"The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die."
— Nathan to David (2 Samuel 12:13)
Known as the Miserere (Latin for "Have mercy"), Psalm 51 has inspired countless musical settings throughout history. The most famous is Gregorio Allegri's haunting composition, written for the Sistine Chapel in the 1630s.
The Vatican kept Allegri's score secret for over a century—until a 14-year-old Mozart attended a performance and transcribed the entire work from memory. This act of genius broke the Vatican's monopoly and gave the world one of its most beautiful sacred compositions.
From condemned criminals reading the "neck verse" to escape execution, to martyrs praying it on the scaffold, Psalm 51 has been humanity's cry for mercy across every generation.
Psalm 51 was written by King David, as indicated in the superscription. It was composed after the prophet Nathan confronted David about his adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband Uriah (2 Samuel 11-12).
Psalm 51 is a prayer of repentance—David's confession of sin and plea for God's mercy. It moves from acknowledging sin (vv. 1-6), to requesting cleansing (vv. 7-12), to promising future praise and testimony (vv. 13-19). The central verse (v. 10) asks God to 'create a clean heart.'
The Hebrew word 'bara' (create) is used only for God's creative work—the same word used in Genesis 1:1. David recognizes that his heart is so corrupted that it cannot be repaired; it must be created anew. Only God can perform this miracle of spiritual regeneration.
'Miserere' is Latin for 'Have mercy'—the opening words of the psalm in the Latin Vulgate translation. This name became associated with the psalm's use in Catholic liturgy, particularly during Lent and in the Office of the Dead.
Deep dive into the meaning and theology of Psalm 51:10
Coming soon: The promise of a new heart
Coming soon: The full story behind Psalm 51
Coming soon: Biblical prayers for forgiveness