Psalm 50 “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your great mercy”

Psalm 50 “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your great mercy”

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes.

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your great mercy, and according to the multitude of your mercies, cleanse my iniquity. Above all, wash me from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin; for I know my iniquity, and I will bear my sin before me. You alone have sinned and done evil before you; so that you may be justified in all your words and be victorious, never judge you. Behold, I was conceived in iniquity, and my mother gave birth to me in sins. Behold, you loved the truth, you showed me your unknown and secret wisdom. Sprinkle me with hyssop, and I will be cleansed; Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. My hearing brings joy and joy; The humble bones will rejoice. Turn your face away from my sins and cleanse all my iniquities. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a right spirit in my womb. Do not cast me away from your presence and do not take your Holy Spirit from me. Reward me with the joy of your salvation and strengthen me with the sovereign spirit. I will teach the wicked your way, and the wicked will turn to you. Deliver me from bloodshed, O God, God of my salvation; my tongue will rejoice in your righteousness. Lord, open my mouth, and my mouth will declare your praise. As if you had wanted this sacrifice, you would have given it; You do not favor burnt offerings. The sacrifice to God is a broken spirit; God will not despise a broken and humble heart. Bless Zion, O Lord, with your favor, and may the walls of Jerusalem be built; then be pleased with the sacrifice of righteousness, the offering and the burnt offering; Then they will lay the bullocks on your altar.

Translation:

Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your great mercy, and according to the multitude of Your mercies, blot out my iniquities. Wash me often from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin, for I am aware of my iniquities, and my sin is always before me. You, You alone, have I sinned and done evil in Your sight, so that You are righteous in Your judgment and pure in Your judgment. Behold, I was conceived in iniquity, and my mother gave birth to me in sin. Behold, You loved the truth in my heart and showed me Your wisdom within me. Sprinkle me with hyssop, and I will be clean; Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness, and the bones broken by You will rejoice. Turn Your face away from my sins and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Thy salvation and strengthen me with the sovereign Spirit. I will teach the wicked Your ways, and the wicked will turn to You. Deliver me from bloodshed, O God, God of my salvation, and my tongue will praise Your righteousness. God! Open my mouth, and my mouth will declare Your praise: for You do not desire sacrifice, I would give it; You do not favor burnt offerings. A sacrifice to God is a broken spirit; You will not despise a contrite and humble heart, O God. Bless Zion, O Lord, according to Your good pleasure; build up the walls of Jerusalem: then the sacrifices of righteousness, the heave-hoist and the burnt offering will be acceptable to You; Then they will place bullocks on Your altar.

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Psalm of David No. 50

Psalm 50 - text with emphasis and translation How Psalm 50 was written Explanation and brief interpretation of the psalm

PSALM 50 - TEXT WITH EMPHASIS AND TRANSLATION

Psalm No. 50 (with Glory) listen:

KATHISMA 7

Glory:

HOW PSALM 51 WAS WRITTEN AND WHAT IT MEANS

Psalm 50 is a very famous prayer of repentance. It was compiled by the prophet David, the creator of the psalms, after the prophet Nathan came to him and convicted him of a terrible sin - that because of his attraction to a woman he sent a man to certain death.

The events that preceded the writing of this psalm are described in the 2nd book of Kings (chapters 11 and 12). One day David saw a beautiful woman named Bathsheba and desired her as his wife. But at that time she was married to a man named Uriah, he was in the army of David that was fighting at that time. In the upcoming battle with the Ammonites, by order of David, Uriah was placed in the most dangerous place, where he was killed. Only David and the military commander to whom he gave such an order knew about this. After the death of Uriah, David married Bathsheba; this marriage did not seem strange to anyone; soon the king himself forgot about his sin. A year later, their son was born, and then the prophet Nathan appeared to David from God and in a conversation told a parable: In one city there lived a rich man who had large herds and a poor man who had only one sheep, which he loved and even fed from his own hands. One day a guest came to the rich man and he decided to treat him, but he did not want to stab his sheep and forcibly took the sheep from the poor man and treated his guest. After this story, Nathan asked:

“What judgment will you pronounce, O king, on this cruel rich man?”

In response, David said that of course death, and the poor man should be rewarded.

After these words, the prophet Nathan said that David pronounced this judgment for himself and conveyed to him what the Lord God said:

I made you king over Israel, delivered you from the hands of Saul, and gave his whole house and all his kingdom into your power. And if there was anything else you lacked, I would have given you everything according to your desire. What did you do? Despite all these good deeds of Mine, you despised the word of God, trampled His Law and committed the greatest crime: you killed Uriah the Hittite in order to take possession of his wife. Here is your punishment for this: your son by Bathsheba will die

The prophet's reproof awakened David from his sin; he realized his wrongdoing and desperately repented of it. We now know this repentance and prayer from God for mercy as the penitential psalm, which all Christians still pray daily.

EXPLANATION AND BRIEF INTERPRETATION OF PSALM 50

Ps.50:3 Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your great mercy, and according to the multitude of Your compassions, cleanse my iniquity.

Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your great mercy and according to the multitude of Your mercies, blot out my iniquity. David, after being exposed by Nathan, realized with horror his sin and he begins his first words of repentance with a plea for mercy. From the Lord, David received the gift of prophecy and many other mercies; he, as a righteous man and the chosen one of God, is all the more aware of his guilt before God.

Ps.50:4-5 Above all, wash me from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin: for I know my iniquity, and I will take away my sin before me.

completely wash me from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my iniquity, and my sin is always before me. This especially means here: “many times, many times.” Omyy means: “wash away, wash away.” David asks God to wash away from him the dirt that has blackened his soul. The sinner already knows from Nathan that the Lord had mercy and forgiven him, but this is not enough for him - he begs the All-Merciful God to wash away all the filth from himself. And not just once, but especially (many times) he would have washed him from iniquity and thus completely cleansed him from the sin of adultery and murder. Therefore, I pray to You, Almighty God, to wash me with Your grace: instead of water You have all-purifying grace, instead of blood from the sacrifice of offerings with which we cleanse our houses, You have the all-cleansing blood of Your Son, in whom I wait, in whom I believe, whose blood will wash away the sins of the whole world, You also have the Holy Spirit, the all-purifying One, You Yourself, in Your omnipotence, can cleanse me from my sin, therefore with bitter tears I pray to You: have mercy on me! Because I know my crimes, and my sin is constantly (bearing out) before me: that is why, O God, I pray to You. I always remember my sin, I see my lawless act with Bathsheba, in front of my gases all the time it is as if unfortunate Urius is standing, pierced by an arrow, I see how he cries out for revenge on me.

Ps.50:6 You alone have I sinned and done evil before You: so that You may be justified in Your words and overcome, so that You may never judge.

I have sinned against You, the One, and done evil before You, so that you may be justified in Your words and win if they enter into court with You. In his confession, David admits that he understands against whom he committed this sin, saying: It was against You alone, Lord, that I sinned and committed this evil against You. Every sinner, when he takes away from someone, for example, property, his honor, work or health, sins not only against this neighbor, but also against God and against himself. With these deeds he defiles his soul and body with envy, anger, fornication, malice and other vices. So David, having sinned against the Lord, sinned against Uriah, his wife and against himself, desecrating his soul. There was no human judgment over David, who was a king; no one on earth could demand justification from him, no one except the Judge alone. Therefore, David says: I have sinned against You alone, and before Your eyes I have done a great evil, which no one in the world except You can correct; but You are righteous in Your word (you are justified in all Your words) and pure in Your judgment. You have already pronounced judgment on me through Nathan the prophet. I deserve this punishment and I deserve even more punishment, so I see justice, truth in your words. You win, you will never judge, i.e. when You pronounce Your judgment on me.

Ps.50:7-8 Behold, I was conceived in iniquity, and my mother gave birth to me in sins. Behold, Thou hast loved the truth, Thou hast revealed to me Thy unknown and secret wisdom.

For behold, I was conceived in iniquities, and my mother gave birth to me in sins. For behold, You have loved the truth; You have revealed to me the hidden and secret things of Your wisdom. Confessing, David continues that he was conceived in his mother’s womb with iniquities, he was born in sin, i.e. from the very beginning of his life he was a sinner. He says: You are just and Your judgment is just, because You love the truth, but I have been a sinner since birth. I beg you for mercy and do not justify myself before you, but you yourself revealed to me the secret of original sin, destined for redemption by the blood of the Only Begotten Son of God. Why did you reveal it to me? Because You loved the truth, the unknown (not known to anyone) and You showed me the secret wisdom of Yours. In his last words, David says that, as a prophet, the eternal Divine secrets, hidden for ordinary people, were revealed to him (Rom. 14:24; Eph. 3:9).

Ps.50:9-10 Sprinkle me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Give joy and gladness to my hearing; humble bones will rejoice.

You will sprinkle me with hyssop, and I will be cleansed; wash me, and I will become whiter than snow; let me hear joy and gladness, and my weakened bones will rejoice. Hyssop is a spicy, fragrant plant that grows in the mountains and on old walls. It served as a symbol of cleansing; because of its cleansing properties, it was used for sprinkling the blood of the Passover lamb (Ex. 12:22), for cleansing lepers (Lev. 14: 4, 6, 52), in the preparation of water of cleansing, specially sanctified, and for sprinkling with this water (Num. 19:6, 9, 18). In the Old Testament rite of purification, the priest used the sprinkling of hyssop to cleanse someone who was considered unclean. In addition to this ritual, David also speaks about washing: wash me; and I will be whiter than snow, i.e. Wash me so that I am cleaner, whiter than snow. After his prayers, David would like to know that he is truly forgiven, that his sin is cleansed and his conscience would be calm: I know, as the prophet David says, that You, my God, can cleanse and wash away my sin, but how will I know about this? I can only know this when my soul feels inexplicable joy. Let me hear and feel this joy: give joy and joy to my hearing, i.e. rejoice and rejoice me with the news that You have cleansed my sin, and then even my very bones, now depressed (humble) by sin, will rejoice: the humble bones will rejoice.

Ps.50:11 Turn away Your face from my sins and cleanse all my iniquities.

Turn Your face away from my sins and blot out all my iniquities. The sins of David’s vice are disgusting to God and therefore he begs the Lord not to look at them: turn Your face away from my sins, so that You will never see them, and cleanse all my iniquities, blot them out from Yours. eternal memory as if they had never existed at all, so that neither I nor anyone else could remember them.

Ps.50:12 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a right spirit in my womb.

Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew the Right Spirit within me. As long as the heart is blackened by sins, life will be difficult, and all efforts to correct it will be in vain, only minor changes are possible. Without God's help it is impossible to heal a sick soul and glue a heart broken by sins to pristine purity. And therefore, David prays not for renewal of the heart, but for the granting of purity of heart and the revival in his soul (in the womb) of the spirit of righteousness that he had before - he prays that the Lord will make a complete and complete correction of the abilities of his soul damaged by sin, mind, will and heart.

Ps.50:13-14 Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Reward me with the joy of Your salvation and strengthen me with the Lord’s Spirit.

Do not cast me away from Your presence and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and strengthen me with the Sovereign Spirit. David's predecessor on the throne, King Saul, was rejected by God and deprived of His support. And David understands that by his act he himself is worthy of the same sad fate, his sin can also entail this rejection, so the prophet begs: Lord my God! Do not reject me, do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me, as you took It from others who angered You with their iniquities. Do not reject me and do not take away the Holy Spirit, without which man is dead. The Lord, through the Holy Spirit, always helped David in all his affairs, without this help David is nothing and he clearly knows this. If You, Lord, return to me this Spirit, which left me from the moment of my iniquity, then at the same time you will return to me the joy of my salvation, I ask - confirm this Spirit in me, so that, as before, it would guide me, my heart , by will and word, would reign in my soul. The most important reward now for David is continued communication with the Holy Spirit.

Ps.50:15 I will teach the wicked your way, and the wicked will turn to you.

I will teach the wicked your ways, and the wicked will turn to you by their sin. David set a bad example for his subjects; he understood that everyone already knew about this offense and only by his example of a righteous life could he change their sinful way of thinking about themselves. He, as it were, takes sinners on bail before God and asks them to have mercy not only on himself, but also on them for their sinful thoughts. After all, they were tempted by the example of David, he himself asks for mercy on them and undertakes to help return sinners to the path of righteousness: I will teach the wicked in Your way, and the wicked (sinners) will turn to You. Those. when You, after cleansing me from sin, give me again the opportunity to live on the righteous path, then I myself will teach all sinners like me and show the righteous path. And then these wicked ones will follow my example and also turn to You with repentance.

Ps.50:16-17 Deliver me from bloodshed, O God, God of my salvation: my tongue will rejoice in Your righteousness. Lord, open my mouth, and my mouth will declare Your praise.

Deliver me from bloodshed, O God, God of my salvation; my tongue will rejoice in Your righteousness. Lord, You will open my mouth, and my mouth will declare Your praise. And again David remembers his sin, and again prays for forgiveness of the sin of the innocently shed blood of Uriah. Anyone who knows about this can point David to this blood; he definitely needs to free himself from the heavy burden: Deliver me from blood, O God, God of my salvation, i.e. God, my Savior, wash away this crime (bloodshed) from me, and then: my tongue will rejoice in Your righteousness, i.e. my tongue will express the joy of Your justification of me in this grave crime. After all, without God’s justification, David will not be able to praise the Lord: praise from the lips of a sinner is an insult to God, and therefore I do not dare to exalt You until you free my tongue by freeing me from blood (sin). Then open my lips, and my lips will joyfully proclaim Your praise.

Ps.50:18-19 For even if you had desired sacrifices, you would have given them; burnt offerings do not please you. The sacrifice to God is a broken spirit: a contrite and humble heart God will not despise.

For if You had desired sacrifice, I would have given it; you will not be pleased with burnt offerings. A sacrifice to God is a contrite spirit; God will not despise a contrite and humble heart. In the Old Testament Church, sacrifices from “clean” animals were accepted - bulls, cows, sheep, etc. The animal was brought to the altar of the temple, and the priests, with the help of the Levites, slaughtered the animal and shed the blood near the altar and on the floor in front of the sanctuary. Then the victim was burned in the fire. If the sacrifice was a cleansing one, the carcass was burned completely, this was called a burnt offering. And if some parts were burned, for example the heart or liver, then this was called a thanksgiving sacrifice, and some parts of the animal were given to the priest. This is what David says: If You, Lord, were pleased and needed sacrifices (as if You would have desired sacrifices), I would have brought them to You (I would have given them), but You do not want them (You do not favor burnt offerings). After all, we are talking about sacrifices in the form of animals. But in fact, God, first of all, needs heartfelt repentance and humility: a sacrifice (pleasing) to God is a broken spirit, i.e. spiritual contrition about the sins committed, because God does not reject only a humble and sincerely contrite person about his sins: God will not despise a contrite and humble heart. The Prophet David says that only material sacrifices, without the human soul of the one who makes them, are not needed by God. Nothing has changed today, even the largest and most expensive candle, lit without true love and faith, will not bring any benefit.

Ps.50:20-21 Bless Zion, O Lord, with Your favor, and let the walls of Jerusalem be built. Then you will be pleased with the sacrifice of righteousness, the wave offering and the burnt offering: then they will lay the bullock on Your altar.

Bless Zion, O Lord, with Your favor, and may the walls of Jerusalem be erected; then You will graciously accept the sacrifice of righteousness, the offering and burnt offerings, then they will lay bulls on Your altar. Please - means: “be kind, do good”; favor means the same thing as mercy. Next, David prays for the holy Mount Zion and for holy Jerusalem. He, as a prophet, knows that someday near this mountain the greatest sacrifice will be made, the Son of God will suffer for our sins, and Jerusalem itself will become the main city from which faith will begin to spread, where the Church will be born. Blagovolishi - “you will show favor, show attention, or accept with pleasure”; the sacrifice of righteousness means the same as the sacrifice of justification (sacrifice for sin); heaping offering and burnt offering are different types of sacrifices (more details in v. 18). The altar in the Old Testament Church was the name given to the altar on which sacrifices were made to God. When You have blessed Mount Zion with Your mercy, please Zion with Your favor, and when You have provided protection to Jerusalem, then You will be pleased (please the sacrifice of righteousness) sacrifices and burnt offerings offered in the temple; then they will bring not small animals of little value to the altar dedicated to You, but large bulls and bulls (then the bulls will be placed on Your altar), and all these sacrifices, as educational ones, will be pleasing to You for the sake of that great sacrifice for which the Lamb of God, Your Only Begotten Son, will give Himself here, in Jerusalem, for the sins of all of people.

The Church recommends this great prayer of repentance, the strongest of all the psalms, for daily reading. Using King David as an example, as someone who sinned and later repented of his sin, this psalm shows what love for God and for righteousness should be. Even after committing a grave sin, one must not despair; the most important thing in this case is repentance.

Having committed a grave sin and being punished by God for it, David deeply humbled himself and through this humility returned the love of God to himself. The fallen but risen David became more dear to God, became even more attached to Him with faith and love, having learned from experience that without the protection and protection of God, even the greatest righteous man can fall deeply. We are sinful people, and every great sin we have committed leads us rather to despair than to repentance. He who rarely sins deeply and quickly repents, and a person mired in sins, over time, as his sins increase, becomes more insensitive, unrepentant, and desperate. We see the first in the face of David. As soon as the prophet convicted him of a crime, David immediately surrendered to the deepest, bitter, extreme repentance. We see the second in general in public. How many people sin, how many they commit the most terrible crimes, but they try to hide their vices in their souls, they are not ashamed of their ugliness, they do not consider it necessary to repent, to repent sincerely and sincerely. We seriously offend God and grieve Him, but we consider words alone, a temporary visit to church, a cold and insensitive confession of sins sufficient for repentance. But for others, this type of repentance does not exist. Even death itself does not frighten us, it will not force us to bring true repentance - the kind of repentance that David brought. Let us use the example of David, the image of his repentance, so that we too may receive forgiveness for our sins, so that our souls may be white as snow, so that we too may receive the Kingdom of Heaven with all the saints.

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When repentant psalm 50 is read

The psalm is widely used by believers in home prayer, when the soul cries for its sins and needs consolation and forgiveness. The psalm is especially relevant during the period of Great Lent. Every Orthodox Christian should know this psalm by heart and resort to it after sinful deeds, thoughts and at a moment of regret about their mistakes.

The 50th Psalm is also included in the daily morning prayer rule and the procedure for Communion. Reading the psalm helps the believer to find in David’s repentance a reason for his own repentance, and in the king’s trust in God to see hope for his own cleansing from sins and the salvation of his soul.

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Psalm 50, penitential, composed by the prophet David

- Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your great mercy, and according to the multitude of Your mercies, cleanse my iniquity.
Above all, wash me from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
For I know my iniquity, and I will take away my sin before me. I have sinned against You alone and have done evil before You, so that You may be justified in Your words and triumph over the judgment of You. Behold, I was conceived in iniquities, and my mother gave birth to me in sins. You have loved the truth; you have revealed to me the unknown and secret wisdom of Yours. Sprinkle me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Give joy and gladness to my hearing; humble bones will rejoice. Turn Your face away from my sins and cleanse all my iniquities. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a right spirit in my womb. Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit away from me. Reward me with the joy of Your salvation, and strengthen me with the Lord’s Spirit. I will teach the wicked Your way, and the wicked will turn to You. Deliver me from bloodshed, O God, God of my salvation; my tongue will rejoice in Your righteousness. Lord, open my mouth, and my mouth will declare Your praise. As if you had desired sacrifices, you would have given them: you do not favor burnt offerings. The sacrifice to God is a broken spirit: a contrite and humble heart God will not despise. Bless Zion, O Lord, with Your favor, and may the walls of Jerusalem be built. Then you will be pleased with the sacrifice of righteousness, the wave offering and the burnt offering: then they will lay the bullock on Your altar. Translation: Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your great mercy, and according to the multitude of Your compassions, cleanse me from my iniquity. Above all, wash me from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my iniquity, and my sin is always before me. I have sinned against You alone and have done evil before You, so that You are righteous in Your judgments and You will be victorious when You judge. I know that I was conceived in iniquities, and my mother gave birth to me in sins. I know that You loved the truth and revealed to me the hidden secrets of Your wisdom. Sprinkle me with hyssop, and I will become clean; Wash me, and I will become whiter than snow. Grant me to hear joy and gladness, and broken bones will rejoice. Turn Your face away from my sins and cleanse me from all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and revive the spirit of righteousness in me. Do not cast me away from Your presence and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of my salvation and strengthen me with the Holy Spirit. I will teach the wicked Your ways, and the wicked will turn to You. Deliver me from blood, O God, God who saves me, and with joy my tongue will praise Your righteousness. Lord, open my mouth, and my mouth will utter Your praise. If You wanted a sacrifice, I would offer it, but You do not favor a burnt offering. A sacrifice to God will not humiliate a contrite spirit, a contrite and humble heart. Show Thy favor, O Lord, to Zion, build up the walls of Jerusalem. Then you will be pleased with the sacrifice of righteousness, the wave offering and the burnt offering; Then they will place bullocks on Your altar. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~ Generosity is generous mercy; mercy, compassion, pity. ~ Most of all - especially, most of all (most of all - more). ~ Yako - here: for, because. ~ Az - I. ~ I will take it out - always, at all times, incessantly. ~ If you win when You judge me, you will win when You judge me (you will win in court over me). ~ Behold - here, truly (behold - here; bo - for, because). ~ Hyssop is a herb used as a sprinkler. ~ Dasi - give it. ~ Humble bones are crushed, broken (as we say about illness or severe fatigue). ~ Let the humble bones rejoice - here: let the broken bones be strengthened again, i.e. the soul is dejected, depressed (by suffering). ~ Create - create, do. ~ The spirit is right - the spirit is righteous, just, truthful, faithful. ~ The womb is here: the innermost, hidden, invisible depth of the soul. ~ Reward - return, give. ~ Oral - lips, mouth (dual number from oral - lip). ~ If only - if only. ~ Ubo - here: truly. ~ Burnt offering or burnt offering is a sacrifice in which the entire animal was burned without remains on the altar. ~ Please - do good, make happy. ~ Zion is the mountain in Jerusalem on which the House of David was built; symbol of the Church. ~ Altar is an altar. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ The word psalm means song. This psalm was composed by the prophet David when he repented of his great sin - he killed the pious Uriah the Hittite and took possession of his wife Bathsheba. This psalm is called a repentant psalm because it expresses deep contrition for the sin committed and a fervent prayer for mercy, and perhaps surpasses all the others in the depth of repentance. Therefore, this psalm is often read in church during services. All of us, guilty of many sins, should recite this psalm as often as possible, delving into every word. Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your great mercy, and according to the multitude of Your mercies, cleanse my iniquity. The sin is great, so the prophet asks God for great mercy. Only God's ineffable bounties can cleanse grave iniquity. Above all, wash me from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. The Lord has already announced to David through the prophet Nathan that he is absolving him of his sins for repentance (2 Sam. 12, 13) - but David prays that God will completely cleanse him of sinful impurities. So we, too, having received remission of our sins in the Sacrament of Repentance, must still continually cry out to the Lord so that he will destroy the very root of sin in us. For I know my iniquity, and I will take away my sin before me. Have mercy, Lord, cleanse me! Sin weighs heavily on me, I cannot forget it, I see it day and night in my conscience, which constantly disturbs my soul. I have sinned against You alone, and I have done evil before You, so that You may be justified in Your words, and be victorious, always judging You (in the Russian translation of the psalm: so that You are righteous in Your judgment and pure in Your judgment). The prophet presents himself not to human, but to God's court (David is a king, and he is not afraid of human judgment). Hiding lawlessness from people, you cannot hide it from the Supreme Judge, Who sees everything secret; Before God's truth, our wickedness is exposed - our untruth and unrighteousness, and all our excuses are powerless. Behold, I was conceived in iniquities, and my mother gave birth to me in sins. All of us, descendants of Adam, are conceived in sins, inheriting original sin. We plead with God for forgiveness by presenting to Him our natural tendency to sin. Behold, you have loved the truth... (pay attention to the word you - it indicates the 2nd person: behold, you have loved the truth). You, Lord, yourself are the Truth (I am the way and the truth and the life - John 14, b), You love the truth and want us to remain in the truth. And I confess that You love the truth and hate lies, therefore I confess and acknowledge before You that I have sinned. You have shown me the unknown and secret wisdom of Yours—the unknown (hidden) and secret (that is, the hidden secret) of Your wisdom You have shown me. (King David speaks of his prophetic gift, that God, by the Holy Spirit, revealed to him the inexpressible secrets of His Providence; but every Christian also receives in the Sacraments of the Church the gifts of the Holy Spirit and, through the teaching of the Church, touches the hidden secrets of God’s Providence, and each of us is told the unknown and secret wisdom of God: we have been taught the true faith, we have been shown the path to the Kingdom of Heaven.) How did I respond to these gifts of grace? Sin! Sprinkle me with hyssop, and I will be cleansed; Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Here is the hope of completely getting rid of sin and being filled with joy. The prophet likens the action of the Holy Spirit, which cleanses all filth in us, to hyssop. My ears hear joy and joy. Give me, my hearing, the gracious news of pardon, rejoice and rejoice me! Humble bones will rejoice. The sin committed crushes not only the soul, but also the body: under the weight of sin, the bones become weak and humble; when the sin is forgiven and the unbearable burden is removed from the conscience, then the whole body is filled with joy (remember how sometimes we sigh with deep relief and straighten our shoulders). Turn Your face away from my sins, and cleanse all my iniquities - destroy them from the book of my life. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a right spirit in my womb. Restore the fallen soul to primeval beauty, destroying in me the impurity of ancestral sin. Give me the grace of rightness! Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit away from me. Sin separates us from God, from the Source of Life - and we pray that we do not find ourselves in pitch darkness, where the face of God is not visible. Reward me with the joy of Your salvation, and strengthen me with the Master’s Spirit. Reward, return to me the joy that I enjoyed when I was protected by You; give me the gifts of the Holy Spirit. I will teach the wicked Your way, and the wicked will turn to You. When You deliver me from sin and give me the Holy Spirit, I will be able to again teach lawbreakers so that they walk in Your ways,” David, His chosen one, says to the Lord. And for us, this vow contains the same thought as in the petition of the Lord’s Prayer: Hallowed be Thy name in us, Lord; for if You cleanse our sins and by Your grace we begin to live according to Your will, then with our very lives we will be able to preach Your truth and turn the hearts of people to You. Deliver me from blood, O God, God of my salvation... The prophet David asks God to save him from the shed blood of Uriah, in which he seems to be drowning (from blood is a more accurate translation of the words of the psalm). The words God of my salvation are equivalent to the words God of my Savior - an appeal to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. With these words of the prophet, we cry out to the Savior to deliver us from the murderous effect of our sins. My tongue will rejoice in Your righteousness. Lord, open my mouth, and my mouth will declare your praise. My lips are now sealed with sin. Having received remission of sins, I will not remain silent, but will begin to testify about You, sing praises to You and glorify Your mercies. As if you had desired sacrifices, you would have given them: you do not favor burnt offerings. You, Lord, have abolished the sacrifices under the law, which cannot grant remission of sins: an external sacrifice, offered without the participation of the heart, has no meaning. The sacrifice to God is a broken spirit; God will not despise a broken and humble heart. The sacrifice that You loved is repentance and contrition of heart; You will not despise a contrite and humble heart, O God (Russian translation). Bless Zion, O Lord, with Your favor, and may the walls of Jerusalem be built. King David prays not only for himself, but also for his city and people, and asks the Lord to restore the walls of Jerusalem, shaken by his sin. But Zion and Jerusalem in Holy Scripture also depict the entire Church. Then favor the sacrifice of righteousness, the offering and the burnt offering; Then they will place the bullock on Your altar. The psalm ends with the image of a sacrifice to God, offered in purity of heart and righteousness; Having cleansed the soul through repentance, we will rush to God with our whole being and give Him ourselves entirely, our whole heart, our whole life - this will be our “burnt offering.” https://www.bogoslovy.ru/tmolutr.htm

Psalm 50: Interpretation

Repentance

The motif of confession, repentance, and heartfelt contrition is central to the 50th Psalm. In the first lines, David expresses his hope in the great mercy of God and asks for forgiveness and cleansing from sins. The king realizes the gravity of his sins and submits to the righteous and fair judgment of the Almighty. David also says that he was conceived in sin. But this is not self-justification, but a bitter recognition of the imperfection of human nature, and the weakness of which he succumbed to, violating God's Law.

The desire for purification

Further, David acknowledges the honor God showed him by once endowing him with the gift of prophecy, enlightening him and revealing His wisdom through him. To describe the much desired spiritual cleansing, the king resorts to various symbols and comparisons. Thus, David compares the cleansing of the soul with sprinkling it with hyssop. Hyssop is a plant that was used to sprinkle the blood of sacrificial animals onto defiled clothing and objects like a brush. Without this ritual they were considered unfit for consumption. David also says that a pure soul filled with grace is whiter than snow. He asks God for consolation and renewal of his spiritual nature.

Hope in God

In the second half of the psalm, King David says that, having been cleansed, he will be able to continue his service to God and people as a prophet. He calls the main sacrifice to God a humble and contrite heart. Salvation is impossible without awareness of one's sinfulness and sincere repentance.

The last lines of the psalm contain a request to God to revive the walls of Jerusalem and the service in the Temple. Among biblical scholars and theologians, there is an opinion that the ending of the psalm was added during the Babylonian captivity of the Jewish people, which occurred after the death of King David. These words express the repentance of the people for their sins, for which God allowed the captivity.

The history of the creation of the psalm

The creation of Psalm 50 is associated with an important episode in the life of King David. One day he succumbed to lust and entered into an adulterous relationship with a married woman, Bathsheba, after which she became pregnant. But David’s sinful fall did not end there. To get rid of her husband named Uriah, David sent him to certain death during the battle. So the king took upon his soul another grave sin - murder.

It is unknown how long David’s conscience slept until the prophet Nathan awakened it. He told the king a parable about a heartless rich man. He took the poor man's last sheep in order to prepare a treat for his guest. The rich man had a lot of his own sheep.

David became angry and expressed his readiness to punish the hero of the parable. Then the prophet told the king that he was this heartless rich man. Only now did David recognize himself in him and realize how guilty he had been before God. The king poured out his tears of repentance to God in a psalm he composed. Therefore, Psalm 50 is also called repentant.

What are psalms

Psalms are spiritual songs that make up one of the books of the Old Testament, the Psalter. The psalms were composed primarily by the king and prophet David, who lived a thousand years before the birth of Christ. Other authors are also known: Moses, David's chief psalmist Asaph, the sons of Korah, who were temple gatekeepers. There are 150 psalms in the Psalter, and Psalm 50 is one of the most famous.

King and Prophet David - author of Psalm 50 (Orthodox icon)