The Seven Penitential Psalms

The seven penitential psalms are Psalms 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130 and 143. They are prayers from people who feel the weight of their own wrongdoing, or of God's anger, and who ask for mercy. The Bible does not mark them as a group. According to the Wikipedia article on the Penitential Psalms, they are so named in the commentary of Cassiodorus in the 6th century AD, and Augustine already knew four of them as penitential in the early 5th century. Together the seven run to 110 verses.

Five of the seven headings name David. Psalm 102 is headed "A Prayer of the afflicted" and names no one, and Psalm 130 is a Song of Ascents with no author named. Their length varies a great deal, from 8 verses in Psalm 130 to 28 verses in Psalm 102.

The Wikipedia article describes these psalms as expressive of sorrow for sin. The texts bear that out in their own words. Psalm 32:5 says "I acknowledged my sin to you. I didn't hide my iniquity." Psalm 38:18 says "I will declare my iniquity. I will be sorry for my sin." Psalm 51:3 says "I know my transgressions." Psalm 130:3 asks who could stand if the LORD kept a record of sins, and Psalm 143:2 says no one living is righteous in God's sight. Not all seven confess a sin outright, though. Psalm 6 asks not to be rebuked in anger and prays for healing, but names no wrong. Psalm 102 is mostly the cry of someone withering like grass, who speaks of God's "indignation" and "wrath" in verse 10.

The grouping is a later reading of the Psalms, not something printed in the text. The Wikipedia article says Augustine of Hippo knew four of these psalms as penitential in the early 5th century, and that the seven are named as a set in the 6th century commentary of Cassiodorus. The article does not say which four Augustine meant. Bibles that follow the Greek and Latin numbering count the same seven as 6, 31, 37, 50, 101, 129 and 142. The Douay-Rheims Bible uses that count, so there "Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven" is numbered 31 and "Out of the depths" is numbered 129. The words are the same psalms under different numbers.

The Wikipedia article records several Catholic uses. Psalm 51, known by its Latin opening "Miserere mei, Deus", was recited at the close of the daily morning service in the early Church. In 1572 Pope Pius V granted an indulgence of 50 days to those who recited the penitential psalms. Before 1972 the seven were assigned to new clerics after they were tonsured. Psalm 130 is known by its Latin opening "De profundis". Composers who set the penitential psalms include Orlande de Lassus, in his Psalmi Davidis poenitentiales of 1584, Andrea Gabrieli, Giovanni Croce, and William Byrd in 1589. Alfred Schnittke wrote an unaccompanied choral work titled Penitential Psalms in 1988, though the source does not say which texts it sets.

Psalm 51 is the only one of the seven whose heading ties it to an event. It reads: "A Psalm by David, when Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba." The story is told in 2 Samuel 11 and 12. In 2 Samuel 12:1 the LORD sends Nathan to David, and in 2 Samuel 12:13 David says to Nathan, "I have sinned against the LORD." The psalm itself asks to be washed, cleansed and made "whiter than snow" in verse 7. Verse 10 gives the psalm its title on this site, "Create in me a clean heart, O God." Verse 17 says God will not despise "a broken and contrite heart".

Most of the seven do not stay in grief. Psalm 6 turns sharply in verse 9: "The LORD has heard my supplication." Psalm 32 closes by calling the upright to be glad. Psalm 102 ends on God who does not change and on the children of his servants who will continue. Psalm 130 ends with hope that the LORD will redeem Israel from all their sins. Two end still pleading. Psalm 38 closes with "Hurry to help me, Lord, my salvation", and Psalm 143 ends by asking God to cut off the enemies who afflict the psalmist. Psalms 6 and 38 also open in almost the same words, asking the LORD not to rebuke in anger or wrath.