Create in Me a Clean Heart

Have mercy on me, God, according to your loving kindness.According to the multitude of your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions.

Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.

The prayer opens with mercy and grounds it in God's loving kindness and tender mercies. The first request is to blot out transgressions, as if erasing a record. Nothing is offered in exchange.

Also read Nehemiah 4:5, Acts 3:19, Psalm 77:9, Ephesians 2:4-7

Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity.Cleanse me from my sin.

Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.

The request in verse 1 to blot out wrongs becomes a request to be washed. The word thoroughly asks for more than a surface rinse, and the verse pairs washing with cleansing so the same plea is heard twice. The KJV reads wash me throughly from mine iniquity.

Also read Psalm 51:7, Revelation 7:14, Zechariah 13:1, 1 John 1:7-9

For I know my transgressions.My sin is constantly before me.

For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.

The speaker does not argue his case. He says he knows his transgressions and his sin is constantly before him. The problem is not hidden from him, it follows him.

Also read Psalm 32:5, Jeremiah 3:25, Job 33:27, Luke 15:18-21

Against you, and you only, I have sinned,and done that which is evil in your sight,so you may be proved right when you speak,and justified when you judge.

Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.

Against you, and you only, I have sinned. The verse treats the wrong as first of all an offence against God, and says God is right when he speaks and justified when he judges. The speaker accepts the verdict before asking for anything else.

Also read Psalm 50:6, Leviticus 5:19, Leviticus 6:2-7, Genesis 9:6

Behold, I was born in iniquity.My mother conceived me in sin.

Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

The speaker says he was born in iniquity and conceived in sin. It is part of the confession, saying the problem goes back further than one act.

Also read Genesis 8:21, Psalm 58:3, Job 14:4, Job 15:14-16

Behold, you desire truth in the inward parts.You teach me wisdom in the inmost place.

Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.

After confessing, the psalmist names what God wants: truth in the inward parts, not only right behaviour on the outside. The second line says God also teaches wisdom in that same inmost place. So the inner life is where both the problem and the help are found.

Also read Luke 11:39, Jeremiah 31:33, Psalm 125:4, Jeremiah 32:40

Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean.Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

The requests become images of washing. Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean. Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

Also read Revelation 1:5, Numbers 19:18-20, Hebrews 9:13-14, Leviticus 14:4-7

Let me hear joy and gladness,that the bones which you have broken may rejoice.

Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.

The speaker asks to hear joy and gladness again. He describes his bones as broken by God, and asks that those same bones may rejoice.

Also read Acts 16:29-34, Acts 2:37-41, Psalm 126:5-6, Psalm 38:3

Hide your face from my sins,and blot out all of my iniquities.

Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.

The psalmist asks God to hide his face from the sins, not from the one who committed them. The second line repeats the blotting out asked for in verse 1, now for all iniquities.

Also read Micah 7:18-19, Colossians 2:14, Psalm 51:1, Jeremiah 16:17

Create in me a clean heart, O God.Renew a right spirit within me.

Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

This is the centre of the psalm. The request is no longer only to be washed but to be made new: create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. It asks for something only God can make.

Also read Ezekiel 36:37, Jeremiah 13:27, Ephesians 2:10, Ezekiel 36:25-27

Don’t throw me from your presence,and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me.

Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.

Two fears are named. The speaker asks not to be thrown from God's presence, and not to have God's Holy Spirit taken from him.

Also read 1 Samuel 16:14, 2 Kings 23:27, Psalm 43:2, Romans 1:4

Restore to me the joy of your salvation.Uphold me with a willing spirit.

Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.

He asks for the joy of God's salvation to be restored, which implies it was once there and has been lost. He also asks to be upheld with a willing spirit.

Also read Isaiah 49:13, Jeremiah 31:9-14, Psalm 119:116-117, Galatians 4:6-7

Then I will teach transgressors your ways.Sinners will be converted to you.

Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.

The word then ties this promise to the restoration asked for in verse 12. Someone who has been forgiven offers to teach others who have gone wrong, so his own failure becomes the ground of his teaching. The KJV says sinners shall be converted unto thee.

Also read Psalm 22:27, Acts 2:38-41, Acts 15:3, Acts 26:18-20

Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, the God of my salvation.My tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.

Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.

Also read 2 Samuel 21:1, Psalm 86:12-13, Isaiah 12:2, Hosea 4:2

Lord, open my lips.My mouth will declare your praise.

O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.

Lord, open my lips. The speaker asks God to make praise possible, as if he cannot begin it himself, and promises that his mouth will then declare God's praise.

Also read 1 Samuel 2:9, Hebrews 13:15, Psalm 9:14, Ezekiel 3:27

For you don’t delight in sacrifice, or else I would give it.You have no pleasure in burnt offering.

For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.

The psalmist says he would bring a sacrifice if that were what God wanted, but God has no pleasure in burnt offering. The verse sets up verse 17, where the offering God will not despise is a broken and contrite heart. It is best read together with that answer.

Also read Hebrews 10:5-6, Proverbs 15:8, Exodus 21:14, Proverbs 21:27

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit.O God, you will not despise a broken and contrite heart.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

The sacrifices God wants are a broken spirit and a broken and contrite heart, and God will not despise them. Verse 16 has just said God does not delight in burnt offering. The verse puts inner sorrow ahead of ritual.

Also read Philippians 4:18, Luke 15:21-32, Psalm 102:17, Isaiah 66:2

Do well in your good pleasure to Zion.Build the walls of Jerusalem.

Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem.

Near the end the prayer widens from one person to the city. The psalmist asks God to do good to Zion and to build the walls of Jerusalem. After a prayer so focused on one man's sin, this turn to the community stands out, and verse 19 follows with offerings on the altar again.

Also read Jeremiah 51:50, Nehemiah 2:17, Zechariah 2:5, Isaiah 58:12

Then you will delight in the sacrifices of righteousness,in burnt offerings and in whole burnt offerings.Then they will offer bulls on your altar.

Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.

The psalm ends with the sacrifices restored. Once Zion is blessed and the walls of Jerusalem built, God will delight in sacrifices of righteousness and whole burnt offerings. Read alongside verses 16 and 17, the offerings are not abolished, they come back in their place.

Also read Psalm 118:27, Romans 12:1, Psalm 4:5, Malachi 3:3