The fiftieth psalm occupies a special place in church worship, as it is present in most of the daily prayers: midnight, evening, the first hour, the major sleep, and the minor sleep. The priest recites it in a low voice during the Divine Mass, when he burns incense before the Great Session. Some verses from it are also recited in the proclamation that precedes the reading of the message in the Mass. This heavy presence of the fiftieth psalm in prayers is due to the importance of this psalm in that it is an ideal model for the prayer of repentance and return to God.
The writer of this psalm, according to the biblical tradition, is the prophet David after his repentance. But a critical reading of the psalm makes us notice that the language of the psalm of worship is not the language of the era in which David lived. The pious expressions used in the psalm, which emphasize the purification of the heart corrupted by sin, and the verses that call for the renewal of the inner person are consistent with the writings of the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, who lived three to four centuries after the prophet David. Also, the call to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem is not realistic in the era of David, but rather goes back to the era of Nehemiah (more than five centuries after David). The most likely possibility is that the wording of the psalm was completed during or immediately after the exile (597).
“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your great mercy, and according to your great compassion, blot out my transgressions” (verse one). The Hebrew verb corresponding to the verb “have mercy on me” in the verse is the verb tenderness, so the intent becomes “have compassion” instead of “have mercy.” Tenderness is a divine attribute - including the name John, which means God is compassionate - so we can say that God is tenderness. And the Lord Christ had compassion for the sick and for the widow of Nain, so he raised her dead son (Luke 7:13)...
“Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and purify me from my sin” (verse 2). There are two expressions in this verse that are synonymous, which are sin and sin, but the meaning of the two expressions is different. Sin is the evil that a person commits against society and the law, and it requires washing like washing filth. As for sin, it is a personal sin against the soul that has a spiritual dimension, and erasing it requires another kind of washing, which requires ritual and devotional purification. Corresponding to these expressions are the two verses contained in Isaiah’s prophecy: “Wash yourselves, purify yourselves; put away the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease from doing evil. Learn to do good, seek justice, do justice to the oppressed, judge the fatherless, and defend the widow” (1:16-17).
“Behold, I was conceived in iniquities, and in sins my mother bore me” (verse 5). This verse represents the best expression of the concept of sin prevalent in the Old Testament and the condition of fallen man. Man is evil by nature, “for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth” (Genesis 8:21), but in another place it is a reason to justify man’s sins and to attract God’s compassion, “for there is no man who does not sin” (1 Kings 64:8). It is worth noting that this verse has nothing to do with the wrong concept of serious sin in the sense that it is inherited. The best talk about this sin is found in St. Paul’s letter to the Romans (5:12-21), and we are limited in the space here to talk about this topic.
It seems clear in this psalm that sin is disobedience against God, and that it defiles the person inside and distances him from God. That is why the psalm stresses that God saves man, “Deliver me from bloodshed, O God, God of my salvation” (verse 14). Repentance requires two initiatives, one from man and the second from God. A person must acknowledge his condition as a sinful person, and next pray to regain the first innocence. As for God, He forgives man’s sins and makes him a new creation: “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me” (verse 1). The fiftieth psalm clarifies man's relationship with God and presents it as a fruit of the Spirit whose manifestation was completed at Pentecost.
The psalmist continues in the seventh verse, singing, “You sprinkle me with hyssop and I will be clean. You wash me and I will be whiter than snow.” In the Old Testament, the people used the hyssop plant in rituals of purification from impurity (Leviticus 14:4). Although the writer stresses the priority of the sacrifice of the heart, here he does not call for abandoning traditional rituals.
“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me” (verse 9). The verb “to create” used in the imperative form in this verse is the same as the verb mentioned in (verse 1) of the Book of Genesis: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,” and it is a verb that can only be attributed to God alone, because this verb means “creating from Nothingness” and “new creation”. In this sense, the Prophet Isaiah used this verb when he said: “For, behold, I am creating new heavens and a new earth, and the former shall not be remembered nor come to mind” (65:17). Therefore, justifying the sinner is a divine work parallel to the work of new creation, as in the prophecy of Ezekiel: “And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you” (36:26). As for the verb “renew,” which appears in the same verse in the imperative form, it is closer to the verb “restore.” That is, the writer asks God to restore the human spirit broken by sin and make it upright, firm, and unshakable. Thus, the repentant is a new creation created by God from nothing.
“Do not cast me from before your face, nor take your Holy Spirit from me” (verse 11). Appearing before the face of God in the Old Testament means praying exclusively in the temple, where God resides, but here it means the presence of God in the human heart. What is meant by “your Holy Spirit” is the Spirit that inspired the prophets and led the people of God: “And my Spirit stands in your midst. Do not be afraid” (Haggai 2:5). Here the psalmist extends the work of God's Holy Spirit from guiding the people to guiding the heart of every believer. It is worth noting that, at the time of the writing of the psalm, the word “Holy Spirit” did not refer to one of the three hypostases, as this was announced on the day of Pentecost. Rather, it referred to an active divine power at that time.
“Grant me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a governing spirit; I will teach the transgressors your ways, and the unbelievers will return to you” (verses 12 and 13). Here the writer asks God to give him joy, or rather to “return” to him the joy he lost by following the path of sin and evil. True joy comes from salvation and appearing in the presence of God. In return, the repentant pledges to spread the teachings of God and guide people to the straight path, knowing that the guide of the people is the Spirit of God.
“Deliver me from bloodshed, O God, God of my salvation, so that my tongue may rejoice in your righteousness” (verse 14). There are two possibilities for the word “blood” mentioned in the verse: The first is for God to save a person from death by killing, which was considered in ancient times as divine retribution for a great sin committed by the murdered person. The second possibility is that the word in the original text of the psalm means “the silence of the graves” instead of “blood.” Those who support this opinion rely on the fact that these two words are close in Hebrew, so the meaning becomes “Deliver me from hell, O God…”, because hell is the land of silence. Applied. Therefore, the Prophet says: “For the abode of the dead does not praise you, death does not praise you, and those who go down to the pit do not hope for your faithfulness. But he who lives and lives will praise you” (Isaiah 38:18-19).
“A sacrifice to God is a contrite spirit; God will not despise a humble and humble heart” (verse 17). The writer of the psalm wants to point out that the true sacrifice that God accepts is not animal sacrifices or burnt offerings, but rather the sacrifice above all is a broken and humble heart and a contrite spirit, that is, one who submits to God and completes His teachings. The psalm ends with a prayer to God, “Reconcile Zion, O Lord, in your good pleasure, and let the walls of Jerusalem be built.” This is undoubtedly a verse that was added after the return from captivity, because the people at that time considered the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem a sign that God had forgiven the sins and transgressions of His people. The prophet Ezekiel says: “Thus says the Lord God: On the day that I will cleanse you from all your sins, I will rebuild the cities and rebuild the wastes.” (36:33).
It is no wonder that the fiftieth psalm is present in most church prayers, whether collective or individual, as it best expresses the sinful state of man before the holiness and transcendence of God. The talk about restoring and renewing creation in the psalm is an invitation to rediscover baptism and renew it through repentance and prayer, and an invitation to make the heart pure and clean so that the Spirit of God may enter it, dwell in it, and reside in it forever.
From my parish bulletin 1996
