Passage Research
Psalm 51 — Sermon Preparation
David's prayer of deep repentance after Nathan's confrontation over Bathsheba — wash me thoroughly, create in me a clean heart, restore the joy of salvation. Below is a research summary for Psalm 51, drawn from openly licensed scholarly databases — original-language morphology, classic sermons from the church fathers through the Puritans, and ancient geography data.
- 21
- verses
- 153 / 112
- Hebrew words / lemmas
- 21
- classic sermon excerpts
- 7
- preachers & commentators
Psalm 51 in the Hebrew
Distinctive vocabulary of this chapter, based on original-language morphology.
| Hebrew | Transliteration | Strong's | Count | Glosses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| רוּחַ | rûwach | H7307 | 4 | wind, breath |
| חָפֵץ | châphêts | H2654 | 3 | incline, bend |
| זֶבַח | zebach | H2077 | 3 | slaughter, flesh |
| דָּכָה | dâkâh | H1794 | 2 | collapse |
| עָוֺן | ʻâvôn | H5771 | 3 | perversity, evil |
| בַּת־שֶׁבַע | Bath-Shebaʻ | H1339 | 2 | Bath-Sheba |
| שָׂשׂוֹן | sâsôwn | H8342 | 2 | cheerfulness, welcome |
How preachers through history handled this text
21 public-domain excerpts on Psalm 51, from the church fathers to the Puritans.
“Those who are thoroughly convinced of their misery and danger by sin, would spare no cost to obtain the remission of it. But as they cannot make satisfaction for sin, so God cannot take any satisfaction in them, otherwise than as expressing love and duty to him. The good work wrought in every true penitent, is a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart, and sorrow for sin. It is a heart that is tender, and pliable to God's word. Oh that there were such a heart in every one of us! God is graciously pleased to accept this; …”
— Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible (Concise), on Psalm 51:16–30 (Public Domain)
Places in the text
Based on ancient-geography data
- Jerusalem— Ps 51:18
- Zion— Ps 51:18
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