Q2. Psalm 51

[Lottie]

Q2. (Psalm 51:3-6) When David says, "Against you only I have sinned" (4a) is he minimizing his sin against Bathsheba and Uriah? What does he mean by this? When he mentions his sinfulness from before birth is he excusing himself or blaming Original Sin? What does he mean by this?
No, David is not discounting his sin against Bathsheba and Uriah. He knows that he wronged them in what he did by taking her to bed and committing adultery and then killing her husband to try and hide it. Yet he knows that the greatest offense he has done is sinning against God. He knows that he has hurt God and in open rebellion against him when he sinned. He knows that he has disappointed God and mocked Him by doing what he did. He knows that he has to make it right between him and God first and then make it right with others. 
David is not excusing himself by saying that he was sinful before birth and it came from Adam and Eve. He is saying that he is sinful through and through and that he is asking God to forgive and cleanse him. He is admitting there is nothing he can do about it; he realizes that he has committed a heinous act and sinned greatly against God and is acknowledging it before God.
 

[MICHELLE OXLEY]

study of Psalms.docx

[Rosesam]

Q2. (Psalm 51:3-6) When David says, "Against you only I have sinned" (4a) is he minimizing his sin against Bathsheba and Uriah? What does he mean by this? When he mentions his sinfulness from before birth is he excusing himself or blaming Original Sin? What does he mean by this?

Sin is rebellion against God, for it offends a Holy God. So before reconciliation can take place there is a need to agree with what God says about sin. That’s what confession is all about. Uriah and Bathsheba may have been innocent victims in this incident, but they are also sinners. In human perspective, we try to judge who is right and who is to blame. But in God’s sight we are all guilty and all are answerable to God who is holy. David, by breaking God’s commands, had grieved God and thus he needed to seek forgiveness from God alone, because it was against Him, his greatest offence was. So here he is not minimizing his sin against Bathsheba and Uriah, but taking responsibility for his sin and seeking the one who is able to cleanse him from his sin.

When he mentions that in sin he was conceived, he was continuing his confession of sin unto God. We are not sinners because we sin. We sin because we’re sinners. He is confessing that because of the sin nature inherited form Adam he is a sinner from birth. He was having a right view of sin i.e. sin deserves judgement, thus requiring cleansing to escape judgement. Thus he is pleading on God’s mercy to cleanse him from his sin though he deserved judgement.

[Krissi]

David seems to be dealing with his internal motives for his sin more than the sin itself; he is looking at his own heart. What he sees in himself is a man who has both a propensity to sin as well as a genuine love for God. David, like all who are saved, has two warring aspects in his deepest personality, fallen and redeemed natures. His sinful core is being slowly cleansed via sanctification which is the powerful infusion of the Holy Spirit that can, if permitted, purify that sinful core.

When we sin, we push away the presence and voice of the Holy Spirit within us by choosing to sin, which means we have chosen our fallen nature over the presence of the Spirit within us. In this manner, our sin is ultimately against God.

I rather doubt that David was thinking along these lines – theologically – when he stated that his sin was against God. Instead, the Spirit had increased in David a sense of guilt and shame. David, then, intuited that his sin was against God. Deep inside, he knew he had sinned against the God whose character and righteousness actually defines sin as that which is not-Godlike.

Uriah and Bathsheba were not forgotten by God. I’m certain that God, in His love, rewarded Uriah in heaven though the fact that an innocent and loyal man was murdered is very troubling to me. Though Bathsheba lived, her children were a great problem to David. I’m struggling with the idea that David’s sin had such horrible consequences in his life, that as a fully repentant and confessed believer, David didn’t and couldn’t expect God to erase the consequences of sin both in this life and the next.

Perhaps God lets us wallow in the consequences of our sin to both punish and remind us of its dreadfulness so we don’t do it again. Are there examples in the bible where the consequences of sin are not only forgiven, but erased by God? Do we all suffer the Adamic curse of being forced out of our circumstantial gardens after we sin? Does God ever look down mercifully and say, “That’s enough … you’ve suffered the consequences of your sin for long enough so go live the rest of your life in peace.”