Conviction. Deep guilt. Profound humility. That was what David’s insides looked like, and what cried out from within “Have Mercy On Me, O God” in the aftermath of being confronted by Nathan (2 Samuel 12) about his multi-sin episode with Bathsheba and her husband Uriah. (See this painting [date sometime between 1866 and 1931] by Eugene Siberdt, The Prophet Nathan Rebukes King David.) How many of the Ten Commandments had David violated? Perhaps some group might debate just how many and which ones, but certainly at least three or four of the ten (6th, 7th, 9th, and 10th) were cast aside by David in just a few moments. This ‘man after God’s own heart’ (1 Samuel 13:14; Acts 13:22) had acted like a vile sinner – an adulterer, murderer, and liar -- and he knew it. His actions made his execution, even by stoning or some other shameful method, justified in God’s law. Had David managed to do anything right in this episode? Think about David’s response.
The lack of excuses was, someone might say, the only thing David did that was right in the immediate wake of the confrontation with Nathan. This king didn’t choose to try explaining away his behavior, didn’t try to shift blame, or diminish what his sins had made so horribly true. In the following days, one might say that David accomplished something else that was positive, representing a continuing struggle with the guilt he bore. Psalm 51 and its 19 verses have resonated through the 30 centuries since this king first wrote them (around 1000 B.C.), producing dozens of renditions of David’s remorse. Perhaps the most well-known is the Miserere, versions of which began to appear in the 1400s and which have continued to emerge through the early 21st Century. Besides ‘Have Mercy…’, which completely captures the first two verses of David’s psalm, ‘Create in Me’ (see 6/20/2020 post on this blog) is another contemporary worship prayer that encapsulates verses 10 through 12 of Psalm 51. David never fully compensated for his sins, but had he known that so much music would arise from this one episode, would his mortified conscience have been somewhat less stricken? Will there be other additional contemporary songs from the 14 remaining verses of Psalm 51? If David were here to express his preference, what would he say about more songs to remind him of his grievous affair with lust? Perhaps David and the rest of us who are vulnerable to the same sin should remember that even while he was confessing, he was receiving some measure of mercy. In the same verse (2 Samuel 12:13) where David says ‘I have sinned against the Lord’, Nathan is reassuring him that ‘You are not going to die’. Even so, David’s unborn son inside Bathsheba would die, and this king’s family would be riven with strife for the remainder of his days, and beyond (vv. 10-12 of same chapter). Sin has consequences, but God is also merciful, even before we know we need it. Given what he’s told about the awful after-effects of his sins, one wonders if David might have preferred his own on-the-spot execution, versus having to endure God’s punishment in ‘broad daylight…’.
What David says in the rest of Psalm 51 – especially Psalm 51:3-4 – indicates he realized God’s ‘verdict…(was) justified’, and that his sentence was to look at ‘transgressions and my sin always before me’ for the rest of his days. Does this put a different tint on ‘Have Mercy…’? When he penned these words, he’d already received some mercy from the Lord – his own life having been spared. Was David instead asking for further relief, a parole from the rest of what Nathan told him to expect? ‘Blot out’ his sins, and clean up ‘all his iniquity’ – that’s what David asked from God. Can you see David shuddering at the thought of all that would transpire over the next several years? David’s contrition here is a blunt warning…sin is a mess, and regret over it can last a lifetime. That’s both David and God talking to you and me.
See here for brief information about the Steve and Annie Chapman couple that reprise David’s words in their version of the song: The Mitchell Group – Steve and Annie Chapman
See NIV Study Bible for notes/thoughts on David’s Psalm 51.
See here for discussion of Psalm 51, including its musical results since its original composition: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psalm_51
See here for information on the image/painting of David being rebuked by the prophet Nathan: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eug%C3%A8ne_Siberdt_-_The_Prophet_Nathan_rebukes_King_David.jpg (Public domain status of the image -- This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 100 years or fewer. {{PD-1996}} – public domain in its source country on January 1, 1996 and in the United States.
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