more thoughts on Psalm 51

3 Miserere mei, Deus, secundum misericordiam tuam;
et secundum multitudinem miserationum tuarum
dele iniquitatem meam.
4 Amplius lava me ab iniquitate mea
et a peccato meo munda me.
5 Quoniam iniquitatem meam ego cognosco,
et peccatum meum contra me est semper.
6 Tibi, tibi soli peccavi et malum coram te feci,
ut iustus inveniaris in sententia tua et aequus in iudicio tuo.

My sin is ever before me. Unfortunately, too often that’s because I look back on some sins fondly. Or just spend too much time and effort on sin rather than on worthwhile pursuits.

Even though my Latin is no great shakes, looking at this Psalm in Latin helped me to overcome a longstanding misunderstanding. I long took the second portion of verse six to mean “I have done things that, in your sight, are evil”. Looking at the Latin, it’s much clearer that “I have done things, while face to face with you, that are evil”. Some might find it a subtle difference, but I find the more accurate understanding to be a very compelling statement.