A new feature!

Over the next several Fridays, I hope to post some thoughts on Psalm 51(50), the pre-eminent penitential Psalm.

1 Magistro chori. PSALMUS. David,
2 cum venit ad eum Nathan propheta,
postquam cum Bethsabee peccavit.

David wrote this Psalm after speaking with Nathan regarding the Bathsheba incident in which David was unfaithful to his wives with another man’s wife, had the other man (and an untold number of other men) killed in battle. This was a most sordid affair. David didn’t repent until after Nathan explained the situation to him in a parable. After all that, David addressed this to the master of the chorus – admitting his sin openly.

Most of us would recoil in horror at someone who had done what David had done. David did too and he repented. Do I recoil in horror at my sin? Do I have the courage to repent?