Psalm 50 is the most commonly used prayer text from the Psalter. This is a special morning prayer, which at the same time refers to the canons: to the Mother of God, to the Guardian Angel, to Communion. The main meaning of prayer is repentance for the fact that the person praying has ever committed a sin. This appeal contains a request that the Lord grant forgiveness for known and unknown sins.

Psalm 50: text of prayer in Russian

As you know, it is very important to understand the spoken prayer text. Therefore, during morning prayer, Psalm 50 is recommended to be read in Russian.

It sounds like this:

“Have mercy on me, Lord Almighty, according to Your great wisdom and mercy, have mercy on me, a sinner and unworthy, according to the multitude of Your mercies and bounties. Forgive my sins. I repeatedly ask you to cleanse my soul from sins, for I am aware of the iniquities I have committed and sincerely repent of them. Lord, grant your great forgiveness. Fill my heart with purity and renew the spirit within me. Do not turn your face away from me, having heard my bold request. Grant me hope for the salvation of my soul and strengthen me with your sovereign spirit. Teach me to follow the righteous path and deliver me from torment, so that in my prayers I can glorify Your Holy Name forever and ever. For I know that it is not the sacrifice that you desire, which I am humbly ready to give, but that you favor me. Bless me Thy servant, O Lord. Amen".



Read Psalm 50 in Aramaic

The story behind Psalm 50 is both instructive and romantic. It is associated with the name of King David. The ruler was a pious man and always followed all the requirements of God's law. But it so happened that he committed adultery, falling in love with the beautiful Bathsheba, whose husband was on a military campaign. Moreover, his sin was aggravated by the fact that the king, with his power, sent the woman’s husband into the bloodiest battle, from which he did not return alive.

But, as popular wisdom says, there is nothing secret that will not become apparent over time. The prophet Samuel convicted the ruler of his sin. David sincerely repented of what he had done, and the result of this was a prayerful appeal to the Lord, known today as the Psalm

For the first time, Psalm 50 was read in Aramaic. It was clear and simple.

To emphasize the antiquity of the prayer and the inviolability of God’s truths, the clergy read this prayer in Aramaic.

In this case, it literally reads like this:

Interpretation of David's Psalm

The Psalm of David, inspired and sincere, was given by the Holy Spirit to a believer as an example of repentance for sins committed. The request for mercy sounds at the beginning of the prayer appeal. Many people say these words very often, but they are useless because they are not accompanied by sincere repentance. Only those who have felt their own sins in their soul and realized that they themselves cannot free themselves from painful and tormenting passions will receive forgiveness. It is at this moment that you can resort to this prayer in order to receive God's mercy.

When a person asks for the salvation of his soul, he must understand that, although the mercy of God is limitless, it also requires the direct participation of the person praying. That is, you need to sacrifice something for your salvation. Having repented of your sins, you need to fill your soul with sincere faith.

Awareness of one's own sins is an important condition for their forgiveness by the Lord. The memory of committed sins is always a warning and reminder, thereby preventing their repetition. Confession of sins is important; this confirms their awareness and repentance for them.

In a prayer of repentance, a person says that a person knows that he is born through sin. This is due to the fact that God initially did not provide for the birth of a person through marriage. But the act of Adam and Eve crossed out his intentions and since then all people are born in sins. But God does not accuse man of this sin, he simply confirms the iniquity of his first parents. Because they sinned, they lost eternal life and fell into corruption. As a result, children also began to be born corruptible, and sin became natural and natural for them. Therefore, we are inclined to sin, although our reason strives to fight evil and, with sincere faith, defeats it.

The prayer repeatedly focuses on asking the Lord to cleanse the soul from sins in order to have hope for the salvation of the soul after death. After cleansing, the soul should be filled with joy and joy. It will become easy for a person to live, since he will be sinless and begin to do good. That is why it is so important that the Lord turns away from all sins committed by man and realized by him.

The prayer of repentance affirms a person’s desire to draw closer to the Lord God, and this is possible when the good news of pardon and blessing comes. At such a moment, a person’s heart is filled with sincere love and faith. Purity of heart can only be achieved through the forgiveness of committed sins by the Almighty. A pure heart reflects the purity of the soul. This prayer phrase emphasizes a person’s desire to find meekness, humility, gullibility, simplicity and selflessness.

When saying a prayer, the praying person asks God not to turn his face away from him, that is, to hear the spoken words and believe in their sincerity. The believer awaits the grace of the Holy Spirit and confirmation of himself in the Name of God.

Listen to Psalm 50:

Why do they read Psalm 50 40 times in a row?

Psalm 50, which represents repentance for the sins of King David, is read forty times if a person understands that he has committed a sin and is very repentant of it. Against the background of internal repentance, his soul is overwhelmed by strong confusion and his soul is heavy. Such feelings prevent him from living, and he cannot find a way out of this situation.

If sins are pressing, then you should not expect that after reading a strong prayer of repentance forty times it will immediately become easier. It may take a long time until the soul calms down, and this will be a sign of the Lord’s forgiveness.

You can read the prayer of repentance both in Russian and in the original. But in any case, you should be aware of every phrase spoken. It is important to understand the general meaning of the prayer text and sincerely believe that the spoken words will definitely be heard by the Lord.

The features of this prayer of repentance are associated with its quick and obvious impact on the inner world of a believer. Almost after the first reading of the prayer text, a feeling of anxiety and discomfort appears in a person’s soul. And this is normal, as it indicates the sincerity of repentance. Gradually, after the next readings, thoughts clear, and the soul becomes light, the world around is painted in bright colors and the heart is filled with joyful feelings. This means that repentance was accepted by God and a blessing was received from above.

Psalm 5, when read multiple times, can be used to atone for any sins. With its help, you can “cure” and “heal” the most wounded and damaged soul. This prayer allows the sinner to return to normal life. Believers know that if after such a prayer the Lord forgives them, then the heart will be filled with hope for the best and all the troubles in real life will recede. You can resort to this prayer both in the case of a minor offense or act, and after committing a terrible sin.

If a person wants to chastise himself from terrible sins or cleanse his family from sins, then Psalm 50 is read for 40 days in a row, 40 times in a kneeling state. You cannot skip a single day, as the effectiveness of prayer will be significantly reduced.

The clergy also give other useful advice on reading this prayer of repentance:

• The psalm is read 12 times with holy water, when it is necessary to remove damage or a curse from a person. After this, you need to drink the water and pour it over yourself little by little for three days. If there is a negative effect, then after such a procedure a person may feel unwell and have a fever.
• If you need to solve some complex life problem, then you need to give out seven alms in one day, and after that, when you come home, read Psalm 50 sixteen times, 4 times in each direction of the world.

Psalm 50 should become a mandatory daily prayer for every person. In this case, he will protect the person. It will be a reminder that you cannot break God’s commandments and will keep you from committing wrong, sinful acts.

Video: Psalm 50 of repentance

INTERPRETATION OF MORNING PRAYERS

Psalm 50, repentance

Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your great mercy, and according to the multitude of Your mercies, cleanse my iniquity. Above all, wash me from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin; for I know my iniquity, and I will take away my sin before me. To You alone have I sinned and done evil before You; for you may be justified in all of Your words, and you will always triumph over Your judgment. Behold, I was conceived in iniquity, and my mother gave birth to me in sins. Behold, you have loved the truth; You have revealed to me the unknown and secret wisdom of Yours. Sprinkle me with hyssop, and I will be cleansed; Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. My hearing brings joy and joy; humble bones will rejoice. Turn Your face away from my sins and cleanse all my iniquities. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a right spirit in my womb. Do not cast me away from Your presence and do not take Your Holy Spirit away from me. Reward me with the joy of Your salvation and strengthen me with the Lord’s Spirit. I will teach the wicked Your way, and the wicked will turn to You. Deliver me from bloodshed, O God; the God of my salvation, my tongue will rejoice in Your righteousness. Lord, open my mouth, and my mouth will declare Your praise. As if you had desired sacrifices, you would have given them: you do not favor burnt offerings. The sacrifice to God is a broken spirit; God will not despise a broken and humble heart. Bless Zion, O Lord, with Your favor, and may the walls of Jerusalem be built. Then favor the sacrifice of righteousness, the offering and the burnt offering; Then they will place the bullock on Your altar.

Generosity- rich mercies. Most of all- especially. Yako- That's why. Az- I. I'll take it out- Always. Xie- Here. Hyssop- an herb used by the ancient Jews to sprinkle themselves with sacrificial blood. Pace- more. Dasi- give. Create- Do It. Right- righteous, sinless. womb- belly, the inside of a person. Reward- give. Orally- mouth, tongue. Ubo- truly. Burnt offering- a sacrifice of the ancient Jews, in which the entire animal was burned without remains on the altar. Please- give me bliss, make me happy. Zion- a mountain in Judea, in Jerusalem. Altar- altar.

Word psalm means song. This psalm was composed by the prophet David when he repented of his great sin - he killed the pious Uriah the Hittite and took possession of his wife Bathsheba. This psalm is called a repentant psalm because it expresses deep contrition for the sin committed and a fervent prayer for mercy. Therefore, this psalm is often read in church during services. We, who are guilty of many sins, should recite this psalm as often as possible.

Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your great mercy, and according to the multitude of Your mercies, cleanse my iniquity. With these words we ask that the Lord, in His special mercy, forgive our sins.

Translation: Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your great mercy, and according to the multitude of Your mercies, cleanse my iniquities. Wash me often from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I am aware of my iniquities, and my sin is always before me. You alone have I sinned and done evil in Your sight, so that You are righteous in Your judgment and pure in Your judgment. Behold, I was conceived in iniquity, and my mother gave birth to me in sin. Behold, You loved the truth in my heart, and You showed me Your wisdom within me. Sprinkle me with hyssop, and I will be clean; Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; and the bones broken by You will rejoice. Turn Your face away from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and strengthen me with the sovereign Spirit. I will teach the wicked Your ways, and the wicked will turn to You. Deliver me from bloodshed, O God, God of my salvation, and my tongue will praise Your righteousness. God! Open my mouth, and my mouth will declare Your praise. For You do not desire sacrifice, I would give it; You do not favor burnt offerings. A sacrifice to God is a broken spirit; You will not despise a contrite and humble heart, O God. Bless Zion, O Lord, according to Your good pleasure; build up the walls of Jerusalem. Then the sacrifices of righteousness, the wave offerings and the burnt offerings will be acceptable to You; Then they will place bullocks on Your altar.

Athonite elders about repentance

The soul is cleansed from the stains of sin by repentance. Elder Anfim often used the following example: “What do those who have dirt on their faces and hands do? They turn on the faucet so that there is plenty of water flowing until they are washed off. Let us imitate them too. Let us open not one, but two taps - our eyes, so that abundant tears of repentance flow from them, which will wash away all the poisons of the vain world that have polluted and stained our damned soul. Only tears of repentance can cleanse the soul.”

Elder Philotheus said: “The sign of true repentance is deep experience, contrition and sorrow of the heart, sighs, prayers, fasting, vigils and tears. Such repentance is genuine and true. Such repentance is beneficial, for it grants forgiveness to the sinner and makes him a friend of God.”

Elder Jacob urged Christians to approach the sacrament of repentance without hesitation. He said: “Don’t hesitate, don’t be shy. Whatever you do, even the greatest sin, the confessor has the power from the Lord Christ himself and the apostles to forgive you, covering you with his stole.”

Elder Amphilochius said to the confessed sinner: “Brother, forget your sins, our Christ crossed them out from the Book of Life.”

With interpretation

(7) Behold, I was conceived in iniquity, and my mother gave birth to me in sins.
(8) For Thou hast loved the truth, Thou hast revealed to me Thy unknown and secret wisdom.




(13) Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
(14) Give me the joy of Your salvation, and strengthen me with the Lord’s Spirit.




(19) The sacrifice to God is a broken spirit: a contrite and humble heart God will not despise.

Synodal translation:

1 To the director of the choir. Psalm of David,
2 When Nathan the prophet came to him, after David had gone in to Bathsheba.

3 Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your great mercy, and according to the multitude of Your compassions blot out my iniquities.
4 Wash me often from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin,
5 For I acknowledge my iniquities, and my sin is always before me.
6 You, You alone, have I sinned and done evil in Your sight, so that You are righteous in Your judgment and pure in Your judgment.
7 Behold, I was conceived in iniquity, and my mother bore me in sin.
8 Behold, You have loved the truth in your heart and have shown me [Your] wisdom within me.
9 Sprinkle me with hyssop, and I will be clean; Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
10 Let me hear joy and gladness, and the bones broken by You will rejoice.
11 Turn away Your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities.
12 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
13 Cast me not away from Thy presence, and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me.
14 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and strengthen me with the sovereign Spirit.
15 I will teach the wicked your ways, and the wicked will turn to you.
16 Deliver me from bloodshed, O God, God of my salvation, and my tongue will praise Your righteousness.
17 Lord! Open my mouth, and my mouth will declare Your praise:
18 For You do not desire sacrifice, I would give it; You do not favor burnt offerings.
19 The sacrifice to God is a broken spirit; You will not despise a contrite and humble heart, O God.
20 Do good, [Lord], according to Your good pleasure, Zion; build up the walls of Jerusalem:
21 Then the sacrifices of righteousness, the wave offerings, and the burnt offerings will be acceptable to You; Then they will place bullocks on Your altar.

Interpretation of Psalm 50

From the book: “The Psalter in Patristic Explanation”:

(1) In the end, a psalm to David, always bring Nathan the prophet to him,

(2) always going to Bathsheba, Uri's wife, 50

The Psalm to David, inspired by the Holy Spirit, is given to everyone who sins as an example of repentance and is the fourth repentance in the general sequence. Divine love for mankind transmits to memory not only the deeds of the saints, but also their sins, in order to correct the path of the sinner through the stumbling of the righteous, so that the wounds of some serve as medicine for others. The Prophet shows all people the saving path of repentance, as a kind of art of constantly winning victory over the enemy (Chrysostom, Athanasius).

(3) Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your great mercy, and according to the multitude of Your compassions, cleanse my iniquity.

Quite a lot of people pronounce these words and call every day uselessly, alas, and in vain; because they do not accept the mercy of the Lord, because they do not know what they are asking for. Whoever pronounces these words according to custom, without realizing his terrible misfortune, how can he receive the mercy of God, so wonderful and immeasurable? But the one who has felt his sins, who has realized that he himself cannot free himself from the passions tormenting the soul and body, flows to God in his mind and asks for divine grace. The mercy of God is the grace of the All-Holy Spirit, which it is fitting for us sinners to ask day and night, so that the Lord would condescend to our poor dispensation, forgive our sins, grant the spirit of chastity and fear of God, the spirit of meekness and the spirit of love, the spirit of purity, humility and strength. .. (Paisiy).

(4) Above all, wash me from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin:

God's mercy is inexpressible, but it also requires our complicity. God has mercy, but he has mercy on the condition: grant that you too may bring something to the cause of salvation. After all, the robber was saved by bringing his faith, and he himself contributed to his salvation (Chrysostom).

(5) For I know my iniquity, and I will take away my sin before me.

For the safety of your soul, keep your sins before your eyes, for the memory of past sins protects you from future repetitions. God Himself requires such remembrance from us: “I am the one who blots out your sins, and I will not remember them, but you remember them... so that you may be justified” (Is. 43:25). The greatest feat of martyrdom is the voluntary shedding of one’s blood. And sinners shed their tears. And understand how great the power of tears is! Peter denied Christ and cleansed his sins with bitter weeping. And whoever cries for his sins, in his tears brings to God, as a favorable sacrifice, the sweat of his heart and the blood of his soul (Chrysostom, Augustine).

(6) I have sinned against You alone, and have done evil before You: so that You may be justified in Your words, and be victorious, and never judge You.

This is confession of sins. David realizes that the greatest lawlessness he has committed is against God Himself, who chose him from among the shepherds of the sheep and made him king. But by the opposite deed, this man thanked the Lord and prepared disasters for himself. “For you may be justified in Your words” - You are righteous in Your judgment and “conquer” all the false judgments and slander of people, for for myself I became the author of disasters, and Your truth shines in everything (Athanasius, Theodoret).

God's original intention was that we should not be born through marriage and corruption. The transgression of the commandment of God by Adam and Eve introduced marriage, and therefore all those born of Adam are conceived in sins. But it is not marriage that the Prophet accuses, nor marital communication; on the contrary, he exposes the iniquity of the forefathers. Because they sinned, they fell into corruption; and having become corruptible, they gave birth to such children, and evil became natural and natural for them. For what a person is born with, that is what he desires from childhood, and that is what he thinks about: “evil is with man from his youth” (Gen. 8:21). That is why we are not inclined towards virtue, we do not listen to good admonitions, and are very quick to do evil: but reason fights with all this and, having won, is glorified and adorned (Athanasius, Theodoret, Demetrius).

We know the sin of David, but what were his exploits and labors of repentance - we do not know; for through his repentance he acquired such great mercy from the Lord and received such grace from Him that he was granted from Him both the revelation of the Divine Mysteries and the gift of prophecy. True repentance requires great deeds and labors in order to see the “unknown and secret wisdom” of God. Behold, You “loved the truth” in my heart (my heart), and within me You showed me Your wisdom (Dimitri).

Hyssop is an aromatic herb of bitter taste, which in the Old Testament was immersed in blood or water and sprinkled on sinners among the people: this served as a symbol of cleansing, as a prototype of the future cleansing of all by the blood of the true Lamb of Christ, which alone can wash us from sins and more than snow whiten. The Prophet likens the effectiveness of the Holy Spirit to hyssop, as cleansing all filth in us. This sprinkling must be preceded by the bitterness of repentance, pity and tears for sins (Athanasius, Chrysostom).

(10) Give joy and gladness to my hearing; humble bones will rejoice.

David again turns to confession and seeks his former closeness to God. He asks God to gladden the ear of his soul with the news of pardon (Chrysostom, Athanasius).

(12) Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a right spirit in my womb.

A pure heart is a heart that has mercy on all created nature: humans, birds, animals, reptiles and... even demons. From great and strong pity and from great patience, the heart of such a person diminishes and it cannot endure any harm or small sorrow endured by the creature: and therefore for the dumb, and for the enemies of the truth, and for those who harm him, he offers prayer every hour with tears, so that they may be preserved and be pardoned. The Prophet asks for purity of heart in relation to each other. This can only be achieved only through Jesus alone. Purity of heart is demonstrated by undistracted prayer. It is not an easy matter to acquire a pure heart; A person needs a lot of struggle and labor in order to have a clear conscience and heart, and to completely eradicate evil in himself: “from the heart come evil thoughts... and those that defile a person” (Matthew 15:19). Anyone who has enmity towards his neighbor has an unclean heart (and is a leper) and, according to the Law of Moses, is not even worthy to enter the house of the Lord. A pure heart is meek, humble, unguileful, simple, trusting, undeceitful, kind, unsuspicious, kindly, unselfish, unenvious, and non-adulterous. The soul is located in the very middle of a person’s being - in the heart, which is why it is often called the heart, and it is called the soul. The heart is our soul. It is the eye of a human being: the purer it is, the clearer, faster and farther it sees. The right spirit is the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of humility, leading to the right path. In my womb - inside me (Isaac, Macarius V., Anthony V., Andronicus, Mark the Ascetic, Gregory the Theologian, Basil V., Isaiah, John of Kronstadt, Palamas, Chrysostom).

When you see that your mind is spinning in wickedness and vanity, which bring only confusion and evil to the soul, know that God has turned His face away from you (His divine care) (Studit, Chrysostom).

Reward (return) to me the joy of salvation - the grace of the Holy Spirit. And strengthen me with the Spirit that is sovereign (dominant) over the passions (Theodoret).

For the return of the Spirit, David promises to be a model of repentance for people who have sinned (Chrysostom, Athanasius).

(16) Deliver me from bloodshed, O God, God of my salvation: my tongue shall rejoice in Thy righteousness.

According to the mysterious meaning of Holy Scripture, this can be understood in relation to evil spirits who find pleasure in the blood of killed people and slaughtered animals. The doubling God, God, expresses the tense state of the soul, asking and praying (according to Zigaben).

(17) O Lord, Thou hast opened my mouth, and my mouth will declare Thy praise.

Lord, open my heart's lips, and external lips will proclaim Your praise (John of Kronstadt).

The burnt offering is not so pleasing to God, i.e. the body exhausted by fasting (although it was preferred to all other sacrifices), like the sacrifice of a broken spirit is humility. For Manasseh sinned more than all men, desecrating the temple of God and all worship by worshiping idols; so that even if the whole world fasted for him, it would not be able to satisfy him in the least for his iniquity. But humility alone was able to heal his incurable ulcers (Climacus).

David acquired a contrite and humble heart, and this, in particular, cleansed his sins. Weep and groan when you sin, not because you will be punished, because that means nothing, but because you have offended your Master, Who is so meek and loves you so much. This is what confession is, this is repentance! The greatest sacrifice to God is to offer Him constant thanksgiving for all His blessings and, especially, for those that are known to you and unknown to others, recognizing your insignificance. He who knows that he needs God’s help makes many prayers. And to the extent that he multiplies them, the extent to which his heart is humbled. For everyone who prays and asks cannot help but humble himself. And anyone who humbles himself will never become angry with his neighbor, will not allow himself to become irritated. The condition for heartfelt contrition is sorrow; a heart, broken by grief and the burden of troubles, values ​​temporary blessings as nothing, but places all its hope in the One Lord, cries out to Him day and night for help... In such contrition of spirit, a person comfortably passes through the cunning machinations of the proud devil, whose whole effort consists is to disturb the human spirit and sow its tares in indignation (Chrysostom, Isaac, Seraphim, Theophanes).

(20) Bless Zion, O Lord, with Your favor, and may the walls of Jerusalem be built.

(21) Then you will be pleased with the sacrifice of righteousness, the wave offering and the burnt offering: then they will lay the bullock on Your altar.

This is a prophecy referring historically and literally to the captive Jews in Babylon pleading with God to return to their native land and make legal sacrifices; but in the highest sense, David prophesies here about the Christian Church of Zion and the sacrifice of the truth of the Gospel, about reasonable and living burnt offerings, about which blessed Paul speaks: “I pray you, brothers, present your body (in) a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing to God, verbal service Be transformed by the renewing of your mind" (Rom. 12:1-2). Here is a fervent prayer for the reconstruction of the temple of the inner man in order to offer mental sacrifices to the Savior. Taurus means our wordless passions, which we must kill by stabbing them with a knife of self-condemnation, self-reproach, self-denial, repentance. Rebellious flesh must be mortified by fasting, vigil, labor, and constant prayer. We want to inherit eternal life easily and broadly by pleasing the flesh and our passions, by laziness and negligence in prayer and self-correction - we are too mistaken! (Chrysostom, Theodoret, Barsanuphius the Great, John of Kronstadt).

Saint Athanasius the Great:

(1) In the end, a psalm of song to David, always to the prophet Nathan, (2) always to Bathsheba.

David sings this psalm, which contains a confession of two crimes: the murder of Uriah and adultery with Bathsheba. He shows all people the saving path of repentance, as a kind of art of constantly winning victory over the enemy. For the one who always cares about repentance and performs it turns out to be the winner of the incessantly attacking (enemy). Introduces into the psalm a prophecy about the future general deliverance from sins in holy baptism, saying: “sprinkle me,” and the teaching about serving in the spirit. Finally, he shows that he has retained the gift of prophecy, because he does not ask to be given it, as he has already been deprived of the gift, but begs only not to take the gift away, saying: “Do not take it away from me.”

(3) Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your great mercy.

Since the sin is great, he asks God for great mercy.

And according to the multitude of Your mercies, cleanse my iniquity.

Only God's bounties can wash hands defiled by murder. But to further clarify what has been said, he says:

(4) washed me most.

And here he asks for complete purification, so that the importance of the sin can be seen from everything. Or: since Nathan had already told him about the forgiveness of sin, and various disasters had greatly reduced it, he now says: I need cleansing and washing, so that the deeply rooted defilement may be completely destroyed.

Above all, wash me from my iniquity,

those. from the lawlessness of murder,

and cleanse me from my sin,

those. from the sin of adultery. One must know that sin is a fall from goodness, and lawlessness is a sin against the Divine law. This is the beginning of both sin and lawlessness. This is where they are similar to each other. For the one who sins deviates from the goal, which is in his nature and in accordance with it, and the goal of human nature is to live according to reason, avoiding foolishness. But the lawless person also, by living incontinently, sins against the law that was given to him in nature. And therefore, Christ’s disciple, the Apostle John, rightly brings into one both sin and lawlessness, saying: “Everyone who commits sin also commits lawlessness” (1 John 3:4). In other words: sin is similar to lawlessness, because everyone who acts lawlessly sins.

(5) For I know my iniquity.

And he said this about murder.

And I will take away my sin before me.

Everywhere he carries with him the remembrance of the sin of adultery, because this sin does not leave him and does not retreat from him, but always remains with him and torments him.

(6) I have sinned against You alone, and I have done evil in Your sight.

That is, having hidden himself from the eyes of every man in iniquity, he was not hidden from Your eyes only. That is why he says: “I have created evil in Your sight.”

Having taken advantage of many things from You, I rewarded them with the opposite. However, he does not mean that he did not do injustice to Uriah: for was it possible to say this? But he says that he dared to commit the greatest iniquity before God, Who chose him and made him a King from a shepherd, or, since, having hidden himself from the eyes of everyone, he did not hide from the eyes of God, but, on the contrary, was convicted by a prophet, or, since, as a King, he did not was subject to human law, but, as a godly man, he was obedient to the one God, or, since none of the people convicted him, but the one God admonished him, he says:

You alone have sinned: so that you may be justified in all Your words.

You, who transgressed the law, convicted me through the prophet. You are righteous, You have always delivered me from enemies, You have honored me with the kingship and the gift of prophecy, but I am vile and a murderer.

And win and never judge Ti.

This is a confession or confession of sins.

(7) Behold, I was conceived in iniquity, and my mother gave birth to me in sins.

God's original intention was that we should not be born through marriage and corruption, but the transgression of the commandment introduced marriage due to the iniquity of Adam, i.e. due to evasion of the law given to him by God. So, everyone born from Adam is conceived in sins, subject to the condemnation of the progenitor. And what was said: “and in sins did my mother give birth to me” means that the mother common to all of us - Eve - was the first to give birth to sin, as she desired pleasure. That is why it is said about us, who fell under our mother’s condemnation, that we too are born in sins. David shows how human nature initially fell under sin in the crime of Eve, and how birth became subject to a curse. The word dates back to primitive times, wanting to show the greatness of God's gift.

(8) For Thou hast loved the truth, Thou hast revealed to me Thy unknown and secret wisdom.

The meaning of the speech is this: You, Lord, You Who are the truth, love the truth, and want us to remain in the truth, cleanse us from ancient sin, and cleanse us with hyssop, so that we will be convinced more than snow. He likens hyssop to the effectiveness of the Holy Spirit, as warming us and cleansing all filth in us. And the cleansing will be accomplished with hyssop, i.e. Holy Spirit; because hyssop grows and cleanses. Finally, with the words: “You have revealed Your unknown and secret wisdom to me,” he makes it clear that God revealed to him through the Holy Spirit everything that would happen, and that He laid down in His wisdom.

(9) Sprinkle me with hyssop and I will be clean.

Having said: You gave divine laws and statutes, he adds even more: You bestowed certain purifications in the laws and through the sprinkling of hyssop. For the same purpose, grant us now something similar, since You are the same God. Or, perhaps, he secretly talks about some kind of sacrament. Moses in Egypt was commanded to sprinkle the blood of a sheep with hyssop on the pragues (Ex. 12:22), and we were redeemed with the most “honest blood.” So, since the sprinkling of blood served as a protection so that those living in the house would not suffer anything from the destroyer, then David rightly, making a mysterious reminder of that blood, says: “Sprinkle me with hyssop,” covertly meaning the future cleansing of all by the blood of the true lamb of Christ, desiring to be worthy of this purification, which alone can cleanse completely and make it whiter than snow.

(10) Give joy and joy to my hearing,

By the Spirit you will prepare me again so that I can hear the joy and joy that will be in the last times. What is this if not the knowledge of the future resurrection, about which he taught, saying:

Will the humble bones rejoice?

When will our rotten bones rejoice? Is it not after the resurrection, when, as another prophet says, our “bones” “will languish like grass” (Is. 66:14)? “The bones of the humble shall rejoice.” The strength of my soul will rejoice, because before it was weak under sins.

(11) Turn away Your face from my sins.

Again he turns to confession.

(12) Create in me a pure heart, O God,

Renew, he says, my worn-out soul, upset by sin.

And renew the spirit of rights, [that is, affirm], in my womb.

This means the same as if to say: bring my mind into safety, so that it will no longer be easy for it to fall into sin.

(13) And do not take the Holy Spirit from me.

Again he prays for the Prophetic Spirit to come upon him. For He left him because of sin.

(14) Give me the joy of Your salvation

This applies to the entire human race. He calls the coming of the Lord the joy of salvation, according to what Simeon said: “For my eyes have seen Your salvation” (Luke 2:30). He prays that he too may be a partaker of it.

And strengthen me with the Lord's Spirit.

The Spirit, Whom he previously called “righteous,” is here called “sovereign.”

(15) I will teach the wicked your way.

As soon as You deliver me from sin, and then give me Your Holy Spirit, I will again teach those who break the law to walk in Your ways.

(16) Deliver me from blood, O God, God of my salvation,

Again he offers a prayer to get rid of the defilement into which he fell by the murder of Uriah, or better to say, to get rid of “bloods,” that is, from bloody sacrifices, as shown by the subsequent words of the psalm, which say: (18) “As if I had willed If you were sacrifices, you would give them slaughter,” and so on.

My tongue will rejoice in Your righteousness.

Symmachus translated it this way: “my tongue shall speak of Thy alms.” Having received remission of sins, I will not remain silent, but I will not stop praising You and will tell Your mercies. Since You have abolished the sacrifices under the law, which cannot grant remission of sins, therefore I myself have offered You the sacrifice that You loved; and this is a sacrifice made by repentance and a contrite heart.

(20) Bless, O Lord, Zion with Thy favor

The Church here calls it Zion. For when God the Father deigned to “rule over all things” concerning His Son (Eph. 1:10); then He gave His good promises to His Church.

And may the walls of Jerusalem be built.

He calls the holy clergy who protect His Church the Walls of Jerusalem.

(21) Then favor the sacrifice of righteousness

When, he says, you make Zion happy and the walls of Jerusalem are built, then sacrifices will be made, not bloody sacrifices, but sacrifices of righteousness, i.e. praise.

The offering and the burnt offering,

and by burnt offerings he means the offering of righteousness and bloodless sacrifice.

Then they will place the bullocks on Your altar,

that is, calves of righteousness, so that everything was from righteousness, there were sacrifices of righteousness, and offerings of righteousness, and burnt offerings of righteousness, and calves of righteousness.

Blessed Theodoret of Cyrrhus:

(3) O God, have mercy on me according to Your great mercy, and according to the multitude of Your compassions, cleanse my iniquity.

And the proposed sayings are appropriate for the divine David, and for the captive people, and for each of us, if anyone is sick; because great ulcers need proportionate healing, and whoever has fallen into a serious illness requires greater care for him; He who has sinned a lot requires great love for mankind. Therefore, the great David begs to show him great mercy, to pour out the entire source of generosity on his sinful scab; because otherwise the traces of sin could not be erased. It is right to call sin lawlessness; because it is a serious crime of the law.

(4) Above all, wash me from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.

You have already granted me forgiveness of sins through the prophet Nathan, says David, and, as if by some kind of cauterization and cutting, you subjected me to all kinds of disasters; but having received into myself the great stench of sin, I still demand cleansing medicines. Therefore, wash me again, Lord, to erase all sinful filth.

(5) For I know my iniquity, and I will take away my sin before me.[take it out – always].

And after You have forgiven my sin, I do not consign it to oblivion, but I constantly see images of my bad deeds, and those iniquities that I dared to commit, I dream in my sleep at night, and in my thoughts during the day. God himself commands sinners to do this through the prophet Isaiah; for he says: “I am the one who atones for your iniquities, and I will not remember your iniquities. Remember, and let us be judged: speak your iniquities first, that you may be justified” (Is. 43:25-26). In accordance with this, David himself wrote in the thirty-first psalm: “Reh, let me confess my iniquity to the Lord: and you have forsaken the wickedness of my heart.”

(6) I have sinned against You alone, and I have done evil before You.

Having enjoyed many and great gifts from You, says the prophet, I repaid them to the contrary, daring to do what was prohibited by law. It is not that he understands that he did not offend Uriah (because he offended both him and his wife), but that the greatest lawlessness was committed by him against God himself, who chose him, made him a king from a shepherd of sheep, showed his enemies as a conqueror and abundantly endowed everyone with blessings. kind. It is well added to them: I have done evil in Your sight. History also mentions this; for it is said: “what was done turned out to be evil in the sight of the Lord” (2 Kings 11:27). Imagining that the people in captivity say this, they should understand this: I have sinned against You alone, that is, I turned out to be ungrateful for Your gifts, I transgressed the laws given to me, having enjoyed benefits of every kind, I was not grateful; Having done no harm to the Babylonians, I suffer great offenses from them.

For thou shalt be justified in all Thy words, and thou shalt always triumph over Thy judgment;

that is, I myself became the author of evil; and Your truth shines out in everything. For, if we judge in this way what You have done for me and compare with this what I have dared to do, then You will appear both truthful and humane, and I will turn out to be lawless and ungrateful.

Therefore, the saying: “as if” does not mean a reason here: David himself sinned not for this, or then the people, so that God might be justified; but on the contrary, even after they commit sin, God’s truth is revealed; because God provides for David in every possible way; and about his people, and about all people.

(7) Behold, I was conceived in iniquity, and my mother gave birth to me in sins.

From ancient times and from the very beginning, says the prophet, sin has prevailed in our nature, because the transgression of the commandment preceded Eve’s conception. After the crime, after pronouncing God’s sentence, having already lost paradise, “Adam knew Eve his wife, and when he conceived, he gave birth to Cain” (Gen. 4:1). Therefore, the prophet wants to say that sin, having prevailed over our ancestors, continued in our race a certain path and path. Blessed Paul also says this: “by one man sin came into the world, and death by sin, and in him all have sinned” (Rom. 5:12). This is what the God of all spoke to the most wonderful Noah: “Man will always be mindful of evil from his youth” (Gen. 8:21). Yet this teaches us that the power of sin is not a natural force (and if it really were so, then we would be free from punishment); but that nature, confused by passions, is prone to fall. Therefore, the Prophet does not accuse marriage, as some assumed, and does not call marriage intercourse lawlessness, as others foolishly believed, in this sense understanding the words: “in iniquity I was conceived, and in sins my mother gave birth to me.” On the contrary, he exposes the lawlessness that the first parents of men dared to commit in ancient times, and says that it became the source of these streams, that is, if they had not sinned, they would not have suffered death as a punishment for sin; and if they were not mortal, they would not be subject to corruption; with incorruption, without a doubt, dispassion would be connected; and as long as dispassion was established, sin would have no place. But since the first parents sinned, they were given over to corruption; and having become corruptible, they gave birth to such children; and they, like perishable things, are accompanied by lust and fear, pleasure and sorrow, anger and envy. With all this and with what is born from this, reason fights, and having won, it is glorified and adorned with victorious crowns; and having conceded victory over himself, he is subjected to shame and punishment. Instead of “gave birth,” Symmachus expressed himself: “carried in the womb.”

(8) For thou hast loved the truth.

You judge in this way, says the prophet, and you punish some and crown others, because you love the truth. But loving the truth and knowing the weakness of nature, show mercy to those asking for healing.

You have shown me Your unknown and secret wisdom.

I do not consider myself worthy of any apology, having become ungrateful after so many gifts. You not only established me on the royal throne, but also made me worthy of prophetic grace, revealed to me what would happen after a long time, made what was unknown to others known to me, so that I also announced to others the incarnation, saving suffering and the Resurrection of Your only begotten Son, salvation universe, the generous remission of sins, the magnificent and divine gifts of holy baptism. Having previously been taught all this by Your all-holy Spirit, I beg that I too may participate in that grace about which I cry and proclaim to others.

(9) Sprinkle me with hyssop, and I will be clean: wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

For the single gift of baptism can effect this cleansing. The Lord of all promised to give this cleansing through the prophet Isaiah. Having said: “Wash yourselves and be clean, take away wickedness from your hearts,” after a few words He said: “Though your sins be as scarlet, they will be as white as snow” (Is. 1:16-18). And the great David himself foreshadows this in the sixty-seventh psalm; for he says: “Whenever the kings of Heaven separate from her, they will be snowed in Selmon” (When the Almighty scattered the kings on this land, it turned white like the snow on Selmon; Ps. 67:15). Therefore, the same thing is said here, namely: I have need of that grace that will be given to all people; because she alone can completely make me pure and give me the whiteness of snow. And that hyssop does not provide remission of sins in the least, it is not difficult to find out from the Mosaic writings; for the law did not cleanse the murderer and the thief of another's bed by sprinkling, but subjected him to death punishment. Therefore, hyssop serves as an indication of something else. For in Egypt, having sprinkled the blood of sheep on the thresholds with hyssop, they escaped the hand of the Destroyer; and this was an image of saving suffering. And here the blood, the tree of salvation, and the salvation given to those who come in faith are indicated.

(10) Give joy and gladness to my hearing: humble bones will rejoice,

that is, fill my ears with this joy, promising complete cleansing, so that joy would seize all my bodily members, and the bones, now humbled by suffering, would again bloom and regain their strength.

(11) Turn away Your face from my sins, and cleanse all my iniquities.

Look, says the prophet, not at the iniquities I have committed, but at me, who mourns them.

(12) O God, create in me a pure heart, and renew a right spirit in my womb.

Because sinful old age has befallen me; then renew me with Your love for mankind. The Lord promised this through the prophet Ezekiel to the captives in Babylon; for he says: “I will give them a new heart and a new spirit” (Ezek. 36:26), but he does not mean the All-Holy Spirit, but the awakening of rational power, that is: having taught you this long admonition, and showing you what fruits sin brings, I will make you choose virtue. Blessed David asked for this here too, that is, he asked to renew his damaged heart and strengthen his rational strength in order to follow the Divine path.

(13) Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.

From these words we clearly understand that David was not deprived of the grace of the All-Holy Spirit; for he does not ask to receive the Spirit as if he were deprived, but begs not to deprive him of the Spirit and not to remove Divine care for him from him. For here he called providence a face.

(14) Give me the joy of Your salvation, and strengthen me with the Lord’s Spirit.

He begs to continue to have for him what he has not lost, that is, the grace of the Spirit; and what he has lost, he asks for it in order to receive it again; joy in God was lost. I enjoyed all kinds of joy, says the prophet, when I had great boldness before You, Master, and now, having lost it, I have lost my complacency. Slavery to voluptuousness has deprived me of my boldness. Therefore, I beg that my mind may regain its former dominion, and, enslaved to passions, again regain power over them.

(15) I will teach the wicked your way, and the wicked will turn to you.

Again using Your love for mankind, I will be a model of repentance for those who love a lawless life; I will also be a herald of Your goodness, I will convince evil and lawless people to resort to You with prayer.

(16) Deliver me from blood, O God, O God of my salvation.

David constantly remembers the murder of Uriah. He made this clear at the very beginning of the psalm: “my sin is taken away before me” [always].

My tongue will rejoice in Your righteousness.

Symmachus translated this as follows: “My tongue will speak Your mercy. I will not remain silent, having received remission of sins, but I will not stop singing songs to You, telling You Your mercies.”

(17) O Lord, Thou hast opened my mouth, and my mouth will declare Thy praise.

Sin usually binds the tongue, stops the mouth, oppresses and forces silence. Therefore, the prophet begs that, having received remission of sins, he should take back his former boldness and move his tongue to chant.

(18) For even if you had desired sacrifices, you would have given them; you do not favor burnt offerings.

This is in accordance with what was said in the previous psalm. There we heard the God of all things say: “I will not accept bulls from Your house, nor goats from Your flocks” (Psalm 49:9). And the divine David, having heeded this word of God, rightly said: “Even if you wanted sacrifices, you would have given them; you will not be pleased with burnt offerings.” You have spoken, says the Prophet, that the sacrifices of the dumb are not pleasing to You; therefore I will offer You a sacrifice acceptable.

(19) The sacrifice to God is a broken spirit: a contrite and humble heart God will not despise.

A sacrifice pleasing and pleasing to You, our God, says the prophet, is a humble way of thinking. Therefore, having humbled my heart a lot, and, as it were, crushing it, and thinning it to the extreme, I will offer You a sacrifice acceptable. The blessed youths in the cave also expressed themselves in these words; for they said: “With a contrite heart and a humble spirit, let us be accepted before You, as with burnt offerings of rams and fat young men” (Dan. 3:39-40). For these courageous youths, having learned from here what kind of sacrifice was pleasing to God, brought humility in their thoughts and contrition of heart as a gift to the Lord.

(20) O Lord, bless Zion with Thy favor, and may the walls of Jerusalem be built.

(21) Then you will be pleased with the sacrifice of righteousness, the wave offering and the burnt offering: then they will lay the bullock on Your altar.

From these sayings we see that the psalm is filled with prophecy. For these words are fitting for those who were forced to live in Babylon, desired liberation from slavery and mourned the desolation of the city. They beg that the city may be worthy of pardon and regain its former prosperity when its fences are repaired and Divine services are resumed in it according to the law. For now, they say, living in a foreign country, we cannot offer the sacrifices established by You: because the law commands us to offer sacrifices in this one city. But if it is given to us to return and build the temple again, then we will offer You the sacrifices established by the law. These words are also very fitting for them: “Lord, you have opened my mouth, and my mouth will proclaim Your praise.” For this is their saying: “How shall we sing the song of the Lord in foreign lands” (Psalm 136:4)? But the end of this psalm also contains another prophecy. Since the prophet spoke above about the gifts of the all-holy Spirit, and then, extending further, he showed that the God of all is not pleased with sacrifices according to the law; then he begs for a new Zion to be revealed, for the heavenly Jerusalem to be built on earth, and for a new habitation to be established as quickly as possible, offering to God not wordless sacrifices, but offerings and sacrifices of righteousness, reasonable and living burnt offerings, about which blessed Paul speaks: “I pray you “Brethren, by the mercies of God, present your flesh as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, your verbal service” (Rom. 12:1). For the divine David, as one who recognized the unknown and secret wisdom of God, says this, knowing that in the new covenant there will be complete remission of sins, and therefore himself desiring to achieve speedy and complete liberation from sins, desiring instant and decisive cleansing.

A.P. Lopukhin. Explanatory Bible. Psalter

Psalm 50

The inscription of the psalm indicates the reason for writing - the prophet Nathan's denunciation of David for his crime with Bathsheba and Uriah, and the entire content is a prayer of repentance.

God! Forgive and cleanse, by Your great mercy, my sin that burdens me. I am deeply aware of my guilt before You (3-6). I was conceived and born in sin. You gave me revelations, you loved me. Show your mercy by cleansing and forgiving my sin and make me joyful at the forgiveness I received (7-14). Open my mouth to preach and praise You. This type of pleasing God is more pleasant to You than external sacrifices (15-19).

(1) In the end, a psalm to David, always bring Nathan the prophet to him,
(2) always going to Bathsheba, Uri's wife, 50
(3) Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your great mercy, and according to the multitude of Your compassions, cleanse my iniquity.
(4) Above all, wash me from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin:
(5) For I know my iniquity, and I will take away my sin before me.

3-5. David's awareness of his sin and his guilt before God was so deep that, praying for forgiveness and his cleansing, he appeals only to the great mercy of God. These verses very clearly characterize David as a person with a highly developed moral sense: every sin of his caused in him deep self-condemnation and painful dissatisfaction with himself, David fell low in his eyes and judged himself so strictly that in this case he remembered only one thing how deeply he had fallen, how much he had offended God and how unworthy he was before Him. This strength, the height of moral feeling and the severity of self-analysis show that the fall of David, which was possible for him as a person, could not be a manifestation of a bad “mood” in him, the dominance of “sinful and lustful desires” in him, could not be “conscious” an insult to God and a violation of His commandments, but an impulse, a temporary infatuation, followed by a period of prolonged repentance and self-flagellation (which we mentioned earlier, see Ps. 24). This consciousness of his sinfulness prompts David to ask God for washing, the cleansing of his soul, since sin is “always” before Him. By this cleansing, David meant, as can be seen from what follows, not just the forgiveness of sin, but the cleansing of his spirit with the transfer of “punishment”, in order to satisfy that Divine Justice, about which His law speaks in the commandments of Moses. David's thirst for purification before God is very clearly expressed in Heb. text, where 4 tbsp. It reads: “Wash me from my iniquity many times over.”

(6) I have sinned against You alone, and have done evil before You: so that You may be justified in Your words, and be victorious, and never judge You.
(7) Behold, I was conceived in iniquity, and my mother gave birth to me in sins.

6-7. The severity of David’s sin lies in the fact that he “sinned against God alone and only did evil against Him.” This does not mean that David did not recognize himself guilty before Uriah, since below he prays to God for forgiveness of sin for shedding blood (the murder of Uriah), and does not mean that he approved of the measures taken for this purpose, but that his designated actions grave, first of all, an insult to God. His law gave direct commandments that prohibited deception, murder and violation of the purity of family life. This commandment of the law banished from public and private life such phenomena that before this commandment among all eastern peoples not only were not considered crimes, but were equated with virtue. For example, depravity was illuminated by a religious cult, deception to achieve one’s goals was considered dexterity, and a person’s life, if he interfered with the personal well-being of another, was considered nothing (for example, the customs of family revenge, military glory, measured by the number of killed enemies). God gave a law by which the indicated phenomena were declared crimes, which is why David says that he is first of all and most of all guilty before God alone.

For the sin committed by David, God, through the prophet Nathan, imposed punishment on him (see 2 Samuel XII: 10-14). David considers such a sentence upon himself to be fully deserved (“The Lord is righteous in judgment and pure in judgment”), since his sin is an insult to God, requiring retribution to teach the guilty and maintain the authority of the Law given in His commandments before people.

Such a prayer for cleansing, with recognition and confession of the deservedness of punishment, in addition to the desire to ease one’s conscience by suffering the latter, could also be caused by another impulse - using the example of David, punished by God for the sin he committed, to show all the people the importance of observing God’s commandments and the need to care for purity own life.

However, the sin committed by David is not a deliberate and conscious desire to offend God, but is a consequence of the temporary dominance in him of that sinful inclination that was implanted in him from birth, that is, hereditary original sin.

(8) For Thou hast loved the truth, Thou hast revealed to me Thy unknown and secret wisdom.

8. “He showed me wisdom within me,” that is, he spiritually enlightened me, communicated that revelation through the prophet, which I could not have recognized on my own. - “Behold, You have loved the truth.” The Lord loves only truth, and therefore He wants to see this truth in people. To maintain their attraction to the truth, He gives revelations to people.

(9) Sprinkle me with hyssop, and I will be clean: wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
(10) Give joy and gladness to my hearing; humble bones will rejoice.
(11) Turn away Your face from my sins, and cleanse all my iniquities.
(12) Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a right spirit in my womb.
(13) Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
(14) Give me the joy of Your salvation, and strengthen me with the Lord’s Spirit.

9-14. In order to serve the truth and be worthy of subsequent revelations from God, David prays for the cleansing of his sin, as through sprinkling with hyssop (the juice of the plant) clothes and objects and persons defiled were made fit for use (Lev XIV: 6, 7, 49-52), and about that moral enlightenment that would make him whiter than snow. Such mercy of God filled him with joy and gladness.

David prays to God for the restoration of purity and former righteousness in himself (v. 12), for approaching and reconciling with God. By the “Holy Spirit” one can mean either God’s favor towards David in general, or the sending down of the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Holy Trinity (13). - “Give me the opportunity to hear joy and gladness” - give me the opportunity to rejoice in salvation and forgiveness from You. - “By the sovereign Spirit” - the same as by the Holy Spirit (14). “Confirm” - make me firm in following Your commandments.

(15) I will teach the wicked your way, and the wicked will turn to you.
(16) Deliver me from bloodshed, O God, God of my salvation: my tongue shall rejoice in Thy righteousness.
(17) O Lord, Thou hast opened my mouth, and my mouth will declare Thy praise.
(18) For even if you had desired sacrifices, you would have given them; you do not favor burnt offerings.
(19) The sacrifice to God is a broken spirit: a contrite and humble heart God will not despise.

16-19. “Deliver me from bloodshed, O God” - from the sin of shedding blood, killing Uriah. - “My tongue will praise Your righteousness,” so that David could praise God with clean lips for the justification (“truth”) He sent. For the same pure prayer and reconciliation with God, it is not enough to offer sacrifices alone - David offered a lot of them - for this it is necessary to have the appropriate mood of “a contrite spirit and a contrite and humble heart,” that is, consciousness of one’s sin, illness, suffering for him and a “humble” heart, submissive before the judgment of God. David here clearly indicates in which case the ritual law is sufficient to appease God: it is not the types of sacrificial animals and the abundance of the sacrifice that are important, but a corresponding repentant mood in the one bringing them is also necessary; It is in this spiritual mood of the sacrificer that the special value of the sacrifice lies. This latter indicates that the ritual law of Moses is not an eternal, unchangeable and forever and obligatory form of worship of God, but that it can and will be replaced by a higher type of service to God - service in the spirit, i.e., the replacement of the Old Law with the New is predicted here. We saw this in a clearer and more precise presentation of Psalm 39.

(20) Bless Zion, O Lord, with Your favor, and may the walls of Jerusalem be built.
(21) Then you will be pleased with the sacrifice of righteousness, the wave offering and the burnt offering: then they will lay the bullock on Your altar.

20-21. These verses were probably added to the psalm during the Babylonian captivity, since their content does not correspond to the historical situation of Jerusalem and the Jewish people during the reign of David. Then the walls of Jerusalem were not destroyed and worship at the temple was not stopped. Jews experienced this state only during captivity. This psalm, representing the repentant and prayerfully contrite state of David, reminded the captive Jews of their past sinful life and could cause them to repent of their sins, so they could pray with the words of this psalm, adding to it a petition for their return to their homeland and restoration the former greatness of the Jerusalem Temple.

This psalm, like the 37th, is called repentant and is used more often than others in worship, being part of Little Compline, Midnight Office and the Third Hour. He very clearly depicts both the repentant state of a sinner, which every person is, and the feeling of humility with which everyone who prays to Him should turn to God. The strength of the humility expressed in it and the depth of repentance contributed to such a widespread use of the psalm.

Hieromonk Job (Gumerov) answers the questions:

Question: Hello, please tell me, in Psalm 50 the words " deliver me from bloodshed, God"What do they refer to? Is there a book with comments and explanations of the psalms? Thank you very much. Sasha

Repentant David prays for forgiveness for the sin of murdering Uriah (2 Sam. 11-12). Saint Athanasius the Great sees two meanings here: literal (repentance for perfect sin) and prophetic. The psalmist sees the cessation of bloody sacrifices in the future and the establishment of a spiritual law: “As if he desired sacrifices. I would like to say: you do not favor burnt offerings. The sacrifice to God is a broken spirit: God will not despise a contrite and humble heart” (Ps. 50:18-19).

Question: What does it mean in Psalm 50: “Bless Zion, O Lord, with Your favor, and let the walls of Jerusalem be built.” Then favor the sacrifice of righteousness, the offering and the burnt offering; Then they will place the bullock on Your altar.”

Hieromonk Job (Gumerov) answers:

In the patristic exegetical heritage, these verses are interpreted historically and symbolically. Blazh. Theodoret sees here a prophecy about the Babylonian captivity. David speaks for those who longed for liberation and mourned the desolation of the city. “They beg that the city may be worthy of mercy and regain its former prosperity when its fences are repaired and Divine services are resumed in it according to the law” (“Psalter with an explanation of each verse”). Saint Athanasius the Great gives a symbolic interpretation of the psalm: “The Church here calls Zion. For when God the Father deigned to “rule over all things” concerning His Son (Eph. 1:10); then He gave His good promises to His Church. He calls the holy clergy who protect His Church the Walls of Jerusalem. When, he says, you make Zion happy and the walls of Jerusalem are built, then sacrifices will be made, not bloody sacrifices, but sacrifices of righteousness, that is, praise. “A offering and a burnt offering,” and by burnt offering he means the offering of righteousness and a bloodless sacrifice. “Then they will lay bullocks on Your altar,” that is, bullocks of righteousness, so that everything will be from righteousness, there will be sacrifices of righteousness, and offerings of righteousness, and burnt offerings of righteousness, and bullocks of righteousness” (Commentary on the Psalms). Both methods of explanation are legitimate, because the Holy Scriptures are multidimensional in their theological and spiritual content.

Psalm 50 is a psalm of repentance. In this article you will find the full text of the psalm and its detailed interpretation. Psalm 50 is related to Old Testament history and was composed by King David. Wanting to take possession of Versheba, the wife of the pious Uriah the Hittite, David committed a terrible sin - murder and begged for mercy.

Psalm 50. Text

Have mercy on me. God, according to Your great mercy, and according to the multitude of Your compassions, blot out my iniquities. Wash me often from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin, for I am aware of my iniquities, and my sin is always before me. You, You alone, have I sinned and done evil in Your sight, so that You are righteous in Your judgment and pure in Your judgment. Behold, I was conceived in iniquity, and my mother gave birth to me in sin. Behold, You have loved the truth in your heart and have shown me (Your) wisdom within me. Sprinkle me with hyssop, and I will be clean; Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness, and the bones will rejoice. Broken by you. Turn Your face away from my sins and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and strengthen me with the Sovereign Spirit. I will teach the wicked Your ways, and the wicked will turn to You. Deliver me from bloodshed. O God, the God of my salvation, and my tongue will praise Your righteousness. Lord, open my mouth, and my mouth will declare Your praise: for You do not desire sacrifice, I would give it; You do not favor burnt offerings. A sacrifice to God is a broken spirit; You will not despise a contrite and humble heart, O God. Bless Zion, O Lord, according to Your good pleasure; build up the walls of Jerusalem: then the sacrifices of righteousness, the heave-hoist and the burnt offering will be acceptable to You; Then they will place bullocks on Your altar.

Generosity is rich mercies. More than that. Most especially - especially. Az – I. Yako - because. I always take it out. Never - when. Behold - here. Hyssop is an herb used by Jews to sprinkle themselves with sacrificial blood. Dasi - give it. Create it - do it. Right - righteous, sinless. The womb is the belly, the inside of a person. Reward - give. Oral – mouth, tongue. Ubo - truly. A burnt offering is a Jewish sacrifice in which the entire animal was burned on the altar without any remains. Please - give bliss, make happy. Zion is a mountain in Judea, in the city of Jerusalem. Altar is an altar.

Psalm 50. Questions and answers:

Who composed this psalm and when?

This psalm (psalm-song) was composed by the prophet King David when he repented of the great sin that he killed the pious husband Uriah the Hittite and took possession of his wife Bathsheba.

Why is this psalm called repentant?

Because he expresses deep contrition for the sin committed and a fervent prayer for mercy; That is why this psalm is often read in church during services, and we, who are guilty of certain sins, should recite it as often as possible.

What do we ask of God in the first words of the psalm: Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your great mercy and according to the multitude of Your compassions, cleanse my iniquity?

We ask God to forgive our sins in His special mercy. Man is weak, imperfect and far from holiness. There are no sinless people. The Lord does not grant us salvation because of our perfection and righteousness. God saves us out of His mercy and love. We are only required to believe in His great mercy and relate our actions to His Commandments. We must be worthy of the Lord's mercy.

What do the words mean: for I know my iniquity, and bear away my sin before me?

These words mean that we are attentive to ourselves, we know our sins that bother our conscience.

What do the words mean: that you may be justified in all Your words and be victorious, and never judge You?

They mean that we sin so much before God that He will always be just, no matter how severe His judgment on us.

What do the words mean: behold, in iniquity the seven were conceived, and in sins did my mother give birth to me?

With them we want to beg God for the forgiveness of sins, presenting to Him our natural tendency to sin.

What do the words mean: You have revealed Your unknown and secret wisdom to me?

These words mean that God revealed to man what he alone would never have known without God: he taught man true faith and showed the way to the Kingdom of Heaven.

What do the words mean: sprinkle me with hyssop, and I will be clean, wash me, and I will be whiter than snow?

They express our request that the Lord send His grace to us and cleanse us from our sins. The psalm is often read in places of detention. But it is created not only for legal violations. Psalm 50 was also written for those who have committed a crime before the Lord.

What do the words mean: humble bones will rejoice?

They mean that the sin David committed crushed not only his soul, but also his body and bones. Sin troubles and crushes every person. Upon forgiveness of sin, his conscience is calmed; which is why both the body and bones seem to rejoice and are restored.

What do we ask with the words: renew the right spirit in my womb?

We ask the Lord to give us the right, straight path in life or to dispose us to a pious life.

What do we ask with the words: cast me not away from Thy presence?

We ask that God does not remove us from Himself, that He does not deprive us of His care for us. God never gives up on us, but we must think about being worthy of closeness to Him.

What do we ask with the words: Strengthen me with the Lord’s Spirit?

With these words we ask that the Lord, by the power of the Holy Spirit, confirm us in goodness. We are called to holiness, but since the holiness of the Lord is inaccessible to us, we must strive for the holiness of repentance. By cleansing, the Lord saves us from sin and eternal torment.

What do the words mean: I will teach the wicked in Your way, and the wicked will turn to You?

So, following the example of the prophet David, in gratitude for the forgiveness of sins, we promise to instill in the wicked the will of God, so that they too turn to God.

What do we ask with the words: deliver me from bloodshed?

These words point to the blood of the husband killed by David, whose wife he took possession of; they express our request that God would deliver us from murderous sins.

What do the words express: my tongue will rejoice in Your righteousness?

They express our promise to testify, or glorify the mercy of God.

What do the words mean: You do not favor burnt offerings?

These words mean that God is not so much pleased with the sacrifices burned on the altars (Heb. 10:4-6), as he is pleased with the sacrifice of the heart: a broken spirit, i.e. He is pleased when a person laments his sins.

What do the words express: bless Zion, O Lord, with Thy favor, and may the walls of Jerusalem be built?

They express David's prayer for God's mercy towards Jerusalem.

What do the words indicate: favor the sacrifice of righteousness, the offering and the burnt offering?

Point out the various sacrifices that the Jews offered to God in the Old Testament.

They usually sacrificed a lamb (lamb), a calf, a bull, a goat, etc. When a Jew brought an animal to the altar, he placed his hands on its head. This meant that the sin was transferred from his head to the head of the animal; and since it was determined by God for sin, the animal was slaughtered and killed. Thus, an innocent animal died for a guilty person. This meant that once the Son of God, as the Lamb of God, would take upon Himself the sins of the whole world and die for people, being Himself sinless. The animal was burned on the altar either completely (completely), or only some parts of it, for example, liver, fat (a thanksgiving sacrifice, a sacrifice to ask for some kind of mercy from God, a sacrifice by promise, by zeal). Jews also brought bloodless sacrifices to God, for example, flour, oil, incense, and wine. It is these different sacrifices that the words indicate: favor the sacrifice of righteousness, the offering and the burnt offering.

What do the words indicate: they will lay calves on Your altar?

These words also indicate sacrifice to God.

Psalm 50 is read when a person’s soul is tormented by unrepentant sins. We bring repentance to God so that He will grant us salvation by His mercy. The Orthodox Church allows the reading of the psalm in Russian, but it is preferable to read it in Church Slavonic, since it is the language of worship.

Read about the 50th Psalm on Pravmir:

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Listen or read online the text of the prayer Psalm 50 in Russian with accents. Find out why Psalm 50 is read, as well as its interpretation with a modern translation. When is Psalm 50 read 40 times? Read more about everything in this article!

Text of the prayer Psalm 50 in Russian: modern translation

Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your great mercy, and according to the multitude of Your mercies, blot out my iniquities.
Wash me from my iniquity many times, and cleanse me from my sin,
for I acknowledge my iniquities, and my sin is always before me.
You, You alone, have I sinned and done evil in Your sight, so that You are righteous in Your judgment and pure in Your judgment.
Behold, I was conceived in iniquity, and my mother gave birth to me in sin.
Behold, You have loved the truth in your heart and have shown me [Your] wisdom within me.
Sprinkle me with hyssop, and I will be clean; Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
Let me hear joy and gladness, and the bones broken by You will rejoice.
Turn Your face away from my sins and blot out all my iniquities.
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from Your presence and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of Thy salvation and strengthen me with the sovereign Spirit.
I will teach the wicked Your ways, and the wicked will turn to You.
Deliver me from bloodshed, O God, God of my salvation, and my tongue will praise Your righteousness.
God! Open my mouth, and my mouth will declare Your praise:
for You do not desire sacrifice, I would give it; You do not favor burnt offerings.
A sacrifice to God is a broken spirit; You will not despise a contrite and humble heart, O God.
Bless, [Lord,] Zion according to Your good pleasure; build up the walls of Jerusalem:
then the sacrifices of righteousness, the wave offerings, and the burnt offerings will be acceptable to You; Then they will place bullocks on Your altar.

Text of the prayer Psalm 50 with accents

Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your great mercy, and according to the multitude of Your compassions, cleanse my iniquity.
Above all, wash me from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
For I know my iniquity, and I will take away my sin before me.
I have sinned against You alone, and I have done evil before You, so that You may be justified in Your words and overcome, never judge You.
Behold, I was conceived in iniquity, and in sins my mother gave birth to me.
Behold, you loved the truth; you showed me your unknown and secret wisdom.
Sprinkle me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
Give joy and gladness to my hearing; humble bones will rejoice.
Turn away Your face from my sins, and cleanse all my iniquities.
Create a pure heart in me, O God, and renew a right spirit in my womb.
Do not turn me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
Give me the joy of Your salvation, and strengthen me with the Lord’s Spirit.
I will teach the wicked your way, and wickedness will turn to you.
Deliver me from bloodshed, O God, God of my salvation, my tongue will rejoice in Your righteousness.
Lord, open my mouth, and my mouth will declare Your praise.
As if you had wanted sacrifices, you would have given burnt offerings without being pleased.
The sacrifice to God is a contrite spirit, a contrite and humble heart, God will not despise.
Bless Zion, O Lord, with Your favor, and may the walls of Jerusalem be built.
Then you will be pleased with the sacrifice of righteousness, the wave offering, and the burnt offering: then they will lay the bullock on Your altar.

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Perhaps most often Christians encounter the 50th psalm of repentance. Without confessing your sins and sincere repentance, it is impossible to be saved. This text is given great importance. Like David who sinned, we all need cleansing so that Grace does not leave us. We learn how to do this from the prophet, who fell into grave sin.

The story of the fall of King David

While walking, David saw a woman named Bathsheba, whom he desired. It should be noted that in those days it was allowed to maintain a harem, and the king already had quite a lot of wives. The beauty's husband was at war and was an obstacle to what the Anointed One had planned. He summoned Uriah (her husband) to the palace, and handed a letter to one of his military commanders with instructions: to send the submitter of the paper to the most dangerous area, where he would most likely be killed.

And so it happened. Uriah soon died, and his wife became free. David married her. A child was born. No one knew about the ins and outs of the act. The king himself did not see anything reprehensible in his affairs. He did not break any laws, he complied with all the requirements of piety. A year has passed. The prophet Nathan came to him to reveal a lie. The denunciation began with an allegory.

Parable of Nathan

In one city there lived a rich man and a poor man. The latter had all his property - one sheep, which he loved immensely: he fed, looked after, cherished. The rich man had huge herds of different animals. When it was necessary to prepare a treat, he took the sheep from the poor man, but did not touch his own. And Nathan asks: King, what do you think he deserves?

The indignant David said: Death, and the unfortunate one must compensate the loss 70 times. Then Nathan said directly: King, the word you spoke concerns you. For this rich man is you yourself. And he pronounced the death sentence on himself.

The Lord's Declaration of David

Since the prophet came and personally conveyed the words of God, it testifies that the gift that the King had was damaged. God does not speak to him directly as before. The connection has been partially lost, so the psalm contains requests to renew the right Spirit. Sin deprives a person of Grace, he remains defenseless against evil. Here is the Lord's determination:

• I gave you everything: wealth, kingdom, power.
• If there was not enough, all you had to do was ask, and you would get everything.
• You have broken the Law.
• He despised the word of God.
• For this, your son and Bathsheba will die.

To atone for lawlessness, you will have to endure “punishment” for purification, to suffer illness, sorrow or death. Christ brought us saving repentance. That is why, whenever something goes wrong, you must, first of all, confess, sincerely, as David repented of his atrocities.

Nathan announced another definition about the king: Having killed Uriah with the sword..., now weapons and war will not leave the house of the king of Israel. The fear of such a prospect even more compels us to completely cleanse ourselves from lawlessness, so that the consequences of the fall do not affect the state of the state, relatives and the personality of God’s anointed.

Psalm 50 – David's repentance

According to Arsenius of Cappadocia 50, the song is raised when epidemics occur due to our sins, people or animals die. Since we sin constantly, the psalm reads:

• every day is a house Rule;
• included in the canon of the Mother of God;
• c Follow to Holy Communion;
• as part of Small Compline;
• Midnight Office, and the Third Hour.

Advice: Sometimes, to see your own fall, you need an outside perspective. As Nathan did, he first told a parable. Trying to know yourself, try to discover the extent of guilt, based not on internal motives, but dispassionately consider actions, as if through the eyes of an outsider.

Brief interpretation of Psalm 50

From David we learn repentance. He reveals step by step the process of soul cleansing. It is important to understand what is needed for this:

• To discover a sin that no one (even the king) knew about except the Lord, who sees all our secret deeds.
• Understand that you do not cleanse yourself, but ask the One who will wash you and sprinkle you with hyssop (an infusion of herbs that gets rid of leprosy). This is a symbol of the future Sacrament of Baptism. It did not exist in David's time.
• Forgiveness does not come from our mind, but by the grace of the Lover of Humanity. We are called to righteousness. By violating the Law given by God, we lose Grace and connection with Him. His Love heals the wound that is inflicted on your soul.

David asks for Great mercy, since he cannot completely blot out his sins: His wife and child constantly remind him of the murder. It’s not easy to wash off blood, so we read: Get rid of blood. Conscience dictates that the Lord is right in judging him. He prays for the return of former purity and the gift of prophecy (Grace) to be renewed. Wash your heart many times so that not a trace of the Fall remains.

Psalm 50 – unclear passages

There are a lot of interpretations of the psalms. Anyone who wants to learn this work from David’s prayer can find materials on the Internet. For beginners, let's explain the more obscure parts:

• By saying that his mother gave birth to him in sin, this means the original damage that is transmitted to all people. We inherit passion (sinfulness) from Adam and Eve.
• You do not favor burnt offerings: There were two types of sacrifices offered in Israel. For sin, the animal was burned completely, thanksgiving - partially. About the whole thing being burned, it is said that the Lord does not want to see it, and this cannot atone for human sins.
• Last verse: God accepts another sacrifice, not animals, but the truth - repentance and contrition for sin. Then it is completely burned. Put on altar Taurus - “Slaughter” passions, sins, like sacrificial animals. This is the image of repentance God accepts. To some extent, this is a prophecy about the future form of human correction through the Sacrament of Confession.

Conclusion: Anyone who reads the psalter will find the answer to any movement of the soul.

• In sorrow there is consolation.
• In joy he will bring grateful praise to the Lord.
• Will find a way out of a difficult situation.
• He will overcome disorder in life, defeat despondency and the meaninglessness of life.
• Will gain strength for repentance and fight against the spirits of evil.
• A person is not afraid of witchcraft, damage or the evil eye if there are songs of psalms.

Even without understanding the many meanings of the verses, a person is invisibly transformed. Demons tremble from this book. Having learned from Psalm 50 to correctly repent, we will attract Grace: the cover and shield of the Lord.