Psalm 51, read aloud

Psalm 51: Have mercy on me, God

David's prayer after his worst failure. Listen to the opening, and read all nineteen verses below.

Psalm 51 · Have mercy on me, God

Read by Mia, an AI voice, from the World English Bible.

Psalm 51 World English Bible

For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David, when Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.

¹Have mercy on me, God, according to your loving kindness. According to the multitude of your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions.

²Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity. Cleanse me from my sin.

³For I know my transgressions. My sin is constantly before me.

⁴Against you, and you only, I have sinned, and done that which is evil in your sight, so you may be proved right when you speak, and justified when you judge.

⁵Behold, I was born in iniquity. My mother conceived me in sin.

⁶Behold, you desire truth in the inward parts. You teach me wisdom in the inmost place.

⁷Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean. Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

⁸Let me hear joy and gladness, that the bones which you have broken may rejoice.

⁹Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all of my iniquities.

¹⁰Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me.

¹¹Don’t throw me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me.

¹²Restore to me the joy of your salvation. Uphold me with a willing spirit.

¹³Then I will teach transgressors your ways. Sinners will be converted to you.

¹⁴Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, the God of my salvation. My tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.

¹⁵Lord, open my lips. My mouth will declare your praise.

¹⁶For you don’t delight in sacrifice, or else I would give it. You have no pleasure in burnt offering.

¹⁷The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit. O God, you will not despise a broken and contrite heart.

¹⁸Do well in your good pleasure to Zion. Build the walls of Jerusalem.

¹⁹Then you will delight in the sacrifices of righteousness, in burnt offerings and in whole burnt offerings. Then they will offer bulls on your altar.

About Psalm 51

The heading of Psalm 51 names its occasion: David wrote it “when Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.” The story is told in 2 Samuel 11 and 12. David had taken another man's wife and arranged the man's death, and the prophet Nathan confronted him with it.

The psalm makes no excuses. It asks, in three pictures of cleaning: “blot out my transgressions,” “wash me thoroughly,” “cleanse me from my sin.” Then it asks for more than a clean record: “Create in me a clean heart, O God.” “Create” is the word Genesis 1 uses for God making the heavens and the earth. David is asking for something only God can make.

It ends in hope: “Restore to me the joy of your salvation,” and “you will not despise a broken and contrite heart.” Christians have prayed this psalm as a confession for centuries. In the Catholic tradition it is known as the Miserere, from its first word in Latin, and is prayed on Ash Wednesday and on Fridays in the Liturgy of the Hours.

When to read Psalm 51

When you have done something you regret and don't know how to begin.
Before confession, or before asking someone to forgive you.
When guilt is keeping you awake.

A prayer from Psalm 51

Have mercy on me, God, according to your loving kindness. Wash me, and I will be clean. Create in me a clean heart, and renew a right spirit within me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation. Amen.

More psalms to listen to

All the psalms read aloud