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Selected Verse: Psalms 51:3 - Strong Concordance

Verse	Translation	Text
Ps 51:3	Strong Concordance	For I acknowledge [03045] my transgressions [06588]: and my sin [02403] is ever [08548] before me.
	King James	For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.

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A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
For . . . before me--Conviction precedes forgiveness; and, as a gift of God, is a plea for it (Sa2 12:13; Psa 32:5; Jo1 1:9).

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

For . . . before me--Conviction precedes forgiveness; and, as a gift of God, is a plea for it (Sa2 12:13; Psa 32:5; Jo1 1:9).

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
For I acknowledge my transgressions - literally, I know, or make known. That is, he knew that he was a sinner, and he did not seek to cloak or conceal that fact. He came with the knowledge of it himself; he was willing to make acknowledgment of it before God. There was no attempt to conceal it; to excuse it. Compare the notes at Psa 32:5. The word ""for"" does not imply that he referred to his willingness to confess his sins as an act of merit, but it indicates a state of mind which was necessary to forgiveness, and without which he could not hope for pardon. And my sin is ever before me - That is, It is now constantly before my mind. It had not been so until Nathan brought it vividly to his recollection (Sa2 12:1 ff); but after that it was continually in his view. He could not turn his mind from it. The memory of his guilt followed him; it pressed upon him; it haunted him. It was no wonder that this was so. The only ground of wonder in the case is that it did not occur "before" Nathan made that solemn appeal to him, or that he could have been for a moment insensible to the greatness of his crime. The whole transaction, however, shows that people "may" be guilty of enormous sins, and have for a long time no sense of their criminality; but that "when" the consciousness of guilt is made to come home to the soul, nothing will calm it down. Everything reminds the soul of it; and nothing will drive away its recollection. In such a state the sinner has no refuge - no hope of permanent peace - but in the mercy of God.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]
Substantiation of the prayer by the consideration, that his sense of sin is more than superficial, and that he is ready to make a penitential confession. True penitence is not a dead knowledge of sin committed, but a living sensitive consciousness of it (Isa 59:12), to which it is ever present as a matter and ground of unrest and pain. This penitential sorrow, which pervades the whole man, is, it is true, no merit that wins mercy or favour, but it is the condition, without which it is impossible for any manifestation of favour to take place. Such true consciousness of sin contemplates sin, of whatever kind it may be, directly as sin against God, and in its ultimate ground as sin against Him alone (חטא with ל of the person sinned against, Isa 42:24; Mic 7:9); for every relation in which man stands to his fellow-men, and to created things in general, is but the manifest form of his fundamental relationship to God; and sin is "that which is evil in the eyes of God" (Isa 65:12; Isa 66:4), it is contradiction to the will of God, the sole and highest Lawgiver and Judge. Thus it is, as David confesses, with regard to his sin, in order that... This למען must not be weakened by understanding it to refer to the result instead of to the aim or purpose. If, however, it is intended to express intention, it follows close upon the moral relationship of man to God expressed in לך לבדּך and הרע בּעיניך, - a relationship, the aim of which is, that God, when He now condemns the sinner, may appear as the just and holy One, who, as the sinner is obliged himself to acknowledge, cannot do otherwise than pronounce a condemnatory decision concerning him. When sin becomes manifest to a man as such, he must himself say Amen to the divine sentence, just as David does to that passed upon him by Nathan. And it is just the nature of penitence so to confess one's self to be in the wrong in order that God may be in the right and gain His cause. If, however, the sinner's self-accusation justifies the divine righteousness or justice, just as, on the other hand, all self-justification on the part of the sinner (which, however, sooner or later will be undeceived) accuses God of unrighteousness or injustice (Job 40:8): then all human sin must in the end tend towards the glorifying of God. In this sense Psa 51:6 is applied by Paul (Rom 3:4), inasmuch as he regards what is here written in the Psalter - ὅπως ἂν δικαιωθῇς ἐν τοῖς λόγοις σου, καὶ νικῃσεες ἐν τῷ κρίνεσθαί σε (lxx) - as the goal towards which the whole history of Israel tends. Instead of בּדברך (infin. like שׁלחך, Gen 38:17, in this instance for the sake of similarity of sound (Note: Cf. the following forms, chosen on account of their accord: - נשׂוּי, Psa 32:1; הנדּף, Psa 68:3; צאינה, Sol 3:11; שׁתות, Isa 22:13; ממחים, ib. Psa 25:6; הלּוט, ib. Psa 25:7.) instead of the otherwise usual form דּבּר), in Thy speaking, the lxx renders ἐν τοῖς λόγοις σου = בּדבריך; instead of בּשׁפטך, ἐν τῷ κρίνεσθαί σε = בּהשּׁפטך (infin. Niph.), provided κρίνεσθαι is intended as passive and not (as in Jer 2:9 lxx, cf. Mat 5:40) as middle. The thought remains essentially unchanged by the side of these deviations; and even the taking of the verb זכה, to be clean, pure, in the Syriac signification νικᾶν, does not alter it. That God may be justified in His decisive speaking and judging; that He, the Judge, may gain His cause in opposition to all human judgment, towards this tends David's confession of sin, towards this tends all human history, and more especially the history of Israel.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]

Substantiation of the prayer by the consideration, that his sense of sin is more than superficial, and that he is ready to make a penitential confession. True penitence is not a dead knowledge of sin committed, but a living sensitive consciousness of it (Isa 59:12), to which it is ever present as a matter and ground of unrest and pain. This penitential sorrow, which pervades the whole man, is, it is true, no merit that wins mercy or favour, but it is the condition, without which it is impossible for any manifestation of favour to take place. Such true consciousness of sin contemplates sin, of whatever kind it may be, directly as sin against God, and in its ultimate ground as sin against Him alone (חטא with ל of the person sinned against, Isa 42:24; Mic 7:9); for every relation in which man stands to his fellow-men, and to created things in general, is but the manifest form of his fundamental relationship to God; and sin is "that which is evil in the eyes of God" (Isa 65:12; Isa 66:4), it is contradiction to the will of God, the sole and highest Lawgiver and Judge. Thus it is, as David confesses, with regard to his sin, in order that... This למען must not be weakened by understanding it to refer to the result instead of to the aim or purpose. If, however, it is intended to express intention, it follows close upon the moral relationship of man to God expressed in לך לבדּך and הרע בּעיניך, - a relationship, the aim of which is, that God, when He now condemns the sinner, may appear as the just and holy One, who, as the sinner is obliged himself to acknowledge, cannot do otherwise than pronounce a condemnatory decision concerning him. When sin becomes manifest to a man as such, he must himself say Amen to the divine sentence, just as David does to that passed upon him by Nathan. And it is just the nature of penitence so to confess one's self to be in the wrong in order that God may be in the right and gain His cause. If, however, the sinner's self-accusation justifies the divine righteousness or justice, just as, on the other hand, all self-justification on the part of the sinner (which, however, sooner or later will be undeceived) accuses God of unrighteousness or injustice (Job 40:8): then all human sin must in the end tend towards the glorifying of God. In this sense Psa 51:6 is applied by Paul (Rom 3:4), inasmuch as he regards what is here written in the Psalter - ὅπως ἂν δικαιωθῇς ἐν τοῖς λόγοις σου, καὶ νικῃσεες ἐν τῷ κρίνεσθαί σε (lxx) - as the goal towards which the whole history of Israel tends. Instead of בּדברך (infin. like שׁלחך, Gen 38:17, in this instance for the sake of similarity of sound

(Note: Cf. the following forms, chosen on account of their accord: - נשׂוּי, Psa 32:1; הנדּף, Psa 68:3; צאינה, Sol 3:11; שׁתות, Isa 22:13; ממחים, ib. Psa 25:6; הלּוט, ib. Psa 25:7.)

instead of the otherwise usual form דּבּר), in Thy speaking, the lxx renders ἐν τοῖς λόγοις σου = בּדבריך; instead of בּשׁפטך, ἐν τῷ κρίνεσθαί σε = בּהשּׁפטך (infin. Niph.), provided κρίνεσθαι is intended as passive and not (as in Jer 2:9 lxx, cf. Mat 5:40) as middle. The thought remains essentially unchanged by the side of these deviations; and even the taking of the verb זכה, to be clean, pure, in the Syriac signification νικᾶν, does not alter it. That God may be justified in His decisive speaking and judging; that He, the Judge, may gain His cause in opposition to all human judgment, towards this tends David's confession of sin, towards this tends all human history, and more especially the history of Israel.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826
For I acknowledge my transgressions - I know, I feel, I confess that I have sinned. My sin is ever before me - A true, deep, and unsophisticated mark of a genuine penitent. Wherever he turns his face, he sees his sin, and through it the eye of an angry God.

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⁹ If [1437] we confess [3670] our [2257] sins [266], he is [2076] faithful [4103] and [2532] just [1342] to [2443] forgive [863] us [2254] our sins [266], and [2532] to cleanse [2511] us [2248] from [575] all [3956] unrighteousness [93].

⁵ I acknowledged [03045] my sin [02403] unto thee, and mine iniquity [05771] have I not hid [03680]. I said [0559], I will confess [03034] my transgressions [06588] unto the LORD [03068]; and thou forgavest [05375] the iniquity [05771] of my sin [02403]. Selah [05542].

¹³ And David [01732] said [0559] unto Nathan [05416], I have sinned [02398] against the LORD [03068]. And Nathan [05416] said [0559] unto David [01732], The LORD [03068] also hath put away [05674] thy sin [02403]; thou shalt not die [04191].

¹ And the LORD [03068] sent [07971] Nathan [05416] unto David [01732]. And he came [0935] unto him, and said [0559] unto him, There were two [08147] men [0582] in one [0259] city [05892]; the one [0259] rich [06223], and the other [0259] poor [07326].

⁴⁰ And [2532] if any man will [2309] sue [2919] thee [4671] at the law [2919], and [2532] take away [2983] thy [4675] coat [5509], let [863] him [846] have [863] thy cloke [2440] also [2532].

⁹ Wherefore I will yet plead [07378] with you, saith [05002] the LORD [03068], and with your children's [01121] children [01121] will I plead [07378].

⁷ Remember [02142] not the sins [02403] of my youth [05271], nor my transgressions [06588]: according to thy mercy [02617] remember [02142] thou me for thy goodness [02898]' sake, O LORD [03068].

⁶ Remember [02142], O LORD [03068], thy tender mercies [07356] and thy lovingkindnesses [02617]; for they have been ever of old [05769].

¹³ And behold joy [08342] and gladness [08057], slaying [02026] oxen [01241], and killing [07819] sheep [06629], eating [0398] flesh [01320], and drinking [08354] wine [03196]: let us eat [0398] and drink [08354]; for to morrow [04279] we shall die [04191].

¹¹ Go forth [03318], O ye daughters [01323] of Zion [06726], and behold [07200] king [04428] Solomon [08010] with the crown [05850] wherewith his mother [0517] crowned [05849] him in the day [03117] of his espousals [02861], and in the day [03117] of the gladness [08057] of his heart [03820].

³ But let the righteous [06662] be glad [08055]; let them rejoice [05970] before [06440] God [0430]: yea, let them exceedingly [08057] rejoice [07797].

¹ A Psalm of David [01732], Maschil [04905]. Blessed [0835] is he whose transgression [06588] is forgiven [05375], whose sin [02401] is covered [03680].

¹⁷ And he said [0559], I will send [07971] thee a kid [05795] [01423] from the flock [06629]. And she said [0559], Wilt thou give [05414] me a pledge [06162], till thou send [07971] it?

⁴ God forbid [3361] [1096]: yea [1161], let [1096] God [2316] be [1096] true [227], but [1161] every [3956] man [444] a liar [5583]; as [2531] it is written [1125], That [3704] thou mightest [302] be justified [1344] in [1722] thy [4675] sayings [3056], and [2532] mightest overcome [3528] when [1722] thou [4571] art judged [2919].

⁶ Behold, thou desirest [02654] truth [0571] in the inward parts [02910]: and in the hidden [05640] part thou shalt make me to know [03045] wisdom [02451].

⁸ Wilt thou also disannul [06565] my judgment [04941]? wilt thou condemn [07561] me, that thou mayest be righteous [06663]?

⁴ I also will choose [0977] their delusions [08586], and will bring [0935] their fears [04035] upon them; because when I called [07121], none did answer [06030]; when I spake [01696], they did not hear [08085]: but they did [06213] evil [07451] before mine eyes [05869], and chose [0977] that in which I delighted [02654] not.

¹² Therefore will I number [04487] you to the sword [02719], and ye shall all bow down [03766] to the slaughter [02874]: because when I called [07121], ye did not answer [06030]; when I spake [01696], ye did not hear [08085]; but did [06213] evil [07451] before mine eyes [05869], and did choose [0977] that wherein I delighted [02654] not.

⁹ I will bear [05375] the indignation [02197] of the LORD [03068], because I have sinned [02398] against him, until he plead [07378] my cause [07379], and execute [06213] judgment [04941] for me: he will bring me forth [03318] to the light [0216], and I shall behold [07200] his righteousness [06666].

²⁴ Who gave [05414] Jacob [03290] for a spoil [04933] [04882], and Israel [03478] to the robbers [0962]? did not the LORD [03068], he against whom [02098] we have sinned [02398]? for they would [014] not walk [01980] in his ways [01870], neither were they obedient [08085] unto his law [08451].

¹² For our transgressions [06588] are multiplied [07231] before thee, and our sins [02403] testify [06030] against us: for our transgressions [06588] are with us; and as for our iniquities [05771], we know [03045] them;