Psalm 50_LXX.pdf

Psalm 51 in English Bibles is Psalm 50 in the LXX. The reader will note in the text above how the verse references differ.

Although I prefer to refer to this Psalm as “50” according to the LXX numbering, I also prefer and so will refer to the English Bible versification in the following discussion (verse numbers in parenthesis in the text above).

Just to touch on the how Psalm 50 fits in the overall context of the Psalter, I like the grouping of the central motifs in the Psalter as outlined by Peter Ho below.

Design of the MT Psalter - Table Format_Ho.pdf

Source: “The Design of the MT Psalter: A Macrostructural Analysis” by Peter C. W. Ho (Doctoral thesis submitted 2016, Introduction and Conclusion available at Academia.edu)

Within this framework of (English Bible) Psalms 50-72, Psalm 51 (50 LXX) fits nicely within the overall motif of the fall David and that of his kingship. Yet, all things work together for good in that, later in the Psalter, the corresponding group of Psalms (104-119) portrays the establishment and victory of the ideal messianic king.

Sadly, the occasion for this psalm involved David’s fall, both into adultery and then murder. His contrition and repentance are exemplified in this psalm as an overall plea for mercy and compassion from the God who cleanses and forgives and restores sinners. If this sounds almost Pauline, then it should be no surprise that St. Paul, in his preamble to justification, quotes the LXX of vs 4 of this psalm in Romans 3:4, “so that you may be justified in your words and prevail when you judge.”

Regarding the overall plea for mercy and compassion, it seems to me (and I admit to some intuition in this proposal) there is reason to see the overall structure of Psalm 50 as ABBA (in Bold in the outline above) where 50:1 is a shorthand indicator of David’s two main categories (mercy and compassion) and these comprise the first “half” of the structural outline.  The second “half” of the structure are what might otherwise be viewed as two main sections that comprise most of Psalm 50 (50:1b-9 and 50:10-19).

I hope it will become apparent there is more than intuition in this proposal. David is as much a Rhetorician as he is Prophet and King. After almost completely deducing the structure as outlined above through analysis of verbal and thematic parallelism, it became apparent to me that David has used the vocative (“O God” and “O Lord,” yellow highlighted in the text above) as a linguistic markers for each and every major section of the rhetorical structure. Thus, the “O God” in verse 1a offers a linguistic clue that it is associated with the rest of the vocatives beginning in vs 10 ff. Since my outline above is confined to less than 2” width, it may helpful to further clarify the rest of the structure as follows.  Both main sections of the text can be reduced to simple ABAB structures within the main chiasm. Technically, the first main section could be viewed as more complicated than that.  This is because the last term B’ is actually a synthesis derived from motifs in the very first A & B terms (vs 1b-4).  In keeping with the similar pattern of vs 10-19, I simply declined (as unhelpful/unnecessary) to outline vs 1b-9 as “ABABAA” but instead view the synthesis as a whole last term B’. Except as noted below, I will leave the reader to study the outline parallels associated with these main ABAB structures.

Now within these ABAB structures there are several smaller structures.  Note, for example that before and after David’s “theocentric perspective” (vs 6) there are several “lawless/sin” parallels.

These form an additional ABABAB structure where vs 2-3 (AB) are expanded upon, first in vs 5-6. In vs 6, God’s wisdom (from the Law) was “made clear” to David such that, in the vs 3 parallel, he says, “I know” my lawlessness. The use of the “conception” metaphor in vs 5 is language associated with ritual uncleanness. (It is probably not proper to use this verse, as did St. Augustine, to defend original sin and guilt.) Rather, this verse is an allusion to the sinful environment that characterized David’s whole experience in life. Just as Job defended himself in Job 31:18 using a similar “womb” metaphor, David is admitting to the opposite, a life of sinful uncleanness from his youth onward. Note that vs 5-6 are AB matched parallel pairs in that David uses “For look” twice to introduce these two verses. The last AB pair in vs 7-8 can be matched with the previous pairs, first via the unclean metaphor (vs 5) and the verbal parallels to washing and cleansing from vs 2. Vs 8 would be the proverbial last piece of the jigsaw puzzle. This vs being a B term is not unreasonable if we observe that the joy and rejoicing of vs 8 may be associated as the likely result of one to whom God has revealed his secret wisdom from the Law. To this day, the Jews celebrate what is called “Simchat Torah” (The Joy of the Torah) at the end of Sukkot. It is a joyous end to the festival where they celebrate the centrality of Torah to Jewish communal life.

The outline above will clarify the chiastic structure in vs 10-13, which comprises the first term of the last main ABAB section. The last of the smaller structures might sneak by without notice since it spans most of the two last terms (in vs 16-19).  It is interesting how the structure adds cohesiveness to what might otherwise seem to be disparate (not desperate ;>) thoughts.  The chiasm helps the reader to see how the broken spirit of vs 17 is related to building the walls of Jerusalem. These are the inward and outward aspects, respectively, basic and intrinsic to both personal and public sacrifice.

In conclusion I also wanted the reader to observe the use of the future tense in this psalm. There are a few categories I would observe from David that maybe we can learn from and utilze in our own lives. The first category is that of “Future Grace” Yes, I know this is the title to a book by John Piper, but David thought of it first. Just as we look forward to the future grace of the resurrection so also we should look forward to God’s cleansing forgiveness (vs 7) and the opening of our own lips in praise (vs 15).  This latter verse is wonderful in that we also can observe that David, when he confessed his sins, made use of what I term in the outline as “future vows” (vs 13, 14, 15, 19). Now this idea of making a vow should not be construed as David’s wheeling and dealing with God. We might observe such behavior from a foolish person, who, being at death’s door, tries to seal a deal with God to let him live. Rather, David’s vows should be viewed as human synergy with the future grace of God. They are David’s way of cooperating with God’s grace and in so doing becoming what God intends for him to be.  50:15 says:

Future grace:     “O Lord, you will open my lips...” 

Future vow:        ...and my mouth will declare your praise”

Maybe Christians should consider making solemn vows to the Lord - ones never to be taken lightly or forgotten - in our own confession of sins to God. Maybe we should utilize the pattern of synergy (human responsibility cooperating with God’s grace) as our own pattern of life - and even use vs 15 as our own “arrow prayer.” In this way, just as David, may we all seek to be made into the image of the David’s greater son, the ideal messianic king, our Lord Jesus Christ!