Psalm 51:1 (A Contrite Sinner’s Prayer for Pardon. [A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.]) “Have mercy upon me, O Elohim!”

This Psalm was written by David, after the story we read in 2 Sam 11:27 when he fell in love with Bathsheba and had her husband killed, “But the deed that Dawiḏ had done was evil in the eyes of YHWH.” (click here to read the notes on that day’s post).

In verse 4, David says, “Be clear when You judge!”. Even though most of this Psalm is a cry to be cleansed – there is still judgement. We have seen many times, even with Moses, YHWH does forgive, and He is Gracious, but He is Righteous. Even when Mirriam overstepped with Moses, she still had to suffer a week of leprosy for her actions, even though Moses prayed for her forgiveness. David lost his son because of the death he caused. David’s sons turned against him and made war with him. There will be consequences for our actions, and rightly so, we still have to take responsibility for our actions.

The Hebrew word for repent is Teshuvah H8666 – tᵊšûḇâ, which basically means to Return. This is where there is quite a bit of difference between Hebrew and English. In english we have learned to repent is to feel regret, guilt, and shame. But in hebrew it means to Return from a path, that when we sin, we are losing our way. As David says in verse 13, “Let me teach transgressors Your ways, So that sinners turn back to You.” It does not mean that we shouldn’t feel remorse, indeed that is what shows your heart is being fixed, as in verse 17 David says, “The slaughterings of Elohim are a broken spirit, A heart broken and crushed, O Elohim, These You do not despise.”

Interestingly that in today’s word, a lack of remorse is a characteristic often associated with both narcissism and psychopaths. Narcissistic individuals may struggle to feel remorse due to their inflated sense of self and difficulty understanding others’ perspectives. Psychopaths, on the other hand, may not experience remorse due to a lack of empathy and a tendency to rationalize their actions. And a common trait of both narcissists and psychopaths is a reluctance to take responsibility for their actions. They often deflect blame, avoid accountability, and may even justify or minimize their negative behaviors. That is why both remorse and accepting responsibility (Justice) is so important with YHWH.

Another problem we have with so many christian denominations, is the concept of “once saved, always saved”. Saved is the term used for being born again. In Psalm 34’s post (click here to read more), we mentioned about the second birth Yeshua referred to, being born again. Being born again is also like Teshuvah. It is somewhere on your path, where you stop and make a choice to declare that you believe Yeshua Messiah is the Son of YHWH, and you “turn” from your ways, and you Follow Him (His Ways). The Holy Spirit (Ruach Chodesh) will start to guide you on what YHWH’s Will is, what is Righteousness, and slowly your life will start changing and people will recognize you are not the same person you were a while ago. This is part of the new road you take – it changes you.

Yeshua also said in Matthew 12:31, “Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.” This has become known as the one unforgiveable sin. Blasphemy against the Ruach is ongoing hardening of your heart against the Holy Spirit who is trying to lead you to repent of sin. Perhaps the better question is then, what is sin. 1 John 3:4 says exactly what sin is : “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the Law/Torah.” So, the Ruach will speak to your conscience – but if you resist and insist on your “own way”, then you are acting against the Ruach/Spirit of YHWH. And again we read in this same Psalm 51, when David fears.. in verse 11, “Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Set-apart/Holy Spirit from me.” He knew, he step so far in his own way, he is at risk that the Ruach of YHWH will leave him. So Psalm 51 is about return to YHWH’s Way, asking to be cleansed, accepting YHWH’s Judgement on this matter and taking responsibility. It is NOT just a cry that he is sorry and all is forgiven – that is unfortunately a misconception of repentance.

The root word for Teshuvah is Suv/Sub H7725 – šûḇ, meaning to turn back, come back or restore or recover. This same word is also used in Psalm 23, verse 3 “He restoreth H7725 my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His Name’s sake.”

• Psalm 19:7 The law of YHWH is perfect, converting H7725 the soul: the testimony of YHWH is sure, making wise the simple.
• Psalm 22:27 All the ends of the world shall remember and turn H7725 unto YHWH: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.
• Malachi 3:18 Then shall YHWH return, H7725 and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serve YHWH and him that serve Him not.