Psalm 51:9-11

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Psalm 51:9 sn In this context Hide your face from my sins means “Do not hold me accountable for my sins.”
2. Psalm 51:9 tn See the note on the similar expression “wipe away my rebellious acts” in v. 1.
3. Psalm 51:10 sn The heart is viewed here as the seat of the psalmist’s motives and moral character.
4. Psalm 51:10 tn Heb “and a reliable spirit renew in my inner being.”
5. Psalm 51:11 tn Heb “do not cast me away from before you.”
6. Psalm 51:11 sn Your holy Spirit. The personal Spirit of God is mentioned frequently in the OT, but only here and in Isa 63:10-11 is he called “your/his holy Spirit.”
7. Psalm 51:11 sn Do not take…away. The psalmist expresses his fear that, due to his sin, God will take away the Holy Spirit from him. NT believers enjoy the permanent gift of the Holy Spirit and need not make such a request nor fear such a consequence. However, in the OT God’s Spirit empowered certain individuals for special tasks and only temporarily resided in them. For example, when God rejected Saul as king and chose David to replace him, the divine Spirit left Saul and came upon David (1 Sam 16:13-14). An alternative understanding of this verse is that the term Holy Spirit is simply metaphorical for the Lord’s presence, but this is unlikely given the other use of the term in Isa 63:10, where the Holy Spirit is personal and distinct from God himself.