Footnotes:

1. Psalm 51:6 The Hebrew word bat-ţūhôt, although difficult to translate, can mean “something that is covered over, hidden, or concealed.” You could paraphrase this as “You desire light in my darkness” or “You want truth to expose my secrets.”
2. Psalm 51:7 The Hebrew text contains the word hyssop. This was a bushy plant used for sprinkling blood on a healed leper to ceremonially cleanse him for the worship of God. See Lev. 14:3-7 and Num. 19.
3. Psalm 51:7 Or “Wash me with the snow from above so I can be whitened.”
4. Psalm 51:8 In this beautiful verse, the “broken places” are literally “broken bones.” Our bones speak allegorically of our inner being, our emotional strength.