{"id":83932,"date":"2020-11-23T14:15:02","date_gmt":"2020-11-23T12:15:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=83932"},"modified":"2020-11-23T14:15:02","modified_gmt":"2020-11-23T12:15:02","slug":"a-contrite-heart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/a-contrite-heart\/","title":{"rendered":"A Contrite Heart"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Psalm 51 gives expression to David\u2019s thoughts and emotions at a pivotal moment of his career, \u201cwhen Nathan the prophet came to him after he had come to Bathsheba.\u201d The poem exposes David\u2019s spirit when he utters his great admission, \u201cI stand guilty before the Lord.\u201d One can easily imagine David harboring the feelings in this prayer and voicing them internally:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHave mercy upon me, O God, as befits Your faithfulness; in keeping with Your abundant compassion, blot out my transgressions.<\/span>
\n<\/span>Wash me thoroughly of my iniquity, and purify me of my sin; for I recognize my transgressions, and am ever conscious of my sin.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

David is fully cognizant of his sin, yet he needs to throw himself upon God\u2019s mercy, for God alone can forgive him. As we saw in the story, David\u2019s confession is only marginally liberating, given that it is followed by his awareness of the severity and justness of God\u2019s punishment:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAgainst You alone have I sinned, and done what is evil in Your sight; so You are just in Your sentence, and right in Your judgment.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

David acquiesces to his punishment and is paralyzed in terror by it simultaneously. In the psalm, he asks God to restore their relationship, lift from him the burden of his sin, and give him the ability to begin anew.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHide Your face from my sins; blot out all my iniquities.Fashion a pure heart for me, O God; create in me a steadfast spirit.<\/span>
\n<\/span>Do not cast me out of Your presence, or take Your holy spirit away from me\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

Between the lines of David\u2019s faith in God\u2019s power to redeem him, we can hear David\u2019s anxieties. A steadfast spirit is precisely what David lacks. Indeed, he proves unable to control his manipulative, competing sons. David\u2019s greatest fear is that his \u201chouse\u201d will suffer the same fate as Saul\u2019s at God\u2019s hands.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For now, toward the end of the psalm, David returns to the strategy that won him God\u2019s favor for so long: \u201cTrue sacrifice to God is a contrite spirit; God, You will not despise a contrite and crushed heart.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cA contrite and crushed heart\u201d beautifully expresses David\u2019s state of mind after Nathan\u2019s accusation and God\u2019s promise of punishment. David is hopeful that God will reward a king\u2014even this king\u2014with genuine contrition and humility. The psalm shows David spiritually reorienting himself: acknowledging his mistakes and casting himself upon God\u2019s mercy. It transforms the flawed, opaque figure of biblical history into a hero of spiritual life\u2014a man who wrestles with pangs of conscience, voices genuine penitence, and finds hope in his faith in God\u2019s justice. It also helps to transform our relationship to David, by having warmed the blood in the cold heart of this ambitious, conflicted king.<\/span><\/p>\n

Excerpted from<\/em> <\/span>The Biblical Hero: Portraits in Nobility and Fallibility <\/span>by Elliott Rabin by permission of the Jewish Publication Society<\/span><\/em>. \u00a92020 by Elliott Rabin.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":69430,"id":69430,"title":"BiblicalHero","filename":"BiblicalHero.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/BiblicalHero.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-gap-between-god-and-humankind\/biblicalhero\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"biblicalhero","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":69219,"date":"2020-02-02 17:04:11","modified":"2020-11-23 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