Why read Psalm 50?
Psalm 50 is a prayer of repentance, forgiveness and renewal of the heart. Its plea for mercy and a clean heart makes it especially appropriate for examining your conscience and preparing for confession.
You can read this psalm when its themes speak to your circumstances, or as part of your regular reading of the Psalter. This explanation draws on the text itself; the psalm is not reserved for one particular need.
Psalm 50 — “Have mercy on me, O God, according to Thy great mercy” — is the most widely read psalm of repentance. King David wrote it after his sin with Bathsheba, at the rebuke of the prophet Nathan, and for three thousand years it has been the prayer of those who fall and rise again.
The complete text of Psalm 50
Have mercy on me, O God, according to Thy great mercy
and according to the multitude of Thy compassions
blot out my iniquity.Wash me more thoroughly from my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.
For I know my iniquity
and my sin is always before me.Against Thee alone have I sinned
and done evil before Thee,
that Thou mayest be justified in Thy words
and prevail when Thou judgest.For behold, I was conceived in iniquities
and in sins my mother bore me.
For behold, Thou hast loved truth;
the unrevealed and hidden things of Thy wisdom
Thou hast shown unto me.Thou wilt sprinkle me with hyssop, and I shall be cleansed;
Thou wilt wash me, and I shall become whiter than snow.
Thou wilt give joy and gladness to my hearing;
my humbled bones shall rejoice.Turn Thy face away from my sins
and blot out all my iniquities.
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right spirit within me.Cast me not away from Thy face
and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me.
Give me the joy of Thy salvation
and uphold me with a governing spirit.I will teach the lawless Thy ways
and unbelievers shall return unto Thee.
Deliver me from bloodshed, O God,
God of my salvation;
my tongue shall rejoice in Thy righteousness.O Lord, Thou wilt open my lips
and my mouth shall declare Thy praise.
For hadst Thou desired sacrifice, I would have given it;
Thou wilt not favour burnt offerings.
The sacrifice of God is a humbled spirit;
a broken and humble heart God will not despise.Do good, O Lord, in Thy good pleasure unto Zion,
and may the walls of Jerusalem be built.
Then shalt Thou favour the sacrifice of righteousness,
the offering and burnt offerings;
then shall they place calves upon Thine altar.
What Psalm 50 teaches us
Three movements of the soul: acknowledgement (“I know my iniquity”), asking forgiveness (“blot out my iniquity”) and rebirth (“create in me a clean heart”). The verse “renew a right spirit within me” is also recited at Holy Unction. The psalm does not leave a person in ashes: through repentance one emerges cleansed, “whiter than snow”.
When it is read
- At every Divine Liturgy, in the third part (after the Cherubic Hymn);
- In preparation for Confession and Communion;
- When conscience weighs heavily: after a sin, a quarrel or a fall;
- During fasts, together with the Prayer of Saint Ephrem the Syrian.
Frequently asked questions
Psalm 50 or 51? As with Psalm 90, Orthodox numbering (the Septuagint) gives it as 50; Western translations call it 51. It is the same psalm of David.
Can it be read for someone who has died? Yes, it is among the psalms read at wakes and memorial services, alongside Psalm 90 and 118/119.
Read also
The entire Psalter
The complete text of all the psalms (1–151), arranged by kathisma: The Psalter — the complete list.
The numbering follows the Orthodox Psalter (Septuagint). The same psalm may have a different number in other Bible editions.
