Psalm 51:2 NKJV
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
And cleanse me from my sin.
Hating the Sin, Not Just the Penalty
MY NOTES
“Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin.” — Psalm 51:2 (NKJV)
Have you ever walked around all day with a piece of spinach in your teeth or a massive smudge on your face, only to catch a glimpse of yourself in a mirror at 4:00 PM and think, “Why didn’t anyone tell me?”
For King David, that “smudge” was a year-long season of adultery and murder. He had lived in a state of spiritual filth for months, seemingly oblivious to the stench, until Nathan the Prophet showed up and held up the mirror of God’s Word. Suddenly, David didn’t just see a mistake; he saw a stain.
When David cries out, “Wash me thoroughly,” the original language suggests a “multiplying” of the wash. He’s essentially saying, “Lord, don’t just give me a quick rinse. Throw me on the heavy-duty cycle. Wash me, and then wash me again, and don’t stop until the last trace of the dye is gone.” He knew that sin isn’t like dust that you can just blow off; it’s like a deep, crimson dye that becomes “ingrained” in the fabric of who we are. A hypocrite is satisfied if their clothes look clean to the public. A true follower, like David, cries out, “Wash me.” He wanted the “swinish nature”—the part of him that was drawn to the mud in the first place—to be dealt with.
The Difference Between Regret and Repentance
There is a massive difference between being sorry you got caught and being sorry you did it. Most people are “alarmed at the gallows,” meaning they fear the prison or the loss of reputation. But David was “sick of the sin.” He wasn’t just asking for the “account” to be cleared; he was asking for his character to be purified.
He asks for “washing” (the process) and “cleansing” (the result). He didn’t care if it took “water or fire,” as long as the result was a soul that could finally stand before a Holy God without flinching. When we get serious about the evil of our sin, God gets “gentle” with our restoration. He isn’t looking to punish you; He’s looking to wash you so you can walk with Him again.
Key Takeaways
- The Mirror of Truth: We often don’t realize how much sin has stained us until we look into the “mirror” of Scripture or listen to a “Nathan” in our lives.
- Total Purification: David wasn’t looking for a “nominal” or surface-level fix. He wanted a “complete and deep” internal scrubbing of his soul.
- Sin vs. Consequences: True repentance hates the sin itself, not just the “painful consequences” that follow.
- The Means and the End: Washing is the work God does in us; cleansing is the state He brings us into. Through Christ, the “water and the blood” provide both.
Cross References (NKJV)
2 Samuel 12:13
“So David said to Nathan, ‘I have sinned against the Lord.’ And Nathan said to David, ‘The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die.’”
Isaiah 1:16
“Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil,”
1 John 1:7
“But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.”
Titus 3:5
“Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,”
A Closing Prayer
Abba, I’m tired of trying to spot-clean my own life. I’ve tried to cover the stains, but I know You see them clearly. I ask You today to wash me thoroughly. Multiply the washing, Lord. Don’t let a single trace of my old ‘nature’ remain. I want to hate what You hate and love what You love. Thank You for the blood of Jesus that doesn’t just cover sin but cleanses it entirely. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
Things to Think About:
- The Nathan Factor: Who are the “Nathans” in your life? Do you give them permission to hold up the mirror, or do you find yourself getting defensive when they point out a “stain”?
- Laundry Day: If you were to be “washed thoroughly” today, what specific “ingrained” habit or thought-pattern are you asking God to throw into the heavy-duty cycle?
- The Motive Check: Be honest: Are you currently more worried about the “gallows” (the consequences/reputation) or the “sin” (the act itself)? How does that change your prayer?
- The Result of Cleansing: How would your “access to God” feel different if you truly believed you were “thoroughly washed” right now?
Proverb for Today
The eyes of the Lord are in every place, Keeping watch on the evil and the good. Proverbs 15:3 NKJV
Daily Scripture
And I will make you to this people a fortified bronze wall; And they will fight against you, But they shall not prevail against you; For I am with you to save you And deliver you,” says the Lord. “I will deliver you from the hand of the wicked, And I will redeem you from the grip of the terrible.” Jeremiah 15:20-21 NKJV
Bill
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Summary of Commentaries:
David’s plea to be “washed thoroughly” reveals a soul desperate for deep, repeated purification, not just a surface-level rinse. Commentators note that sin is ingrained like permanent dye, requiring God to “multiply” the washing through intense kneading or beating. David seeks to be rid of the sin itself—its internal guilt and “swinish nature”—rather than merely escaping its external punishment. He identifies “washing” as the active means and “cleansing” as the final state of his total restoration.
Commentaries:
Charles Spurgeon
“Wash me throughly.” It is not enough to blot out the sin; his person is defiled, and he fain would be purified. He would have God himself cleanse him, for none but he could do it effectually. The washing must be thorough, it must be repeated, therefore he cries, “Multiply to wash me.” The dye is in itself immovable, and I, the sinner, have lain long in it, till the crimson is ingrained; but, Lord, wash, and wash, and wash again, till the last stain is gone, and not a trace of my defilement is left. The hypocrite is content if his garments be washed, but the true suppliant cries, “wash me.” The careless soul is content with a nominal cleansing, but the truly awakened conscience desires a real and practical washing, and that of a most complete and efficient kind.
Wash me throughly from mine iniquity.” It is viewed as one great pollution, polluting the entire nature, and as all his own; as if nothing were so much his own as his sin. The one sin against Bathsheba, served to show the psalmist the whole mountain of his iniquity, of which that foul deed was but one falling stone. He desires to be rid of the whole mass of his filthiness, which though once so little observed, had then become a hideous and haunting terror to his mind.
“And cleanse me from my sin.” This is a more general expression; as if the psalmist said, “Lord, if washing will not do, try some other process; if water avails not, let fire, let anything be tried, so that I may but be purified. Rid me of my sin by some means, by any means, by every means, only do purify me completely, and leave no guilt upon my soul.” It is not the punishment he cries out against, but the sin. Many a murderer is more alarmed at the gallows than at the murder which brought him to it. The thief loves the plunder, though he fears the prison. Not so David: he is sick of sin as sin; his loudest outcries are against the evil of his transgression, and not against the painful consequences of it. When we deal seriously with our sin, God will deal gently with us. When we hate what the Lord hates, he will soon make an end of it, to our joy and peace.
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Enduring Word
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity: The word of God through Nathan the Prophet worked like a mirror to show David how dirty and stained he was. He had lived in that condition for some time (perhaps a year) without an acute knowledge of his iniquity and sin. Now the sense of the stain drove him to beg to be cleansed. (Guzik)
i. “Wash me thoroughly, Hebrew multiply to wash me; by which phrase he implies the greatness of his guilt, and the insufficiency of all legal washings, and the absolute necessity of some other and better thing to wash him.” (Poole)
ii. Wash me thoroughly: “The word employed is significant, in that it probably means washing by kneading or beating, not by simple rinsing.” (Maclaren)
iii. Wash me thoroughly: “To be cleansed not only from outward defilements, but from his swinish nature; for though a swine be washed never so clean, if she retain her nature, she will be ready to wallow in the next guzzle.” (Trapp)
iv. David used several words to speak of his offense against God.
· Transgressions has the idea of crossing a boundary.
· Iniquity has the idea of twistedness or perversion.
· Sin has the idea of falling short or missing the mark. (Guzik)
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Albert Barnes
Wash me throughly from mine iniquity – literally, “Multiply to wash me.” The word rendered “throughly” is a verb, either in the infinitive or imperative mood, and suggests the idea of “multiplying” or “increasing.” The reference is to that which might need constant or repeated washings in order to remove a stain adverbially to denote intensity, or thoroughness. On the word wash as applicable to sin, see Isaiah 1:16.
And cleanse me from my sin – Remove it entirely. Make me wholly pure. See Isaiah 1:16. In what manner he hoped that this would be done is shown in the following portions of the psalm. It was –
(a) by forgiveness of the past, Psalms 51:9; and
(b) by making the heart pure and holy through the renewing and sanctifying influences of the Holy Spirit, Psalms 51:10-11.
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John Gill
Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity,…. Which supposes defilement by sin, and that very great, and such as none can remove but the Lord himself; who, when he takes it in hand, does it effectually and thoroughly; see Ezekiel 36:25. David’s sin had long lain upon him, the faith of it had as it were eaten into him, and spread itself over him, and therefore he needed much washing: “wash me much,” all over, and thoroughly:
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Matthew Henry
“Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity; wash my soul from the guilt and stain of my sin by thy mercy and grace, for it is only from a ceremonial pollution that the water of separation will avail to cleanse me. Multiple to wash me; the stain is deep, for I have lain long soaking in the guilt, so that it will not easily be got out. O wash me much, wash me thoroughly. Cleanse me from my sin.” Sin defiles us, renders us odious in the sight of the holy God, and uneasy to ourselves; it unfits us for communion with God in grace or glory. When God pardons sin he cleanses us from it, so that we become acceptable to him, easy to ourselves, and have liberty of access to him. Nathan had assured David, upon his first profession of repentance, that his sin was pardoned. The Lord has taken away thy sin; thou shalt not die, 2 Sa. 12:13. Yet he prays, Wash me, cleanse, blot out my transgressions; for God will be sought unto even for that which he has promised; and those whose sins are pardoned must pray that the pardon may be more and more cleared up to them. God had forgiven him, but he could not forgive himself; and therefore he is thus importunate for pardon, as one that thought himself unworthy of it and knew how to value it.
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Miscellaneous Comments
“Wash me…cleanse me.” But why should David speak so superfluously? use two words when one would serve? For if we be cleansed, what matter is it whether it be by washing or no? Yet David had great reason for using both words; for he requires not that God would cleanse him by miracle, but by the ordinary way of cleansing, and this was washing; he names therefore washing as the means, and cleansing as the end: he names washing as the work a doing, and cleansing as the work done; he names washing as considering the agent, and cleansing as applying it to the patient; and indeed, as in the figure of the law there was not, so in the verity of the gospel there is not any ordinary means of cleansing, but only by washing; and therefore out of Christ our Savior’s side there flowed water and blood.
—Sir Richard Baker.
“Cleanse me from my sin.” Observe, it is from the guilt, and not from the punishment, that he thus asked deliverance. That the sword should never depart from his house; that the sin, begun, not only secretly even in its full accomplishment, but far more secretly in the recesses of David’s heart, should be punished before all Israel and before the sun; that the child so dear to David should be made one great punishment of his offence; these things, so far as this Psalm is concerned, might, or might not be. It is of the offence against God; of the defiling, although it were not then so expressly declared, God’s temple by impurity, that David speaks.
—Ambrose, in J. M. Neale’s Commentary.
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