AFTER ADULTERY, this is the prayer.

The title to Psalm 51 in the Bible says King David wrote this prayer after his adultery with Bathsheba, and after arranging the battlefield death of her husband, an elite soldier in his army.

Here’s David’s prayer, humbly spoken:

“Please be kind to me, God, since lovingkindness is who you are.

So I’m asking for your compassion. Please erase my sin. Wash my sin away. Get rid of every trace.

I know what I did was wrong. I think of it all the time. When it comes right down to it, you’re the one I sinned against.

What I did was evil. You know it was. Whatever judgment call you make will be fair. You’ll have every right to do whatever you decide.

It feels like I was born sinful, conceived in sin.

You want me to be honest with you about everything, secrets included. You’ll need to teach me the wisdom I need to deal honestly with those secrets. I know you will.

Touch me and I will be clean. Wash me and I will be whiter than snow.

I want to hear the sound of joy. I want my broken spirit to sing. Don’t look at my sin anymore. Get rid of it. Wipe my sin away. Please God, create a clean heart in me. And give me a spirit stubbornly devoted to you.

Don’t send me away. Don’t leave me alone, without your Holy Spirit. Again let me feel the joy of you saving me. Strengthen me with a spirit devoted to you. Then I can teach others like me your way of life so they, too, might come back to you.

Save me from the blood on my hands. Please, God. Only you can save me. Then I’ll sing about how good you’ve been to me.

Please Lord, give me the words. Help me tell others how wonderful you are. Sacrifices aren’t what you want from me. If they were, I’d give them to you. But an animal burned on the altar will not please you this time.

The best sacrifice for sin Is a broken heart. You won’t turn your back on a heart full of regret and sorrow.” Psalm 51:1-17, Casual English Bible

The Adulterer’s Prayer, link to a reading and video of the prayer

Casual English Bible
Bible Gateway