Christ in Psa 51:5
Does Psa 51:5 apply to David or to all of us? Does it apply to
Christ?
"Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me"
(KJV).
"Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me"
(RSV).
"Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me"
(NIV).
I believe the first phrase refers to David's birth, and the
last phrase refers to his conception. But was it David's mother who was "in
sin", as KJV and RSV imply, or was it David himself who was "sinful", as NIV
implies? Surely the latter.
The title of Psa 51 testifies that it has to do with the sin
of David with Bathsheba; like Psalms 6, 32, 38, 102, 130, and 143, it is a psalm
of profound penitence.
Is David making an excuse in verse 5 -- ie, "I can't help
myself; I was conceived and born in sin!" In view of the abject admissions of
sin elsewhere in the psalm, this doesn't seem reasonable.
Is David blaming his mother for his own sin -- ie, "I was
conceived out of wedlock; therefore it is my mother's fault that I am a sinner!"
Again, this doesn't make sense in view of his other admissions of his own
sin.
Or... is David simply describing the legacy of "sin" in his
own human nature, not as an irresistible impulse to do evil, as something which
he was powerless to resist, but as an inclination toward evil which he failed to
resist? (I would think this must be the case.)
In the same sense we are all "sinful at birth, sinful from the
time [our] mothers conceived [us]".
Was this also true of Jesus? Of course. "Who can bring a clean
thing out of an unclean? There is not one" (Job 14:4).
"How then can man be righteous before God? How can he who is
born of woman be clean? Behold, even the moon is not bright and the stars are
not clean in his sight; how much less man, who is a maggot, and the son of man,
who is a worm!" (Job 25:4-6). Can such words properly be applied to Jesus? He
applies similar words to himself, if we understand Psa 22 as his words
prophetically: "But I am a worm, and no man; scorned by men, and despised by the
people" (v 6).
"Now Joshua (surely a type of Jesus?) was standing before the
angel, clothed with filthy garments. And the angel said to those who were
standing before him, 'Remove the filthy garments from him.' And to him he said,
'Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with
rich apparel' " (Zech 3:3,4). Jesus as the true high priest was clothed in,
symbolically, "filthy garments", which are equated with "iniquity"; when were
these "filthy garments" taken away? At his resurrection, both literally and
figuratively.
Was Jesus, like all of us, conceived in "sin", and born in
"sin"? Of course. How else explain the offerings for cleansing from childbirth?
Or the ceremonial "uncleanness" of menstruation -- unless it be connected with
childbirth? Or the need for circumcision, along with another offering, even for
the baby Jesus? Or, for that matter, the need for baptism: "Thus it becometh us
to fulfill all righteousness..."? Or, again, the need for the high priest to
offer for himself as well as the sins of the people whom he
represents?
But how could Jesus be connected with the confessions of sin
committed which we find in Psa 51 (eg, vv 2,3,5,7,9)? He can, in the sense that
he shared the weaknesses and temptations of human nature ('tempted in all points
like we are...compassed with infirmity...learned obedience...": Heb 4:15; 5:2,3;
etc.), and in the sense that such words were prophecies of his bearing the
burden of human sin (cp John 1:29; 2Co 5:21; 1Pe 2:22,24; Rom 8:3; Heb 2:14,15).
From this point of view, all the verses in Psa 51 listed above are truly
Messianic.
Of course, the verses of confession in Psa 51 need to be read
regarding Jesus with a different slant from what David meant when writing about
himself, or from what we mean when praying about ourselves. But this is a normal
characteristic of Messianic prophecy. For example, the "leprosy" expressions of
Isa 53 have an obvious figurative meaning with reference to Jesus and the
sin-disease, but they fit Hezekiah, the prototype, in a strictly literal
fashion.
There are, in fact, quite a number of psalms with
Scripturally-attested Messianic application, in which "sin" and "iniquity" are
associated with the subject. Some examples:
- Psa 40: Vv 6-8 are cited as prophetic of Christ in Heb 10:7-9. But v 12
reads: "Mine iniquities have taken hold of me."
- Psa 41: V 9 is applied to
Christ in Mark 14:18 and John 13:18. But v 4 reads: "I have sinned against
thee."
- Psa 69: Vv 4,8,9,21,22, and 25 all have NT Messianic citations. Yet v
5 speaks of "my foolishness... my sins."
Here are three undeniably Messianic psalms. Yet each contains
phrases that seem at first glance inappropriate to a sinless Messiah. How should
we deal with such "problems"? Some might argue, for example, that Psa 69:1-4 and
Psa 69:6-36 are all Messianic (surely they are!), but that Psa 69:5 alone out of
the whole psalm applies only to David. But is this really a satisfactory or
satisfying way of handling Scripture? Does it not in fact create more problems
than it solves?
This approach (ie, of applying the terms "sin" and "iniquity"
in such passages to the nature Christ bore) was regularly followed by the
earliest Christadelphian expositors. John Thomas, as an example, wrote the
following:
"Sin, I say, is a synonym for human nature. Hence, the flesh is invariably
regarded as unclean. It is therefore written... [here JT quotes Job 25:4; 14:4;
15:14-16; 2Co 5:21; Rom 8:3]... Sin could not have been condemned in the body of
Jesus, if it had not existed there. His body was as unclean as the bodies of
those for whom he died; for he was born of a woman, and 'not one' can bring a
clean body out of a defiled body; for 'that,' says Jesus himself, 'which is born
of the flesh is flesh' (John 3:6)...
"Speaking of the conception and preparation of the Seed, the prophet as a
typical person, says, 'Behold I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother
conceive me' (Psa 51:5). This is nothing more than affirming that he was born of
sinful flesh; and not of the pure and incorruptible angelic nature" ("Elpis
Israel" 127,128).
