Psalm 51
Psalm 51: Have Mercy on Me, O God
The Miserere, the Church's great prayer of repentance: honest about sin, sure of mercy, and prayed every Friday morning.
Psalm 51, the Miserere, is the Catholic Church’s greatest prayer of repentance, attributed to King David after the prophet Nathan confronted him. It pleads for pardon and renewal, “Create in me a clean heart, O God,” and the Church prays it on Friday mornings and on Ash Wednesday.
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Psalm 51 in full
For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David, when Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.
1Have mercy on me, God, according to your loving kindness.According to the multitude of your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions.2Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity.Cleanse me from my sin.3For I know my transgressions.My sin is constantly before me.4Against you, and you only, I have sinned,and done that which is evil in your sight,so you may be proved right when you speak,and justified when you judge.5Behold, I was born in iniquity.My mother conceived me in sin.6Behold, you desire truth in the inward parts.You teach me wisdom in the inmost place.7Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean.Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.8Let me hear joy and gladness,that the bones which you have broken may rejoice.9Hide your face from my sins,and blot out all of my iniquities.10Create in me a clean heart, O God.Renew a right spirit within me.11Don’t throw me from your presence,and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me.12Restore to me the joy of your salvation.Uphold me with a willing spirit.13Then I will teach transgressors your ways.Sinners will be converted to you.14Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, the God of my salvation.My tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.15Lord, open my lips.My mouth will declare your praise.16For you don’t delight in sacrifice, or else I would give it.You have no pleasure in burnt offering.17The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit.O God, you will not despise a broken and contrite heart.18Do well in your good pleasure to Zion.Build the walls of Jerusalem.19Then you will delight in the sacrifices of righteousness,in burnt offerings and in whole burnt offerings.Then they will offer bulls on your altar.
Psalm 51 · WEBC
Psalm 50 (51) · Douay-Rheims +
1Unto the end, a psalm of David,2When Nathan the prophet came to him after he had sinned with Bethsabee.3Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy great mercy. And according to the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my iniquity.4Wash me yet more from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.5For I know my iniquity, and my sin is always before me.6To thee only have I sinned, and have done evil before thee: that thou mayst be justified in thy words and mayst overcome when thou art judged.7For behold I was conceived in iniquities; and in sins did my mother conceive me.8For behold thou hast loved truth: the uncertain and hidden things of thy wisdom thou hast made manifest to me.9Thou shalt sprinkle me with hyssop, and I shall be cleansed: thou shalt wash me, and I shall be made whiter than snow.10To my hearing thou shalt give joy and gladness: and the bones that have been humbled shall rejoice.11Turn away thy face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.12Create a clean heart in me, O God: and renew a right spirit within my bowels.13Cast me not away from thy face; and take not thy holy spirit from me.14Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, and strengthen me with a perfect spirit.15I will teach the unjust thy ways: and the wicked shall be converted to thee.16Deliver me from blood, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall extol thy justice.17O Lord, thou wilt open my lips: and my mouth shall declare thy praise.18For if thou hadst desired sacrifice, I would indeed have given it: with burnt offerings thou wilt not be delighted.19A sacrifice to God is an afflicted spirit: a contrite and humbled heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.20Deal favourably, O Lord, in thy good will with Sion; that the walls of Jerusalem may be built up.21Then shalt thou accept the sacrifice of justice, oblations and whole burnt offerings: then shall they lay calves upon thy altar.
“A sacrifice to God is an afflicted spirit: a contrite and humbled heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.”
Go deeper
What Psalm 51 Means
Psalm 51 — numbered Psalm 50 in the Vulgate and Douay-Rheims, and known by its Latin opening as the Miserere — is the Church’s greatest prayer of repentance. Its superscription places it in the mouth of King David after the prophet Nathan confronted him over his sin with Bathsheba, and it has become the prayer of every sinner since. It does not minimise or explain away wrongdoing; it names it plainly — transgression, iniquity, sin — and then throws itself entirely on the mercy of God: “Have mercy on me, God, according to your loving kindness. Blot out my transgressions.”
What makes the Miserere so beloved of the tradition is its movement from honesty to hope. David asks not only to be forgiven but to be remade — “Create in me a clean heart, O God” — using the same verb, bara, that Genesis uses for God creating the world from nothing. Forgiveness here is a new creation. Saint Augustine, who knew his own conversion intimately, saw in verse 17 the whole secret of Christian penance: “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” God asks not for ritual alone but for the humbled heart. This is why the psalm sits at the centre of the seven Penitential Psalms and at the heart of the Church’s liturgy of repentance — and why its plea is directed to God alone, for it is God alone who forgives sin, working through the ministry of the Church.
Liturgical Use in the Catholic Church
Psalm 51 is woven through the Church’s life more deeply than almost any other psalm. In the Liturgy of the Hours it is prayed at Morning Prayer every Friday, the day of the Lord’s Passion, so that the whole Church begins each Friday in repentance. It is the responsorial psalm of Ash Wednesday, opening the season of Lent, and it recurs throughout Lent and in the ancient Tenebrae services of Holy Week. Its verse “Thou shalt sprinkle me with hyssop” (the Asperges me) gives the Church the chant sung as the faithful are sprinkled with holy water. It is a natural companion to the Sacrament of Penance and to communal celebrations of reconciliation, and it stands first in devotion among the seven Penitential Psalms.
Praying Psalm 51 — A Simple Practice
Pray Psalm 51 whenever you need to return to God — before confession, at an examination of conscience, or on any day your sins weigh on you. Pray it slowly and personally, letting its honesty become your own: name your sin to God as David does, without excuse, and then ask not only for pardon but for a clean heart. It is an ideal preparation for the Sacrament of Penance; many Catholics pray it on the way to confession and again as a thanksgiving afterward. Friday is its traditional day — join the whole Church, which prays it every Friday morning. Rest especially on verse 17: what God will never despise is “a broken and contrite heart,” so bring him yours exactly as it is.
David’s psalm is the best known of the Bible’s prayers of turning back; the others, from the prodigal son to Peter, are gathered with prayers of repentance and the Act of Contrition.
Questions people ask
Is Psalm 51 the same as Psalm 50?
Yes. Modern Bibles and the Hebrew number it Psalm 51, while the Vulgate and Douay-Rheims number it Psalm 50, following the Greek Septuagint. It is the same psalm — “Have mercy on me, O God” — known in the Latin tradition as the Miserere, from its first word.
What is the Miserere?
“Miserere” is simply the first word of Psalm 51 in Latin — miserere mei, Deus, “have mercy on me, O God.” The name has become the traditional title for the psalm, the most famous of the Church’s prayers of repentance, and for the many musical settings composed for it, such as Allegri’s.
Why is Psalm 51 called a penitential psalm?
Because its whole subject is sorrow for sin and the plea for God’s mercy. It is the fourth and best-known of the seven Penitential Psalms (6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, 143), a group the Church has long prayed together as her chief scriptural expression of repentance, especially in Lent.
What does “create in me a clean heart” mean?
It is a plea to be not merely forgiven but inwardly remade. The Hebrew word for “create” is the one used of God making the world from nothing, so David is asking God to do something only God can do — to give him a new heart. It expresses the truth that conversion is God’s work of grace, not just our effort.
Can I pray Psalm 51 before confession?
Yes, and it is one of the best preparations there is. Praying it helps you name your sins honestly and turn to God’s mercy with real contrition before you approach the priest. Many Catholics pray it on the way to confession and again in thanksgiving afterward. Forgiveness of grave sin is given through the Sacrament of Penance, and the psalm disposes the heart to receive it.
Who wrote Psalm 51 and why?
The psalm is attributed to King David, and its heading ties it to a specific moment: after the prophet Nathan confronted him over his adultery with Bathsheba and the death of her husband. Out of that concrete fall came the Church’s universal prayer of repentance, prayed by sinners of every age since.
