John Calvin Commentary Psalms 51:4

"Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, And done that which is evil in thy sight; That thou mayest be justified when thou speakest, And be clear when thou judgest." — Psalms 51:4 (ASV)

Against thee, thee only, have I sinned. It is the opinion of some that he here alludes to the circumstance that his sin, although committed against man, was concealed from every eye but God's. No one was aware of the double wrong he had inflicted on Uriah, nor of the reckless manner in which he had exposed his army to danger. Since his crime was thus unknown to men, it might be said to have been committed exclusively against God.

According to others, David here intimates that, however deeply he was conscious of having injured men, he was chiefly distressed because he had violated the law of God. But I understand his meaning to be this: even if all the world should pardon him, he felt that God was the Judge whom he had to answer to. Conscience summoned him to God's bar, and the voice of man could offer him no relief, however much others might be disposed to forgive, excuse, or flatter.

His eyes and his whole soul were directed to God, regardless of what man might think or say about him. For one who is so overwhelmed by the dreadfulness of being liable to God's sentence, no other accuser is needed. God is to him in place of a thousand.

There is every reason to believe that David, to prevent the flatteries of his court from soothing his mind into a false peace, recognized God's judgment on his offense. He felt that this judgment was, in itself, an intolerable burden, even if he were to escape all trouble from other people.

This will be the practice of every true penitent. It matters little to obtain acquittal at the bar of human judgment, or to escape punishment through the connivance of others, if we suffer from an accusing conscience and an offended God. And perhaps there is no better remedy against self-deception regarding our sins than to turn our thoughts inward, concentrate them on God, and lose every self-satisfied thought in a keen awareness of His displeasure.

Through a forced interpretation, some suggest reading the second clause of this verse, That thou mayest be justified when thou speakest, as connected with the first verse of the psalm, arguing that it cannot refer to the immediately preceding sentence. But aside from the fact that this disrupts the order of the verses, what sense could anyone make of the prayer if it then read, have mercy upon me, that thou mayest be clear when thou judgest? Any doubt about the meaning of these words, however, is completely removed by the context in which Paul quotes them in his Epistle to the Romans.

“For what if some did not believe? Shall God be unjust? God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mayest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.” (Romans 3:3–4)

Here these words are quoted as proof of the doctrine that God’s righteousness is evident even in men's sins, and His truth in their falsehood. To clearly understand their meaning, we must reflect on the covenant God had made with David.

Since the salvation of the whole world had, in a certain sense, been entrusted to him by this covenant, the enemies of religion might take the opportunity of his fall to exclaim: “Here is the pillar of the Church gone, and what is now to become of the miserable remnant whose hopes rested on his holiness? Once, nothing could be more conspicuous than the glory that distinguished him, but mark the depth of disgrace to which he has been reduced! Who, after such a shameful fall, would look for salvation from his seed?”

Aware that such attempts might be made to challenge God's righteousness, David takes this opportunity to justify it and to charge himself with the entire guilt of the matter.

He declares that God was justified when He spoke—not when He spoke the promises of the covenant (although some have understood the words this way), but rather, God would be justified even if He had pronounced the sentence of condemnation against him for his sin, as He might have done were it not for His free mercy.

Two forms of expression are used here that have the same meaning: that thou mayest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest. Since Paul, in the quotation already referred to, altered the latter clause and may even seem to have given a new interpretation to the meaning of the verse, I will briefly show how the words were applicable for the purpose for which he cited them.

He cites them to prove that God’s faithfulness remained unaffected by the fact that the Jews had broken His covenant and fallen from the grace He had promised. Now, at first glance, it may not be clear how they contain the alleged proof. But their suitability will be immediately clear if we reflect on the circumstance to which I have already referred.

When such a great pillar in the Church as David—so illustrious both as a prophet and a king—fell, we cannot help but believe that many were shaken and staggered in their faith in the promises. Many must have been inclined to conclude, considering the close relationship God had established with David, that God was somehow implicated in David's fall.

David, however, rejects an insinuation so damaging to God's honor. He declares that even if God were to cast him headlong into everlasting destruction, his mouth would be shut, or opened only to acknowledge God's unimpeachable justice.

The only way the apostle departs from the passage in his quotation is in using the verb to judge in a passive sense, and reading, that thou mightest overcome, instead of, that thou mightest be clear. In this, he follows the Septuagint, and it is well known that the apostles did not aim for word-for-word precision in their Old Testament quotations.

It is sufficient for us to be satisfied that the passage serves the purpose for which the apostle cited it. The general doctrine taught by this passage is that whatever sins men commit are entirely their own responsibility and can never call into question the righteousness of God.

Men are always ready to criticize His administration when it does not align with the judgment of sense and human reason. But if God should at any time raise people from deep obscurity to the highest honor, or, conversely, allow people who occupied a very prominent position to be suddenly cast down from it, we should learn from the example set before us here to judge God's actions with sobriety, modesty, and reverence. We should also be content that His way is holy, and that God's works, as well as His words, are marked by unfailing righteousness.

The conjunction in the verse, that-that thou mayest be justified, indicates not so much cause as consequence. Properly speaking, it was not David's fall that caused the glory of God’s righteousness to appear. And yet, although men, when they sin, seem to obscure His righteousness, it emerges from that vile attempt brighter than ever, for it is God's unique work to bring light out of darkness.