For I Know My Transgressions"

“For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.” (Psalm 51:3–4 ESV)

True repentance is often questioned, especially when the sin is repetitive. If we look at the Greek, the word metanoia (μετάνοια), often translated as “repentance,” speaks of a turning, a genuine change of mind, heart, and life that is not a one-time act but a way of living.1 True repentance is not just changing our mind about our sins. True repentance is trying to live our lives according to God's laws, and I do not mean the 618 Laws of Moses. Jesus told us what is important: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:37-40) 

Many do not understand that repentance comes not by our hand but by the hand of God. It is God who initiates the grace that brings on faith, and in doing so, He opens our eyes and hearts to our sin. God turns our focus away from the world and back to Him. Our repentance is not a one-time, isolated event. Repentance is part of our everyday life because, even though we have received salvation, as believers we will sin. Martin Luther said, in his Ninety-Five Theses, “Our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, when He said Poenitentiam agite [in English, ‘repent’], willed that the whole life of believers should be repentance.”2

Psalm 51 is probably the greatest example of true repentance, and we see it through David's eyes. We see three distinct steps in David’s repentance. First, David is convicted of His sin. Conviction is not just feeling bad because we have sinned, but seeing our sin the way God does and seeing the depth of the act and the offense it presents to God. This is conviction with understanding and clear thought.

A clear indicator that David recognizes his sin as an offense is that he takes possession of it. David uses the word “me” 13 times, the word “my” 12 times, and the word “I” seven times. He does not blame God or any other person. He owns his sin.

David acknowledges his iniquity. Now, using this word, iniquity reveals a lot. Iniquity is a diversion from the straight path of God. It is an act of perversion, twisted in its nature, and deviates from the righteousness of God. David walked with the Lord for a long time. He knew God's goodness and mercy, as God had saved him many times. In his adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of Uriah, David knew the darkness and twisted nature of His sin. It was only by God’s forbearance that God passed over David’s sins.

Second, David is broken by his sin. He has a contrite heart. Contrite in Hebrew is דַּכָּא (dakka), meaning crushed (literally powder, or figuratively, contrite) (Strong’s 1793). In Latin, it means worn out or ground to pieces. 3

David's sins are “every before Him,” like a video playing in his head; the depth of his iniquity will not give him peace. He knows his sin is not against himself, and while Bathsheba was involved, and His friend Uriah was murdered by his hand, and while he sinned against them, his sin was ultimately against God alone, the greatest offense he committed.

When we display the kind of grief David displayed, we reveal to God a contrite and broken heart. If you do not feel this way because, in your mind, your sins are “less” than David’s, remember even a lie is a grave sin against an all-holy God.

Lastly, David responds to God in an open confession. In his confession, David holds nothing back. He acknowledges his sin and that God can rightly punish him for his actions. David also acknowledges that God would be righteous in His judgment against him and blameless, because David had sinned greatly against God. This is an open confession. Nothing was held back in David’s plea to God for forgiveness. God clearly saw that David’s repentance was true and heartfelt.

Yet God did not destroy David, which would have been appropriate for his sins. Instead, in His divine forbearance, God passed over these former sins, (Romans 3:25) knowing that the Messiah, the Son of God would shed His blood on the cross, the perfect sacrifice, the lamb of God, and that all sins, past, present and future would be paid for through His propitiation. In doing so, it showed that God is righteous and justifies the one who has faith in Christ. (Romans 3:23-26)

Has God justified you? Do you know Jesus Christ as your Savior? If not, why do you risk an eternity of condemnation in hell when the free gift of salvation is available to you? If you are not sure what this means or how to approach the Lord, reach out to us here at In Messiah. We can share the gospel through the Scriptures that explain salvation by grace

through faith in Christ alone.

Grace and Peace.

1. J. P. Louw and E. A. Nida, eds., Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains, 2nd ed. (United Bible Societies, 1996), 1:509, Logos.

2. Martin Luther, “Ninety-Five Theses,” trans. C. M. Jacobs, in Works of Martin Luther: With Introductions and Notes, ed. Henry Eyster Jacobs and Adolph Spaeth (A. J. Holman, 1915), 1:29.

3. Contrite, Bible Hub, https://biblehub.com/topical/c/contrite.htm, accessed 9/1/2026.