Psalm 51 · a question people ask
"Against you, and you only, I have sinned" (51:4). Didn't David wrong people too?
Inside the psalm, the one the psalmist says he sinned against is God: "Against you, and you only, I have sinned, and done that which is evil in your sight" (51:4). The title sets the psalm "when Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba" (51:1), and 2 Samuel tells what Nathan said to David from the LORD: "You have struck Uriah the Hittite with the sword, have taken his wife to be your wife" (2 Samuel 12:9), and "you have despised me" (2 Samuel 12:10). David answered, "I have sinned against the LORD" (2 Samuel 12:13). In the psalm, 51:4 goes on, "so you may be proved right when you speak, and justified when you judge" (51:4), and later the psalmist asks, "Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God" (51:14). The psalm doesn't say how "you only" sits beside 2 Samuel's words, and these notes don't add an explanation.
The verses
“For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David, when Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Have mercy on me, God, according to your loving kindness. According to the multitude of your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions.”
“Against 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.”
“Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, the God of my salvation. My tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.”
“Why have you despised the LORD’s word, to do that which is evil in his sight? You have struck Uriah the Hittite with the sword, have taken his wife to be your wife, and have slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. Now therefore the sword will never depart from your house, because you have despised me and have taken Uriah the Hittite’s wife to be your wife.’”