Psalm 51 in Romans 3:4

Some interesting things going on in Paul’s quotation from Psalm 51 in Romans 3:4:

1) The surface significance is pretty clear. Earlier in the chapter, Paul has raised the question about how the PISTIS of God can be manifest if “some” in Israel have been APISTIA, so unfaithful to their calling that they are arousing blasphemy rather than praise from the nations (2:24). When God brings Israel under judgment for her APISTIA, how then can His faithfulness to His covenant be displayed? The Psalm quotation answers this by showing that God is “justified” and proven to be in the right, He is “victorious” (NIKESEIS) in the courtroom conflict with David, because David has in fact sinned. David’s acknowledgement of his sin gives Yahweh the victory in the legal contest. So also, God’s judgment against Israel displays His righteousness because applying the curses to Israel is an act that grows out of Yahweh’s covenant commitment to Israel. Punishment is not a violation of Yahweh’s role in the covenant, but a fulfillment of it.

2) The situation that provokes the Psalm is important for Paul’s use of it, in a couple of ways. Hays shows in Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul that Paul is playing a “Nathan” role in the early chapters of Romans. He tells a story of worldwide idolatry and sin, and then points the finger at the reader and the “Jew” and says “Thou art the man.” This is intended to drive the Jew especially who is reading the letter to acknowledge, with David, that God is completely in the right to bring judgment against Israel. Further, David’s representative role in relation to Israel is in the background. Under the Davidic covenant, the king functioned as a kind of Adamic head of Israel, the new humanity (2 Sam 7:14; cf my A Son For Me ). His sin with Bathsheba is representative of Israel’s unfaithfulness, causes division within the house of David (divided kingdom), and eventually forces David into exile for a time (during the rebellion of Absalom). Thus, Paul’s “corporate” use of the Psalm is quite appropriate; though David himself has sinned, he sinned AS KING and as head of Israel.

3) The Psalm includes a number of promises of NC blessing: David asks Yahweh to wash him, to sprinkle him clean, to give him a clean heart, and not to remove His Spirit. As NT Wright points out in his comments on Rom 3, many of these notions have parallels in Ezek 36, which Paul alludes to at the end of chapter 2. Thus, the sequence of the Psalm, and of Paul’s gospel, is this: God’s wrath is revealed from heaven against the unrighteousness of men. The way to escape this judicial wrath is to submit to it, to accept God’s judgment, to acknowledge Him the Victor. By doing this, the sinner “justifies God,” acknowledges that God is in the right, contributes to the “proof” that God is in the right. But having submitted to the judgment of God, and having allowed God to gain the victory over him, the sinner is also trusting God to justify Him ?Eand that means to raise him up, declare him in the right, and rescue him from his sin. When we submit to God’s judgment and justify Him, and entrust ourselves to Him, He washes us, creates a new heart in us, fulfills His NC promises in us.