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Psalm 51:5
Behold, I was born in iniquity. My mother conceived me in 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.
Notice
Birth and conception take David's confession back to life's beginning, confronting the thought that sin is confined to a few isolated acts.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What do you make of David tracing sin back to conception in a prayer of confession?
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Where else Scripture says this
12 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.
This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Jeremiah 17:9The heart is deceitful above all things and it is exceedingly corrupt. Who can know it?David traces sin to conception, while Jeremiah describes corruption within the human heart; both speak of sin beneath outward acts.
Romans 5:12Therefore, as sin entered into the world through one man, and death through sin, so death passed to all men because all sinned.Both texts look back to sin's beginnings: David speaks of his conception, while Paul describes sin entering the world through one man.
Job 14:4Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one.David traces sin to his beginning; Job asks whether cleanness can come from what is unclean.
Psalm 58:3The wicked go astray from the womb. They are wayward as soon as they are born, speaking lies.Both psalms connect sin with life's beginning, using conception, the womb, and birth to describe how far back it reaches.
Job 15:14–16What is man, that he should be clean? What is he who is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?David speaks of sin at conception; Eliphaz asks how anyone born of a woman can be righteous.
Ephesians 2:3We also all once lived among them in the lusts of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the …David describes sin from conception, while Paul connects sinful desires and God's wrath with the condition described as being by nature.
John 3:6That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the Spirit is spirit.Both texts speak of human birth; John adds a distinction between birth from flesh and birth from the Spirit.
Romans 7:18For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwells no good thing. For desire is present with me, but I don’t find it doing that which is good.David confesses sin reaching back to birth; Paul describes the absence of good in his flesh.
Genesis 5:3Adam lived one hundred thirty years, and became the father of a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth.Both mention human generation, though Genesis describes Seth bearing Adam's likeness without making an explicit statement about sin.
Genesis 8:21The LORD smelled the pleasant aroma. The LORD said in his heart, “I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake because the imagination of man’s …Both describe evil reaching into early human life: David names conception, while Genesis names the heart's evil from youth.
Job 14:1“Man, who is born of a woman, is of few days, and full of trouble.Both begin with birth from a woman, though David speaks of sin and Job speaks of life's brevity and trouble.
Job 25:4How then can man be just with God? Or how can he who is born of a woman be clean?David connects conception with sin; Bildad questions how anyone born of a woman can be clean before God.
Where this verse fits
Guilt and confession. sermon or Bible study notes.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
David traces sin back to his beginning and still asks God to wash him clean. The prayer rests on God's power to cleanse.
Now put it in your words.
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).