Does Psalm 51:5 Teach That We Are Born with a Sinful Nature?

Psalm 51:5 reads, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.” On more than one occasion, I’ve heard or read arguments which use this passage to defend a belief that humans are born with a sinful disposition that they receive at conception. Whether those who argue this believe that we inherit the guilt of Adam or our other forebearers or that we are subjected to a sinful condition because of Adam’s fall from the garden of Eden (or both), the conclusion they reach is that sin is a part of what it is to be human. In their eyes, humans have a sinful nature. To them, the psalmist isn’t just lamenting his sin; he’s expressing a theological reality.

It’s interesting to note that Psalm 51 is attributed to David. Another Psalm which is attributed to David is Psalm 22. Psalm 22:9-10 reads, “Yet you are he who took me from the womb; you made me trust you at my mother's breasts. I was cast upon You from birth. From My mother's womb You have been My God.” This passage clearly paints a very different picture than the one in Psalm 51. So which is it: was David “brought forth in iniquity” and “in sin,” or was he a person who trusted God and was aligned with Him from his “mother’s womb”?

In order to become better students of the Bible, I think it’s important to ask some big picture questions of whatever text we are reading. What is happening in the book / context of the passage I am considering? What was and is the aim of God in producing this text?

I am a big believer in a basic premise concerning God’s communication: The Bible as it is was written to man as he is. God did not invent a new language and force man to learn it; instead, He adopted human languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek) and utilized terms within those languages for His purposes. Similarly, He does not seem to have invented new genres of literature,^[1] choosing instead to follow the form and function of other human forms of literature. The inspired history books in the Bible, for example, read similarly to other history books. Psalms is a book of poetry; as a consequence, the Psalms feature elements that are typical of human poetry.

A survey of the material in Psalms sees expressions that run the gamut of human emotions. I sometimes describe the Psalms as the inspired emotional outpourings of writers who find themselves on the mountaintops and in the valleys of faith. Note both the word “inspired” and the word “emotional.” I believe that the Psalms were produced by people who were feeling real feelings and experiencing real things. They were not alone in these feelings and experiences though. The Holy Spirit guided these individuals to write poems, not merely so that the authors could describe these feelings and experiences, but so that God could use them to assist or guide others, either to reach the mountaintops (such as in psalms of praise or confidence) or to navigate the valleys (such as in psalms of lament or contrition).

When we read a statement in the book of Psalms, we need to keep these big picture things about the book in mind. The Psalms are poetry, which means we can expect to find figurative language and statements that aren’t meant to be taken literally. Further, when we read a statement, we have to remind ourself that while the Psalmist thought this, the goal of God in placing this thought in the Bible might not be to encourage me to think as he did. Instead, the goal might be 1) to validate my feelings; 2) to encourage me to bring these feelings to God; 3) to guide me to a better place both emotionally and spiritually.  

With this in mind, let’s have a closer look at the two passages we are considering. In Psalm 22, the psalmist feels forsaken by God (Psalm 22:1). He cries out to a God he feels is far removed, holy and beyond him (Psalm 22:2-3). He feels this way because he is being mistreated and ridiculed by people who doubt his relationship with God (Psalm 22:7-8). He doesn’t understand why or how this is happening given how other faithful people were treated in the past (Psalm 22:4-5) and given his long-standing relationship with God. Psalm 22:9-10 is a poetic statement emphasizing that relationship through hyperbole, a figure of speech in which one exaggerates for the sake of emphasis.

In Psalm 51 however, the story is very different. The Psalmist comes to God having sinned and in full awareness of his sin. He wants to be forgiven (Psalm 51:1-2), so he confesses his sin (Psalm 51:3), recognizing how his sin has affected God and different his behavior is from God’s (Psalm 51:4). Psalm 51:5 then is a poetic statement emphasizing how connected the Psalmist is to all sin and how very different he is than God. It also uses hyperbole; it just takes the exaggeration in a different direction.

Do either of these situations sound familiar? I’d suggest that if you live as a Christian long enough, you’ll experience both things. In fact, it’s possible that you’ll experience them both multiple times! At times you will be going through something that will make no sense, and, try as you might, you won’t be able to connect anything that is happening to you to anything you’ve done. At other times, you will realize that you’ve done something truly horrible, something that hurt God in a way He didn’t deserve and that God Himself never would have done. These psalms serve to remind us 1) that these feelings are normal and appropriate and 2) that the place to go with these feelings is God.

Psalm 51:5 does not teach that we are born with a sinful nature any more than Psalm 22:9-10 teaches that we are born with a faithful and trusting nature. In fact, neither passage was written to tell us anything about human nature at birth. Instead, they remind us that in the life of faith, there are times when we feel like we have always been wrong and times when we feel like we have always been right. The truth is definitely somewhere in the middle, and the further truth is that God is ready, willing, and able to deliver us, whether from sinful forces without or sinful forces within.

-Patrick Swayne  
patrick@tftw.org