Bible Strands
Psalms 51:14
Deliver me from bloodguilt, O God, the God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing of Your righteousness.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses God directly following a personal sin that involved taking another man's life. The request is positioned between a vow to instruct others and a petition for vocal readiness.
The words — מִדָּמִים (mi./da.Mim) translates literally as "from blood[s]," and תְּרַנֵּן (te.ra.Nen) means "it will shout for joy."
The thread — The concept of bloodguilt and its consequences appears in Genesis 9:6, while the vow to proclaim righteousness parallels Psalms 35:28. The specific historical sin triggering this plea is recorded in 2 Samuel 12:9.
Why it lands — The text demands a direct plea for rescue from the consequences of killing, coupled with the expectation that deliverance will produce vocal testimony of God's righteousness. It requires the reader to acknowledge the gravity of shedding blood and the necessity of divine intervention for restored witness.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.
Cross-references
- 2 Samuel 12:9 Why then have you despised the command of the LORD by doing evil in His sight? You put Uriah the Hittite to the sword and took his wife as your own. You have slain him with the sword of the Ammonites.
- Psalms 35:28 Then my tongue will proclaim Your righteousness and Your praises all day long.
- Genesis 9:6 Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man his blood will be shed; for in His own image God has made mankind.
- Psalms 26:9 Do not take my soul away with sinners, or my life with men of bloodshed,
- Hosea 4:2 Cursing and lying, murder and stealing, and adultery are rampant; one act of bloodshed follows another.
- Acts 20:26 Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men.
- Romans 10:3 Because they were ignorant of God’s righteousness and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.
- Genesis 42:22 And Reuben responded, “Didn’t I tell you not to sin against the boy? But you would not listen. Now we must account for his blood!”
- 2 Samuel 3:28 Afterward, David heard about this and said, “I and my kingdom are forever guiltless before the LORD concerning the blood of Abner son of Ner.
- 2 Samuel 11:15 In the letter he wrote: “Put Uriah at the front of the fiercest battle; then withdraw from him, so that he may be struck down and killed.”