Psalms 51:5

He says, "in sin did my mother conceive me." He is not speaking of a sinful act. Since his mother had a sinful nature, she could only give him the same nature... The teaching of Scripture on this self-judgment is found only in the New Testament, so David did not understand it fully. But he did face the facts honestly here, and that is the first step in finding deliverance from the power of the sinful nature.

Where God begins His work of repentance in the soul of a sinner, sin becomes known and judged. It is judged not only by its fruits — that is, sins or evil works — but by its root and inward character... God's word through the prophet Nathan, "You are the man!", had pierced the heart and conscience of the penitent king of Israel and placed him in God's holy presence. So he not only confesses his great transgressions and sins, that is, what he had done, but what he is. He not only judges the bad fruits of the bad tree, but the bad tree itself. Not by way of a light excuse, but in thorough self-judgment... He lays the axe to the root of the tree, to judge not his parents and ancestors, but himself.

He is not making an excuse for his sins, or casting the blame of them upon his mother; he is saying, "My very nature is corrupt, the springs of my being are polluted."

Until there is confession of sin, and not only of a sin, there is no forgiveness... He does not say only, "I have done this particular evil" — that he does in verses 1-4 — but he recognises the root and principle of sin... God has brought the soul down, by the working of His Spirit on it, to detect the principle of sin. So there is confession of that, and not only of a particular sin. There is then positive restoration of soul.

These verses trace sin back to its origin. Sin turns out to be not simply sinful acts, but a sinful nature. So the sinner needs not only cleansing from actual sins, but a new nature in "the inward parts."

Eve fell, and her fall has involved all the children naturally descended from her. With this truth, sad and humbling as it is, we must begin, or we cannot understand the need for new birth.

Strictly speaking, sin itself does not come into question in the Old Testament, though birth in sin is recognised in one place only (Ps. 51:5)... Being lost and being guilty are different. One is my state; the other is my responsibility and my guilty failure.

His humanity was holy in itself, without the least trace of sin. David had to confess, "Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me" (Ps. 51:5). David's Lord was that Holy Thing!