#7 - Create in me, David's Prayer of Repentance: Psalm 51 - Reflection by Joel Bernstein

The first four lines in Psalm 51 are extremely important to me. This past school year the chamber choir at my school sung a song about the holocaust for a chamber choir competition. It was called ‘Elegy for Dachau.’ The song is a prayer for the worst concentration camp in the world, Dachau. Listening to the song, and singing it are completely different for me. Every time I play music, I try to give as much emotion as I can. When we sung this song at the competition, I cried. I just couldn’t hold it in anymore picturing the camp in my head. The competition was held in a cathedral, so it really put things in perspective for me. While we were singing it, I prayed for all of the survivors of the holocaust.

The song is split up into two parts. The first has text from Psalm 51, “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.” Also, in the song there is this, “For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.” Behind the text, for the most part the choir sings, “What have you done?” And the second, a prayer that’s in Hebrew for the camp. “What have you done?” Who knew that the simplest phrase could have so much meaning and emotion?

Music is the only thing that’s there when everything else isn’t. So when all hope was lost, this song was written. Below is a link to the song if anybody wants to listen. The actual elegy doesn’t start until minute 2:14. The first 2:14 is what Pastor Sarah says at the beginning of each of her sermons.

Link to the Augustana College Choir singing Elegy for Dachau

Psalm 51

Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
2Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin.
3For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
4Against you, you alone, have I sinned,
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are justified in your sentence
and blameless when you pass judgment.
5Indeed, I was born guilty,
a sinner when my mother conceived me.
6You desire truth in the inward being;
therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.
7Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones that you have crushed rejoice.
9Hide your face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.
10Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and put a new and right spirit within me.
11Do not cast me away from your presence,
and do not take your holy spirit from me.
12Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and sustain in me a willing spirit.
13Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will return to you.
14Deliver me from bloodshed, O God,
O God of my salvation,
and my tongue will sing aloud of your deliverance.
15O LORD, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
16For you have no delight in sacrifice;
if I were to give a burnt offering, you would not be pleased.
17The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
18Do good to Zion in your good pleasure;
rebuild the walls of Jerusalem,
19then you will delight in right sacrifices,
in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings;
then bulls will be offered on your altar.