Psalm 51

Psalm 51 (Septuagint numbering: Psalm 50), traditionally referred to as the Miserere, its Latin incipit, is one of the Penitential Psalms. It begins: Have mercy on me, O God. The psalm's opening words in Latin, Miserere mei, Deus, have led to its being called the Miserere mei or just Miserere. It is often known by this name in musical settings. The psalm is frequently used in various liturgical traditions because of its spirit of humility and repentance.

Many psalms include introductory text ("superscription") in the manuscript attributing it to a particular author and sometimes to an occasion. The New King James Version of the Bible introduces it: "To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba." The Hebrew linguist and scholar Robert Alter translates it less literally, making explicit what is only implicit in the words used: "...a David psalm, upon Nathan the prophet's coming to him when he had come to bed with Bathsheba." He comments: "The Hebrew verb used for both Nathan and David is 'to come to' [or 'into']', but in the former instance it refers to the prophet's entering the king's chambers, whereas the latter instance reflects its sexual sense."

The superscription in the Septuagint reads: "For the End: A Psalm of David, When Nathan the Prophet Came unto Him, When He Went in unto Bersabee (Batheshba) the Wife of Urias."

Robert Alter has "Do not fling me from Your presence", commenting: "as elsewhere, this Hebrew verb has a connotation of violent action for which the conventional translation of it as 'cast' is too tame."

In Judaism, several verses from this psalm are given prominence:

The most frequently used psalm in the Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic Churches, Psalm 50 (Septuagint numbering) it is called in the "Greek language Ἥ Ἐλεήμων" E Eeleḯmon, and begins in "Greek Ἐλέησόν με, ὁ Θεός" Eléïsón me, o Theós.

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