Erbarm dich mein o herre got
A Plea for Mercy
The psalmist confesses his sin before God and acknowledges the justice of divine judgment.
Have mercy on me, O Lord God, according to your great mercy. Wash away my wrongdoing and make me clean; I know my sin, and I'm sorry for it. Against you alone have I sinned; my sin always stands against me. Evil cannot stand before you, and you remain just when you judge me.1
Cleansing and Restoration
The petitioner asks for internal purification and the renewal of joy through God's grace.
Look, Lord, I was born in sin; my mother conceived me in sin. You love truth and reveal the hidden treasures of your wisdom.2 Sprinkle me with hyssop, Lord, and I will be clean; when you wash me, I will be whiter than snow. My ears will rejoice when my bones are filled with joy.3
The Renewed Spirit
The prayer focuses on the creation of a clean heart and the preservation of the Holy Spirit.
Lord, don't look upon my sins; take away all my unrighteousness. Make my heart pure within me and prepare a new spirit within me. Don't cast me away from your presence or turn your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and let a willing spirit uphold me before you.4
Proclaiming God's Ways
The forgiven heart commits to teaching others and praising God's righteousness.
I will teach the godless your ways, and sinners will learn them too, so that they may turn from evil, deceitful paths and return to you through you. Protect me, Lord, God of my salvation; deliver me from bloodguilt and your judgment. My tongue will proclaim your justice; grant that my mouth may spread your praise.5
The Sacrifice of a Contrite Heart
The prayer concludes by offering a broken spirit as the true sacrifice pleasing to God.
You ask no bodily sacrifice from me; if you did, I would give it to you.✦ So now, accept a contrite spirit, along with a troubled, sorrowful heart.✦ God, do not despise this sacrifice of yours. In your goodness, do good to Mount Zion, where Christians offer you righteousness.✦✦✦
Read the original Latin
Erbarm dich mein o herre got / nach deyner grosn barmhertzigkeyt. Wasch ab mach rein mein missetat / ich kenn mein sund vnd ist mir leyt. Allein ich dir gesundet han / das ist wider mich stetiglich / das böß vor dir mag nit bestan / du bleibst grecht ob du vrteylst mich.
Sich herr ynn sund byn ich geborn / ynn sund enpfyng mich mein mutter. Die warheyt liebst / thust offenbarn / deyner weyßheyt heymlich guter. Bespreng mich herr mit Isopo / reyn wird ich wo du weschest mich / weisser dan schne / mein ghör wirt fro / als mein gebeyn wirt frewen sych.
Herr sych nit an die sunde mein / thun ab al mein vngrechtigkeit. Vnd mach yn mir das hertze rein / eyn newen geyst yn mir bereyt. Verwurff mich nit von deym angesycht / deyn heylig geyst / wend nitt von mir / die freud deins heyls her zu mir richt / der willig geyst enthalt mich dir.
Dy gotlosn wil ich deyne weg / dy sunder auch thun leren. Das sy von bozen falschen steg / zu dir durch dich sich keren. Beschirm mich herr meins heyls ein got / vor deim vrteyl durchs blut bedeut / mein zung verkundt dein rechts gebot / schaf das mein mund dein lob außbreyt
Kein leiplich opfer von mir heyschst / ich hett dir das auch geben. So nym nu den zerknirschten geyst / betrubts vnnd traurigs hertz darneben. Verschmech nit gott das opffer dein / thun wol yn deyner gutigkeyt / dem berg syon / do Christen sein die opfern dir gerechtigkeyt.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Ps.51.16 — Deliver me from bloodshed, O God, God of my salvation; and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.
- ↩Ps.51.17 — Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.
- ↩Ps.51.17 — Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.
- ↩Ps.51.18 — For You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; a burnt offering You do not desire.
- ↩Ps.51.19 — The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and crushed heart, O God, You will not despise.
Notes
- 1 ↩Literally, “that is continually against me,” referring to the speaker's sin.
- 2 ↩Literally, “the secret goods of your wisdom”; “hidden treasures” preserves the sense in natural English.
- 3 ↩The compact verse links joyful hearing with the rejoicing of the speaker’s bones; the English preserves both images.
- 4 ↩The final phrase can mean that a willing spirit sustains the speaker in faithfulness to God; “uphold me before you” preserves both the sustaining action and the relational force of “dir.”
- 5 ↩The early German wording is textually difficult. In light of the evident Psalm 51 setting, it is rendered as a plea for deliverance from bloodguilt and divine judgment.
Erfurt Enchiridion (Early Lutheran Hymns) companion
Never lose the rhythm again
Chosen Portion delivers your morning, midday and night office to your phone — the Hours, without the bells.
Chosen Portion is a modern Book of Hours: it turns the fixed-hour structure this collection preserves into scheduled, tappable daily prayer on your phone.
- Three daily prayer moments scheduled around your real calendar, not a monastery's
- Psalms and historic prayers sequenced for you — no page-flipping or decision fatigue
- A visible streak of completed offices, so the rhythm compounds instead of collapsing