Verse Lens · Concise explanation
Psalms 51:15 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 15. 15O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Psalm 51:15: The petition “O Lord, open thou my lips” belongs to the prayer “Confession seeks cleansing and renewed presence: Renewed heart, restored joy, and truthful worship,” not to an isolated command.
A created heart is asked for, and bloodguilt is still on the tongue
This verse is one part of that explanation in Psalms 51:10–17. The complete section carries the connected meaning and how it should shape life.
Read It With
- Psalms 51:10–17
- Psalms 51:1–19
Read Psalms 51:15 with 51:10–17 and 51:1–19. Read alone, “O Lord, open thou my lips” could lose the individual voice, the parallel line or movement it develops, and the psalm's outcome. The complete movement establishes: Within Psalms 51:10–17, the individual voice carries the movement “Renewed heart, restored joy, and truthful worship” as part of “Confession seeks cleansing and renewed presence.” Its penitential-lament form and poetic parallelism hold the petitions, images, memories, or praise together before any single line is applied.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Psalms 51:10–17 answers or redirects “Mercy, confession, and cleansing” within Psalm 51 by carrying “Renewed heart, restored joy, and truthful worship.” The turn from “Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities” to “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me” explains why this movement occurs here. Within that relationship, Psalm 51:15 directs a petition or address toward God in “O Lord, open thou my lips” rather than turning the line into a command against another person.
What Remains True
The verse's role is specific—Psalm 51:15 directs a petition or address toward God in “O Lord, open thou my lips” rather than turning the line into a command against another person. Within that role, Praise remembers concrete divine character and action, gathers many voices, and remains honest about grief rather than demanding one emotional performance. The local movement is “Renewed heart, restored joy, and truthful worship.” The unit's reviewed limit is: The Bathsheba heading frames reception but the psalm does not name her or Uriah in its numbered text; repentance cannot erase harmed people, consequences, restitution, or safeguarding.
Continue in Context
Read the complete section for the connected explanation and how it should shape life. This verse is a doorway into that passage, not a saying that stands alone.
Read Psalms 51:10–17 — Confession seeks cleansing and renewed presence: Renewed heart, restored joy, and truthful worshipSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Psalms 51:10–17, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Psalms
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a complete apparatus or interpretation.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Ps.xml, OSIS 51:10–17
Open the fixed Hebrew Psalms file ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible Notes: Psalms 1-150
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, current official online edition
Supports: Verse-level controls for poetic syntax, imagery, older KJV language, textual issues, headings, and alternatives in Psalms 51:10–17.
Exact location: Official NET Bible Psalm 51 HTML, translator, textual, and study notes attached to Psalms 51:10–17
Open the official NET Psalms notes ↗