The Pulpit Commentary on Psalms 51:3

The Pulpit Commentary · Joseph S. Exell and contributors · Public domain

For I acknowledge my transgressions (comp. Psalms 32:5, "I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin"). The first step in repentance is contrition; the second, confession; the third, amendment of life.

And my sin is ever before me. I bear it in mind; I do not hide it from myself. I keep it continually before my mental vision. This, too, is characteristic of true penitence. Mock penitents confess their sins, and straightway forget them.

Real genuine ones find it impossible to forget.

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