Christian Monthly Standard  › Biblical Studies, The Bible › Why I Am Not A Calvinist – Psalm 51:5

Feb
11

Why I Am Not A Calvinist – Psalm 51:5

Brent Kercheville

Behold,I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. (Psalm 51:5; ESV)

It is of great interest to me that people like to use Psalm 51:5 as a proof text for total hereditary depravity. The reason I find it a curiosity is because the Psalms are not a good place to establish doctrine or theology. It is very dangerous to go to the Psalms, which are admittedly poetic, and assume doctrinal teaching is the intention of the psalmist. But when it fits our theology, that is exactly what we do.

One of the reasons people believed the earth was flat was from taking a literal understanding of the Psalms rather than recognizing that poetic language was being used by the psalmist. Anyone who has taken any amount of English literature and/or Hebrew poetry classes understands that there are hyperbole, metaphors, and the like which are used heavily in the Psalms. Christians also believed that the earth was the center of the universe and that the sun revolved around the earth because of a literal, scientific reading of the Psalms and a few other Old Testament references. Rather than recognizing the poetic language of hyperbole (exaggeration for effect), many false doctrines have been established concerning the age of the earth, the nature of the earth, and science itself.

To run to the Psalms and hang all of one’s theological hopes on one particular passage is simply foolish. It is like running to Psalm 90:10 and saying that every person will live to be 70 years old, but no older than 80. That is not the point. The Psalms were never intended to be a description for scientific evidences nor systematic theology. The Psalms are songs, poetry set to music, and must be read in that context. Otherwise, great damage is done.

Some may continue to argue that David was trying to teach some systematic theology in Psalm 51. However, in reading the whole of the psalm and David’s emotional response toward his grave sin, it is more likely that Psalm 51:5 is poetic hyperbole. That is, the weight of David’s sin is so great that he feels like he has been sinning against God from the very beginning of his existence. And who among us has not felt the same way when confronted with our sins? At times we feel that we have been sinning from the very start of life as we are frustrated with Satan’s continued success to cause us to cave into temptations. As Paul would lament in Romans 7 that we do what we do not want to do and do not do what we want to do for God. It is a very natural expression of our hopelessness in our fight against sin and our need for God’s mercy.

The Psalms should not be used as our theological or doctrinal “last stand.” The Psalms were never intended for such usage.

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Your Thoughts

8 Comments so far

  1. Joe
    February 11, 2009 at 3:46 pm

    Thanks Brent. If we take vs. 5 literally then do we not have to take everything else literally too? I find it a little hard for broken bones to rejoice for example.

    You make a excellent point of how the Psalms need to be understood.

  2. Ben
    February 11, 2009 at 5:15 pm

    Thanks for sharing the “fact” that Psalms are “theologically unsound” worship music & poems.

    I guess someone should have told Paul that his 2 Timothy 3:16 shouldn’t include the book of Psalms.

    Thanks also for telling me Ps 90:10 actually says people can’t live beyond age 80 since I still couldn’t figure that out despite reading that verse several times again. May be I should go to Bible school to learn how to read whats not written there but yet is implied.

    And since Roman 7 is mentioned, I am now quite sure Paul was speaking in hyperbole in verse 9 too.

    Lastly I wonder who was the one who hang ALL the theological hopes on a single verse (esp on Psalms!) Repent!

    Have a nice day (sincerely).

  3. Joe
    February 11, 2009 at 6:26 pm

    Ben, I’m not sure where anyone said the Psalms were not inspired…

    Read all of Psalm 51. Within all of this poetic language, prove this verse (vs. 5) is to be taken literally.

  4. Stanley
    February 26, 2009 at 10:15 am

    I happen to fall on your blog by coincidence, if humanly can be said. However being Calvinist and believe in God sovereignty I believed I was here to make a point. You said Psalm 51, does not teach man deprivacy. So my question to you my brother if I may call you brother. Let take from Jesus own mouth which I paraphrasing. Unless the Father draw you, you will not come, and you do come in no way would I deny you. Jesus said All the father has given me will come and I will not lose any of them. Have you ever read the book of Romans. May be you can explain the word ELECTION that are found in so many passages in scriptures, that my brother is doctrine.
    God bless

  5. Brent Kercheville
    February 26, 2009 at 11:35 am

    Hi Stanley,
    I believe that God has chosen and has called. I believe we are elect through the death of Jesus and chosen by God’s grace. But that does not mean that I am unable to choose God. God’s calls and we must respond. God has elected us to salvation. But we can choose to reject the calling. It is why I wrote the post on love and Calvinism after this post. It is not love if I do not have a choice.

    Thanks for reading.

  6. Christian Monthly Standard
    February 26, 2009 at 11:40 am

    2 Th 2:13-14 "But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. To this He called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ."
    The gospel call can be rejected or accepted. The final choice is ours. Do we want to be adopted by God or not?

  7. Stanley
    February 26, 2009 at 2:47 pm

    Hi Brent,
    Thanks for your polite answer. I do believe you and I can disagree on this issue and still be brothers in Christ. Brent the reason why I disagree with you are base on several verses in the bible. However I have a few questions for you.
    1)do you believe an ungenerated man is spiriatually dead
    2)What comes first, regeneration or faith
    3)If agree with your premise, that infers that a save person, can lose his/her salvation, since it is her choice to believe or not.
    4)I have two boys, and one of them decided to play near a train track and is about to run into the track, do you think it is wrong on my part to pull him away from the oncoming train, thus going his free will?
    Dear Brent,
    the last scenario I gave you is the state of man, God Elects, God Predestined and God also worked the salvation plan, so anyone who is saved is by God grace, so if everyone deserve to be saved by God, then it is no longer Grace.

  8. Brent Kercheville
    March 1, 2009 at 9:29 pm

    Hi Stanley,

    Let me do my best to answer your questions.
    Yes, I believe an ungenerated man is spiritually dead (Romans 6:23).
    Faith comes before regeneration (Luke 7:50; Romans 3:28)
    Yes, I believe a person can lose their salvation if they choose to leave God. I do not believe we lose our salvation by falling to temptation. I don’t think one sin immediately rips us away from God or anything like that. I am dependent on God’s grace, not my ability to not sin. 1 John 1 tells us that God cleanses us from our sins. It is his grace, not my works. Those who choose God will never lose their salvation. However, the scriptures also say I can leave God.
    Hebrews 10:26 says “if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fear expectation of judgment.” So I can choose to leave God. God does not force me to stay.
    Your fourth question is interesting. God can certainly intervene and rob us of free will. God has the right and sovereignty to do whatever he likes. But God wants us to choose to love him, not force us or make us. Otherwise, God could just save every person without any response on our part. Just save everyone. But God wants us to choose him. If not, why didn’t God just save everyone regardless of their actions? So I think we would agree here. Therefore, I think the question ought to go the other direction -
    Does your child show his love for you by disobeying and playing by the train tracks despite your command otherwise? Love is about choice. If you force your child away from the tracks, the child has not shown you love. You have removed his free will. The child was forced to leave. You are loving him, but he is not loving you. That’s why I used the apostle John’s words, “We love God because he first loved us.” For us to love him demands that I have the choice to play by the tracks or not play by the tracks.
    As the apostle John said, “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments” (1 John 5:2-3).
    Thanks again for your thoughts, Stanley.

8 Responses to “Why I Am Not A Calvinist – Psalm 51:5”




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