Old Testament scholar James Mays, reflecting on Psalm 51, speaks to its nature as a prayer for help, “Be gracious to me, O God.” The psalm is a prayer made by David after the prophet Nathan confronted him with his sin in the affair with Bathsheba. The confession of sin is based on the grace of God. The plea appeals to God’s steadfast love and abundant mercy and is not merely an expression of human remorse or preoccupation with failure and guilt; it looks beyond self to God and lays hold on the marvelous possibilities of God’s grace. Those who confess their sin know and believe that God judges their life. The confession of sin seeks renewal and forgiveness: “Create a clean heart for me, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” The synonyms “heart” and “spirit” do not merely designate parts of a person; instead, they stand for that through which the self is expressed. A clean heart would be a mind and will open to God, oriented to God. A steadfast spirit would be a mind that will be fixed and steady toward God—ready to praise, faithful to God’s covenant, and trusting in God. It is a steadfast heart that holds close the words of St. Paul, “I am certain that neither death nor life, neither angels nor principalities nor any other creature can separate us from the love of God.”