Deliver me / from bloodguilt / O God
O God / of my salvation
Then / my tongue / will sing out / your righteousness
This verse is unique to the psalm. David has asked in many ways for a removal of his rebellion, from washing to blotting out to hiding of God's face. However, here we find something different. The request for 'deliverance' is the other psalms we have looked at involved either deliverance from enemies or from sickness. David, however, here envisions his sin (his bloodguilt') in much the same way as something he is under attack from and from which he needs to be rescued. This view of his blooguilt is confirmed in teh following line when he refers to God as the "god of my salvation". This is a type of rescue operation, much like a man who is beset by enemies. Finally, when the "song of deliverance" leaves his mouth it sings about God's 'righteousness'.
The point is important. David's 'deliverance' from blooguilt tracks the same movement as deliverance from enemies: deliverance to praise. First, David sees his blooguilt as not merely an obstacle but an enemy, an oppressive force acting against him that he cannot defend himself against and is overpowered by. God must, in a sense, wage war against David's blooguilt. Second, David sees God's victory over his guilt in terms of a victory ode. This is an important point and one that has not been explicitly made in the psalm. The other acts of 'blotting out' have not given this impression of battle on God's part. The 'hardness' of its removal has seemed to stem more from David's side. However, here, David is the battleground, both the enemy and the one delivered. And, the proper and natural response is battle-thanks.
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