“... 51:1-2. mechanism for removing sins. In the ancient Near East it was not sins that were removed but the deity who was appeased. The individual only became aware of sin when he or she experienced circumstances considered the punishment of deity. The goal then became to relieve the anger of the deity (whether such anger was believed to be justified or not). When they asked for sins to be removed (“strip off my misdeeds like a garment”), they meant that the deity should be willing to overlook their sin, put away wrath and restore his favor. The rituals that accompanied this sort of approach to deity were meant to purify the individual and pacify the deity. The ritual did not remove sin; it only enabled the individual to hope that the deity would offer absolution from the sin. In Israel we should think in terms not of sins being eternally removed but of the sacrifices cleansing away the desecration of God’s presence caused by sin (see comment on Lev 1:4, “atonement”). The rituals paved the way for forgiveness (see comment on Lev 4:13-32). This psalm is not talking about that process (v. 16). Only God’s gracious act would remove a sin from the record books. It is understood that the penitent can only ask, not demand, absolution of sins (see Ps 32:10). What is asked for is a display of God’s compassionate mercy based on the supplicant’s trust and the covenantal promise to Israel. God’s favor may then “blot out” sin in much the same way that a parchment scroll is scraped clean or a clay tablet is either washed clean (see Num 5:23) or broken. This metaphor is mentioned in a Babylonian ritual text, where it states that a king may order that “the tablet of my sins be broken,” thereby canceling or commuting debt or criminal charges. Similarly, in Hammurabi’s Code an illegal contract for the purchase of a soldier’s land may be cancelled by breaking the cuneiform tablet. Mesopotamian literature contains references both to tablets recording evil deeds (in the Shurpu texts) and those recording good deeds. ...”