A Presbyterian from SC, wrote me...

"I'm really more interested in what you have to say about the first couple of verses of Psalm 51:
"Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy, blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin!"
God would have answered any prayer that Jesus prayed. God did not forgive Jesus's sins. Jesus was punished for our sins. None of the sins placed on Jesus were blotted out, and He was not washed of our sins or cleansed from them."

My response: Christ in NO WAY had sin infused into Him on the cross. He ONLY had sins imputed into his account.

In the Psalms, the imputation of the elect's sin can be more clearly seen in some verses than others verses. For example, Psalm 18 (which is applied to Christ in Rom 15:9) says " For I was upright with Him and kept myself from my guilt." (v23) The Hebrew word for "upright" -- tamiym -- means " without blemish, complete, full, perfect, sincerely (-ity), sound, without spot, undefiled, upright(-ly), whole." Thus, the American Standard translates this verse, "For I was PERFECT with Him".

I believe that on the cross, Christ was "without blemish, complete, full, perfect, sincerely (-ity), sound, without spot, undefiled, upright(-ly), whole."

And because he was PERFECT in His character, Christ was PRESERVED "from His guilt" (the sins of the elect in His account). His character and conduct was in NO WAY corrupted by the imputation of the elect's sin in His account. His character was preserved the whole time and remained PERFECT and without blemish.

The sins of the elect "passed over" Christ's head, "surrounded" Him, and were "before" him. "... INIQUITIES HAVE PASSED OVER MY HEAD; as a HEAVY BURDEN too heavy for me." (Psalm 38:4) "For EVILS HAVE SURROUNDED ME until there is no number" (Psalm 40:12) "...sin is ever BEFORE ME." (Psalm 51:5).

The sins of the elect were a BURDEN -- they were in Christ's account -- but they were NEVER infused into Christ's character. The sins were always OUTSIDE His character.

So when Christ says "my iniquity" he is referring to the sins of the elect in His account. I do NOT take "my iniquity" to literally mean that Christ sinned Himself. We cannot read the Psalms literally like this, because prophecy cannot be taken literally, and the Psalms are prophecy. Just as Isaiah 42 doesn't literally mean that Christ was "blind" and "deaf", the Psalms don't literally mean that Christ had iniquity. Here is some of Isaiah 42...

Isaiah 42:
1 ¶ Behold My Servant; I will uphold Him; My Elect in whom My soul delights! ...
18 ¶ O deaf ones, hear! And O blind ones, look to see!
19 WHO IS BLIND but My servant? OR DEAF, as My messenger whom I send? WHO IS BLIND as he who is at peace, and blind as Jehovah's servant?
21 Jehovah is delighted for His righteousness' sake;

My comment: Isaiah 42 is saying that the unregenerate Jews would think of Christ as "blind" and "deaf". Of course, Christ was NOT literally blind or deaf. Isaiah 42 is prophecy and not to be taken literally.

In the same way, if a Psalm says that Christ had "iniquity" it doesn't literally mean he sinned himself. It must mean he had the elect's iniquity in His account. The KJV translation of Psalm 65:3 is interesting -- "Iniquities have prevailed against Me, my transgressions....".

The sin was OUTSIDE Christ and NOT infused into him!

Let me conclude by saying that I myself was once caught up in this heresy (of thinking the Psalms are about David's experiences). It caused me to doubt my salvation, since I thought that God took his presence away from believers, and had wrath and fury upon them (Psa 88 and 101)

However, one day I realised that the Psalms are not about David's experiences. The Apostles only apply the Psalms to Christ. And ever since then I have had full assurance. I recognise that all those passages in the Psalms which talk about God "hiding his face", "withdrawing his presence", "pouring his fury", "having wrath" are talking about Christ on the cross (Heb 5:7).

My hope is that other Calvinists will stop believing John Calvin's view (that the Psalms are about David's experiences), and start believing what the Apostles say!

Then they will have full assurance of salvation! They will be COMFORTED by the Psalms, because they will see CHRIST SUFFERING in the Psalms. And thus they will stop thinking that they should undergo the experiences described in the Psalms! They will come to understand that CHRIST WAS FORSAKEN SO THAT THEY WOULD NEVER BE. "Being justified by faith WE HAVE PEACE WITH GOD" "There is NO CONDEMNATION for those in Christ Jesus."

But the person in the Psalms did NOT have peace with God, and WAS condemned.

That person in these Psalms must therefore be Jesus Christ on the cross under God's wrath.

"who in the days of His flesh was OFFERING BOTH PETITIONS AND ENTREATIES to Him being able to save Him from death, with STRONG CRYING AND TEARS, and being heard from His godly fear." (Hebrews 5:7)

Is not Hebrews 5:7 a perfect summary of all the Psalms where the Psalmist is forsaken?

Christ was indeed offering petitions and entreaties with strong crying and tears. Stop looking for David, and SEE CHRIST ALONE IN ALL THOSE PSALMS. Unless, you think you can interpret the Psalms better than the infallible Apostles did?