August 14, 2015
Tom Lowe
PSALM 51
Title: “Prayer for Pardon and Purity”
(A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.)
Theme: David’s great penitential psalm.
Psalm 51 (KJV)
1 Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.
5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.
6 Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.
7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.
9 Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.
12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.
13 Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.
14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.
15 O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.
16 For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
18 Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.
Introduction
Psalm 51 was composed after David was confronted about his adultery with Bathsheba (2 Samuel 12:1-25). The psalmist is ill (v. 8), perhaps near death (v. 14), and longs to be healed. Yet far weightier than that physical longing is his passionate desire for forgiveness because he views his physical condition as the result of the Lord’s punishment for his sin. David has avoided God for many months (considering that the baby he had fathered was already born). But when faced with the severity of his sin, his confession is shameless. Psalm 51is the fourth, and in many ways, the greatest of the seven penitential (penitent; repentant) psalms. It is one of the most familiar passages of the Old Testament.
This is the very sad story of David’s fall. But, though he fell, he was not totally disheartened, for God graciously sustained him and raised him up. The sin which he laments in this psalm, was the foolishness and wickedness he committed with his neighbor’s wife. Actually, he broke two of God’s commandments: His sin with Bathsheba broke the seventh commandment, “Thou shalt not commit adultery;” and he broke the sixth commandment, “Thou shalt not kill,” by causing the death of Uriah, the husband of Bathsheba. For a year after these disgraceful incidents, David did nothing, and he said nothing; but we have evidence from several of the psalms that his private sufferings were considerable, but David had not publicly acknowledged his sin. He simply sat on his throne in Jerusalem and ignored the whole thing. On the surface it looked as if David had gotten by with it. Then God sent Nathan to David, and he exposed David’s sin and his attempted cover up. There were three courses open to David; he could, (1) deny the charges, (2) have Nathan executed and continue with the cover up, or, (3) admit the charge. David followed the latter course; he confessed his sins. All the great men of God have confessed their sin before God.
This sin of David’s is recorded as a warning to all, that he who thinks he stands may take heed lest they fall. Although God may allow His people to fall into sin, and to lie in it for a great while, yet He will, by some means or other, regain them by their repentance, and bring them to Himself and to their right mind again.
Commentary
1 Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
The psalm begins with a cry for mercy; “HAVE MERCY UPON ME, O GOD.” The psalmist neither pleads innocence nor shifts the blame to someone else. Since he knows that he does not deserve forgiveness, he pleads first for mercy, based on God’s loving-kindness.
The “LOVINGKINDNESS” and “TENDER MERCIES” of God are the basis for his appeal to God—“BLOT OUT MY TRANSGRESSIONS”—either out of (1), my conscience, where it has left a stain; or, (2), out of thy book of remembrance an accounts, in which all men’s sins are written, and out of which all men shall be judged: “And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books” (Revelation 20:12).
David had a deep feeling of guilt as the result of his conniving, lying, adultery, and finally murder. As a man; as king; as soldier—he is found wanting. Why should we dwell on his wretched story, except that it teaches, as no other page in the history of God’s Church does, that the potency of Divine love can extract sweet aromas of repentance and praise out of the filth of sin?
Our only source of forgiveness rests in God’s loving kindness, and in the multitude of His tender mercies. It is only because we believe in these that we dare look at our sins. Nor can we ever forget that though the blood of Jesus did not purchase the love and mercy of God, yet it is only through His sacrifice that that love is able to freely pursue its caring work of redemption.
David makes no attempt to deny his sin or excuse his behavior. He readily admits in verses 1-3 that his actions were rebellious and sinful. Yet, at the same time, he is also confident that God is a source of mercy, unfailing love, compassion, and cleansing.
The psalmist, having been convinced of his sin, poured out his soul in a prayer that begins with a plea to the Lord for mercy and grace, cleansing and pardon. Three different terms are used for sin, which leads us into a deep sense of spiritual sensitiveness. The three are—
a. “TRANSGRESSION,” the sin of conscious rebellion, the act which violates a known standard. To transgress is to step over the boundaries of God. God has put up certain boundaries in this life. He has certain physical laws. He has certain moral laws. He has certain spiritual laws. Anytime man attempts to step over any of them, he’ll have to suffer the consequences. To do this is always called transgression.
b. “INEQUITY” (v. 2), the sin of error, that which is altogether wrong. You can’t excuse it; you can’t offer some type of apology for it; you can’t in any way condone it. That’s iniquity.
c. “SIN” (v.2), missing an aimed-at mark. We don’t come up to God’s standard, and it is in that sense that all of us today are sinners. None of us today come up to the standard of God. “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
And these are the three vivid terms he uses for forgiveness: The first, “BLOT OUT”—wipe off, or efface—is used also for the ritual act performed by the priest of washing off into the water, curses which he had written on a tablet: “The priest is to write these curses on a scroll and then wash them off into the bitter water” (Numbers 5:23). The second term, “WASH”—tread out—has its roots in the familiar Oriental method of washing garments by thoroughly stomping on them: “And the LORD said to Moses, "Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. Have them wash their clothes” (Exodus 19:10). The third “CLEANSE ME,” is a ceremonial term used in the ritual in which the priest pronounces the worshipper clean: “On the seventh day the priest is to examine them again, and if the sore has faded and has not spread in the skin, the priest shall pronounce them clean; it is only a rash. They must wash their clothes, and they will be clean” (Leviticus 13:6).
It is necessary to remember that immediately after David made his confession of sin, Nathan declared the forgiveness of the Lord. David is aware, therefore, of the wonder and immediacy of mercy and of an exceeding great and precious promise of pardon for a very great wrong (2 Samuel 12:13); but he cannot rest in this until full and heartfelt confession has been made, and this is the function of the poem. David’s conviction of sin is dominated by four themes.
- A sense of personal accountability. But note the frequency of my iniquity, my transgressions, and my sin. There is no evasion of responsibility here. His depth of conviction is stressed in the words “MY SIN IS EVER BEFORE ME” (v. 3).
- A conviction of having turned against God. Irrespective of Bathsheba and Uriah, his actions ultimately was against God. “AGAINST THEE, THEE ONLY, HAVE I SINNED” (v. 4).
- A plea for complete cleansing from sin. The phrases are massed together in intensity and enthusiasm. “BLOT OUT” (v. 1); “wipe off”, as writing is erased (Exodus 32:32), or as water from a dish (2 Kings 21:13). “WASH ME THOROUGHLY” (v. 2).
- A casting of himself upon God who alone can save him. Only God can supply the necessary purging (v. 7), and only God can accomplish a total restoration of soul and body from the damage of sin (v. 8).
2 Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
Behind these transgressions (51:1), he catches sight of their root cause and prays for the Lord to “WASH” him “THOROUGHLY” from his “INIQUITY” and to “CLEANSE” him from his sin against Bathsheba, Uriah, and many others. He had used deceit to conceal his sins from men; and being freed from all fear of punishment, he went on boldly in sin casting off all reverence to God’s holy and omnipresent Majesty, and all dread of His judgments. Sin is a horrible thing; it defiles us, renders us loathsome in the sight of the Holy God, uneasy with ourselves, and unfit for communion with God. What dirt is to the body, sin is to the inner person, so it was right for David to feel defiled because of what he had done.
The Hebrew word he used for “WASH” is a vigorous word meaning “to trample with the feet.” Often clothes were cleaned in this way in olden times as they still are in developing countries even today. The dirt in David’s life was so ingrained that no light soaking or rinsing would do.
Notice the language David uses; language commonly used by people who have failed to maintain fellowship with God and are no longer blessed and watched over by Him. He feels dirty and morally leprous (There may be a hint here of the fact we meet elsewhere in the psalms, that David had been smitten with leprosy.). It is as if the prescription in the book of Leviticus for certain washings for skin diseases of all kinds were made for him alone (Leviticus 13; Jeremiah 2:22).
3 For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.
Once David cries out to God in this way, God suddenly becomes profoundly real to him. He now faces God, his sins—“MY SIN IS EVER BEFORE ME”—and his leprous feelings, but he feels able to tell God all about them. So, he confesses (a), that he has indeed broken the covenant—he feels the terror that that creates; and (b), he has become blindingly aware that he has missed out on the reality of God’s fellowship; and (c), because he is now outside the bounds of the covenant, he sees that his basic sin is that he sneered at God’s love and turned his back on God’s offer of guidance in his life. Regardless of how much God loves the remorseful and repentant, and desires to forgive him, He will not pardoned until distinct confession has been made.
4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.
Did you notice that David does not confess his sin against his neighbor, against that loyal soldier, Uriah, a convert from paganism to the worship of the God of love, a love which David did not show to him; or to Bathsheba, a helpless female member of the people of God? He had gotten her pregnant and then arranged to have her husband killed in battle. Some say the reason David did not confess his sins against Bathsheba and Uriah is that he had so rationalized his actions that he did not see his guilt until Nathan approached him. At any rate, he confessed that he had sinned against the Lord. And he submitted to the Lord’s will, acknowledging that anything God decided about him would be just. It is God he has sinned against. For God had planned to give those two people a full life, in fact God had planned this for them from the foundation of the world. This is what verse four means.
Only God sees how evil evil really is, and what the consequences of evil actions can be. It is a fact of history, and we can read about it in 2 Samuel; that David had infected all his children with the sins of violence and lust. In this psalm, however, he shows that he has learned two things; (a), that God in His infinite compassion, can and does forgive even those sins that have excluded the sinner from His fellowship and have ruined the lives of others; yet (b), that the effects of those sins must still be felt by later generations. That is the Horror of them, for in His wisdom God has ordained that His Covenant was to cover not just us but our children also.
Can anyone say they are guiltless before the all-seeing eyes of God? I can’t! And surly David cannot say it either. I did meet a man once who said he had never sinned, and I tried unsuccessfully to convince him that “all have sinned.” David’s heart had not been completely right with God. Therefore, he believes God is justified and blameless in sentencing him to suffer. By acknowledging the divine justification, the psalmist, at the same time, makes an implicit appeal to God for mercy.
In the future, our Savior will seem to borrow the psalmist’s words when relating the parable of the prodigal son.
5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.
“BEHOLD, I WAS SHAPEN IN INIQUITY.” At verse 4, David confesses that he has broken God’s covenant which was intended to include his children, and declares that God’s judgment is blameless. Then next he recognizes the reality of “original sin”—this is the Old Testaments greatest statement of the doctrine of original sin—and his conviction deepens to include not only what he had done, but what he was by nature: “SHAPEN IN INEQUITY, AND CONCEIVED IN A SIN.” It’s not that the sex act is sinful. Far from it. Sex is God’s good idea. For by means of it, and with God involved in it, a man and a woman together can do what God does, namely, create: “Adam made love to his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, "With the help of the LORD I have brought forth a man" (Genesis 4:1).
AND IN SIN DID MY MOTHER CONCEIVE ME. His propensity to sin reminds him of his sinful nature—something he shares with all mankind—having been conceived in human passion and born in human agony. Paul says, “For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh. . .” (Romans 7:18). David, you see, went right on down to the root of the matter. He confessed that he had a sin nature. Moreover, David embraces the view of the law that procreation and birth are unclean. Man's nature, the estate of marriage, and God's blessing were not utterly abolished through sin, but the quality or condition of it was changed. Now, the word for God’s mercy in verse 1 stems from the noun for “womb”. So in giving birth to a child Eve would experience what we must call “mother-love”. This is a special love only a woman can know for the child of her body. Eve, womankind, knows mother-love; God knows mother-love. So how could sex and human birth ever be considered sinful? Rather, what David is saying is that he was born of a sinful father and a sinful mother, and they in their turn was born to sinful parents, for all men and women are sinners: “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). God’s judgment upon both David and his parents is therefore, perfectly justified and blameless.
6 Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.
“BEHOLD, THOU DESIREST TRUTH IN THE INWARD PARTS,” that is to say, truthfulness, faithfulness, soundness, and integrity. When he finally acknowledges his sin, David immediately wants to be forgiven. Realizing that inner truth and wisdom had ceased to influence his actions, David asks God for cleansing (51:7). Sinful tendencies and dispositions go all the way back to the Garden and to racial pollution, which is part of man’s liability for springing from a fallen race.
God is not interested in what you have been on the surface. You may be baptized, and be nothing more than a baptized sinner, still unsaved. You may be a member of a church, but, my friend, that is all exterior. You still could be lost. He says he desires truth on the inside.
“THOU SHALT MAKE ME TO KNOW WISDOM”—his sin was made more aggravating by the awareness that it was committed against that wisdom and knowledge which God had not only revealed to him outwardly in His word, but also inwardly by His Spirit, writing it in his Heart, according to His promise recorded in Jeremiah 31:38—“This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time," declares the LORD. "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.”
“AND IN THE HIDDEN PART—that is, in the heart, called the hidden man of the heart (1 Peter 3:4), and the secured part (Romans 2:16)—THOU SHALT MAKE ME TO KNOW WISDOM.” It’s true, God desires “TRUTH IN THE INWARD PARTS”, that is, reality and integrity. Therefore, David continues, recognizing the superficiality of his previous childish individualistic confession, “AND IN THE HIDDEN PART THOU SHALT MAKE ME TO KNOW WISDOM.”In other words, he virtually begs, “Give me a new personality, one that is aware of my relationship to You and to other people within the covenant.”
You may be as intrigued as I am by the suggestion that the phrases “INWARD PARTS” and “SECRET PART” have meanings similar to what modern psychiatry calls the subconscious mind. The importance of this factor in human behavior is increasingly understood. Truth in the “INWARD PARTS” and wisdom in the “SECRET PART” are eminently desirable, whether one speaks as psychotherapist or as saint. Was this the deduction of a disciplined mind reflecting on the relation of the subconscious to sin? Or was it rather the sort of sparkling gem the poet often lifts unexpectedly from some hidden pocket in his soul?
7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
“PURGE ME WITH HYSSOP, AND I SHALL BE CLEAN.” He seems to be in a state of self-loathing as he once again uses the language of the Law. See Leviticus 14, for the regulations governing the cleansing of skin diseases; see Exodus 12:22, for sprinkling as a protection at the first Passover; see Isaiah 1:16, for another moral application of the need for washing. “I feel filthy, O God,” he is saying. “Cleanse me, for I cannot do it for myself.” We are to think here of ritual acts, accompanying or following prayer, which are performed by the priest, in which hyssop is dipped in water ritually prepared for a ceremonial cleaning, then the water sprinkled upon the individual (see Numbers 19:18), as he prays, or upon the altar. This represented the removal of sin through the shedding of blood (Hebrews 9:22).
Hyssop was a plant with a hairy stem. When immersed in water, the liquid clung well to the stem, so the plant was used in purification ceremonies. Hyssop was also used to apply blood to the doors of Hebrew homes just prior to the exodus from Egypt (Exodus 12:22); to sprinkle blood upon a leper for his cleansing and healing (Leviticus 14:4; Hebrews 9:13-14; 1 John 1:7); and to offer Jesus a drink while He was on the cross (John 19:29).
“WASH ME, AND I SHALL BE WHITER THAN SNOW.” The Hebrew language has two words for “WASH.” The first is applied to washing the body, kitchen utensils, and, in general, any object that can be dipped in water or have water poured over it. The second is almost a specific word for washing garments by beating them with a stick or pounding them on a flat rock submerged in water. The psalmist deliberately chooses the second word, for he knows that sin is so deeply entrenched in his nature that God may literally have to beat it out of him.
“WHITER THAN SNOW,” must be a reference to either his clothing, since whiteness would be the pallor of illness; or it denotes snowflakes without even minute particles of dust or soot: “Come now, let us settle the matter," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool” (Isaiah 1:18). God, upon your repentance and reformation, will pardon all sins in the past, and look upon you with the same grace and favour as if you had never sinned, your sins being atoned for by the precious blood of Jesus.
Verses 8-12: David’s sins had affected his whole person: his eyes (v. 3), mind (v. 6), ears and bones (v. 8), heart and spirit (v. 10), hands (v. 14), and lips (v. 13-15). This shows the high cost of committing sin. David knew this, so he asked for more than cleansing, as important as that is; he wanted his entire being to be restored so he could serve the Lord acceptably.
8 Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.
“MAKE ME TO HEAR,” the “JOY AND GLADNESS” of the worshipping people once again. That is, “Bring me home and put me into the redeemed covenant fellowship again. Let my physical body be renewed (“not just my “soul”). After God forgives him, David can again experience the “JOY AND GLADNESS” that he has been missing
9 Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.
David’s sense of disgrace went deep. He was not just ashamed of what man might think; he was ashamed that he had been seen by God. That is why David, in spite of being a great sinner, was also a great saint. He wanted God to deal with the disgrace of his sin first—he didn’t want God to look at him in his shame, therefor his request was, “HIDE THY FACE FROM MY SINS”—and he longed to once again lift up his head, and so, he asked the Lord to “BLOT OUT ALL MINE INIQUITIES.” And after God has blotted out David’s terrible offense, then David can renew his heart for God.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
Verse 10 is the central verse of the psalm and it expresses the heart of David’s concern. David knew that the inner person—the heart—was the source of his trouble as well as the seat of his joy and blessing, and he was incapable of changing his own heart. Only God could work that miracle (Jeremiah 24:7; Ezekiel’s 11:19; 36:25-27).
“Looking back, I realize that the trouble all started in my mind. My thought-life was polluted. I entertained evil thoughts until at last I committed the sins. So now I ask that You create in me a clean mind. I know that if the fountain is clean, the stream flowing from it will be clean as well. Yes, Lord, renew my entire inner self so it will be steadfast in guarding against further outbreaks of sin.” David prays not only for a pure heart, but also for a steadfast spirit and ongoing awareness of God’s presence. He believes that “A CLEAN HEART” can only come about as a creation of God.
David makes three points in his prayer:
(1) “CREATE IN ME A CLEAN HEART” (new personality), he begs (51:10). He dares to pray in this way, for God is He who makes all things new. Forgiveness is in fact recreation! That is what David needed, because there was nothing in David’s heart that God could use. He was not asking for renovation or reformation. He was asking for something new. Sometimes we hear the invitation, “Give God your heart.” May I ask you, “What do you think God wants with that old, dirty, filthy heart of yours?” He doesn’t want it. God is not asking anyone to give Him his heart. He wants to give you a new one. That’s what He wants you to do.
(2) “RENEW (better, “make new”) A RIGHT SPIRIT WITHIN ME” (51:10). That is, he asks God to give him back what he had once possessed but had later scorned, the spirit he had received from God at his circumcision, when he became a limb in the body of the Bride of God.
(3) “TAKE NOT THY HOLY SPIRIT FROM ME” (51:11). As a repentant sinner David knew his God well enough to be aware that God had never really left him, even though he had undoubtedly left God. So he still had the right possessed by all Israelites to declare “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me . . .” (Isaiah 61:1). How far David’s experience of God’s grace is from some people today, who suppose that one must be baptized twice before one can receive the Holy Spirit!
So, the results of the sought-for purging and washing will be the creation of “A CLEAN HEART” and the renewal of “A RIGHT SPIRIT.” “CREATE” is used here to express the creative work of God by bringing into being what did not exist before. It is not the restoration of what was there before that the psalmist desired, but a radical change of heart and spirit. “RIGHT SPIRIT” means a “steadfast spirit”; one that is fixed and resolute in its allegiance to God, unmoved by the assaults of temptation. Such a clean heart and steadfast spirit is the condition of fellowship with God; and the desire for, and ability to live a holy life, can only come from the creative, life-giving power of God.
11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.
The Spirit of God came upon David when Samuel anointed him—“So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the LORD came powerfully upon David. . .” (1 Samuel 16:13)—so that he might be God’s man. David didn’t want to lose the blessing and help of the Spirit, as had happened to Saul when he sinned (1 Samuel 16:1, 14; see 2 Samuel 7:15). By the way, no Christian today can pray, “TAKE NOT THY HOLY SPIRIT FROM ME,” because if you are indwelt by the Spirit of God, He will never leave you. You can grieve Him, you can quench Him, but you can never grieve Him away or quench Him away. We are told, “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption” (Ephesians 4:30). Therefore, no child of God can lose the Spirit of God. However, the Holy Spirit can be inoperative in a Christian’s life, and that is what happened to David. He is asking that the Spirit of God may continue to work in his life.
Just as Ezekiel promised that God would put His Spirit within His people and thus cause them to walk steadfastly in His statutes and to keep His ordinances, so the psalmist prays that God may not cast him away (from His favour, and care, and gracious communion with him) in disgust, deeming him of no value, and that God’s Spirit (His Holy Spirit, by which he may have fellowship with Him) may not be withdrawn from his inner life. David knew that he had grieved the Spirit and provoked Him to withdraw, and that God might justly have said that His Spirit would no longer strive with him, nor work upon him: “And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man. . .” (Genesis 6:3). This is what he dreads more than anything. We are undone if God should take His Holy Spirit from us. Saul is a sad example of this. How exceedingly sinful, how exceedingly miserable he was when the Spirit had departed from him. David knew it, and therefore earnestly begs: “Lord, whatever thou take from me, my children, my life, my crown, TAKE NOT THY HOLY SPIRIT FROM ME” (see 2 Samuel 7:15). He knew that he needed the Holy Spirit to perfect the work of his repentance, to prevent a relapse into sin, and to enable him to discharge his duty both as a prince and a psalmist.
No true child of God today can lose the Holy Spirit; at the moment of salvation He indwells them (John 14:16; Romans 8:9). Jesus said: “I will pray the Father and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever” (John 14:16). He went on to say of the Holy Spirit: “Ye know him; for He dwelleth in you, and shall be in you” (John 14:17). But that assurance was not given to Old Testament saints. David had seen the Spirit of God taken away from Saul in order to be given to him. He had seen Saul become the tormented victim of an evil spirit. David was afraid that this might happen to him. He knew of no resource except God Himself to prevent the dreadful consequences of his sin.
12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.
After his grievous sin, he desires purity, the “JOY OF SALVATION,” and a renewal of his willingness to serve God. “A FREE SPIRIT” (literally, “a willing spirit”; or, “a spirit of unforced obedience”) comes from having “a clean heart” and “a right spirit;” it is not in bondage but is free and yielded to the Spirit of God, who ministers to and through our own spirit (Romans 8:14-17).
David’s first request is for the Lord to “RESTORE . . . THE JOY OF [his] SALVATION,” and the second is “UPHOLD (sustain) ME.” He thinks of himself as a weak and frail creature who is never able to stand against corruption and temptation without the powerful and gracious helps that are sent from God. Without His help he will fall, either into sin or into despair.
A forgiven sinner does not dare to rest upon his laurels. He must let himself become God’s servant to the world. That then, is why David asks God to give him a spirit that, like God’s own, will provide him with the strength, and the power to live a life of love and service, though not forgetting to witness to what God has done for him in forgiving him and renewing his life. This psalm being, of course, the Word of God itself, helps us to understand that other and very important event of the coming of the Spirit that we read about in Acts 2:1-36. We should always ask the Old Testament to help us interpret the New.
David did not lose his salvation, and his communion with God was restored. For he found out, as did the prodigal son that there is not nearly as much fun in the far country as there was in the Father’s house.
We cannot lose our salvation; but we can certainly lose the joy of our salvation. The word David used here for “joy” comes from two Hebrew roots, one meaning “bright” and the other meaning “lily” or “whiteness.” David wanted to get back a joy which was as bright and beautiful as the lily. That joy could come only from God after the cause of his depression, his guilt, and sin, had been removed.
The Lord did forgive David but permitted him to suffer the tragic consequences of his sins (2 Samuel 12:13-14).
13 Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.
At this point, David vows, “I [will] TEACH TRANSGRESSORS THY WAYS; AND SINNERS SHALL BE CONVERTED UNTO THEE.” The NIV translation is better: “THEN I WILL TEACH TRANSGRESSORS YOUR WAYS, SO THAT SINNERS WILL TURN BACK TO YOU.” This vow to testify to others gives evidence of the writers pardon and changed nature. David himself had been a transgressor, so he could speak to others from personal experience. It is a great help when counseling others if we can say: “My friend, I know what you’re going through, I have been there myself.” There is nothing like personal experience. That is why the Lord Jesus is such a glorious great High Priest. He has been there! He knows! David fulfilled this pledge of his, to teach transgressors, when he wrote Psalm 32.
It is the unconditional determination of his soul that God keep him from such silence as death would impose upon him, so that he may become a teacher and turn sinning men into the right path. Then he will sing of the Lord’s faithfulness to him. So may God permit his praise to pour forth through his eager lips! David wants to be a good example for God in both teaching others and demonstrating praise.
The psalmist pledges to teach sinners “THY WAYS” (God’s ways), which have to do with either, (1), His will, and their duty, and the way to their eternal happiness; or, (2), the manner of thy dealing with sinners, who He has so severely chastised for their sins, and yet so graciously shown mercy upon their repentance; and He will show both by his personal example, even though he will open himself up to ridicule and shame.
It is the psalmist’s sincere desire is that “SINNERS SHALL BE CONVERTED UNTO THEE,” but first, there must be repentance. There are two steps to repentance. The first step is to be sorry and repent and receive pardon. The second is to act in love towards others in obedience to God and help to lead them to Christ.
14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.
There are three words in this verse we must not gloss over, thinking that we already know what they mean.
(1) One is “BLOODGUILTINESS.” This word does not apply merely to murder, though it may, as it did with David. But verse 14 suggests that there is more to it, as does Isaiah 1:15: “When you spread out your hands in prayer, I hide my eyes from you; even when you offer many prayers, I am not listening. Your hands are full of blood!” This refers to the death of our social conscience. BLOODGUILTINESS is that sense of guilt that we ought to feel when we eat a good meal knowing that the society of which we are a part allows to exist, without a thought, the misery of millions of children who are dying of starvation; or, nearer home, it is what it means to look away when little children are battered by a drunken parent. “BLOODGUILTINESS,” as it concerns David, refers to Uriah’s blood on David’s hands, for it was David who ordered his death (2 Samuel 11; see Ezekiel 3:18-20; 18:13; Acts 20:26).
(2) The second word is in the phrase “THOU GOD OF MY SALVATION”. SALVATION” is the feminine term that we have met before. It means “To thou God who hast given me the power to do something about the hungry masses and those battered babies.” It does not refer to my own personal salvation.
(3) The third word is “DELIVER.” It means, My tongue shall sing aloud about this power I now have, now that I have been delivered from servitude to my own egotism, to love and to serve God’s orphans and his destitute people everywhere: “Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow” (Isaiah 1:17).
15 O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.
We often use verse 15 today (as did the Second Temple) as an opening sentence in public worship. The words remind us that we need God’s grace even to be able to praise God! But when God opens the lips, the devil and fear cannot shut them.
16 For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.
The psalmist shows by his attitude toward sacrifices another clear indication of the profound influence the prophets had upon him. His view of sacrifices mirrors that of Amos (5:21-22), Hosea (6:6), Isaiah (1:10-17), Micah (6:6-8), and Jeremiah (7:21-23) and his rejection of animal sacrifice as a rite is pleasing to God. He has achieved a deeply spiritual conception of religion. It is not sacrifice that God desires, but a heart free from pride and rebellion. God cannot be appeased with “SACRIFICE” and “BURNT OFFERING,” for if He would, the psalmist would give it with all his heart in order to obtain peace and pardon. David would gladly—as would most men—give thousands of rams to make atonement for his sins. Men want to do something that would bring them forgiveness and salvation; but there is nothing they can do, for God requires repentance and faith. They would happily walk backwards for a mile or climb a hundred flights of stairs, but they refuse to admit their sins and have faith in the Son of God.
The conclusion spans from verse 16 to the end of the psalm; included is a promise of praise and thanksgiving.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
There were no atoning sacrifices prescribed for deliberate sins (Numbers 15:30) like murder and adultery—and therefore none could be offered—the sinner could only throw himself in penitence upon the mercy of God (Hosea 14:1). My “SACRIFICE,” O God, is “A BROKEN SPIRIT: A BROKEN AND A CONTRITE HEART.” A “whole” heart implies an element of egotism, and a sense of self-confidence and self-righteousness in approaching God. But a repentant sinner must first sacrifice his egotism, and be “stricken, smitten and afflicted” (three words found together in Isaiah 53:4) just as was the Suffering Servant; for such, “O GOD, THOU WILT NOT DESPISE.” The servant of Isaiah 53 was indeed despised and rejected of men, but not of God. It’s becoming clear that David has good insight into what God wants from him. Rather than animal sacrifices, God much prefers the sacrifice of a submissive spirit and humbled heart.
“A BROKEN AND A CONTRITE HEART,” indicates a heart deeply afflicted and grieved by sin, humbled under the sense of God’s displeasure; and earnestly seeking and willing to accept reconciliation with God on any terms (Isaiah 57:15). God could not receive broken animals as sacrifices (Malachi 1:6-8), but He would receive a broken heart!
David was nearly 1000 years before his time in his understanding of theology. It would take the Apostle Paul and the Epistle to the Romans to do justice to David’s grasp of God’s salvation. David knew instinctively that the Mosaic Leviticus all ritual code was a mere shadow:
Not all the blood of beasts
On Jewish altars slain,
Could give the guilty conscience peace
Nor wash away its stain.
In the Old Testament, anyone who sinned as David did had to receive a word from a priest or prophet indicating he was forgiven. Only then could the penitent person again take part in worship and make a peace offering. In the New Testament the word of forgiveness is forever written in God’s Word—the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses from sin (1 John 1:7). Yet even in the New Testament a believer must have a spirit broken of all self-assertion; he must acknowledge his need before God to find spiritual renewal and cleansing (1 John 1:9).
51:18-19. Finally (verses 18-19), the re-creation of even one individual human being, such as David the king, through confession, forgiveness and the receiving of power to do what God requires, is bound up together within the purpose of the whole creation, that is, with the re-creation of Israel at that point in history. I would suggest that these last two verses were written between the years 538 B.C. and 520 B.C., between the return from exile in Babylon and the commencement of the rebuilding of the temple.
18 Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem.
David also seems to comprehend that the king’s behavior and spiritual integrity (or lack of) can affect God’s perception of the nation as a whole. In verses 18-19, he closes his psalm with a prayer for the prosperity of Jerusalem, and for a time when the people’s sacrifices will once again be righteous and pleasing to God. He looks longingly forward to the time when, with the worshipping community of Zion restored and the walls of Jerusalem rebuilt, the appropriate sacrifices may again be presented upon the Temple alter and win God’s hearty approval. Some scholars have suggested that the last two verses may have been added to David’s psalm at a later date, during Israel’s exile. After a period away from home during which sacrifices were superseded, the desire to rebuild Jerusalem and reinstitute offerings would have been strong indeed.
Zion is another name for Jerusalem—both, but especially Zion are sometimes used to represent all the people of Israel and the church of God—whom David admits he has scandalized, and exposed to the danger of utter destruction, which God might inflict upon them for the sins of their king, which has occurred in the past.
19 Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.
David ends the psalm with a promise that he and his people will make “SACRIFICES OF RIGHTEOUSNESS” (Those that are right or correct ritually) to their God (the true God)—since they have been justified and reconciled to Him—and they shall be offered with sincere and penitent hearts.
“BURNT OFFERING” and “WHOLE BURNT OFFERING” are two expressions for the same sacrifice, the one emphasizing its being burnt, the other the completeness with which it was consumed.
Verse 19 shows that it was not ritual as such that was offensive to God, but ritual without “RIGHTEOUSNESS.” God will be pleased with the “BURNT OFFERING” and the sacrifice of “BULLOCKS”—the best and costliest sacrifices—when the ritual comes from right motives and is the expression of a loving and obedient heart. David not only wanted to praise God, he wanted to please God.
David destroyed much good when he sinned, but he also did much good during his lifetime and served the Lord faithfully.