← Back to the beginning of Psalms 51
Ver. 5. Behold, I was shapen in iniquity] This he allegeth, viz. his original depravity, not as an excuse, but as an aggravation of his actual abominations, which he saith were committed out of the vile viciousness of his nature. See Psalms 58:3,4,. The Masorites here observe, that the word rendered iniquity is full, written with a double ו, Vau, to signify the fulness of his sin; [Hebrew Text Note] whole evil being in every man by nature, and whole evil in man; which, when the saints confess, they are full in the mouth, as I may so say; they begin with the root of sin (not at the fingers’ ends, as Adonibezek did), stabbing the old man at the heart first, and laying the main weight upon original corruption, that indwelling sin, as the apostle calleth it, Romans 7:14,; that sin of evil concupiscence, as the Chaldee here; that peccatum peccans, as the schools. Cicero likewise had heard somewhat of this when he said, Cum primum nascimur, in omni continuo pravitate versamur, As soon as ever we are born we are forthwith in all wickedness. Augustine saith, Damnatus homo antequam natus, Man is condemned as soon as conceived. And in sin did my mother conceive me] Heb. warm me; this Aben Ezra interpreteth to be our great grandmother Eve, Quae non parturiebat antequam peccabat. David meant it doubtless of his immediate mother, and spake of that poison wherewith she had warmed him in her womb, before the soul was infused. Corruption is conveyed by the impurity of the seed, Job 14:4 Joh 3:6,31. Sin may be said to be in the seed inception and dispostion, as fire is in the flint. Let us therefore go with Elisha to the fountain, and cast salt into those rotten and stinking waters. And for our children, let us labour to mend that by education which we have marred by propagation.
Ver. 6. Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts] Quam tamen mihi defuisse res ipsa demonstrat; but this truth hath not been found in me, when I acted my sin in that sort, and did mine utmost to hide it from the world. I have showed little truth in the inward parts, but have grossly dissembled in my dealings, with Uriah especially, whom I so plied at first with counterfeit kindness, and then basely betrayed him to the sword of the enemy. Sinisterity is fully opposite to sincerity, treachery to truth. And in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom] Thus, by faith, saith one, he riseth out of his sin, being taught wisdom of God. Others read it, Thou hast made me to know, &c. And yet have I sinned against the light of mine own knowledge and conscience; although thou hast taught me wisdom privately, Et eheu quam familiariter, as one of thine own domestics, or disciples. Some make it a prayer, Cause me to know wisdom, &c.
Ver. 7. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean] Sprinkle me with the blood of Christ by the hyssop bunch of faith, not only taking away thereby the sting and stink of sin, but conferring upon me the sweet savour of Christ’s righteousness imputed unto me. See Hebrews 9:13,14,19, where he calleth it hyssop; of which see Dioscorides, lib. 3, chap. xxvi., xxviii. David multiplieth his suit for pardon, not only in plain terms, but by many metaphors. Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow] So we cannot be by any washings of our own, though with snow water, Isaiah 1:16. The bride’s garments are made white in the Lamb’s blood, Revelation 1:14; the foulest sinners washed in this fountain become white as the snow in Salmon, Isaiah 1:18 1Co 6:11 Eph 5:27. Peccata non redeunt.
Ver. 8. Make me to hear joy and gladness] God will speak peace unto his people, he createth the fruit of the lips to be peace, Isaiah 57:19, &c. No such joyful tidings to a condemned person as that of a pardon. Be of good cheer, thy sins are forgiven thee. Feri, feri, Domine, nam a peccatis absolutus sum, said Luther. David’s adultery and murder had weakened his spiritual condition, and wiped off all his comforts; but now he begs to be restored by some good sermon or sweet promise set home to his poor soul. That the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice] By leaping over God’s pale he had broken his bones; and fain he would be set right again, by a renewed righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost, by his former feelings of God’s favour.
Ver. 9. Hide thy face from my sins] We are not able to endure God’s presence, much less his justice for our sins; nor can there be any sound peace of conscience while he frowneth. His favour is better than life, but his displeasure more bitter than death itself. See 2 Samuel 14:32. And blot out all mine iniquities] See how one sin calleth to mind many thousands; which though they lie asleep a long time, like a sleeping debt, yet we know not how soon they may be reckoned for. Make sure of a general pardon; and take heed of adding new sins to the old.
Ver. 10. Create in me a clean heart, O God] His heart was woefully soiled with the filth of sin and the work of grace interrupted; he therefore prayeth God to interpose and begin it again, to set him up once more, to rekindle those sparks of the spirit that lay almost quite smothered; to put forth his Almighty power for that purpose, to farm that Augaean stable of his heart; to sanctify him throughout in spirit, soul, and body; and to keep him blameless unto the coming of his Son 1 Thessalonians 5:23. And renew a right spirit within me] Or, a firm spirit, firm for God, able to resist the devil, steadfast in the faith, and to abide constant in the way that is called holy.
Ver. 11. Cast me not away from thy presence] Deprive me not of communion with thee and comfort from thee; for that is a piece of hell torments, 2 Thessalonians 1:9. Cain’s punishment, which possibly David might here mind, as being guilty of murder; and Saul’s loss of the kingly spirit, 1 Samuel 15:15, might make him pray on. And take not thine holy Spirit from me] David knew that he had done enough to make the Holy Spirit loathe his lodging; he might also think that the Spirit had utterly withdrawn himself, and others might think as much, beholding his crosses, Jeremiah 30:17. But the gifts and callings of God are without repentance; and where the Spirit once inhabiteth, there he abideth for ever, John 14:16: an interruption there may be of his work, but not an intercision; and a saint falling into a gross sin may lose his ius aptitudinale ad caelum, but not his ius haereditarium; his fitness, but not his right to heaven, that holy place.
Ver. 12. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation] He had grieved that holy thing, that Spirit of God whereby he was sealed to the day of redemption, Ephesians 4:30, and is therefore at a loss for comfort; he had vilipended that patent of his pardon which God had passed under his hand and seal; God therefore calleth for it home again into the pardon office, as it were, that he may know the worth by the want. A man may sin away, not only the sense and comfort of his pardon, but the evidence and knowledge of it, as that place of Peter seemeth to imply, 2 Peter 1:9. Mountebanks, who wound their flesh to try conclusions upon their own bodies how sovereign the salve is, do oft feel the smart of their presumption, by long and desperate wounds: so God will let his Davids see what it is to make wounds in their consciences to try the preciousness of his balsam; such may go mourning to their graves (Dr Sibbes’ Soul’s Confl.). And though with much ado they get assurance of pardon, yet their consciences will be still trembling, till God at length speak further peace; even as the waters of the sea after a storm are not presently still, but move and tremble a good while after the storm is over. And uphold me with thy free spirit] Heb. Firmly sustain me with thy noble or princely Spirit, that may make me steady and ready to come off roundly in thy service. Sin against conscience disableth for duty, taketh away freedom to it and stability in it. David, therefore, prays God to fix his quicksilver, to balance his lightness, to settle and fill that vain and empty heart of his with something that may stay and stablish it, that may also free and enlarge it (for where the Spirit of God is there is liberty, 2 Corinthians 3:17), that he might yield prompt and present obedience to God in all things; and withal might be apt and able to teach transgressors, as he promiseth to do in the next words.
Ver. 13. Then will I teach transgressors thy ways] Instruunt nos Patres tum docentes, tum labentes, saith Augustine: Two ways the saints teach us. First, By their doctrine. Secondly, By their falls and failings. David had taught men this last way to his cost, that it is triste mortalitatis privilegium licere aliquando peccare; now he promiseth by his example and instruction to teach transgressors, those that are in the very bonds and hands of the devil, God’s ways of mercy to the penitent; and that they must either turn to God or burn for ever in hell. And sinners shall be converted unto thee] They shall give not the half, but the whole turn; and it shall appear by them. The turning of a sinner from evil to good is like the turning of a bell from one side to another; you cannot turn it but it will make a sound, and report its own motion.
Ver. 14. Deliver me from blood guiltiness, O God] Heb. from bloods; in every drop whereof is a tongue crying for vengeance. Besides, if David’s adultery was a sin of infirmity (he was preoccupied, as Galatians 6:1), yet his murdering of Uriah, and many others that fell together with him, was a sin of presumption; a deliberate prepensed evil, done in cold blood, and therefore lay very heavily upon his conscience. Howbeit he obtained pardon for this great sin also; so that it never troubled him on his deathbed, as some other did, though not so great, whereof he had not so thoroughly repented, 1 Kings 2:5-9 Thou God of my salvation] By making choice of this so fit an attribute, he stirreth up himself to take better hold. And my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness] That is, of thy faithfulness in performing thy promise of pardon to the penitent. As Aaron’s golden bells sounded, so should our tongues sound God’s praises, and sing them aloud, shrill them out.
Ver. 15. O Lord, open thou my lips] Which now I find stopped and sealed up, as it were, with the sin that doth so easily beset me; so that whereas I promised before to “sing aloud of thy righteousness,” this I shall never be able to do without thy special furtherance, nisi verba suppedites et tanquam praeeas, unless thou please to supply me both with affections and expressions, as well as with matter of praise. And my mouth shall show forth thy praise] David had not been dumb till now, all the while he lay in his sin, but all he did was but liplabour, and therefore lost labour. Daniel confesseth the like of himself and his people, Daniel 9:13, “All this evil is come upon us: yet made we not our prayer before the Lord our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand thy truth.” Prayed they had, but because they turned not from their iniquities, they got nothing by their prayers or praises. God is a fountain, and if he meet with a fit pipe (as is an ordinance rightly performed), there he usually conveyeth his grace; but if he meet with a foul pipe and obstructed, there he doth not confer a blessing. The Pharisees were not a button the better for all their long prayers, because rotten at heart.
Ver. 16. For thou desirest not sacrifice] This is the reason why David restipulateth praise, if God will pardon his great sin, Psalms 51:15, viz. because he well understood that God preferred praise before all sacrifices whatsoever, provided that it came from a broken spirit, Psalms 51:17, rightly humbled for sin, and thankfully accepting of pardon. See Psalms 50:14,15,23. Thou delightest not in burnt offering] viz. Comparatively, and indeed not at all without a contrite heart. Una Dei est, purum, gratissima victima, pectus (Nazianzen). Much less, then, doth God respect the sacrifice of the mass, that hath no footing or warrant in the word. A certain Sorbonist finding it written at the end of St Paul’s Epistles Missa est, &c., bragged he had found the mass in his Bible. And another reading John 1:44, Invenimus Messiam, made the same conclusion (Beehive, cap. 3). Some of them, as Bellarmine for one, would fain ground it upon Malachi 1:11. Others fetch the name Missa from the Hebrew mass for tribute (Buxtorf); which comes from Masas, to melt (because it many times melteth away men’s estates), Recte quidem, saith Rivet; per missam scilicet pietas omnis liquefacta est et dissoluta.
Ver. 17. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit] i.e. Such a heart as lieth low, and heareth all that God saith; such a sacrifice or service as is laid on the low altar of a contrite heart, which sanctifieth the sacrifice (Mr Abbot); such a person as with a self-condemning, self-crucifying, and sin-mortifying heart, humbly and yet believingly maketh out for mercy and pardon in the blood of Christ, this, this is the man that God expects, accepts, and makes great account of. A broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise] This is great comfort to those that droop under a sense of sin and fear of wrath, being at next door to despair. Bring but a broken heart, and God will receive you graciously, pouring the oil of his grace into your broken vessels, This comforted Bernard on his deathbed, he died with this sentence in his mouth. Austin caused it to be written on the wall over against his bed where he lay sick and died. Many poor souls even in times of Popery had heaven opened unto them by meditating on this psalm; and especially on this verse Psalms 51:17. (Jo. Manl. loc. com. 73)
Ver. 18. Do good in thy good pleasure unto Sion] Having made his own peace with God, he now prayeth for the Church: and the rather, because by his foul sins he had hazarded, or rather exposed, both Zion and Jerusalem, Church and State, to divine displeasure. Delirant reges, plectuntur Achivi. Build thou the walls of Jerusalem] i.e. Protect, defend, and maintain the civil state, grant all things necessary for its safety and well-being; supply of all wants, confirmation and increase of all blessings. Thus pray we, Jeremiah 29:7 Ps 122:6-8; for except the Lord keep the city, &c. See Isaiah 5:1-3 27:3. He is a wall of fire, Revelation 20:9, of water, Isaiah 33:20,21; say, therefore, as Isaiah 26:1, and beware of security, sensuality, senselessness, &c.
Ver. 19. Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices, &c.] i.e. Such as are offered in faith, and according to the will of God, Psalms 4:6. Then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar] They shall be free hearted and frequent in thy work and service; Vae torpori nostro, Woe to our dulness and backwardness in these happy days of peace and free profession, which we had need improve as they did, Acts 9:31. Otherwise, we may desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and not see it, Luke 17:22. Go to Shiloh, &c. A Psalm of David] Or the same time and argument, likely, with Psalms 58 Maschil] Or, to teach that the end of the wicked is evil; Redarguit pravos mores, saith the Syriac. When Doeg the Edomite] When Abiathar escaping the slaughter slave, the blood hound (as Edomite may signify), came and told David what was befallen the priests and their city. This was no small affliction to David; the rather, because by telling the priest a lie, himself had occasioned the massacre. Hereupon, for the comfort of himself and other good people who were startled at this sad accident, and might be deterred thereby from helping David, he penned this psalm. When Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul, &c.] Doeg is a fit name for a courtier; for it signifieth a solicitous or bushy headed fellow, a petty officier, a progging companion, an informer, one that listeneth after rumours, and carrieth tales to curry favour. An Edomite he was by nation; but a proselyte in pretence at least, and one that was at that time detained before the Lord, either by virtue of some vow, or because it was the sabbath day and he would not travel on it, or to perform some other religious service, 1 Samuel 21:7: this dissembled sanctity was double iniquity; and he became a type of Judas, as some make him. He came and told Saul] Like a parasite and a tale bearer as he was: when as he should rather have told Ahimelech, that David was out of Saul’s favour, and sought for to the slaughter, as Kimchi here noteth on Psalms 52:3, but he concealed that, that he might accuse Ahimelech; and so slew three at once (saith another Rabbi), viz. himself, Saul, and Ahimelech, calumniatorem, calumniatum et calumniam audientem. And said, David is come to the house of Ahimelech] Few words, but full of poison; leviter volant non leviter vulnerant. Verba Doegi erant pauci, sod multum nocua (Kimchi). See the story more at large 1 Samuel 22:9. The Rabbis say (from Leviticus 14:44, where the same word is used of the leprous house, that is here, Psalms 52:5, of Doeg’s doom) that he was for this fact smitten with leprosy; and afterwards sent to hell, which they gather from Psalms 120:4 (Midrash Tillin).