8 Make me full of joy and rapture; so that the bones which have been broken may be glad.
Truly, that man is happy who has training from the hand of God: so do not let your heart be shut to the teaching of the Ruler of all. For after his punishment he gives comfort, and after wounding, his hands make you well.
Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am wasted away: make me well, for even my bones are troubled. My soul is in bitter trouble; and you, O Lord, how long?
By you my sorrow is turned into dancing; you have taken away my clothing of grief, and given me robes of joy;
All my bones will say, Lord, who is like you? The saviour of the poor man from the hands of the strong, of him who is poor and in need from him who takes his goods.
<CAPH> My soul is wasted with desire for your salvation: but I have hope in your word. My eyes are full of weariness with searching for your word, saying, When will you give me comfort?
Those who put in seed with weeping will get in the grain with cries of joy. Though a man may go out weeping, taking his vessel of seed with him; he will come again in joy, with the corded stems of grain in his arms.
For this is the word of him who is high and lifted up, whose resting-place is eternal, whose name is Holy: my resting-place is in the high and holy place, and with him who is crushed and poor in spirit, to give life to the spirit of the poor, and to make strong the heart of the crushed. For I will not give punishment for ever, or be angry without end: for from me breath goes out; and I it was who made the souls. I was quickly angry with his evil ways, and sent punishment on him, veiling my face in wrath: and he went on, turning his heart from me. I have seen his ways, and I will make him well: I will give him rest, comforting him and his people who are sad.
Come, let us go back to the Lord; for he has given us wounds and he will make us well; he has given blows and he will give help. After two days he will give us life, and on the third day he will make us get up, and we will be living before him.
The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because I am marked out by him to give good news to the poor; he has sent me to make well those who are broken-hearted; to say that the prisoners will be let go, and the blind will see, and to make the wounded free from their chains,
Now when these words came to their ears their hearts were troubled, and they said to Peter and the other Apostles, Brothers, what are we to do? And Peter said, Let your hearts be changed, every one of you, and have baptism in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will have the Holy Spirit given to you. For the word of God is for you and for your children and for all those who are far off, even all those who may be marked out by the Lord our God. And with more such words he gave his witness, offering them salvation and saying, Come out from this evil generation. Then those who gave hearing to his words had baptism: and about three thousand souls were joined to them that day.
And he sent for lights and came rushing in and, shaking with fear, went down on his face before Paul and Silas, And took them out and said, Sirs, what have I to do to get salvation? And they said, Have faith in the Lord Jesus, and you and your family will have salvation. And they gave the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. And that same hour of the night, he took them, and when he had given attention to their wounds, he and all his family had baptism straight away. And he took them into his house and gave them food, and he was full of joy, having faith in God with all his family.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Psalms 51
Commentary on Psalms 51 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
PSALM 51
Ps 51:1-19. On the occasion, compare 2Sa 11:12. The Psalm illustrates true repentance, in which are comprised conviction, confession, sorrow, prayer for mercy, and purposes of amendment, and it is accompanied by a lively faith.
1-4. A plea for mercy is a confession of guilt.
blot out—as from a register.
transgressions—literally, "rebellions" (Ps 19:13; 32:1).
2. Wash me—Purity as well as pardon is desired by true penitents.
3. For … before me—Conviction precedes forgiveness; and, as a gift of God, is a plea for it (2Sa 12:13; Ps 32:5; 1Jo 1:9).
4. Against thee—chiefly, and as sins against others are violations of God's law, in one sense only.
that … judgest—that is, all palliation of his crime is excluded; it is the design in making this confession to recognize God's justice, however severe the sentence.
5, 6. His guilt was aggravated by his essential, native sinfulness, which is as contrary to God's requisitions of inward purity as are outward sins to those for right conduct.
6. thou shalt make, &c.—may be taken to express God's gracious purpose in view of His strict requisition; a purpose of which David might have availed himself as a check to his native love for sin, and, in not doing so, aggravated his guilt.
truth … and …wisdom—are terms often used for piety (compare Job 28:28; Ps 119:30).
7-12. A series of prayers for forgiveness and purifying.
Purge … hyssop—The use of this plant in the ritual (Ex 12:22; Nu 19:6, 18) suggests the idea of atonement as prominent here; "purge" refers to vicarious satisfaction (Nu 19:17-20).
8. Make … joy—by forgiving me, which will change distress to joy.
9. Hide, &c.—Turn from beholding.
10. Create—a work of almighty power.
in me—literally, "to me," or, "for me"; bestow as a gift, a heart free from taint of sin (Ps 24:4; 73:1).
renew—implies that he had possessed it; the essential principle of a new nature had not been lost, but its influence interrupted (Lu 22:32); for Ps 51:11 shows that he had not lost God's presence and Spirit (1Sa 16:13), though he had lost the "joy of his salvation" (Ps 51:12), for whose return he prays.
right spirit—literally, "constant," "firm," not yielding to temptation.
12. free spirit—"thy" ought not to be supplied, for the word "free" is, literally, "willing," and "spirit" is that of David. "Let a willing spirit uphold me," that is, with a soul willingly conformed to God's law, he would be preserved in a right course of conduct.
13. Then—Such will be the effect of this gracious work.
ways—of providence and human duty (Ps 18:21, 30; 32:8; Lu 22:32).
14. Deliver—or, "Free me" (Ps 39:8) from the guilt of murder (2Sa 12:9, 10; Ps 5:6).
righteousness—as in Ps 7:17; 31:1.
15. open … lips—by removing my sense of guilt.
16. Praise is better than sacrifice (Ps 50:14), and implying faith, penitence, and love, glorifies God. In true penitents the joys of pardon mingle with sorrow for sin.
18. Do good, &c.—Visit not my sin on Thy Church.
build … walls—is to show favor; compare Ps 89:40, for opposite form and idea.
19. God reconciled, material sacrifices will be acceptable (Ps 4:5; compare Isa 1:11-17).