18 Do good in Thy good pleasure with Zion, Thou dost build the walls of Jerusalem.
For Jehovah hath builded Zion, He hath been seen in His honour,
`Fear not, little flock, because your Father did delight to give you the reign;
for which also we do pray always for you, that our God may count you worthy of the calling, and may fulfil all the good pleasure of goodness, and the work of the faith in power,
for God it is who is working in you both to will and to work for His good pleasure.
having foreordained us to the adoption of sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,
apart from the things without -- the crowding upon me that is daily -- the care of all the assemblies. Who is infirm, and I am not infirm? who is stumbled, and I am not fired;
The day to build thy walls! That day -- removed is the limit.
And thou dost know, and dost consider wisely, from the going forth of the word to restore and to build Jerusalem till Messiah the Leader `is' seven weeks, and sixty and two weeks: the broad place hath been built again, and the rampart, even in the distress of the times.
`On thy walls, O Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen, All the day, and all the night, Continually, they are not silent.' O ye remembrancers of Jehovah, Keep not silence for yourselves, And give not silence to Him, Till He establish, and till He make Jerusalem A praise in the earth.
For Zion's sake I am not silent, And for Jerusalem's sake I do not rest, Till her righteousness go out as brightness, And her salvation, as a torch that burneth.
For Jehovah hath comforted Zion, He hath comforted all her wastes, And He setteth her wilderness as Eden, And her desert as a garden of Jehovah, Joy, yea, gladness is found in her, Confession, and the voice of song.
Building Jerusalem `is' Jehovah, The driven away of Israel He gathereth.
Ask ye the peace of Jerusalem, At rest are those loving thee. Peace is in thy bulwark, rest in thy high places, For the sake of my brethren and my companions, Let me speak, I pray thee, `Peace `be' in thee.' For the sake of the house of Jehovah our God, I seek good for thee!
For God doth save Zion, And doth build the cities of Judah, And they have dwelt there, and possess it.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Psalms 51
Commentary on Psalms 51 Matthew Henry Commentary
Psalm 51
Though David penned this psalm upon a very particular occasion, yet, it is of as general use as any of David's psalms; it is the most eminent of the penitential psalms, and most expressive of the cares and desires of a repenting sinner. It is a pity indeed that in our devout addresses to God we should have any thing else to do than to praise God, for that is the work of heaven; but we make other work for ourselves by our own sins and follies: we must come to the throne of grace in the posture of penitents, to confess our sins and sue for the grace of God; and, if therein we would take with us words, we can nowhere find any more apposite than in this psalm, which is the record of David's repentance for his sin in the matter of Uriah, which was the greatest blemish upon his character: all the rest of his faults were nothing to this; it is said of him (1 Ki. 15:5), That "he turned not aside from the commandment of the Lord all the days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.' In this psalm,
Those whose consciences charge them with any gross sin should, with a believing regard to Jesus Christ, the Mediator, again and again pray over this psalm; nay, though we have not been guilty of adultery and murder, or any the like enormous crime, yet in singing it, and praying over it, we may very sensibly apply it all to ourselves, which if we do with suitable affections we shall, through Christ, find mercy to pardon and grace for seasonable help.
To the chief musician. A psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bath-sheba.
Psa 51:1-6
The title has reference to a very sad story, that of David's fall. But, though he fell, he was not utterly cast down, for God graciously upheld him and raised him up.
In these words we have,
Psa 51:7-13
Psa 51:14-19