Psalms 51:1 I. Looking at this triad of petitions, they teach us, first, how David thought of his sin. (1) Observe the reiteration of the same earnest cry in all these clauses. It is not a mere piece of Hebrew parallelism. It is much more the earnestness of a soul that cannot be content with once as... [ Continue Reading ]
Psalms 51 David, in the opening of this Psalm, appeals for mercy. No penitent man ever approached God on the side of His justice. The Pharisee, indeed, appeals to righteousness; but the publican appeals for mercy. I. "Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin." Mark the thor... [ Continue Reading ]
Psalms 51:3 It seldom happens that any person has very deep views of sin till he has learned something of the power of a Saviour. As soon as he has learned to appropriate the one, he has learned to appropriate the other; and it is the man who can say, "My Saviour," who will be able to say, "My sin.... [ Continue Reading ]
Psalms 51:4 Modern blasphemy delights to blacken "the man after God's own heart." His _was_a terrible fall, terrible as well as piteous. He, so blameless in youth could he, when life had begun to set, be stained so miserably through the passions of youth? It is an intense mystery of sin that man sh... [ Continue Reading ]
Psalms 51:6 We are never more in danger of forgetting that we are sinners than when contemplating the sufferings and death of Him who died to save us from our sins. Like the first tearful spectators of His sufferings, while we weep for Him we forget to weep for ourselves. We listen to the mysterious... [ Continue Reading ]
Psalms 51:8 I. (1) The sin of David was (_a_) a sin against light, and (_b_) a sin without excuse. He fell with frightful injury to himself, and the effect of Samuel's unction on his head when he made him king over Israel was in this instance only to give him a tyranny over the souls of others. (2)... [ Continue Reading ]
Psalms 51:10 Three things must happen before anything can be created. The Spirit of God must move upon the face of it, the word of God must speak to it, and the blood of Christ must wash it. I. If you wish to be God's children indeed, the Holy Spirit must work in your heart. As the Spirit moved ov... [ Continue Reading ]
Psalms 51:10 I. Here is a remarkable outline of a holy character. Of these three gifts "a right spirit," "Thy Holy Spirit," a "free spirit" the central one alone is in the original spoken of as God's, the "Thy" of the last clause of the English Bible being an unnecessary supplement. The central peti... [ Continue Reading ]
Psalms 51:12 I. The joy of God's salvation is the joy of a sufficient and final answer to the self-upbraidings of a guilty soul. II. The joy of a portion which satisfies the heart's largest conceptions and desires. III. The joy of an answer to all the difficulties and perplexities which beset the... [ Continue Reading ]
Psalms 51:13 I. It is the characteristic of the people of God that they desire the conversion of sinners unto God; they are not at least in a healthy state when this desire is not active. So far as there is backsliding, this principle may be crushed and weakened; but let there be renewed repentance... [ Continue Reading ]
Psalms 51:16 These words, though none were ever spoken in the world that could be so little intended to perplex any worshipping Israelite, nevertheless must have strangely clashed with some of his most cherished and familiar thoughts. "Thou delightest not in burnt-offering." Why then was it said th... [ Continue Reading ]
Psalms 51:17 The difference between good and bad men in Holy Scripture may be said to consist in this: whether they have or have not "a broken and a contrite spirit;" the degrees of their acceptance with God seem to depend on this; and in consequence we! shall find in those who are most of all appr... [ Continue Reading ]