This psalm purports to be a psalm of David, and the contents of it accord with this supposition, and with the statement in the title in regard to the occasion on which it was composed. There would be no difficulty on the subject, and no ground for hesitation, in regard to the author and the occasion... [ Continue Reading ]
HAVE MERCY OPON ME, O GOD - This is the utterance of a full heart; a heart crushed and broken by the consciousness of sin. The psalmist had been made to see his great guilt; and his first act is to cry out for mercy. There is no attempt to excuse his sin, or to apologise for it; there is no effort t... [ Continue Reading ]
WASH ME THROUGHLY FROM MINE INIQUITY - literally, “Multiply to wash me.” The word rendered “throughly” is a verb, either in the infinitive or imperative mood, and suggests the idea of “multiplying” or “increasing.” The reference is to that which might need constant or repeated washings in order to r... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR I ACKNOWLEDGE MY TRANSGRESSIONS - literally, I know, or make known. That is, he knew that he was a sinner, and he did not seek to cloak or conceal that fact. He came with the knowledge of it himself; he was willing to make acknowledgment of it before God. There was no attempt to conceal it; to e... [ Continue Reading ]
AGAINST THEE, THEE ONLY, HAVE I SINNED - That is, the sin, considered as an offence against God, now appeared to him so enormous and so aggravated, that, for the moment, he lost sight of it considered in any other of its bearings. It “was” a sin, as all other sins are, primarily and mainly against G... [ Continue Reading ]
BEHOLD, I WAS SHAPEN IN INIQUITY - The object of this important verse is to express the deep sense which David had of his depravity. That sense was derived from the fact that this was not a sudden thought, or a mere outward act, or an offence committed under the influence of strong temptation, but t... [ Continue Reading ]
BEHOLD, THOU DESIREST TRUTH IN THE INWARD PARTS - The word rendered “desirest,” means to have pleasure in; to delight in; and the idea is that this only is agreeable to God, or this only accords with his own nature. The word rendered “inward parts,” means properly the reins, and is usually employed... [ Continue Reading ]
PURGE ME WITH HYSSOP, AND I SHALL BE CLEAN - On the word hyssop, see the notes at John 19:29; notes at Hebrews 9:19. The plant or herb was much used by the Hebrews in their sacred purifications and sprinklings: Exodus 12:22; Leviticus 14:4, Leviticus 14:6,Leviticus 14:49, Lev 14:51; 1 Kings 4:33. Un... [ Continue Reading ]
MAKE ME TO HEAR JOY AND GLADNESS - That is, the voice of forgiveness, causing joy and rejoicing. What he wished to hear was the kind voice of God in pronouncing his pardon; not the voice of anger and condemnation. God now condemned him. The law condemned him. His own conscience condemned him. The re... [ Continue Reading ]
HIDE THY FACE FROM MY SINS - That is, Do not look on them; avert thy face from them; do not regard them. Compare the notes at Psalms 13:1. AND BLOT OUT ALL MINE INIQUITIES - Take them entirely away. Let the account be erased, cancelled, destroyed. See the notes at Psalms 51:1.... [ Continue Reading ]
CREATE IN ME A CLEAN HEART, O GOD - The word rendered “create,” ברא _b__e__râ'_ - is a word which is properly employed to denote an act of “creation;” that is, of causing something to exist where there was nothing before. It is the word which is used in Genesis 1:1 : “In the beginning God “created”... [ Continue Reading ]
CAST ME NOT AWAY FROM THY PRESENCE - That is, Do not reject me, or cast me off entirely; do not abandon me; do not leave me in my sin and sorrow. The language is derived from the idea that true happiness is to be found in the “presence” of God, and that to be exiled from him is misery. Compare Psalm... [ Continue Reading ]
RESTORE UNTO ME THE JOY OF THY SALVATION - literally, “Cause the joy of thy salvation to return.” This implies that he had formerly known what was the happiness of being a friend of God, and of having a hope of salvation. That joy had been taken from him by his sin. He had lost his peace of mind. Hi... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN WILL I TEACH TRANSGRESSORS THY WAYS - As an expression of gratitude, and as the result of his own painful experience. He would show them, from that experience, the evil and the bitterness of sin in itself; he would show them with what dreadful consequences sin must always be followed; he would... [ Continue Reading ]
DELIVER ME FROM BLOOD-GUILTINESS, O GOD - Margin, as in Hebrew, “bloods.” So it is rendered by the Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate. Luther renders it “blood-guilt.” DeWette, “from blood.” Compare Isaiah 4:4. The “plural” form - “bloods” - is used probably to mark “intensity,” or to denote “great” g... [ Continue Reading ]
O LORD, OPEN THOU MY LIPS - That is, by taking away my guilt; by giving me evidence that my sins are forgiven; by taking this burden from me, and filling my heart with the joy of pardon. The original word is in the future tense, but the meaning is well expressed in our common translation. There was,... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THOU DESIREST NOT SACRIFICE ... - On the words rendered in this verse “sacrifice” and “burnt-offering,” see the notes at Isaiah 1:11. On the main sentiment here expressed - that God did not “desire” such sacrifices - see the notes at Psalms 40:6. The idea here is, that any mere external offering... [ Continue Reading ]
THE SACRIFICES OF GOD - The sacrifices which God desires and approves; the sacrifices without which no other offering would be acceptable. David felt that that which he here specified was what was demanded in his case. He had grievously sinned; and the blood of animals offered in sacrifice could not... [ Continue Reading ]
DO GOOD IN THY GOOD PLEASURE UNTO ZION - From himself - his deep sorrow, his conscious guilt, his earnest prayer for pardon and salvation - the psalmist turns to Zion, to the city of God, to the people of the Lord. These, after all, lay nearer to his heart than his own personal salvation; and to the... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN SHALT THOU BE PLEASED WITH THE SACRIFICES OF RIGHTEOUSNESS - “Then,” that is, when God should have thus showed favor to Zion; when he should have poured out his blessing on Jerusalem; when religion should prosper and prevail; when there should be an increase of the pure worship of God. In such... [ Continue Reading ]