Title - To the chief Musician - Therefore not written for private meditation only, but for the public service of song. Suitable for the loneliness of individual penitence, this matchless Psalm is equally well adapted for an assembly of the poor in spirit. A Psalm of David. It is a marvel, but nevertheless a fact, that writers have been found to deny David's authorship of this Psalm, but their objections are frivolous, the Psalm is David-like all over. It would be far easier to imitate Milton, Shakespeare, or Tennyson, than David. His style is altogether sui generis, and it is as easily distinguishable as the touch of Rafaelle or the colouring of Rubens. "When Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba." When the divine message had aroused his dormant conscience and made him see the greatness of his guilt he wrote this Psalm. He had forgotten his Psalmody while he was indulging his flesh, but he returned to his harp when his spiritual nature was awakened, and he poured out his song to the accompaniment of sighs and tears. The great sin of David is not to be excused, but it is well to remember that his case has an exceptional collection of specialities in it. He was a man of very strong passions a soldier, and an Oriental monarch having despotic power; no other king of his time would have felt any compunction for having acted as he did, and hence there were not around him those restraints of custom and association which, when broken through, render the offence the more monstrous. He never hints at any form of extenuation, nor do we mention these facts in order to apologise for his sin, which was detestable to the last degree; but for the warning of others, that they may reflect that the like licentiousness in themselves at this day might have even a graver guilt in it than in the erring King of Israel. When we remember his sin, let us dwell most upon his penitence, and upon the long series of chastisements which rendered the after part of his life such a mournful history.

Divisions - It will be simplest to note in the first twelve verses the penitent's confessions and plea for pardon, and then in the last seven his anticipatory gratitude and the wall in which he resolves to display it.

Hints to Preachers

[The Psalm is upon its surface so full of suggestions for sermons that I have not attempted to offer any of my own, but have merely inserted a selection from Mr. G. Rogers and others.]

Psalm 51:1 -

I. The Prayer.

1. For mercy, not justice, Mercy is the sinner's attribute - as much a part of the divine nature as justice. The possibility of sin is implied in its existence. The actual commission of sin is implied in its display.

2. For pardon, not pity merely, but forgiveness.

II. The plea.

1. For the pardon of great sins on account of great mercies, and lovingkindness.

2. Many sins on account of multitude of mercies.

3.-Hell-deserving sins on account of tender mercies. We who have sinned are human, he who pardons is divine.

"Great God, thy nature hath no bound,

So let thy pardoning love be found."

Psalm 51:3 -

I. Confession. "I acknowledge," etc.

II. Humiliation, not a mere confession with the lips, but ever before me - in its guilt - defilement - consequences in this life and hereafter.

Psalm 51:3, Psalm 51:4, Psalm 51:11, Psalm 51:12, Psalm 51:17 -

I. Scripture estimate of sin.

1. Personal accountability - "My sin."

2. Estimated as hateful to God - "Against thee," etc.

3. Sin estimated as separation from God.

II. Spiritual restoration. First step - Sacrifice of a broken spirit. Last step - Spirit of liberty. "Thy free spirit."

- F. W. Robertson.

Psalm 51:4 -

1. The person - "I."

2. The commission - "done."

3. The trespass - "evil."

4. The particularity - "this."

5. The daring of it - "in thy sight."

- Samuel Page.

Psalm 51:4 - "Against thee."

1. Thee, an holy God - a God of pure eyes, and that cannot endure to behold iniquity.

2. Thee, a just God-who will punish sin.

3. Thee, an Almighty God.

4. Thee, a gracious God.

- T. Horton.

Psalm 51:4 -

I.-Self-condemnation.

1. For the greatness of sin. Not against self merely, or fellow men, but God, This includes all guilt, for all is against him.

2. Its effrontery, "in thy sight."

II. Divine justification.

1. In the permission of sin.

2. In its punishment.

3. In its forgiveness. God must be justified when he justifies the ungodly.

Psalm 51:6 - See T. Goodwin's Treatise, entitled, "An Unregenerate Man's Guiltiness before God, in respect of Sin and Punishment." Bk ix cap i if. [Nichol's edition, Vol. X., p. 324 et seq.]

Psalm 51:7 - Here is,

I. Faith in the fact of an atonement for sin. "I shall be clean."

II. Faith in the method of its application. "Purge me," etc. Sprinkled as the blood of sacrifices.

III. Faith in its efficacy. "I shall be whiter," etc.

Psalm 51:10 -

I. The change to be effected.

1. A clean heart.

2. A right spirit.

II. The power by which it is accomplished.

1. A creative power, such as created the world at first.

2. A renewing power, such as continually renews the face of the earth.

III. The acquirement of these blessings. The prayer, "Create," etc.

Psalm 51:11 (first clause) - I am not cast away, and would be thankful. I deserve to be cast away, and ought to be penitential. I am afraid of being cast away, and must be prayerful. "Cast me not away."

1. From thy protecting presence into danger.

2. From thy loving presence into wrath.

3. From thy joyous presence into distress.

4. From thy affluent presence into destitution.

5. From thy gracious presence into despair.

Sin hurries us away from God; grace hastens us into his embrace: the former severs, and the latter unites, God and the soul. - W. Jackson.

Psalm 51:11 -

I. There is often much comfort in much grief. "Cast me not," etc. A consciousness of still having the divine presence and a dread of losing it, prompts the prayer.

II. There is often much faith in much fear. "Take not," etc. Faith in the spirit works within him while he fears.

Psalm 51:12-13 - A threefold desire:

1. To be happy - "Restore," etc.

2. To be consistent - "Uphold," etc.

3. To be useful - "Then will I teach," etc.

- W. Jackson.

Psalm 51:13 -

I. It is not our duty to seek the conversion of others until we are converted ourselves.

II. The greater enjoyment we have in the ways of God, the more faithfully and earnestly we shall make them known to others.

III. The more faithfully and earnestly we make them known to others the more they will be influenced by them.

Psalm 51:15 -

I. Confession. His lips are sealed on account -

1. Of his fall - and well they might be.

2. Of natural timidity.

3. Of want of zeal.

II. Petition. "Open thou," etc. Not my understanding merely and heart, but "lips."

III. Resolution. Then he would speak freely in God's praise.

Psalm 51:15 -

I. When God does not open our lips we had better keep them closed.

II. When he does open them we ought not to close them.

III. When he opens them it is not to speak in our own praise, and seldom in praise of others, but always in his own praise.

IV. We should use this prayer whenever we are about to speak in his name. "O Lord, open," etc.

Psalm 51:16-17 -

I. Men would gladly do something towards their own salvation if they could. "Thou desirest not," etc., else would I give it.

II. All that they can do is not of the least avail. All the ceremonial observances of Jewish or Gentile churches could not procure pardon for the least transgression of the moral law.

III. The only offering of man which God will not despise is a broken and a contrite heart.

IV. All other requirement for his salvation God himself will provide.

Psalm 51:18 -

I. For whom is the prayer offered - for the church or Zion?

1. Next to our own welfare we should seek the welfare of Zion.

2. All should seek it by prayer.

II. For what is the prayer offered?

1. The kind of good, not worldly or ecclesiastical, but spiritual.

2. The measure of good. "In thy good pleasure. Thine own love to it, and what thou hast already done for it.

3. The continuance of good. "Build," etc. Its doctrines, graces, zeal.

Psalm 51:19 -

I. When we are accepted of God our offerings are accepted. "Then," etc.

II. We should then make the richest offerings in our power, our time, talents, influence, etc.

1. Holy obedience.

1 Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.

2 Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.

3 For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.

4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.

5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

6 Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.

7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

8 Make me to hear joy and gladness, that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.

9 Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.

12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.

Psalm 51:1

"Have mercy upon me, O God." He appeals at once to the mercy of God, even before he mentions his sin. The sight of mercy is good for eyes that are sore with penitential weeping. Pardon of sin must ever be an act of pure mercy, and therefore to that attribute the awakened sinner flies. "According to thy lovingkindness." Act, O Lord, like thyself; give mercy like thy mercy. Show mercy such as is congruous with thy grace.

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13 Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.

14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.

15 Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.

16 For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.

17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

18 Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem.

19 Then, shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.

Psalm 51:13

"Then will I teach transgressors thy ways." It was his fixed resolve to be a teacher of others; and assuredly none instruct others so well as those who have been experimentally taught of God themselves. Reclaimed poachers make the best gamekeepers. Huntingdon's degree of S.S., or Sinner Saved, is more needful for a soul-winning evangelist than either M.A or D.D. The pardoned sinner's matter will be good, for he has been taught in the school of experience, and his manner will be telling, for he will speak sympathetically, as one who has felt what he declares. The audience the Psalmist would choose is memorable - he would instruct transgressors like himself; others might despise them, but, "a fellow feeling makes us wondrous kind." If unworthy to edify saints, he would creep in along with the sinners, and humbly tell them of divine love. The mercy of God to one is an illustration of his usual procedure, so that our own case helps us to understand his "ways," or his general modes of action: perhaps, too, David under that term refers to the preceptive part of the word of God, which, having broken, and having suffered thereby, he felt that he could vindicate and urge upon the reverence of other offenders. "And sinners shall be converted unto thee." My fall shall be the restoration of others. Thou wilt bless my pathetic testimony to the recovery of many who, like myself, have turned aside unto crooked ways. Doubtless this Psalm and the whole story of David, have produced for many ages the most salutary results in the conversion of transgressors, and so evil has been overruled for good.

Psalm 51:14

"Deliver me from bloodguiltiness." He had been the means of the death of Uriah, the Hittite, a faithful and attached follower, and he now confesses that fact. Besides, his sin of adultery was a capital offence, and he puts himself down as one worthy to die the death. Honest penitents do not fetch a compass and confess their sins in an elegant periphrasis, but they come to the point, call a spade a spade, and make a clean breast of all. What other course is rational in dealing with the Omniscient? "O God, thou God of my salvation." He had not ventured to come so near before. It had been, "O God," up till now, but here he cries, "Thou God of my salvation." Faith grows by the exercise of prayer. He confesses sin more plainly in this verse than before, and yet he deals with God more confidently: growing upward and downward at the same time are perfectly consistent. None but the King can remit the death penalty, it is therefore a joy to faith that God is King, and that he is the author and finisher of our salvation. "And my torque shall sing aloud of thy righteousness." One would rather have expected him to say, I will sing of thy mercy; but David can see the divine way of justification, that righteousness of God which Paul afterwards spoke of by which the ungodly are justified, and he vows to sing, yea, and to sing lustily of that righteous way of mercy. After all, it is the righteousness of divine mercy which is its greatest wonder. Note how David would preach in the last verse, and now here he would sing. We can never do too much for the Lord to whom we owe more than all. If we could be preacher, precentor, doorkeeper, pewopener, footwasher, and all in one, all would be too little to show forth all our gratitude. A great sinner pardoned makes a great singer. Sin has a loud voice, and so should our thankfulness have. We shall not sing our own praises if we be saved, but our theme will be the Lord our righteousness, in whose merits we stand righteously accepted.

Psalm 51:15

"O Lord, open thou my lips." He is so afraid of himself that he commits his whole being to the divine care, and fears to speak till the Lord unstops his shame-silenced mouth. How marvellously the Lord can open our lips, and what divine things we poor simpletons pour forth under his inspiration! This prayer of a penitent is a golden petition for a preacher. Lord, I offer it for myself and my brethren. But it may stand in good stead any one whose shame for sin makes him stammer in his prayers, and when it is fully answered, the tongue of the dumb begins to sing. "And my mouth shall shew forth thy praise." If God opens the mouth he is sure to have the fruit of it. According to the porter at the gate is the nature of that which comes out of man's lips; when vanity, anger, falsehood, or lust unbar the door, the foulest villanies troop out; but if the Holy Spirit opens the wicket, then grace, mercy, peace, and all the graces come forth in tuneful dances, like the daughters of Israel when they met David returning with the Philistine's head.

Psalm 51:16

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