Psalms 51

HAve mercy upon me Pity and Help and Answer me, in the Desires I am now spreading before thee., O God, according to thy loving kindness I pretend to no merit, but humbly implore thy free Grace and Mercy.: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies Thy mercies are infinite, and therefore sufficient for my Relief, and such indeed do I need. Either, 1. Out of my Conscience and Soul, where it has le... t a stain and filthy Character. Out of thy Book of Remembrance, and Accounts, in which all mens sins are written, and out of which all men shall be judged hereafter. Revel. 20. 12. Which is spoken of God after the manner of men. See of this Phrase Isa. 43. 25. and 44. 22., blot out f my transgressions.

Wash me throughly Heb. Multiply to wash me. By which Phrase he implies the greatness of his guilt; and the insufficiency of all legal Washings, and the absolute necessity of some other and better thing to wash him, even of Gods Grace and the Blood of Christ; which as Abraham saw by Faith, Ioh. 8. 5.... so did David, as is sufficiently evident (allowing for the darkness of the Dispensation and Expressions of the Old Testament) from divers passages of the Psalms; of which I have spoken in their Proper places; and his earnest and passionate desire of Pardon; which he desires above all other things. Wherein he shows himself to be a true Penitent, because his chief Care and desire was to obtain God's Favour, and the forgiveness of his sins, and not the Prevention of those external... ore Judgments, which God by Nathan threatned to bring upon him and his House, 2 Sam. 12. 10, 11. about which here is not one Word in this Psalm; whereas the Cares and Desires of Hypocrites, chiefly are bent towards Worldly things, as we see in Cain, Gen. 4. 13, 16, 17. and Sa... l, 1 Sam. 15. 30. and others. 7. 14. from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.

For I acknowledge With Grief and Shame, and abhorrency of my self and of my sins; which hitherto I have dissembled and covered. And being thus truly Penitent, I hope and beg that I may find Mercy with thee. my transgressions For it was not a single, but a Complicated, Wickedness, Adultery, Murder, Injustice, Perfidiousness; and frequent Repetition of, and long and stupid Continuance in a... ominable Repetition of, and that with publick Scandal.: and my sin is ever before me That which I had cast chind my Back is now Constantly in my view, and fixed in my Thoughts and Memory..

Against thee, thee only Which is not to be understood simply and absolutely, because he had unquestionably sinned against and Uriah, and m... ny others who were either injured by it, or scandalized at it, but Comparatively. So the Sense is this, though I have sinned against my own Body and Conscience, and against others; yet nothing is more grievous and Terrible to me, than to consider that I have sinned against thee; Partly, upon a general Account, because this is the chief Malignity, and sinfulness of sin, that it offends and injures the Glorious and Blessed God; and Partly, upon particular Reasons; Because I set thee at Defiance, and having used all wicked Arts to conceal my sin from Men, and being free from Fear of punishment from them, I went on boldly in sin, casting off all Reverence to thy Holy and Omniscient Majesty, and all dread of thy Judgments, and because I sinned against thee, to whom I had such numerous and peculiar and eminent Obligations, as thy Prophet Nathan truly... suggested to me, 2 Sam. 12. 7, 8. have I sinned, and done this evil in thy fight With g... oss Contempt of God, whom I well knew to be a Spectator of my most secret Actions.: that thou mightest be justified The Particle, that, is not taken Causally, or Intentionally, as if this was David's Design, but Eventually, as it is Exod. 11. 9. Psal. 30. 12. H... s. 8. 4. This will be the Fruit or Consequent of my sin, that whatsoever severities thou shalt use towards me and mine, it will be no blemish to thy Benignity, or Righteousness, or Fidelity, but the blame of all will rest upon my Head, as I desire it may, and thy justice will be Glorified by all Men., when thou speakest Heb. In thy Words, (i. e.) In all thy Threatnings denounced against me by Nathan; and in any further Sentence which thou shalt see fit to pass upon me.; and be clear when thou judgest When thou dost plea... or contend with me, or execute thy Sentence or Judgment upon me. Or, when thou art... udged, as it is rendred, Rom. 3. 4. for the Word may be taken Passively, as well as Actively. When any man shall presume to Cen... ure thee, as not keeping thy Covenant and Mercy promised to David..

Behold, I was shapen in iniquity This Verse is both by Iewish and Christian, by Antient and Latter, Interpreters, generally and most truly understood of Original sin: Which he here mentions, as an Aggravation of his Crime: and the Sense of the place is this, Nor is this the only sin which I have Reason to acknowledge and bewail before thee; for this filthy stream leads me to a corrupt Fountain: and upon a serious Review of my Heart, and Life I find, that I am guilty of innumerable other sins, and that this Ha... nous Crime, though drawn forth by external Temptations, yet was indeed the proper Fruit of my own filthy and vile Nature, which, without the restraints of thy Providence or Grace, ever was, and still is like to be, inclinable and ready to commit these and ten Thousand other sins, as Occasion offers it self. For which Contrariety of my very Nature to thine, thou mayst justly loath and Condemn me; and for which I humbly beg thy Pardon and Grace.: and in sin did my mother conceive me Heb. Warm, o... Cheri... h me, in the Womb before I was shapen, or formed there..

Behold, thou desirest Or, delightest in: Or, requirest: Heb. willest. truth Either, 1. Sincerity in Confessing my sins; which therefore I have now acknowledged, though hitherto I have Practised much Falshood and Dissimulation in indeavouring to conceal them from Men. Or rather, 2. Integrity or uprightness of Heart; which seems to be here opposed to that Iniquity mentioned in the last Verle, in which he was, and all Men are, framed and Born. And this may seem to be added; Partly, as a Proof or Aggravation, of the sinfulness of Original Corruption, because it is contrary to the holy Nature and Will of God, which requireth not only unblameableness in mens Actions, but also Universal innocency, and Rectitude of their Minds and Hearts: and Partly as an Aggravation of his actual sin, wherein he had used such gross Deceit and Treachery. in the inward parts: and in the hidden part (i. e.) In the Heart, called the hidden Man of the Heart, 1 Pet. 3. 4. and the Part, Rom. 2. 16. which in the former Branch he called the Reins, or inward Parts. thou shalt make me to know So declares his Hope, that God would Pardon and cure his... olly, which he had discovered, and make him Wiser for the Future. But this seems not to suit well with the Context, which runs wholly in another strain. The word therefore is, and may be rendred otherwise; Thou hast made me to know. So this is another Aggravation of his sin, that it was Committed against that Wisdom and Knowledge, which God had not only revealed to him outwardly in his Word, but also inwardly by his Spirit writing it in his Heart according to his Promise. Ier. 31. 33. Or thus, do thou make me to know the future Verb, being here taken Imperatively, and as a Prayer; as the following Futures are here Translated, v. 7, 8. Having now said for the Aggravation of his sin, that God did desire or require Truth in t... e inward Parts: He takes that Occasion to break forth into Prayer, which also he continues in the following Verses. Only as he prays there for justification or Pardon of sin, so here he prays for Renovation or Sanctification. So his meaning is this, Therefore (as the Particle, and, is oft used, as has been showed) in the hidden Part, do thou make me to know Wisdom. Or thus, tho... wouldest have me know: for Futures are oft taken Potentially, as Psal. 118. 6. and Mat. 12. 25. Compared with Mark 3. 24. and elsewhere. And Verbs which signifie, making or causing are sometimes understood only of the Will or Command; as Ieroboam is said to make Israel to sin, 1 Kings 14. 16. because he Commanded them to do so, Hos. 5. 11. This I propose with Submission, but if this Sense be admitted, the last Clause of the Verse answers very well to the former, as it does in the foregoing and following Verses, and every where in these Books: For this, thou wouldest have me know, Answers to that, thou willest or desirest; and in the hidden part Answers to that, in the inward Parts; and Wisdom, is the same thing for Substance with Truth, only called by another Name. wisdom (i. e.) True Piety and Integrity, which is called Wisdom, Iob 28. 28. Psal. 111. 10. and in many other Texts, as sin on the contrary is commonly called, as it really is, Polly. And to know Wisdom, is here meant of knowing it Practically and Experimentally, so as to approve and Love, and Practise it, as Words o... knowledge are most frequently taken in Scripture, and in other Authors..

Purge me with hyssop Or, as with Hyssop: the note of similitude being frequently understood. As Lepers and other unclean Persons, are by the appointment purified by thy use of Hyssop and other things, Levit. 14. 6. Numb. 19. 6. so do thou cleanse me, a most Leprous and polluted Creature, by thy Grace, and by the Virtue of that Blood of Christ, which is signified by those Ceremonial usages., and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Make me to hear joy and gladness Send me glad Tidings of thy Reconciliation to me, and by thy Spirit seal the Pardon of my sins to my Conscience, which will fill me with joy.: that the bones which thou hast broken, may rejoyce That mine Heart which has been sorely Wounded, and Terrified by thy dreadful Message sent by Nathan, and by the dismal Sentence of thy Law denounced against such Sinners, as I am now by this Occasion brought home to my Conscience, may be revived and Comforted by the Manifestation of thy Favour to my Soul..

Hide thy face from my sins Do not look upon them with an Eye of indignation and Revenge, but forget and forgive them., and blot out See v. 1. all mine iniquities.

Create in me a clean heart Seeing I have not only defiled my self by these actual sins, but also have a most filthy Heart corrupted, even from my Birth, v. 5. which nothing but God's Almighty and Creating Power can purifie, do thou Effectually work in me an Holy frame of Heart, whereby both my inward filth may be Purged away; and I may be prevented, from falling into such actual and scandalous sins., O God; and renew That good Temper which before this Apostacy I had in some measure, be pleased graciously to restore it to me with Advantage. a right Heb. Firm or Constant, or Stedfast, that I may not be so easily shaken and cast down by Temptation, as I have been, but that my Resolution may be more fixed and unmoveable. spirit Temper or Disposition of Soul or Spirit, as the Word Spirit is very frequently used in Scripture. within me Heb. In my inward Parts. He wisely strikes at the Root and Cause of all sin... ul Actions..

Cast me not away from thy presence (i. e.) From thy Favour and Care, and gracious Communion with thee.: and take not thy holy spirit Thy sanctifying Spirit, by which alone I can have Acquaintance and fellowship with thee. from me.

Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation The Comfortable Sense of thy saving Grace and Help, promised and vouchsafed to me, both for my present and everlasting Salvation.: and uphold me A weak and frail Creature, never able to stand against Corruption, and Temptation without thy powerful and gracious Succours. with thy free Or, ingenuous, or Liberal, or Princely. Which he seems to oppose to his own base and Illiberal and Dis-ingenuous and servile Spirit, which he had discovered in his wicked and unworthy Practises; and Desires a better Spirit, even the Spirit of God, which may free him from the Bondage of sin, and inable and in... line him freely and Cheerfully, and constantly to run the way of Gods precepts. See Exod. 35. 21. Psal. 110. 3. Rom. 8. 15, 16. 2 Cor. 3. 17. spirit.

Then will I teach transgressors thy ways Either, 1. Thy Will and their Duty, and the way to their eternal Happiness: Or rather, 2. The manner of thy dealing with Sinners; whom thou dost so severely Chastise for their sins, and yet so graciously receive to Mercy upon their Repentances. Both which I will show them in my own Example, which I will declare unto them, although I shall therewith publish my own shame; which I shall most willingly bear, that I may in some measure repair the Injury which I have done to thee and others, by my publick and scandalous Crimes., and sinners shall be converted unto thee And I persuade my self that my Indeavours shall not want Success; and that either thy Justice and severity, or thy Goodness and Clemency, will bring them to Repentance..

Deliver me from blood-guiltiness Heb. from Bloods, because he had been the Cause of the Death, not only of uriah but of others of the Lords people with him, 2 Sam. 11. 17., O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness Either, 1. Thy Faithfulness in making good thy Promises: Or rather, 2. Thy Clemency and Goodness, as that Word is frequently used..

O LORD, open thou my lips Which are shut with shame and Grief and Horror. Restore unto me the Opportunity and Ability, and Liberty which formerly I had of speaking to thee, with Freedom and Boldness, and Familiarity, as this Phrase signifies, Ezek. 3. 27. and 24. 27. Eph. 6. 19, 20., and my mouth shall show forth thy praise.

For thou desirest not sacrifice Which is not to be understood absolutely, and Universally, as appears from v. 19. but Comparatively, of which see on Psal. 40. 6. and with particular respect to David's Crimes, of Murder and Adultery, which were not to be expiated by any Sacrifice, but by the Law of God, were to be punished with Death. Thou requirest more and better Sacrifices, which here follow., else would I give it Else I should have spared no cost in that kind.: thou delightest not in burntoffering.

The sacrifices This is instead of, or of more Value than many Sacrifices. of God Which God in such Cases as mine requires, and will accept in which Sense we Read of the Works of God, Ioh. 6. 28. are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart (i. e.) An Heart deeply afflicted and grieved for sin, humbled under the Sense of God's displeasure, and earnestly seeking and willing to accept of Reconciliation with God, upon any Terms. See Isa. 57. 15. and 61. 1. and 66. 2. Mat. 11. 28. This is opposed to that hard or slony Heart, of which we Read so oft, which signifies an Heart insensible of the Burden of sin, stubborn and Rebellious against God, impenitent and incorrigible. O God, thou wilt not despise (i. e.) Thou dost highly approve, as such negative Phrases oft signifie, as has been formerly proved..

Do good in thy good pleasure c unto Sion Synecdochically put for Ierusalem, as the next Clause explains it, and both put for the whole People of Israel and Church of God: whom I have highly scandalized and injured already, and exposed to the Danger of utter Destruction, which thou mightest inflict upon them, for the sins of their King, as thou usest to do in like Cases.: build thou the walls of Jerusalem Perfect the Walls and Buildings of that City, and especially let the Temple be built and established in this City, notwithstanding its Pollution by my sins, which I pray thee to Purge away.. Or, For, or according to (for the Hebrew prefix Beth is frequently used, both those ways) thy good Grace, or Favour, or Pleasure, (i. e.) Thy free and rich Mercy, and thy gracious Purpose and Promise, made to and concerning Zion: Of which see Psal. 132. 14. and do not repent of it, nor retract it, as I have given thee cause to do.

Then When thou hast granted my humble Requests expressed in the former Verses, when thou hast renewed and Pardoned, and Comforted me, and restored thy Favour unto thy People; and this City. shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices Which now for our sins thou mayst justly reject and abhor. of righteousness Which I and thy People being justified and reconciled to thee, shall offer with sincere and Penitent Hearts. These are opposed to the Sacrifices of the Wicked, which God abhors, Prov. 15. 8. Isa. 1. 11. &c.; with burnt-offering, and whole burnt-offering: then shall they (i. e.) They who by thy appointment are to do that Work, the Priests in the Name and on the behalf of thy People. offer bullocks The best and costliest Sacrifices, and that in great Numbers in Testimony of their gratitude to God, for thy great Favour in pardoning mine and their sins, and preventing that Total Ruin, which we had reason to expect and Fear upon that Account. upon thine altar.