Psalm 55 To the Chief Musician. With Contemplation of David.

 ¹Give ear to my prayer, O God,

And do not hide Yourself from my supplication.

²Attend to me, and hear me;

I am restless in my complaint, and moan noisily,

³Because of the voice of the enemy,

Because of the oppression of the wicked;

For they bring down trouble upon me,

And in wrath they hate me.

⁴My heart is severely pained within me,

And the terrors of death have fallen upon me.

⁵Fearfulness and trembling have come upon me,

And horror has overwhelmed me.

⁶So I said, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!

I would fly away and be at rest.

⁷Indeed, I would wander far off,

And remain in the wilderness. Selah

⁸I would hasten my escape

From the windy storm and tempest.”

⁹Destroy, O Lord, and divide their tongues,

For I have seen violence and strife in the city.

¹⁰Day and night they go around it on its walls;

Iniquity and trouble are also in the midst of it.

¹¹Destruction is in its midst;

Oppression and deceit do not depart from its streets.

¹²For it is not an enemy who reproaches me;

Then I could bear it.

Nor is it one who hates me who has exalted himself against me;

Then I could hide from him.

¹³But it was you, a man my equal,

My companion and my acquaintance.

¹⁴We took sweet counsel together,

And walked to the house of God in the throng.

¹⁵Let death seize them; Let them go down alive into hell,

For wickedness is in their dwellings and among them.

¹⁶As for me, I will call upon God,

And the Lord shall save me.

¹⁷Evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud,

And He shall hear my voice.

¹⁸He has redeemed my soul in peace from the battle that was against me,

For there were many against me.

¹⁹God will hear, and afflict them,

Even He who abides from of old. Selah

Because they do not change,

Therefore they do not fear God.

²⁰He has put forth his hands against those who were at peace with him;

He has broken his covenant.

²¹The words of his mouth were smoother than butter,

But war was in his heart; His words were softer than oil,

Yet they were drawn swords.

²²Cast your burden on the Lord,

And He shall sustain you;

He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.

²³But You, O God, shall bring them down to the pit of destruction;

Bloodthirsty and deceitful men shall not live out half their days;

But I will trust in You.

Preamble 

In times of despair, in our desperate need, we must turn to God. David then magnifies this wisdom as he seeks God, for he needs Him just as we all need Him. And so here we see a man whose unbearable circumstances have brought him to his knees again to the One who alone can bring justice for him and us all.

Commentary

Vs. 1 “Give ear to my prayer, O God,

And do not hide Yourself from my supplication.”

David’s pleas in this Psalm are filled with emotion, yet he begins by asking that God would hear him, that He would not hide Himself from His supplication, that what he is about to say He would take to heart. For David’s troubles and troublers are seemingly about to overwhelm him. Therefore, he needs God to act for him, for he himself cannot prevail against them, or stop the troubles that others have brought down on him. David then by asking as much once again demonstrates his trust and dependence on God.

Vs. 2-3 ²Attend to me, and hear me;

I am restless in my complaint, and moan noisily,

³Because of the voice of the enemy,

Because of the oppression of the wicked;

For they bring down trouble upon me,

And in wrath they hate me.

Again, David requests the hearing ear of our God, for he his restless in his complaint, he cannot bear it alone in silence. Indeed, he moans noisily because sometimes there are no words that can express one’s inner grief and despair (vs. 2). And why is this happening to David? because of the voice of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked, for try as David will to live peaceably with all, still they bring down trouble upon him, and in wrath they hate him. Their anger then is never satisfied and their hatred of him never lifts or let’s go of him.

Vs. 4-5 ⁴My heart is severely pained within me,

And the terrors of death have fallen upon me.

⁵Fearfulness and trembling have come upon me,

And horror has overwhelmed me.

Because of their never-ending rage and persecution of him, David’s heart (our heart) is severely pained within us. For a man can only bear the wrath of another for so long before it starts to consume him with anxiousness and grief. Indeed, for David the terrors of death have fallen upon him as he lives from one escape of death to the other. Therefore he says, “Fearfulness and trembling have come upon me, And horror has overwhelmed me.” As he is forced to bear witness to their wicked deeds and violence that they do to others in seeking to kill him.

Vs. 6-8 ⁶So I said, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!

I would fly away and be at rest.

⁷Indeed, I would wander far off,

And remain in the wilderness. Selah

⁸I would hasten my escape

From the windy storm and tempest.”

David’s words and desire here reflect everyone who has ever felt helpless in their own circumstances, that if only we could fly away from our troublers to a land where they would not be, for then we too would be at rest, for there we could wander far off and remain in the wilderness where no one could oppress or harm us ever again. And so, we often say inside ourselves, if only I had… we could then hasten our own escape from the windy storm and tempest. Such then are the thoughts and dreams of everyone who wants relief from oppression and the oppressor.

Vs. 9-11 ⁹Destroy, O Lord, and divide their tongues,

For I have seen violence and strife in the city.

¹⁰Day and night they go around it on its walls;

Iniquity and trouble are also in the midst of it.

¹¹Destruction is in its midst;

Oppression and deceit do not depart from its streets.

David now moves from being distressed by their conduct to being angered at their deeds. Therefore, he asks the Lord to divide their tongues; that is split their alliances with each other and set them on a course to their own disarray! For he has seen their violence and the strife they cause in the city, in Jerusalem, the city he sought to establish as God’s city, a city as a sanctuary for peace, justice, and truth. Yet now it has become a haven for wicked and violent men, and thus it has become a city where iniquity and trouble are continually found, where destruction dwells in its midst, where oppression and deceit (dishonest dealings) does not depart from its streets, all of these things then sicken David to his core.

Vs. 12-15 ¹²For it is not an enemy who reproaches me;

Then I could bear it.

Nor is it one who hates me who has exalted himself against me;

Then I could hide from him.

¹³But it was you, a man my equal,

My companion and my acquaintance.

¹⁴We took sweet counsel together,

And walked to the house of God in the throng.

¹⁵Let death seize them; Let them go down alive into hell,

For wickedness is in their dwellings and among them.

David now announces the source of all of his troubles, the one who began it all for him was not an avert enemy of the Lords, rather it was a trusted friend, someone he viewed as his equal, someone quiet unlike Jonathan his beloved companion, who had worked his way into his life and gained his confidence and trust. Indeed, David says that they took sweet counsel together, and that they often walked to the house of God together with the throng of worshippers also on their way there. And yet all the while this evil individual was only plotting David’s downfall, seeking to betray him at a key moment like Judas did to the Lord Jesus. Therefore, David holds nothing back and says let death seize them, let them all go alive down into hell; like Korah and his company who also thought to overthrow Moses and Aaron whom God openly judged; for wickedness is in their dwelling and is found among them.

Vs. 16-17 ¹⁶As for me, I will call upon God,

And the Lord shall save me.

¹⁷Evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud,

And He shall hear my voice.

David now returns his focus back onto the Lord. For unlike the sinister men who were betraying him, he will call upon the Lord, for he knows the Lord, therefore the Lord shall save him (vs. 16). “Evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud. and He shall hear my voice” (vs. 17). David then will not be overthrown or dissuaded by them, rather he draws closer to God because of them!

Vs. 18 “He has redeemed my soul in peace from the battle that was against me,

For there were many against me.”

 Such then is David’s confidence in the Lord as he seeks the Lord that he now sees himself as fully redeemed in peace from all of them, from the battle that they wage against him, for there were many against me. 

Vs. 19 “God will hear, and afflict them,

Even He who abides from of old. Selah

Because they do not change,

Therefore they do not fear God.”

Yes, our God will hear, and He will afflict them, even he who abides from old (the one who has managed to prolong his life by his own cunning and schemes) shall not escape the Lord’s justice, for they do not change, nor will they repent of their ways which they live by, because they do not fear God.

Vs. 20-21 ²⁰He has put forth his hands against those who were at peace with him;

He has broken his covenant.

²¹The words of his mouth were smoother than butter,

But war was in his heart; His words were softer than oil,

Yet they were drawn swords.

Yes, David’s betrayer pretended friendship with him, only until he could unleash his secret plan against him. Thus he broke the covenant of peace that David made with him, (again unlike Jonathan), for he spoke smooth words to David, all the while harboring war in his heart towards him (consider Prov. 26:24-26).

 Vs. 22 “Cast your burden on the Lord,

And He shall sustain you;

He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.”

From David’s terrible experience with that individual, by which he was made to learn and grow in discernment, we now get one of the great promises and counsels from God in the Bible:

“Cast your burden on the Lord,

And He shall sustain you;

He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.”

Vs. 23 ²³But You, O God, shall bring them down to the pit of destruction;

Bloodthirsty and deceitful men shall not live out half their days;

But I will trust in You.

David then now in full understanding of such people can now boldly declare that God will deal with them all, that He will bring them down to the pit of destruction, that bloodthirsty and deceitful men shall not live out half their days. Therefore I will trust in You.

Scripture Quotations

New King James (1982): Thomas Nelson. 

Psalm 54 To the Chief Musician. With Contemplation of David When the Ziphites Went and Said to Saul, “Is David Not Hiding with Us?”

 ¹Save me, O God, by Your name,

And vindicate me by Your strength.

²Hear my prayer, O God;

Give ear to the words of my mouth.

³For strangers have risen up against me,

And oppressors have sought after my life;

They have not set God before them. Selah

⁴Behold, God is my helper;

The Lord is with those who uphold my life.

⁵He will repay my enemies for their evil.

Cut them off in Your truth.

⁶I will freely sacrifice to You; I will praise Your name,

O Lord, for it is good.

⁷For He has delivered me out of all trouble;

And my eye has seen its desire upon my enemies.

Preamble

This Psalms backdrop is when David in fleeing from Saul went to a city of Judah called Ziph, however its residents soon betrayed his presence amongst them to Saul.

Commentary

Vs. 1 “Save me, O God, by Your name,

And vindicate me by Your strength.”

 In praying to the Lord, David asks that the Lord save him by His Name, for it is only by the Name of the Lord that we who believe in Him are saved. Now his asking to be vindicated by the Lord’s strength means that David’s deliverance would not come by his hand, but only by the Lords, who in saving him by His hand would be vindicating his servant David of any wrongdoing.

Vs. 2-3 ²Hear my prayer, O God;

Give ear to the words of my mouth.

³For strangers have risen up against me,

And oppressors have sought after my life;

They have not set God before them. Selah

David’s plea to the Lord comes not only because of Saul and his men, but also since strangers (i.e., foreigners), have now also risen up against him, not doubt being directed and spurned on by Saul. As well oppressors (violent, unjust people who see an opportunity in hunting David to advance themselves with Saul), are also seeking after his life. None of these then have set God before them, for if they had they would not be hunting and hounding His servant David, who was guilty of nothing.

Vs. 4 ⁴Behold, God is my helper;

The Lord is with those who uphold my life.

Even though such things are occurring to him David’s faith and resolve remains strong. For he knows that God is his (our) helper, that the Lord is with those who uphold his (our) lives.

Vs. 5 “He will repay my enemies for their evil.

Cut them off in Your truth.”

Just as surely as the Sun rises in the eastern morning sky to awaken a new day, so will the Lord arise to repay all of His (our) enemies for their evil. He will by His Words truth cut them all off!

Vs. 6-7 ⁶I will freely sacrifice to You; I will praise Your name,

O Lord, for it is good.

⁷For He has delivered me out of all trouble;

And my eye has seen its desire upon my enemies.

Knowing this causes David (and us) to want to freely sacrifice to the Lord, to give freely and joyfully to the Lord all our offerings, for we will praise His Name, the Lord Jesus Christ’s Name, for it is Good. And so, with eyes of faith David sees past the current troubles to his end, therefore he boldly declares that the Lord has delivered him (us all) out of all trouble, that He has caused him (us all) to see our desires upon our enemies! Forever then we will be with Him! 

Scripture Quotations

New King James (1982): Thomas Nelson. 

Psalm 53 To the Chief Musician. Set to “Mahalath.” A Contemplation of David.

 ¹The fool has said in his heart,

“There is no God.”

They are corrupt, and have done abominable iniquity;

There is none who does good.

²God looks down from heaven upon the children of men,

To see if there are any who understand, who seek God.

³Every one of them has turned aside;

They have together become corrupt;

There is none who does good,

No, not one.

⁴Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge,

Who eat up my people as they eat bread,

And do not call upon God?

⁵There they are in great fear

Where no fear was,

For God has scattered the bones of him who encamps against you;

You have put them to shame,

Because God has despised them.

⁶Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion!

When God brings back the captivity of His people,

Let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad.

Commentary

Vs. 1 The fool has said in his heart,

“There is no God.”

They are corrupt, and have done abominable iniquity;

There is none who does good.

The fool here is not the simpleton, nor the uneducated, rather the fool here is everyone who denies that there is a God, the one true God who is above us all, who created us all, who rules us all, and one Day will Judge us all. Denial then of God’s Person is not without consequences, for as the Scripture reveals denial of God always leads to sin, paganism, and ultimately depravity (consider Rom. 1:18-32). That there is none who does is good is seen in the light of God’s Righteousness, for apart from Him no one can do nothing good, for everything that we do or try to do apart from Him will always be tainted by our own sins and sin nature. 

Vs. 2 “God looks down from heaven upon the children of men,

To see if there are any who understand, who seek God.”

As everyone runs around pursuing their own course of life, trying to follow their own paths, God looks down upon us all to see if there is anyone who understands, who seeks God, because our lives have an end, our pursuits, our works, our dreams, our desires will all perish when we do, and if we die unreconciled to God there is then but one destiny for us then.

Vs. 3 “Every one of them has turned aside;

They have together become corrupt;

There is none who does good,

No, not one.”

The Psalm now warns of everyone who lives as though God does not, for on ones own one will only become corrupt and perverse in their lives and in their ways. If you think otherwise just look at the moral and societal degeneration that takes place everywhere. Thus, in denying the One true God there is none who does good, no not one, for again no one can do or stand on their own righteousness and declare their own goodness before Him. For to try to do so would be quickly proven a liar by Him.

Vs. 4-5 “Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge,

Who eat up my people as they eat bread,

And do not call upon God?

⁵There they are in great fear

Where no fear was,

For God has scattered the bones of him who encamps against you;

You have put them to shame,

Because God has despised them.”

Truly the workers of iniquity hate us, truly they set themselves against us; because those who live righteous lives will always be an abomination to those who do not. And so in their unbelief we are only people to be abused, consumed, and devoured so they can have their full at our expense. Therefore the Scripture asks have they no knowledge who do so, do they really think that they can do so and be held guiltless by God. For their unbelief will not disavow the Judgment of God who always judges righteously in the earth. And so, in their self sufficiency and pride they do not call upon God, instead they rely on themselves and their own ways, never considering that God is always watching them and in His time, he will put them in fear, He will make them no fear where no fear was (vs. 5). For God is always the defender of His people, of everyone who believes and remains loyal to Him (vs. 6). Therefore God Himself will put them to an open shame because He Himself has despised them.

Vs. 6 “Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion!

When God brings back the captivity of His people,

Let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad.”

In closing there is the cry for God's salvation to come out of Zion, for the Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah to come to and bring back God’s people out of their captivity, out of their bondage, and back to God Himself, on that Day Jacob will rejoice and all of Israel will be glad!

Scripture Quotations

New King James (1982): Thomas Nelson. 

Psalm 52 To the Chief Musician. A Contemplation of David When Doeg the Edomite Went and Told Saul, and Said to Him, “David Has Gone to the House of Ahimelech.”

 ¹Why do you boast in evil, O mighty man?

The goodness of God endures continually.

²Your tongue devises destruction,

Like a sharp razor, working deceitfully.

³You love evil more than good,

Lying rather than speaking righteousness. Selah

⁴You love all devouring words,

You deceitful tongue.

⁵God shall likewise destroy you forever;

He shall take you away, and pluck you out of your dwelling place,

And uproot you from the land of the living. Selah

⁶The righteous also shall see and fear,

And shall laugh at him, saying,

⁷“Here is the man who did not make God his strength,

But trusted in the abundance of his riches,

And strengthened himself in his wickedness.”

⁸But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God;

I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever.

⁹I will praise You forever,

Because You have done it;

And in the presence of Your saints

I will wait on Your name, for it is good.

Preamble: This historical background for Psalm 51 is found in 1 Samuel chapters 21, 22. In the context of all the psalms this psalm is the only one that names and then condemns an individual, the person being Doeg the Edomite, who was not an Israelite, but one of Esau’s descendants. Now this man Doeg was a chief herdsman for king Saul, and he was present when David having fled from Saul came to the priestly village of Nob and there sought out Ahimelech the priest who provided David with some bread and gave him Goliath’s sword, not knowing that David had fled from Saul. Later when Doeg heard Saul decrying how everyone was against him, and that his son had made a covenant with David, he saw an opportunity for himself by telling Saul what he saw. Saul then in great anger commanded Ahimelech to appear before him and so he came to Saul, along with the other priests to Saul, but they did so not knowing that evil awaited them. And so when they arrived Saul already enraged immediately interrogated them and then turned on them commanding his men to kill them all. Now when they refused to do so out of their fear of the Lord, Saul turned to Doeg the Edomite and told him to kill them which he did. Afterwards he went and led a party of his own men to the priest’s village and killed every living thing there: men, woman, children, nursing infants, even their livestock they killed, for he murdered them all. Now one person escaped and that was Abiathar one of Ahimelech’s sons, he then came and told David what had been done. This Psalm then is David’s declaration, as God’s anointed servant, of God’s indignation and wrath at Doeg the Edomite.

Commentary

Vs. 1 “Why do you boast in evil, O mighty man?

The goodness of God endures continually.”

Such was the evil inside Doeg the Edomite that when he tasted blood not only did he thirst for more, but he even became boastful about his most heinous deed, of killing the Lord’s priests. David’s response then to his demonically horrific act is to reaffirm God’s goodness in the face of it, because whatever evil anyone does to anyone of God’s children, no matter how heinous, God’s goodness towards us will not end with it. Indeed, death for us is not the end, it is just the beginning of our seeing and receiving His goodness forever!

Vs. 2-4 ²Your tongue devises destruction,

Like a sharp razor, working deceitfully.

³You love evil more than good,

Lying rather than speaking righteousness. Selah

⁴You love all devouring words,

You deceitful tongue.

David now utterly loathes Doeg and his deceitfully slanderous mouth. For Doeg was not just a common killer, no he was quite skillful in his manipulation of others, he knew how to stir people up and spurn them on through his manipulative speech. Indeed, Doeg took pleasure in his lying, in his controlling others through it, in his devouring words and his deceitful tongue, for this brought him, like all evil people like him, great satisfaction in seeing his desires worked out through his plans and others hands.

Vs. 5-7 ⁵God shall likewise destroy you forever;

He shall take you away, and pluck you out of your dwelling place,

And uproot you from the land of the living. Selah

⁶The righteous also shall see and fear,

And shall laugh at him, saying,

⁷“Here is the man who did not make God his strength,

But trusted in the abundance of his riches,

And strengthened himself in his wickedness.”

God’s own verdict on Doeg is now brought forth through his servant David. For as Doeg destroyed others so God Himself will destroy him, for He will cast him out of his dwelling place and uproot him from the land of the living, Selah! Doeg then shall be made an example to all who observe the ways of God, for the righteous shall see his downfall, they shall see and fear the glorious judgment of God, and laugh at Doeg, saying,

“Here is the man who did not make God his strength,

But trusted in the abundance of his riches,

And strengthened himself in his wickedness.” ^{Vs. 7}

Vs. 8-9 ⁸But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God;

I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever.

⁹I will praise You forever,

Because You have done it;

And in the presence of Your saints

I will wait on Your name, for it is good.

David now compares himself, indeed all who believe in God and live righteously for Him, like a green olive tree in the house of God, using then that as a metaphor for health, vibrancy, and peace. Therefore because of God justly dealing with Doeg and prospering the righteous, David’s heart resounds with praise as he closes this Psalm with a desire to wait on the Lord with His saints for His Name which is His vindication of us all!

Scripture Quotations

New King James (1982): Thomas Nelson. 

 

 

Psalm 51 To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David When Nathan the Prophet Went to Him, After He Had Gone in to Bathsheba.

 ¹Have mercy upon me, O God,

According to Your lovingkindness;

According to the multitude of Your tender mercies,

Blot out my transgressions.

²Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,

And cleanse me from my sin.

³For I acknowledge my transgressions,

And my sin is always before me.

⁴Against You, You only, have I sinned,

And done this evil in Your sight—

That You may be found just when You speak,

And blameless when You judge.

⁵Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,

And in sin my mother conceived me.

⁶Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts,

And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.

⁷Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;

Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

⁸Make me hear joy and gladness,

That the bones You have broken may rejoice.

⁹Hide Your face from my sins,

And blot out all my iniquities.

¹⁰Create in me a clean heart, O God,

And renew a steadfast spirit within me.

¹¹Do not cast me away from Your presence,

And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.

¹²Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,

And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.

¹³Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,

And sinners shall be converted to You.

¹⁴Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,

The God of my salvation,

And my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness.

¹⁵O Lord, open my lips,

And my mouth shall show forth Your praise.

¹⁶For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it;

You do not delight in burnt offering.

¹⁷The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,

A broken and a contrite heart—

These, O God, You will not despise.

¹⁸Do good in Your good pleasure to Zion;

Build the walls of Jerusalem.

¹⁹Then You shall be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness,

With burnt offering and whole burnt offering;

Then they shall offer bulls on Your altar.

Preamble

Psalm fifty one’s title gives us the backdrop to its origins (see 2 Samuel 11:1-12:15). And though this Psalm comes from one of David’s lowest points as king, we through it learn much about his heart, but more importantly the heart of God towards every repentant and broken sinner. Therefore, when a man is forced to face the truth about himself and consequences of his own sin, as David was when Nathan the prophet confronted him, he can either turn to God broken as David does here, or else he will turn to lies and denial, which always has a bad end for him and for all of those who have been affected by his sin. What then will you choose?

Commentary

Vs. 1 “Have mercy upon me, O God,

According to Your lovingkindness;

According to the multitude of Your tender mercies,

Blot out my transgressions.”

When someone is broken by their sin, they have no more explanations, no more reasons for it, no more “defense” of it. All they have is the unbearable weight of it pressing down upon them, and that is what is taking place here. For David being a man of God knows God’s righteous Judgment, he knows that what he has done is a complete violation of God’s law, and as king he knows that he is held to a higher standard. Therefore, his prayer comes from his seeing his own deep need for the mercies and the grace of God. Thus, he begins by asking for the mercies of God, twice in fact in this verse, that God according to His lovingkindness, and according to the multitude of His tender mercies; which He shows to every repentant sinner; would likewise show the same to him, that He would blot out his transgression. Literally remove all record of it. Now David’s appeal to God is based solely upon God’s Person as being lovingkindness and merciful, and not anything emanating from David himself.

Vs. 2 “Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,

And cleanse me from my sin.”

In appealing to God for His mercies, David also asks God to wash him thoroughly from his iniquity, to cleanse him completely of it, all which indicates that David has no desire to ever return to it.

Vs. 3 “For I acknowledge my transgressions,

And my sin is always before me.”

When David faced was faced with his sin, he didn’t try to deny it, he didn’t seek to offer any excuses for it, instead he confessed it first to Nathan the prophet whom God chose to expose it to him; for only then did he himself bring it out from within; and thus now lay it before the Lord acknowledging all of it Him.

Vs. 4 “Against You, You only, have I sinned,

And done this evil in Your sight—

That You may be found just when You speak,

And blameless when You judge.”

In confessing his sin to God, David now very contritely acknowledges that against Him only he has sinned; for ultimately all sins are against God whose very image we are all created in. Therefore, David confesses to God that his sin was evil in God’s sight, that David knew what he had done was wrong,

Vs. 5 “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,

And in sin my mother conceived me.”

In contemplating his own actions David now rightly sees himself not as having been born “innocent” and without sin. No indeed, David here acknowledges that in iniquity he was brought forth, and in sin my mother conceived me. The reason he does this is is to heighten his own awareness of his guilt before God, and thus also heighten his awareness of God’s Righteous, for God alone is Righteous. Try then as hard as me might to see ourselves, or others as basically “good” people, the sinful nature of man is our inheritance from Adam to everyone in every generation. This then is the unescapable and undeniable truth about ourselves that David acknowledges here to God.

Vs. 6 “Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts,

And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.”

Two thoughts then are connected then with this understanding, first then is that God desires truth in the inward parts, and that is one the biggest hurdles for people to overcome is acknowledging the truth about ourselves to God, especially when we fail and sin, He wants us to be honest with Him about it and not play the hypocrite before Him. For we all carry secrets, we all have our hidden fears, we all have those things which we have neatly tuck away so as to maintain ourselves and or our outward appearances. These then are the things that God wants us to be honest with Him about, for that is what a growing relationship with Him entails, trusting God with everything about us, for He already knows everything about us, and as seen here having the truth in our inner parts leads Him to teach us His wisdom as well. Therefore having truth in our inward parts is how wisdom grows up in us as well.

Vs. 7 “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;

Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.”

David then doesn't just want to be forgiven his sin, he wants to be cleansed completely of it. And He knows that only God can do this for him, for only God can wash us and make us whole again, make us whiter than snow, and this He now does through the sacrificial blood of Christ by which He cleanses us of all our sins and takes the guilt of our sin away, for that is the power of the Christ's Cross. For sin left unchecked always has a negative impact on ones spiritual, mental, and physical health. And by all accounts David’s conscience was not only riddled with guilt, but his whole person was suffering the ill effects of it. Therefore, having opened up to God about it he wishes no more to bury it, because the guilt of sin is always an unbearable burden to a righteous person. Thankfully then we have His promise that He will cleanse us from our sin when we confess it to Him (see 1 John 1:9).

Vs. 8 “Make me hear joy and gladness,

That the bones You have broken may rejoice.”

God’s chastisement on David had been heavy, but so had been his transgression, and so David the great psalmist now asks God to once again cause his heart to sing, to grant him restored fellowship with Him and His people, thus to have his joy in the Lord restored, to have then God’s healing hand upon him.

Vs. 9 “Hide Your face from my sins,

And blot out all my iniquities.”

Such then was David’s guilt through this whole experience that he now asks God to hide his face from his sins, to blot out his iniquities, because if God in His Holiness does not, He will not have any more fellowship with him. David then greatly feared the Lord's rejection of him (vs. 11).

Vs. 10 “Create in me a clean heart, O God,

And renew a steadfast spirit within me.”

David in seeking God's forgiveness and restoration now prays for a clean heart and a steadfast spirit within, for his desire, (our desire), is to be holy, to be what God intended him to be. For David now knows that his sin with Bathsheba began in his heart when he first lusted and then went after her. And sin always has a corrupting and degenerating influence on one’s heart and mind if you let it rule you. Therefore you can either confess and forsake it, as David does here, or else you will very likely only grow worse in it. Therefore having the desire to forsake ones sin is where all repentance takes hold.

Vs. 11 “Do not cast me away from Your presence,

And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.”

David then is greatly humbled, not only by his sin and its consequences, but also by recalling how God dealt with king Saul who preceded him (1 Sam. 15:10-35; 16:14). Therefore, David knowing these things does not want to lose the Lord, he does not want to be removed from Him. For apart from Him we are helpless. That being said everyone who belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ need not fear God taking His Holy Spirit from them (Eph. 1:13-14; 4:30), for though God's chastisement may even lead to ones own death (1 Cor. 5:5; 11:30), God's New Covenant Promise does not allow Him to forsake or abandon anyone who believes in Him (Heb. 13:5), "...and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matt. 28:20

Vs. 12-13 ¹²Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,

And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.

¹³Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,

And sinners shall be converted to You.

Once again David’s prayer moves to his asking the Lord to restore to him the joy of His salvation, that the Lord would do this for him, that He would by His generous Spirit uphold him, for this was David's heart and life delighting himself in the Lord; which is something king Saul never sought nor had. Indeed all Saul ever worried about was his losing his own seat and legacy as king in the kingdom (1 Samuel 18:1-9; 1 Samuel 20:31). I think if God would've even diminished David to that of being a shepherd of sheep once again he would've still delighted himself in the Lord. And so David having learned from his own transgression now promises that if God restores Him he will now become a very useful vessel for the Lord in teaching transgressors God’s ways, as well as bearing a living witness to the love and grace of God that forgave and restored him, thus through him many sinners would be converted to the Lord! And thus God's Name and Reputation be restored. 

Vs. 14 “Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,

The God of my salvation,

And my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness.”

Now David addresses the guilt of bloodshed that was upon him for his ordering the death of Uriah the Hittite through the Philistines sword. For David bore his blood guilt, and David knew this all to well. His plea here then is not based upon anything from himself, but only upon the God of his salvation, that He would remove this transgression from him, and he would sing aloud of God’s righteousness, of His alone. For truly when a person is broken by their sin they are going to worship the Lord in gratitude and thanksgiving when forgiven it, than someone who has never even realized their own sin (consider Luke 7:36-50).

Vs. 15 “O Lord, open my lips,

And my mouth shall show forth Your praise.”

Again, it had been a long time since David could sing the Lord’s praises, for his own sin had removed this joy from him. And in David’s whole being his greatest delight and desire was in singings praises to the Lord. And for a worshipper not to be able to worship the one they love, our Lord and Savior, is tantamount to an artist not being able to paint, or a writer write, or an athlete perform etc.

Vs. 16-17 ¹⁶For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it;

You do not delight in burnt offering.

¹⁷The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,

A broken and a contrite heart—

These, O God, You will not despise.

Here we have one of the many great truths about the Lord that everyone who wants to know Him must discover for themselves, that sacrifice and offering is not what God desires from us when we sin. For these can be merely ritual and ceremonial, they can be done or given as a matter of course having little or no effect ones heart, and so ultimately all such things only end up as being dead works which do not grow anyone’s faith in, or love for the Lord (consider Isaiah 1:11-20). Therefore, the sacrifices that please God are a broken spirit (consider Matt. 5:3), that the person who sins comes to Him broken and repentant, and thus dependent upon Him for His mercies, and thus is not relying upon their having performed or done some sacrifices or rituals, or giving an offering etc.. For it is the broken and contrite heart that God will never despise (consider Luke 18:9-14). Therefore, when you sin, (for there is no one who does not sin), humble yourselves and come to the Lord broken and contrite and He will forgive and restore you!

Vs. 18-19 ¹⁸Do good in Your good pleasure to Zion;

Build the walls of Jerusalem.

¹⁹Then You shall be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness,

With burnt offering and whole burnt offering;

Then they shall offer bulls on Your altar.

David now closes his prayer by looking outward, asking that the Lord once again due good in His good pleasure to Zion, that He build the walls of Jerusalem, that His holy realm and city once again be a place where He wishes to reside. David then wants the Lord to return to reign not only over him, but his whole realm. For then and only then will the Lord be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness done there, and only then would He once again delight in their whole burnt offerings made there to Him. Therefore when the Lord does they will offer bulls (considered the greatest burnt offering) on His altar.

Scripture Quotations

New King James (1982): Thomas Nelson.