Psalm 51

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 51:12

Verse 12 12Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation He cannot dismiss his grief of mind until he have obtained peace with God. This he declares once and again, for David had no sympathy with those who can indulge themselves in ease when they are lying under the divine displeasure. In the latter clause of the verse, he prays as in the verses preceding, that the Holy Spirit might not be taken away from him. There is a slight ambiguity in the words. Some take תסמכני, thismecheni, to be the third... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 51:13

Verse 13 13I will teach transgressors thy ways Here he speaks of the gratitude which he would feel should God answer his prayer, and engages to show it by exerting himself in effecting the conversion of others by his example. Those who have been mercifully recovered from their falls will feel inflamed by the common law of charity to extend a helping hand to their brethren; and in general, such as are partakers of the grace of God are constrained by religious principle, and regard for the divine... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 51:14

Verse 14 14Deliver me from bloods His recurring so often to petitions for pardon, proves how far David was from flattering himself with unfounded hopes, and what a severe struggle he sustained with inward terrors. According to some, he prays in this verse to be delivered from the guilt of the blood of Uriah, and, in general, of the whole army. (270) But the term bloods in Hebrew may denote any capital crime, and, in my opinion, he is here to be considered as alluding to the sentence of death,... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 51:16

Verse 16 16.For thou wilt not accept a sacrifice By this language he expresses his confidence of obtaining pardon, although he brought nothing to God in the shape of compensation, but relied entirely upon the riches of Divine mercy. He confesses that he comes to God both poor and needy; but is persuaded that this will not prevent the success of his suit, because God attaches no importance to sacrifices. In this he indirectly reproves the Jews for an error which prevailed amongst them in all... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 51:17

Verse 17 17The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit. He had shown that sacrifices have no such efficacy in procuring the Divine favor as the Jews imagined; and now he declares that he needed to bring nothing whatever to God but a contrite and humbled heart. Nothing more is necessary, on the part of the sinner, than to prostrate himself in supplication for Divine mercy. The plural number is used in the verse to express more forcibly the truth, that the sacrifice of repentance is enough in... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 51:18

Verse 18 18Do good to Zion in thy good pleasure: build thou the walls of Jerusalem (273) From prayer in his own behalf he now proceeds to offer up supplications for the collective Church of God, a duty which he may have felt to be the more incumbent upon him from the circumstance of his having done what he could by his fall to ruin it, Raised to the throne, and originally anointed to be king for the very purpose of fostering the Church of God, he had by his disgraceful conduct nearly... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 51:19

Verse 19 19Then shalt thou accept sacrifices of righteousness In these words there is an apparent, but only an apparent, inconsistency with others which he had used in the preceding context. He had declared sacrifices to be of no value when considered in themselves, but now he acknowledges them to be acceptable to God when viewed as expressions or symbols of faith, penitence, and thanksgiving. He calls them distinctly sacrifices of righteousness, right, warrantable, and such as are offered in... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 51:1

Have mercy upon me, O God , according to thy loving-kindness. It is observable that the whole psalm is addressed to God ( Elohim ), and not to Jehovah (the "Lord" in Psalms 51:15 is Adonai ), as though the psalmist felt himself unworthy to utter the covenant-name, and simply prostrated himself as a guilty man before his offended Maker. It is not correet to say that "loving-kindness implies a covenant" (Cheyne), since God is "good to all, and his tender mercies are over all his... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 51:1

The penitent's plea for pardon. "Have mercy," etc. This psalm is like a page of autobiography written in the author's life-blood. It is, indeed, the utterance of what Psalms 51:17 describes, "a broken and a contrite heart." Nowhere in the Old Testament Scriptures do we find so profound depth and tenderness of penitence, joined with such childlike faith in God's pardoning mercy. If the dark record of David's crime had been silently omitted, we should have been utterly at a loss to... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 51:1-8

Repentance and forgiveness. Some deny the Davidic origin of this psalm; but most refer it to the time when Nathan charged David with the sins of adultery and murder. In these verses we have set forth the nature of forgiveness , and the nature of repentance. I. PRAYER FOR FORGIVENESS . 1 . Forgiveness is the inward and outward cleansing from sin. It is blotting out a record or a debt that is against us—that is, the outward cleansing. And it is a washing , or ... read more

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 51:12

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 51:13

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 51:14

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 51:16

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 51:17

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 51:18

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 51:19

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 51:1

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 51:1

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 51:1-8

Verse of the Day

Daily Devotional

Group of Brands