Psalms 51:12 - Homiletics

The joy of God's salvation.

" Restore ," etc. Two opposite kinds of experience are wonderfully blended in this psalm—the experience of a conscience-stricken transgressor, and the experience of a believer rejoicing in Divine mercy. Nothing can be more mournful than David's profound self-abasement and piercing cry for pardon. Nothing can be more calm, hopeful, restful, than his trust in God's forgiving and restoring grace. He is like one emerging from a gloomy cavern, where no ray of light shone, who does not yet stand in the sunlight, but sees it shining at the cave's mouth, and knows that a few more steps will bring him into full sunshine. The secret of this blending of opposite experiences is that David is looking so earnestly away from himself to God. In regard to his crimes, he looks not at the wrong done to fellow-mortals, but at his sin against God ( Psalms 51:4 ). And in regard to salvation, he does not measure his expectation by anything he can offer to God—repentance or amendment or atonement—but by the infinite fulness of God's love and grace. Therefore he is able to ask, not merely for pardon, to have his forfeited life and crown spared, but for full restoration to the happy consciousness of God's favour. The prayer of this verse is—

I. A YEARNING AFTER LOST JOY . It breathes a desolate sense of loss. Consider who utters it. This is not the sentimental moan of a recluse, morbidly poring over his inward experience. Not the visionary craving of a heart ignorant of life and of the world. Not the reactionary disgust of a worn-out worldling. If any man ever knew the world and enjoyed it, David did. The experience of even his wise son Solomon was limited compared with his. Endowed with personal grace and beauty which won love at first sight; a man of genius, skilful in poetry and music; a hero in war, who had fought his way from the sheepfold to the throne;—he was in the heyday of prosperity and power. His armies and generals won victories for him, while he enjoyed the luxury of his palace. His servants devotedly obeyed, even when he required them to commit crimes. He had obtained the wife on whom his heart was passionately set. A son had been born to them. It might seem as though God had overlooked his sins, and was shedding on him the peaceful light of Divine favour. True, his sins—nay, crimes—had" made the enemies of the Lord blaspheme;" but their counter-censures did not reach the royal ears. When the Prophet Nathan stood before him, and told his touching parable, David had no suspicion that it was aimed at himself ( 2 Samuel 12:5 ). What lacked he, in the midst of his prosperity? Two things—one of which the ungodly reckon a trifle, and the other the worldly regard as illusion—peace of conscience, and the sense of Divine favour, what in happier days he called "the light of God's countenance." When Nathan's rebuke, like lightning from a clear sky, smote him, "Thou art the man!" it was as though the whole fabric of his earthly bliss melted like a dream, leaving him alone with these two—conscious guilt and Divine displeasure. Preachers are often reproached with denouncing a world they do not know; decrying pleasures and wealth they would only be too glad to share. At all events, you cannot say this of David. The tide of worldly joy is at full with him, yet he is broken-hearted. He has lost what the world could not give, and all the world cannot make up for. "Restore," he cries, "the joy of thy salvation!"

II. AN UTTERANCE OF STRONG FAITH IN GOD . That it was possible for a godly man, a man whom the Holy Spirit inspired to compose psalms which are among the most sacred treasures of the Church, to fall as David fell, is a tremendous warning that neither grace nor gifts are any security to one who neglects to watch and pray. Nevertheless, it is impossible that an ungodly man could have written this psalm. Even a new convert, pierced with the pangs of a first repentance, could not have written it. David's self-abasement is measured by the height from which he has fallen. A penitent with no previous experience of communion with God would have thought more of his crimes against men, less of his sin against God. In David's view, the former seems swallowed up in the latter ( Psalms 51:4 ). Here is not mere feeling , but faith , as enlightened as rumple, equally convinced of God's willingness to forgive , and of his power to restore. David asks for both, expects both. Nowhere can you find more clearly discriminated, more inseparably united, these two great gifts of God which together make up salvation— forgiveness and renewal; righteousness and holiness; deliverance from the guilt of sin; and cleansing from its defilements ( Psalms 51:1 , Psalms 51:2 , Psalms 51:9 , Psalms 51:10 ). See the contrast between remorse and repentance; the first akin to pride and despair; the second to humility and hope. See, too, the close union of humility and faith. As a grain of sand in the eye blots the sunlight, so a grain of self-righteousness would have marred David's trust. The key-note of the psalm is the opening plea, "According to thy loving-kindness."

III. THE VOICE OF GOD 'S OWN SPIRIT . The cry, "Take not," etc. ( Psalms 51:11 ), could not come from a heart destitute of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God speaks here through the whole man; his deepest experience is made transparent. Prophets were sometimes inspired to deliver messages they did not understand. Not so here. The Holy Spirit has dipped his pen in the heart, and written with life-blood. This is what makes this psalm so precious. A candid, thoughtful sceptic would do well to study this psalm carefully, deeply; not its mere language, but its spirit. Can it be explained on mere natural principles, apart from Divine inspiration of some kind? Have we here a simply human or a supernatural experience? Nothing like it is to be found in classic literature; nothing in the sacred books of the East. A soul face to face with God, broken-hearted because of sin, not chiefly as crime or as defilement (though both are profoundly felt), but supremely as sin against the righteous and holy God; yet taking refuge in God, with confident hope of pardon, spiritual renewal, and joy in God's favour—this experience is distinctly superhuman, supernatural. Therefore is it full of encouragement. If it were David's alone, this would be no ground to think it may be ours. But the same Spirit who taught him thus to feel, thus to believe, thus to pray, is promised "to them that ask."