Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 51:6
Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden [part] thou shalt make me to know wisdom.
6. truth in the inward parts ] In the most secret springs of thought and will, unseen by man but known to God, He desires truth, perfect sincerity, whole-hearted devotion, incapable of deluding self, as David had done, or deceiving man, as he had endeavoured to do by his attempts to cover his sin and its consequences, or dissembling with God, as in his infatuation he had imagined to be possible. Correlative to the truth which God desires is wisdom, which is His gift, the spiritual discernment which is synonymous with the fear of Jehovah, and is the practical principle of right conduct. Cp. Pro 1:7; Pro 9:10; Job 28:28; Jas 3:17.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts – The word rendered desirest, means to have pleasure in; to delight in; and the idea is that this only is agreeable to God, or this only accords with his own nature. The word rendered inward parts, means properly the reins, and is usually employed to denote the seat of the mind, the feelings, the intellect. Compare the notes at Job 38:36. The allusion is to the soul; and the idea is, that God could be satisfied with nothing but purity in the soul. The connection is this: David was deeply conscious of his own pollution; his deep, early, native depravity. This, in his own mind, he contrasted strongly with the nature of God, and with what God must require, and be pleased with. He felt that God could not approve of or love such a heart as his, so vile, so polluted, so corrupt; and he felt that it was necessary that he should have a pure heart in order to meet with the favor of a God so holy. But how was that to be obtained? His mind at once adverted to the fact that it could come only from God; and hence, the psalm now turns from confession to prayer. The psalmist pleads earnestly Psa 51:7-10 that God would thus cleanse and purify his soul.
And in the hidden part – In the secret part; the heart; the depths of the soul. The cleansing was to begin in that which was hidden from the eye of man; in the soul itself. Wisdom, heavenly, saving wisdom, was to have its seat there; the cleansing needed was not any mere outward purification, it was the purification of the soul itself.
Thou shalt make me to know wisdom – Thou only canst enable me to understand what is truly wise. This wisdom, this cleansing, this knowledge of the way in which a guilty man can be restored to favor, can be imparted only by thee; and thou wilt do it. There is here, therefore, at the same time a recognition of the truth that this must come from God, and an act of faith, or a strong assurance that he would impart this.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 51:6
Behold Thou desirest truth in the inward parts.
Truth in the inward parts
Some of us may remember the interesting story with which the apocryphal Book of Esdras commences. The inquiry is started, What is strongest? and this is submitted to the judgment of three young men of the kings guard. Wine, and the king, and women, are severally mentioned; but the last, who is said to have been Zerubbabel, maintained that of all things truth is the strongest, and liveth and conquereth for evermore. And having concluded his speech upon this subject, it is said that all who heard him broke forth with the shout, Great is truth, and mighty above all things. Now, whether the narrative be fact or not, it would be well for us if we believed more fully in the power of truth, and realized how invincible it must be. Truth in Scripture often means objective truth, the agreement of thought with thing, and we have the truth when what we believe is really what it is. But the word, also, and often, means truthfulness, moral honesty and sincerity. But it is this second sense of the term that our subject invites us to consider. God desires truth in the inward parts–truth, evidently, not in the sense of mental illumination, but rather in the sense of moral honesty and sincerity of purpose. As it is this that God desires, so it is the presence of this that gives the greatest icy to the spiritual Father who watches with tender solicitude the progress of the souls to whom His ministry has been made a blessing. Now let me point out the importance of this subject. We need to have our attention emphatically called to it, because, in the first place, we have hearts which the prophet describes as deceitful above all things, and we each of us possess the strange and terrible faculty of deceiving ourselves. God we cannot deceive. Our neighbours in the long run are sure to find us out. But ourselves it is only too possible to deceive; and when we allow ourselves to fall into the habit of self-deception, the most dangerous feature of this habit is that it becomes almost unconscious. We scarcely know when we are true and when we are false. Or the importance of this subject may be argued from its position. For truthfulness lies at the root of everything else in Christian experience. Having this, we are in fair way to possess all; but without this, all must be lost. See the parable of the Sower. The seed yields good fruit only when sown in an honest and good heart. In one sense we may say no heart is such, but in another and practical one we know that there are such, for they do truly desire to be other and better than they are. And this truthfulness is needed not only at the beginning, but all the way along in our spiritual career. The life of faith depends on it. I would bear witness that I thank God with a full heart that recently so much attention has been given to the importance of the groat truth that, as we are justified, not by our own works, but by faith in the Son of God, so we are to be sanctified, not by the struggling efforts of our own will, but equally by our acceptance through faith of all that the power and love of God have brought within our reach. This truth required to be prominently brought forward and emphatically stated; and to how many believers has the message been one of liberation from bondage, from fruitless toil, from inward tumult! But in order that this sort of teaching may be of the service to us that it should, it is most important that we should bear in mind the relation of faith to moral truthfulness and honesty of purpose. In a word, we cannot trust the Lord Jesus to deliver us from that which we know He hates, while all the time we are secretly clinging to it, or endeavouring to discover some cunningly devised compromise between our allegiance to Him and our indulgence in that which we know to be opposed to His will. Let me now point out some of the different ways in which this subtle form of evil may creep into our experience, and the different forms of truthfulness which we require sedulously to cultivate. Let us consider, first, truthfulness in the aim and purpose of life. This from first to last was the characteristic of our blessed Lord and Master. For contrast, see the history of Balaam. His ruin was due to latent dishonesty of heart, for in spite of all his religiousness he loved the wages of unrighteousness. Solomon, also, and many more. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways. And this is the besetment of us all. There is something also that we put side by side with the one thing needful. We desire to be good Christians, and to make our fortunes. We must learn to seek first the Kingdom of God, and to live as those who have heard the Masters call, Deny thyself: take up thy cross and follow me. Next let me point out to you the necessity of truthfulness in the adoption of means towards the end. It is possible for us to have a strong, clear perception of the fact that we are called to live for a definite purpose, and we may be preserved from any conscious acceptance of a lower end, and yet we may fail in our lives because we shrink from employing those means towards the attainment of the end which God has placed within our reach, and which we know to be of the utmost importance to us. It is thoroughly dishonest to offer such a prayer as we do every day–Lead us not into temptation–while we place ourselves in a position where we know that our special weakness will be needlessly exposed to the foe. Or again, vainly do we pray for purity of heart and thought, and cry to be delivered from our lower appetites, if we still allow our senses to be exposed to sights and sounds which may act as incentives to the very appetite which we profess our desire to curb. Take the sad example of Eli. He did desire to curb the iniquities of his sons; but he would not take the necessary means. He spoke strongly enough, but he did nothing. Though he might have inflicted death, he did not punish them at all. Once again let me speak of the necessity of truthfulness in our judgment upon ourselves. How little disposed we are to pass a severe sentence upon our own conduct! Saul had already returned a verdict in his own favour before the prophet Samuel met him. Blessed be thou of the Lord, he exclaims, even before the prophet had made any accusation against him; I have fulfilled the commandment of the Lord. Had he really fulfilled it? His conscience was uneasy. There had already been mock trial, so to speak, within Sauls own heart, and the verdict was one of acquittal passed by a too favourable jury. Oh, self-extenuation is dangerous work. You are in the hands of a loving God who knows whereof we are made. If extenuations can justly be made, He is certain to make them. But who of us is there that has not plenty to confess even where actual sins are not upon the conscience? Cleanse thou me from secret faults. (W. H. M. H. Aitken, M. A.)
The importance of forming true Christian character
Character is not reputation, but that which makes the man what he is. Our text was Davids utterance after his eyes had been opened to his own nature. How often is it that things pass unnoticed until some great event fixes attention upon them. Inadequate provision for egress in public buildings remains unnoticed until some terrible fire and vast loss of life turn all eyes to it. So with tendencies of character, our own inward evil–some terrible sin makes us awake to it as we had never been before. Let us note from the text–
I. The Divine ideal for the Lords people. Thou desirest truth, etc. By truth is meant genuineness, reality, sincerity. Long ago Thomas Carlyle awoke a great deal of interest by his vigorous denunciation of shams. He but echoed the Scriptures. For such sincerity a new birth is essential. Yet this is a voluntary exercise (Act 3:19). Again, it is said Make you a new heart. It is the turning of your spirit to Him. And we must be thorough in this. God requires truth in the inward parts. Christ is the model of such sincerity and truth. But He is not the full model, for He never knew what the qualms of conscience were; never experienced the conflict of the law of His members and the law of His Spirit. Hence, servants of Christ such as Paul are given to us to supplement this ideal. Paul says, Be ye followers of me.
II. The Divine work in Gods people. In the hidden parts shalt, etc. Note–
1. What the teacher is to do. He is to make us know wisdom. This He does through His Word; His providence; His disciples, trials and disappointments.
2. What has the scholar to do? Submit to the Word of God. Walk circumspectly. Try to realize what is the true ideal of character. The Greek word is one which signifies to engrave. An engraved plate will leave an impression according to what itself is. Character is cut out by circumstances, by the mans own actions. (John Hall, D. D.)
Truth in the inward parts
I. A description of the nature of God in general. Thou desirest truth in the inward parts, i.e. a general uprightness and integrity of spirit.
1. God takes a special delight in such a frame of soul as this, from whence men became real and sincere towards Him.
(1) God is truth Himself, and so loves it and delights in it, as His own reflection.
(2) God desires truth as most suitable to those ends which He propounds to Himself in us. Theres no man loves to be deceived, because thereby he is frustrated and disappointed; which although God cannot be said to be directly, yet He may be in regard of our carriage and behaviour of ourselves towards Him, which He would not be.
(3) It is that which gives a being to all grace and goodness in us: goodness and truth are convertible and reciprocal, that is, they are one and the same, so that what is not the one is not the other, not only in metaphysics, but in morals. Truth is not a distinct and particular grace in itself, but it is general, and runs through the veins and bowels of all. It is true faith, and true love, and true hope, and true repentance, and so of the rest.
2. Wherein this truth or sincerity consists.
(1) In the aim and bias of the soul, whereby and whereunto it is carried. A sincere-hearted Christian looks at God in all (1Pe 4:11; 1Co 10:31).
(2) In universality. Where this truth is in the inward parts, there will be a respect had to all Gods commandments; and that whether as to the practice of duty or to avoiding of sin. In matter of duty, to do all that God requires, though never so contrary and repugnant to our natural inclinations; in matter of sin, to avoid all that God forbids, though never so pleasing and delightful to flesh and blood.
(3) In its intimacy and secret goodness. It is called truth in the inward parts because it reaches even to them, and is observable there.
(4) In its constancy and continuance to the end. Sincerity is accompanied with perseverance. Where there is grace in truth, there will be grace also in continuance: though there may be ebbings and flowings as to the degrees, yet for the substance it will be still the same; yea, and after some accidental intermissions it will in time again return to its former vigour.
II. An intimation of his carriage to David in particular. And in the hidden part, etc.
1. Take it in its proposition.
(1) The nature of grace. It is wisdom (Jam 3:17). It is called so, and may very well he so, as having indeed the properties of wisdom most agreeable to it. Wisdom is provident for the future, and does not only look at the present; and so it is with grace: wisdom, it takes things altogether, not only singly and alone by themselves, but in their conjunction; and so grace: wisdom, it looks after the main chance, and that which is chiefly to be looked after in the neglect of impertinencies and superfluities; so likewise does grace.
(2) The author of grace is God Himself. Thou. This seems to be added in opposition to that which he had premised and set down in the foregoing verse: there he had told us that he was born in iniquity, and in sin did his mother conceive him. Corruption it was conveyed to him by nature; yea, but grace it had another conveyance and derivation of it: thus it came not to him from his parents, but from God Himself; flesh and blood had not taught it him, but his Father which was in heaven (Mat 16:17), and so he acknowledges Him in it.
(3) The seat or subject of this wisdom, which it resides in, and that is here expressed to be the hidden part; that is, the soul and inward man: though it may also signify the object and matter which this spiritual wisdom is conversant about. And if ye will, we will take notice of both; or further, thirdly, the manner also of conveyance, as if he had said secretly, and after an hidden manner, as some interpreters render the words, which we may likewise add to the former. So, then, here is the sum and substance of what the psalmist does out of these words exhibit unto us: first, that the excellency of religion lies in the inward man: secondly, that a good Christian is acquainted with the mysteries of religion: thirdly, that the conveyance of His grace and spiritual wisdom are oftentimes secret and undiscernible.
2. We may also look upon it in its scope and reflection, and with that force and emphasis in which it comes from the prophet David, who expresses as much to us about himself, that God had indeed wrought this work in his heart, that He had in the hidden part made him to know wisdom.
(1) He discerns it, it carries in it an emphasis of discovery; as David had grace wrought in his heart, so he knew it to be there wrought; he saw it, and perceived it to be so. This is that which every one does not do, but yet which may be done.
(2) He acknowledges it. David, when he speaks here of Gods grace wrought in himself, he does not simply speak of it, but with some kind of affection and enlargement of soul, and as blessing God for it. He speaks of it as a special favour and mercy vouchsafed unto him, as indeed it was; and so should all others do likewise, which are in like manner made partakers of it.
(3) He improves it, he makes use of it for his present purpose, and that to a double intent; first, as an aggravation of sin, as it respects himself: and secondly, as a motive and an argument for future mercy, as it relates to God. That God who had given him grace at first, would now bestow further grace upon him; that He who had given him the grace of conversion, would now help him in the exercise of repentance, as a fruit of conversion in him; that He that had sanctified him would pardon him; and that He that killed sin in him in the root would now vouchsafe to kill it further in the branches and effects of it. (Thomas Horton, D. D.)
God desires truth in the inward parts
1. This thought summons us to earnestness and godly fear in our sense of sin.
(1) Whenever, in consequence of their upbringing or favourable circumstances, the outward life is religious and unblameable, many flatter themselves with the thought that it is also well with the heart: at least, that although they have still many sins, the heart is not quite so bad as has been said. They regard themselves at least not as ungodly, and enemies of God. Oh, did they but know how the Lord proves and searches the heart, they would think otherwise. The Holy One sees the indwelling corruption of the heart.
(2) How should this thought keep many a one from the superficial conversion with which men so often suffer themselves to be deceived. Whenever, upon a sick-bed, for example, there is a little anxiety about sin and questions about grace, the soul is at once comforted. Men are not aware that these feelings can easily be awakened, and also very lightly laid to sleep again.
2. This thought gives hope and comfort in the way of conversion. Nothing less will God have from the awakened soul: nothing more will the grace of God require from the penitent.
3. This thought strengthens faith for glorious expectations (Isa 61:8). (Andrew Murray.)
Marks of truth in the inward affections
1. It is a testimony of truth in the inward affections when one carrieth an universal hatred of all sin, that is, of secret sins as well as of open sins, of lesser sins as well as of greater evils, of such sins as have some special enticement, by some particularity of content or profit, as well as of those which afford neither. A sincere heart is as tender as the eye, which is troubled, and made to smart and water with the smallest mote, or as a straight shoe, which cannot endure the least stone within it, but makes him shrink and tread respectively, and with a kind of favour to his foot, until it be removed. This is one mark.
2. A second, which is in a manner a limb of the former, is a taking heed to that sin to which a man finds himself most apt; or wherewith he hath at any time been overtaken. Is it rash anger, is it pride; is it wantonness, is it worldliness, is it vain pleasure, etc.? If thou be especially wary and watchful touching that, to prevent the occasions, to stop the beginnings of it, to beware of the inducements to it, this is a notable testimony of sincerity.
3. A third is a willingness to lay open every sin as soon as it is known to be a sin, and to that end a gladness to have the conscience ransacked and ripped up, that that which is sin may be found out. David spake it out of experience when he pronounced the man blessed in whose spirit there is no guile.
4. A fourth mark, when a man makes conscience to be one and the same manner of man at home and in private that he is abroad and in public. This is also a branch of Davids sincerity, and of his resolution to walk in a perfect way: I will walk uprightly in the midst of mine house: his meaning is, he will be the same among his household people, where few behold him, that he is abroad where many see him: he will be as godly in his chamber as in the Temple. (S. Hieron.)
Truth in the inward parts
I. As opposed to ignorance. It is the character of men in an unregenerated state, that they have the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them. The character, in point of understanding, of men in whom God takes pleasure, is no vague or doubtful matter. Seeing God hath given in the Gospel the fullest and most satisfactory information concerning Himself, and the character and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, the one Mediator, they who have believed the word of the truth of the Gospel–who have received with meekness this engrafted word–have in one important respect the truth which God desires in the inward parts. There are different degrees, indeed, in which this change actually exists; but all are alike in kind; and they all differ in kind from other men, who are in darkness, and walk in darkness, and know not where they go, because that darkness hath blinded their eyes.
II. As opposed to insincerity. The spirit of the people of God, in whom the Lord takes pleasure, is that spirit in which there is no guile. Sanctification of the spirit is associated in them with belief of the truth. Sincerity, arising from, and connected with, a spiritual understanding of the truth of the Gospel, forms the temper of their inward man. The truth with respect to God and the Lord Jesus Christ, that informs their minds, enters into their hearts.
III. As opposed to false and temporary affections of mind. That practical godliness includes the exercise of the affections of the mind is not to be disputed. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart is the first and great commandment. There are lively emotions in every truly pious heart. Men who receive the truth of the Gospel in the love of it, and who have their souls purified in obeying it, delight themselves in the Lord, and love one another with a pure heart, fervently. The principles of vital godliness are like seed cast into good ground, that springeth up and beareth fruit; there is first the blade; then the ear; and afterwards the full corn in the ear. (D. Dickson, D. D.)
Interior truth
(with Joh 8:32):–The same word, truth, stands in both texts and yet represents in each its own particular matter. Thou desirest truth in the inward parts; which means that God looks to find in us a kernel of personal truthfulness, a sound core, a fragment of the aboriginal veracity of God, an oaken knot of probity that can take a blow without flinching, sterling metal that will sound with a long, clear, ringing tone of reverberation. The other is a little apart from this, The truth shall make you free. This denotes the truth outside of us coming to us, telling upon us, working its emancipation in us. The other was the sterling metal; this is the hammer that sets the wire ringing, the plectrum that sets the metal quivering and humming. The two answer back to each other; they understand each other–the truth that is structural within us, and the truth that comes to talk to us. They are correlates, like the eye and the light that saturates it; the ear and the melody that sings into it. We are never quite discouraged about a man, so long as there remains still in him one single solid atom that retains the old crystalline lines and angles; a rigid basis upon which presented truth can be laid, and into which it can be mortised; a truth-sense to which we can address and press our appeal. It is like dealing with an old and withered building; the window-lights may be shattered, and the paint discoloured, and the casings awry; the flooring seamed, and the joints warped; but, though you may have to tear down a good deal, and replace and pretty thoroughly renovate it, yet there is great vantage secured, if decay and disintegration have not eaten into the foundation, and the masonry lies intact in its bottom courses. It is this which justifies the confidence we always have in a boy that is truthful; he may be full of roguery and tease his sister and torment his parents; he may easily get angry, and pound the boy that lives across the way; and show himself precocious In nothing so much as in his genius for resisting knowledge and palsying the efforts of his instructors; but, if he is truthful, if truth is in his inward parts, the pith of the matter is in him, a sound core, the spinal marrow; and there is something to address yourself to with assurance, when the time comes for appeals that are more strenuous and exacting. Bye-laws have no grip that is not guaranteed them by the vigour of the constitution. God desireth truth in the inward parts. An impure heart issues in impure thoughts. Yes; but also impure thoughts issue in impure hearts. Intellect creates thought, but thought turns round and creates intellect. The interior and the exterior are parents and children of each other. Deed expends power, but deed also makes power. To that degree and in that sense we are all of us daily climbing up and down the ladder-rounds of our own actions, feelings, thoughts. So it is with this precious, unspeakably precious, nucleus of personal truthfulness, truth in the inward parts. We make it more by speaking the truth, doing, thinking, and feeling the truth; we make it less by speaking, doing, thinking, and feeling that which is false. We are confessedly making a good deal of this matter of rectitude, straight-linedness; but it is the plumb-line dropped into us from above, and so must shape and direct all our aspirations towards God; and it is in the plumb-line from which we have to calculate the horizontal that shall determine our dealings with men. Truth is thus the core of piety, and it is the pith of charity. A promise is a promise, whether made in a matter of groceries or Gospel. I cannot go to a man and promise to help him in an enterprise, and then do as I like about keeping my promise. A promise is as holy a thing as Mount Sinai, and as holy as the law that was given on it, and the Lord that came down in thunder and lightning upon it. There are not even so many professed Christians as we might suppose who can be relied on to do as they say they will do, when it is not quite to their taste or convenience to do as they say they will do. Their word is not as good as their bond; and they proceed on principles which, if they were to apply them on the street, would cost them their seat in the Stock Exchange every day. (C. H. Parkhurst, D. D.)
Better to be, than to be thought, religious
In every action of religion, let us remember to keep sincerity. Who would desire to be called rich, if he want riches; esteemed valiant, if he have not strength? and shall we think it sufficient to be called religious, and not to be so? Better to be rich, than to be called rich; better to be religious, than to be thought or called religious. God loveth truth as He hateth all falsehood; for He is truth. He loveth truth in our profession, truth in our civil life: truth in our profession, is that which He hath commanded in His Word; truth in our civil life, is that which agreeth with the duty of civil conversation, without fraud, deceit or guile, which is different from Gods nature, and resembleth the devil, who is a deceiver. (A. Symson.)
In the hidden part Thou shalt make me to know wisdom.—
Religion the only true wisdom
I. The knowledge of heavenly things, appertaining to the right way of pleasing God, and of saving our own souls, is the true wisdom. How shall he be held for wise who wanteth judgment and understanding in the principle? And what is the principle, if not this, to know how to serve God so here as that we may be saved with Him, and by Him, hereafter? What were a man but a fool in case he otherwise knew all secrets, and could speak and discourse in matters of the world, as if one spake from an oracle, or did equal Solomon in discovering the natures of trees and herbs, from the cedar in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall, if yet he were to seek in the matters that concern eternity? All this is but like that wisdom which we tax in a man when we say, He is penny wise, but pound foolish: he will be miserable to save a penny, and yet be prodigal in pounds upon a humour. This is poor wisdom: so, on the other side, how can he be taxed for a fool justly who, whatsoever his reach and depth be in the things of this life (haply he hath not so many politic fetches, nor cannot plod and multiply projects as ethers do), yet he knoweth the way of salvation; he knoweth Christ crucified?
II. The Lord Himself is the proper teacher of that spiritual and heavenly wisdom which is accompanied with salvation.
1. The Holy Scripture is the Book of Wisdom, out of which God will give unto the simple sharpness of wit: but, teaching by man, is the pipe by which this sacred wisdom is to be conveyed unto us from the Fountain: therefore God honoureth His ministers with the title of teachers, and hath ordained a deputation of faithful men, which should be able to teach others also.
2. In waiting upon the appointed means to get this wisdom, we must be furnished with two especial qualities: first, humility; secondly, earnestness.
(1) The former I ground upon that often-remembered saying, He will teach the humble His way. Now, he is humble in this case who hath learned to renounce that wisdom, that sharpness, that sufficiency which he hath in his own opinion in himself. This is that denial of a mans self which Christ requireth in His followers: Paul, a being a fool, to the end one may be wise. A man must disclaim all possibility of guiding himself, and resign and yield up himself wholly to the Lords conduct. They which have this disposition are the babes to which God revealeth the mysteries of His kingdom, when He passeth over those which feed themselves with self-conceits.
(2) The second quality required is earnestness. Thus the Kingdom of Heaven must suffer violence, and we must go about to take it as it were by force. In this business there must be labouring, striving, giving all diligence, a seeking early.
3. How shall we know that we are taught? The text answereth: Where God teacheth, the heart is taught. Look, then, what is in thy heart. There be some that have gotten some smack of this wisdom into their brains; they have a kind of lip-wisdom, and can talk somewhat plausibly of religion, but it is not yet come to their hearts. Their hearts be not humbled; they have not that which the apostle commended in the Romans–obedience from the heart. Is thy heart reformed? Is the natural corruption thereof in some good measure subdued and abated? Is obedience sweet unto thy heart, and that which thy soul delighteth in? This is a sign thou art taught of God.
III. When God bestows on any man spiritual wisdom and religious knowledge, He gives such a blessing as deserves acknowledgment. Hath the Lord been gracious to thee in scattering the mist of thy natural blindness, and in enabling thee to see the things which are given to us of God? Are thy eyes anointed with eye-salve, so that thou beginnest to savour the things of the Spirit, better than in times past? Oh, thank His Majesty for this mercy–this, a kindness of greater value than at first, perhaps, thou art aware; labour to increase in this knowledge, strive to have yet a larger and a fuller measure of this spiritual understanding. (S. Hieron.)
True knowledge to be sought from God
The true knowledge of the way of grace must be sought from God Himself. He alone can make you know the hidden wisdom. The human knowledge Of the way of grace which we obtain by the use of our understanding is not sufficient. Mark well: we do not say that this knowledge is not necessary. But this knowledge is not enough. It is possible that one may have a well-nigh perfect knowledge of Gods Word and yet be lost. And when we have clear insight into the way of the truth of God, we run just as much risk of resting content with it. Perhaps some one thinks that such a representation is sufficient to make one altogether dispirited. It would indeed be so were it not that we can say in this prayer, In the hidden parts Thou shalt make me to know wisdom. God gives the wisdom. This is our only security, and that is the only answer that we can give to the question: How do we know if we have a right spiritual knowledge of grace? The Lord can and will make you assured of this. Conversion, faith, is not a work that you must do, and on which you can look back and say, That is well done. ,No: the innermost essence of conversion and faith consists in coming to God in surrender to God, in receiving from God the living God, grace to be worked out by Him, in being washed and purified from sin by Him. And just at this point is there in the religion of many so much defect. They do not know that in grace the principal element is that we must come into contact with the living God, and must experience the power of the Almighty. (Andrew Murray.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 6. Behold, thou desirest truth] I am the very reverse of what I should be. Thou desirest truth in the heart; but in me there is nothing but sin and falsity.
Thou shalt make me to know wisdom.] Thou wilt teach me to restrain every inordinate propensity, and to act according to the dictates of sound wisdom, the rest of my life.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
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 falsehood and dissimulation in endeavouring to conceal them from men. Or rather,
2. Integrity or uprightness of heart; which seem to be here opposed to that iniquity mentioned in the last verse, 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 unblamableness 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 hidden part, i.e. in the heart, called the hidden man of the heart, 1Pe 3:4, and the secret part, Rom 2:16, which in the former branch he called the reins or inward parts.
Thou shalt make me to know: so he declares his hope that God would pardon and cure his folly, 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 rendered 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, Jer 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, Psa 51:7,8. Having now said, for the aggravation of his sin, that God did desire or require truth in the 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 hath been showed) in the hidden part do thou make me to know wisdom. Or thus, thou wouldest have me know; for futures are oft taken potentially, as Psa 118:6; Mat 12:25, compared with Mar 3:24, and elsewhere. And verbs which signify making or causing are sometimes understood only of the will or command; as Jeroboam is said to make Israel to sin, 1Ki 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 doth 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, Job 28:28; Psa 111:10, and in many other texts, as sin on the contrary is commonly called, as it really is, folly. And to know wisdom is here meant of knowing it practically and experimentally, so as to approve, and love, and practise it; as words of knowledge are most frequently taken in Scripture, and in other authors.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
6. thou shalt make, c.may betaken to express God’s gracious purpose in view of His strictrequisition a purpose of which David might have availed himself as acheck to his native love for sin, and, in not doing so, aggravatedhis guilt.
truth . . . and . ..wisdomare terms often used for piety (compare Job 28:28;Psa 119:30).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts,…. With delight and pleasure, as the word d signifies: meaning either Christ, the truth and the life, formed and dwelling in the hearts of his people; or the Gospel, the word of truth, which has a place there; and particularly that branch of it which proclaims pardon to sensible sinners, and is the ground of hope within them: or else a true and hearty confession of sin, which David now made; or rather internal holiness and purity of heart, in opposition to the corruption of nature before acknowledged: this is what is agreeable to the nature of God, is required by his holy law, and is wrought in the hearts of his people in regeneration; and this is “truth”, real, and not imaginary, genuine and unfeigned; where it is there is a true sense of sin, a right sight of Christ, unfeigned faith in him, sincere love to him, hope in him without hypocrisy, and a reverential fear of God upon the heart; the inward parts are the seat of all this, and in the exercise of it the Lord takes great delight and pleasure;
and in the hidden [part] thou shall make me to know wisdom; either Christ, the wisdom of God; or the Gospel, and particularly that part of it which concerns the pardon of sin; or a true knowledge of sin, and of the way of life and salvation by Christ, which is the truest and highest wisdom: and the phrase “hidden” or “secret” may either denote the nature of the wisdom made known, which is hidden wisdom, the wisdom of God in a mystery; or the manner in which it is made known; it is in a hidden way, privately, and secretly, and indiscernibly like the wind, by the Spirit and grace of God; or the seat and subject of it, “the hidden part”, as we supply it; the hidden man of the heart. David begins to rise in the exercise of his faith in the grace of God, “thou shall make me to know”, c. unless the words should be rendered as a prayer, as they are by some, “make me to know” e, c. and as are the following.
d “delectaris”, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator “delectatus es”, Cocceius so Ainsworth. e “notam mihi fac”, Gejerus.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
6. Behold, thou hast desired truth, etc. This verse confirms the remark which we already made, that David was far from seeking to invent an apology for his sin, when he traced it back to the period of his conception, and rather intended by this to acknowledge that from his very infancy he was an heir of eternal death. He thus represents his whole life to have been obnoxious to condemnation. So far is he from imitating those who arraign God as the author of sin, and impiously suggest that he might have given man a better nature, that in the verse now before us he opposes God’s judgment to our corruption, insinuating, that every time we appear before him, we are certain of being condemned, inasmuch as we are born in sin, while he delights in holiness and uprightness. He goes further, and asserts, that in order to meet the approval of God, it is not enough that our lives be conformed to the letter of his law, unless our heart be clean and purified from all guile. He tells us that God desires truth in the inward parts, (264) intimating to us, that secret as well as outward and gross sins excite his displeasure. In the second clause of the verse, he aggravates his offense by confessing that he could not plead the excuse of ignorance. He had been sufficiently instructed by God in his duty. Some interpret בסתום, besathum, as if he here declared that God had discovered secret mysteries to him, or things hidden from the human understanding. He seems rather to mean that wisdom had been discovered to his mind in a secret and intimate manner. (265) The one member of the verse responds to the other. He acknowledges that it was not a mere superficial acquaintance with divine truth which he had enjoyed, but that it had been closely brought home to his heart. This rendered his offense the more inexcusable. Though privileged so highly with the saving knowledge of the truth, he had plunged into the commission of brutish sin, and by various acts of iniquity had almost ruined his soul.
We have thus set before us the exercise of the Psalmist at this time. First, we have seen that he is brought to a confession of the greatness of his offense: this leads him to a sense of the complete depravity of his nature: to deepen his convictions, he then directs his thoughts to the strict judgment of God, who looks not to the outward appearance but the heart; and, lastly, he adverts to the peculiarity of his case, as one who had enjoyed no ordinary measure of the gifts of the Spirit, and deserved on that account the severer punishment. The exercise is such as we should all strive to imitate. Are we conscious of having committed any one sin, let it be the means of recalling others to our recollection, until we are brought to prostrate ourselves before God in deep self-abasement. And if it has been our privilege to enjoy the special teaching of the Spirit of God, we ought to feel that our guilt is additionally heavy, having sinned in this case against light, and having trampled under foot the precious gifts with which we were intrusted.
(264) The word טחות, tuchoth, which is rendered inward parts, and which is derived from the verb טוח, tuach, to spread over, means the reins, which are so called, because they are overspread with fat. “Once more it is used in Scripture, Job 38:36, where, as here, our English Bible renders it inward parts, somewhat too generally. The Chaldee expresses it more particularly by reins, and these, in the Scripture style, are frequently taken for the seat of the affections, the purity whereof is most contrary to the natural corruption or inbred pollution spoken of in the preceding verse. The word אמת, emeth, truth, ordinarily signifies sincerity, uprightness, and integrity; and so truth in the reins is equivalent to a hearty sincere obedience, not only of the actions, but of the very thoughts and affections to God; and so, in things of this nature, wherein this psalm is principally concerned, denotes the purity of the heart, the not admitting any unclean desire or thought, the very first degree of indulgence to any lust. And this God is said to will, or desire, or delight in, and so to command and require of us.” — Hammond
(265) The word is explained in the first of these senses in the Septuagint: “ Τὰ ἄδηλα καὶ τα κρύφια τὢς σοφίας εδήλοσίς μοι;” — “Thou hast manifested to me the secret and hidden things of thy wisdom.” Viewed in this light as well as in the other, the language expresses the aggravated nature of David’s sin. He had sinned, although God had revealed to him high and secret mysteries.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(6) Truth.Or, faithfulness.
Inward parts.The Hebrew word is found only once besides (Job. 38:36), where it is in parallelism with heart.
The sincerity and true self-discernment which God requires can only come of spiritual insight, or, as the last clause states it, divine instruction.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
6. In the inward parts: the hidden part Literally, the reins and the covered parts, two synonymous words which, in Hebrew psychology, correspond to the New Testament phrase, “ inner man,” or “ inward part,”
Luk 11:39
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Psa 51:6. Behold, thou desirest truth, &c. The common interpretation here is, that David makes mention of God’s loving sincerity, in the inward parts, i.e. the mind and spirit, by way of aggravating his own guilt, for the shameful dissimulation that he had been guilty of with respect to Uriah. To which he adds, in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom; that wisdom, which through grace would have enabled him to have maintained his sincerity, had he followed the dictates of it. Dr. Chandler, not acquiescing in this interpretation, would render the words, Thou desirest or approvest truth, or constancy and firmness in the reins; i.e. chastity and continence; moderation in the indulgence of all the sensual appetites, and the strict regular government of all the animal propensities and affections; the reins being accounted by the Hebrews as the seat of the passions. The next clause is literally, according to the Hebrew, And by their being obstructed, thou teachest, or do thou teach me Wisdom 1 :e. “by their being restrained and kept within bounds may I learn to act a wiser and a better part for the future.” In the 14th verse he prays that God would deliver him from the guilt of blood, which he had incurred by the murder of Uriah. In the verse before us, he acknowledges that his adulterous commerce with Bathsheba was contrary to that purity and self-government which were pleasing and acceptable to God, and prays that, notwithstanding any inordinate tendencies that he might derive in his constitution from being conceived by a sinful mother; yet that God would give him wisdom and grace to obstruct and lay them under such restraint, as would enable him to approve himself better to God for the time to come.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
DISCOURSE: 588
THE IMPORTANCE OF INWARD INTEGRITY
Psa 51:6. Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts; and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.
MANKIND at large are chiefly observant of their outward conduct; but the child of God cannot rest in externals: he is anxious about the internal habits of his soul; and desires to have them conformed to the mind and will of God. The words before us strongly express this idea. By many indeed they are interpreted, as if David intended in them to aggravate yet further the guilt he had contracted, which had been in direct opposition both to the profession he had made, and to the light he had enjoyed [Note: In this case, the last clause is read in the past tense; Thou hast made me to know.]. But we conceive that the words, as they stand in our translation, convey the true meaning of the Psalmist; and that they relate, not to his sins, but his repentance for them. The sense of them appears to be to this effect; Thou requirest me to be truly sincere in my present humiliation; and, if I am, as I desire to be, thoroughly sincere, thou wilt make this whole dispensation a source of the most important instruction to my soul. In this view of the words, they are an humble address to God, declarative of,
I.
The disposition He requires
Truth, is a conformity of our feelings and actions to our professions: and this God requires of us in the whole of our spirit and conduct. He requires it,
1.
In our acknowledgments
[We confess ourselves sinners before God. But such a confession is of no value in his sight, unless it be accompanied with suitable emotions. Think then, what becomes us, as sinners: what deep sorrow and contrition should we feel for having offended Almighty God! what self-lothing and self-abhorrence for our extreme vileness and baseness! what ardent desires after mercy! what readiness to justify God in all that he may be pleased to inflict upon us in this world, whatever means or instruments he may see fit to use; yea, and in the eternal world also, even if he cast us into the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone, and make us everlasting monuments of his wrathful indignation! This should be the state and habit of our minds: we should have our hands on our mouths, and our mouths in the dust, crying, Unclean, unclean! In a word, we should adopt from our inmost souls the language of Job, Behold, I am vile! therefore I repent and abhor myself in dust and ashes. In proportion as we feel thus, we are upright, and have truth in our inward parts: but so far as we are wanting in these feelings, we are hypocrites in heart, drawing nigh to God with our lips in a way belied by our hearts [Note: Mat 15:7-8.].
2.
In our purposes
[We profess, as persons redeemed by the blood of our incarnate God, to give up ourselves to him, and to live unto Him who died for us: and, if we are sincere in this, our determination is fixed, that, with Gods help, nothing shall ever keep us from executing this intention. We have deliberately counted the cost. We are aware, that if we will live godly in Christ Jesus, we must suffer persecution: but we are prepared to meet it, from whatever quarter it may come, yea, though our greatest foes should be those of our own household. We are ready to sacrifice our reputation, our interests, and our very lives also, rather than in any respect deny our God, or suffer ourselves to be diverted from the path of duty. We are determined, through grace, to put away every thing that may retard our progress heavenward, and to aspire after the highest possible attainments in righteousness and true holiness. Now God requires, that we should be acting up to this profession, setting our face as a flint against the whole world, and standing in the posture of Daniel or the Hebrew Youths, willing to have our bodies consigned to a den of lions, or a fiery furnace, rather than violate our duty by any sinful compliance. If we are halting or hesitating, we have not truth in our inward parts.]
3.
In our endeavours
[Purposes must be judged of by the exertions that are put forth in order to carry them into effect. A diligent attendance therefore on all the means of grace must of necessity be required of us: in the public ordinances, and in our private chambers, whether we be hearing, or reading, or meditating, or praying, we must be like men in earnest, even like the man-slayer fleeing from the pursuer of blood, that scarcely stopped to look behind him, till he should reach the appointed sanctuary, the city of refuge. Remissness in such a cause argues a want of real integrity: if truth be indeed in our inward parts, we shall run as in a race, which leaves us no time to loiter: and wrestle with all our might, lest we be foiled in the contest; and fight as those who know that there is no alternative but to overcome or perish. In all the interior workings of our minds we shall resemble the Corinthians, who were clear in this matter [Note: 2Co 7:11.].]
That we may not be discouraged by the strictness of Gods requirements, let us consider,
II.
The benefit he will confer
There is a wisdom that is to be gained only by experience: what has its seat in the head, may be learned by the head: what dwells in the heart, must be learned by the heart: and of the heart there is but one teacher, even God; according as it is said, Who teacheth like God [Note: Job 36:22.]: and again, There is a spirit in man; and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth him understanding [Note: Job 32:8.].
Amongst the treasures of wisdom which God will impart to the truly upright, and the hidden things which he will cause them to know, are,
1.
The deceits of the heart
[These are very deep, and absolutely unsearchable [Note: Jer 17:9.]; yet in a measure will God discover them to those who have truth in their inward parts. The world at large know nothing of them: they are calling evil good, and good evil; they put darkness for light, and light for darkness; and bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter [Note: Isa 5:20.]: they feed also on ashes: a deceived heart hath turned them aside, so that they cannot deliver their souls, or say, Is there not a lie in my right hand [Note: Isa 44:20.]? They contrive to satisfy their minds that all is well with them, or at least to lull their consciences asleep with the hope that all will be well with them before they die. They have a thousand pleas and excuses which they urge in their own defence, and which they vainly hope will be accepted by their Judge. If we attempt to open their eyes, they reply, with indignation, Are we blind also [Note: Joh 9:40.]? Thus are they both blinded and hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. But those who are really Israelites indeed, and without guile, have their eyes opened to see what delusions they have cherished: and being thus brought out of darkness into marvellous light, they find that promise fulfilled to them, They that erred in spirit shall come to understanding [Note: Isa 29:24.]. Their eye being made single, their whole body is full of light.]
2.
The devices of Satan
[The men of this world, though taken in his snares, and led captive by him at his will, have no idea of his agency. But he is a subtle adversary; and his wiles are innumerable. He can even transform himself into an angel of light [Note: 2Co 11:13-14.]; and, when aiming a deadly blow at our souls, assume the garb of a minister of righteousness. His first device is, to persuade men that they are in no danger of the judgments they fear. If he fail in that, he will instil into their minds the notion that they have gone too far, and that there is no hope for them. If that snare do not succeed, he will draw them aside, after some points of less importance, or matters of doubtful disputation. Multitudes of false apostles has he at his command, who will gladly aid him in this accursed work [Note: 2Co 11:13.], and concur with him m his endeavours to corrupt their minds from the simplicity that is in Christ [Note: 2Co 11:3.]. But, if we are following the Lord fully, he will not leave us ignorant of Satans devices, or suffer him to get his wished-for advantage over us [Note: 2Co 2:11.]. He will arm us against that adversary, and enable us to withstand him [Note: Eph 6:11.]. He will give us the shield of faith, whereby we shall ward off and quench all his fiery darts [Note: Eph 6:16.], and be able so to resist him, that he shall flee from us [Note: Jam 4:7.].]
3.
The mysteries of grace
[Great is the mystery of godliness, and great the mystery of grace, whether we consider the work wrought for us by Jesus Christ, or the work wrought in us by his Holy Spirit. These constitute that wisdom, which is foolishness with man, and which the natural man cannot receive, because it is spiritually discerned [Note: 1Co 2:7-9; 1Co 2:14.]. To know this, we must be taught of God: We must receive, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God, before we can know the things that are freely given to us of God [Note: 1Co 2:10; 1Co 2:12.]. And O! how wonderful a work does this appear, when God shines into our hearts to reveal it to us [Note: 2Co 4:6.]! How worthy of God! how suitable to man! how passing the comprehension, whether of men or angels! Verily, the man whose eyes are thus opened, seems to be brought into a new world: old things are passed away, and all things are become new. The ignorant world are amazed at the new line of conduct he pursues, just as Elishas servant was at his masters confidence in the midst of danger. But, if their eyes were opened to see, as the Believer does, the invisible God [Note: 2Ki 6:15-17. Heb 11:27.] above him and within him, they would wonder rather, that there were any bounds to his transports, or any limit to his exertions.]
4.
The beauties of holiness
[All who are warped by their prejudices, or blinded by their lusts, are incapable of estimating aright the beauty and blessedness of true piety: it appears to them little short of madness. And even those who make a profession of godliness, but possess not truth in their inward parts, have very erroneous conceptions of true holiness. Some place it in a confident espousal of certain principles, or a zealous attachment to a particular party: others, inclining more to practical religion, make all duty to centre in some one point, such as the mortification of the flesh, or almsgiving, or penances of mans invention. Even those who are more enlightened, are apt to regard only one particular set of graces that are more congenial with their own feelings, and to neglect those which are of an opposite aspect; one despising every thing in comparison of zeal and confidence; another leaning altogether to the side of prudence and timidity. But the man into whose hidden part God has put true wisdom, views holiness, not with prismatic partiality, separating one grace from another, but all embodied, as light in the sun; every grace tempering its opposite, and all combining to the production of perfect beauty. He discards neither the vivid nor the darker ray: but, having all in united exercise, sorrow with joy, and fear with confidence, the beauty of the Lord his God is upon him [Note: Psa 90:17.], and he shines in the Divine image in righteousness and true holiness [Note: 2Co 3:18.].]
From this subject we may learn,
1.
Whence it is that men get so little insight into the Gospel
[Many hear the Gospel during their whole lives, and never attain any just knowledge of it. How shall we account for this? We suppose the Gospel to be preached with all possible fidelity, and yet it seems never to convey any light to their minds. The reason is, that they never take any pains to apply it to their own souls, or to get any one truth realized in their own experience. They assent to every thing they hear; but they are content with being hearers, without ever once attempting to become doers of the word they hear. They see perhaps their face, as in a glass, for the moment; but they go away, and forget what manner of men they are [Note: Jam 1:22-25.]. But our blessed Lord has told us, that we must aim at doing his will, in order to get any just insight into what he has revealed [Note: Joh 7:17.]: and, as this desire is altogether wanting in the persons we are speaking of, they never derive any solid benefit from the Gospel. O Brethren! you must be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own souls. You must apply the word to your own hearts: when you hear your sins pointed out, you must endeavour to humble yourselves for them in dust and ashes: when you hear of Christ as the one only Saviour of a ruined world, you must endeavour to flee to him for refuge: when the Holy Ghost is set forth as the one great source of all spiritual life and motion, you must cry to God the Father for his dear Sons sake to send the Holy Spirit into your hearts, that the whole work of grace may be wrought within you. It is your neglect of thus harrowing in the seed by meditation, and of watering it with tears, that has given Satan an opportunity of taking it out of your hearts as soon as ever it has been sown there [Note: Mat 13:4; Mat 13:19.]. Get the honest and the good heart, which truly desires to make a just improvement of the word, and God will yet cause the seed to spring up in your hearts, and to bring forth fruit to the salvation of your souls.]
2.
Whence it is that many who profess the Gospel are so little ornaments to it
[It is a melancholy fact, that many who profess godliness walk very unworthy of their high calling. Like Ezekiels hearers, they are gratified with the preaching of the Gospel, as persons are with one who plays well upon an instrument; but their heart still goeth after their covetousness [Note: Eze 33:31-32.], or some other besetting sin. But this is owing to their not having truth in their inward parts: if they had, they would not be satisfied with professing the Gospel, and talking about it, and looking with pity (or perhaps with contempt) on those who do not understand it: no; they would look to their spirit, that it should be meek and humble; they would look to their conduct also, that it should be blameless and without guile: they would give no occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully. Ah, Brethren! think what God requires of all, and of those who make a profession of religion more especially: and beg of God to endue your souls with truth and wisdom, that ye may be sincere and without offence until the day of Christ. You may fancy that you know all the depths of Satan [Note: Rev 2:24.]: but if your professed hope in Christ does not purify your souls as Christ is pure [Note: 1Jn 3:3.], you are yet blinded by him, and utterly deceiving your own souls [Note: Jam 1:26.].]
3.
How to get the whole work of God perfected in our souls
[Come to the Gospel with hearts tender and contrite, that they may be to it as wax to the seal. Then shall you have in your own souls the witness of all its most important truths [Note: 1Jn 5:10.]: and shall be able to answer from your own experience that question which God puts so triumphantly to all the world: Doth not my word do good to him that walketh uprightly? You are not straitened in God: be not straitened in your own souls. Desire much: ask much: expect much: and God will supply your every want according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 51:6 Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden [part] thou shalt make me to know wisdom.
Ver. 6. Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts ] Quam tamen mihi defuisse res ipsa demonstrat; but this truth hath not been found in me, when I acted my sin in that sort, and did mine utmost to hide it from the world. I have showed little truth in the inward parts, but have grossly dissembled in my dealings, with Uriah especially, whom I so plied at first with counterfeit kindness, and then basely betrayed him to the sword of the enemy. Sinisterity is fully opposite to sincerity, treachery to truth.
And in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
in the inward parts. More than the external acts. Hebrew. tuchoth. Only here and Job 38:36.
make me, &c. See note on Job 28:28. We need this making, for this wisdom is from above. Compare 2Ti 3:15.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Behold: Psa 26:2, Psa 125:4, Gen 20:5, Gen 20:6, 2Ki 20:3, 1Ch 29:17, 2Ch 31:20, 2Ch 31:21, Pro 2:21, Jer 5:3, Joh 4:23, Joh 4:24, 2Co 1:12, Jam 4:8
inward: Psa 5:9, 1Sa 16:7, Job 38:36, Luk 11:39, Rom 7:22
in the hidden: Job 32:8, Jer 31:33, Jer 32:40, 1Pe 3:4
Reciprocal: Exo 40:31 – washed Lev 1:9 – inwards Lev 7:3 – General 2Sa 22:24 – upright Job 28:12 – General Psa 51:16 – desirest Psa 62:4 – inwardly Pro 11:20 – upright Mat 5:8 – are Mat 23:28 – ye also Joh 3:10 – and knowest Rom 7:14 – the law Heb 5:9 – eternal
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Psa 51:6. Behold, thou desirest Hebrew, , chaphatzta, delightest in, willest, or requirest, truth in the inward parts Uprightness of heart, which seems to be here opposed to that iniquity mentioned in the last verse, in which all men are conceived and born; and it may be here added as a proof, or aggravation, of the sinfulness of original corruption, because it is contrary to the holy nature and will of God, which requires not only unblameableness in mens actions, but also the universal innocence and rectitude of their minds and hearts; and as an aggravation of his own actual sin, in which he had used gross deceit and treachery. And in the hidden part, &c. That is, in the heart, called the hidden man of the heart, 1Pe 3:4; and, in the former clause, the reins, or inward parts; thou shalt make me to know wisdom That is, true piety and integrity, called wisdom, Job 28:28; Psa 111:10, and in many other passages; as sin, on the contrary, is commonly called, as it really is, folly. And to know wisdom is here to be understood of knowing it practically and experimentally; so as to approve, and love, and practise it: as words of knowledge are most commonly to be understood in Scripture, and in other authors. According to this interpretation the psalmist, in these words, declares his hope that God would pardon and cure the folly which he had discovered, and make him wiser for the future. But, as this does not seem to suit perfectly with the context, which runs in rather another strain, the word , todigneeni, may, and it seems ought to, be rendered in the past time, thou hast made me to know. And so this is another aggravation of his sin, that it was committed against that knowledge which God had not only revealed to him outwardly by his word, but also inwardly by his Spirit, writing it on his heart, according to his promise, Jer 31:33. Or, the future verb may be here taken imperatively; and the words may be understood as a prayer, Do thou make me to know, &c., as the following future verbs (Psa 51:7-8) are translated. Having then now said, for the aggravation of his sin, that God required truth in the inward parts, he takes occasion to break forth into prayer, which also he continues in the following verses.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
51:6 Behold, thou {f} desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden [part] thou shalt make me to know wisdom.
(f) He confesses that God who loves pureness of heart, may justly destroy man, who by nature is a sinner much more him whom he had instructed in his heavenly wisdom.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
David also realized that God wanted him to be completely honest, not just to offer a sacrifice. He needed to get his heart right with God. His confession had to be genuine rather than the superficial repetition of some words. Wisdom in the Old Testament refers to living life in the light of God’s presence and revelation. God wants people to be completely honest with Him and to deal with reality. David acknowledged this.