Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 51:16

For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give [it]: thou delightest not in burnt offering.

16. For thou desirest not sacrifice ] R.V., For thou delightest not in sacrifice. The verb is the same as in Psa 51:6 ; Psa 51:19, and Psa 40:6. For gives the reason for the nature of the thank-offering which he proposes to offer: not material sacrifice which God does not desire, but the sacrifice of a contrite heart. Cp. Psa 40:6, the sacrifice of obedience; Psa 50:14; Psa 50:23; the sacrifice of thanksgiving.

thou delightest not ] R.V., thou hast no pleasure: a word used of accepting a sacrifice (Psa 119:108; cp. Psa 19:14). For the sense in which God is said to have no pleasure in sacrifice, see Introd. to Psalms 50. An absolute repudiation of all sacrificial worship cannot be intended.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

For thou desirest not sacrifice … – On the words rendered in this verse sacrifice and burnt-offering, see the notes at Isa 1:11. On the main sentiment here expressed – that God did not desire such sacrifices – see the notes at Psa 40:6-8. The idea here is, that any mere external offering, however precious or costly it might be, was not what God required in such cases. He demanded the expression of deep and sincere repentance; the sacrifices of a contrite heart and of a broken spirit: Psa 51:17. No offering without this could be acceptable; nothing without this could secure pardon. In mere outward sacrifices – in bloody offerings themselves, unaccompanied with the expression of genuine penitence, God could have no pleasure. This is one of the numerous passages in the Old Testament which show that the external offerings of the law were valueless unless accompanied by the religion of the heart; or that the Jewish religion, much as it abounded in forms, yet required the offerings of pure hearts in order that man might be acceptable to God. Under all dispensations the real nature of religion is the same. Compare the notes at Heb 9:9-10. The phrase else would I give it, in the margin, that I should give it, expresses a willingness to make such an offering, if it was required, while, at the same time, there is the implied statement that it would be valueless without the heart.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Psa 51:16

For Thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it; Thou delightest not in burnt-offering.

The service which David would not render

1. He declines a superfluous and unnecessary service; he will not give that; this is one thing which he resolves on, and it is a good resolution in him. In the worship of God, whatever is more than needful, it may very well be spared; we cannot supererogate with Him; those that think to do so exceedingly deceive themselves, yea, and wrong themselves also, while they draw out the strength of their spirits upon that which might be better bestowed.

2. He declines an arbitrary service. He will not serve God in any other way than as Himself shall allow of and prescribe. Because God does not desire sacrifice, therefore he will not give sacrifice to Him; this is the rule which he holds to in Gods worship, to do no more than Himself has commanded. And this is that which the Scripture does continually press upon us, the declining of all will-worship in the service of God as that which is abominable with Him.

3. He declines an unacceptable service; he will not do more in Gods service than shall be well received. This is the main thing which Gods people look after in their services which they present unto Him; to wit, His acceptance of them in those services; all without this, it is nothing worth. This is that which David says here; because he thinks that God delights not in burnt-offerings, therefore He shall not have them. Gods complacency is all in all. (Thomas Horton, D. D.)

What we bring to God must be such as God requires

There are some soldiers here to-night. Now, suppose one of these received orders from the commanding officer to keep guard at such and such a door. All of a sudden he thinks to himself, I am very fond of our commander, and I should like to do something for him. He puts his musket against the wall, and starts out to find a shop where he can buy a bunch of flowers. He is away from his post all the while, of course, and when he comes back he is discovered to have been away from his post of duty. He says, Here is the bunch of flowers I went to get. But I hear his officer say, We cannot allow you–military discipline would not permit it–to run off at every whim and wish of yours and neglect your duty; for who knows what mischief must ensue. It is a holier and better thing to do ones duty than to make duties for oneself. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Verse 16. For thou desirest not sacrifice] This is the same sentiment which he delivers in Ps 40:6, c., where see the notes. There may be here, however, a farther meaning: Crimes, like mine, are not to be expiated by any sacrifices that the law requires nor hast thou appointed in the law any sacrifices to atone for deliberate murder and adultery: if thou hadst, I would cheerfully have given them to thee. The matter is before thee as Judge.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

Thou desirest not sacrifice; which is not to be understood absolutely, and universally, as appears from Psa 51:19, but comparatively, of which See Poole “Psa 40:6“, and with particular respect to Davids crimes of murder and adultery, which were not to be expiated by any sacrifice, but by the law of God were to be punished with death. Thou requirest more and better sacrifices, which here follow.

Else would I give it; else I should have spared no cost in that kind.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

16. Praise is better thansacrifice (Ps 50:14), andimplying faith, penitence, and love, glorifies God. In true penitentsthe joys of pardon mingle with sorrow for sin.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

For thou desirest not sacrifice,…. Legal sacrifice; for there was no sacrifice appointed under the law for murder and adultery;

else would I give [it]; he would gladly have offered it up;

thou delightest not in burnt offering; at least such kind of sacrifices, though they were of divine appointment, and at that time in full force and use; yet they were not the only and principal sacrifices God desired and delighted in; nor were they at all acceptable to him without faith in Christ, and an humble sense of sin; and when offered in the best manner, yet spiritual obedience, acts of mercy, and sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving, were more pleasing to him,

1Sa 15:15; wherefore the psalmist proposed to offer praise in Ps 51:15, and adds what follows.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

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 ages. In proclaiming that the sacrifices made expiation for sin, the Law had designed to withdraw them from all trust in their own works to the one satisfaction of Christ; but they presumed to bring their sacrifices to the altar as a price by which they hoped to procure their own redemption. In opposition to this proud and preposterous notion, David declares that God had no delight in sacrifices, (272) and that he had nothing to present which could purchase his favor. God had enjoined the observance of sacrifice, and David was far from neglecting it. He is not to be understood as asserting that the rite might warrantably be omitted, or that God would absolutely reject the sacrifices of his own institution, which, along with the other ceremonies of the Law, proved important helps, as we have already observed, both to David and the whole Church of God. He speaks of them as observed by the proud and the ignorant, under an impression of meriting the divine favor. Diligent as he was, therefore, in the practice of sacrifice, resting his whole dependence upon the satisfaction of Christ, who atoned for the sins of the world, he could yet honestly declare that he brought nothing to God in the shape of compensation, and that he trusted entirely to a gratuitous reconciliation. The Jews, when they presented their sacrifices, could not be said to bring anything of their own to the Lord, but must rather be viewed as borrowing from Christ the necessary purchase-money of redemption. They were passive, not active, in this divine service.

(272) There may be another reason why David here affirms that God would not accept of a sacrifice, nor be pleased with a burnt-offering. No particular sacrifices were appointed by the Law of Moses to expiate the guilt of murder and adultery. The person who had perpetrated these crimes was, according to the Divine law, to be punished with death. David therefore may be understood as declaring, that it was utterly vain for him to think of resorting to sacrifices and burnt-offerings with a view to the expiation of his guilt; that his criminality was of such a character, that the ceremonial law made no provision for his deliverance from the doom which his deeds of horror deserved; and that the only sacrifices which would avail were those mentioned in the succeeding verse, “The sacrifices of a broken heart.”

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

(16) Sacrifice.The rabbinical commentators on this verse represent the penitence of David as having taken the place of the sin-offering prescribed by the Law. In the mouth of an individual, language with such an intention would not have been possible. To the nation exiled and deprived of the legal rites, and by that very deprivation compelled to look beyond their outward form to their inner spirit, the words are most appropriate.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

16. Thou desirest not sacrifice The word , ( zebahh,) sacrifice, is the generic term for bloody offerings, but more especially for sin and trespass offerings. The law of Moses made no provision for the forgiveness or expiation of such sins as David had committed. See Num 15:30-31. He felt that he had passed the ordinary limits of expiable sins. Forms and types now availed nothing. But if the letter and the form were impotent, he would still appeal to the spirit of the sacrificial system. If the blood of a bullock or of a lamb could avail nothing now, and the death penalty still hung darkly over him, yet God would not overlook the true spirit of contrition, and a heart bleeding and broken by penitential sorrow. This is another instance of his profoundly evangelical views of the expiatory system of Moses, as pointing to an expiation and a pardoning power beyond the letter of the law. Afterwards he referred back to this crisis of his agony, where he felt the conscious insufficiency of the bloody sacrifices under the law, and it became the occasion of a glorious Messianic prophecy. See on Psa 40:6-8, and compare Heb 10:5-10, and the notes there.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Psa 51:16. For thou desirest not sacrifice, &c. Chandler renders this verse, For thou takest no pleasure in sacrifice, that I should give it; thou approvest not whole burnt-offerings. There were no sacrifices of atonement appointed by the law for murder and adultery; and therefore the Psalmist says, that God did not in his case desire them; and that if he was to offer them as a propitiation for his sins, they would not be accepted; the punishment annexed to these crimes being death.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

DISCOURSE: 593
A BROKEN HEART THE BEST SACRIFICE

Psa 51:16-17. Thon desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt-offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

WHEREWITHAL shall I come before the Lord? is the first inquiry that will be made by an awakened sinner. No sooner were the murderers of our Lord pricked to the heart with a conviction of their guilt, than they cried out, (the whole assembly of them together), Men and brethren, what shall we do? In answer to this, man proposes many costly offerings; and for the obtaining of peace would present unto God any thing that he should require [Note: Mic 6:6-7.]. Had God required sacrifices to be offered for Davids sins, he would gladly have offered them, however numerous or costly they had been: Thou desirest not sacrifice: else would I give it thee. But there is only one thing required, and that universally, of all people under heaven: and what that is, we are informed in the words before us: The sacrifices of God, &c.

Here are two points to be inquired into;

I.

What is that sacrifice which God approves

The term sacrifice is metaphorically applied to many things: to praise and thanksgivings [Note: Heb 13:15.]; to almsdeeds [Note: Heb 13:16.]; to a surrender of the soul to God [Note: Rom 12:1.]. But in our text it does not so much refer to any offerings whereby a pardoned sinner may honour God, as to that disposition of mind whereby an unpardoned sinner may facilitate his acceptance with God. As to any external services, David informs us that these would not answer the desired end: for though many offerings under the law were appointed and approved of God as typical of the great sacrifice, yet were they in themselves of no value [Note: Psa 50:8-14.], especially when compared with obedience [Note: 1Sa 15:22. Hos 6:6.]; and, when substituted for obedience, they were hateful and abominable in the sight of God [Note: Isa 1:11-15; Isa 66:3 and Amo 5:21-23.]. For such sins as Davids there was actually no sacrifice appointed: no penalty less than death could be awarded to the person that was found guilty either of adultery or murder [Note: Num 35:31 Deu 22:22.]. But there is a sacrifice which will forward the acceptance even of such an atrocious sinner as David: it is called in our text, A broken and contrite heart. To ascertain what is meant by this, let us consider,

1.

The term

[We all have some idea of what is meant by a broken heart, when applied to worldly sorrow. It signifies a person overwhelmed with sorrow to such a degree, that he is always bowed down under its weight, and incapable of receiving consolation from any thing but the actual removal of his burthens. Thus far it may serve to illustrate the meaning of our text, and to shew what is meant by a heart broken with a sense of sin But in other respects there is an exceeding great difference between the two: for a heart broken with worldly troubles, argues an ignorance of our own demerita want of resignation to Goda want of affiance in himand a low esteem of those benefits which sanctified affliction is calculated to produce In these respects therefore it forms a contrast, rather than a resemblance, to true contrition.

Let us then drop the term, and consider the thing.]

2.

The thing

[A broken and a, contrite heart consists in a deep sense of our guilt and miserya self-lothing and abhorrence on account of the peculiar aggravations of our sin, (as committed against a gracious God and a merciful Redeemer,)a readiness to justify God in his dealings with us, whatever they be, and such an insatiable desire after mercy, as swallows up every other sensation, whether of joy or sorrow
View all these things distinctly and separatelycompare them with the workings of Davids mind as set forth in this psalm [Note: ver. 3, 4, 79.] view them as illustrated by other portions of Holy Writ [Note: 2Ch 34:27. Job 40:4; Job 42:6. with Zec 12:10. Luk 15:18-19. 2Ch 33:12-13. or all together. 2Co 7:11. or as exemplified in other of Davids Psalms, Psa 38:4-10; Psa 40:12. Perhaps it will be best to confine the illustrations to Psalms 51, 38 for fear of swelling this part of the subject too much.] and the more they are considered, the more will they discover to us the precise nature of that sacrifice which is described in the text.]

Let us now proceed to inquire,

II.

Why God honours it with his peculiar favour

That God does signally honour it, is certain
[When it is said that a broken and contrite heart God will not despise, more is meant than is expressed: it means, that God will honour it with tokens of his peculiar approbation. Whoever he be that offers to him this sacrifice, God will notice him, even though there were only one in the universe, and he the meanest and vilest of mankind. Not all the angels in heaven should so occupy his attention as to prevent him from searching out that person, and keeping his eye continually fixed upon him for good [Note: Isa 66:2.] Moreover, God will comfort him; he will not merely view him from heaven, but will come down and dwell in his heart on purpose to comfort and revive him [Note: Isa 57:15.] Nor is this all; for God will surely and eternally save him [Note: Psa 34:18. Job 33:27-28.]: and the more abased the man is in his own eyes, the higher will God exalt him on a throne of glory [Note: Luk 18:14.] ]

And the reasons of his so honouring it are plain
[It is the work of his own Spirit on the soul of man. No created power can effect it: we may break and bruise the body, but we can never produce in any one a broken and contrite spirit. This is Gods prerogative [Note: Job 40:11. Eze 11:19.]; and whoever has obtained this blessing must say, He that hath wrought us for the self-same thing, is God [Note: 2Co 5:5.].Again, It is the precise disposition that becomes us. If the holy angels that never sinned veil their faces and their feet in the presence of their God, what prostration of mind must become such guilty creatures as we are! Surely we must put our hands on our mouth, and our mouth in the dust, crying, Unclean, unclean [Note: Lam 3:29. with Lev 13:45.]! yea rather, we should gird us with sackcloth, and wallow ourselves in ashes, and make mourning as for an only son, even most bitter lamentation, [Note: Jer 6:26. with Jam 4:9-10.].Further, It disposes us to acquiesce cordially in Gods appointed method of recovery. Till we are thoroughly broken-hearted with a sense of sin, we never estimate aright the unspeakable blessings of Redemption. We may profess a regard for the Gospel; but we do not really glory in the cross of Christ; Christ does not truly become all our salvation and all our desire. But to the truly contrite, O how precious is the name of Jesus, that adorable name, the foundation of all our hopes, the source of all our joys!Lastly, It invariably stimulates us to a cheerful unreserved obedience. No commandment is hard to a person, when once his heart is truly broken and contrite. Let us see that we were dead, and that Christ died for us; and a sense of his love will constrain us to live to him, and to glorify him with our body and our spirit, which are his.

Say now, whether here be not reason sufficient for the distinguished favours which God vouchsafes to the contrite soul? We know that there is nothing meritorious in contrition: but there is in it a suitableness for the reception of the divine mercies, and for the reflecting back upon God the honour which he confers upon it.]

This subject may well be improved,

1.

For the conviction of the impenitent

[Worldly sorrow has more or less been the portion of us all: but how few have sorrowed after a godly sort! The generality have never laid to heart their sins at all: and they who have felt some compunction, have for the most part been satisfied with a little transient sorrow, and something of an outward reformation of life. But let this be remembered, that when it is said, God will not despise the sacrifice of a broken and contrite heart, it is manifestly implied, that he will despise every thing short of that. Do not then deceive yourselves with an expectation that God will accept your feigned or partial humiliation: your penitence must be deep, and your change radical: your sorrow for sin must far exceed any worldly sorrow, and must bring you incessantly to the foot of the cross, as your only refuge and your only hope: nor will any repentance short of this be a repentance unto salvation, but only a repentance eternally to be repented of [Note: 2Co 7:10.].]

2.

For consolation to the penitent

[When once you become truly penitent, men will begin to despise you: they will look upon you as a poor weak enthusiast, and will cast out your name as evil But your comfort is, that God will not despise you. If the Psalmist had merely affirmed this, it would have been a rich ground of consolation: but he makes it a matter of appeal to God; A broken and contrite spirit, thou, O God, will not despise. What a glorious truth! When you are so vile and contemptible in your own eyes that you blush and are confounded before God, and dare not even lift up your eyes unto heaven, God looks upon you with pleasure and complacency, and acknowledges you as his dearly beloved child [Note: Jer 31:18-20.]. Do you want evidence of this? See for whom God sent his only-begotten Son into the world [Note: Isa 61:1-3,]; and read the account given of the very first sermon that Jesus ever preached [Note: Luk 4:17-21.]: and hear to whom in particular he addressed his invitations [Note: Mat 11:28.]: consider these, I say, and then reject the consolation if you can.]

3.

For instruction to the more advanced Christian

[Is a broken and contrite heart the sacrifice with which you must come to God? Know that it is that which you must continue also to offer him to the latest hour of your lives. You are not to lose the remembrance of your shame and sorrow, but to lothe yourselves after that God is pacified towards youa, ye [Note: Eze 16:63.], and because that God is pacified towards you. The more abundant is his mercy towards you, the more should you abhor yourself for having ever sinned against so gracious a God. You cannot but have seen in others, and probably felt within yourselves a disposition to depart from this ground, and to indulge a spirit of self-sufficiency and pride. I entreat you to examine yourselves with respect to it It is a common evil, and is very apt to lurk in us unperceived. But if we see it not ourselves, we shall without fail discover it to others; or, if they should not discover it, God will behold it, and that too with utter abhorrence [Note: Pro 16:5 and 1Pe 5:5.]. Watch over yourselves therefore, and pray that you may grow continually in lowliness of mind, in tenderness of conscience, in meekness of temper, and in purity of heart. The more you resemble little children, the higher will you be in the kingdom of God [Note: Mat 18:4.].]

Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)

Oh! how much gospel is here: surely David had seen and felt the efficacy of Christ’s blood, or he never could have learned to think so lightly of the sacrifices under the law.

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Psa 51:16 For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give [it]: thou delightest not in burnt offering.

Ver. 16. For thou desirest not sacrifice ] This is the reason why David restipulateth praise, if God will pardon his great sin, Psa 51:15 , viz. because he well understood that God preferred praise before all sacrifices whatsoever, provided that it came from a broken spirit, Psa 51:17 , rightly humbled for sin, and thankfully accepting of pardon. See Psa 50:14-15 ; Psa 50:23 .

Thou delightest not in burnt offering ] viz. Comparatively, and indeed not at all without a contrite heart.

Una Dei est, purum, gratissima victima, pectus (Nazianzen).

Much less, then, doth God respect the sacrifice of the mass, that hath no footing or warrant in the word. A certain Sorbonist finding it written at the end of St Paul’s Epistles Missa est, &c., bragged he had found the mass in his Bible. And another reading Joh 1:44 , Invenimus Messiam, made the same conclusion (Beehive, cap. 3). Some of them, as Bellarmine for one, would fain ground it upon Mal 1:11 . Others fetch the name Missa from the Hebrew mass for tribute (Buxtorf); which comes from Masas, to melt (because it many times melteth away men’s estates), Recte quidem, saith Rivet; per missam scilicet pietas omnis liquefacta est et dissoluta.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)