Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 51:12
Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me [with thy] free spirit.
12. Restore &c.] For sin has destroyed that assurance of God’s help which is ever a ground of rejoicing (Psa 9:14; Psa 13:5; Psa 20:5; Psa 35:9). He prays for that deliverance which he is confident ( Psa 51:8) that God can and will grant him.
with thy free spirit ] Rather, with a free, or, willing spirit. Cp. Exo 35:5; Exo 35:22; and the cognate word in Psa 54:6, ‘a freewill offering.’ He desires to be upheld from falling by such a divine inspiration as will move him spontaneously to think and do such things as are right. His first impulse will be to shew forth his thankfulness in acts ( Psa 51:13).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation – literally, Cause the joy of thy salvation to return. This implies that he had formerly known what was the happiness of being a friend of God, and of having a hope of salvation. That joy had been taken from him by his sin. He had lost his peace of mind. His soul was sad and cheerless. Sin always produces this effect. The only way to enjoy religion is to do that which is right; the only way to secure the favor of God is to obey his commands; the only way in which we can have comforting evidence that we are his children is by doing that which shall be pleasing to him: 1Jo 2:29; 1Jo 3:7, 1Jo 3:10. The path of sin is a dark path, and in that path neither hope nor comfort can be found.
And uphold me with thy free spirit – That is, Sustain me; keep me from falling. The words with thy are not in the original, and there is nothing there to indicate that by the word spirit the psalmist refers to the Spirit of God, though it should be observed that there is nothing against such a supposition. The word rendered free – nadyb – means properly willing, voluntary, ready, prompt; 1Ch 28:21; Exo 35:5. Then the word means liberal, generous, noble-minded; Isa 32:5, Isa 32:8; Pro 17:7, Pro 17:26. It would seem here to mean a willing spirit, referring to Davids own mind or spirit; and the prayer is, that God would uphold or sustain him in a willing spirit or state of mind; that is, a state of mind in which he would he willing and ready to obey all the commands of God, and to serve him faithfully. What he prayed for was grace and strength that he might be kept in a state of mind which would be constant and firm Psa 51:10, and a state in which he would always be found willing and ready to keep the commandments of God. It is a proper object of prayer by all that they may be always kept in a state of mind in which they will be willing to do all that God requires of them, and to bear all that may be laid on them.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 51:12
Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation.
The fallen Christian praying for spiritual joy
He asks that God would clear away his sorrows as well as his sins, make once again a happy man of him; so that he may not only rise up from the ground on which he has fallen and go on his heavenly way, but, like the Ethiopian convert in the desert, go on his way rejoicing. Make me to hear joy and gladness, he says in Psa 51:8, and here he prays, Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation. Pardon, we should have said to David at this time, is all that you must now dare to ask, pardon and renewed sanctification. No, says David, there is healing in my God for sinners such as I am, as well as pardon; there is comfort in Him for even men like me. I see them in Him, and I will ask them of Him. Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation.
I. The joy of Gods salvation. I do not care how I am made happy, a man of the world would say, so that I am happy. He has no definite idea of happiness. Who will show me any good? is his language; any good–he cares not what, But I can be made happy only in one way, the really Christian man says; I must be happy in my God, and I can be happy in him only as God my Saviour, the God of my salvation. And if anything can make a sinful creature happy, it is this joy of which we speak. It is the joy unspeakable and full of glory, the only joy that can be truly called Christian joy, or that can meet the desires of the regenerated soul.
II. The possession or experience of this joy. Though now without it, David once partook of it. Do all the people of God, then, you may ask, experience this joy? You might as well inquire whether all who dwell on the face of the earth behold the suns light. That sun always exists and is always pouring forth its beams, but men may be shut up within walls, or be turned on the revolving earth away from the sun, or have their organs of vision impaired or closed, and thus have the sun as to them shining in vain. So with the salvation or gospel of God–joy and gladness it is ever capable of giving, and is ever actually giving to multitudes of happy souls who understand and believe it, but not at all times to all who understand and believe it, for the spiritual perceptions of some of them are weak. But let this pass. The point I am now aiming to establish is this–that as there is a spiritual sorrow in the Christians inward experience, begotten in him by the Gospel of God, so there is commonly a joy in his experience, begotten in him also by the salvation of God.
III. The loss of this joy. This is a mournful loss. There are varied causes for the instability and changeableness of our minds, but the grand destroyer of our spiritual happiness, the one great extinguisher and demolisher of our joy, is sin–sin indulged; not sin struggled with and kept at bay, but sin yielded to, mentally if not practically committed; sin let into our imaginations and hearts, if not into our houses and lives, and fostered and cherished and fed on there. In Davids case it was heinous, enormous, complicated sin which laid his joy low; but common, decent sins will do the work as effectually though not as suddenly.
IV. The restoration of spiritual joy, its recovery when lost. This the text describes as both desirable and attainable.
1. Desirable it was to Davids soul, or he would not have repeatedly and so earnestly prayed for it. And of this we may be sure, that a man who has once tasted of this joy, who has really felt within his own soul its power and sweetness, will never be content to live long without it.
2. But is this desirable thing attainable? We may safely infer from this text that it is. David is not praying here for an impossibility. He is evidently praying under the Spirits teaching. Such a recovery, however, is not in any case, to say nothing of a case like Davids, that easy thing which some of us think it. We imagine that when our souls, through some long-continued worldly-mindedness or some sinful indulgence, are comfortless, it is only to hear some cheering sermon, or turn again to God a little more earnestly than usual, and our former peace will revive; but not so. It is not easy to get indulged worldly-mindedness or indulged sin of any kind subdued in the soul and cast out of it; it is still less easy to get rid of the withering and depressing effects of worldliness and sin. The Lord does not hastily heal the wounds that sin makes in the souls of His people, for He wishes them for their good to feel the smart of those wounds; but He has in His covenant health and a cure for them. But the Lord works by means. There is no restoration of joy through those things which the Lord has ordained shall precede joy and, by His Spirit, produce it. And these things are deep humiliation and sorrow on account of sin, and a turning again to God through Christ precisely as we came to Him years ago, to he washed, cleansed, comforted, saved entirely by Him, by His Spirit, righteousness and blood. I know of no other way to the recovery of spiritual peace than this, nor do you. If sin has overtaken and ensnared you, and is at this moment holding you captive, robbing you of every spiritual consolation you once enjoyed, and filling your souls with gloom and wretchedness, be thankful for that gloom and wretchedness while it lasts. God works it in you or causes sin to work it in you, to lead you to a real repentance and so to a real salvation. (C. Bradley, M. A.)
Difficulty of recovering joy after sin
Those which have ventured upon presumptuous courses, as they do not easily procure sin to be pardoned and forgiven unto them, nor they do not easily procure sin to be mortified and subdued in them, so they do not easily neither recover their former joy. Nay, this latter is more difficult than all the rest; sin may sometimes be pardoned, and also in some manner subdued, when yet the joy which has been driven away by it is not so easily restored again, at least to that degree and measure which it was in before sin was committed and ventured upon by them. These sins of David cost him very dear. But yet we still add that there is a possibility of restoring it, at least in some competent measure, that Satan may not herein prevail against Gods servants by temptations to despair from trusting in God. Well, but how may it be so? and what is the readiest way hereunto? First, this course which David here takes by solemn and serious humiliation of the soul before God; thats the way to get into favour again. Godly sorrow is the only way to spiritual joy. When we bewail our sins before God, and acknowledge both the foulness of our iniquities and the justice and equity of our corrections, this procures both pardon and assurance. Secondly, lying at Gods foot, and acknowledging His free grace in Christ; as Christ must procure us our pardon, so also our joy. God is always well pleased with Him, and so consequently with all His members in Him and for Him; the more, then, we cleave to Christ, and hang upon Gods goodness in Him, the better it will be for us; urge God that it was His free grace that gave thee joy at first, and let the same free grace move him still. Thirdly, do thy first works; spiritual joy is recovered in the contrary way to that in which it is lost. Therefore, consider what it is whereby thou provokest God to remove it, and by the doing of that which is most opposite to it, thou mayest persuade Him again to restore it, by crucifying those lusts more especially Which before thou hadst prevailing in thee, and by performing of those duties more vigorously which before were omitted by thee. Fourthly, attend upon the ordinances, the word and sacraments, and the communion of saints; these are means to recover our joy. (Thomas Horton, D. D.)
The joy of salvation. –
I. The joy of salvation.
1. Joy in the retrospect of the past, for salvation is a past blessing. It is something that has taken place already.
2. The joy of present possession, for salvation is a present blessing–the deliverance from pollution a present continuous thing. Perfection is not reached at one stride.
3. The joy of future prospect–for salvation is a future blessing, a something we expect, long for. Views from the sunny heights of Pisgah.
II. The joy of salvation lost.
1. Through the practice of sin. David, Peter. Many have grievously fallen. Their history are beacon lights to warn us.
2. Through presumption and carelessness. How we watch our outward actions which men see, and neglect to watch our inmost desires which God sees.
3. Through indolence. The laziest man is the most miserable and the most easily tempted. Work is healthy. The most faithful Christians are the most joyful. Work imparts joy, and joy gives strength for work. The joy of the Lord is your strength.
III. The joy of salvation restored. This implies–
1. Entire dependence upon God. He alone can rekindle the flame.
2. Deep and sincere penitence. Our sins the clouds between us and God
3. Belief in the power of prayer. God will hear. In heaven the joy will be uninterrupted and eternal. (E. Owen, M. A.)
Joy in Gods salvation
I. There is a joy in Gods salvation. Salvation itself, so far as it consists in a state of safety and acceptance, is equal in all believers; the joyful persuasion of it is not equal in all, being dealt out in various degrees by the free Spirit of God, and, on some occasions, even entirely taken away for a time. It is specially His work, who applies unto men this salvation, to produce in them also an assurance of it; and this He does by taking of the things of Christ, and showing them unto them so vividly, that they can see in His work a sufficient satisfaction to the Fathers justice for their sins, and can exercise on it consequently such a degree of reliance as brings their souls repose and peace; by shedding abroad the love of God in their hearts, the sure pledge of reconciliation; and by leading them to delight in His service and fellowship.
II. This joy may be lost.
1. It is not every degree of sin remaining in a believer that will have this effect. The joy of Gods salvation is compatible, in some good measure, with those remaining sins which still cleave to the flesh, though these do unquestionably impair it, and that they who walk, on the whole, humbly with God, and in reliance on His grace, ought not to shut themselves out from the comfort of the Gospel; for it is just to such humbled, convinced, believing souls who mourn for sin, and conflict with it, that all the promises of pardon, perseverance and eternal life are made.
2. We may lose the joy of Gods salvation without sinning so deeply as David did. It would be extremely dangerous in one to calculate how far he may go in sin without forfeiting his peace. The truth is, he cannot go far. The peace of the Gospel is easily lost, but not easily regained; and even when not entirely lost, it may be more or less diminished, and, in fact, will ever be in proportion to ones spirituality of mind. It may be diminishing even when the person is not aware of it. For the most part, the first deviations from holiness may be so gradual as to be scarcely perceptible, and the peace of mind, consequently, little disturbed; yet these inroads on his spirituality and comfort may, and will proceed, unless checked by Divine grace, till they utterly strip him of both.
III. The joy of Gods salvation may be restored. God has an end in view in removing it. It is to punish His people, and when they are punished in such measure as is necessary for bringing them to a just sense and acknowledgment of their sin, it will be restored. He, therefore, in furtherance of His gracious designs toward His people, by a new communication of reviving grace, brings them to a sense of their sin–for sin deadens the soul, so that the first motions of repentance must be from God. Their affections, after this temporary estrangement, return with greater force to Him, whose lovingkindness they have, in their bitter experience, found to be better than life; and He, who knows the heart, and who has Himself wrought all this in them, satisfied with the depth of their repentance, forgets and forgives their ingratitude, and restores unto them the joy of His salvation. With a compassion truly astonishing and generous, He observes, He cherishes the first motion of the heart towards Himself. He sees His once prodigal but now returning child a great way off, and has compassion, and runs and embraces him. (A. L. R. Foote, D. D.)
The joy of salvation
I. Davids prayer. It implies–
1. That David had lost the joy of salvation–no uncommon experience. May be caused by–
(1) Open sin.
(2) Worldliness.
(3) Neglect of duty.
2. The desire to have the joy of salvation restored.
3. The desire to maintain a Worthy character. David prayed that he might be kept in a state of mind in which he would willingly, spontaneously, promptly obey God.
II. Davids promise.
1. To teach others. Saved sinners are best fitted to tell of the Saviour of sinners.
2. He promises to teach even the worst men–transgressors, those who are rebels against God and apostates from truth. The worst men need the best teachers, the worst diseases the most experienced physicians.
3. David promises to teach the worst people the best truths–Thy ways. This is a marvellous subject, it includes all history and experience. It includes all time and space, all science and art, all truth wherever found. Wonderful theme! It may well fill the mouth of preachers the world over. It will be our song and glory in eternity. When thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. Tell of the ways of God.
III. Davids persuasion.
1. He was persuaded that his teaching would reach sinners. They would see the evil of transgression; they would be convinced that mercy could be found. The Gospel is mighty; an uplifted Christ is the mightiest magnet the world has ever known. Believe this truth; preach it.
2. He was persuaded that they would be moved to action. This is not a passive verb, shall be converted. It is an active verb. They shall turn or return. This is its meaning. This is the end to be sought. Men have wandered from God; they must return,
3. David was persuaded that their return would be complete. They would return unto Thee. Not converted to certain church rites, but to Jesus Christ. Christ first; other things will follow. (R. S. MacArthur, D. D.)
Salvation
I. The theme–salvation. Deliverance, restoration, preservation.
II. A salvation imparting joy.
III. A sad experience. He had lost this salvation; and felt like Tamar–And I, whither shall I hide my shame? It was a manifold loss–the salvation of his God and the serenity of his soul, the fealty of his heart and the favour of his God–contamination entered, communion fled, sin tasted, joy gone. It was the result of his settled, yet stupid, choice; the perfect liberty he coveted he finds galling vassalage.
IV. The way to regain it.
V. The way to retain it. Cry to God for strength. Uphold me with Thy free Spirit. The Spirit must not only attest our acceptance, but keep us by guiding our feet into the way of peace, by a complete transformation of the faculties of the soul, so that they can only delight in spiritual objects; by giving it such refined tastes that all sinful food will nauseate.
VI. The way to rejoice in it. Then Will I trust, etc. The best way to strengthen our graces is to exercise and utilize them. VII. The time. Then, and not till then. Conversion is one of those things we must experience before we are qualified to speak about it. VIII. The effect. Sinners shall be converted unto Thee. Herein is My Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit. (W. Hassall.)
The Christians joys restored
I. Salvation has joys–the Christian s duty and privilege to possess them.
1. In so changing our relations as to put us in harmony with God.
(1) Once rebels, now obedient subjects.
(2) Once lost and condemned, now saved and pardoned.
(3) Once strangers, now children.
2. In enlarging our field of usefulness. No man is prepared to live till he is born again.
II. These joys may be lost. This accords with the sad experience of Gods most faithful servants.
1. One cause of the joyless life of many professed Christians is the want of salvation. How can they expect an effect without a cause?
2. Another source is the neglect of known duties.
(1) Prayer.
(2) Reading the Bible.
(3) Assembling themselves together.
3. Retaining sin in the heart.
4. Being wise above what is revealed.
5. Giving more time and care to our secular interests than to the service of God and the cultivation of the heart.
III. These lost joys may be restored. How indulgent, patient and kind is the backsliders God!
1. They will be restored.
(1) Entirely.
(2) Willingly.
(3) Immediately.
2. The Christians happiness and usefulness are complete when he is in the full enjoyment of salvation. (E. A. Taylor.)
A restoration to joy desired
I. In the child of God there are all the seeds of departure from God. When he rises in the morning there is need to have this perpetually brought before him–This day, as yesterday, I possess the seeds of all departure from God; so that I have need to be held up; I have need to be kept in; I have need to be kept from presumptuous sins. What departure there may be in a look; in a word; in a tone of voice; in a thought–actual departure from God! Oh! I believe there are periods in which the Lord takes off His check, and reproves sin by sin. And then what is the effect? Why, the outside goes on, but what becomes of internal religion? There are the prayers, but where is the secret dealing with God? There is no absolute neglect of outward duties, but how little of God is there in all!
II. Wherever there is departure from God, in direct proportion as it prevails, there is a tendency to lessen the believers joy. The Word is not what it once was to you; sermons are not what they once were to you; intercourse with the people of God is not what it once was to you. You have secret prayer, but it is not what it once was to you. There is a want of sweetness, there is a want of substance, there is a want of fruitfulness, there is a want of realization in your religion. Look well to it, for there must be a cause–some sin, some neglected duty, some worldly conformity.
III. Power to restore is here attributed to God himself. (J. H. Evans, M. A.)
Restoration to spiritual joy
I. That which is lost–spiritual joy. It can be lost–
1. By lack of cultivation. You may sow a seed or plant a tree, but unless these are watered and cultivated they will die. Christian joy must be cultivated by prayer, praise, and growth in grace.
2. By indulgence in sin. He will withdraw from the sinner, and then the sunshine ceases.
3. By want of faith. We often blame circumstances, etc., as we fall into the slough, when it is our own doubts that are shutting out the light. No one can rejoice who does not trust. Confidence is the root of peace and doubt the handmaid of torment.
II. That which is sought–a restoration of that which has been lost. Not anything new. And this desire is natural. For–
1. The soul has experienced its preciousness.
2. The soul recognized that its loss involves the displeasure of God. Hence the petition so earnestly urged. It is the Divine anger that takes away the joy. This is a greater sorrow to the Christian than his own loss. No wonder that he seeks for restoration. (Homilist.)
Joy in salvation
I. Salvation, and the joy of salvation, are separable things.
II. Salvation has a joy with which it may, and should, be connected.
1. Joy is the natural fruit of salvation possessed and experienced.
2. All the proper exercises of religion are in themselves joyous–love, faith, hope.
3. The command of God is, Rejoice evermore.
4. The fruit of the Spirit is–joy.
5. The language of the Psalms is, to a great extent, the language of joy.
III. The joy of salvation, after being obtained, is often lost.
1. This was exemplified in the case of David–strikingly in that of Job.
2. Joy depends on a conscience void of offence.
3. Joy depends on having a heart right with God.
4. Joy depends on seeing the evidences of our discipleship to Christ.
5. Joy depends on the measure of our faith.
6. Joy depends on realizing the presence, and seeing the excellency of God.
7. Joy depends on God, in His sovereignty.
IV. Spiritual joy is something to re greatly desired.
1. David felt it to be so–he longed for it.
2. Each believer feels it to be so–if he cannot; rejoice in God, he can rejoice in nothing.
3. It is a foretaste of heaven (1Pe 1:8).
4. It is the spirit of praise (Isa 35:10).
5. It is a support under affliction (Hab 3:17-18).
6. It fits for duty. Then will I teach, etc. He who has not a sense of Gods favour and presence is a coward.
7. It is obedience to Gods requirements.
V. Joy is to be sought only as the fruit of salvation.
1. David sought only for this kind of joy–he had earthly pleasures in abundance.
2. The joys of salvation are the purest, and greatest, and most enduring.
3. Without these, the others are not accessible to the believer.
4. The great effort of man is to be happy independently of these joys.
(1) He fails in time.
(2) In eternity.
(3) God the source of joy, and of pain.
5. You can reach these joys only through salvation.
VI. A restoration to spiritual joy is to be sought for in prayer.
1. God is its source.
2. God is its Author. Thy salvation.
3. By prayer for it–
(1) His sovereignty must be acknowledged.
(2) His commands must be obeyed.
(3) The law by which He dispenses His blessings must be conformed to–Ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full. (J. Stewart.)
The joy of salvation
I. Describe it. I find that the gladdest moments of my life were not to be mentioned in the same breath with the bliss of believing in Jesus Christ. Yet are they the best comparisons that I can offer you of the greater joy which I trust we have all experienced.
1. I compare it first to the finding of a long-lost treasure. Something like that, though infinitely beyond it, was the joy of finding Gods salvation. Some of us searched long for it.
2. I compare this joy of salvation, next, to escape from a terrible predicament, and to deliverance from a threatened danger. Such, but infinitely more delightful, is the joy of Gods salvation, when the storm of a troubled conscience is hushed to rest, when the thunders and lightnings of an outraged law cease to alarm.
3. I wonder if it has ever been your lot to know the joy that comes of the removal of the displeasure of some friend who has been grieved; in a word, the joy of reconciliation. When mistakes have been explained, or faults forgiven, the joy of the handclasp, as in the days of yore, and the heart warming as in the times that are gone–such is the joy of Gods reconciled countenance, and of His smile and favour.
4. Entrance into a new and blissful state is an emblem, too, of the joy of Gods salvation. You have been sick, sick almost unto death, and God has raised you up again. Can you forget how the pulse beat in your veins as it revealed to you the fact that you had turned the corner and were going to pull through? But oh, when you felt that the sickness of sin was at an end, when you knew that the healing touch had been given, when you felt the virtue come out of Jesus into you, what joy it was!
5. Further, there is the joy of finding a faithful friend. When loneliness is at an end, when love finds its affinity, when the hopes, perhaps of many years, are at last fulfilled, and the joy-bells ring, maybe in the marriage peal, what delight is in the heart. Such was your joy when you discovered that Jesus was your Fellow-friend, your Brother, your Lover, your Husband.
6. It is also like the joy of coming home after long absence.
II. This joy can be lost.
1. Sin grieves God, and causes Him to hide His face; it produces an eclipse of the sun.
2. Sin may well cause us to question our standing in Christ Jesus.
3. Sin blinds our eyes to the promises and to the power of God. He may well be miserable who has found out His sinfulness, for he has sinned against light and knowledge, against grace and love.
4. Moreover, it makes the conscience smart and throb. The unhappiest man beneath Gods sun is surely he who, having known the joy of salvation, is now a backslider, with hardened heart and tearless eye. How can he rejoice as once he did?
III. It may be recovered. Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation.
1. God only can restore it. It came from Him at first, and He must revive and quicken it; it will be through His mercy and His mercy only. Thus the psalmist pleads in forma-pauperis, praying only for Gods lovingkindness and tender mercy.
2. There can be no restoration of the joy of Gods salvation apart from cleansing. Think not to regain thy gladness till thou hast made a full confession, and more than that, till thou hast heard that heavenly whisper saying, Thy sins which are many, are all forgiven.
IV. This joy of salvation may be retained. Uphold me with Thy free Spirit. You will retain the joy if the Holy Spirit maintains His hold of you, and if you retain your hold of Him. You will not cease to be happy unless you cease to be healthy, but so long as this prayer is in your lips you will not fail to be healthy. Forget not that upholding work is the work of the Holy Ghost. The best of us, the strongest, the most experienced, will fall unless the Spirit holds us up. Uphold me with Thy free Spirit. I like that name for the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of liberty and truth, the Spirit which, like the wind, blows where it lists, and does its work mysteriously and mightily. The R.V. renders this, Uphold me with a free spirit; evidently under the impression that the reference is to the spirit or disposition which the upholding God produces in the heart of the man who is thus restored. He becomes possessed of a free spirit. Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty, and the man who has fallen and has been thus restored, and is thus upheld, serves God with a willing mind. He has been in a hard school, but he has learned the lesson well, and now all he does is done from very love of Him who not only saved him as a sinner, but restored him as a backslider. (T. Spurgeon.)
The joy of salvation
The sentiment to which the psalmist was led to give utterance is weighty, and deserves to be pondered. A clean conscience and a lively enjoyment of religion are necessary to extensive usefulness and influence in the cause of God, and in winning souls to Him. This will appear from three reasons, embracing the elements on which a successful result depends–Experience, confidence and joy.
I. Only an experimental acquaintance with religion can qualify any one to speak of it to edification.
1. A blind man has been known to lecture on colours; but a blind man could not teach the art of painting. In like manner, religion is not a mere theory, but a practice also. Its vitality and excellence consist in action. It is a life and a power. Hence the apostle speaks of the power of godliness, and distinguishes between the power and the form. Without the former, the latter is but an empty shell. It is no better than sounding brass or tinkling cymbal.
2. People have a wonderful instinct and sagacity in determining who is likely to benefit them. As the Babylonians brought their sick to the market-place, and asked such of the passers-by as had had the same disease to tell the remedy that cured them, so the conscience-stricken will turn away from the learned and profound preacher, who is deficient in a wide experience, to hang with breathless eagerness upon the lips of him who can say, Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what He hath done for my soul. Men want those that have suffered and sorrowed like themselves to show the way of relief for their burdened hearts.
II. Without confidence we cannot undertake to guide others. A guide must have the confidence of those who follow him; and, in order to command it, he must have confidence in himself. But how can a man have satisfaction in his own mind, and confidence in his own judgment, when he is disturbed by doubts and fears? Fear is the natural concomitant of a guilty conscience. Wretched, most wretched is the condition of the sinner labouring under poignant convictions. If his guilt has been detected and exposed to the world, the consciousness of that exposure, and the dread of scorns slow-moving finger, weigh him down. And oven if he feels secure against detection, he knows that God is privy to it, and has set all his sins before him, his secret sins in the light of His countenance. How cutting his self-upbraidings! how prompt his remorse! how bitter his loathing of himself! No position seems too humble for him to take, no penance too heavy to undergo. Can such a one, destitute of all satisfaction in his own soul; an utter stranger to the peace of God which passeth understanding; devoid of confidence in God, in himself, in the truth and efficacy of religion; can such a one invite sinners to Zion, or teach transgressors the ways of God? He may be a beacon to warn, but never a clarion to rouse to victory.
III. In order to win souls to god, it is desirable that we have a lively enjoyment of religion. Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation; and uphold me with Thy free Spirit! Then, adds the psalmist, then will I teach transgressors Thy ways, and, through my zeal and fidelity, sinners shall he converted unto Thee. The connection between these two things, the condition and the result, could not be more plainly pointed out. Enthusiasm begets enthusiasm. He who would make others feel, must feel himself. He who would unlock the fount of tears, must be the first to weep. He that would enkindle and carry away his auditors, must have his own soul on fire.
IV. Practical reflections.
1. How desirable and precious the joy of salvation! Thrice happy the soul which holds communion with Jesus, which has the freedom of the city of God, and feeds on the heavenly manna!
2. If we find torpor and inactivity benumbing us in the service of God, it is not difficult to conjecture the cause. Sin lieth at the door.
3. The way of return is equally obvious. Retrace your steps. Begin at the beginning. Relay the foundation.
4. We may infer that ordinarily a deep experience is necessary to great usefulness. Paul was such an instance. He was arrested in the midst of his persecution and rancour, and obtained mercy, that in him first Jesus Christ might show forth all long-suffering, etc.
5. We see the secret under God of revivals of religion. When religion is in a lively state in the heart, it is easy to talk about it. The heart is engaged. (R. Davidson.)
The restoration of the fallen –
I. Davids restoration begins in the recollection of a by-gone blessedness. There is a looking back to something lost and departed. He sorrows over a vanished happiness.
II. The restoration David desires is wholly religious and spiritual. His prayer is free from any admixture of selfish and worldly feeling. David does not cry, as Saul cried to Samuel, Honour me now, I pray thee, before the people, but, Restore to me the joy of Thy salvation. David, after his great sin, sin that had done its worst, asks for joy. Was this possible? Persons convicted of some great wrong, that brought shame and misery on others as well as on themselves, have been heard to say, humbly and penitently, I believe God has forgiven me. I am not afraid of the future, but I can never be happy again. A true penitent never forgives himself. It seems reasonable that David, after such crimes, should have rejected the idea of joy. Yet God gave him joy; the joy of not having become wholly vile and reprobate, the joy of not having been cut off with his guilt red upon him, the joy of Gods forgiveness and salvation. Our refusal to admit the possibility of joy after our great sin and fall is a sort of solace to our wounded pride, a selfinflicted penance, a reparation, we think, for the wrong.
III. The restoration David seeks is to be a permanent one; permanent through the abiding power of the Spirit of God. Men sometimes speak as though sin were to be the remedy for sin. Satan is to cast out Satan. They have fallen once, but are never to fall again. Past sin is to prevent sin in the future. It shall never occur again. Its a lesson to me for life. The serpents fangs once deeply felt will, it is thought, scare the man away in future. David, so far from feeling that his sin would work its own cure, is more fearful of himself and of future falls, and cries, Uphold me, etc. The power David implores is inward power. He asks for a Spirit, deep as his own spirit, that shall act with healing, strengthening power at the core and centre of his life. Thy free Spirit. He must know the joy of Gods salvation; he must be able freely to renounce the evil, and to choose the good. Thy free Spirit, who shall burst all the shackles of the soul, so that the man may walk at liberty and have respect unto all Thy commandments. (A. Warrack, M. A.)
Davids repentance and restoration
In these words we have–
I. An act: Restore.
II. An agent–God: Restore Thou.
III. The person suing–David: Unto me.
IV. The blessing sued for–the joy of Gods salvation: Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation. Come, Christian; look upon the tree. In the winter it is stripped of its fruit and leaves, nipped by the frost, covered with snow, so that it seems to be withered and dead, and fit only to be cast into the fire. Say, then; may not faith be where sin and the filth of the flesh hath oppressed it? (A. Farinden, B. D.)
The joy of salvation
It is connected inseparably with obedience, constant and prompt. David had failed, oh, how terribly I and so he had lost this joy. Let us think a while–
I. Of the joy of salvation. It consists–
1. Of the joy of pardon. How blessed this, to know and feel that my sins are all forgiven.
2. The joy of rescue–from the power of one great enemy, and that when he seemed to have final possession of us.
3. The joy of power–to overcome the wicked one and temptation and sin. How glorious this. Would that it were more common. It is to have the world beneath your feet.
II. The loss of this treasure. Some cannot lose it because they have never possessed it. But others can, and do, by backsliding, by the power of sudden temptation, as Peter. And especially by the power of besetring sin, as Demas. And by indolence. Men are not diligent in religious duties as they should be. See Samson. What a fall was his.
III. Its restoration. The soul that has once known this joy can never be happy without it. No earthly prosperity can compensate for it. But the souls anguish at its loss is Gods call to it to return. And let none despair. This restoration is in Christs hands. (Luke Wiseman.)
The joys of salvation
I. The joy of a sufficient and final answer to the self-upbraiding of a guilty soul. I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord, etc. (Rom 7:25; Rom 8:1-4; Rom 8:33-39). The burden falls off; the darkness is chased by dawn.
II. The joy of a portion which satisfies the hearts largest conceptions and desires.
III. The joy of an answer to all the difficulties and perplexities which beset the spirit and the intellect in their progress. I know whom I have believed.
IV. The joy of having the key to all the mysterious ways of providence in the world.
V. The joy of victory over death.
VI. The joy of living union with God, with Christ, with all living and blessed beings, eternally. (J. B. Brown, B. A.)
Pleasure in sin taketh away our joy in God
Nothing spoileth us of this joy and pleasure that we have in God, but only sin. For once delighting in sin, we can have no pleasure in Gods service; for these two can never stand together. Therefore we must loathe sin, that we may rejoice in God. (A. Symson.)
Christians have joy and sorrow intermingled
The estate of a Christian is not always one; joy and sorrow are intermingled; he hath a summer of joys and a winter of griefs. St. Paul had the messenger of Satan to buffet him, that he should not be exalted above measure with his great revelations. After a Christian hath mourned, he will rejoice. (A. Symson.)
How the joy of Gods salvation is lost
The moon one day said to the sun, Oh, Sun, why hast thou ceased to shine on me? I used to speed along in thy light; why now this darkness? And the sun answered, Oh, Moon, I have never ceased to shine; I am pouring out my light as full as ever. The moon thought for a moment, and answered, Then, depend upon it, the earth has come between us. Yes, she was suffering from an eclipse. This is equally true of our life. If we allow the world or sinful indulgence to come between the soul and the Sun of Righteousness, we plunge ourselves into deep darkness and lose all our spiritual comforts.
The joy of restoration
I have never told in public, scarce ever in private, of a great sorrow that afflicted me once when I was first in Australia. Whether it was the tongue of slander in the old land, or some misinformation or mistake, I do not know, but there came to my dear fathers ears a story which did not reflect credit upon his absent son. It came in such a form that he was almost bound to believe it. I remember the grief that tore my heart when I received a letter from him kindly chiding me for this supposed wrong-doing. I knew before God that I was innocent; but, despite that conviction, there was some pain, of course, and there had to be a delay of many months ere my contradiction of the damaging tale could reach him. I left the matter with God, and He espoused my cause. In a few days time I received a cablegram–and telegraphing was expensive in those days–which read thus: Disregard my letter; was misinformed. I cannot tell you the thrill of joy that filled my heart to feel that I was restored to my fathers approbation and confidence; I will not say to his love for I had surely never fallen from that. It was many months ere I could come into possession of particulars, but to know that he had found out his mistake, and that confidence was restored–why, it was almost worth while having been in the sorrow to experience the delicious thrill. (Thomas Spurgeon.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 12. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation] This is an awful prayer. And why? Because it shows he once HAD the joy of God’s salvation; and had LOST it by sin!
Uphold me with thy free spirit.] Prop me up; support me with a princely spirit, one that will not stoop to a mean or base act. See on Ps 51:10.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The joy of thy salvation; the comfortable sense of thy saving grace and help, promised and vouchsafed to me, both for my present and everlasting salvation. Uphold me; a weak and frail creature, never able to stand against corruption and temptation without thy powerful and gracious succours.
Free; or, ingenuous, or liberal, or princely; which he seems to oppose to his own base, and illiberal; and disingenuous, and servile spirit, which he had discovered in his wicked and unworthy practices; and desires a better spirit of God, which may free him from the bondage of sin, and enable and incline him freely, and cheerfully, and constantly to run the way of Gods precepts. See Exo 35:21; Psa 110:3; Rom 8:15,16; 2Co 3:17.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
12. free spirit“thy”ought not to be supplied, for the word “free” is,literally, “willing,” and “spirit” is that ofDavid. “Let a willing spirit uphold me,” that is, with asoul willingly conformed to God’s law, he would be preserved in aright course of conduct.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation,…. Not temporal, but spiritual and eternal; and designs either Christ himself, who is God’s salvation, of his appointing and providing, in the view of whom, as such, David had much spiritual joy; or the salvation he was to work out, which God the Father had contrived the scheme of in him, had covenanted with him to do, and had appointed his people to: salvation itself is a sure thing, and can never fail, being founded upon the purpose and counsel of God, which shall ever stand; and is secured in the covenant of grace, which can never be removed; and is now completely wrought out by Christ, and is applied by his Spirit to the heirs of it, who shall certainly and fully enjoy it; otherwise the glory of all the three Persons in it would be lost: but the joy of it may be interrupted and discontinued for a while, through falls into sin, as this case of David, and the case of Peter, show; and therefore a restoration of it is desired, by showing a fresh interest in this salvation; and particularly by an application of pardoning grace and mercy; see Ps 35:3;
and uphold me [with thy] free Spirit: or “let thy free Spirit uphold me” n; the same with the Holy Spirit of God; called “free”, because he is a most free and munificent giver: he gives his grace, and bestows his gifts severally, as he pleases, and liberally, and upbraids not; and because he is freely given of God; his graces are freely given, as faith, hope, love, c. and because he frees them to whom he is given from the bondage of sin and corruption, and makes them Christ’s free men, and delivers them into the liberty of the children of God and so is a spirit of adoption, in opposition to a spirit of bondage, by which they have freedom and boldness to call God their Father; and by whom also they have liberty of soul at the throne of grace, and can freely make known their requests, and spread their cases before God; see Ro 8:15; also he may be so called, because he makes the saints ready and willing to obey the will of God, and to run with cheerfulness the way of his commandments; and is moreover “a princely spirit” o, or beneficent, as some choose to render the words; and which becomes such who are set among princes, and are made kings and priests unto God: and with this spirit the psalmist desires to be “upheld”, to be strengthened by it, to do the will and work of God, that so he might not stumble and fall into sin as he had done; that he might be stayed, supported, and comforted with it, as the Holy Spirit of promise; that so he might not faint and sink under his present sense of sin, and the guilt of it; and that he would be not only a guide unto him in the ways of God, but that he would hold up his goings in them, that so he might walk both at liberty and in safety. The Targum interprets this also of the spirit of prophecy.
n So Vatablus, Piscator, Cocceius, Gejerus, Schmidt. o , Sept. “spiritu principali”, V. L. Tigurine version; “munifico”, so some in Vatablus.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
In connection with , the old expositors thought of , a noble, a prince, and , nobility, high rank, Job 30:15, lxx ( spiritu principali ) , – the word has, however, without any doubt, its ethical sense in this passage, Isa 32:8, cf. , Ps. 54:8; and the relation of the two words is not to be taken as adjectival, but genitival, since the poet has just used in the same personal sense in Psa 51:12. Nor are they to be taken as a nominative of the subject, but – what corresponds more closely to the connection of the prayer – according to Gen 27:37, as a second accusative of the object: with a spirit of willingness, of willing, noble impulse towards that which is good, support me; i.e., imparting this spirit to me, uphold me constantly in that which is good. What is meant is not the Holy Spirit, but the human spirit made free from the dominion of sin by the Holy Spirit, to which good has become an inward, as it were instinctive, necessity. Thus assured of his justification and fortified in new obedience, David will teach transgressors the ways of God, and sinners shall be converted to Him, viz., by means of the testimony concerning God’s order of mercy which he is able to bear as the result of his own rich experience.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation He cannot dismiss his grief of mind until he have obtained peace with God. This he declares once and again, for David had no sympathy with those who can indulge themselves in ease when they are lying under the divine displeasure. In the latter clause of the verse, he prays as in the verses preceding, that the Holy Spirit might not be taken away from him. There is a slight ambiguity in the words. Some take תסמכני, thismecheni, to be the third person of the verb, because רוח, ruach, is feminine, and translate, let the Spirit uphold me. The difference is immaterial, and does not affect the meaning of the passage. There is more difficulty in fixing the sense of the epithet נדיבה , nedibah, which I have translated free As the verb נדב, nadab, signifies to deal liberally, princes are in the Hebrew called, by way of eminence, נדיבים, nedibim, which has led several learned men to think that David speaks here of a princely or royal spirit; and the translators of the Septuagint rendered it accordingly ἡγεμονικον. The prayer, in this sense, would no doubt be a suitable one for David, who was a king, and required a heroical courage for the execution of his office. But it seems better to adopt the more extensive meaning, and to suppose that David, under a painful consciousness of the bondage to which he had been reduced by a sense of guilt, prays for a free and cheerful spirit. (269) This invaluable attainment, he was sensible, could only be recovered through divine grace.
(269) Some commentators refer the clause, upon which Calvin is here commenting, to the Holy Spirit, and others to the qualities of mind with which David desired to be endued. The translators of our English Bible understand the expression in the first sense, reading, “thy free Spirit.” The word thy is a supplement, but it does not appear to be liable to any material objection. Fry, who adopts the same view, reads, “bountiful or spontaneously flowing Spirit;” and observes, that the word נדיבה, nedibah, “is more still than spontaneously flowing: it signifies to flow both spontaneously and plentifully: ‘ prae uberitate succi sponte fluens.’ This epithet of the indwelling Spirit will be best explained from our Lord’s own words, Joh 4:14.” Others refer the expression to the mind of the Psalmist. Mudge reads, “And let a plentiful effusion of spirit support me.” Dimock, “Let a free spirit sustain me;” “that is,” says he, “let me not be enslaved, as I have been, by my sinful passions.” Green, “And support with a cheerful spirit.” French and Skinner, “And may a willing spirit uphold me;” by which they understand, “a spirit devoted to the service of God.” Walford, following the Septuagint, reads, “And with a princely spirit sustain me.” “David,” says this critic, “was so overwhelmed by the consciousness of his extreme iniquity, so broken in spirit, courage, and fortitude, as to feel altogether incompetent to the discharge of his office, as the King of Israel. He therefore addresses this petition to God, in the hope that he would grant to him a renewal of that powerful energy by which he had at first been fitted for an employment so every way unsuitable to his lowly descent, and his employment as a shepherd.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(12) Joy of thy salvation.This again points to a sense of restoration of covenant privileges.
Thy free spirit.Rather, with a willing spirit. Or we may render, a willing spirit shall support me.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
12. Uphold me with thy free Spirit The idea of “uphold,” here, is to confirm, render permanent. David desires that the restored state be sustained and abiding. This is the point of the petition. But he has not in himself the elements of this stability. God only can “restore the joys of salvation,” and he alone can cause him to stand firm in this restored life. The word “free,” in the Hebrew, is often used as a substantive to denote a prince, noble, grandee; and thus the Septuagint and Jerome understood it. This gives the sense of a governing, or princely Spirit, with the idea of liberality implied, (see Isa 32:6; Isa 32:8,) and this meets the point of the request: By thy governing Spirit establish me. If we understand by “free spirit,” “not the Holy Spirit, but the human spirit made free from the dominion of sin by the Holy Spirit,” (Delitzsch,) still the doctrinal recognition of the Holy Spirit’s influence upon the heart is the same. But the sense we have given more naturally connects with Psa 51:11 and the parallelism, and is sustained by usage.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Psa 51:12. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation i.e. The pleasure I have formerly enjoyed, of having a special interest in thy favour, and of being assured that thou wilt continually protect and deliver me from all mine enemies and troubles. The next clause might be rendered nearer to the Hebrew, Let a free spirit uphold me; for the pronoun thy is not in the original. nedibah, rendered free, is used as a substantive only in two or three places, and has a very significant meaning, denoting a princely, ingenuous, liberal disposition. His spirit had been depressed, and greatly terrified, by the sense of God’s displeasure, and he was filled with shame and confusion for the greatness of his sins, and prays that God would restore him to his former freedom, ease, and alacrity of mind, both in discharging his duty as king of Israel, and as a worshipper of his God; and that this free spirit might uphold, or perpetually influence, and carry him through the remainder of his life. Chandler. Houbigant renders it, And let a spirit of magnanimity support me.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Psa 51:12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me [with thy] free spirit.
Ver. 12. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation ] He had grieved that holy thing, that Spirit of God whereby he was sealed to the day of redemption, Eph 4:30 , and is therefore at a loss for comfort; he had vilipended that patent of his pardon which God had passed under his hand and seal; God therefore calleth for it home again into the pardon office, as it were, that he may know the worth by the want. A man may sin away, not only the sense and comfort of his pardon, but the evidence and knowledge of it, as that place of Peter seemeth to imply, 2Pe 1:9 . Mountebanks, who wound their flesh to try conclusions upon their own bodies how sovereign the salve is, do oft feel the smart of their presumption, by long and desperate wounds: so God will let his Davids see what it is to make wounds in their consciences to try the preciousness of his balsam; such may go mourning to their graves (Dr Sibbes’ Soul’s Confl.). And though with much ado they get assurance of pardon, yet their consciences will be still trembling, till God at length speak further peace; even as the waters of the sea after a storm are not presently still, but move and tremble a good while after the storm is over.
And uphold me with thy free spirit
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
with Thy free spirit: i.e. with a spirit of willing and unforced obedience. Hebrew. ruach. App-9. Compare Exo 35:5, Exo 35:22.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Restore: Psa 85:6-8, Job 29:2, Job 29:3, Isa 57:17, Isa 57:18, Jer 31:9-14
joy: Psa 13:5, Psa 21:1, Psa 35:9, Isa 49:13, Isa 61:10, Luk 1:47, Rom 5:2-11
uphold: Psa 17:5, Psa 19:13, Psa 119:116, Psa 119:117, Psa 119:133, Isa 41:10, Jer 10:23, Rom 14:4, 1Pe 1:5, Jud 1:24
free: Rom 8:15, 2Co 3:17, Gal 4:6, Gal 4:7
Reciprocal: 1Ch 4:10 – that it may 2Ch 32:31 – left him Psa 9:14 – I will Psa 23:3 – restoreth Psa 32:6 – For this Psa 35:3 – say Psa 37:17 – Lord Psa 86:4 – Rejoice Psa 116:12 – General Hag 2:5 – so Zec 12:10 – the spirit Luk 22:32 – strengthen Rom 8:2 – hath Gal 2:4 – liberty Gal 5:1 – the liberty
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
51:12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me [with thy] {k} free spirit.
(k) Which may assure me that I am drawn out of the slavery of sin.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Again David asked for renewed joy (cf. Psa 51:8). He had not lost his salvation as a result of his sin, but he had lost the joy of it. The Lord was apparently not delivering him from his present distresses as He had done previously. He also requested a cooperative spirit, one that would cooperate with God and thereby sustain him.