Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 51:18
Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem.
18. Cp. Psa 102:13 ff.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
18, 19. Prayer of Israel in exile for the restoration of Jerusalem and the renewal of the Temple worship.
Reasons have already been given for thinking that these verses are not part of the original Psalm, but an addition by the exiles who adapted it to their own needs.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion – From himself – his deep sorrow, his conscious guilt, his earnest prayer for pardon and salvation – the psalmist turns to Zion, to the city of God, to the people of the Lord. These, after all, lay nearer to his heart than his own personal salvation; and to these his thoughts naturally turned even in connection with his own deep distress. Such a prayer as is here offered he would also be more naturally led to offer from the remembrance of the dishonor which he had brought on the cause of religion, and it was natural for him to pray that his own misconduct might not have the effect of hindering the cause of God in the world. The psalms often take this turn. Where they commence with a personal reference to the author himself, the thoughts often terminate in a reference to Zion, and to the promotion of the cause of religion in the world.
Build thou the walls of Jerusalem – It is this expression on which De Wette, Doederlein, and Rosenmuller rely in proof that this psalm, or this portion of it, was composed at a later period than the time of David, and that it must have been written in the time of the captivity, when Jerusalem was in ruins. See the introduction to the psalm. But, as was remarked there, it is not necessary to adopt this supposition. There are two other solutions of the difficulty, either of which would meet all that is implied in the language.
(a) One is, that the walls of Jerusalem, which David had undertaken to build, were not as yet complete, or that the public works commenced by him for the protection of the city had not been finished at the time of the fatal affair of Uriah. There is nothing in the history which forbids this supposition, and the language is such as would be used by David on the occasion, if he had been actually engaged in completing the walls of the city, and rendering it impregnable, and if his heart was intensely fixed on the completion of the work.
(b) The other supposition is, that this is figurative language – a prayer that God would favor and bless his people as if the city was to be protected by walls, and thus rendered safe from an attack by the enemy. Such language is, in fact, often used in cases where it could not be pretended that it was designed to be literal. See Jud 1:20; Rom 15:20; 1Co 3:12; Gal 2:18; Eph 2:22; Col 2:7.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 51:18
Then will I teach transgressors Thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto Thee.
The Christians great business
Sinners are all around us living in their sins. Some of these wandering ones are in great misery every day, as the result of their sins; and all, whether suffering or not, are robbing God of glory, and Christ of reward. Moreover, sinners are dying; every hour hurries a company of them into eternity.
I. Who are to teach transgressors that they may be converted unto God? The reply is easy.
1. Pardoned sinners, go and publish the story of what Gods grace has done for you. You are the men, and none others in the world, who can tell it to advantage. Tell it with the hope that your fellow-men will hear it and live.
2. While, however, all pardoned sinners ought to do this, we should remember that we are fittest for the doing of it when we are full of the joy of Gods salvation. Notice the prayer–Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation. Then will I teach transgressors Thy ways. While we believe in the joy of the Lord we shall not come to sinners with ifs and buts, but with a faith which will, by Gods grace, help them also to believe.
3. To prepare us to win souls, we must have the Holy Spirit resting upon us, for the text says, Uphold me with Thy free Spirit. O, pray for a revival in your own souls. Beseech the Holy Spirit to come upon you.
4. If we would bear good testimony for God to the conversion of souls, we must by the Spirit of God be upheld in consistency of life, Uphold me with Thy free Spirit. If you are inconsistent in your own daily lives, how can you hope to be useful to others? Actions speak louder than words. If we speak to men upon the evil of sin, and yet indulge in it, what can they infer from our conduct?
II. What the believer ought to aim at in his work with souls.
1. Our great aim is conversion–the conversion of transgressors. Their conversion; not reformation merely. It is a good thing to improve a man by reforming him; he is all the better for being sober, honest and industrious. Let us help them if we can, but it is a side issue; our business is a more radical one, the laying of the axe to the root of the tree by the change of the nature. Our object is more lasting; we have to do with immortal souls and their eternal future. Be content with nothing short of the conversion of men. But it must be their conversion to God. Sinners shall be converted unto Thee.
2. This work is to be accomplished by teaching. Then will I teach, etc. All the earnestness possible should go with the teaching, but there must be sound doctrine, real instruction, solemn truth made known; for it is by such means that sinners will be converted to God.
3. The most important teaching is that which dwells upon the Lords ways–Gods way of punishing sin, Gods way of forgiving sin, Gods way of mercy through a sacrifice, Gods way of pardon through faith in Jesus; Gods ways of wounding, and healing; Gods ways of sending forth the Eternal Spirit, and working as He wills among the sons of men, neither waiting for man nor tarrying for the sons of men.
III. Why we should seek the conversion of sinners.
1. Because it will save us from many ills. I believe that the not seeking to win souls brings many spiritual maladies upon Christians. For our own sakes, lest the canker get into our gold, and the rust into our silver, use it for doing good; yea, by all means, seek the souls of men for God. Some evil will befall you if you keep the Gospel to yourselves.
2. It will greatly add to your joy. Who does not like to be the hearer of good news? The pleasant tale of redeeming grace and dying love, the pleasant story of a Saviour who came from heaven to earth, to lift us up from earth to heaven, the story of our own conversion, the story of Gods goodness since our conversion–why, it must be delightful to tell it. And when you have spoken for Jesus, if you succeed in converting a sinner to God, then comes the pleasure. We will get out of these selfish motives into something higher.
3. Unless you tell abroad the Gospel, how will you prove the sincerity of your prayers? Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. How can it be, if you never try to speak a word for Jesus, and never seek to bring new subjects into His kingdom? Our prayers–what can they be but hypocritical, if they are not supported by your actions?
4. Again, what proof is there of the sincerity of your love to Christy Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou Me? Do you answer, Yea, Lord; Thou knowest that I love Thee? Here, then, is the proof which He demands–Feed My sheep. Feed My lambs. Distribute unto others the heavenly food which you receive from Me. What I tell you in the ear that speak ye upon the housetops. Abundantly yield to your Lord this proof of your affection.
IV. How, then, are we to teach transgressors Gods ways, that sinners may be converted unto God? I would say to you, Wait upon the Lord, for direction. But one of the directions you need not wait for is this, Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might. Some of you who could not speak, at least not to many, can assist those who do. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The true teacher
I. The qualifications for a true teacher. Recalling to what the then refers, we find that a true teacher must be a man marked by–
1. Penitence and loathing for sin.
2. Purity of heart.
3. Fellowship with God.
II. The people a true teacher seeks to bless. Transgressors, men who have broken the Divine law. Sinners, a wider name describing all who neglect, as well as all who violate that law. What a school! Such was His who came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. The lost.
III. The theme a true teacher unfolds. Thy ways. This may mean, as it continually does–
1. Gods commandments, i.e. His ways for man to take; or–
2. Gods habits of grace, justice, mercy. My ways are not your ways, etc.
IV. The method a true teacher employs. Teaching is the noblest occupation, the highest art, the strongest agency of man. We persuade men.
V. The result the true teacher seeks. Converted to Thee. Turned back from evil; turned in thought, mind, will, character, towards God. (U. R. Thomas.)
The life of restored usefulness
In these verses (13-17) the psalm seems to take now a brighter turn. There is a mention of teaching, of a service of praise, of a sacrifice, as if the poor, crushed spiritual life were gaining strength again. Just as when a man is recovering from a serious illness, the very fact of his becoming impatient is a good sign. So here David is becoming impatient, as it were, of his low condition; he is thinking of work, he is making plans. Davids pardon, Davids restoration, shall be the great ground of hope and conversion for generations of penitents. It is a grand idea to utilize faults. God can do it. We have read of the painter who, in his rage and disappointment at not being able to represent the foam on the mouth of a Fury, threw his sponge at the picture, and so produced without design the effect for which he had laboured. But God can take our very faults and beautify them, as an architect seizes upon an uneven site as the opportunity for fresh picturesqueness of detail to his building. So that it has been said, the three great doctors of the Catholic Church are David the murderer, St. Peter the denier, and St. Paul the persecutor.
I. We all hope to do something more than save our own souls. We are here for this very purpose, to train ourselves that we may help others. It is a great fact that the key which unlocks the mysteries of God is, in many senses, a moral one (Joh 7:17). It is only too possible to wish some doctrines not to be true; it is perfectly impossible to understand many of them from the outside. And, therefore, let this Lent be, for all of us, the very foundation of our teaching power. Then shall I teach. It is thus we learn sympathy. Ah, here is a poor soul going through all which I have gone through. I, too, was a stranger in the land of Egypt. It is thus we acquire tenderness (Tit 3:3). It is thus that we acquire spiritual might (1Jn 4:7). Do we yet know how God loves us?
II. Penitence is our preparation for the life of service in the sanctuary. Our people do not come to church; or, they are cold and indifferent spectators if they do come. Why is it? Sometimes, if we must speak the truth, services are terribly perfunctory, cold and slovenly. We clergy are in constant danger of deterioration. What a call upon us there is to live always in an atmosphere of prayer, if we know that we may he summoned at any moment to a death-bed, there to come close to the very opening gates of Paradise, or to administer the Viaticum to the traveller now almost departing. Is not all this something to be prepared for?
III. After all, there is nothing more powerful than the life of sacrifice. Just the troubled spirit, ruffled, freshened as it were every day by the breath from on high. Where the heart is sensitive to every heavenly influence; where the broken heart is full of affection towards God, while it always remembers the past; where the contrite heart is softened, bruised, pulverized into good receptive soil. May we not learn here, too, to offer a sacrifice like this? Have we learned yet to sacrifice inclination? It bakes a long time to do this. Pere Lacordaire tells us how, in spite of all his austerities, practised with a view of subduing the will, he took a long time before he could overcome his irritation at such a simple thing as being interrupted. Can we give up inclination deliberately? (Canon Newbolt.)
Joy of salvation necessary for teachers
A man must not only have salvation, but also the joy of it, before he can effectually teach transgressors the ways of God. Your acts, your looks, the tones of your voice, teach as much as your words, perhaps much more. A man going forth with gloom and sorrow in his heart, is not fib to teach others the glorious Gospel of the blessed God. (T. Alexander, M. A.)
The ways of God
1. First, Gods ways to us; they are His ways, as the subject of them, the ways in which Himself walks: David would teach these. There are some ways of God which are unsearchable, and past finding out; His way in the sea, and His paths in the great waters, and His footsteps are not known (Psa 77:19). But the ways which are here spoken of are more especially His carriage and behaviour towards Christians, both as to their sins and repentance, in their falls and in their rising again. David did now take upon him to teach transgressors these ways, how severe God was against sin, and more especially in His own servants; how He would lay it more particularly upon their consciences above any others, and call them to an account for it; this David would now teach. And so again, how gracious He was also to all those who, by repentance, turned unto Him, so as to hide His face from their sins, and to east a comfortable eye upon them, and to restore them to favour again. Both these ways of God, both in His justice and also in His mercy, would David communicate to transgressors.
2. Secondly, ours also to Him, which are His ways likewise; the ways which He has commanded us that we should walk in them; they are in Scripture-language called the ways of God, the ways of duty, and obedience and thankfulness. What is to be done by us answerably to Gods dealing with us, this was the matter of Davids teaching in his converse with others. (Thomas Horton, D. D.)
Then shall I teach
That means infinitely more than giving a lesson through the medium of speech. Our best teachers have sometimes been dumb. I was dumb, I opened not my mouth, for Thou didst it. What lessons we have learned from dumb beauty, from loving patience, from quiet, bright heroism, from the uncomplaining temper, from the abounding willingness, from a mans calm, strong grappling with stupendous difficulty I Then shall I teach. He will teach, not by one way only, but by many. He will become a minister, an influence, a power of grace. Now, mark the ascent of the teaching. Related to Christi Instructed! Disciplined! A teacher! And of such a one it will be said by his fellow-men, We know that thou art a teacher come from God, for no man can do these things that thou doest, except God be with him. (J. H. Jowett, M. A.)
And sinners shall be converted unto Thee.
The converted will labour to convert others
David, as he could not choose but promise thankfulness to God, upon the restoring of him to his ancient state; so, because he knew that his goodness could not reach to the person of God, therefore he could not conceive wherein better to discover it, than in labouring to do others good, by endeavouring their conversion. The talent of mercy which he hoped to receive, he vowed to employ to others edifying. The Scripture confirms the being of this disposition in all whom God hath truly turned by variety of examples. When Andrew had found Christ he had no rest until he had called Simon. Neither could Philip forbear until he had brought Nathaniel. What haste did the woman of Samaria make to run into the town to call her neighbours! How earnestly did Paul wish that others were in religion, in the knowledge and obedience thereof, like unto him! The jailors joy was not full till he perceived that his household as well as himself believed upon Christ. When Christ had called Matthew, he invited Christ to his house, and there were a great company of publicans and of others. Can we think they came into Matthews house without his leave, or that Matthew invited them with any other intent, than that they might get that good by Christ which his soul reaped? This was prophesied of old, that it should be the disposition of those which should be gathered in by the Gospel to the Christian Church; one should provoke and call upon another, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, etc. They which dwell in one city, shall go to another, saying, Up, let us go and pray before the Lord of Hosts. Christ laid it as a task upon Peter, When thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. Indeed, God gives no man any spiritual good for his own private benefit alone, but that he might be a good disposer and steward of the grace of God for others good. Like as the apostle saith, that God comforted him, that he might comfort others with the same comfort which himself had received. Wheresoever there is true conversion, there is true faith; for, how shall we suppose a man converted in the state of grace who hath no faith? And faith worketh by love; and how can love (which is said to be bountiful) be barren and unfruitful in this special evidence of love, the saving of a soul from death? We would reckon it a barbarous and a cruel act (and well we might) if two men in their travel by the way should fall into a pit, and the other, being by some means rescued thence, should go his way without respect to him that was in the same danger. Is it possible, think ye, that there should be such an heart in a man, in whom God hath wrought a work of grace, that being himself recovered from that pit of destruction, into which we are all plunged by Adams disobedience, he should not care what became of others that are enwrapped in the same misery? Gods children are no niggards, nay, it grieveth them to eat their spiritual morsels alone; when they have received any mercy from God, they are as the vessel whereto Elihu compared himself, which must needs have vent. Come, hearken, said David, and I will tell you what God hath done to my soul. (S. Hieron.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Psa 51:18
Do good in Thy good pleasure unto Zion.
Prayer for Zion
I. The place prayed for. Under the name Zion David here prays for the whole Church, whose practice is herein considerable for our example.
1. Considered as a godly man, he prays for it so; whereby he shows us the nature and disposition of every good Christian besides, as also the duty of every one that pretends to an interest in the Church. This may be made out unto us upon this ground and consideration; because, namely, of that near relation which they bear unto it, and benefit which they receive by it. There is not a greater nearness of the members of a natural body one to another, than there is in the members of the mystical. And yet, if we well consider it, how few are there which lay this to heart, which take care of the prosperity of Zion, and which are affected with good-will to it? Most men seek their own advantage, the enlarging and settling of themselves, but they are but few which do lay out their thoughts and endeavours for the good of the Church. Nay, it were well if some now and then were not employed in that which is contrary, which are haters and ill-willers to it (Psa 129:5).
2. As a guilty man, David now reflected on the mischief he had done to the Church of God by his sin; and now, therefore, to make it some amends, he puts it into his prayer, that God would do good unto it, as that which was the only recompense and satisfaction which he was able to make it. We may hence judge of the work of repentance and conversion what is in us. He who truly repents of his sin, will endeavour to do good answerably to the evil which has been done by him.
II. The thing prayed for about it; viz. that it have good done unto it. We must take it in the latitude, and full extent, which is of good in all kinds, but more especially of such good as is proper and peculiar to the Church, considered as such, within its own circle and compass, which is spiritual and eternal good. Where, for the ordering of our prayers aright upon such occasions, we may take notice of these particulars.
1. The free enjoyment of the ordinances and means of grace. These make up a great part of the good of Zion, and we should be instant with God for His Church in this regard, that He would vouchsafe, and uphold, and maintain the ministry of it.
2. The extirpation of errors and heresies, and the promoters of them, this is likewise conducing to the good. It can never be well with the Church, any further than as God is pleased to convert it by His overruling power. Therefore, as ever we desire the welfare of it, we must bend our prayers to this particular.
3. The multiplication of converts, thats another thing pertinent hereunto. The welfare of Zion lies much in the number of those which belong unto it.
4. The concord and agreement of believers amongst themselves; this is another thing of the same nature with it; it was well with Zion in those days when they were all of one accord in one place (Act 2:1). This is as much for the good of the Church as anything else, and does as much need and require our prayers and petitions for it.
III. The modification of the request. In Thy good pleasure.
1. It is a word of special influence, and does denote unto us the rise and spring of all good to be expected to the Church, which is the love and good-will of God. David does not now come to God for his Church upon terms of merit or desert, but only upon terms of favour and free grace, Do good in Thy good pleasure. And this is that which all must still do, even the best that are; they must thus make their addresses to God even in the behalf of the Church itself. And the reason of it is this, because we are all debtors to God, and stand obnoxious to Him; we deserve no good from Him; and that good which already we have, we have in a manner forfeited by our miscarriages; therefore it must be free grace and favour that must set us right, theres nothing else which will be helpful to us.
2. It is a word of limitation; a limitation not of God, but indeed of His own prayer and request. As if he had said, Lord, I do very earnestly beg of Thee that Thou wouldst do good to Thy Church; but I do not herein go about to limit Thee, or confine Thee, or prescribe Thee, but I leave it wholly to Thyself; Do good in Thy good pleasure, that is, as shall seem good and best in Thine own eyes to do.
3. It is a word of insinuation, as it seems to carry the force of an argument in it, and thai thus, Lord, Thou bearest a special love and affection to Zion, which is Thy Church above all others besides. Now, therefore, according to this affection which is in Thee towards it, be pleased to do good to it; as the sister of Lazarus to Christ (Joh 11:3), whereby she would persuade Him to be active for his recovery. So does David here now to God in behalf of the Church, Do good of Thy good pleasure to Zion; that is, according to Thy wonted favour and lovingkindness towards her. It is a great encouragement in our addresses to God at any time for His poor Church to have the advantage of His own affections to it, which will prevail with Him so much the easier to goodness upon it. The reason of it is this, because God delights to be like Himself; He is good, and doeth good; and He is yesterday, and to-day, the same for ever. Therefore those bowels which persuade Him to do good to the Church at first, persuade Him still to the continuance of its. (Thomas Horton, D. D.)
Do good unto Zion
Though a popular and prevalent, it is a false or at least very defective form of Christianity, which, if personal salvation is attained, or supposed to be attained, is indifferent to the interests of truth, the welfare of the Church, and the public cause of Christ. The more profoundly we are interested in, and the more sensibly we are assured of our own salvation, the better fitted are we for being, and the more likely are we to be valiant for the truth upon the earth. We should seek that God would do good unto Zion–
I. In the way of increasing the number of her genuine converts. It is not in the number, or wealth, or worldly influence of her nominal members, but in the number of true believers, called and chosen and faithful, loving the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity and truth, who are found within her pale, that her strength and stability and beauty consist. In proportion as she is destitute of these latter, may Ichabod–the glory is departed–be written on her brow. It is they alone, of all her members, who show forth the transforming power of Divine grace, and the condescension of Divine love, and who reflect the purity of her glorious Head.
II. In the way of causing the graces of the spirit to flourish in her true members. It would be a token for good were believers generally constrained to long for the reviving influences of the Spirit, as the chased roe pants for the cooling stream, or as the parched ground thirsts for the refreshing shower–were they in the same frame of mind as the Spouse in Canticles when she cried, Awake, O north wind, and come thou south: blow upon my garden that the spices may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden and eat his pleasant fruits.
III. In the way of enabling her to be faithful to her Lord. And this faithfulness we shall only notice here as it bears upon her testifying for His truths, preserving the purity of His ordinances, and enforcing the laws of His house. According as she fulfils or fails in fulfilling these functions, does she prove faithful or faithless to her high mission as the pillar and ground of the truth, and as a witness for God in the world.
IV. In the way of healing her divisions. These are her weakness, her shame, her sin. The armies of Israel are spending in intestine conflict that strength which is needed against, and which would powerfully tell upon, their common foes.
V. By extending her boundaries. There are still many dark places of the earth, which are full of the habitations of horrid cruelty. There are hundreds of millions of our race sitting in the shadow of moral and spiritual darkness and death, athwart which a beam from the Sun of Righteousness has never shone. They are perishing for lack of knowledge. In darkness they live, in darkness they die, and to the blackness of darkness at death they descend. So long, however, as this is the case, the promise of the Divine Father to His Son shall not be fully performed, I will give Thee the heathen for Thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for Thy possession–numerous predictions of Scripture shall remain unfulfilled–and the Church shall not have attained her destined and promised position of glory in our world. But all these events shall yet take place, however impossible they may now appear to the eye of sense. Every obstacle to this–physical, political, ecclesiastical, or moral–shall be removed. In asking these blessings from God for Zion, we should do so in a spirit of entire dependence upon Him for their bestowal; under a sense of personal unworthiness; in a spirit of resignation to the Divine will; from a supreme desire for the Divine glory; and under a deep sense of personal obligation to active exertion on our part, in order to their being obtained. (Original Secession Magazine.)
A prayer for the welfare of Zion
I. The matter of the prayer.
1. The first petition hath an obvious reference to the tribes of Israel, considered in their spiritual state, as a religious community, or the true Church of God.
2. The other petition hath a reference to the civil state of the Jews as a commonwealth or kingdom, and is a prayer for their national safety and prosperity.
II. The order in which the petitions are placed. He begins with praying for the good of Zion, and then offers his supplication in behalf of Jerusalem. Nor is this an accidental or arbitrary arrangement. The same subordination of temporal to spiritual blessings is uniformly observed through the whole of the sacred record, both in the promises of God, and in the accepted prayer of His people.
III. The temper of mind with which they appear to have been accompanied.
1. David had a just impression of his absolute dependence on God, and did not trust in the arm of flesh, but looked for help from God alone.
2. The form of his address likewise discovers the deep conviction he had of his own unworthiness. (R. Walker.)
Intercession for Zion
Zion, in this verse, means the hill on which the temple stood, and is therefore taken for the temple itself; and the temple, again, means Gods worshipping Church, with God Himself dwelling in the midst of it. He prays for good to this worshipping assembly of Gods people, under the designation first of Zion, second of Jerusalem. In the second aspect the Church is figured by a city, a metropolitan city, a walled city. The Church is brought before us as a city, and her members as citizens. They are members of the heavenly polity. Jerusalem stands for the gathered assembly of Gods people worshipping and dwelling secure in their quiet habitations (Heb 12:22). It is the rich grace of God, and His free love and unchangeable good-will to His people, that are the sole causes of the welfare of His Church God alone can do good unto Zion; He alone can build up the walls of Jerusalem. But to this work God has a good-will. Zion lies near His heart. When we are seeking this, when we are labouring for this, we are sure to find favour with God. God alone can do it; still our duty is to labour, to teach transgressors Gods ways, that sinners may be converted unto Him. All that befalls the Church is according to the good pleasure of Gods will. This is the ground of our calling, election, justification, glorification. Whatever we seek must ever be sought under this restriction, Thy good pleasure. Build Thou; but do it in Thine own wise time, in Thine own good way. Build Thou the walls of separation, that divide the Church from the world; let them be in it, not of it: keep them from its evil. (T. Alexander, M. A.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 18. Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion] This and the following verse most evidently refer to the time of the captivity, when the walls of Jerusalem were broken down, and the temple service entirely discontinued; and, consequently, are long posterior to the times of David. Hence it has been concluded that the Psalm was not composed by David, nor in his time and that the title must be that of some other Psalm inadvertently affixed to this. The fourth verse has also been considered as decisive against this title: but the note on that verse has considerably weakened, if not destroyed, that objection. I have been long of opinion that, whether the title be properly or improperly affixed to this Psalm, these two verses make no part of it: the subject is totally dissimilar; and there is no rule of analogy by which it can be interpreted as belonging to the Psalm, to the subject, or to the person. I think they originally made a Psalm of themselves, a kind of ejaculatory prayer for the redemption of the captives from Babylon, the rebuilding of Jerusalem, and the restoration of the temple worship. And, taken in this light, they are very proper and very expressive.
The cxviith Psalm contains only two verses; and is an ejaculation of praise from the captives who had just then returned from Babylon. And it is a fact that this Psalm is written as a part of the cxvith in no less than thirty-two of Kennicott’s and De Rossi’s MSS.; and in some early editions. Again, because of its smallness, it has been absorbed by the cxviiith, of which it makes the commencement, in twenty-eight of Kennicott’s and De Rossi’s MSS. In a similar way I suppose the two last verses of this Psalm to have been absorbed by the preceding, which originally made a complete Psalm of themselves; and this absorption was the more easy, because, like the cxviith it has no title. I cannot allege a similar evidence relative to these two verses, as ever having made a distinct Psalm; but of the fact I can have no doubt, for the reasons assigned above. And I still think that Psalm is too dignified, too energetic, and too elegant, to have been the composition of any but David. It was not Asaph; it was not any of the sons of Korah; it was not Heman or Jeduthun: the hand and mind of a greater master are here.
ANALYSIS OF THE FIFTY-FIRST PSALM
In general the Psalm contains David’s prayer, –
I. For himself, Ps 51:1-12.
II. Three vows or promises, Ps 51:13-18.
III. For the Church, Ps 51:18-19.
I. David being in deep distress on account of his sins, prays to God for mercy: and while he feels that he is unworthy of the name of king, or God’s anointed, of his son, or of his servant, he uses no plea of his own merit, but, 1. Of the loving-kindness of God: “According to thy loving-kindness.” 2. Of the compassion of God: “According to the multitude of thy tender mercies.”
The general petition for mercy being offered, next he offers three particular petitions: –
First. He prays for forgiveness of sins. The fact was past, but the guilt remained: therefore, he earnestly petitions: “Put away mine iniquities;” my sin is a deep stain: “Wash me throughly from mine iniquities, and cleanse me from my sin,” multiply washing; my sin is a deep defilement.
To this petition he joins confession of sin; from which we may learn the conditions requisite in a genuine confession: –
He considers the nature of his sin; he feels the weight of it, the burden, and the anguish of it; and abhors it.
1. “I know mine iniquity.” It is no longer hidden from me.
2. “It is ever before me;” and the sight breaks my heart.
3. He uses different epithets for it, in order to aggravate the guilt, and deepen the repentance. 1. It is transgression, pesha, rebellion. 2. It is iniquity, avon, crooked dealing. 3. It is sin, chattath, error and wandering.
Then he begins his earnest confession: “I have sinned.” And this he aggravates by several circumstances: –
1. Of the person. It is “against thee;” a good and gracious God, who of a shepherd made me a king over thy own people. Against thee, the great and terrible God. The people are my subjects, and they cannot judge me: it is against thee I have sinned, and to thee I must give account, and by thee be judged and punished.
2. Of the manner. It was an impudent sin; not committed by surprise, but done openly: “In thy sight.” Therefore, the threatenings by thy prophet are all right. Whatever punishment thou mayest inflict upon me, both thy justice and mercy will stand clear: “That thou mightest be justified,” c.
3. He shows from what root his sin sprang from his original corruption: “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.” I am all corruption within, and defilement without. The evil fountain hath sent forth bitter waters.
4. Another aggravation of his sin was, that he was in principle devoid of that which God loves: “Thou desirest truth in the inward parts.”
5. The greatest aggravation of all was, his having sinned against light and knowledge. God had endued him with wisdom in the hidden part, by the motions of his own Spirit; but he had permitted his passions to obscure that light, and had quenched the Spirit.
Having made this general confession, he names the particular sin that lay heaviest on his conscience: “Deliver me from blood-guiltiness.” And then renews his petition for pardon under a type then in use, and a metaphor. The type, hyssop; the metaphor, wash me.
1. “Purge me with hyssop.” With a bunch of hyssop, dipped in the blood of the paschal lamb, the Israelites sprinkled their doors. It was also used in the sprinkling of the leper, and in the sacrifice for sin: and the blood and sprinkling were a type of Christ’s blood, and the pardon and holiness that came through it. Sprinkled with this, David knew he must be clean; “for the blood of Christ cleanseth from all sin;” and it is “the blood of Christ that justifies.”
2. Sanctified also he wishes to be; and there, he says, Wash me. And this is done by the influence of God’s Spirit: “I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean,” Eze 36:25.
Secondly. David, having ended his petitions for pardon, proceeds, –
1. To pray that the evil effects which had been produced by his sin might be removed: “Make me to hear joy and gladness,” c.
2. That his body, which was in a pining condition, might be restored: “That the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.”
3. A third evil effect of his sin was, that God’s face, that is, his favour, was turned away from him: he therefore begs, –
(1) “Hide thy face from my sins.” Remember them not against me.
(2) “And blot out mine iniquities.” I know there is a long and black catalogue in thy book against me blot it out; blot out the handwriting of ordinances that is against me.
Thirdly. Now follows David’s last petition; in which he again craves more particularly the grace of sanctification. He first prayed for remission; next for reconciliation; and now for renovation, which he asks of God in the three following verses: 1. “Create in me a clean heart.” 2. “Renew a right spirit within me.” 3. “Cast me not away from thy presence.” 4. “Take not thy Holy Spirit from me.” 5. “Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation.” 6. “Uphold me with thy free spirit.” In which petitions we are to consider, –
1. The subject on which the work is to be done. The heart – the spirit. For as the heart is that part that first lives in nature; so it is the first that lives in grace. The work must begin within, else outward renovation will be to little purpose.
2. The work itself, which is, –
1. A creation. Sin had reduced David’s heart to nothing in respect to heavenly affections and things; and to bring it into a state in which it would answer the end of its creation, was to bring something out of nothing; which, in all cases, is the work of Almighty God: “Create in me, O God,” c.
2. It is a renovation. All in David was the old man, nothing left of the new man. He prays, therefore, to be renewed in the spirit of his mind: “Renew a right spirit within me.”
3. Reconciliation and restitution. Cast me not away – as a dead man nor take away thy Spirit from me, by which I live: “Cast me not away – take not thy Holy Spirit from me.”
4. A confirmation in what was good. Uphold – confirm me.
3. WHO was to do this work? Not himself; GOD alone. Therefore, he prays: “O God, create; – O Lord, renew; – uphold by thy Spirit.”
4. The quality of this. A cleansing – implied in these remarkable words: – a right spirit, – a holy spirit, – a free spirit; in which some have thought they saw the mystery of the HOLY TRINITY.
1. A right spirit. He felt that he might easily go wrong; a crooked and perverse spirit had prevailed within him, which had led him out of the right way to salvation: “Renew in me a RIGHT spirit.’
2. A holy spirit; one opposed to the carnal spirit that was enmity against God, the motions and desires of which were from the flesh, and tended only to its gratification: “Take not thy Holy Spirit from me.” It is God’s Holy Spirit that makes the spirit of man holy. Holiness of heart depends on the indwelling of the Holy Ghost.
3. A free spirit. A noble, a princely spirit. Ever since his fall he felt he did nothing good; but by constraint, he was in bondage to corruption. There was no dignity in his mind, sin had debased it. “Ennoble me by a birth from above,” and by thy noble Spirit uphold me!
II. He had now presented his three petitions, and now he makes his vows: 1. To teach others; 2. To praise God; and, 3. To offer him such a sacrifice as he could accept.
His first vow. 1. Then, after pardon obtained, “I shall teach;” for a man under guilt is not able to declare pardon to others.
2. “I will teach thy way to sinners;” viz.: that to the stubborn thou wilt show thyself froward; but to the penitent thou wilt show mercy.
The effect of which will be: “Sinners shall be converted unto thee.” They who hear of thy justice and mercy, as manifested in my case, will fear, and turn from sin; have faith, and turn to THEE.
His second vow and promise is to praise God: “My tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.” But to this he was 1. Unapt; and must be so till received into favour. And, 2. Unable, till he received the healthful Spirit of the grace of God. Therefore he prays for a capacity to do both: 1. “Deliver me from blood-guiltiness, O God; then my tongue shall sing.” 2. “O Lord, open my lips – and my mouth shall show forth thy praise.”
His third promise is about a sacrifice, not of any animal, but of a “broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart,” which he knew God would not despise. 1. “Thou desirest no sacrifice, else I would give it thee.” No outward sacrifice can be of any avail if the heart be not offered. 2. Nor will the heart be accepted if it be not sacrificed. “The broken spirit and contrite heart,” this sacrifice he vowed to bring.
III. Having finished his prayers and vows for himself, he forgets not Jerusalem. He petitions for God’s Church; and the reason might be, that he was afraid Jerusalem would suffer because of his sins; for peccant reges, plectuntur Achivi, “the king sins, the people suffer.” This was the case when he sinned against God by numbering the people.
His method and his charity in this are both instructive.
1. His method. 1. To be reconciled to God himself; and then, 2. To pray for others. “The prayers of the righteous avail much.”
2. His charity, for we are always bound “to remember the afflictions of Joseph, and pray for the peace of Jerusalem.” He prays,
1. That God, who out of his good pleasure did choose a Church, would out of his mere good will do it good, and preserve it: “Do good, in thy good pleasure, to Zion.”
2. That he would have a special favour, even to the building: “Build thou the walls of Jerusalem;” for these fall not alone; religion and the service of God fall, when the people permit their churches and chapels to be dilapidated or get out of repair. Of this there are multitudes of proofs.
3. For the consequence of Jerusalem’s prosperity would be this, that “religion would flourish with it;” then there would be sacrifices, burnt-offerings, and holocausts: “Then they shall offer bullocks upon thine altar.”
4. And, what is yet more and better, we shall offer. and THOU wilt accent: “Then thou shalt be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness.” Being reconciled to thee, justified, and sanctified; and righteous in all our conduct; all our sacrifices, springing from thy own grace and love in us, shall find a gracious acceptance. See Clarke on Ps 51:18.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
In thy good pleasure; or, for or according to (for the Hebrew prefix beth is frequently used both those ways) thy good grace, or favour, or pleasure, i.e. thy free and rich mercy, and thy gracious purpose and promise made to and concerning Zion, of which see Psa 132:14, and do not repent of it, nor retract it, as I have given thee cause to do. Unto Zion; synecdochically put for Jerusalem, as the next clause explains it, and both put for the whole people of Israel and church of God; whom I have highly scandalized and injured already, and exposed to the danger of utter destruction, which thou mightest inflict upon them for the sins of their king, as thou usest to do in like cases.
Build thou the walls of Jerusalem; perfect the walls and buildings of that city, and especially let the temple be built and established in this city, notwithstanding its pollution by my sins, which I pray thee to purge away.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
18. Do good, c.Visit not mysin on Thy Church.
build . . . wallsis toshow favor compare Ps 89:40,for opposite form and idea.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion,…. This verse, and
Ps 51:19, are thought, by a Spanish Rabbi mentioned by Aben Ezra, to have been added by one of the holy men that lived in the time of the Babylonish captivity; though rather it is thought, by the latter, to be written by David, under a spirit of prophecy, concerning, times to come; and so Kimchi thinks they are prophetic of future things; of the destruction of the first and second temple, and of the acceptableness of sacrifices in the times of the Messiah: and by Zion is meant the church, under the Gospel dispensation, Heb 12:22; and the “good” prayed for includes all the good and glorious things spoken of the church of Christ in the latter day; such as an increase of its numbers, the bringing in the fulness of the Gentiles, the conversion of the Jews, and the kingdoms of this world becoming the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ; the spread of the Gospel all over the world, the purity of Gospel doctrine, worship, and ordinances, the spirituality of religion, the power of godliness, and an abounding of brotherly love, and the like. The “good pleasure” of God, in which this is desired to be done, may denote either , “the acceptable time”; or “time of good pleasure”; the Gospel dispensation, so called
Isa 49:8, in which it has been foretold, and may be expected these things shall be done; or else the cause, source, and spring of them, which is the sovereign good will and pleasure of God, from whence flow all the blessings of grace and goodness;
build thou the walls of Jerusalem; not literally taken; for these do not appear to have stood in need of being repaired or rebuilt in David’s time; but the church of God, which is a spiritual house, built up of lively stones, true believers; which may be said to be more and more built up by an addition of such unto it: it is as a city compact together, whose walls are salvation, and its gates praise,
Isa 26:1; of the wall of the new Jerusalem, see
Re 21:12.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
From this spiritual sacrifice, well-pleasing to God, the Psalm now, in vv. 20f., comes back to the material sacrifices that are offered in a right state of mind; and this is to be explained by the consideration that David’s prayer for himself here passes over into an intercession on behalf of all Israel: Do good in Thy good pleasure unto Zion. may be a sign of the accusative, for ( ) does take the accusative of the person (Job 24:21); but also a preposition, for as it is construed with and , so also with in the same signification (Jer 18:10; Jer 32:41). are here, as in Psa 4:6; Deu 33:19, those sacrifices which not merely as regards their outward character, but also in respect of the inward character of him who causes them to be offered on his behalf, are exactly such as God the Lawgiver will have them to be. By beside might be understood the priestly vegetable whole-offering, Lev 6:15. ( , Epistle to the Hebrews, ii. 8), since every as such is also ; but Psalm-poetry does not make any such special reference to the sacrificial tra. is, like in 1Sa 7:9, an explicative addition, and the combination is like , Psa 44:4, , Psa 90:2, and the like. A (Hitzig, after the Phoenician sacrificial tables) is unknown to the Israelitish sacrificial worship. The prayer: Build Thou the walls of Jerusalem, is not inadmissible in the mouth of David; since signifies not merely to build up what has been thrown down, but also to go on and finish building what is in the act of being built (Psa 89:3); and, moreover, the wall built round about Jerusalem by Solomon (1Ki 3:1) can be regarded as a fulfilment of David’s prayer.
Nevertheless what even Theodoret has felt cannot be denied: … . Through penitence the way of the exiles led back to Jerusalem. The supposition is very natural that vv. 20f. may be a liturgical addition made by the church of the Exile. And if the origin of Isa 40:1 in the time of the Exile were as indisputable as the reasons against such a position are forcible, then it would give support not merely to the derivation of vv. 20f. (cf. Isa 60:5, Isa 60:7, Isa 60:10), but of the whole Psalm, from the time of the Exile; for the general impress of the Psalm is, according to the accurate observation of Hitzig, thoroughly deutero-Isaianic. But the writer of Isa 40:1 shows signs in other respects also of the most families acquaintance with the earlier literature of the Shr and the Mashal ; and that he is none other than Isaiah reveals itself in connection with this Psalm by the echoes of this very Psalm, which are to be found not only in the second but also in the first part of the Isaianic collection of prophecy (cf. on Psa 51:9, Psa 51:18). We are therefore driven to the inference, that Ps 51 was a favourite Psalm of Isaiah’s, and that, since the Isaianic echoes of it extend equally from the first verse to the last, it existed in the same complete form even in his day as in ours; and that consequently the close, just like the whole Psalm, so beautifully and touchingly expressed, is not the mere addition of a later age.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
18 Do good to Zion in thy good pleasure: build thou the walls of Jerusalem (273) From prayer in his own behalf he now proceeds to offer up supplications for the collective Church of God, a duty which he may have felt to be the more incumbent upon him from the circumstance of his having done what he could by his fall to ruin it, Raised to the throne, and originally anointed to be king for the very purpose of fostering the Church of God, he had by his disgraceful conduct nearly accomplished its destruction. Although chargeable with this guilt, he now prays that God would restore it in the exercise of his free mercy. He makes no mention of the righteousness of others, but rests his plea entirely upon the good pleasure of God, intimating that the Church, when at any period it has been brought low, must be indebted for its restoration solely to Divine grace. Jerusalem was already built, but David prays that God would build it still farther for he knew that it fell far short of being complete, so long as it wanted the temple, where he had promised to establish the Ark of his Covenant, and also the royal palace. We learn from the passage, that it is God’s own work to build the Church. “His foundation,” says the Psalmist elsewhere, “is in the holy mountains,” (Psa 87:1.) We are not to imagine that David refers simply to the Church as a material structure, but must consider him as having his eye fixed upon the spiritual temple, which cannot be raised by human skill or industry. It is true, indeed, that men will not make progress even in the building of material walls, unless their labor be blessed from above; but the Church is in a peculiar sense the erection of God, who has founded it upon the earth in the exercise of his mighty power, and who will exalt it higher than the heavens. In this prayer David does not contemplate the welfare of the Church for a short period merely, but prays that God would preserve and advance it till the coming of Christ. And here, may it not justly excite our surprise, to find one who, in the preceding part of the psalm, had employed the language of distress and almost of despair, now inspired with the confidence necessary for commending the whole Church to the care of God? How comes it about, may we not ask, that one who so narrowly escaped destruction himself, should now appear as a guide to conduct others to salvation? In this we have a striking proof, that, provided we obtain reconciliation with God, we may not only expect to be inspired with confidence in praying for our own salvation, but may hope to be admitted as intercessors in behalf of others, and even to be advanced to the higher honor still, of commending into the hands of God the glory of the Redeemer’s kingdom.
(273) We have already considered Horsley’s first objection, founded on the fourth verse, to the authenticity of the title of this psalm. His second and only other objection rests on the 18 verse. He thinks that the prayer, “Build thou the walls of Jerusalem,” is more applicable to the time of the Babylonish captivity than to the time of David; and to the former period he refers the psalm. Calmet and Mudge are of the same opinion. Some learned Jewish interpreters, while they assign the psalm to the occasion mentioned in the title, conjecture that the 18 and 19 verses were added by some Jewish bard in the time of the Babylonish captivity. This opinion is also held by Venema, Green, Street, French and Skinner. There does not, however, seem to be any sufficient ground for referring the poem, either in whole or in part, to that period. Neither the walls of Jerusalem, nor the buildings of Zion, as the royal palace, and the magnificent structure of the temple, which we know David had already contemplated for the worship of God, (2Sa 7:1, etc.) were completed during his reign. This was only effected under the reign of his son Solomon, (1Kg 3:1.) The prayer, then, in the 18 verse, might have a particular reference to the completion of these buildings, and especially to the rearing of the temple, in which sacrifices of unprecedented magnitude were to be offered. David’s fears might easily suggest to him that his crimes might prevent the building of the temple which God had promised should be erected, (2Sa 7:13.) “The king forgets not,” observes Bishop Horne, “to ask mercy for his people, as well as for himself; that so neither his own nor their sins might prevent either the building and flourishing of the earthly Jerusalem, or, what was of infinitely greater importance, the promised blessing of Messiah, who was to descend from him, and to rear the walls of the New Jerusalem.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(18) Do good.The last two verses have occasioned much controversy. They do not fit in well with the theory of Davidic authorship, Theodoret long ago saying that they better suited the exiles in Babylon. They seem at first sight to contradict what has just been asserted of sacrifice. On both grounds they have been regarded as a liturgical addition, such as doubtless the compiler made, without any sense of infringement of the rights of authorship. On the other hand, it is not only these two verses which harmonise with the feelings of the restored exiles, but the whole psalm, and the contradiction in regard to the worth of sacrifices is only apparent. While vindicating spiritual religion, the psalmist no more abrogates ceremonies than the prophets do. As soon as their performance is possible they will be resumed.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
18. Do good unto Zion As a king he feels he has exposed his people and kingdom, no less than himself, to judgments, and these public calamities had been sternly foretold by Nathan. 2Sa 12:10-12. They must suffer with him; yea through their suffering the king more profoundly suffers.
Build the walls of Jerusalem A figurative expression for the prosperity and strength of the nation, and as a proof or symbol of the divine protection. See Psa 69:35. Or, it may be an allusion to the unfinished walls and fortifications in David’s time, which were completed in Solomon’s reign. 1Ki 3:1; 1Ki 9:15 ; 1Ki 9:19. It is not necessary to suppose these last two verses of the psalm to have been added by the returned exiles, much less that they are proof that the entire psalm was written at that date and by another hand than David’s. The word rendered “build” is never, in our version, translated rebuild, and seldom bears that sense. Hitherto David’s wars had been carried on in the enemy’s country, and it would be but natural that he should anticipate the possibility of a recoil of his foreign victories by an invasion that would test the strength of the fortifications of his capital. Having finished his penitential prayer for himself, and with his eye on the fiery denunciation of the prophet above alluded to, “the sword shall never depart from thy house,” his kingly heart turns to his people in prayer for their safety and the stability of his kingdom.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
A Prayer For The Prosperity of Jerusalem ( Psa 51:18 ).
The Psalm as it now stands ends with this prayer. It was possibly not a part of the original Psalm, (which was David’s written confession), but added when the Psalm became part of public worship. Although if David specifically wrote the Psalm with its use in public worship in mind, he could have included it at the beginning. It was a plea for God to protect Jerusalem, and prosper it, so that it would continue to offer up sacrifices and offerings, and sustain the worship of YHWH. The adding of it also made clear that Psa 51:16 was not repudiating sacrifices and offerings.
Many see it as added after Jerusalem had been destroyed by the Babylonians, when the walls needed to be totally rebuilt. But against such a suggestion is the thought that we might then have expected the prayer to be for the restoration of the Temple. Building the walls of Jerusalem was not at the time the first priority. The offering of offerings and sacrifices required an altar and a Temple rather than a walled city (Ezra 3). But the prayer for God to ‘build the walls of Jerusalem’ could refer to any time after a siege in which parts of the walls had been severely damaged, of which there were a number known to us. Or it could indeed refer to attempts to repair and improve the fortifications after the taking over of the fortress city from the Jebusites (the word for ‘build’ means more than just ‘repair’). We know specifically that such improvements took place in the time of Solomon (1Ki 3:1), and David, with that end in view, may well have established a liturgical prayer for that to prosper. That would then make Jerusalem safe from invaders and ensure continuation of the cult at the Tent set up by David to house the Ark. But it is impossible to be sure.
Psa 51:18-19
Do good in your good pleasure to Zion,
Build you the walls of Jerusalem.
Then will you delight in the sacrifices of righteousness,
In burnt-offering and in whole burnt-offering,
Then will they offer bullocks on your altar.
The Psalm, along with other Psalms of David, was probably taken over for public worship in the time of David when David expanded pubic worship in the way that the Chronicler describes. It would then become a Psalm of penitence through which the people expressed their penitence to God for their sins. It could well have been at this stage that this verse was added in order to make the Psalm more expressive of the prayers of the people, or it may be that David was writing the Psalm with public worship in mind from the beginning.
The call is for God to ‘do good’ to Jerusalem and ‘build’ its walls, so that it would prosper and be kept safe from its enemies. It could refer to any period from David onwards. And the aim was the safe and permanent establishment of the cult of YHWH within its walls. As a consequence of that security God would be able to delight in the sacrifices of righteousness, in burnt offering and whole burnt offering, with bullocks being offered on YHWH’s altar, i.e. the one set up in Jerusalem.
‘The sacrifices of righteousness’ may well have been called that in contrast with the sacrifices that had previously been offered up by the Jebusite priesthood. They were seen as false sacrifices. This would then point to it having been written in the time of David. Or it may refer to the restoring of the untainted cult after the Exile, the ‘sacrifices of righteousness’, offered in purity of worship, being distinguished from the tainted sacrifices offered before the Exile. The ‘burnt offering’ (the ‘going up offering’) had in mind the time when the sacrifice was being offered up as offerings which ‘go up’. The ‘whole burnt offering’ (the ‘completed’ or ‘wholly consumed’ offering) then indicated the time when the burnt offering was wholly consumed. The one would result in the other. Burnt offerings were offered daily in the Tabernacle and the Temple, and the process would be continual. As one burnt offering was finally consumed, another would replace it. Worship was continual. Or there may have been a technical difference between ‘burnt offerings’ and ‘whole burnt offerings’ (both are technical terms for ‘whole offerings’ in the Hebrew but the latter is only used in respect of offerings on behalf of priests – Lev 6:22-23).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Psa 51:18-19. Do good in thy good pleasure, &c. It has been observed, that this and the next verse seem plainly to shew this Psalm to have been written during the captivity, and therefore the title to be wrong; and that when the Psalm was penned, God could not accept any offering, because the temple and altar were destroyed; but there seems little weight in these observations. The inscriptions to the Psalms are very ancient, and all the versions agree in referring this Psalm to David and the affair of Uriah; nor could any thing be more suitable to his circumstances than this composition throughout. As to the objection brought from the words, build thou the walls of Jerusalem, there is no strength in it: when David made it the place of his residence, he greatly enlarged and fortified it, that it might be safe against the attacks of the neighbouring nations: these works must require a considerable time to carry them on; and as, probably, they were not yet finished, he prays that, though he was unworthy of being prospered by God in this great undertaking, of rendering Mount Sion and Jerusalem secure by the fortifications with which he intended to encompass it, yet that God would prosper, according to his good pleasure, Sion, and enable him to build up the walls of Jerusalem, till he had fully completed them. Or if these walls were actually completed, David might pray with great propriety that God would build them, that is, defend and protect them; uphold and preserve them in safety: for in this sense the word banah, to build, is frequently used. See Pro 14:1.; Psa 2:4. What is further added, that God could not accept any offering, because the temple and altar were destroyed, is without any foundation; because there is not one word mentioned about the temple, nor the destruction of the altar; and the reason why God would accept no sacrifice, was, not because there was no altar, but because God had appointed no sacrifice for adultery and murder; which could be expiated no otherwise than by the death of the offender. But as God had by his peculiar mercy remitted the sentence of death, the Psalmist adds, that if God would graciously favour Sion, enable him to finish the walls of Jerusalem, and establish the safety of the city by his protection; Then shalt thou be pleased with sacrifices of righteousness; i.e. such sacrifices as God had appointed by the law; offered on such occasions, and for such ends, as God himself had prescribed, in opposition to those which he had just before declared God would not accept. Had David offered sacrifices of propitiation for his adultery and murder, they would have been illegal, unwarrantable, impious sacrifices, and not sacrifices of righteousness. The whole burnt offerings frequently consisted of bullocks, Lev 1:5. These, the Psalmist adds, should ascend to his altar, as some render the word; or, as our version, They shall offer bullocks upon thine altar. The words are capable of both versions, and the sense in each is nearly the same. He seems to refer principally to the peace or thank-offerings, which, when made by pious men, according to God’s prescription, could not fail of being acceptable to him. Chandler. Though the notes on this very important and useful Psalm have extended to a greater length than we commonly allow, I cannot withhold the following observations, in conclusion, from Dr. Delaney; who remarks, that as this Psalm was directed to the chief musician, it was, without doubt, publicly sung in the tabernacle in the presence of all the people; the king himself attending and prostrate before the throne of mercy. “It is surely matter,” says he, “of uncommon curiosity to contemplate David in this condition. Behold the greatest monarch of the earth thus humbled for his sins before God! confessing his shame with contrition and confusion of face! calling out for mercy, and imploring pardon, in the presence of his meanest subjects! There is something in such an image of penitence, more fitted to strike the soul with a dread and abhorrence of guilt, than it is possible to express: something more edifying, more adapted to the human infirmities, and more powerful to reform them, than the most perfect example of unsinning obedience; especially, if the supplications and petitions he pours out to God be thoroughly suited to the solemnity of the occasion, and condition of the penitent; as they undoubtedly are in this Psalm. Here the penitent humbly and earnestly begs for mercy;he acknowledges his sin, and his innate depravity, the source of it; he begs to be renewed in the grace of God, and in that health, which the horror of his wickedness had impaired. Above all, he earnestly beseeches God, not to cast him off, nor deliver him up to a reprobate sense. Cast me not away from thy presence:Take not thy holy spirit from me:O give me the comfort of thy help again:Deliver me from blood-guiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation! In one word, the soul of shame, of sorrow, of remorse, of sincere repentance, and bitter anguish under the agonies of guilt, breathes strong and fervent through every line of this hallowed composition. And it is, I doubt not, David’s greatest consolation at this moment, when he blesses God for the providential effects of his fall, that those crimes which wrought his shame, and sorrow, and infamy, have, in the humility, the piety, the contrition of confessing them, in this and several other Psalms, composed upon the same occasion, rescued and reformed millions.”
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Observe how the interests of Zion still lay near David’s heart. This was the most solemn moment David had ever seen, when one might have thought his own personal sorrows would have swallowed up the consideration of every other. But no: he remembers Zion in his saddest seasons as well as in his greatest joy. Reader, how ought you and I to feel for Zion in her present languishing circumstances?
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 51:18 Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem.
Ver. 18. Do good in thy good pleasure unto Sion ] Having made his own peace with God, he now prayeth for the Church: and the rather, because by his foul sins he had hazarded, or rather exposed, both Zion and Jerusalem, Church and State, to divine displeasure. Delirant reges, plectuntur Achivi.
Build thou the walls of Jerusalem
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Psa 51:18-19
18By Your favor do good to Zion;
Build the walls of Jerusalem.
19Then You will delight in righteous sacrifices,
In burnt offering and whole burnt offering;
Then young bulls will be offered on Your altar.
Psa 51:18-19 The Psalm closes with a seemingly separate thought. There is an unexpected switch from an individual to a national prayer for God’s blessing (do good, BDB 405, KB 408, Hiphil imperative) on Jerusalem. The prayer implies that Jerusalem had problems.
1. build her walls
2. restore her sacrificial system
Many commentators have used Psa 51:16 to depreciate sacrifice, but because of Ps. 51:23, it is best to see it as emphasizing the difference between intentional and unintentional sin.
Also notice that at no time would these two verses fit David’s life. There is no MSS evidence they were added after the compositions or compilation of the Psalm.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
This is a study guide commentary which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.
These discussion questions are provided to help you think through the major issues of this section of the book. They are meant to be thought provoking, not definitive.
1. The psalmist gives two reasons for God to be gracious to him. What are they and why are they significant?
2. List the different words used to describe forgiveness in this Psalm.
3. Explain Psa 51:4 in your own words.
4. What does Psa 51:5 mean in an OT setting?
5. Does God take the Holy Spirit away from sinners?
6. Explain Psa 51:16-17’s relationship to Psa 51:19. Explain the difference between an intentional sin and an unintentional sin in relation to the sacrificial system.
7. How is Psa 51:18-19 related to the rest of the Psalm?
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Zion. See App-68. If verses: Psa 51:18, Psa 51:19 are a later addition, then they were probably the work of Hezekiah in his editing the Psalms as well as the Proverbs, when the Psalm was handed over for public use. See App-67. But David was “a prophet” (Act 2:30, Act 2:31).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Psa 51:18-19
Psa 51:18-19
INTERCESSION FOR JERUSALEM
“Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion:
Built thou the walls of Jerusalem.
Then wilt thou delight in the sacrifices of righteousness,
In burnt-offering and whole burnt-offering:
Then will they offer bullocks upon thine altar.”
For no good reason whatever, some scholars have denied the Davidic authorship of this psalm, declaring it to have been written in the days of Nehemiah, during the period of the “rebuilding” of the walls of Jerusalem. But this psalm says absolutely nothing about rebuilding Jerusalem’s walls. What God is petitioned here to do is to build, not rebuild the walls; and the reference is to the actual building of the walls of Jerusalem, then under way, which task was accomplished by David. Josephus has this:
“Now David made buildings around the lower city (of Jerusalem), then joined the citadel to it, and made it one body; and when he had encompassed all with walls, he appointed Joab to take care of them.
“The words of David’s prayer here do not ask God to build up what had been thrown down, but to go on and finish building what David was then in the act of building. The wall finished by Solomon around Jerusalem (1Ki 3:1) can be regarded as an answer to David’s prayer.
David’s prayer is unselfish in this that he did not cease until he had interceded upon behalf of Jerusalem and God’s Israel, praying that the Lord would do them good, and that he would complete the building of the wall then under way.
E.M. Zerr:
Psa 51:18. This is an exhortation addressed to himself. David means that he should accompany the confession of Psa 51:17 with practical acts of service to Zion.
Psa 51:19. Then means that after showing his faith (penitence) by his works, he could consistently resume the animal sacrifices on the altar in Jerusalem.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Do: Psa 25:22, Psa 102:16, Psa 122:6-9, Psa 137:5, Psa 137:6, Isa 62:1, Isa 62:6, Isa 62:7, Jer 51:50, 2Co 11:28, 2Co 11:29
thy: Luk 12:32, Eph 1:5, Eph 1:9, Phi 2:13, 2Th 1:11
build: Neh 2:17, Isa 58:12, Dan 9:25, Mic 7:11, Zec 2:5
Reciprocal: Deu 26:15 – bless thy 2Sa 5:7 – Zion 2Sa 15:14 – and smite 1Ki 9:15 – the wall Neh 2:12 – my God Neh 2:20 – memorial Psa 66:13 – go into Psa 69:35 – God Psa 102:13 – Thou Psa 118:27 – bind Psa 125:4 – Do good Psa 141:5 – for yet my Psa 147:2 – build Psa 147:13 – he hath Jer 31:4 – build Rev 21:12 – a wall
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Psa 51:18. Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion Hebrew, , birtzonecha, for, or according to, thy grace, favour, or pleasure That is, thy free and rich mercy, and thy gracious purpose and promise, made to and concerning thy church and people, here termed Zion. Build the walls of Jerusalem Perfect the walls and buildings of that city, and especially let the temple be built and established in it, notwithstanding my great sins whereby I have polluted it, which I pray thee to purge away. But he may also be understood as speaking figuratively in these words, and praying for the enlargement and establishment of Gods church, often meant by Jerusalem.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
51:18 Do good in thy good pleasure unto {p} Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem.
(p) He prays for the whole Church, because through his sin it was in danger of God’s judgment.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
5. Request for Israel’s prosperity 51:18-19
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
David extended his request for personal blessing to the nation under his authority. God had promised to protect David from death. He now asked the Lord to protect His people as well.