Notes on the Book of Psalms, Psalm 51
The li. PSALM.
David having long lain unsensibly under the guilt and power of the sins of murder and adulterie, by Nathan sent from God his conscience being awakened, in this penitentiall Psalm, he cries out for pardon and grace, in his wofull condition under the intollerable torment of his sin, which God he acknowledgeth hath justly arraigned him for, and brought to light by his own confession forced from him, and justifies all those fearfull judgements denounced, which after befell him, of ravishment, rebellion, fratricide, and Incest, in his own house and family. And that Gods people may not stumble at his fall, he confesseth the seeds of all sin to be in him by nature, and that they may not sin in censuring, advertiseth them, notwithstanding, of his sincerity, is not out of hope, but falls to prayer for the righteousness of Christ, joy of the holy Ghost, Sanctification and Iustification; iterating his requests of these kinds, particularly prayes, that his bloud-guiltiness may be pardoned, and that bloud-shed threatned may be averted, shewing also why he fl…w not upon sacrifices, as others; because he kn…w it was faith and repentance that God valued more. And for fear his sins being so publick a person might also turn the indignation of God against his people and ordinances, he prayes the contrary, and that God would perfect his gracious purpose concerning the building of the Temple, foretelling by way of argument or motive, the acceptable service that then would be done him.
A Psalm directed to the present Quire for the ordering of it, Psalm li. To the chief musician, A Psalm of David, when Nathan the Prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bath-sheba.whereof David is both the Authour, and the Argument, publickly declaring his repentance, and godly sorrow for his adultery with Bath-sheba, and the murder of her husband Uriah, after that Nathan the Prophet had awakened his conscience with a message from God.
1 I dare not plead propriety in thee,1HAve mercy upon me, O God, ac…ording to thy loving kindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blo… out my transgressions. nor relation to thee, having deservedly forfeited both, by my many and hainous transgressions against thee, for which I deserve to have no mercy. But since thou hast spared me all this while that I have lain in sin, and hast not cut me off for my transgression, but graciously sent thy messenger to warn me of it, and awaken me out of this sleep of death. I am emboldened to make mine addresses to thee, O God, in humble confession, and supplication, and to beg pardon of thee for no other reason nor motives, but onelyonly thine own free grace sake, which hath been always exceeding great towards me, and so I doubt not to find it still, so that though my sins be as it were impardonable for their number and nature, yet mercy and tender-heartedness to a poor penitent wretch as I am, does every whit as much abound in thee; let me have the experience as well as the knowledge of this, in the forgiveness of these my sins, and blotting them out of the book of thy remembrance, though written in black and bloudy characters.
2Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.2 The filthiness that I have contracted, needs not onelyonly legall but spirituall and evangelicall washings, the guilt that is upon my conscience, and the trouble of spirit that I am under is not easily removed, the bloud and water, the merit and spirit of the Messiah is it alone that applied by infinite grace can cure my malady, and render me acceptable again in thy sight, vouchsafe it me therefore, and that in such a proportion for my justification and sanctification, as my guilt and pollution stands in need of.
3For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.3 For though I have a long time loved, and lived in this grievous sin, which the Prophet from thee hath admonished me of, without sense or sorrow, or once confessing or deprecating it, yet now the case is altered, I hate it, and my self for it, and confess it in all its aggravations, and complicate iniquities as adultery, drunkenness, treachery, murder, rebellion against thee, and what ever can be justly laid to my charge, I own them, know I am guilty of them, and confess them all to my shame, both to thee, and in the face of all thy people. For so incessant, and extream are the horrors of my conscience, by reason of these fearfull crimes that evermore stare me in the face, that I must and will cry out against my self, and be incessant in confession, and supplication, untill I be reconciled, and mercy obtained.
4 The injury and wrong I have done to man in this my sin,4Against thee, thee onelyonly have I sinned, and done this evil in thy light: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, & be clear when thou judgest. my conscience hath dispensed with it, and never budged at it, I so ordered the matter that neither shame nor blame befell me all this while, though contrary to my duty of justice and protection, I had my will on Bath-sheba and murdered Uriah, but so cunningly, that none knew it, nor mine own conscience never accused me of it, nay it hath much pleased me to think how cleanly I have com… off in this business, and made account I should still have done so, never considering that thou wast concerned in it, which now I find to my cost and unspeakable grief, so that though Uriah be dead, and so is not alive to accuse me, and Bath-sheba I have taken her to wife, and so she is reconciled to me, and that my ranck exempts me from the ordinary proces at law, yet am not I acquit, but now thou, thou, O Lord, hast waged law against me in mine own conscience, made it thy tribunall, and as a thousand witnesses, so that I need no accusers, mine own confession shall serve the turn to condemn me, though I am quit at all other bars, and free from all other testimonies, yet do I hold up my hand at thine, confess the fact and cry guilty before thee, and against thee, who hath taken me to task and art both witness and judge, for thou hast seen all my base miscarriages from first to last, as now I plainly perceive, and therefore however hitherto, I have concealed my sin, and none accused me, yet now do I publish this execrable and horrible fact before all Israel, and confess I have deserved all that thou hast denounced against me by thy Prophet for it, and that thou art just in those thy fearfull comminations touching me and mine house, which run parallell with mine offences, and so also shalt thou be, when they actually come to pass, and are executed, how formidable and strange so ever they may then appear unto beholders, and differing to those promises of grace and favour thou hast made to me, and my seed, which (notwithstanding my sin, and these thy just judgements) thou knowest how, and certainly wilt perform in grace, and faithfulness, though I have deservedly forfeited them.
5Behold, I am shapen in iniquity: and in sin did my mother conceive me.5 And how ever it may seem strange that a man so extraordinarily blessed by thee & peculiarly favoured of thee, should fall so fouly, as I have done; for this, I would have all men know that stumble at it, that its no such marvell rightly considered, for wherein I differ from others, it is thy grace and not my goodness that is the cause of it, for the self-same nature and disposition to sin, yea, to all and any sin, be it never so prodigious, is in me that is in the worst of men, as I have made it too evident, for I inherit and have growing in me that bitter root of originall pravity that successively is derived from Adam to all his posterity, which hath been fruitfull in me all my life long, the Lord be gracious to me, and pardon, and weaken it in me more and more.
6Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.6 Were I no other than nature hath formed me, I should neither have acceptance nor favour from thee, but as bad as I am, and would have thy people know it to my humbling and their warning, yet withall I would have them know, that grace and sinfull nature is consistent together, so that though they do condemn me for sin, yet not of insincerity, the root of the matter may be and is in me, for all this: as thou art gracious to pass by many and great sins, and to own such a sinner for thy servant if thou seest an upright heart, and a sanctified disposition in him towards thee, so I would have them to be charitable, and to pass (though a just) yet not a rash and finall sentence upon me; for thou both hast, and for all this, out of the abundant riches of thy grace wilt yet further instruct me in the way of life and salvation, to attain unto it, by faith in the righteousness of another, though I have none of mine own to trust in, or to boast of.
7 But what ever men think of me,7Purge me with hysope, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. and how ever I stand in their good opinion, yet my hearts desire is to be received again into thy favour, which I know is possible, notwithstanding my estate seems desperate. The bloud of Christ who shall be sacrificed for penitent believing sinners, and now is of virtue and use to such in his types, being by grace through faith sprinkled upon me, and his righteousness afresh imputed to me, which the Lord grant, is able to render me clean in thy sight, so all-sufficient and meritorious is the bloud of this thy Son and and my Saviour, that if thou wilt but wash me in it, for all the filthiness I have contracted, I shall in the sight of God by this supernaturall emundation, exceed the purity of any creature whatsoever in the eyes of man.
8Make me to hear joy and gladness: that the bones which thou hast broken, may rejoyce.8 As thou hast sent me a sad message of thy heavy displeasure, and threatned me with sore judgements, and laid my sin terribly home to my conscience, which hath fetched confession and contrition from me; so now Lord, that thou hast humbled and broken my secure and impenitent heart, and cast me into such deep sorrows, vouchsafe to change the temper of my spirit; and by thine, speak a reviving effectuall word of grace and reconciliation to my soul, assure me of the pardon of my sin, and mine acceptance into favour, that I may therein rejoyce, notwithstanding the sad things that are like to befall mine outward man, and that justly.
9Hide thy face from my …; and blot out all mine iniquities.9 And that thou maiest do this, Lord interpose the righteousness of Christ betwixt thine eyes and my sins, look at that and not at them; Let no one of all my many transgressions remain upon my score unpardoned, for the bloud of Christ is as well able to do away all as any, and till then I shall never be at quiet.
10Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.10 Nor do I desire as hypocrits and unsincere professors do, thy pardoning without thy purging grace, it is thy justifying grace indeed that I earnestly sue for, but not without thy sanctifying. My course of sinning hath quite put my soul out of frame, I am as if I never had been regenerated, corruption hath so broken in upon all my faculties, and born down all my graces, that it hath and doth, and is like still to bear sway, and grace never to get the better again, if thy power do not interpose. O therefore, good Lord, begin the work of sanctification again in me, kindle again those sparks of grace▪ that he almost quite smothered, breathe the breath of life into them, that sin and corruption may take its turn to die; above all, free me from the bondage of lustfull concupiscencce, that hath been so predominant, and hath precipitated me into so many hideous sins subservient to it, give me a spirit of holiness for time to come, specially a pure spirit, and such an one as may be firm for God, and not drawn aside as mine hath been, but able to resist temptations.
11 My sins (as I well deserve they should) have separated betwixt me and my God,11Cast me not away from thy pr… sence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. the sense of thy love and favour that I was wont to feel in the actings of my faith and other graces is now extinct, and I am as a banished man from thy presence, without communion and fellowship, but, Lord, have compassion upon this my disconsolate condition, smile out upon my spirit in the renewed sense of thy loving-kindness, and be not for ever strange to me, nor take not quite away the spirit of grace and adoption from me, but in mercy restore me to mine interest in thee, and relation to thee, and to those active graces that accompany these.
12 Grant me that which I cannot live without,12Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation: and uphold me with thy free spirit. though I have deservedly lost it by my sins, yet return it to me graciously, to wit, the comfortable assurance of my salvation by thy grace, that my heart may once more tast of those joyes and sweet apprehensions which formerly shoon bright in my soul, but now are miserably eclipsed, and let me not sink deeper and deeper into sin and sorrow, but by thy spirit of adoption and liberty, which can onelyonly rescue me from the power and bondage of sin, and make me to run the wayes of thy commandments, underprop my decaying comforts and graces.
13 If thou wilt thus befriend me,13Then will I teach transgressors thy ways, and sinners shall be converted unto thee. it shall not onelyonly engage me personally to thee, but I will so declare thy grace out of mine own experience, in zeal to the glory of it, that who ever are burdened with the heavy pressure of their sins as I am, I will instruct them what way they shall take to come out of that bondage, to be thy freemen and servants, and will incourage them in it by mine own success, when I am converted, I will strengthen my brethren, and doubt not but thy grace to me, and restauration of me into favour, will be a means to convert and save many a sinner besides my self, that weighs with himself, and finds upon divine record, what mountainous sins of mine thy mercy hath removed out of the way.
14Deliver me from bloud-guiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteous…14 The sins I confess are exceeding capitall which I have committed, specially that of murdering Uriah, and the rest that died with him by that design of mine, for which I deserve capitall punishment, even bloud for bloud, but in thine infinite mercy pardon this grievous guilt, and bring not the guilt of the bloud of others yet further upon me also, which thou hast threatned shall be shed in punishment of that which I have shed already. In this, O God, thou God that hast promised salvation to thy servant (in which I cannot chuse but hope) hear me, revoke thy sentence, and reverse this judgement, for thy mercy sake; so will I lift up my voice with joy and thankfulness, and in songs of praise will extoll thy righteousness, thou art as well faithfull to pardon, and shew mercy, as just to punish.
15O Lord, open thou my lips, and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.15 O that thou that art the Sovereign Lord of heaven and earth, to whom both liberty of pardon, and power of punishment doth belong, wouldst hear me in this, and give me thereby occasion, and withall renew my power as thy pen-man and Prophet, to celebrate thy praise, and publish the worth of such a mercy in Psalms and songs.
16 For to promise thee legall sacrifices of Bulls and Goats &c. Especially to expiate such sins as these are,16For thou desirest not sacrifice, else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt-offering. were but vain, it is not that will give thee content, else would I give thee store of them, and think my pardon a cheap purchase, but in this case it is neither one kind of such sacrifices, nor other that will please thee, or profit me.
17 That sacrifice which is in stead of all other,17The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. is, when a poor sinner is grieved at the very soul for his sin against so good a God, and so himself becomes a morall and spirituall sacrifice burnt and torn in the spirit of his mind, with the anguish he conceives for his disobedience and ingratitude, he that with a false-condemning, self-crucifying, and sin-mortifying heart, humbly and yet believingly makes out for mercy and pardon in the bloud of Christ; this, this is the man, and thats the sacrifice that God expects, accepts, and makes great account of.
18 Lord however thou beest pleased to do by me,18Do good in thy good pleasure unto Sion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem. yet bring not evil upon thy people, nor upon thy worship or the place thereof for my sins sake, who have cause to fear the destruction of all by my means: but for thine own sake, thy Christ and covenant sake, still take pleasure in thy people and ordinances, though thou hast none in me, to continue gracious and benevolent to them, and let not Jerusalem fare the worse for my transgressions committed in her, but go on still to preserve her and perfect her beauty according to thy designment, and gracious ingagement touching her, the emblem of thy Church.
19Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt-offering and whole burnt-offering: then shall they offer Bullocks upon thine altar.19 And then when thou hast compleated all thine Evangelicall ordinances, graces, and priviledges, in their types, in that glorious structure of the Temple, and the ceremonies exercised therein, then shall the sacrifices be offered to thee with more understanding, and clear discerning of their Gospel-sense and meaning, when the Church is triumphant, which now under me is militant, and then shall sacrifices so offered in the representation, and faithfull application of Christ crucified for sin, and accompanied with a suitable spirit of repentance and godly sorrow be right acceptable to thee; sacrifices of every kind thus offered, as then they shall be, O how will they please thee: That shall be a time of wonderfull praise, and plenty of peace-offerings shall be offered with right glad hearts upon thine altar. O let this time come, and let it receive no interruption by mine unworthiness.