28 July 2024 // Psalm 51: 13-19 Part 2
SCRIPTURAL APPLICATION: Read Psalm 51:13-19
SERMON REVIEW:
The Life He Would Now Live vs. 13-15
Teach transgressors
Pray to His Father
Sing of His righteousness
Preach/Declare – His praise
The Lesson He Would Never Forget vs. 16-19
God’s dissatisfaction with what we offer
Routine, Ceremonial, repeated, meaningless sacrifice
God’s delight in who we are
Broken Spirit
Broken Heart
Contrite Heart
QUESTIONS:
BACKGROUND:
With what consummate skill Nathan the prophet laid his approaches to David’s soul. David’s sin with Bathsheba and his murder of Uriah were already a year old. We have evidence from several of the psalms that his private sufferings were considerable, but David had not publicly acknowledged his sin. He simply sat on his throne in Jerusalem brazening out the whole thing.
Then Nathan had come with his story about a poor man’s lamb, stolen by a rich man to provide a feast for a passing guest. David had reacted instantly to that tale of injustice. He had sworn to take the miscreant’s life and make him repay the stolen lamb fourfold. “Thou art the man!” Nathan had said when David was done.
The sword was at David’s throat before David even knew Nathan had a sword. Down off his throne came the king. The fountains of the deep in his soul were broken. The pent-up passions of remorse, shame, guilt, and anxiety were released in a flood of tears. With his heart still pounding in his breast David wrote Psalm 51, the fourth and, in many ways, the greatest of the seven penitential psalms.[1]
DIGGING DEEPER:
51:14–17. Humble worship
The enormity of his sin continues to horrify David. He has none of the glibness of Isaiah’s contemporaries, who were oblivious of the blood on their praying hands (Isa. 1:15), and had never wrestled with the realities of worship (Isa. 1:11). For bloodguiltiness the Hebrew has ‘blood(s)’; hence the possible alternatives, ‘death’ (rsv mg., jb) or ‘bloodshed’ (neb). But these alternatives seem too self-regarding to match David’s contrition. Nowhere in this psalm is he concerned to escape the material consequences of his sins: it is the guilt of them that burdens him. Even deliverance is too narrow a word: in reality he wants to praise God’s ‘righteousness’ (14c, lit.; Heb. 16), whose crowning work is to make the sinner himself righteous (cf. 6ff.).
15. In the light of verse 14b, the prayer open thou my lips is no mere formula but the cry of one whose conscience has shamed him into silence. He longs to worship freely, gratefully again; and he believes that by the grace of God he will. Seen in its true setting, this heartfelt, humble plea leads the worshipper in one step from confession to the brink of praise.[2]
51:13–17. A contrite heart
The psalmist then indicates the positive outcomes that will flow from his forgiveness. As a forgiven sinner, he can appeal to other sinners to turn back from their wayward life and restore their relationship with God. Further, he can join the throng who offer praise to God. We should note that he does mention a particular sin here, one of bloodshed, which conceivably reflects the death of Uriah in the event that motivated the composition of this prayer in the first place.
Verses 16–17 offer some difficulties of interpretation. On the surface, it seems to say that God does not want animal sacrifices. If he did, then the psalmist would bring one. Instead of animal sacrifice, God desires a broken and contrite heart, that is, a heart saddened by sin and ready to disown it and turn away from it.
The difficulty arises because such a statement seems to put the psalmist at odds not only with other parts of the Old Testament (e.g. Lev. 1–7), but with the final verse of this psalm. While some pit this psalm (and other similar statements [see Ps. 50:8–13; Isa. 66:1–4; Mic. 6:6–7]) against priestly theology, it is better to see yet another case of hyperbole that also indicates what is really important to God. The whole Bible is united in the idea that sacrificial ritual in and of itself does not effect restoration of relationship with God. Rather, the sacrifice of an animal must reflect a heartfelt acknowledgment that the sinner deserves the death experienced by the animal.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. What does it mean to have a "broken and contrite heart," and how can you cultivate such a heart?
2. How does David's intention to teach others God's ways inspire you in your interactions with others
3. How can Psalm 51 shape the way you approach confession and repentance?
4. What does Psalm 51 teach us about the right attitude towards our own sins?
5. How does this Psalm inspire you to change your approach to worship?
PRAYER:
[1] John Phillips, Exploring Psalms 1–88: An Expository Commentary, vol. 1, The John Phillips Commentary Series (Kregel Publications; WORDsearch Corp., 2009), Ps 51.
[2] Derek Kidner, Psalms 1–72: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 15, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1973), 211.
SERMON REVIEW:
The Life He Would Now Live vs. 13-15
Teach transgressors
Pray to His Father
Sing of His righteousness
Preach/Declare – His praise
The Lesson He Would Never Forget vs. 16-19
God’s dissatisfaction with what we offer
Routine, Ceremonial, repeated, meaningless sacrifice
God’s delight in who we are
Broken Spirit
Broken Heart
Contrite Heart
QUESTIONS:
- What did the message teach me about God/Jesus/Holy Spirit?
- What did the message teach me about the human condition?
- Is there anything I need to confess, repent, or be grateful for, because of this passage?
- How do I need help in believing and applying this scripture to my life?
- How can I encourage others with this passage?
BACKGROUND:
With what consummate skill Nathan the prophet laid his approaches to David’s soul. David’s sin with Bathsheba and his murder of Uriah were already a year old. We have evidence from several of the psalms that his private sufferings were considerable, but David had not publicly acknowledged his sin. He simply sat on his throne in Jerusalem brazening out the whole thing.
Then Nathan had come with his story about a poor man’s lamb, stolen by a rich man to provide a feast for a passing guest. David had reacted instantly to that tale of injustice. He had sworn to take the miscreant’s life and make him repay the stolen lamb fourfold. “Thou art the man!” Nathan had said when David was done.
The sword was at David’s throat before David even knew Nathan had a sword. Down off his throne came the king. The fountains of the deep in his soul were broken. The pent-up passions of remorse, shame, guilt, and anxiety were released in a flood of tears. With his heart still pounding in his breast David wrote Psalm 51, the fourth and, in many ways, the greatest of the seven penitential psalms.[1]
DIGGING DEEPER:
51:14–17. Humble worship
The enormity of his sin continues to horrify David. He has none of the glibness of Isaiah’s contemporaries, who were oblivious of the blood on their praying hands (Isa. 1:15), and had never wrestled with the realities of worship (Isa. 1:11). For bloodguiltiness the Hebrew has ‘blood(s)’; hence the possible alternatives, ‘death’ (rsv mg., jb) or ‘bloodshed’ (neb). But these alternatives seem too self-regarding to match David’s contrition. Nowhere in this psalm is he concerned to escape the material consequences of his sins: it is the guilt of them that burdens him. Even deliverance is too narrow a word: in reality he wants to praise God’s ‘righteousness’ (14c, lit.; Heb. 16), whose crowning work is to make the sinner himself righteous (cf. 6ff.).
15. In the light of verse 14b, the prayer open thou my lips is no mere formula but the cry of one whose conscience has shamed him into silence. He longs to worship freely, gratefully again; and he believes that by the grace of God he will. Seen in its true setting, this heartfelt, humble plea leads the worshipper in one step from confession to the brink of praise.[2]
51:13–17. A contrite heart
The psalmist then indicates the positive outcomes that will flow from his forgiveness. As a forgiven sinner, he can appeal to other sinners to turn back from their wayward life and restore their relationship with God. Further, he can join the throng who offer praise to God. We should note that he does mention a particular sin here, one of bloodshed, which conceivably reflects the death of Uriah in the event that motivated the composition of this prayer in the first place.
Verses 16–17 offer some difficulties of interpretation. On the surface, it seems to say that God does not want animal sacrifices. If he did, then the psalmist would bring one. Instead of animal sacrifice, God desires a broken and contrite heart, that is, a heart saddened by sin and ready to disown it and turn away from it.
The difficulty arises because such a statement seems to put the psalmist at odds not only with other parts of the Old Testament (e.g. Lev. 1–7), but with the final verse of this psalm. While some pit this psalm (and other similar statements [see Ps. 50:8–13; Isa. 66:1–4; Mic. 6:6–7]) against priestly theology, it is better to see yet another case of hyperbole that also indicates what is really important to God. The whole Bible is united in the idea that sacrificial ritual in and of itself does not effect restoration of relationship with God. Rather, the sacrifice of an animal must reflect a heartfelt acknowledgment that the sinner deserves the death experienced by the animal.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. What does it mean to have a "broken and contrite heart," and how can you cultivate such a heart?
2. How does David's intention to teach others God's ways inspire you in your interactions with others
3. How can Psalm 51 shape the way you approach confession and repentance?
4. What does Psalm 51 teach us about the right attitude towards our own sins?
5. How does this Psalm inspire you to change your approach to worship?
PRAYER:
[1] John Phillips, Exploring Psalms 1–88: An Expository Commentary, vol. 1, The John Phillips Commentary Series (Kregel Publications; WORDsearch Corp., 2009), Ps 51.
[2] Derek Kidner, Psalms 1–72: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 15, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1973), 211.