Psalms 51:13

_THEN WILL I TEACH TRANSGRESSORS THY WAYS; AND SINNERS SHALL BE CONVERTED UNTO THEE._ -He promises spiritual sacrifices of praise, and efforts for the conversion of other transgressors, as the fruit of his being restored to the joy of salvation. For though works do not justify, the justified man is sure to work. God works in the evidences of faith. So in Psalms 54:6, but especially in the parallel psalm, he passes from his own blessedness in experienced pardon to 'teaching others God's way' of peace,-namely, God pardoning all who heartily confess their sins (Psalms 32:8). As here, in Psalms 51:1, he promises to do so, so in Psalms 32:1

13_I will teach transgressors thy ways _Here he speaks of the gratitude which he would feel should God answer his prayer, and engages to show it by exerting himself in effecting the conversion of others by his example. Those who have been mercifully recovered from their falls will feel inflamed by the common law of charity to extend a helping hand to their brethren; and in general, such as are partakers of the grace of God are constrained by religious principle, and regard for the divine glory, to desire that others should be brought into the participation of it. The sanguine manner in which he expresses his expectation of converting others is not unworthy of our notice. We are too apt to conclude that our attempts at reclaiming the ungodly are vain and ineffectual, and forget that God is able to crown them with success....

7-15 Purge me with hyssop, with the blood of Christ applied to my soul by a lively faith, as the water of purification was sprinkled with a bunch of hyssop. The blood of Christ is called the blood of sprinkling, Hebrews 12:24. If this blood of Christ, which cleanses from all sin, cleanse us from our sin, then we shall be clean indeed, Hebrews 10:2. He asks not to be comforted, till he is first cleansed; if sin, the bitter root of sorrow, be taken away, he can pray in faith, Let me have a well-grounded peace, of thy creating, so that the bones broken by convictions may rejoice, may be comforted. Hide thy face from my sins; blot out all mine iniquities out of thy book; blot them out, as a cloud is blotted out and dispelled by the beams of the sun. And the believer desires renewal to holiness as much as the joy of...

Verse Psalms 51:13. THEN _WILL I TEACH TRANSGRESSORS_] I will show myself to be grateful; I will testify of thy loving-kindness; I will call on transgressors to consider the error of their ways; and shall set before them so forcibly thy _justice_ and _mercy_, that sinners shall be converted unto thee. With a little change I can adopt the language of Dr. _Delaney_ on this place: "Who can confide in his own strength, when he sees David fall? Who can despair of Divine mercy when he sees _him_ forgiven? Sad triumph of sin over all that is great or excellent in man! Glorious triumph of grace over all that is shameful and dreadful in sin!...

THEN WILL I TEACH TRANSGRESSORS THY WAYS - As an expression of gratitude, and as the result of his own painful experience. He would show them, from that experience, the evil and the bitterness of sin in itself; he would show them with what dreadful consequences sin must always be followed; he would show them the nature of true repentance; he would show them what was required in order that sin might be forgiven; he would encourage them to come to that God who had forgiven him. So the Saviour charged Peter, from his own bitter experience in having fallen under the power of temptation, to strengthen and encourage those who were struggling with the depravity of their own hearts, and who were in danger of falling: “And when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren,” Luke 22:32. AND SINNERS SHALL BE CONVERTED UNTO THEE - They

EXPOSITION THIS is the first of a series of fifteen psalms assigned by their titles to David, and mostly attached to special circumstances in his life, which are said to have furnished the occasions for their composition. The school of writers which brushes aside the "titles" as unauthorized and unhistorical, and so regards itself as wholly free to assign to any psalm any date and any author that it prefers, places this among post-Captivity compositions, especially on account of Psalms 51:18, Psalms 51:19 (so Professor Cheyne, Dr. Robertson Smith, the Four Friends, and others). Those, on the contrary, who consider the "titles" to be_ _entitled to regard and respect, even if not absolutely authoritative,_ _find either nothing in the psalm unsuitable to David's t

[THEN] WILL I TEACH TRANSGRESSORS THY WAYS,.... David was a prophet as well as a king; see Acts 2:30; and taught men the fear of the Lord, Psalms 34:11, and instructed them in his ways, as he here promises he would; by which are meant, either the ways which God prescribes and directs men to walk in, as the paths of faith, holiness, and truth, and the ways of his commandments; or which he himself has walked in; meaning not the ways of his providence, which are sometimes past finding out; but the ways of his grace, the steps and methods he has taken in the salvation of men, by forming the scheme of it, by choosing unto it, by making a covenant with his Son, and appointing him to effect it; and particularly his ways and methods in receiving and pardoning backsliders, when returned by repentance to him; and who may be

It is a Psalm, and therefore it is to be sung. It is dedicated to the chief Musician, and there is music in it, but it needs a trained ear to catch the harmony. The sinner with a broken heart will understand the language and also perceive the sweetness of it; but as for the proud and the self-righteous, they will say, « It is a melancholy dirge,» and turn away from it in disgust. There are times, to one under a sense of sin, when there is no music in the world like that of the 51 st Psalm, and it is music for the chief Musician, for «there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth; « and this is the Psalm of penitence, and there is joy in it, and it makes joy even to the chief Musician himself. Psalms 51:1. _Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions._...

Psalms 51 The Confession _ 1. Conviction and prayer for forgiveness (Psalms 51:1)_ 2. Prayer for cleansing and restoration (Psalms 51:9) 3. Blood guiltiness acknowledged (Psalms 51:14) 4. Prayer for Zion (Psalms 51:18) This great penitential Psalm, according to the inscription, was the outburst of confession and repentance of David when Nathan had uncovered his sin. Well has it been said, “So profound a conviction of sin, so deep and unfeigned a penitence, so true a confession, a heart so tender, so contrite, a de

LI. A PENITENTIAL PSALM. Psalms 51:1. Prayer for pardon and inward renewal. Psalms 51:13. A promise to proclaim God's mercy and bring sinners back to Him. Psalms 51:18 f. Prayer for the restoration of Jerusalem, which will make sacrifice possible and popular once more. The Ps. was not written by David, and still less by David after his double sin of murder and adultery. How could David have said, Against thee, thee only, have I sinned? Besides, the Ps. shows the influence of exilic and post-exilic literature. The mention of the Holy Spirit occurs here only and Isaiah 63:10 in the so-called Third Is