Last Updated on July 9, 2021 by Pastor Ikechukwu Chinedum
Today we will be exploring Psalm 51 meaning verse by verse and we trust that the holy spirit will help us do justice to this scripture. Just before we commence, let us pray. Our heavenly father, we exalt you for this wonderful moment that you have bestowed on us to see a great day like this, we thank you because you have been our shield and buckler, may your name be exalted. Lord, as we are going into your word, we pray that the holy spirit will minister your word to us in the name of Jesus. We put ourselves under the leading of the holy ghost, we ask that you will teach us and break things down for us in the name of Jesus. Father, at the end, do not let this word stand against us, instead through it, let us be liberated from the power of sin in the name of Jesus.
Have mercy upon me, O God,
According to Your lovingkindness;
According to the multitude of Your tender mercies,
Blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
And cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions,
And my sin is always before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned,
And done this evil in Your sight—
That You may be found just when You speak,
And blameless when You judge. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
And in sin my mother conceived me. Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts,
And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me hear joy and gladness,
That the bones You have broken may rejoice. Hide Your face from my sins,
And blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,
And uphold me by Your generous Spirit. Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,
And sinners shall be converted to You. Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
The God of my salvation,
And my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips,
And my mouth shall show forth Your praise. For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it;
You do not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart—
These, O God, You will not despise. Do good in Your good pleasure to Zion;
Build the walls of Jerusalem. Then You shall be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness,
With burnt offering and whole burnt offering;
Then they shall offer bulls on Your altar.
Psalm 51 speaks volume of someone who have been wallowing in the toxic of sin for long. Someone whose life and existence has been marred by the power of sin. This Psalm speak volume of someone who desire righteousness in it raw form, someone who doesn’t see himself as a worthy person before God. This Psalm reflect the life of someone begging God for mercy.
For better understanding, let’s analyse this book of Psalm in verses.
Have mercy upon me, O God,
According to Your lovingkindness;
According to the multitude of Your tender mercies,
Blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
And cleanse me from my sin.
This first few verses of the scripture reflect the life of someone pleading for mercy. Have mercy upon me according to your lovingkindness, according to the multitude of your tender mercies. The mercy of the lord is unending. The book of Psalm 136 says give thanks to the lord for He is good and His mercy endure forever. The mercy of the lord have no ending.
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The second verse depict that only God is capable of washing away our sin through the blood of His only begotten Son Jesus Christ. It is the blood of Christ that is sufficient to wash away out iniquities. This verse recognises that nothing else can wash away the sin of man except God.
For I acknowledge my transgressions,
And my sin is always before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned,
And done this evil in Your sight—
That You may be found just when You speak, And blameless when You judge.
The scripture says in the book of proverbs, he that hide his sin shall perish but he that confess and forsake them shall find mercy. The first step towards getting forgiveness is by acknowledging that you have sinned. Our sin is before God and against Him have we all sinned.
God is fair and just. He doesn’t punish or reprimand people for doing nothing. That you be found just when you speak and blameless when you judge.
This is to emphasize the fact that we inherit sin from our parents, just like the world inherited sin from the first man Adam. Even the womb that bears a child for nine month is contaminated and filled with sin. The book of Romans says for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
God takes delight in truth even in the inward part. This means our genuinity should not be a public thing alone, we should be genuine and real with our confessions even when no one is watching.
Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me hear joy and gladness,
That the bones You have broken may rejoice. Hide Your face from my sins,
And blot out all my iniquities.
Until there is a purging, there is no cleansing. Meanwhile, the hyssop means the blood of Jesus. Nothing else can wash away our sin but the blood of Jesus. Nothing can makes us whiter than the snow except the blood of Jesus.
When we are purged by the blood of Christ we become a new creation and old things are passed away. The face of the of lord will be hidden from our sin as they have been washed by the precious blood of Christ.
Do not cast me away from Your presence,
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,
And uphold me by Your generous Spirit. Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners shall be converted to You.
When the load of sin is too much in the life of a man, such a person will be cast away. This is because the eyes of the lord is too righteous to behold sin. Saul began to have problem when he deep his hands into sin. The spirit of God was with Saul, but when sin entered, the spirit of the lord vacated his life and he was tormented by an evil spirit.
Uphold me with your generous spirit here means uphold me with your holy spirit. The scripture says when the power that raised Christ from the dead dwells in you, it will quicken your mortal body. Our body needs to be strengthened by the power of the holy spirit.
Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
The God of my salvation,
And my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips,
And my mouth shall show forth Your praise.
When we are weighed down by the power of sin, most times what the devil do is bring guilt into our heart. This guilt will even stop us from pursuing salvation in Christ Jesus because we feel the load of our sin is too much than what God can forgive.
This was what happened to Judas Iscariot. He was consumed by guilt of what he has done and at the end, instead of him to seek forgiveness, he took his own life.
For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it;
You do not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart—
These, O God, You will not despise.
Gone are the days when God take delight in burnt offering. The blood of the ram or bullock is not precious anymore. There is a blood that is more precious than the blood of ram or bullock, it is the blood of Jesus.
The scripture says the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, broken and a contrite heart God will not despise. This means, when we beg God for forgiveness, we must have a broken heart, an heart that feel sober for the evil that has been committed and a genuine repentance must follow. These are the sacrifices that God take delight in, remember the scripture says God doesn’t want the death of sinner, but repentance through Christ Jesus.
Do good in Your good pleasure to Zion;
Build the walls of Jerusalem. Then You shall be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness,
With burnt offering and whole burnt offering;
Then they shall offer bulls on Your altar.
This is a plea to God not to hinder good things in our life because of sin. There are times that sin stop the manifestation of God’s glory in the life of a man. This portion of the Psalm is pleading that God should do good in his pleasure to Zion.
Your life is the Zion, you career, education, marriage, relationship and everything that concern you is the Zion. The sacrifice that you will offer on the altar of the Lord is Thanksgiving.
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