10 Observations From Psalms 51

The Psalms are God's beautiful reminder that quite often life without Him involves sadness, confusion and despair. The book also reminds us that sometimes, even with Him, life is hard and we don't have all the answers. The Psalms help us pour out our souls in complete dependence on Jesus Christ, and at the same time they invite us to trust His heart, even when we can't see His hand. For our good. For His glory. ​

​Psalms 51 is no exception. It does all this, and more. ​

"Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your steadfast love; according to Your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.... 

Against You, You only, have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You may be justified in Your words and blameless in Your judgment.

​Behold, You delight in truth in the inward being, and You teach me wisdom in the secret heart. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that You have broken rejoice. Hide Your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.

Cast me not away from Your presence, and take not Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners will return to You.

Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of Your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare Your praise. For You will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; You will not be pleased with a burnt offering.

​The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise." Psalms 51:1-17

When the prophet Nathan came to David in 2 Samuel 12, David was a broken man. David had committed adultery with Bathsheba and arranged to have her husband Uriah killed in battle. He was broken before Nathan, broken before the people of Israel and broken before God. In all his brokenness David writes Psalm 51.

10 observations from Psalms 51:

1. God's steadfast love and abundant mercy (51:1)
2. Let the bones that You [God] have broken rejoice (51:8)
3. Create in me a clean heart (51:10)
4. Renew a right spirit in me (51:10)
5. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation (51:12)
6. Uphold me (51:12)
7. My tongue will sing aloud of Your righteousness (51:14)
8. My mouth will declare Your praise (51:15)
9. Broken spirit (51:17)
10. Broken and contrite heart (51:17)

In verse 8 David writes, "...let the bones that You have broken rejoice." Some times our brokenness comes directly from God, other times it's allowed by God. God can use our wrong choices to become brokenness in a way that gets our attention. Brokenness can be His way of producing growth in our spiritual lives, and His way of making us more like Him. 

In verse 10 David asks God to "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me." Shouldn't this be our prayer every morning? He continues in verse 12 by asking God to restore and uphold him. Again, a beautiful prayer in the midst of David's beautiful song.

Then in verses 14 and 15 David launches into a spirit of praise. "...my tongue will sing aloud of Your righteousness...my mouth will declare Your praise." And he ends his song with the truths he learned. We find the lesson and the takeaway in verse 17. "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart...."

All this, not from a perfect man. Not from a man without a past. But from a man after God's own heart.

​Friend, you may be struggling today with a past. Some thing or things that satan keeps bringing up to make you feel inadequate as a Christian.

If this is where you are, cling to David's song in Psalms 51. Cling to the steadfast love and abundant mercy of our God! Hold tight to His promises. Rejoice in your brokenness as David rejoiced in his. Petition God for a clean heart and renewed spirit. Praise Him with a song in your heart. Testify of His steadfast love and abundant mercy!

David begins his song with a testimony of God's steadfast love and abundant mercy. Over 127 times in Psalms he writes of God's steadfast love, but only twice does he mention His abundant mercy. David writes of God's abundant mercy in this passage and in Psalms 69:16, "Answer me, O Lord, for Your steadfast love is good; according to Your abundant mercy..." I'm so thankful for His abundant mercy in my life! ​

​In Acts 13:22 David is called "...a man after my [God] heart, who will do all My will." In part, David was a man after God's heart because he not only wrote but understood Psalm 51:6-7.

"Behold, You delight in truth in the inward being, and You teach me wisdom in the secret heart. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." Psalm 51:6-7

When I read David's song in Psalm 51 I am reminded that we serve a God of second chances. What a beautiful reminder!

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The past, living there requires a tremendous cost. There's the "What ifs?" that plague our minds. The "wishing I'd done this and not that." Satan loves for us to go there. He likes it when we campout there, set up shop there, build a residence there. It's one of the simplest tools in his toolbox to distract us from the good in the present.

If you find yourself living in the past, checkout B-17 and the Tremendous Cost of Living in the Past and remember, that's not where God wants us to live!

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"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever. Give thanks to the God of heaven, for His steadfast love endures forever." Psalm 136:1, 26 

...for His steadfast love endures forever" (Psalm 136:26). How have you seen this play out in your life?