Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Psalms 51:11

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Psalms 51:11. Cast me not away from thy presence — Banish me not from thy house and ordinances.

Take not thy Holy Spirit from me. — I know I have sufficiently grieved it to justify its departure for ever, in consequence of which I should be consigned to the blackness of darkness, - either to utter despair, or to a hard heart and seared conscience; and so work iniquity with greediness, till I fell into the pit of perdition. While the Spirit stays, painfully convincing of sin, righteousness, and judgment, there is hope of salvation; when it departs, then the hope of redemption is gone. But while there his any godly sorrow, any feeling of regret for having sinned against God, any desire to seek mercy, then the case is not hopeless; for these things prove that the light of the Spirit is not withdrawn.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Psalms 51:0 David’s repentance

Having committed adultery with Bathsheba, David then arranged for her husband Uriah to be killed, so that he could take Bathsheba as a royal wife (2 Samuel 11:1-27). The prophet Nathan found out David’s sin, condemned him to his face, then pronounced God’s judgment upon him (2 Samuel 12:1-15). This psalm displays David’s deep sorrow as he confesses his sin to God.

David makes no excuses. He acknowledges his sin and realizes that he can do nothing to receive forgiveness, except cast himself on the unfailing mercy of God (1-2). His wrongdoing has been not merely against a fellow human being but also against the holy God. It is the fruit of a human nature that from birth has been infected by sin (3-5). In the Israelite ceremony for restoring a cleansed leper, a brush made of hyssop was used to sprinkle him with sacrificial blood, and his body was washed with pure water. David refers to this ceremony as he asks God for cleansing from his sin. Once cleansed, he wants to be restored to a life of joy and gladness (6-9; cf. Leviticus 14:1-9).

What David fears most is to be separated from God. He therefore asks God for a new heart, one that is free of sin, so that he might enjoy God’s presence and obey God’s law as he ought (10-12). In gratitude for such merciful forgiveness he will never cease to praise God, and will always tell people of the salvation God offers to those who turn from their sin (13-15).
The Israelite religious system had no category of sacrifices for deliberate sins such as adultery and murder. Even if it had, David knows that God desires a humble and repentant spirit more than ritual sacrifices. The only thing David can do is come to God in his sorrow, and in a spirit of genuine repentance ask humbly for mercy (16-17).
Because David was king, his sin had dragged his country down with him. He therefore prays that his country also might be restored to God and enjoy God’s blessing afresh (18-19).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

THE PRAYER FOR RENEWAL

"Create in me a clean heart, O God; And renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; And take not thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; And uphold me with a willing spirit. Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; And sinners shall be converted unto thee."

"Create in me a clean heart" Here is the Old Testament anticipation of the New Testament doctrine of the New Birth. "If anyone be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things have passed away; all things are become new" (2 Corinthians 5:17). This means: `O God, do more than forgive me, more than purify me, more than cleanse me; create in me a clean new heart that I may truly serve thee.'

"Cast me not away from thy presence" It seems that David here may have remembered God's casting away King Saul, and that this is a plea that a similar fate may not be executed upon David, a fate which he nevertheless feels that he deserves.

"Take not thy Holy Spirit from me" We know that David indeed was in possession of the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit inspired him in writing the Psalms, as Jesus himself testified (Matthew 22:43). The New Testament speaks of several things that men may do to the Holy Spirit. (1) They can resist Him; (2) they can grieve him; (3) they can lie to Him; (4) they can insult Him; and (5) they can quench Him (1 Thessalonians 5:19). Certainly the conduct of David regarding Bathsheba was a grief to the Holy Spirit.

"Restore… the joy of salvation" This verse teaches that although David had once enjoyed salvation, his sins had resulted in his having lost it. What a tragic desolation it is for any child of God to lose the joy of God's service because of the cancer of sin in his heart.

"Then will I teach transgressors thy ways" In this, it appears that David already anticipates the joys of God's forgiveness and restoration, therefore vowing to teach others the way of life and to bring sinners to God.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

Cast me not away from thy presence - That is, Do not reject me, or cast me off entirely; do not abandon me; do not leave me in my sin and sorrow. The language is derived from the idea that true happiness is to be found in the “presence” of God, and that to be exiled from him is misery. Compare Psalms 16:11, note; Psalms 31:20, note. See also Psalms 140:13.

And take not thy holy Spirit from me - It is not certain that David understood by the phrase “thy Holy Spirit” precisely what is now denoted by it as referring to the third person of the Trinity. The language, as used by him, would denote some influence coming from God producing holiness, “as if” God breathed his own spirit, or his own self, into the soul. The language, however, is appropriate to be used in the higher and more definite sense in which it is now employed, as denoting that sacred Spirit - the Holy Spirit - by whom the heart is renewed, and by whom comfort is imparted to the soul. It is not necessary to suppose that the inspired writers of the Old Testament had a full and complete comprehension of the meaning of the words which they employed, or that they appreciated all that their words might properly convey, or the fullness of signification in which they might be properly used in the times of the Gospel. Compare the notes at 1 Peter 1:10-12. The language used here by David - “take not” - implies that he had been formerly in possession of that which he now sought. There was still in his heart that which might be regarded as the work of the Spirit of God; and he earnestly prayed that that might not be wholly taken away on account of his sin, or that he might not be entirely abandoned to despair.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Shall we turn now in our Bibles to Psalms 51:1-19 .

David is surely one of the most outstanding characters of the Old Testament. He was greatly hated and greatly loved. He had the capacity to inspire tremendous emotions in people, on both ends of the spectrum. He is always talking about his enemies that are trying to do him in. But yet, there was a great number of people who really followed David with a great devotion. David was called a man after God's own heart. And this appellation was given to David, not because he was sinless, but because his heart was always open towards God. Pliable. God could work with David. God could deal with him. When David was wrong, God could deal with him. Inasmuch as none of us are sinless too, it is important that God is able to deal with us when we are in our faults, when we are in our sins, that we be open to the dealings of God.

The fifty-first psalm has as its background God's dealing with David concerning his sin. For David, one day while on his roof, which over there they have flat roofs, and they have their gardens and couches and hammocks and all out on their roofs. As he was walking on his rooftop, he spied over on a neighboring roof a beautiful lady bathing. And the lust of David's flesh got the better of him. He sent a message to her to come on over. She responded, and as the result of their encounter, she became pregnant. David tried to cover it by having her husband come home from the service for a while. But he did not cooperate in that he did not go home to be with his wife during his leave of absence from active duty. So David compounded his sin of adultery by ordering Joab to put the fellow in the place of jeopardy in the battle where he would be sure to be killed. And as a result, he was put to death by the enemy.

And at this time, Nathan the prophet came to David with a parable in which David was the character, only in a different setting. "David, there is a man in your kingdom, very wealthy, had all kinds of sheep and goods, possessions, servants. And next door to him there lived a very poor man who had only one lamb. He loved it like his own daughter. It ate at his own table. The rich man had company come. He ordered his servants to by force go to his neighbor's house and take away the lamb by force that they might kill it and feed it to his company." David became angry, and he said to Nathan, "That man shall surely be put to death." And Nathan pointed his finger at David and said, "David, you are the man."

The application was very clear. David had many wives, concubines, all that a person could desire. Yet, he took away the wife, the only wife of his neighbor. And upon hearing this, upon the sense of his own guilt, David wrote this fifty-first psalm in which he cries out for mercy. Mercy is not getting what you deserve. Justice is getting what you deserve. He's got it coming, that's justice. He has it coming; he doesn't get it, that's mercy. And David is crying out now to God for mercy.

Have mercy upon me, O God ( Psalms 51:1 ),

Not according to the fact that I am a good guy and I deserve it, but

according to your loving-kindness: according [to the abundance or] to the multitudes of thy tender mercies, blot out my transgressions ( Psalms 51:1 ).

David's prayer for forgiveness, casting himself upon the mercy of God. The Bible teaches us much about God's mercy. He declares that He is a merciful God; He will abundantly pardon. "According to the multitude of Thy tender mercies," David said, "blot out my transgressions."

Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me ( Psalms 51:2-3 ).

Now David was trying to hide his guilt, but yet, you can't hide it from yourself. And David speaks about his sin being, "ever before me. I am ever conscious of my guilt." You can't run from guilt, you can't hide from guilt. It is there.

David said, "I acknowledge my transgressions." Now you are on the road back. The Bible says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" ( 1 John 1:9 ). But I have to be honest with God. I have to confess my sin. I have to acknowledge my transgression if God is going to be able to deal with me. As long as I am trying to hide my sin, as long as I am trying to justify myself, and this is one of the things that we are constantly having to deal with in our own lives, is that endeavor to justify our actions. But there isn't forgiveness in justifying your actions. The forgiveness comes when you confess your transgressions. "I acknowledge my transgressions." Good. Now God can deal with it. But as long as you are trying to hide it, cover it, excuse it, God can't deal with it. So important that we be totally open and honest with God, in order that He might deal with the issues of our lives.

Then David said,

Against thee, and thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight ( Psalms 51:4 ):

God is the one who has established the law. Sin is against the holy law of God, the holy nature of God. Now, if we would look at this, it would seem to us that he had sinned against Uriah, the husband of Bathsheba. It would even seem that he sinned against Bathsheba, inviting her to this kind of a relationship. But David declares, "Against Thee, and Thee only have I sinned and done this evil in Thy sight."

Now, if David had been conscious of God and of the fact that God sees, if he had been more conscious of the presence of God, it could very well be that he never would have gotten into this. I think that one of the real problems that we have is our lack of the sense of God's presence with us. We forget that He's right there. Now, we oftentimes do things that suddenly we find that someone was there and watching, and we get so embarrassed because we thought that nobody knew us, or that nobody was watching. And when we suddenly find someone there.

I've had occasions in the past to have to make calls on the homes. And sometimes as I would be walking up to the door, I would hear all kinds of screaming and yelling in the house. And then, you know, you ring the doorbell and you hear a flurry of motion and all, and pretty soon the door is open and they see you and they just, you know. There have been times that I never rung the doorbell; I've just gone. I was too embarrassed. I didn't want to embarrass them. And you know, they say, "Oh, you know, we didn't know it was you." And start into all that kind of stuff. But you see, who am I? Man, I know what it is to yell and get angry. Who am I? What we need to realize is that God is there. "In Him we live and move and have our being," Paul said. We need to become more conscious of the fact that God is with us.

"Against Thee, and Thee only have I done this sin and this evil in Thy sight." God was watching. God knew all about it. David thought that he had cleverly covered his guilt. After all, Uriah has been killed in battle, so who is going to object to David taking a pretty young widow into his harem? After all, her husband was killed out fighting in one of David's wars. And David thought he had covered his tracks, but God saw. And when the prophet came to him and said, "David, you are the man," David realized that he had not hid anything from God. "I have done this evil in Your sight."

[in order] that you might be justified when you speak, and be clear when you judge ( Psalms 51:4 ).

Now David confesses, actually, the nature of sin.

Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, you desire truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden parts thou shalt make me to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean ( Psalms 51:5-7 ):

The hyssop was a little shrub that grows over there in the Holy Land and in Egypt, in those areas. And it was the little bush that they used to sprinkle the blood. When in Egypt they were to sprinkle the blood upon the lentils of the doorposts of the house, they used the hyssop bush in the sprinkling of the blood. And so, because it was the little bush that was used to sprinkle the blood, he said, "Purge me with hyssop." That would be referring to the blood of the sacrifice. "And I shall be clean."

wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow ( Psalms 51:7 ).

David's concept of God's total and complete forgiveness. And it is important that we also have that same concept of God's total and complete forgiveness. God said in Isaiah, "Come now, let us reason together, saith the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red as crimson, they shall be as white as wool" ( Isaiah 1:18 ). "Wash me, and I shall be as white as snow."

You know, there is nothing in all the world that can remove your guilt complex like just confessing to God and receiving the cleansing and the forgiveness from Him. Guilt complex is a weird thing. The guilt complex does create a subconscious desire for punishment. That subconscious desire for punishment is manifested in neurotic behavior patterns. The neurotic behavior patterns are designed to bring punishment to you. You start doing weird things. People start saying, "What is wrong with you? Why are you doing that? That is weird, man!" Well, I don't know why I am doing it, because it is a subconscious thing. I am feeling guilty over something, and I need to be punished. So I am going now into an abnormal behavior that is going to bring disapproval and punishment upon me. And I continue with this neurotic behavior pattern until someone really tells me what a nut I am, how weird, and how I belong ostracized from society or something. And I feel great because they have punished me and I feel the relief of my guilt. But there is nothing in the world like coming to God and letting Him wash you and He takes away completely that guilt complex that has been plaguing you.

David said,

Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O Lord ( Psalms 51:8-10 );

And here is the problem. David is getting right down to the issue, "O God, create a clean heart within me."

renew a right spirit within me ( Psalms 51:10 ).

How easy it is when we feel guilty to have a wrong spirit, a wrong attitude towards the saints of God, and towards God Himself. Because I am feeling guilty, I start sort of closing myself in, and my spirit gets wrong. But renew a right spirit within me.

Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy Holy Spirit from me ( Psalms 51:11 ).

"The wages of sin is death." Spiritual death--separation from God. "Cast me not away from Thy presence, O Lord. Remove not, or take not Thy Holy Spirit from me."

Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with a free Spirit [thy free Spirit] ( Psalms 51:12 ).

So the prayer for the restoring of the joy of salvation. It is amazing the way sin can just rob you. Unconfessed sin can just rob you of God's joy in your life. There are so many Christians who are borderline Christians. They try to live as close to the world and still be a Christian as they can, and they are always just trying to find out just how close that is. Always experimenting. Just living on the edge. Flirting with the other side. And they have the dilemma of having too much of Christ to be happy in the world, but too much of the world to be happy in Christ. "Restore unto me Lord, the joy of my salvation. And uphold me with Your free Spirit."

Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee ( Psalms 51:13 ).

In other words, once you have experienced the grace and the goodness of God, then you go out and share it with others. "I'll teach transgressors Thy ways."

Deliver me from blood guiltiness ( Psalms 51:14 ),

This is, no doubt, that being guilty of the blood of Uriah. Actually, David was a conspirator in his murder. Praying now forgiveness from that.

O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness. O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall show forth thy praise. For you don't desire a sacrifice; else I would give it: you don't delight in burnt offerings. But the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: and a broken and a contrite heart, O God, you will not despise ( Psalms 51:14-17 ).

What God really desires is only your being broken over your sin. God isn't asking or requiring sacrifice. "God, You don't want sacrifice, else I would give it. But what You really want is just a broken spirit."

Do good in your good pleasure unto Zion: build the walls of Jerusalem. Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with the burnt offering, with the whole burnt offering: and then shall they offer the bullocks upon your altar ( Psalms 51:18-19 ). "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Psalms 51

In this penitential individual lament psalm (cf. Psalms 6, 32, 38, 102, 130, , 143) David confessed the sins he committed against Bathsheba and Uriah. It is a model of confession that has become popular with God’s people. Since we all sin so often and need to confess frequently, this psalm is a help and comfort to us all.

Psalms 32 proposed the need to confess sin, and Psalms 51:5 of that poem is a brief statement of confession. But Psalms 51 moves closer to "the center of the crisis of alienation" [Note: Brueggemann, p. 98.] and gives us a model of confession. In it, David did not utter one word of excuse for the sins he had committed, nor did he seek to tone down the gravity of his offenses or blame others for what he had done. [Note: Armerding, p. 96.]

The title explains the situation out of which this psalm arose (2 Samuel 11).

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

3. Petition for restoration 51:7-12

David’s prayer for restoration included requests for God’s forgiveness (Psalms 51:7; Psalms 51:9), a renewal of his joy (Psalms 51:8), and a heart of wisdom and full restoration to divine favor (Psalms 51:10-12).

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Casting away from God’s presence implies a rejection as God’s servant. Saul had suffered such a fate for his continuing rebellion against Yahweh. In Old Testament times God gave His Holy Spirit selectively (to empower only some believers) and temporarily (primarily to empower them for special acts of service). Since the Day of Pentecost all believers enjoy the permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the Church Age (John 14:17; Romans 8:9). Consequently the possibility of God withdrawing His Spirit from David was a real one for him, but it is not for us. [Note: For further study of the ministry of the Holy Spirit in Old Testament times, see Walvoord, pp. 71-73; L. S. Chafer, Systematic Theology, 6:66-79; or Leon Wood, The Holy Spirit in the Old Testament.] It is possible that a Christian may lose his or her opportunities to serve the Lord, however (1 Corinthians 9:27). For example, a Christian who gets involved in gross sin will not lose his or her salvation (John 10:28-29), but he or she may lose the opportunity to serve God in a leadership capacity (cf. 1 Corinthians 9:27).

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Cast me not away from thy presence,.... As abominable; as a vessel in which he had no pleasure; with indignation and wrath; as one that is angry with another, cannot bear him in his sight, but bids him be gone from him. Nothing is more desirable to a child of God than the presence of God; and nothing gives him more sensible pain than his absence; and even to be deprived of or denied the means of enjoying his presence the word and ordinances, makes them very uneasy: to be utterly, and for ever deprived of it, is the case of the damned in hell, and is the punishment of loss they sustain; and, on the other hand, the happiness of the saints in heaven is to enjoy it without interruption. The people of God are never cast away from his favour, or out of his heart's love; but they may for a while be without his gracious presence, or not see his face, nor have the light of his countenance, nor sensible communion with him, which is here deprecated. David might call to mind the case of Cain, Genesis 4:14; or rather the more recent one of Saul, whom the Lord rejected, and from whom he departed upon his sinning, and which he might fear would be his case,

1 Samuel 28:15;

and take not thy Holy Spirit from me; or "the Spirit of thine holiness"; the third Person in the Trinity; so called, not because this epithet of "holy" is peculiar to him; for it is used also of the Father, and of the Son, John 17:11; but because he is equally holy with them, and is the author of holiness in his people, which is therefore called the sanctification of the Spirit, 1 Peter 1:2; and without whom David knew that purity and holiness of heart and spirit he had desired could not be renewed and increased in him; and therefore deprecates the taking of him away; which shows that he was not as yet removed from him, not with standing he had fallen into great sins; and his sense of sin, and confession of it, and his fervent application for pardoning grace, and purity of heart, abundantly prove it. The Spirit of God is a gift of his, which is without repentance, and where he once is as a spirit of regeneration and sanctification, he ever abides: his external gifts may be taken away; but internal grace is an incorruptible seed, and always continues. By sin the Spirit of God may be grieved, so as to withdraw his gracious influences, and his powerful operations may not be felt; and this is what is here deprecated. The Targum interprets this of the spirit of prophecy which David had, by which he composed psalms and songs prophetic of Christ, and of Gospel times, and which was not taken away from him; see 2 Samuel 23:1.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.   8 Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.   9 Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.   10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.   11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.   12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.   13 Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.

      I. See here what David prays for. Many excellent petitions he here puts up, to which if we do but add, "for Christ's sake," they are as evangelical as any other.

      1. He prays that God would cleanse him from his sins and the defilement he had contracted by them (Psalms 51:7; Psalms 51:7): "Purge me with hyssop; that is, pardon my sins, and let me know that they are pardoned, that I may be restored to those privileges which by sin I have forfeited and lost." The expression here alludes to a ceremonial distinction, that of cleansing the leper, or those that were unclean by the touch of a body by sprinkling water, or blood, or both upon them with a bunch of hyssop, by which they were, at length, discharged from the restraints they were laid under by their pollution. "Lord, let me be as well assured of my restoration to thy favour, and to the privilege of communion with thee, as they were thereby assured of their re-admission to their former privileges." But it is founded upon gospel-grace: Purge me with hyssop, that is, with the blood of Christ applied to my soul by a lively faith, as water of purification was sprinkled with a bunch of hyssop. It is the blood of Christ (which is therefore called the blood of sprinkling,Hebrews 12:24), that purges the conscience from dead works, from that guilt of sin and dread of God which shut us out of communion with him, as the touch of a dead body, under the law, shut a man out from the courts of God's house. If this blood of Christ, which cleanses from all sin, cleanse us from our sin, then we shall be clean indeed, Hebrews 10:2. If we be washed in this fountain opened, we shall be whiter than snow, not only acquitted but accepted; so those are that are justified. Isaiah 1:18, Though your sins have been as scarlet, they shall be white as snow.

      2. He prays that, his sins being pardoned, he might have the comfort of that pardon. He asks not to be comforted till first he is cleansed; but if sin, the bitter root of sorrow, be taken away, he can pray in faith, "Make me to hear joy and gladness (Psalms 51:8; Psalms 51:8), that is, let me have a well-grounded peace, of thy creating, thy speaking, so that the bones which thou hast broken by convictions and threatenings may rejoice, may not only be set again, and eased from the pain, but may be sensibly comforted, and, as the prophet speaks, may flourish as a herb." Note, (1.) The pain of a heart truly broken for sin may well be compared to that of a broken bone; and it is the same Spirit who as a Spirit of bondage smites and wounds and as a Spirit of adoption heals and binds up. (2.) The comfort and joy that arise from a sealed pardon to a penitent sinner are as refreshing as perfect ease from the most exquisite pain. (3.) It is God's work, not only to speak this joy and gladness, but to make us hear it and take the comfort of it. He earnestly desires that God would lift up the light of his countenance upon him, and so put gladness into his heart, that he would not only be reconciled to him, but, which is a further act of grace, let him know that he was so.

      3. He prays for a complete and effectual pardon. This is that which he is most earnest for as the foundation of his comfort (Psalms 51:9; Psalms 51:9): "Hide thy face from my sins, that is, be not provoked by them to deal with me as I deserve; they are ever before me, let them be cast behind thy back. Blot out all my iniquities out of the book of thy account; blot them out, as a cloud is blotted out and dispelled by the beams of the sun," Isaiah 44:22.

      4. He prays for sanctifying grace; and this every true penitent is as earnest for as for pardon and peace, Psalms 51:10; Psalms 51:10. He does not pray, "Lord, preserve me my reputation," as Saul, I have sinned, yet honour me before this people. No; his great concern is to get his corrupt nature changed: the sin he had been guilty of was, (1.) An evidence of its impurity, and therefore he prays, Create in me a clean heart, O God! He now saw, more than ever, what an unclean heart he had, and sadly laments it, but sees it is not in his own power to amend it, and therefore begs of God (whose prerogative it is to create) that he would create in him a clean heart. He only that made the heart can new-make it; and to his power nothing is impossible. He created the world by the word of his power as the God of nature, and it is by the word of his power as the God of grace that we are clean (John 15:3), that we are sanctified,John 17:17. (2.) It was the cause of its disorder, and undid much of the good work that had been wrought in him; and therefore he prays, "Lord, renew a right spirit within me; repair the decays of spiritual strength which this sin has been the cause of, and set me to rights again." Renew a constant spirit within me, so some. He had, in this matter, discovered much inconstancy and inconsistency with himself, and therefore he prays, "Lord, fix me for the time to come, that I may never in like manner depart from thee."

      5. He prays for the continuance of God's good-will towards him and the progress of his good work in him, Psalms 51:11; Psalms 51:11. (1.) That he might never be shut out from God's favour: "Cast me not away from thy presence, as one whom thou abhorrest and canst not endure to look upon." He prays that he might not be thrown out of God's protection, but that wherever he went, he might have the divine presence with him, might be under the guidance of his wisdom and in the custody of his power, and that he might not be forbidden communion with God: "Let me not be banished thy courts, but always have liberty of access to thee by prayer." He does not deprecate the temporal judgments which God by Nathan had threatened to bring upon him. "God's will be done; but, Lord, rebuke me no in thy wrath. If the sword come into my house never to depart from it, yet let me have a God to go to in my distresses, and all shall be well." (2.) That he might never be deprived of God's grace: Take not thy Holy Spirit from me. He knew he had by his sin grieved the Spirit and provoked him to with draw, and that because he also was flesh God might justly have said that his Spirit should no more strive with him nor work upon him, Genesis 6:3. This he dreads more than any thing. We are undone if God take his Holy Spirit from us. Saul was a sad instance of this. How exceedingly sinful, how exceedingly miserable, was he, when the Spirit of the Lord had departed from him! David knew it, and therefore begs thus earnestly: "Lord, whatever thou take from me, my children, my crown, my life, yet take not thy Holy Spirit from me" (see 2 Samuel 7:15), "but continue thy Holy Spirit with me, to perfect the work of my repentance, to prevent my relapse into sin, and to enable me to discharge my duty both as a prince and as a psalmist."

      6. He prays for the restoration of divine comforts and the perpetual communications of divine grace, Psalms 51:12; Psalms 51:12. David finds two ill effects of his sin:-- (1.) It had made him sad, and therefore he prays, Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation. A child of God knows no true nor solid joy but the joy of God's salvation, joy in God his Saviour and in the hope of eternal life. By wilful sin we forfeit this joy and deprive ourselves of it; our evidences cannot but be clouded and our hopes shaken. When we give ourselves so much cause to doubt of our interest in the salvation, how can we expect the joy of it? But, when we truly repent, we may pray and hope that God will restore to us those joys. Those that sow in penitential tears shall reap in the joys of God's salvation when the times of refreshing shall come. (2.) It had made him weak, and therefore he prays, "Uphold me with the free Spirit: I am ready to fall, either into sin or into despair; Lord, sustain me; my own spirit" (though the spirit of a man will go far towards the sustaining of his infirmity) "is not sufficient; if I be left to myself, I shall certainly sink; therefore uphold me with thy Spirit, let him counterwork the evil spirit that would cast me down from my excellency. Thy Spirit is a free spirit, a free gent himself, working freely" (and that makes those free whom he works upon, for where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty)--"thy ingenuous princely Spirit." He was conscious to himself of having acted, in the matter of Uriah, very disingenuously and unlike a prince; his behaviour was base and paltry: "Lord," says he, "let thy Spirit inspire my soul with noble and generous principles, that I may always act as becomes me." A free spirit will be a firm and fixed spirit, and will uphold us. The more cheerful we are in our duty the more constant we shall be to it.

      II. See what David here promises, Psalms 51:13; Psalms 51:13. Observe,

      1. What good work he promises to do: I will teach transgressors thy ways. David had been himself a transgressor, and therefore could speak experimentally to transgressors, and resolves, having himself found mercy with God in the way of repentance, to teach others God's ways, that is, (1.) Our way to God by repentance; he would teach others that had sinned to take the same course that he had taken, to humble themselves, to confess their sins, and seek God's face; and, (2.) God's way towards us in pardoning mercy; how ready he is to receive those that return to him. He taught the former by his own example, for the direction of sinners in repenting; he taught the latter by his own experience, for their encouragement. By this psalm he is, and will be to the world's end, teaching transgressors, telling them what God had done for his soul. Note, Penitents should be preachers. Solomon was so, and blessed Paul.

      2. What good effect he promises himself from his doing this: "Sinners shall be converted unto thee, and shall neither persist in their wanderings from thee, nor despair of finding mercy in their returns to thee." The great thing to be aimed at in teaching transgressors is their conversion to God; that is a happy point gained, and happy are those that are instrumental to contribute towards it, James 5:20.