Psalms 51:8

Psa 51:8 Make me to hear joy and gladness; [that] the bones [which] thou hast broken may rejoice.

Ver. 8. Make me to hear joy and gladness] God will speak peace unto his people, he createth the fruit of the lips to be peace, Isa 57:19, &c. No such joyful tidings to a condemned person as that of a pardon. Be of good cheer, thy sins are forgiven thee. Feri, feri, Domine, nam a peccatis absolutus sum, said Luther. David’s adultery and murder had weakened his spiritual condition, and wiped off all his comforts; but now he begs to be restored by some good sermon or sweet promise set home to his poor soul.

That the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice] By leaping over God’s pale he had broken his bones; and fain he would be set right again, by a renewed righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost, by his former feelings of God’s favour.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Psa_51:8

For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.

Acknowledgment of transgression

I. The proposition. I acknowledge my transgressions, etc.

1. Simply and absolutely.

(1) Theres the mental acknowledgment in the mind, so as to own it. This was one thing which David here did, as an example to all other converts; he owned that iniquity which was in him. And theres two things more which belong to this--

(a) An acknowledgment of that to be sin which indeed is sin.

(b) An acknowledgment of his own interest in that sin. Now, the improvement which we may make of this observation to ourselves is, to meet with the miscarriage of most men in each particular. First,-theres a great deal of wilful blindness, from whence they will not acknowledge that to be sin, which indeed is so. And secondly, theres a great deal of pride and self-flattery, from whence they will not acknowledge themselves to be guilty of it.

(2) The second is verbal, in the mouth to confess it. Wherever there is a true owning to sin, there will be also an ingenuous confession (Psa_32:5). This is a practice which God requires of us upon a double consideration. First, in reference to Himself, as bringing honour and glory to Him, for so it does (Jos_7:19). By confession we give glory to God, and that in sundry particulars--in His omniscience, in His justice, in His power, and so of the rest. Now, because we do so, therefore confession is very pertinently required of us. Then secondly, also in reference to ourselves, in two particulars. First, as a disburdening of conscience. Secondly, as an engagement against sin for time to come.

2. The reduplication of it in these words: And my sin is ever before me. Now, this passage does express unto us the condition of a sinner at large; and it may admit of a threefold notion in which it holds good. Davids sin might be said to be before him three manner of ways.

(1) In a way of temptation; it is before me, so aa to provoke me and to allure me to evil.

(2) In a way of distraction; it is before me, so as to disturb me and hinder me in good.

(3) In a way of computation; it is before me, so as to accuse me and to condemn me for guilt.

II. The connexion. For.

1. Take it as an account of importunity. For I acknowledge, etc. The more any one sees his sin, the more will he be humbled for it, and sue to God for the forgiveness of it (2Sa_24:10; Psa_25:11). Look as it is in the body, the more a man is sensible of his sickness, the more will he look after his physician; even so it is also in the soul, the more a man sees these his spiritual distempers, the more will he beg the removing of them.

(1) It shows us the cause why so few there are in the world which do really mind such petitions as these are; or such practices as these are of humiliation, and begging of pardon; why, it is because they are not indeed sensible of the condition in which they are.

(2) It shows also what is the best and readiest course whereby to make either ourselves or others affected with sin, and to be brought to humiliation for it. And that is, by working in them a true sight and apprehension of it.

2. An argument for mercy on Gods part. As if he had said, Lord, it is time now for Thee to pardon me, for I acknowledge my trespassing against Thee. And so there is this in it, that where sin is most owned, it will be there soonest pardoned (Psa_32:5). That which God chiefly works at in us is, to bring down our stomachs, and to cause us to submit to Himself; now, when this is once done in us, then theres an end, and He has no more to say to us, but is ready to be friends with us. (Thomas Horton, D. D.)

Confession of sins

I. The person to whom we must confess is God. The Scribes and Pharisees, though they were corrupt in many things else, yet they held this for a truth, that none could forgive sins but God only (Mar_2:7). And this doth the Lord testify of Himself (Isa_45:35; 1Jn_1:9). Besides the precepts in the Word of God, there is recorded the repentance of Gods children, who have humbly acknowledged their sins before God as Manasses (2Ch_33:1-25.); David (2Sa_2:11); the Prodigal Son (Luk_15:1-32.). So true is that saying (Pro_28:18).

II. The manner in which we must confess our sins.

1. We must take heed that we do know our transgressions, the number of them, the greatness of them, the danger of them, how they make us most vile in the sight of God. Now, there is a twofold knowledge of our sin; first, general; second, special. General knowledge never worketh any reformation, for this is found in all men that can say they are sinners; but there is a special knowledge of sin which God will once discover unto us, either in mercy to our good and salvation, as here, to David, to Peter, to Mary Magdalen, etc., or else in wrath, as He did to Judas, Cain, Ahithophel, etc., to their final condemnation.

2. Our confession of our sins must proceed from sorrow of heart for them, with a hatred of them, so as nothing do more grieve us than our offences.

3. It must be frank and free, not wrung out by compulsion. We must be as forward and as ready to confess them to the glory of God, as we were to commit them to His dishonour (Psa_32:5).

4. We must confess our sins with purpose to forsake them (Isa_55:7). (S. Smith.)

Of the duty of confession

I. The necessity of this duty of confession.

1. Confession is a considerable part and branch of prayer (Dan_9:4; Dan_9:20; Ezr_10:1).

2. Gods glory is much advanced by our confession. He is most exalted in our abasements, and then are His wisdom, and goodness, and holiness, and other His attributes set forth to most advantage, when we humbly acknowledge our own vileness and wretchedness, and that which is the cause of both, our wickedness.

3. Our own interest is concerned in our confession, as that by which our pardon is procured (Psa_33:5). The readiest way for the cleansing and healing of a wound or ulcer is to lay it open, to search it to the bottom; to apply corrosives to the dead flesh, and fetch out all the putrefied matter: and so it is with a conscience galled with sin, which, by dissimulation and concealment, may palliate a cure, but not effectually work it without confession.

4. Confession is an evidence of true conversion, and without it there is no assurance of pardon.

5. It is a condition of the new covenant (1Jn_1:9). When we repent of our sins, and declare our penitence by a confession of them, then, and not till then, we may challenge pardon upon Gospel-terms; then, and not else, we may appeal to Gods faithfulness and justice, as He stands engaged by promise in that covenant to justice and to sanctify us, to forgive the guilt, and to release us from the penalty of our sins; to cleanse us from the filth, and to free us from the power and dominion of them. Otherwise those attributes of His, His truth and His righteousness, will oblige Him to condemn us with our sins, and to punish us for them, and not to accept us in them, or forgive them to us without confession.

6. It is a qualification which is to virtuate the sacraments themselves, and make them effectual to us. Now, the sacraments are seals of that covenant, whereby it it confirmed to us, and the benefits and advantages of it are derived and conveyed unto us in the pardon of our sins, and Gods gracious acceptance of us.

II. After what manner it may be performed, so as best to answer and make good those ends.

1. Let thy confession of thy sins be open, and free, and plain as thou canst make it, with a declaration of all the aggravating circumstances, without any disguise or extenuation; because thou hast to do with a God who sees the secrets and innermost retirements of thy hearts.

2. Let it be sincere, and in good earnest; such as may be accompanied with a hearty sorrow for Gods displeasure, which thy sins have procured thee; with a thorough shame for the turpitude of them that they have made thee odious to God, and scandalous to good men; with a perfect heart.

3. Let it be humble, ins prostrate adoration of God in all His gracious and glorious attributes and perfections; and in a due acknowledgment of thy own vileness and sinfulness, weakness and wickedness. (Adam Littleton, D. D.)

Mans sin

I. A mans sins are his in a sense that cannot be affirmed of anything else he calls his own. They are--

1. Generated by himself. He is the parent, they are his offspring.

2. Like himself. A sinful act is an outward expression of the unseen mind and heart. Hence we affirm he is--

3. Himself chargeable with the conesequences.

II. A man who is guilty of sin is ever annoyed by an enemy who confronts him. This is--

1. A grim fact. Illustrated by the upbraidings of conscience; the unbidden recollections of the past; the tyranny of habit; the force of example. This may be, to say the least of it, a source of--

2. Unrest for the present. It is torture for a man to be compelled to face his sins in this way, but it maybe a decided--

3. Advantage in the future. It makes a man feels his individual responsibility, and induces him to be reconciled to God.

III. The strength of a mans sin cannot be destroyed unless he will comply with the conditions of Divine salvation.

1. Confession.

2. Abandonment of sin.

3. Trust in Christ. His mission is to put away sin. (R. Hebron.)

My sin is ever before me.--

Davids repentance

I. David knew that he had sinned. He says, My sin is ever before me. It is seen not with the eyes in the head, but with those of the heart. No one could look at David and see his sin, but he could see it. And it had made his heart very bad and black, and whenever he looked down into it, it made him afraid. You have read of haunted houses; he was a haunted man. The murdered Uriah haunted him. He saw his face all ghastly, and his glazed eyes seemed to stare at him. And each time that he thought of his sin, his face turned red with shame, and a new pang of grief wrung his heart. His sin was like one of those portraits which, in whatever part of the room you may be, it seems to be always looking at you. No matter where he was, how he was employed, Davids sin was ever before him. If he took up his harp to sing a sad psalm, he saw stains of blood all over his fingers, and the harp only groaned, and he laid it down again. And you remember how Adam, after he had sinned, was afraid to meet the Lord, end hid himself. So David could not find any peace. The song of the birds, the leaves of the trees--all seemed to say to him, Thy sin, thy sin. Oh, what a hard and had thing it is to sin!

II. But David found the forgiving love of God as great as all his sin. For all the time he prayed to the Lord for pardon. He said that his tears were his meat day and night. He was constantly praying, Lord, wash me; cleanse me from my sin. God keeps a book of guilt, and David asked Him to blot out all his sin, just as you would like a pen run through a debt that you owed; And the Lord did pardon him, as He only could. Pilate washed his hands, but he could not wash his heart. Jesus can. And He will for us, if we come and ask Him. (T. Armitage, D. D.)

The reality of sin

1. There is no sort of palliation, no self-deception, no endeavour to equivocate, no attempt to excuse himself to himself, or to gloss over the heinous crime of which he has been guilty. See, on the other hand, how easy men find it to slide into the comfortable assurance that their own case is not so bad after all, that it admits of palliation, that they are no worse than their neighbours, no worse than other men of their own age, position, or calling, or that an equitable judgment must be pronounced over them, which shall take account of their whole lives, balancing the fancied good against the real evil. Now, one of the most fertile sources of this terrible hallucination is the want of a real, true sense of the reality of sin. This want may take various shapes and spring from various causes. We sometimes meet philosophical speculations which go to the practical denial of all moral evil. It is argued that man is a complicated piece of mechanism, an automaton, so to speak, which, placed in given circumstances, will inevitably produce ascertained results; or again, that what we call moral evil is incidental to an imperfect creature gradually struggling onwards and upwards to perfection, the growing pains which, in fact, belong to moral progress. But such theories are not only false to Christianity, but utterly subversive of common morality. Each class, men say, and each age and rank, have their temptations; it is not difficult to argue that the errors to which those who possess them are exposed beyond other men, are not merely innocent in them, but almost necessary to their position. The poor also have their temptations; for which men are always ready to plead their poverty, not merely as a palliation, which it may be, but as an excuse, which it is not. Two of the most common causes of this delusion are to be found in habituation to sin in others, or in habituation to it on our own part. On the one hand, it is very difficult to rise above the conventional standard of the country, class, or society in which we live. On the other, familiarity with evil deadens our sensitiveness to it; the conscience, which could once start back at its approach, as from a deadly reptile, becomes indifferent to it, and even ignorant of its existence.

2. But religion requires from us a conception of wrongdoing distinct from and beyond that which satisfies mere morality. These words, against Thee only, contain the kernel of the whole matter. Sin is always sin against God. It is wrong-doing regarded in its relation to God. If the word be otherwise used, it is improperly used. And so, evil-doing rises into the conception of sin when we regard God as a living personal God, not a vague abstraction, or a convenient name for the universe, but a real person. But men are tempted much to doubt this, and to resolve the idea of God into one of general laws. Or they persuade themselves, when the faith of the personal God cannot be set aside, that He is too great to notice such trifles as our sins. Or even if He do, has He not made us what we are? and at the worst we have done Him no wrong, though we may have to our fellow-man. But David in this psalm allows none of these pleas.

3. David does not simply confess his sinfulness, but his sin. He does not complain merely of the evil tendencies of a corrupt nature, but refers to a particular act of sin. Against Thee only have I sinned, and done this evil in Thy sight. And so, if our repentance is to be worth anything, it must not waste itself in generalities, it must deal with our sins in detail, it must pick out each sinful appetite, each fault of temper, each form of self-seeking (nay, so far as our memory will serve, every example of their several workings), and spread them all forth before the Lord, with an act of hearty renunciation. Yes, it must ever be not merely, I am a sinner, but, I have sinned; not only, I am evil, but, I have done this evil. (W. B. Jones, M. A.)

A penitential vision

I. It is in harmony with the Creators design. The fact that it is inevitable shows this--it is rendered inevitable--

1. By the proper exercise of the capacities of our own being. Conscience, memory.

2. By the true use of the Bible. A mirror, a judgment-seat,

3. By the spontaneous thought of God. For God is love, and what does such a thought so much as fall like the shining of a bright light upon all the dark spots of our life? And God is holy, and who can think of Him who is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity, and not see the guilt of his life before him?

4. By the cross of Christ.

II. It is essential to the correction of sin.

1. Not as a Nemesis. For such there could not be stronger consolation.

2. Not to leave them hopeless. Why?

(1) As something ever to deplore. As long as there is life there ought to be a broken spirit.

(2) As a beacon ever to warn. The vision of our guilt lets us see the rocks and quicksands where we made shipwreck of faith and a good conscience.

(3) As a fact ever to humble.

(4) As a condition ever to advance. (H. J. Martyn.)

Benefits from calling sins to account

1. It is a good means to prepare to true repentance and humiliation for them (Lam_3:40).

2. It is a special means to make us hate them, and dislike them, seeing the danger of them, how loathsome they be in Gods sight.

3. The remembrance of our sins makes us wary, that we fall not into them again; but our former falls make us to take heed of falling in time to come.

4. The remembrance of our sins makes us pity other men, because, though they fall dangerously, yet we know we have fallen as well as they, therefore we hope God will give unto them repentance.

5. The continual remembrance of our own sins puts us in mind of Gods mercy in the pardon of them; and when men calmly suffer their old sins to pass away and slip out of their minds, they will easily fall into new, and soon forget the mercy of God, and how much they are bound unto Him. Paul gives this excellent example, who, remembering how he had persecuted the Church, said, Notwithstanding God was merciful unto me, so that the continual remembrance of our sins puts us in mind of Gods merciful dealing with us, and must stir us up to thankfulness. (S. Smith.)

Think less of our virtues, more of our sins

Our tendency is to do the reverse of this, to think much of our virtues, and very little of our sins. This is natural, but not, therefore, good.

I. To think much of our virtues does not accord with the teaching of Christ (Luk_17:10). Our Lord intended thus to check in His disciples their over-estimation of their own merits. He discourages any opinion of our merit even in those who had the best pretensions to entertain it (Php_2:12), where fear and trembling are enjoined on Christians; the very opposite of all self-satisfaction. And ever in the New Testament the evangelical character is contrition. We are ever bidden repent.

II. And see how Paul (Php_3:1-21.) Renounces all trust in himself. In 1Co_15:1-58. he says, I am the least of the apostles, not worthy, etc. (1Ti_1:16).

III. Self-esteem is opposed to all gratitude to God for our redemption. Hence we are ever being told that we are all to grace, not of ourselves, lest, etc. Thus would God bend down and humble all sentiments of merit. (Archdeacon Paley.)

Further reasons for thinking more of our sins and less of our virtues

I. There is no occasion whatever to meditate upon our virtues. God will not forget them (Heb_6:10). We shall not make them any better by thinking of them. But it is not the same with our sins. Thinking on them may lead to effectual repentance, and so the sin of our conduct may, through Gods mercy in Christ, be done away. And we may be led thereby to make reparation, so far as we can, for the wrong we have done. And would we have the comfort of religion, it will not be by thinking on our good actions, but by conquering our sins. It is sin and nothing else which spoils our religious comfort. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace.

II. The custom of viewing our virtues tends to fill us with fallacious notions of our own state and condition.

III. Has an unfavourable effect upon our disposition towards other men (Luk_18:1-43.), the parable of the Pharisee and the Publican. Let our sins then be ever before us, as they well may be, for we all have many sins to think of. (Archdeacon Paley.)

The indebtedness of sin

My sin is ever before me. I desire to make this statement as general as possible, and not to confine it to the instance in which it was first uttered. In one sense no single thought or subject can be perpetually in a mans mind. Nobody needs to be told that. The stormiest heart has moments when the tempest is hushed. The most sorrowful life has moments or hours when the weight of the great sorrow is not present, and the man whose conscience is most deeply burdened with guilt has times of calmness and peace. We all know that. Still, My sin is ever before me, the penitent soul may say to itself; for I cannot throw off old memories, or be blind and deaf to inner warnings. I cannot help feeling the bitter effects of old errors and follies, of old habits and acts, which cast a dark shadow over my life, and remind me continually that it is I myself who have offended. There are some circumstances, however, which might seem to destroy this permanent sense of evil.

1. Repentance is one of these. One might suppose that if once a man heartily regretted a wrong act or course, it would cease in any sense of the word to be his. He has disowned it. Still, it is not possible to forget our identity with our former selves; it is not possible to think of what we were and of what we did without pain.

2. Again, it may be thought that the pardon of sin would destroy that perpetual bitterness of its remembrance, and that no man who had really been forgiven could say, My sin is ever before me. If God has forgiven, people may say, If He has, in the language of Scripture, cast our sins into the depths of the sea, why should we fret about them, as if they could be brought to the surface again and laid to our charge? It seems a logical enough argument, but, after all, it does not come to much; for human feeling and human remorse are not governed by figures of speech, such as the casting of sins into the depths of the sea.

3. There is still another circumstance which might seem to justify our forgetting or leaving out of view our sin, and that is when it has been visited with chastening or punishment. But if neither repentance nor pardon will remove it out of our memory or conscience, neither, finally, will punishment. There is a voice within us which whispers to us, after all our sufferings from our wrong-doing, that it has not ceased to be ours. Penalty for evil-speaking, has not taken away the spirit of uncharitableness and malice. My sin is ever before me is the voice of true contrition and humility. There is the deed, or crime, or course of sin ever before me. Repentance has not destroyed it; pardon, though it has brought consolation, has not destroyed it; nor can punishment blot out its bitter memories. (A. Watson, D. D.)

The prospect painful but salutary

Is that the prospect that is ever before our eyes and minds? Do we train ourselves to think habitually of our faults: our unworthiness; the foolish things we have often said; the hasty, silly, ill-set, conceited, false, unjust, sinful things we have often done? Or would it not be nearer the truth, in the case of many a man, if he were to say, My eminent abilities and deservings are ever before me; and it shall not be my fault if I do not bring them conspicuously before my fellow-men? And hence come discontent and ingratitude, envying and grieving at a neighbours good success; and undutiful murmuring at the appointments of Gods providence. Hence comes, too, a self-sufficient spirit far removed from humility. All this and more comes of our looking at our merits rather than at our sins. Look at the other side of the page, and see how the account stands against us as well as for us. Ah, if it were with us more, as it was with David; if we bethought ourselves, oftentimes, of our sins, our failings, our mistakes, our ill-deservings, we should be more humble, more thankful, more content, more earnestly desirous to fly to that Saviour in whom is all sufficiency, and help, and grace. To look back on our past history would effectually take us down from all high thoughts of ourselves; would keep us lowly; would lead us, in our utter helplessness, to the Redeemers feet! There are many things in Holy Scripture which teach us that however natural it may be, it is not a Christian disposition to be dwelling on our good doings and deservings. For example, our Lords command, When ye have done all . . . say, We are unprofitable servants. Pauls, to save sinners, of whom I am chief. And his charge to us, Work at your own salvation with fear and trembling. And now, let us think what good we may get through doing as David did, and having our sins ever before us. There is no doubt, the view is not a pleasant one. There is hardly anything that men like less than to be reminded by another of their sins, unless, indeed, it be in very general terms, which do not really touch the conscience. Yet things which are painful are sometimes profitable; and assuredly it is so here. First, it will make us humble to think habitually of the many foolish and wrong things we have done. The habitual contemplation of our sinfulness will also tend to make us thankful to God; to make us contented with our lot; to put down anything like envy in our hearts at the greater success and eminence of others. And now, let us think of something even better and more valuable as resulting from having our sin ever before us, than these things of which we have been thinking. To feel our sinfulness; to have our sins set before us, by Gods Spirit, in such a way that it will be impossible to help seeing them, and seeing them as bad as they really are, is the thing that wilt lead us to Christ; lead us to true repentance on account of our sins; and to a simple trust in Him who saves His people froth their sins. It is good for us to think of our sins. There is no need to think of our good deeds--if, indeed, we have many to think of; we cannot change them now. But to think of our sins may make a great difference upon them.:For though the deed remains, yet the sin may be blotted out by true repentance and justifying faith. To think of our merits, and dwell on them, is a mere piece of selfish gratification; but to think of our sins, and dwell upon them in a right spirit, may lead to the most precious practical results. What humble-minded, kindly, charitable, thankful, contented Christian people would all men be, if, to good purpose, they kept their sin ever before them. Therefore may God help us so to do. (A. K. H. Boyd, D. D.)

Sin: a soul-prospect

I. A very distressing one. Man can look at nothing more terrible.

II. Inevitable. As certain as the laws of nature bring us light, the laws of convenience and memory will bring up before the eye the hideous forms of sin.

III. Very salutary.

1. It humbles the soul.

2. To reconcile to painful providences.

3. To prepare for the Gospel, whose mission is to tell of Him who puts away sin. (Homilist.)

Sorrow for sin habitual

Sorrow for sin is habitual to the regenerate soul. It is mingled with all the exercises of faith in the atonement, and with all his hopes of future glory, The penitent does not wish to be freed from it, if he could be; but he cannot. He has an hourly remembrancer in his own bosom, while he feels that sin yet dwelleth in him. A continual consciousness of defect in his love to God, the constantly occurring temptations of the devil, the world, and the flesh, the failure of spirituality in all his thoughts, words and actions, remind him that he is a sinner, and often bring before his eyes his past transgressions in awful review. This keeps him humble, bows down his soul into the dust before God, and makes the name of Jesus precious to him. Like the sinful woman in the Gospel, he loves much, because much has been forgiven him. (T. Biddulph, M. A.)

Upon what condition a working conscience is a blessing

It is true in the general that a working conscience is a blessing; but it is only with this caution, that if it be hearkened to. It is possible for us to turn that which in itself is a blessing into a curse. As it is a blessing to have children, yet a man may make them no blessing by the neglect of education. It is a blessing to live under a faithful ministry, yet, through it, if a man be not a good hearer, he may increase his own judgment. It is a blessing to have a friend which, upon every occasion, is apt and ready to admonish; but yet, if a man be like the deaf adder, that stoppeth his ears, he shall but heap up wrath unto himself by that occasion. Look, as God dealeth with whole societies of men in taking away from them the benefit of a powerful ministry, when the same is not hearkened unto; so dealeth He with particular persons in striking a dumbness into the conscience when the voice thereof is not regarded. Thus, then, we are all here taught to take it as a blessing when the conscience shall faithfully present us with the most exact survey of our sins, and so accordingly to use it as a blessing. Be sure never to turn thine eyes from beholding that which thy conscience offereth to thy view; whatsoever thy conscience doth herein, it doth by authority and special commission from God, and as His deputy, and it deserves regard. I do not doubt but while David lived upon earth this particular sin was ever in his sight. What warrant or colour of reason to think that there went a day over Davids head, after Nathan had awaked him, in which he thought not upon this fact? what if thou have once or twice, upon the importunity of thy conscience, humbled thyself before the Lord; shall it be any hurt unto thee to renew thy repentance every day? Nay, know it, thy repentance is not sincere, nor unfeigned, if thou once comest to think that which thou hast done by way of repenting is sufficient. Oh, how happy and profitable shall it be for thee to be summoned to a continual reckoning! How will it avail thy soul and break thy heart! How will it season thee with humility! How will it quicken thee unto thankfulness to God, which hath freed thy soul from such a trespass! (S. Hieron.)

Psa_51:8-10

Make me to hear of joy and gladness, that the bones which Thou hast broken may rejoice.

The depression of believers

This is the language of David at a period of trouble. His soul was depressed. He was fully conscious of his sins, but he was not conscious of forgiveness. He pleads with God for pardon, and, sensible of indwelling sin, he pleads for deliverance from its dreadful power. We can readily perceive some reasons why such depressions of mind should sometimes exist.

1. There are many instances of great unfaithfulness in the love and service of God. In such instances, doubts and difficulties of mind arise on both gracious and natural principles. It is a principle of grace, in Gods dispensation of it, to withdraw His Spirit from those who forsake Him. He puts out their light. He leaves them to wander in the darkness of a spiritual abandonment, as an act of discipline, sometimes as intolerable to the soul as it is deserved. And such depressions arise--

2. From the difficulties of determining character. Almost anything else is more easily determined than the question of character in the sight of God. But we lay down this principle: We affirm that there is a difference between the religious doubting, darkness and depression of mind which sometimes assail a true believer, and the doubting, darkness and depression which would belong to him if he were not a true believer; we affirm that there are peculiarities of grief and fear and anxiety in the dark soul-troubles of a child of God. We aid him as far as we can.

We name some of the peculiarities accompanying a true believers depression of mind.

1. In his depression of mind, when he doubts sometimes of his piety and fears final ruin, or mourns because he has no more evidence of his adoption; a true believer finds his soul uneasy and troubled more constantly than it would be if he were not a true believer, but were only a Christian in mere name.

2. Christian depression has a kind of supremacy about it. It swallows up all other things and regards them in comparison as trifles.. A believer in his trouble is not tempted by the world. An unbeliever may be. He would renounce anything to attain that for which his soul longeth. It is supreme with him.

3. There is a deeper sensibility and a greater degree of anguish with a believer in his spiritual abandonment than an unbeliever knows anything about. He does not feel like the orphan that never knew a father; he feels like a disowned and outcast child. He has no more a father, no more a home or a hope. There is nothing for him to turn to, and no friend for him to hope in.

4. In the seasons of his sadness a true Christian will be looking very much to God for relief. The psalm before us is an example.

5. Notice the resort to this means of grace will always mark the course of a troubled Christian. Pray he will. He will pray when, from his dark and unsoothed experiences of anguish, he finds and knows that prayer does him no good.

6. Amid the dark glooms of a believers trouble there will be occasional flashes of light. The cloud will sometimes break away. The sun will appear, if not in its glory, at least in its glimpses. And, accordingly, you find in the prayers of depression and doubt recorded in the Bible such a mingling together of complaint and complacency--of gloom and gladness--of trial and triumph, as makes them appear to an unwise mind like inconsistencies and absurdities. Job was compelled to make one of the bitterest of all possible lamentations. But there came flashes of light. He knoweth the way that I take.

7. In all the depression and gloom of a believer, there are very few ideas of darkness and trouble which have their origin in any uncertainty of mind in respect to the realities of religion in respect to God or any of the truths of Christianity. He knows the reality of religion. He knows the security of it. He knows the blessedness of its experience, His trouble is that he cannot get at such blessed realities for himself. He would be less troubled if he had any, doubt about the good he longs for, and if he did not set upon it such an indescribable value. (T. S. Spencer, D. D.)

Davids prayer for joy and gladness

I. The request itself.

1. The thing petitioned for. Joy and gladness.

(1) As there is a spiritual life, so there is also a spiritual joy, and the one follows from the other: every kind of life has its joy, Which is attendant upon it: not only the rational life, which is the highest of the life of nature; but also the sensitive, as the life of beasts; and the vegetative, which is the life of plants. These have their proportionable cheerfulness, and comfortableness, and joyfulness, which is belonging unto them; and therefore the life of grace in a more especial manner. And as in this there is joy for the principle, there is a spirit and affection of joy; so there is also joy for the object, there is matter and occasion of joy for that principle to close withal. There is joyful tidings and occurrences; there are such things as do provoke joy in those persons which are capable of it, and are fit subjects for it, as pardon of sin, and assurance of this pardon, and communion with God, and hopes of heaven: these are things which put gladness into the hearts by way of object and occasion to it.

(2) The properties and effects of it.

(a) This inward spiritual joy, this joy which is peculiar to religion, is an enlivening and strengthening joy. The joy of the Lord is your strength; it enables a man in some measure for those duties which God requires at his hands. It is compared to oil (Psa_45:7). Now, we know the property of oil is to supple and qualify the parts and members of the body, and make them fit for service: so does this joy of the spirit. Sadness, and melancholy, and discontent, it is a lumpish business, it takes men off from doing their work; but joy it puts life into them, it expedites them, and makes them ready to every good work.

(b) As it makes men active in doing good, so also patient in suffering evil. It carries a man through crosses and tribulations with a great deal.of support above other men (Rom_5:2-3).

(e) It is durable and lasting, a joy which no man can take away (Joh_16:22). This is the difference betwixt a Christians joy and a worldlings; betwixt a believers and an hypocrites. As for the latter, it quickly withers and comes to an end; it is but for a moment, as Job speaks (Job_20:25). It is like the crackling of thorns under a pot, as Solomon (Ecc_7:8). But the former it lasts and continues, though not always in the same measure and degree for the vigour and liveliness of it, yet for the substance of it still it does; and especially for the true ground, and matter and occasion of it.

(d) It is a transcendent joy, it does transport and raise the soul after an eminent manner (1Pe_1:8). It is such a joy as the greatness whereof is unable to be expressed unto us, especially when it is in that measure and degree as sometimes it is; as some of the blessed martyrs have sometimes had experience, when they have been so filled with joy as that they have despised their greatest torments themselves.

2. The manner and conveyance of this joy and gladness to the soul. Make me to hear, etc. When we speak of the hearing of joy, we may conceive of it two manner of ways; either, first, by the hearing of the ear in the ministry of the Word; or, secondly, by the hearing of the heart in the application of the Spirit to the conscience: both these ways did David pray that he might hear joy and gladness.

3. The author and worker of all this in us, the spring and fountain from whence it proceeds, and that is God Himself, Do thou make me to hear. This it may be carried respectively to all which hath been said before; and we may take notice of it in a threefold reference.

(1) To the occasion. Make me to hear joy and gladness: that is, send me such a preacher as may speak seasonably and comfortably to me. It is God who hath a hand in this (Psa_68:11).

(2) To the performance. Make me to observe what I hear.

(3) To the success. As the Word itself is comfortable, so let it have a comfortable effect upon my heart to fill it with comfort.

II. The enlargement or amplification of this request, from the end or drift in propounding it. That the bones, etc. The meaning of it is this; that I may receive comfort after so much terror and trouble and distraction as I have been exercised withal. These broken bones are a metaphor taken from the body applied to the soul, to express unto us the anguish and vexation of it. There are two things considerable in this clause; first, here is somewhat implied; and, secondly, here is somewhat expressed: that which is implied is Davids condition, and that is to have broken bones, that which is expressed is Davids desire, that these broken bones might rejoice.

1. We see here that a condition of humiliation is not always a condition of despair. Broken bones are recoverable: a soul may be brought very low through the hand of God, which it is exercised withal, and yet not in a forlorn estate; thus David here, and so other of the saints elsewhere, as Job, and Heman, and Hezekiah, and such as these, they had all a share in these broken bones, and vet for all that recovered and got them up again.

2. Observe somewhat from the order; that great rejoicing it hath oftentimes great trouble preceding and going before it: the broken bones usher in the exultation. This is Gods usual method, to bring to heaven by the gates of hell; and to make great dejections proper always to great enlargements. This He does, that so He may hereby set a price upon His own comforts, and have them had in greater esteem, and so much the better relished by us, which otherwise they would not be.

3. Observe somewhat also from the opposition of state to state, a state of sadness to a state of rejoicing, and the one promoted by the other; and so there is this in it; that those who have felt most of Gods terrors are most affected with His comforts: such as these leap for joy, as coming from one extreme to another, from a dark and dismal dungeon into a glorious sunshine.

4. In this transcendent expression, that the bones which Thou hast broken may rejoice; we have this observation likewise intimated to us; how that the servants of God (occasionally and accidentally) gain by their very falls. This is that which David supposes as possible in this petition. As an arm or leg which is broken, when it is once set, is the stronger afterwards; so it falls out to be sometimes in this case with the servants of God. (Thomas Horton, D. D.)

That the bones which Thou hast broken may rejoice.--

Broken bones

Backsliding is a most common evil, far more common than some of us suppose. We may ourselves be guilty of it and not know it. The cunning hunter makes the passage into his pits most easy and attractive, but out of them the way is difficult indeed. So Satan makes the way of apostasy to be very seductive to our natures, but the way of return, were it not for Gods grace, no human soul would find possible.

I. The plight in which David was. His bones had been broken. People speak flippantly of Davids sin, making out of it an accusation against godliness and an excuse for their own sin. But they should look also at Davids repentance, for if his sin was shameful, his sorrow for it was of the bitterest kind; and if the crime was glaring, certainly the afflictions which chastised him were remarkable. Children of God cannot sin cheaply. Certainly, David did not. His word here tells that his plight was--

1. Very painful. His bones were broken. A flesh wound is painful, but here was a more serious injury. No punishment was probably more cruel than that of breaking poor creatures alive upon the wheel. To such pain David likens his.

2. Very serious.

3. And complicated. It was not one bone, but many. How can they be all set again? And so with David, the greater powers of the soul were grieved and afflicted, in our spirits there are certain graces which are, so to speak, the bones of the spiritual man. Faith, hope, love are amongst them. But how they suffer when a soul is in such plight as David was!

4. Very dangerous, for where several bones are broken, every surgeon perceives how likely it is that the case will end fatally. It is a dreadful thing to be spiritually in such case--faith broken, hope broken, love broken, and the entire man) as it were, reduced to a palpitating mass of pain. It is a dreadfully dangerous condition to be in; for, alas! when men have sinned and suffered on account of it, they may yet turn again to their sins with greater hardness of heart than ever. Read Isa_1:1-31. And, again, the case of David was--

5. Most damaging. For even when God in His mercy heals the broken bones, it is a sad detriment to a man to have had them broken at all. But--

6. His case was still hopeful. The saving clause lies here, The bones which Thou hast broken. For He who wounds can bind up.

II. The remedy to which he resorted. He did not lie down sullenly in despondency, but he turns to God in prayer. And--

1. He believed that there was joy and gladness even for such as he. And--

2. That it must come to him by hearing. The gate of mercy is the ear. Incline your ear, and come unto Me, hear and, etc. Some despise preaching, and say that prayers are everything, especially the public saying of them. But it is to be noted that nowhere in the New Testament did Jesus commission men to celebrate public prayer, but He did say to His disciples, Go and preach. Very little is said about public worship, but the Book teems with references to preaching. The fact is, the sermon reverently heard, and earnestly delivered, is the highest act of worship. And it is the main instrumentality for the salvation of men. May the Lord make us to hear.

III. The hope which he entertained. Not that his bones might merely 1.e quiet and at rest, but rejoice. He had been a mass of misery, mercy shall make him a mass of music. The music is generally soft and gentle, and has much of God in it, and goes on unceasingly. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

The torment of a roused conscience

When Davids conscience was roused by Nathans ministry, and sot upon the rack, so that he now was sensible of the terror of the Lord, and of the heinousness of his sin, the ease was altered, and that which before pleased him at the heart was now a pain to his heart, the vexation far exceeded all the former pleasures that he found. The pleasingness of sin was gone, the torment following it stuck by him, and it was no easy matter to remove it. (S. Hieron.)

Davids reiteration of requests

He had made it already in Psa_51:1; Psa_7:1-17, and now again he repeats it. Yea, we may observe how he does it in some respects confusedly, without observing any method or order at all; there is no method in a broken heart: while he is praying for one thing, he does by the bye thrust in another; and while he is praying for assurance, he does preposterously pray for forgiveness, for pardon after joy, which is a thing antecedent thereunto.

1. Here is the necessity of this request of all other besides, to desire that God would pardon us our sins; it is that which we have need to put in the front of all other desires; nay, not only in the front, but in the rear; yea, and further, in the whole body of all. Whenever we draw near to God, make any suit or petition to Him, this had need to come in still, as we may say, for the burthen of the song, Hide Thy face from my sins. The reason of it is this, because this is the groundwork and foundation of all other comforts besides: all the good which we receive from God is laid in our reconciliation with Him; and all our boldness and freedom, as to the asking of any good at His hands, so long as there is any guilt charged upon us, we cannot so easily do this; this puts an obstruction to those mercies which we expect from Him.

2. The second is the difficulty of it. Great sins make great impressions and wounds upon the conscience, which are not easily healed and made up. And this God will have to be in His infinite wisdom upon a double account: first, to put a weight upon sin; and, secondly, to put a price upon pardon; that the one may not be too easily ventured on, and that the other may not be too lightly esteemed and slighted, and made nothing of, as it would be ready to be. (Thomas Horton, D. D.)

The reparation of sins ravages

Davids prayer here is for more than forgiveness, more than remission of punishment, more than abolition of sin; it is for restoration to what he was before.

I. He asks God to forget it all; to forget the home left, the squandered property, the being driven in to God, unwilling and degraded. And all this to be as if it had never been! Is this possible? In one sense, yes; in another sense, no. Think only how we have altered our lives. It is said to have been the constant prayer of a very holy man, O my God, make me what I might have been if it never had sinned! Some of the Jews every Friday go to a place in Jerusalem, known as the Jews wailing-place, where there are just a few foundation-stones of the old temple, and there lament their fallen greatness. There are wailing-places, it may be, and always will be, in our own lives. But a new city has risen up, and new duties and new hopes, and God has promised to forget.

II. He asks for restoration to strength, as shown in the clean heart and right spirit. The clean heart being a desire for right things in the seat of the affections; the right spirit being a susceptibility to heavenly influence in the seat of the conscience, the inner man.

III. He asks for the comforts of religion. The comfort of Thy help. How much there is in these words! (Canon Newbolt.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Psa 51:8. Make me to hear joy and gladness — Send me glad tidings of thy reconciliation to me; and by thy Spirit seal the pardon of my sins on my conscience, which will fill me with joy. That the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice — That my heart, which hath been sorely wounded, and terrified by thy dreadful message sent by Nathan, and by the awful sentence of thy law, denounced against such sinners as I am, may be revived and comforted by the manifestation of thy favour to my soul. For he compares the pains and agonies of his mind, arising from the deep sense he had of the aggravated nature of his sins, and of the displeasure of God against him on account of them, to that exquisite torture he must have felt if all his bones had been crushed: “for the original word דכית, dicchita, signifies more than broken; namely, the being entirely mashed. And he compares the joy that God’s declaring himself fully reconciled to him would produce in his mind to that inconceivable pleasure which would have arisen from the instantaneous restoring and healing those bones, after they had been thus broken and crushed to pieces.”

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

10. (Psa 51:8.) Thou wilt make to hear joy and gladness; (then) shall rejoice the bones (which) thou hast broken (bruised, or crushed). What is formally expressed is still a confident expectation or assured hope, under which, however, an intense desire is implicitly contained. The joy here anticipated is that of pardoned sin. See above, on Psa 32:1. He expects to hear it, as communicated or announced by God. The word then is introduced in the translation for the sake of retaining the original arrangement of the sentence, closing, as it does in Hebrew, with the emphatic figure, crushed or broken, which expresses, in a very lively manner, the disorder and distress produced by consciousness of aggravated and unexpiated guilt. The change from this condition to a sense of safety and reconciliation with God, is not too strongly represented by the bold but most expressive figure of broken bones rejoicing. The ellipsis of the relative in this clause is common to both idioms.

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Psalms Translated and Explained (1850) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

51:8 Regaining joy is a gracious gift from God. • you have broken me: The psalmist’s whole being feels broken (6:2; cp. 34:20).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

By the bones he understandeth all strength of soul and body, which by cares and mourning are consumed.

He meaneth God’s comfortable mercies toward repentant sinners.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Make . . . joy--by forgiving me, which will change distress to joy.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 8. Make me to hear joy] Let me have a full testimony of my reconciliation to thee; that the soul, which is so deeply distressed by a sense of thy displeasure, may be healed by a sense of thy pardoning mercy.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(8) The bones which thou hast broken . . .—Through his whole being the psalmist has felt the crushing weight of sin; to its very fibres, as we say, his frame has suffered.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Make me to hear joy and gladness,.... Which he had not heard for some time; sin had sadly broke in upon and interrupted his spiritual peace and joy; for though the love and favour of God cannot be lost, yet his sensible presence, which puts joy and gladness into the heart, may; and though an interest in Christ ever continues, and union to him is always the same; yet a view of interest in him, which fills with joy unspeakable and full of glory, and communion with him, may not be had for a time: and though justification by his righteousness, from whence flows much peace, is an invariable blessing; yet the comfortable perception of it may be taken away: and though salvation by Christ is a certain thing, yet the joy of it may be lost for a season; which was now the case of the psalmist: and when he desires that God would cause him to hear joy and gladness, his meaning is, that he might have that made known unto him; namely, the forgiveness of his sins, which would give him joy: not by an articulate voice from heaven, which he did not expect; nor by an angel from thence, which was not usual; but by the prophet, who as yet might not have declared to him that God had put away his sin; or, if he had, he might desire to have it repeated, for his fuller assurance, and greater joy; or by his Spirit, in an impulse on his mind, saying to him, thy sins are forgiven thee; which would give him great joy, fulness of it, even what is inconceivable and inexpressible, signified by these two words, "joy" and "gladness";

that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice: a backsliding believer is not only like a bone out of joint, Gal 6:1; but his falls are sometimes both to the bruising of him, and to the breaking of his bones; of which when he is sensible, the quick sense of his sin is as the pain of a broken bone; see Psa 38:3; and here the breaking of them is ascribed to God; not that he is the cause or occasion of falling into sin, which breaks the bones, Jam 1:13; but of afflictions, corrections, and chastisements for sin, which are sometimes expressed by this phrase, Isa 38:13; and which David was threatened with, and gave him great uneasiness; and of the menaces and threatenings of the law, which being let into his conscience, worked wrath and terror there; and also of that true contrition of heart, and brokenness of spirit, which the Lord produces, and can only cure, by the discoveries of pardoning grace; which affects the whole frame of nature, the report of which makes the bones fat, and all of them to say, who is a God like unto thee? Pro 15:30.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Make me to hear joy and gladness - That is, the voice of forgiveness, causing joy and rejoicing. What he wished to hear was the kind voice of God in pronouncing his pardon; not the voice of anger and condemnation. God now condemned him. The law condemned him. His own conscience condemned him. The result was anguish and sorrow. The burden was great and overpowering - such as to crush him; to break all his “bones.” He longed to hear the sweet voice of forgiveness, by which he might have peace, and by which his soul might be made to rejoice. Compare the notes at Psa 32:1-2.

That the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice - That is, which have been crushed or broken by the weight of sin. Compare the notes at Psa 32:3. See also Psa 6:2; Psa 22:14; Psa 31:10; Psa 38:3. The word “rejoice” means here, be free from suffering; the prayer is that the burden which had crushed him might be removed.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Send me glad tidings of thy reconciliation to me, and by thy Spirit seal the pardon of my sins to my conscience, which will fill me with joy, that mine heart, which hath been sorely wounded and terrified by thy dreadful message sent by Nathan, and by the dismal sentence of thy law denounced against such sinners as I am, now by this occasion brought home to my conscience, may be revived and comforted by the manifestation of thy favour to my soul.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Ver. 8. Make me to hear joy and gladness. He prays about his sorrow late in the Psalm; he began at once with his sin; he asks to hear pardon, and then to hear joy. He seeks comfort at the right time and from the right source. His ear has become heavy with sinning, and so he prays, "Make me to hear." No voice could revive his dead joys but that which quickeneth the dead. Pardon from God would give him double joy--"joy and gladness." No stinted bliss awaits the forgiven one; he shall not only have a double blooming joy, but he shall hear it; it shall sing with exultation. Some joy is felt but not heard, for it contends with fears; but the joy of pardon has a voice louder than the voice of sin. God's voice speaking peace is the sweetest music an ear can hear. That the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. He was like a poor wretch whose bones are crushed, crushed by no ordinary means, but by omnipotence itself. He groaned under no mere flesh wounds; his firmest and yet most tender powers were "broken in pieces all asunder; "his manhood had become a dislocated, mangled, quivering sensibility. Yet if he who crushed would cure, every wound would become a new mouth for song, every bone quivering before with agony would become equally sensible of intense delight. The figure is bold, and so is the supplicant. He is requesting a great thing; he seeks joy for a sinful heart, music for crushed bones. Preposterous prayer anywhere but at the throne of God! Preposterous there most of all but for the cross where Jehovah Jesus bore our sins in his own body on the tree. A penitent need not ask to be an hired servant, or settle down in despairing content with perpetual mourning; he may ask for gladness and he shall have it; for if when prodigals return the father is glad, and the neighbours and friends rejoice and are merry with music and dancing, what need can there be that the restored one himself should be wretched?

Ver. 8. Make me to hear joy and gladness. This is the exceeding great love of the Lord toward his children, that he hath not only provided a sure salvation for them through the remission of their sins in Christ Jesus, but also seals up in their heart the testimony thereof by his Holy Spirit of adoption, that for their present consolation, lest they should be swallowed up of heaviness through continual temptations. Though he speak not to all his children as he did to Daniel, by an angel, "O man, greatly beloved of God, "nor as he did to the blessed Virgin Mary, "Hail, Mary, freely beloved, "yet doth he witness the same to the hearts of his children by an inward testimony: when they hear it they are alive; when they want it they are but dead; their souls refuse all other comforts whatsoever. William Cowper.

Ver. 8. Make me to hear joy and gladness. As a Christian is the most sorrowful man in the world, so there is none more glad than he. For the cause of his joy is greatest. In respect his misery was greatest, his delivery greatest, therefore his joy greatest. From hell and death is he freed, to life in heaven is he brought...The person from whom he seeketh this joy is God: Make me to hear, saith he; whereby he would teach us that this joy cometh only from God; it is he who is the fountain of joy and all pleasure, for "all good things come from above." Natural joys proceed from a natural and fleshly fountain; spiritual joys spring only from God: so he who seeketh those joys beneath seeketh hot water under cold ice. Archibald Symson.

Ver. 8. Make me to hear joy and gladness. Another reference to the expiation of the leper, whose ear was to be touched with the blood of the trespass offering and the oil, as well as thumb and toe, to show that his faculties were now prepared for the service of God; so David prays that his ears may be sanctified to the hearing of joy and gladness; this an unsanctified heart can never receive. W. Wilson.

Ver. 8. The bones which thou hast broken. God, in favour to his children, doth afflict them for sin; and the very phrase of breaking his bones, though it express extremity of misery and pain, yet it hath hope in it, for broken bones by a cunning hand may be set again and return to their former use and strength; so that a conscience distressed for sins is not out of hope; yet upon that hope no wise man will adventure upon sin, saying, though I am wounded, yet I may be healed again; though I am broken, I may be repaired; for let him consider--1. Who breaks his bones--Thou; he that made us our bones and put them in their several places, and tied them together with ligaments, and covered them with flesh; he that keepeth all our bones from breaking; it must be a great matter that must move him to break the bones of any of us. The God of all consolation, that comforteth us in all our distresses, when he cometh to distress us, this makes affliction weigh heavy...2. The pain of the affliction expressed so feelingly in the breaking of bones, which, as is said, is the anguish of the soul for sin, and fear of the consuming fire of God's wrath, and the tempest, as Job calls it, of anger. 3. The pain of setting these bones again: for, though bones dislocated may be put in joint, and though bones broken may be set again, yet this is not done without pain and great extremity to the patient. Repentance setteth all our broken, pained bones; it recovers the soul from the anguish thereof; but he that once feels the smart of a true repentance, will say, the pleasures of sin, which are but for a season, are as hard a bargain as ever he made, and as dear bought; they cost tears, which are sanguis vulnerati cordis, the blood of a wounded heart; they cost sighs and groans which cannot be expressed; they cost watching, fasting, taming of the body to bring it in subjection, even to the crucifying of the flesh with the lusts thereof. Therefore, let no man adventure his bones in hope of setting them again. Samuel Page.

Ver. 8. That the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. The displeasure which God expressed against the sins he had been guilty of, and the deep sense he had of the aggravated nature of them, filled him with those pains and agonies of mind, as that he compares them to that exquisite torture he must have felt had all his bones been crushed, for the original word (tykd), signifies more than broken, namely, being entirely mashed; and he compares the joy that God's declaring himself fully reconciled to him would produce in his mind, to that inconceivable pleasure, which would arise from the instantaneous restoring and healing those bones, after they had been thus broken and crushed to pieces. Samuel Chandler.

None.

Psalms 51:9*

Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

8. Bones which thou hast broken—The crushing of the bones, says Perowne, constituting, as they do, the strength and framework of the body, is a very strong figure, denoting the most complete prostration, mental and bodily. Psa_6:2

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Make me to hear joy and gladness (comp. below, ver. 12). On forgiveness follows naturally the sense of it, and this sense is in itself a deep satisfaction. But the psalmist seems to ask for something more. He wants not mere negative peace and rest, but the active thrilling joy which those experience who feel themselves restored to God"s favour, and bask in the light of his countenance. That the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. That every ache and pain may cease, and be replaced by gladness and rejoicing.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joy - By thy spirit, seal the pardon of my sins on my conscience, which will fill me with joy. Rejoice - That my heart which hath been sorely wounded may be comforted.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Behold, You desired that truth be in the hidden places and behold, I confess to the truth, that I sinned.

in the hidden places Heb. בטחות. These are the reins, which are smooth. Menachem (p. 97), however, associated it with (Gen. 21:16): “as it were a bowshot (כמטחוי קשת)”; and so (Job 38: 36): “Who placed wisdom in the inward parts (בטחות).” And their interpretation is an expression of drawing, for just as a bow is drawn, so is their yearning for knowledge.

and in the concealed part You teach me wisdom And in the heart, which is concealed, You have taught me wisdom to confess.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.