
Text -- Psalms 51:16 (NET)




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collapse allCommentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per phrase)
Wesley -> Psa 51:16
Wesley: Psa 51:16 - -- This is not to be understood absolutely, with respect to David's crimes, which were not to be expiated by any sacrifice.
This is not to be understood absolutely, with respect to David's crimes, which were not to be expiated by any sacrifice.
JFB -> Psa 51:16
JFB: Psa 51:16 - -- Praise is better than sacrifice (Psa 50:14), and implying faith, penitence, and love, glorifies God. In true penitents the joys of pardon mingle with ...
Praise is better than sacrifice (Psa 50:14), and implying faith, penitence, and love, glorifies God. In true penitents the joys of pardon mingle with sorrow for sin.
Clarke -> Psa 51:16
Clarke: Psa 51:16 - -- For thou desirest not sacrifice - This is the same sentiment which he delivers in Psa 40:6 (note), etc., where see the notes. There may be here, how...
For thou desirest not sacrifice - This is the same sentiment which he delivers in Psa 40:6 (note), etc., where see the notes. There may be here, however, a farther meaning: Crimes, like mine, are not to be expiated by any sacrifices that the law requires; nor hast thou appointed in the law any sacrifices to atone for deliberate murder and adultery: if thou hadst, I would cheerfully have given them to thee. The matter is before thee as Judge.
Calvin -> Psa 51:16
Calvin: Psa 51:16 - -- 16.For thou wilt not accept a sacrifice By this language he expresses his confidence of obtaining pardon, although he brought nothing to God in the s...
16.For thou wilt not accept a sacrifice By this language he expresses his confidence of obtaining pardon, although he brought nothing to God in the shape of compensation, but relied entirely upon the riches of Divine mercy. He confesses that he comes to God both poor and needy; but is persuaded that this will not prevent the success of his suit, because God attaches no importance to sacrifices. In this he indirectly reproves the Jews for an error which prevailed amongst them in all ages. In proclaiming that the sacrifices made expiation for sin, the Law had designed to withdraw them from all trust in their own works to the one satisfaction of Christ; but they presumed to bring their sacrifices to the altar as a price by which they hoped to procure their own redemption. In opposition to this proud and preposterous notion, David declares that God had no delight in sacrifices, 272 and that he had nothing to present which could purchase his favor. God had enjoined the observance of sacrifice, and David was far from neglecting it. He is not to be understood as asserting that the rite might warrantably be omitted, or that God would absolutely reject the sacrifices of his own institution, which, along with the other ceremonies of the Law, proved important helps, as we have already observed, both to David and the whole Church of God. He speaks of them as observed by the proud and the ignorant, under an impression of meriting the divine favor. Diligent as he was, therefore, in the practice of sacrifice, resting his whole dependence upon the satisfaction of Christ, who atoned for the sins of the world, he could yet honestly declare that he brought nothing to God in the shape of compensation, and that he trusted entirely to a gratuitous reconciliation. The Jews, when they presented their sacrifices, could not be said to bring anything of their own to the Lord, but must rather be viewed as borrowing from Christ the necessary purchase-money of redemption. They were passive, not active, in this divine service.
TSK -> Psa 51:16
TSK: Psa 51:16 - -- desirest : Psa 51:6; Exo 21:14; Num 15:27, Num 15:30, Num 15:31, Num 35:31; Deu 22:22; Hos 6:6
else would I : or, that I should
delightest : Psa 40:6,...

collapse allCommentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per Verse)
Barnes -> Psa 51:16
Barnes: Psa 51:16 - -- For thou desirest not sacrifice ... - On the words rendered in this verse "sacrifice"and "burnt-offering,"see the notes at Isa 1:11. On the mai...
For thou desirest not sacrifice ... - On the words rendered in this verse "sacrifice"and "burnt-offering,"see the notes at Isa 1:11. On the main sentiment here expressed - that God did not "desire"such sacrifices - see the notes at Psa 40:6-8. The idea here is, that any mere external offering, however precious or costly it might be, was not what God required in such cases. He demanded the expression of deep and sincere repentance; the sacrifices of a contrite heart and of a broken spirit: Psa 51:17. No offering without this could be acceptable; nothing without this could secure pardon. In mere outward sacrifices - in bloody offerings themselves, unaccompanied with the expression of genuine penitence, God could have no pleasure. This is one of the numerous passages in the Old Testament which show that the external offerings of the law were valueless unless accompanied by the religion of the heart; or that the Jewish religion, much as it abounded in forms, yet required the offerings of pure hearts in order that man might be acceptable to God. Under all dispensations the real nature of religion is the same. Compare the notes at Heb 9:9-10. The phrase "else would I give it,"in the margin, "that I should give it,"expresses a willingness to make such an offering, if it was required, while, at the same time, there is the implied statement that it would be valueless without the heart.
Poole -> Psa 51:16
Poole: Psa 51:16 - -- Thou desirest not sacrifice which is not to be understood absolutely, and universally, as appears from Psa 51:19 , but comparatively, of which See P...
Thou desirest not sacrifice which is not to be understood absolutely, and universally, as appears from Psa 51:19 , but comparatively, of which See Poole "Psa 40:6" , and with particular respect to David’ s crimes of murder and adultery, which were not to be expiated by any sacrifice, but by the law of God were to be punished with death. Thou requirest more and better sacrifices, which here follow.
Else would I give it else I should have spared no cost in that kind.
Gill -> Psa 51:16
Gill: Psa 51:16 - -- For thou desirest not sacrifice,.... Legal sacrifice; for there was no sacrifice appointed under the law for murder and adultery;
else would I give...
For thou desirest not sacrifice,.... Legal sacrifice; for there was no sacrifice appointed under the law for murder and adultery;
else would I give it; he would gladly have offered it up;
thou delightest not in burnt offering; at least such kind of sacrifices, though they were of divine appointment, and at that time in full force and use; yet they were not the only and principal sacrifices God desired and delighted in; nor were they at all acceptable to him without faith in Christ, and an humble sense of sin; and when offered in the best manner, yet spiritual obedience, acts of mercy, and sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving, were more pleasing to him, 1Sa 15:15; wherefore the psalmist proposed to offer praise in Psa 51:15, and adds what follows.

expand allCommentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

expand allCommentary -- Verse Range Notes
TSK Synopsis -> Psa 51:1-19
TSK Synopsis: Psa 51:1-19 - --1 David prays for remission of sins, whereof he makes a deep confession.6 He prays for sanctification.16 God delights not in sacrifice, but in sinceri...
MHCC -> Psa 51:16-19
MHCC: Psa 51:16-19 - --Those who are thoroughly convinced of their misery and danger by sin, would spare no cost to obtain the remission of it. But as they cannot make satis...
Matthew Henry -> Psa 51:14-19
Matthew Henry: Psa 51:14-19 - -- I. David prays against the guilt of sin, and prays for the grace of God, enforcing both petitions from a plea taken from the glory of God, which he ...
Keil-Delitzsch -> Psa 51:14-17
Keil-Delitzsch: Psa 51:14-17 - --
The third part now begins with a doubly urgent prayer. The invocation of God by the name Elohim is here made more urgent by the addition of אל...
Constable: Psa 42:1--72:20 - --II. Book 2: chs. 42--72
In Book 1 we saw that all the psalms except 1, 2, 10, and 33 claimed David as their writ...

Constable: Psa 51:1-19 - --Psalm 51
In this psalm David confessed the sins he committed against Bathsheba and Uriah. It is a model ...

Constable: Psa 51:16-17 - --5. Request for Israel's prosperity 51:18-19
51:18 David extended his request for personal blessing to the nation under his authority. God had promised...
