Psalm 51:19 - Printer Friendly

ESV: then will you delight in right sacrifices, in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on your altar.

NIV: Then you will delight in the sacrifices of the righteous, in burnt offerings offered whole; then bulls will be offered on your altar.

NASB: Then You will delight in righteous sacrifices, In burnt offering and whole burnt offering; Then bulls will be offered on Your altar.

CSB: Then you will delight in righteous sacrifices, whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on your altar.

NLT: Then you will be pleased with sacrifices offered in the right spirit — with burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings. Then bulls will again be sacrificed on your altar.

KJV: Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.

NKJV: Then You shall be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, With burnt offering and whole burnt offering; Then they shall offer bulls on Your altar.

In this verse David anticipates the Lord's acceptance of His people's sacrifices when their hearts are right with Him. He mentions burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings.

Leviticus 1:3 specifies that the worshiper who offers a burnt offering must offer a male without blemish, and "he shall bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting, that he may be accepted before the LORD." Leviticus 1:4 instructs, "He shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him." When a bull was sacrificed as a whole burnt offering, the worshiper was instructed to lay his hand on its head. The blood of the bull was sprinkled by the priest seven times before the Lord in front of the sanctuary's veil and then poured out at the base of the altar of burnt offering (Leviticus 4:5–7). The bull's fat covering its entrails, its kidneys with the fat, and its liver were burned on the altar, and then the bull's skin, flesh, head, legs, entrails, and dung were burned outside the camp.

The worshiper's identification with the sacrifice by laying his hand on the animal's head prefigures our identification with Christ as the perfect sacrifice for our sin.

Psalm 51:16–19 is the final section of Psalm 51. These verses indicate that God doesn't primarily want sacrifices when someone sins. He accepts and deeply desires a broken spirit and a contrite heart, however. Isaiah 1:18 reinforces David's observation about what is important to God. Isaiah reported that the Lord was tired of hypocritical sacrifices. He refused to accept them, but summoned the people to have a personal relationship with Him, and He would cleanse their sin. David ends his psalm with a prayer for Jerusalem. He recognizes that when the Lord revives Jerusalem, He will accept the people's sacrifices.

This psalm opens with David's plea to God to show him mercy. He asks God to blot out his transgressions, wash his iniquities, and cleanse him from sin. He admits his sinning was against God. He also confesses his human sin nature. David asks God to make him as white as snow by purging him with hyssop. He longs for joy to return to him, but knows he was suffering because God had turned away from him. He pleads with God for a clean heart and a right spirit. He does not want God to cast him aside and remove His Holy Spirit. David longs for a renewal of the joy of his salvation. If cleansing from sin occurred and joy returned to him, David would teach transgressors God's ways, and sinners would be converted. He promises near the end of the psalm to declare God's praise if God would forgive him. He knew it would be futile to offer a sacrifice to God, because God delights in a broken and contrite heart and not in sacrifices offered with an unrepentant heart. David closes the psalm with a prayer for God to bless Jerusalem.

Second Samuel 11—12 provides the sad background for Psalm 51. Instead of being out on the battlefield and leading his troops, David was walking on the roof of his palace. A woman named Bathsheba was taking a bath on a neighboring roof. David lusted for her and had her brought to the palace, where he committed adultery with her. Learning later that she was pregnant, David summoned Uriah, her soldier-husband and one of David's mighty men, to come home from the battlefield. He expected Uriah to have relations with Bathsheba so it would appear that Uriah was the baby's father. But Uriah did not touch Bathsheba, so David launched an alternate plan. He arranged for Uriah to be put on the frontline of battle and be killed. The plan worked, but the Lord sent the prophet Nathan to confront David with his sin. Overcome with guilt, David poured out his heart to the Lord in confession. Psalm 51 records his confession, and Psalm 32 reports the forgiveness he received from the Lord. Even though he was forgiven, David's sins still carried life-ruining consequences.

The book of Psalms is composed of individual songs, hymns, or poems, each of which is a ''Psalm'' in and of itself. These works contain a wide variety of themes. Some Psalms focus on praising and worshipping God. Others cry out in anguish over the pain of life. Still other Psalms look forward to the coming of the Messiah. While some Psalms are related, each has its own historical and biblical context.