1. BLESSED is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
2. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.
3. When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long.
4. For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me; my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah.
5. I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.
6. For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found; surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him.
7. Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah.
8. I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go; I will guide thee with mine eye.
9. Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding; whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee.
10. Many sorrows shall be to the wicked; but he that trusteth in the Lord, mercy shall compass him about.
11. Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye righteous; and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart.
Golden Text: “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” Ps. 51:10.13
NOTE.—The psalm on which this lesson is founded is supposed to have reference to David’s sin and its forgiveness in the matter of Uriah the Hittite, tho there is nothing positive with respect to this. An account of David’s year of idleness and luxury, which led to temptation, his sin of adultery, his plotting to take the life of the brave and loyal Uriah, to hide his sin, the consummation of the plot, the reproof of the Lord’s prophet, Nathan, the humble repentance of David, and the Lord’s forgiveness, are all told with much detail in chapters 11 and 12 of 2 Samuel. With these chapters Psalms 51 may be read with profit. The psalm on which this lesson is based may be studied with profit by every sinner, and “all have sinned.”
SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS.
(1) What does David say of his own condition, and what may every forgiven sinner say, when forgiveness had been pronounced upon him? Ps. 32:1. (2) How does the Lord count one thus forgiven? Verse 2, first part. (3) What is his actual condition when the Lord has spoken his forgiveness? Verse 2, last part. (4) What does he say of his condition before he had acknowledged his sin? Verses 3, 4. Note 1. (5) What did full and free confession bring him? Verse 5. Note 2. (6) What is the characteristic of those who seek God for forgiveness? Verse 6, first part. Note 3. (7) How will such ones fare in the time of trouble? Verse 6, last part. (8) What does God become to the one thus forgiven? Verse 7. Note 4. (9) What blessed assurance does the Lord give such? Verse 8. (10) What admonition does the Lord then give? Verse 9. Note 5. (11) What are the respective portions of those who do wickedly and those who trust God? Verse 10. (12) What is the privilege of the latter? Verse 11. (13) What is ever a good prayer for the sinner to pray? Memory verse.
NOTES.
1. When I kept silence, etc.—Punctuate and read the verse thus: “When I kept silence, my bones waxed old; through my roaring all the day long (for day and night thy hand was heavy upon me), my moisture is turned to the drought of summer.” The common version is not intelligible. Keeping silence is not roaring or crying. The statement of the psalmist is that in himself, in his sins, there was no rest day or night. If he remained silent, he was in pain, expressed by the phrase, bones waxed old, grew brittle. When he cried in his soul anguish, the grief was not assuaged or the soul agony eased. His moisture became drought. Nothing that man can do will take away sin; and the unavailing effort, to a sensitive conscience, only makes the anguish more unbearable.
2. I acknowledged, etc.—Boothroyd translates, “At length I acknowledged my sin unto thee; and mine iniquity I did not attempt to hide.” The beginning of the psalm would seem to indicate that David had endeavored to hide his own sins till they became unbearable, and then he cast them all off upon the Lord by confession; for true confession is giving all our sins up to God.
3. Godly.—One who is godly is in agreement with God. In sin, controlled by the carnal mind, man is at enmity with God. Rom. 8:7. When God reproves man of sin, and man accepts of that reproof and confesses his sin, acknowledges that to be sin that God declares to be sin, he is in agreement with God. Such an one will seek for God’s forgiveness, and at the time when God reproves of sin. That will always be a time when God can be found.
4. To the child of God, to the forgiven one, God becomes all in all. He is a hiding place from evil, a preserver from trouble, a guard before and behind, on the right hand and on the left. In this confidence, whatever may have been his past, the Christian walks.
5. Be not as the horse, etc.—This is the attitude of the believer. To express it in the positive instead of the negative, we could say, Be meek, be teachable, not intractable. Do not have to be forced to do God’s will, obedient only when hard discipline makes it necessary, keeping the path only when restrained. Let the question of the heart be, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” and, knowing his will, do it gladly. “The meek will he guide in judgment; and the meek will he teach his way.” Ps. 25:9.
