13 I will teach transgressors thy ways Here he speaks of the gratitude (continued)
COMMENTARY ON PSALMS - VOLUME 2 thanksgiving by extending pardon. In another place we find him declaring that a new song had been put in his mouth, (Psalm 40:3,)and it seems to be in this sense that he here desires his lips to be opened. He again signifies the gratitude which he would feel, and which he would express, intimating, that he sought the mercy of God with no other view than that he might become the herald of it to others. My mouth, he says emphatically, shall show forth thy praise.
Psalm 51:16-19
16. For thou wilt not accept a sacrifice; though I should give 271 a burnt offering, it would not please thee. 17. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God! thou wilt not despise. 18. Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion; build thou the walls of Jerusalem. 19. Thou shalt then accept the sacrifices of righteousness, even the burnt-offering and whole oblation; then shall calves come upon thine altar.
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
The original word,ואחנהve-etenah, which Calvin renders, Though I should give, is considered by some as a noun. "The common interpretation, Else would I give it thee," says Rogers, "is harsh. Gesenius attributes to the word,אחנהwith a slight difference in the punctuation, the sense of a gift, reward It is used only in Hosea 2:14. If this sense might be given to the word in this passage, the verse might be translated,
'For thou desirest no sacrifice or gift, [In] a burnt-offering thou hast no delight.'"
Book of Psalms in Hebrew, volume 2, p. 208.