Matthew Henry Commentary Psalms 51:7-15

"Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness, That the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. Hide thy face from my sins, And blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God; And renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; And take not thy holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; And uphold me with a willing spirit. Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; And sinners shall be converted unto thee. Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation; [And] my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness. O Lord, open thou my lips; And my mouth shall show forth thy praise." — Psalms 51:7-15 (ASV)

Purge me with hyssop, with the blood of Christ applied to my soul by a living faith, as the water of purification was sprinkled with a bunch of hyssop. The blood of Christ is called the blood of sprinkling (Hebrews 12:24). If this blood of Christ, which cleanses from all sin, cleanses us from our sin, then we shall be clean indeed (Hebrews 10:2).

He does not ask to be comforted until he is first cleansed. If sin, the bitter root of sorrow, is taken away, he can pray in faith, "Let me have a well-grounded peace, of Your creating, so that the bones broken by convictions may rejoice and be comforted."

Hide Your face from my sins; blot out all my iniquities from Your book. Blot them out, as a cloud is blotted out and dispelled by the beams of the sun.

And the believer desires renewal to holiness as much as the joy of salvation. David now saw, more than ever, what an unclean heart he had, and sadly laments it; but he sees it is not in his own power to amend it, and therefore begs God to create in him a clean heart. When the sinner feels this change is necessary, and reads the promise of God to that purpose, he begins to ask for it.

He knew he had by his sin grieved the Holy Spirit and provoked Him to withdraw. He dreads this more than anything. He prays that divine comforts may be restored to him. When we give ourselves cause to doubt our interest in salvation, how can we expect the joy of it? This had made him weak; he prays, "I am ready to fall, either into sin or into despair, therefore uphold me with Your Spirit."

Your Spirit is a free Spirit, a free Agent Himself, working freely. And the more cheerful we are in our duty, the more constant we shall be to it. What is this but the liberty wherewith Christ makes his people free, which is contrasted with the yoke of bondage? (Galatians 5:1). It is the Spirit of adoption spoken to the heart.

Those to whom God is the God of salvation, He will deliver from guilt; for the salvation He is the God of, is salvation from sin. We may therefore plead with Him, "Lord, You are the God of my salvation, therefore deliver me from the dominion of sin." And when the lips are opened, what should they speak but the praises of God for His forgiving mercy?