the joy of righteousness. Then this word also signifies the effect of the grace of God, the sentence of acquittal by which God justifies the sinner, and the righteousness of Christ, which he obtains become power for sanctification. They are in him the seed of a new life of righteousness. He that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. 1 John 3.7 Grace reigns through righteousness unto life. Grace renews the soul after the likeness and spirit of the righteous one. The righteousness of God in Christ, first assigned by faith, becomes the new nature in which God's children walk. If he know that he is righteous, he know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him. 1 John 2.29. According to the New Testament, the full significance of this word is the righteousness of God. And this is just what David said, My tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness. The revelation of it was so delightful and worthy of admiration that David not only wanted to speak of it, but also to celebrate its value and worth. He gloried in it as something that had now become his. Joyfully, he praised God for it. This was not a burden on him, a mere fulfillment of duty, but something that was his delight. He spoke of it with joy and gladness. On every occasion, draw near to God for a new experience of the righteous grace of the Lord in complete deliverance from your guilt. Then you will joyfully celebrate the righteousness of the Lord Every repetition of the prayer, deliver me, O God, thou God of my salvation, will give you strength and joy for the promise. And my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness. Chapter 27, Speaking forth his praises. O Lord, open now my lips, and my mouth shall show forth thy praise. Psalm 51, 15. The promise to praise God is repeated again. It is preceded, however, by the prayer that grace will give the strength to fulfill it. We have already seen that the full living experience of God's salvation will agree to praise God. On the other hand, this worship without the experience is an impossibility. Furthermore, it is a gift asked in prayer and then obtained. Excuses for silence. This petition reminds us of the natural reluctance and inability of man to speak of God and to witness of His grace. Every believer's experience confirms this truth. We keep silent even when we enjoy the grace of God and eagerly desire to work for Him. Sometimes it is our fear of mockery and contempt from others, at other times It is unbelief or a feeling of being unprepared that takes away all courage and delight in witnessing. There is also that hidden self-centeredness that finds an excuse in its own spiritual need. Another excuse is humility, which is afraid of injuring God's name by confessing Him now and then becoming disloyal and unfaithful later. Many believers could tell of a time when they wanted to work for the Lord. They could tell of the months and years they spent wishing and longing until their silence became a habit and their conscience, by all sorts of excuses, became passive. If they had only understood what the difference is between sinful silence and impetuous speech, If they had only understood that, along with the forgiveness of sins and the renewal of the life, grace will also give the ability to speak. The continued prayer, have mercy upon me, oh God, open my lips, will be heard. The Lord helps us speak. This prayer recorded here by the Spirit of God assures us that the Lord can and will open the lips The one who sincerely desires to believe this simply has to reflect on what is recorded in the Word of God. Read the history of Moses. Let the wonderful arguments by which God showed him his power to give him a speaking mouth sink deep into your soul. Exodus 4, 10-12. Everyone who will humbly listen to these divine words of encouragement will be strengthened in this confidence. Also read the story of the calling of Jeremiah, Jeremiah 1, 7-9, and the other prophets. See how fully he presents the power to speak as one of his gifts. Consider the promises of the Old Testament about the gift of the Spirit and observe how it is accompanied by the power to speak. Notice the predictions of Jesus concerning witnessing for him as the fruit of the gift of the Spirit, John 15, 26 and 27, Acts 1, 8. Remember on the day of Pentecost the first manifestation of the power of the exalted Christ was to fill the mouth of the disciples with God's praise? A high calling and divine certainty is attached to the opening of the lips as a gift of grace. It truly belongs to us. God can give it. He has done it for thousands. God will give it. It is necessary for the accomplishment of His glorious work of grace. God shall give it. His promises are faithful. Lord, open my lips. We have as much right to this prayer as the other. Have mercy upon me, O God. The one is heard as certainly as the other. The Gift of Speaking. David's prayer teaches us the way to obtain this gift. Whenever we mention a speaking mouth, one thinks of natural gifts. If he does not, then he imagines that what has been said does not apply to him. He will try to serve God in other ways. He will thank God with his money, influence, and his example. This is good. But it will not free anyone from the obligation of fulfilling his calling to bring to God the sacrifice of the lips. One of the tokens of the coming of the Kingdom of God was that not only would the blind see, but also the dumb would speak and praise God. The grace of God does not just take the darkness from the eyes so that the soul can know Him. It also opens the mouth to praise Him. Not only is an unclean spirit cast out, but also the demon that was dumb. Along with the Holy Spirit, all the disciples were given a mouth to praise God. In heaven, there are no dumb men. Every tongue praises God. The Christian whose tongue is not loosened or liberated is defective. He is lacking one of the most glorious capabilities of the new man. There is no question as to whether you have a natural gift for speaking. Many people speak briefly and simply receive from grace the capacity for achieving great results with their small gift. It is not the beauty of the language, it is the power of the life and spirit that the blessing depends on. Let your desire to receive grace also become stronger under a sense of your solemn obligation to praise God and make Him known. Let every experience of weakness and inability urge you to find confidence in the power and promise of God. Out of such desire and confidence, let the prayer rise, Lord, open thou my lips, and my mouth shall show forth thy praise. The answer will not be far off. This decision may cause you much conflict and perseverance, This rich petition is not learned in one day. The riches of grace are not exhausted in one day. Yet if you have the desire, you will obtain the blessing. Therefore, every time we use the prayer, have mercy upon me, O God. Let us also add the petition, Lord, open thou my lips, and my mouth shall show forth thy praise. Chapter 28. the sacrifice of love. For thou desirest not sacrifice, else would I give it. Thou delightest not in burnt offering. Psalm 51, 16. David has surrendered himself to God in the joy of deliverance and thanksgiving. From now on he will live to honor and praise God. Nevertheless, he feels how little he can do. The question arises within him, is there not something more the Lord desires from him? He thinks of sacrifices. By multiplying these, could he not accomplish a work that would be acceptable to the Lord? As soon as the question arises, it becomes clear that God does not delight or have pleasure in sacrifices. The clearness with which David feels and expresses this is one of the deep spiritual lessons of this psalm. In the hidden part, God has made him to know wisdom. He is more aware of his sin than ever before. He knows grace in his high spiritual power. He had experienced the wonderful work of God in forgiveness and renewal. He had learned to understand the symbolical sprinkling and washings of the Old Testament. He had experienced how God washes and purifies the soul. Now the Spirit has also unfolded to him the life of thankfulness and shown him how insufficient external sacrifices would be. Two kinds of sacrifices. Under the Old Covenant there were two kinds of sacrifices. Sin offerings and guilt offerings for atonement. Thank offerings and burnt offerings to represent dedication to God. Discovering the depths of sin caused David to feel the need of something more than an external atonement. Now he understands that it is an inward spiritual dedication that God wants from him. In all these respects, this psalm is a prophecy of the grace of the New Testament. It is always in this statement, the delightest not in sacrifice, that the difference between the Old and New Testament lies. Under the Old Covenant and according to the law, man must always bring God and give God something for taking away sin. In the Gospel, on the other hand, God brings to man and gives him what can atone for sin. Under the old covenant, man must bring sacrifice to God in the hope that he receives it. Under the new covenant, God comes to man with a sacrifice in order that he may receive it and be blessed. This is the meaning of the word of the prophet repeated by Jesus when he said to the Pharisees, but go ye and learn what that meaneth. I will have mercy and not sacrifice. Matthew 9, 13. To require and bring sacrifices, that was the characteristic of the old covenant. But to show and receive mercy is the glory of the new covenant. So the one who would fully enjoy the salvation of the gospel must above all try to understand the words, thou delightest not in sacrifice. Mercy, not sacrifice. This word reminds us of the freedom of God's grace. as a source of blessing. The spirit of law, righteousness, and work righteousness is so natural to us that we are inclined to see God as a hard, austere man who makes heavy demands on us. If we could only abandon this attitude, God is a God who does not demand, but gives freely. The secret of fellowship with Him is always to look to Him as a God from whom one may ask and expect everything. He delights in mercy and not in sacrifice. This is true of the first grace of forgiveness. How long did you think that there was something you had to do in order to receive God's grace? How long did you think that there was something you had to bring and offer in order to be acceptable to God? When faith became plain to you as simply receiving what God has done for you and offered to you, your response was, is that all? Is salvation so near and so easy to find? Then you learned what is meant by saying, thou delightest not in sacrifice. The same thing is also true of the higher grace of sanctification. Holiness is not something we must accomplish. Holiness is only in God. We become holy only as he makes us share in his holiness. Christ has been given to us for justification and sanctification. The one who understands that truth fully enjoys his salvation of the life of grace. He knows he no longer has to represent the life of divine salvation as a severe sacrifice. but as a glorious experience of what the grace of God works in him. Obedience is something higher than sacrifice. This deeply significant statement reveals the secret of the true service of God. It is not what man does or brings to God, but the childlike attitude of loving submission that is the true fulfillment of the law. The believer who served God with difficulty and self-sacrifice can now discover the joy of the life prepared for him through the compassion of God in Christ. His service to God becomes a service in the joy of love. Love does not speak of sacrifices. Others make glory in the sacrifices which love brings, but love does not consider them to be sacrifices. They are a joy. and a delight. When we become aware of the gracious attitude of God toward us, we can apply this word to our relationships with other people. I will have mercy and not sacrifice. We can meet the unsaved with compassion and tenderness, not with the hard requirements of the law. We can understand the secret of the love by which transgressors learn God's ways and sinners are converted to him. That delight is not in sacrifice. It is the gospel of personal comfort which can be joyfully proclaimed to others. Chapter 29, Maintaining a Broken Spirit. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. Psalm 51, 17. In the beginning of the psalm, David had, out of his deep guilt, revealed that his heart was broken. We have seen that a contrite spirit is a definite characteristic of the person seeking grace. In the course of the psalm, however, David's tone undergoes a change. He has spoken of joy and gladness, and has given promises full of courage and strength. You might think that a broken heart is necessary at first, but later on, when grace has done its work, this broken condition is no longer important. As a matter of fact, it is quite the contrary. Even in the life of grace, from the beginning to the end, God is especially pleased with the attitude of a broken and a contrite heart. This is an abiding and unmistakable feature of the life of thanksgiving, which the Spirit wants us to experience. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit. The broken spirit. This statement teaches us how the broken spirit will, for the believer, always be a token of grace. God, according to His promise, forgets sin, but the believer never forgets it. Being a sinner is not something superficial and temporary. To maintain and enjoy the right kind of fellowship with the Lord, we must always be mindful of who we are and how much we are indebted to His grace. Just as the Lord said to redeemed Israel, and I will establish my covenant with thee, and thou shalt know that I am the Lord, that thou mayest remember and be confounded, and never open thy mouth any more because of thy shame, when I am pacified toward thee for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord God." Ezekiel 16, 62 and 63. It is not just the sense of guilt, but the power of grace and forgiving love that melts, humbles, and bruises the soul before God. Often it is just the glorious proof of the goodness of God that overwhelms the soul and makes it remain contrite in the awareness of its own unworthiness. God has no delight in sacrifice or pleasure in the greatest external offerings that may be brought to him. His sacrifice is a broken spirit. It is on the inner man, the hidden man of the heart, that he looks. It is in spirit and truth that he wants to be worshipped. The sacrifice that he desires is a living, spiritual sacrifice. If we feel we have so little to bring to the Lord, this word comes with grateful comfort. A broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. This reminds us that the Lord never delights in anything as much as that feeling of emptiness and failure which breaks the soul. This feeling makes the heart capable of receiving and appreciating the wonderful grace of God. This feeling teaches us to look away from ourselves and seek everything in God. This contrite attitude gives glory to God alone. God bends over such a heart with inexpressible tenderness to gloriously fulfill the promises of His Word. The contrite heart. Read the great statements of Isaiah on this point. Isaiah 57, 15. Isaiah 66, 1 and 2. There is no place in the world in which the Holy God when he stoops from his glory, will so readily set up his throne as the contrite spirit. He also devotes much work to the accomplishment of this bruising of the heart in his children. By the sense of guilt, the experience of sin, through many trials and the work of the spirit, God prepares his own for bringing to him the sacrifice that pleases him most, a contrite heart. This verse further teaches us to understand how the freedom and joy of the life of grace will be manifested in the broken heart and the contrite spirit. This seems to be a contradiction. God's thoughts are not as our thoughts. The more we practice his word, the more we will experience how our need and God's grace are bonded to one another. His life can then be fully revealed in our death. We will see His power in our weakness, His comfort in our sorrow, His help in our inadequacy, His healing in our oppression, and His love in our brokenness. We will always experience that the more we die to ourselves and yield ourselves to the discipline of the Spirit, the more God's good pleasure and His nearness to the broken in heart will become ours. When you lift up the petition, have mercy upon me, O God. Do not forget that this verse is closely connected with it. It is a word of anxiety, but also a word of comfort. The value of this truth is felt in the confession of sin, the striving for holiness, the self-dedication of thanksgiving to praise God. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit. There is nothing in your Christian life that will enable you to find grace and influence with God and man as the holy ornament of a contrite spirit which is of great price in the sight of God. A broken and a contrite heart, oh God, thou wilt not despise. Chapter 30, Praying for Others. Do good and thy good pleasure unto Zion. Build thou the walls of Jerusalem. Psalm 51, 18. David began this psalm with a prayer for grace for himself. However, he cannot end it with this same prayer. The blessed experience of grace makes him think not only of unbelievers, but also of the people of God who partake of this grace with him. For these he pours out his heart. He can never forget the City of God. This is an essential element of true prayer and a principal characteristic of the true believer. The true believer is also an intercessor. We should pay attention to the important lessons this verse teaches us. Learning to pray. In the first place, true intercessors for the Church of God are those who have first learned to pray for themselves, personal need in the school in which intercessors are trained. It is in the confession of personal sins that the secret of believing intercession is learned. There are many in church and prayer meetings who pray for themselves and others, and yet they know little of personal communication with God in the prayer, cleanse me from my sin. First of all, the sinner must feel as if he has God's undivided attention. He must learn to deal with God for himself alone. Then he will learn to understand the grace of God and know how to plead for this blessing on behalf of the people and the city of the Lord. Then he not only obtains the courage to speak of God to his fellow men, but also delights in doing so. He also feels he has power to speak and plead with God on behalf of his fellow men. Those who have learned to pray for themselves become intercessors of their own accord. Grace is not self-seeking. The love of God shed abroad in the heart creates love in God's people and church. This is true of the nation of Istria. Think, for example, of the prayers of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Daniel, Ezra 9, Nehemiah 9, Daniel 9, or the way the converted Saul of Tarsus continually prayed for the early churches. Intercessors such as these are called watchmen on the walls of Jerusalem, Isaiah 62 6. God makes us fellow workers with Him, and He is prepared to listen to us, and at our urgent request, He will answer. As soon as there are several in a church who, in their own experience, learn to understand the grace of God exhibited in this psalm, the prayer meeting will include the petition, Do Good Unto Zion. Appealing to God's Compassion It is not just the experience of deliverance from personal sin that motivates people to pray. There is something more. David felt himself to be one with the people. He was afraid his sin might possibly prove harmful to the city as a whole, so he prayed that any serious consequences might be averted. Aware of the terrible power of sin to destroy, the intercessor asked the Lord to turn aside the dreaded evil and do good to Zion according to his good pleasure. Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion. It is to God's good pleasure in Zion that intercessors appeal when they ask him to do good to her. The psalmist appeals to God's loving-kindness and the greatness of his compassion for his people. David's knowledge of God's character gives him power and courage to pray. We should never forget this. Our strongest argument in prayer is the being and heart of God. The more we cling to what God has revealed concerning His feelings toward His people and His purposes and promises, the more we will feel the power to pray. The good pleasure of God toward Zion is the foundation for our hope, the measure of our expectations, and the strength of our faith. If our souls were more fully possessed by this conviction, we would pray more earnestly, do good unto Zion. This great overwhelming goodness is expressed in the words, build thou the walls of Jerusalem. That petition includes building up where they were not yet completed, rebuilding where they were broken down by hostile attacks, and outbuilding where they had become too narrow for the growing number of inhabitants. It includes prayer for the new spiritual growth of the congregation, for the maintenance of God's authority, and the extension of the Kingdom of God by the ingathering of those who do not know Him. The believer who has tried to understand God's plan for the heavenly city will certainly feel how necessary this prayer is in our time. Zion, the city of God, the dwelling place of the Most High, will exhibit the splendor of the New Jerusalem. Revelation 21, 10. In the midst of severe toil and conflict, disappointment and hindrances, living stones are being laid and the walls slowly rise. Build thou the walls of Jerusalem. Believers need to make this their prayer because of their unbelief and worldliness. In view of the needs of millions who do not know the Lord, let the grace shown to you cause you to pray Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion. Build thou the walls of Jerusalem. Chapter 31. Pleasing God with our sacrifices. 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. Psalm 51, 19. When God in his good pleasure will do good to Zion and build the walls of Jerusalem, a glorious time will dawn for the city and people of God. Then, says David, God will be pleased with the sacrifices brought to him. Then the people will also have delight and offer them with gladness upon the altar. In a preceding verse, he said, thou desirest not sacrifice. Those words show the deep spiritual insight David had concerning the inferiority of the old covenant sacrifices. God could not desire these offerings because they were the work of man. God desired something higher and better in the all-sufficient sacrifice of his son. Hebrews 10, 5-10. David now understands that when Zion is again visited by God, he will again be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness. Our relationship to God. Very important lessons are taught us in this verse. First of all, we see how the worth of our religion depends entirely on our relationship to God. The very same psalm which says, thou desirest not sacrifice, says later, Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness." In the interval between these two statements, a great change has taken place. Since sin has been atoned for, the good pleasure of God must now rest upon Zion. Her sacrifices must be acceptable to Him. The sacrifices are no longer brought to take away unrighteousness, but they are a symbol of the dedication and thanksgiving from a justified people. They are sacrifices that God can really take pleasure in. This teaches us something about our fellowship with God. The value of all our works is defined by our relationship to God. If we are not reconciled to God and have not received atonement and forgiveness of sins in Christ, then our best works cannot be pleasing to God. If, on the other hand, we have become the children of God, and the relationship between Him and us is as it should be, then He takes delight in our service and work. They are acceptable to Him. It is said in the words of David, Thou desirest not sacrifices, but he also says, Thou shalt be pleased with sacrifices. The same is true in the words of Paul. First we read, not of works, but he also writes, created unto good works. Ephesians 2, 9 and 10. The very same works that before faith are worthy to be rejected are, after faith, an acceptable service to God. Pleasing sacrifices. We must ask ourselves whether the Lord takes pleasure in our work. Is it pleasing to Him? Cain presented a sacrifice, but God did not look upon his sacrifice. We can offer God our earnestness and zeal, but the great question is whether he takes delight in us and our sacrifice. It is not how we pray and what we do that can bring us blessing. Instead, it is the fact that God accepts our praying and doing and sends an answer to it. Many remain content when they think they have done their best to serve God and obtain rest in this duty. With living faith, this is not so. It will not merely set the wood in order and slay the victim, but it will crave the fire from heaven to consume the sacrifice. Living faith desires proof that the sacrifice is pleasing and acceptable to God. Living faith does not merely seek to serve God in the way that is ordained by him, but it desires to know that God takes delight in our sacrifices. The tender-hearted believer must know that God is pleased with his sacrifice. David's word teaches us further that when God takes delight in the sacrifices of righteousness, his people will also take delight in them. Then shalt thou be pleased. Then shall they offer bullocks. There is nothing that will create more joyful service than the blessed certainty that God is pleased. When we know that God is pleased with our effort and that every sacrifice is a joy to Him, the heart becomes strengthened to serve Him. The sacrifice itself becomes a joy and a delight. Yes, The secret of true Christianity is the joy of knowing that God delights in our sacrifices. Then, shall we offer bullocks upon thine altar. It will be a glorious time when, in the light of God's countenance, His people will joyfully and willingly dedicate themselves to Him. May we pray with new sincerity. Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion. Build thou the walls of Jerusalem. Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness. Then shall they offer bollocks upon thine altar. May we always approach God with the prayer, Have mercy upon me, O God. May his answer strengthen us in the knowledge that God will deal with Zion and do good to her, and that the hour will be hastened when his church will bear the name of Hephzibah. My delight, This Reformation audio track is a production of Stillwater's Revival Books. SWRB makes thousands of classic Reformation resources available, free and for sale, in audio, video, and printed formats. Our many free resources, as well as our complete mail-order catalog, Thank you. by phone at 780-450-3730 by fax at 780-468-1096 or by mail at 4710-37A Edmonton, that's E-D-M-O-N-T-O-N Alberta, abbreviated capital A, capital B, Canada, T6L3T5. You may also request a free printed catalog. And remember that John Kelvin, in defending the Reformation's regulative principle of worship, or what is sometimes called the scriptural law of worship, commenting on the words of God, which I commanded them not, neither came into my heart. From his commentary on Jeremiah 731, writes, God here cuts off from men every occasion for making evasions, since He condemns by this one phrase, I have not commanded them, whatever the Jews devised. There is then no other argument needed to condemn superstitions than that they are not commanded by God. For when men allow themselves to worship God according to their own fancies, and attend not to His commands, they pervert true religion. And if this principle was adopted by the Papists, all those fictitious modes of worship in which they absurdly exercise themselves would fall to the ground. It is indeed a horrible thing for the Papists to seek to discharge their duties towards God by performing their own superstitions. There is an immense number of them, as it is well known, and as it manifestly appears. Were they to admit this principle, that we cannot rightly worship God except by obeying His word, they would be delivered from their deep abyss of error. The Prophet's words, then, are very important, when he says that God had commanded no such thing, and that it never came to his mind, as though he had said that men assume too much wisdom when they devise what he never required, nay, what he never knew.