Psalm 51:7-12...What does this mean?

Question

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones that you have broken rejoice.
Hide your face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from your presence,
and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and uphold me with a willing spirit.

Answer 1

Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity.

CLEANSE ME WITH HYSSOP, & I WILL BE CLEAN...................While grains were used in various spiritual offerings, hyssop was used internally, (notice a pattern in this psalm, about the internal being more important to God, than the external. More links about hyssop can be found at the end of this post.). Hyssop was primarily used for breathing problems, such as coughs, chest congestion, sore throat & bronchitis. It was also used for digestive problems, such as intestinal gas & stomach pain. We see here that internally, (at least, figurativly), that before David could be able to worship God, (not to mention, to be the ruler that God wanted him to be), ALL aspects of his life must be clansed, both internally & externally.

WASH ME, & I WILL BE WHITER THAN SNOW.......................Snow is regarded by many of us as one of the purest substances that there is. We all know how beautiful it looks like after a snowfall-it brings a sense of purity to the world. In much the same way, David knows that he needs an inner purity, before he can stand righteous before God, but he knows that he needs a true purity first, which is why he begs God to be made "whiter" than snow. He realizes that he needs a purity that nature simply cannot supply-that only a total & complete cleansing would be good enough for him. In much the same way, that kind of purity is also what is needed for each one of us as well. Sin makes us impure, & NOTHING that is impure, CAN be allowed in God's holy presence! Good references for this fact can be found in Isaiah 64:6, & Romans 3:10, 23.

LET ME HEAR JOY & GLADNESS......................David KNEW great joy & gladness when he was right with God, as we see in 2 Samuel 22, among others, as well as all through the psalms. We all know how singing in worship brings us closer to God's Presence. (We had a group of 10 Christian artists here in Madison, some years ago, in concert. With their music, there was a point that it was like it was just God, me, & the music-like everything else had "dissapered"! I have never experienced more joy & gladness than at that concert/worship service in all my life since then!).

LET THE BONES THAT YOU HAVE CRUSHED, REJOICE.....................Now this certainly doesn't sound like a very loving God-that would crush someones bones! Although God doesn't "physically" afflict people as much as He did in the OT, such as in the book of Job, or in the case of Miriam, in Numbers 12:10, but more often than not, (as I have pointed out earlier in this psalm), the Holy Spirit will convict us of our sin, until you have no CHOICE but to confess it, or possibly, your circumstances might change for the worst. Whatever the case-Believers WILL be driven to a point, where we will feel like our own "bones, (metaphorically), HAVE been crushed by the weight of our sin, & ONLY by turning to God & NO ONE ELSE, will we truley be able to find relief!

HIDE YOUR FACE FROM MY SINS, & BLOT OUT ALL MY INIQUITY.............Here we see one of the greatest of all qualities of the God that we serve-His willingness to not just forgive our sins, but also to FORGET our sins as well. When we confess that we HAVE sinned, we KNOW that God IS willing to forgive, us, as we see in such verses as 2 Chronicles 7:14, & 1 John 1:9, among others, but that He is also willing to FORGET our sins as well. Can we humans, in all honesty, TRULEY say the same thing? WE can forgive anothers sins against us, but it is very, VERY difficult, to forget that a person has wronged us! Satan will constantly bring to mind what another person has done to us, so that we virtually will never forget that! But God DOES forget our sins! Look at Hebrews 8:12, where we also find Jeremiah 31:31-34 quoted! When a child of God DOES confess their sins, it's as if the sins never existed, as far as God is concerned! And as far as "blotting out my iniquity", I talked about that in an earlier part of this study on Psalm 51. GOD DOESN'T HOLD ANYTHING THAT WE HAVE DONE IN THE PAST AGAINST US-so long AS WE CONFESS IT ALL, & ask for forgivness for it!


(Some interesting links about hyssop:

http://www.beliefnet.com/healthandhealing/getcontent.aspx?cid=%0D%0A%09%09%09%09%09%09111697


http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07612a.htm


http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/Hyssop


http://www.healthline.com/galecontent/hyssop?utm_term=hyssop&utm_medium=mw&utm_campaign=article)


Psalm 51:10-12

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(Notice how every one of these verses are related to our relationship with God!)


Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me

CREATE IN ME A PURE HEART, OH GOD, & RENEW A STEADFAST SPIRIT WITHIN ME............First, we see the need for purity. In all the various untensils that the ancient Jews used in sacrifice, ALL of them had to be made of PURE metals! No imperfection could be in them, because they were used in worship & prayer of a God who has no imperfections! Habakkuk also realized this in Habakkuk 1:13. We MUST be perfect in spirit & heart, or else we cannot approach God!

DO NOT CAST ME FROM YOUR PRESENCE, OR TAKE YOUR HOLY SPIRIT FROM ME...................Then, we see the need for fellowship with God. Although David probably did not realize that the "spirit" that he mentions was in fact, one of the Godhead himself, he realized that God HAD made His presence known in his life, by external demonstrations of His power. As Believers, we know this "spirit", to be the third member of the Godhead-the Holy Spirit-the one who takes up residence in each of those who come to know Christ as Lord & Savior, the one who convicts of sin, (as David knew), the one who makes God's presence known in each of us, the one who is a conduit, (if you will), allowing His blessings upon us. David realizes that he cannot live without the constant presence of God, & he cries out in desperation here.

RESTORE TO ME THE JOY OF YOUR SALVATION, & GRANT ME A WILLING SPIRIT TO SUSTAIN ME.......................Finally, we see the need for God's help, in doing what ONLY He can. Throughout his life, when David was right with the Lord, he KNEW true joy, & more importantly-that God WAS able to save him from every situation. I believe that the kind of salvation that David is talking about, is an "eternal" salvation, the same kind of "salvation" that all the OT saints knew. But to us Believers, this "salvation" is not external, but internal, as pointed out in 2 Corinthians 5:17. God is a very real presence to us, because He resides IN each of us, who know Him as Lord & Savior. If David could know joy, strictly by "external" slavation of God's love for him, (as we see in all the times that he was saved from the wrath of King Saul), how much MORE should we, who have the indwelling Holy Spirit in us, (Acts 1:8), be filled with the same, & even GREATER joy?

And finally, David humbly asks God for the strength to continue their relationship, by asking for a willing spirit to follow Him. He realizes the error of his ways, & knows that he cannot follow God's leading by his own power. He knows that only in God's power, can he truley be all that God wants him to be. The writer of Romans 7, also knows that without God's strength & forgivness, we too, are truley slaves to sin. We see that TRUE freedom from sin, all throughout the NT, can ONLY be found from & through Christ, as we see in such verses like Pomans 6:18, Galatians 5:1, 2 Corinthians 3:17. & Ephesians 3:12!

Answer 2

Here the sweet Psalmist of Israel prays to again know the joy of a relationship with God that wrongdoing that has hindered him. On snow, see Isaiah 1:18. Transgressions sever one from God, who is the source of true joy.

"Bones" seems symbolic or allegorical of the whole person, as in Psalm 6:2 and 35:10.

''broken" (also in v.17) would see to indicate some type of depression resulting from trurning away from God.

Verses 10-12 point to an inward change, note the word "spirit" is used in each verse; Ezekiel uses similar language in Ezekiel 36:26.

The psalmist wants purity, joy, and the continued blessings of God's presence. "not to be cast off" indicates the desire for forgiveness and strength.

A willing spirit is a free and generous spirit to serve God, this is the remedy for wrongdoings against God ... repentance.

Answer 3

Psalm 51 shows the anguish of his guilt and the depth of his repentance. He pleaded with Jehovah: “Do not throw me away from before your face; and your holy spirit O do not take away from me.” He believed that Jehovah, in his mercy, would not despise “a heart broken and crushed” over sin. (Psalm 51:11, 17) David continued to rely on God’s spirit. While Jehovah did not shield David from the bitter consequences of his sin, he forgave him.) David thus appropriately prayed to be purified from sin with hyssop.—Ps 51:7.

The hyssop mentioned in connection with Jesus Christ’s impalement (Joh 19:29) is thought by some to refer to durra, or Indian millet, a variety of common sorghum (Sorghum vulgare). It is a tall, small-grained plant with long, broad leaves. Since this plant commonly attains a height of at least 1.8 m (6 ft) in Palestine, it could have provided a stalk, or “reed,” of sufficient length to convey the sponge of sour wine to Jesus’ mouth. (Mt 27:48; Mr 15:36) Others think that even in this case hyssop may be marjoram and suggest that a bunch of marjoram may have been attached to the “reed” mentioned by Matthew and Mark. Still another view is that John 19:29 originally read hys·soi′ (pike, javelin), not hys·so′poi (hyssop); hence the renderings “on a pike” (AT) and “on a spear” (Mo).

Answer 4

This was Davids Cry out to GOD to Forgive himm of his sins and Restore the "Joy" of Salvation to David.

The Joy of The Lord is our Strength!

When we Sin, we do not Loose our Salvation in Jesus.
But, we ring up Consiquiencies for those Sins and get father away from Feeling GOD's Presence (Joy comes from being in The Presence of GOD and makes you Strong!)

Getting our Sins Forgiven helps Restore the Joy of the Lord in our Spirits (Hearts).
We still have to Face the Results of those Sins, but were Forgiven (confess your Sins and HE is Right and Just to Forgive US our sins) and can face those Results of sins Better with the Joy of the Lord!
Now, isn't GOD Good!

And Hopefully One Day, we Discover it is better to Stay in that Joy and not sin anymore!

It's hard to do, devils 24-7, so dont' beat yourself up when you fail, run to GOD, get Forgiven and get that Joy Going Again!

Jesus---HE will Never Leave US Nor Forsake US.

Ditto.

Answer 5

Well putting aside the error in the the question which is clear to anyone with half a brain but it does seem that some of the people here have a little less than half a brain! The Verse and line refer to Oil and making festive at it coming fourth! It is also the message that was sent after the discovery of oil in the middle east, which then lead to more than 100 years of war! Blood for Oil and any which accept the profits made or profit from it have blood on their hands! That may well explain the answer you have received. I doubt that even a complete idiot who had study the texts would have failed to understand!

Answer 6

David (I think) is asking/pleading with God to forgive his sins.

He's afraid that his sins will cause God to take the Holy Spirit from him, and he doesn't want that. David enjoyed the presence of the Holy Spirit and longed to feel it renewed.
clearer?

Answer 7

Purge Me With Hyssop

Answer 8

David repented after Nathan confronted him. (adultery and murder)
David was pleading for restoration with God. He asked that his soul be renewed and asked God to purify his heart.

Answer 9

It is speaking of cleansing ones sins with the blood of Christ. That Psalms is a prayer