Psalm 51:19

Psalm 51:19

The sacrifices of the righteous

This Psalm has been an eye-opening journey, with David, through the travails of his soul. He saw fit to publicly acknowledge his sin and to write a Hymn that would define true repentance for centuries, right up to this present day. 

The climax is a return to the altar of God, this time bearing sacrifices that would be acceptable to the Lord. (Bearing in mind that in verse 16, they were not!) We need to remember firstly, that Israel’s sacrificial system had no appropriate offering for deliberate sins such as adultery and murder. It was up to the individual to confess and make atonement in some way for his wrongdoing. Here in this verse David anticipates that the Lord will accept sacrifices if his heart and intentions are right. This is the opposite of the religious rituals that followed a prescribed pattern and asked nothing of those who were making the offerings.

Leviticus 1:3 states that a worshiper who offered a burnt offering must offer a male without blemish and “bring it to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting (the Tabernacle) that he may be accepted before the Lord.” 

Leviticus 4:1 instructs “He shall lay his hand upon the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted to make atonement for him.” The worshiper’s identification with the sacrifice by laying his hand on the animal’s head, prefigures our identification with Christ as the perfect sacrifice for our sin. Amazingly we were crucified (sacrificed) with Him! 

David’s point in this Psalm is that religious observance means nothing to God, but the heart-felt offering of a righteous person is a delight to Him. Our own path to restoration is not dissimilar: -

1.     Firstly, we must acknowledge the weight of our sin before God and also His rightful judgement.  

2.     Secondly, we need to confess and seek cleansing, as David has in this Psalm. 

3.     Thirdly we need to repent and put in place the steps that will ensure that the sin does not re-occur. We need the Lord’s help to create a pure heart within us. 

4.     Fourthly, we should recognise our weaknesses and that they affect others!

5.     Lastly, we may now come to the Holy Place with our offering, except that our gracious and faithful God has already done that for us by offering His only Son at the cross. The journey to wholeness always ends at the cross! Hallelujah!

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