Meaning, commentary and cross references
Psalms 51:17
“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”In other translations
KJV · King James Version
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
NIV · New International Version
My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.
WEB · World English Bible
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit. O God, you will not despise a broken and contrite heart.
What does Psalms 51:17 mean?
John Gill · Exposition of the Entire Bible, on Psalms 51:17
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,.... That is humbled under a sense of sin; has true repentance for it; is smitten, wounded, and broken with it, by the word of God in the hand of the Spirit, which is a hammer to break the rock in pieces; and that not merely in a legal, but in an evangelical way; grieving for sin as committed against a God of love; broken and melted down under a sense of it, in a view of pardoning grace; and mourning for it, while beholding a pierced and wounded Saviour: the sacrifices of such a broken heart and contrite spirit are the sacrifices God desires, approves, accepts of, and delights in; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise; but…
John Gill, Exposition of the Entire Bible (1746–63). Public domain. Digital text: Free Use Bible API (bible.helloao.org).
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible, on Psalms 51:14–19
He knew also how acceptable true repentance is to God (Psa 51:17): The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit. See here, (1.) What the good work is that is wrought in every true penitent - a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart. It is a work wrought upon the heart; that is it that God looks at, and requires, in all religious exercises, particularly in the exercises of repentance.
Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible (1706–21; Romans–Revelation completed by Nonconformist ministers). Public domain. Digital text: Free Use Bible API (bible.helloao.org).
John Calvin · Commentaries, on Psalms 51:16–19
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.
John Calvin, Commentaries (Calvin Translation Society English text). Public domain. Digital text: Free Use Bible API (bible.helloao.org).
Context: Psalms 51:14–19 (WEB)
14Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, the God of my salvation. My tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness. 15Lord, open my lips. My mouth will declare your praise. 16For you don’t delight in sacrifice, or else I would give it. You have no pleasure in burnt offering. 17The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit. O God, you will not despise a broken and contrite heart. 18Do well in your good pleasure to Zion. Build the walls of Jerusalem. 19Then you will delight in the sacrifices of righteousness, in burnt offerings and in whole burnt offerings. Then they will offer bulls on your altar.
Cross references
- Psalms 34:18
- Isaiah 66:2
For my hand has made all these things, and so all these things came to be,” says the LORD: “but I will look to this man, even to he who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at my word.
- Psalms 147:3
- Luke 15:10
Even so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner repenting.”
- Mark 12:33
and to love him with all the heart, with all the understanding, all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbor as himself, is more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
- Matthew 5:3
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
- 2 Chronicles 33:12–13
When he was in distress, he begged the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers.
- Psalms 102:17