18 Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion; build the walls of Jerusalem.
When Jehovah shall build up Zion, he will appear in his glory.
Fear not, little flock, for it has been the good pleasure of your Father to give you the kingdom.
To which end we also pray always for you, that our God may count you worthy of the calling, and fulfil all [the] good pleasure of [his] goodness and [the] work of faith with power,
for it is God who works in you both the willing and the working according to [his] good pleasure.
having marked us out beforehand for adoption through Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
Besides those things that are without, the crowd [of cares] pressing on me daily, the burden of all the assemblies. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is stumbled, and I burn not?
In the day when thy walls shall be built, on that day shall the established limit recede.
Know therefore and understand: From the going forth of the word to restore and to build Jerusalem unto Messiah, the Prince, are seven weeks, and sixty-two weeks. The street and the moat shall be built again, even in troublous times.
I have set watchmen upon thy walls, Jerusalem; all the day and all the night they shall never hold their peace: ye that put Jehovah in remembrance, keep not silence, and give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.
For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not be still, until her righteousness go forth as brightness, and her salvation as a torch that burneth.
For Jehovah shall comfort Zion, he shall comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of Jehovah: gladness and joy shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of song.
Jehovah doth build up Jerusalem: he gathereth the outcasts of Israel.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee. Peace be within thy bulwarks, prosperity within thy palaces. For my brethren and companions' sakes I will say, Peace be within thee! Because of the house of Jehovah our God I will seek thy good.
For God will save Zion, and will build the cities of Judah; and they shall dwell there, and possess it:
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Psalms 51
Commentary on Psalms 51 Matthew Henry Commentary
Psalm 51
Though David penned this psalm upon a very particular occasion, yet, it is of as general use as any of David's psalms; it is the most eminent of the penitential psalms, and most expressive of the cares and desires of a repenting sinner. It is a pity indeed that in our devout addresses to God we should have any thing else to do than to praise God, for that is the work of heaven; but we make other work for ourselves by our own sins and follies: we must come to the throne of grace in the posture of penitents, to confess our sins and sue for the grace of God; and, if therein we would take with us words, we can nowhere find any more apposite than in this psalm, which is the record of David's repentance for his sin in the matter of Uriah, which was the greatest blemish upon his character: all the rest of his faults were nothing to this; it is said of him (1 Ki. 15:5), That "he turned not aside from the commandment of the Lord all the days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.' In this psalm,
Those whose consciences charge them with any gross sin should, with a believing regard to Jesus Christ, the Mediator, again and again pray over this psalm; nay, though we have not been guilty of adultery and murder, or any the like enormous crime, yet in singing it, and praying over it, we may very sensibly apply it all to ourselves, which if we do with suitable affections we shall, through Christ, find mercy to pardon and grace for seasonable help.
To the chief musician. A psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bath-sheba.
Psa 51:1-6
The title has reference to a very sad story, that of David's fall. But, though he fell, he was not utterly cast down, for God graciously upheld him and raised him up.
In these words we have,
Psa 51:7-13
Psa 51:14-19