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Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents
51:14-17 Then I Will Worship Truly. The terms in this section, such as sing aloud (v. 14), declare (v. 15), and sacrifice (vv. 16-17), all point to activities of public worship. The person who has used this psalm to confess his sins and to receive God's assurance of pardon is the one who can genuinely worship the gracious God of the covenant.
51:14 bloodguiltiness. Probably a reference to the slaying of Uriah (cf. 2 Sam. 12:9). The faithful may not have committed this particular sin, but should instead take heart: if God can forgive David this evil, he can certainly forgive all else!
51:16-17 These verses seem to make sacrifice and burnt offering relatively unimportant for the faithful, even replacing them with the inner disposition (a broken and contrite heart). However, since v. 19 goes on to speak of offering physical sacrifices, it is better to take these verses as implying that the animal sacrifices look to the worshiper offering himself to God (cf. notes on vv. 1-2 and v. 7) as "a living sacrifice" (Rom. 12:1), and without this they forfeit significance.
