Psalm 51

c. 392–422 · Augustine of Hippo, Expositions on the Psalms (Enarrationes in Psalmos) 51.5

Whoever thou art that hast sinned, and hesitatest to exercise penitence for thy sin, despairing of thy salvation, hear David groaning. To thee Nathan the prophet hath not been sent, David himself hath been sent to thee. Hear him crying, and with him cry: hear him groaning, and with him groan; hear him weeping, and mingle tears; hear him amended, and with him rejoice. If from thee sin could not be excluded, be not hope of pardon excluded.

1557 · John Calvin, Commentary on the Psalms, part 2 (Psalms 36-66) 51.1

David begins, as I have already remarked, by praying for pardon; and his sin having been of an aggravated description, he prays with unwonted earnestness. He does not satisfy himself with one petition. Having mentioned the loving-kindness of the Lord, he adds the multitude of his compassions, to intimate that mercy of an ordinary kind would not suffice for so great a sinner. Had he prayed God to be favorable, simply according to his clemency or goodness, even that would have amounted to a confession that his case was a bad one; but when he speaks of his sin as remissible, only through the countless multitude of the compassions of God, he represents it as peculiarly atrocious. There is an implied antithesis between the greatness of the mercies sought for, and the greatness of the transgression which required them.

1710 · Matthew Henry, Commentary on Psalms 51.1-6

David's humble petition, v. 1, 2. His prayer is much the same with that which our Saviour puts into the mouth of his penitent publican in the parable: God be merciful to me a sinner! Luke xviii. 13. David was, upon many accounts, a man of great merit; he had not only done much, but suffered much, in the cause of God; and yet, when he is convinced of sin, he does not offer to balance his evil deeds with his good deeds, nor can he think that his services will atone for his offences; but he flies to God's infinite mercy, and depends upon that only for pardon and peace: Have mercy upon me, O God! He owns himself obnoxious to God's justice, and therefore casts himself upon his mercy; and it is certain that the best man in the world will be undone if God be not merciful to him.

1710 · Matthew Henry, Commentary on Psalms 51.1-6

Nathan had assured David, upon his first profession of repentance, that his sin was pardoned. The Lord has taken away thy sin; thou shalt not die, 2 Sam. xii. 13. Yet he prays, Wash me, cleanse, blot out my transgressions; for God will be sought unto even for that which he has promised; and those whose sins are pardoned must pray that the pardon may be more and more cleared up to them. God had forgiven him, but he could not forgive himself; and therefore he is thus importunate for pardon, as one that thought himself unworthy of it and knew how to value it.

1871 · A. R. Fausset, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on Psalms 51.1-4

On the occasion, compare 2Sa 11:12. The Psalm illustrates true repentance, in which are comprised conviction, confession, sorrow, prayer for mercy, and purposes of amendment, and it is accompanied by a lively faith.

1888 · W. G. Blaikie, The Expositor's Bible: The Second Book of Samuel Chapter XVI. Penitence and Chastisement

The humiliation of the Psalmist before God is very profound, very thorough. His case is one for simple mercy; he has not the shadow of a plea in self-defence. His sin is in every aspect atrocious. It is the product of one so vile that he may be said to have been shapen in iniquity and conceived in sin. The aspect of it as sin against God is so overwhelming that it absorbs the other aspect—the sin against man. Not but that he has sinned against man too, but it is the sin against God that is so awful, so overwhelming. Yet, if his sin abounds, the Psalmist feels that God's grace abounds much more. He has the highest sense of the excellence and the multitude of God's lovingkindnesses. Man can never make himself so odious as to be beyond the Divine compassion. He can never become so guilty as to be beyond the Divine forgiveness. "Blot out my transgressions," sobs David, knowing that it can be done. "Purge me with hyssop," he cries, "and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than the snow. Create in me a clean heart, and renew a right spirit within me." But this is not all; it is far from all. He pleads most plaintively for the restoration of God's friendship. "Cast me not away from Thy presence, and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me,"—for that would be hell; "Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation, and uphold me with Thy free Spirit,"—for that is heaven. And, with the renewed sense of God's love and grace, there would come a renewed power to serve God and be useful to men. "Then will I teach transgressors Thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto Thee. O Lord, open Thou my lips; and my mouth shall show forth Thy praise." Deprive me not for ever of Thy friendship, for then life would be but darkness and anguish; depose me not for ever from Thy ministry, continue to me yet the honour and the privilege of converting sinners unto Thee. Of the sacrifices of the law it was needless to think, as if they were adequate to purge away so overwhelming a sin. "Thou desirest not sacrifice, else I would give it: Thou delightest not in burnt-offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise."

1915 · Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Spurgeon's Sermons, Volume 61 (1915) 3470

He does not say, "Lord remember David"—he is ashamed of his name. And he does not seem to want God to remember that, but to remember mercy—and to have pity upon this nameless sinner. He does not say, "Save the son of Your handmaid," or "Deliver Your servant," as he was known to do. He just appeals to mercy, and that is all. And observe it is not, "Have mercy upon me, oh my God." He is far off now. He has lost the comfortable assurance of the Covenant of Grace and so it is rather more like the cry of the prodigal when he returned and said, "I am not worthy to be called your son." Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your loving kindness—according unto the multitude of Your tender mercies blot out—(or as more correctly it might be rendered, "wash out"—"wipe out")—my transgressions. The allusion is rather to a dish—wipe it out, turn it upside down and turn out all that is in it, sweep it away—wipe out all my transgressions. Or it may be as a withdrawal of a record in court when the indictment is withdrawn, "Lord be pleased to quash the indictment against me.

c. 392–422 · Augustine of Hippo, Expositions on the Psalms (Enarrationes in Psalmos) 51.7

Thou askest mercy; shall sin unpunished abide? Let David answer, let those that have fallen answer, answer with David, and say, No, Lord, no sin of mine shall be unpunished; I know the justice of Him whose mercy I ask: it shall not be unpunished, but for this reason I will not that Thou punish me, because I punish my sin: for this reason I beg that Thou pardon, because I acknowledge.

1605–1610 · Johann Arndt, True Christianity 2.10

Whosoever, therefore, accounts and feels nothing to be more bitter and grievous, than to have offended God, the infinite Good, and Love itself; he only has experimentally learned the doctrine of contrition, and laid a firm foundation for sound and genuine godliness. This was one of David's acts of repentance: “Against thee,” says he, “Thee only, have I sinned.” Ps. 51:4. As if he had said, “This is my anguish and sorrow, that I have offended thee.”

1710 · Matthew Henry, Commentary on Psalms 51.1-6

To him the affront is given, and he is the party wronged. It is his truth that by wilful sin we deny, his conduct that we despise, his command that we disobey, his promise that we distrust, his name that we dishonour, and it is with him that we deal deceitfully and disingenuously. From this topic Joseph fetched the great argument against sin (Gen. xxxix. 9), and David here the great aggravation of it: Against thee only. Some make this to intimate the prerogative of his crown, that, as a king, he was not accountable to any but God; but it is more agreeable to his present temper to suppose that it expresses the deep contrition of his soul for his sin, and that it was upon right grounds. He here sinned against Bathsheba and Uriah, against his own soul, and body, and family, against his kingdom, and against the church of God, and all this helped to humble him; but none of these were sinned against so as God was, and therefore this he lays the most sorrowful accent upon: Against thee only have I sinned.

1834 · Albert Barnes, Notes on the Bible: Psalms 51.4

The state of mind here illustrated is that which occurs in every case of true penitence. It is not merely because that which has been done is a violation of human law; it is not that it brings us to poverty or disgrace; it is not that it exposes us to punishment on earth from a parent, a teacher, or civil ruler; it is not that it exposes us to punishment in the world to come: it is that it is of itself, and apart from all other relations and consequences, "an offence against God;" a violation of his pure and holy law; a wrong done against him, and in his sight. Unless there is this feeling there can be no true penitence; and unless there is this feeling there can be no hope of pardon, for God forgives offences only as committed against himself; not as involving us in dangerous consequences, or as committed against our fellow-men.

1872 · Adam Littleton, The Treasury of David, vol. 2 (Psalms 27-57) 51.q25

To acknowledge our transgressions, there is confession; and to have our sin ever before us, there is conviction and contrition. To acknowledge our transgressions, I say, is to confess our sins; to call them to mind, to bring them back to our remembrance what we can; to own them with shame, and to declare them with sorrow; to reckon them up one by one, to give in a particular account of them, as far as our memory will serve, and to spread them before the Lord, as Hezekiah did Rabshakeh’s letter, and in an humble sense of our own vileness to implore his goodness, that he would multiply his mercies over us, as we have multiplied our transgressions against him, in the free and full forgiveness of them all. To have our sin ever before us, is throughly to be convinced of it, to be continually troubled in mind about it, to be truly humbled under the sense of it, and to be possest of those dreads and terrors of conscience which may never let us rest or enjoy any quiet within our own breast till we have reconciled ourselves to a gracious God for it.

1872 · John Welch, The Treasury of David, vol. 2 (Psalms 27-57) 51.q34

“Against thee, thee only, have I sinned.” There is a godly sorrow which leads a man to life; and this sorrow is wrought in a man by the Spirit of God, and in the heart of the godly; that he mourns for sin because it has displeased God, who is so dear and so sweet a Father to him. And suppose he had neither a heaven to lose, nor a hell to gain, yet he is sad and sorrowful in heart because he has grieved God.

1872 · Thomas Chalmers, The Treasury of David, vol. 2 (Psalms 27-57) 51.q6

Wash, cleanse me, O Lord, and let my sin and my sinfulness be ever before me. Let me feel it chiefly as sin against thee, that my sorrow may be of the godly sort. Give me to feel the virulence of my native corruption, purge me from it thoroughly, and put truth into my inward parts, that mine may be a real turning from sin unto the Saviour.

1907 · Augustus Hopkins Strong, Systematic Theology Chapter II. The Reconciliation Of Man To God, Or The Application Of Redemption Through

True repentance, as illustrated in Ps. 51, does not think of 1. consequences, 2. other men, 3. heredity, as an excuse; but it sees sin as 1. transgression against God, 2. personal guilt, 3. defiling the inmost being. Perowne on Ps. 51:1—“In all godly sorrow there is hope. Sorrow without hope may be remorse or despair, but it is not repentance.” Much so-called repentance is illustrated by the little girl's prayer: “O God, make me good,—not real good, but just good enough so that I won't have to be whipped!”

c. 392–422 · Augustine of Hippo, Expositions on the Psalms (Enarrationes in Psalmos) 51.15

“And a right spirit renew in my inner parts.” By my doing, he saith, the uprightness of my spirit hath been made old and bowed. For he saith in another Psalm, “They have bowed my soul.” And when a man doth make himself stoop unto earthly lusts, he is “bowed” in a manner, but when he is made erect for things above, upright is his heart made, in order that God may be good to him.

1655–1662 · William Gurnall, The Christian in Complete Armour Part 12. DIRECTION XI.—SECOND GENERAL PART. [How to perform the duty commanded—a

He that desires not to be purged from the filth of sin, prays in vain to be eased of the guilt. If we love the work of sin, we must like the wages also. A false heart, could be willing to have his sin covered, but the sincere desires his nature to be cured and cleansed. David begged a clean heart as well as a quiet conscience: ‘Blot out all mine iniquities; create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me,’ Ps. 51:9, 10. He desires water to purify his heart, as well as blood to sprinkle and pacify his conscience.

1674 · John Owen, Pneumatologia, or a Discourse Concerning the Holy Spirit (Books I-V) 4.5

A renewed conscience is sensible of a pollution in every sin, and is not freed from the shame of it without a particular application unto the blood of Christ. It comes by faith to the fountain set open for sin and uncleanness, as the sick man to the pool of healing waters, and waiteth for a season to be cleansed in it. So David, on the defilement he had contracted by his great sins, addresseth himself unto God with that prayer, “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow,” Ps. li. 7. He alludeth unto the purging of leprous persons, the ordinance whereof is instituted, Lev. xiv. 2–7, or to that more general institution for the purification of all legal uncleanness by the water of separation, made of the ashes of the red heifer, Num. xix. 4–6, which our apostle hath respect unto, Heb. ix. 13, 14; for both these purifications were made by the sprinkling of blood or water with hyssop. It is plain, I say, that he alludeth unto these institutions; but it is as plain they are not the things which he intendeth: for there was not in the law any purging by hyssop for persons guilty of such sins as he lay under; and therefore he professeth, in the close of the psalm, that “sacrifice and burnt-offering God would not accept” in his case, Ps. li. 16. It was, therefore, that which was signified by those institutions which he made his application unto, — namely, really to the blood of Christ, by which he might be “justified from all things, from which he could not be justified by the law of Moses,” Acts xiii. 39; and so likewise purified.

1872 · E. B. Pusey, The Treasury of David, vol. 2 (Psalms 27-57) 51.q72

“Create in me a clean heart, O God,” etc. This “creation” is from nothing. David uses the same word of our creation which Moses uses of “the creation of the heaven and the earth.” Our creation “in Jesus Christ” is no mere strengthening of our powers, no mere aiding of our natural weakness by the might of the grace of God, it is not a mere amendment, improvement of our moral habits; it is a creation out of nothing, of that which we had not before. There was nothing in us whereof to make it. We were decayed, corrupt, dead in trespasses and sins.

1872 · Henry Smith, The Treasury of David, vol. 2 (Psalms 27-57) 51.q70

David prayeth the Lord to create in him a new heart, not to correct his old heart, but to create him a new heart; showing that his heart was like an old garment, so rotten and tattered that he could make no good of it by patching or piecing, but even must cut it off, and take a new. Therefore Paul saith, “Cast off the old man;” not pick him and wash him till he be clean, but cast him off and begin anew, as David did. Will ye know what this renewing is? It is the repairing of the image of God, until we be like Adam when he dwelt in Paradise. As there is a whole old man, so there must be a whole new man. The old man must change with the new man, wisdom for wisdom, love for love, fear for fear; his worldly wisdom for heavenly wisdom, his carnal love for spiritual love, his servile fear for Christian fear, his idle thoughts for holy thoughts, his vain words for wholesome words, his fleshly works for sanctified works.

1872 · Charles Haddon Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, vol. 2 (Psalms 27-57) 51.1-12

“Take not thy Holy Spirit from me.” Withdraw not his comforts, counsels, assistances, quickenings, else I am indeed as a dead man. Do not leave me as thou didst Saul, when neither by Urim, nor by prophet, nor by dream, thou wouldst answer him. Thy Spirit is my wisdom, leave me not to my folly; he is my strength, O desert me not to my own weakness. Drive me not away from thee, neither do thou go away from me. Keep up the union between us, which is my only hope of salvation. It will be a great wonder if so pure a Spirit deigns to stay in so base a heart as mine; but then, Lord, it is all wonder together, therefore do this, for thy mercy’s sake, I earnestly entreat thee.

1892–1894 · Alexander Maclaren, The Expositor's Bible: The Psalms, vol. 2 (Psalms 39-89) 51

Nor does that expectation exhaust his confidence. He hopes for "joy and gladness." His bones have been crushed—i.e., his whole self has been, as it were, ground to powder by the weight of God's hand; but restoration is possible. A penitent heart is not too bold when it asks for joy. There is no real well-founded gladness without the consciousness of Divine forgiveness. The psalmist closes his petitions for pardon (ver. 9) with asking God to "hide His face from his sins," so that they be, as it were, no more existent for Him, and, by a repetition of the initial petition in ver. 1, for the blotting out of "all mine iniquities."

1906 · Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Spurgeon's Sermons, Volume 52 (1906) 3009

Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Here the truly quickened man speaks. It is not salvation from punishment he asks for, but salvation from the power of sin. He wants a new heart. He wants to have removed from him the defiling power of sin over his affections. "Create in me a clean heart, O God." It will need the Creator to do it. Only the God who made the world can make me what I ought to be. Great Creator, put Your hand to this work—'Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.'"

1906 · Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Spurgeon's Sermons, Volume 52 (1906) 3009

I do not know of any Scripture that seems more full of holy confidence than this is. David had such a deep sense of his sinfulness that it was a wonderful thing that he should have, side by side with it, such a perfect confidence in the power of God to cleanse him! It is easy enough to say, "I shall be whiter than snow," when we do not realize what scarlet sinners we are, but when the crimson is before us and we are startled by it, it requires a real and living faith to be able to say to God, "Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow."

1907 · Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Spurgeon's Sermons, Volume 53 (1907) 3056

And David's faith, acting upon the telescopic principle, looked far down the ages and he saw the great atoning Sacrifice offered upon Calvary. And as he saw the Son of God bleeding for sins which were not His own, he desired that the blood of Christ might be applied to his conscience, feeling that it would take away his defilement and admit him into the courts of God's House and into the love of God's heart. And so he prayed this prayer, "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean." He felt, too, that sin was a very great defilement—that he was black and filthy—but he knew how he had often, when hunted like a wild goat among the mountains, stooped down to a cooling brook and washed away the dust and stain of travel in the running water and his face and hands had been clean again. And so, bowing down before God he sees, in the Sacrifice of Christ, a cleansing flood and his desire is expressed in these words, "Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow."

1908–1909 · Alexander Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture: Psalms 51.10-12

No sin is so great but that, coming straight from it, a repentant sinner may hope and believe that all God’s love will be lavished upon him, and the richest of God’s gifts be granted to his desires. Even if our transgression is aggravated by a previous life of godliness, and have given the enemies great occasion to blaspheme, as David’s did, yet David’s penitence may in our souls lead on to David’s hope, and the answer will not fail us.

1557 · John Calvin, Commentary on the Psalms, part 2 (Psalms 36-66) 51.17

In reply to this, I might observe, that David is not speaking at this time of the meritorious condition by which pardon is procured, but, on the contrary, asserting our absolute destitution of merit by enjoining humiliation and contrition of spirit, in opposition to everything like an attempt to render a compensation to God. The man of broken spirit is one who has been emptied of all vain-glorious confidence, and brought to acknowledge that he is nothing. The contrite heart abjures the idea of merit, and has no dealings with God upon the principle of exchange.

1692 · Thomas Watson, The Ten Commandments 4.2

Repentance is very pleasing to God. No sacrifice like a broken heart. ‘A broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.’ Psa 51: 17. Augustine caused this sentence to be written over his bed when he was sick. When the widow brought empty vessels to Elisha, the oil was poured into them. 2 Kings 4: 6. Bring God the broken vessel of a contrite heart, and he will pour in the oil of mercy.

1710 · Matthew Henry, Commentary on Psalms 51.14-19

The sacrifice was bound, was bled, was burnt; so the penitent heart is bound by convictions, bleeds in contrition, and then burns in holy zeal against sin and for God. The sacrifice was offered upon the altar that sanctified the gift; so the broken heart is acceptable to God only through Jesus Christ; there is no true repentance without faith in him; and this is the sacrifice which he will not despise. Men despise that which is broken, but God will not. He despised the sacrifice of torn and broken beasts, but he will not despise that of a torn and broken heart. He will not overlook it; he will not refuse or reject it; though it make God no satisfaction for the wrong done him by sin, yet he does not despise it.

1710 · Matthew Henry, Commentary on Psalms 51.14-19

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. It is a sharp work wrought there, no less than the breaking of the heart; not in despair (as we say, when a man is undone, His heart is broken), but in necessary humiliation and sorrow for sin. It is a heart breaking with itself, and breaking from its sin; it is a heart pliable to the word of God, and patient under the rod of God, a heart subdued and brought into obedience; it is a heart that is tender, like Josiah's, and trembles at God's word. Oh that there were such a heart in us! (2.) How graciously God is pleased to accept of this. It is the sacrifices of God, not one, but many; it is instead of all burnt-offering and sacrifice. The breaking of Christ's body for sin is the only sacrifice of atonement, for no sacrifice but that could take away sin; but the breaking of our hearts for sin is a sacrifice of acknowledgment, a sacrifice of God, for to him it is offered up; he requires it, he prepares it (he provides this lamb for a burnt-offering), and he will accept of it. That which pleased God was not the feeding of a beast, and making much of it, but killing it; so it is not the pampering of our flesh, but the mortifying of it, that God will accept.

1834 · Albert Barnes, Notes on the Bible: Psalms 51.17

David felt that that which he here specified was what was demanded in his case. He had grievously sinned; and the blood of animals offered in sacrifice could not put away his sin, nor could anything remove it unless the heart were itself penitent and contrite. The same thing is true now. Though a most perfect sacrifice, every way acceptable to God, has been made for human guilt by the Redeemer, yet it is as true as it was under the old dispensation in regard to the sacrifices there required, that even that will not avail for us unless we are truly penitent; unless we come before God with a contrite and humble heart. Are a broken spirit - A mind broken or crushed under the weight of conscious guilt. The idea is that of a burden laid on the Soul until it is crushed and subdued. A broken and a contrite heart - The word rendered contrite means to be broken or crushed, as when the bones are broken, Psa 44:19; Psa 51:8; and then it is applied to the mind or heart as that which is crushed or broken by the weight of guilt.

1870 · Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Spurgeon's Sermons, Volume 16 (1870) 911

Let me not be mistaken—wherever God gives real repentance of sin, there sin is forgiven—for repentance and remission go together. But no man is pardoned because of any merit in his repentance. Repentance is a gift given to us graciously at the same time as remission of sins, but it is not the cause of remission. It comes with it, and is one of the outward evidences of it, but it is by no means the cause of it. Now observe the proof of this in the case of David. David was as penitent as a man could well be. His Penitential Psalms remain forever the most wonderful expressions of a broken heart, yet David nowhere claims forgiveness because of his contrition. Take the fifty-first Psalm as a specimen. David nowhere concludes that he is forgiven because he repents, or that his tears can wash him white. His petition is, "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean"—alluding to the sacrificial blood which was sprinkled by a piece of hyssop. "Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow."

1872 · Charles Haddon Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, vol. 2 (Psalms 27-57) 51.13-19

All sacrifices are presented to thee in one, by the man whose broken heart presents the Saviour’s merit to thee. When the heart mourns for sin, thou art better pleased than when the bullock bleeds beneath the axe. “A broken heart” is an expression implying deep sorrow, embittering the very life; it carries in it the idea of all but killing anguish in that region which is so vital as to be the very source of life. So excellent is a spirit humbled and mourning for sin, that it is not only a sacrifice, but it has a plurality of excellencies, and is pre-eminently God’s “sacrifices.” “A broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.”

1872 · J. J. Stewart Perowne, The Treasury of David, vol. 2 (Psalms 27-57) 51.q98

When speaking of thankfulness, we might have expected him to say, “a joyful heart, or a thankful heart,” but instead of that he says, “a contrite heart.” For the joy of forgiveness does not banish sorrow and contrition for sin: this will still continue. And the deeper the sense of sin, and the truer the sorrow for it, the more heartfelt also will be the thankfulness for pardon and reconciliation. The tender, humble, broken heart, is therefore the best thank-offering.

1872 · Richard Baker, The Treasury of David, vol. 2 (Psalms 27-57) 51.q97

Can we drink in a broken glass? Or can we lean upon a broken staff? But though other things may be the worse for breaking, yet a heart is never at the best till it be broken; for till it be broken we cannot see what is in it; till it be broken, it cannot send forth its sweetest odour; and therefore, though God loves a whole heart in affection, yet he loves a broken heart in sacrifice. And no marvel, indeed, seeing it is he himself that breaks it; for as nothing but goat’s blood can break the adamant, so nothing but the blood of our scape-goat, Jesus Christ, is able to break our adamantine hearts. Therefore, accept, O God, my broken heart, which I offer thee with a whole heart; seeing thou canst neither except against it for being whole, which is broken in sacrifice, nor except against it for being broken, which is whole in affection.

1903 · Alexander Maclaren, The Life of David as Reflected in His Psalms 13

David sets it on the very summit of his psalm, to sparkle there like some stone of price. The rich jewel which he has brought up from the abyss of degradation is that truth which has shone out from its setting here over three millenniums: "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise."