Psalms 51:18

Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
good	הֵיטִ֣יבָה hei.Ti.vah	H3190	to be (causative) make well · verb, hiphil imperative, 2nd person masculine singular + paragogic he
pleasure	בִ֭רְצוֹנְךָ Vir.tzon.kha	H7522	delight (especially as shown) · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
Zion	צִיּ֑וֹן tzi.Yon	H6726	Tsijon (as a permanent capital) · proper noun, a place name
build	תִּ֝בְנֶ֗ה tiv.Neh	H1129	to build (literally and figuratively) · verb, qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine singular
walls	חוֹמ֥וֹת cho.Mot	H2346	a wall of protection · noun, common feminine plural construct
Jerusalem	יְרוּשָׁלִָֽם ye.ru.sha.Lim	H3389	Jerushalaim or Jerushalem · proper noun, a place name

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Psalms 102:16 When the LORD shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory.
Philippians 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
Psalms 122:6-9 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee.
Zechariah 2:5 For I, saith the LORD, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her.
Luke 12:32 Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
Ephesians 1:5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
Nehemiah 2:17 Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire: come, and…
Psalms 25:22 Redeem Israel, O God, out of all his troubles.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 51:14–end

I. David prays against the guilt of sin, and prays for the grace of God, enforcing both petitions from a plea taken from the glory of God, which he promises with thankfulness to show forth. 1. He prays against the guilt of sin, that he might be delivered from that, and promises that then he would praise God, Psa 51:14. The particular sin he prays against is blood-guiltiness, the sin he had now been guilty of, having slain Uriah with the sword of the children of Ammon. Hitherto perhaps he had stopped the mouth of conscience with that frivolous excuse, that he did not kill him himself; but now he was convinced that he was the murderer, and, hearing the blood cry to God for vengeance, he cries…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Psalms 51:18

Do good, &c.--Visit not my sin on Thy Church. build . . . walls--is to show favor; compare Psa 89:40, for opposite form and idea.

John Gill on Psalms 51:18

Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion,.... This verse, and Psalm 51:19, are thought, by a Spanish Rabbi mentioned by Aben Ezra, to have been added by one of the holy men that lived in the time of the Babylonish captivity; though rather it is thought, by the latter, to be written by David, under a spirit of prophecy, concerning, times to come; and so Kimchi thinks they are prophetic of future things; of the destruction of the first and second temple, and of the acceptableness of sacrifices in the times of the Messiah: and by Zion is meant the church, under the Gospel dispensation, Hebrews 12:22; and the "good" prayed for includes all the good and glorious things spoken of the church of Chris…

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John Calvin on Psalms 51:16–end

Psalm 51:16-19 16. For thou wilt not accept a sacrifice; though I should give [271] a burnt offering, it would not please thee. 17. 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. He confesses…

The Church Fathers

See who this is: David as one man was seeming to implore; see ye here our image and the type of the Church. "Deal kindly, O Lord, in Your good will with Sion" [Psalm 51:18]. With this Sion deal kindly. What is Sion? A city holy. What is a city holy? That which cannot be hidden, being upon a mountain established. Sion in prospect, because it has prospect of something which it hopes for. For Sion is interpreted "prospect," and Jerusalem, "vision of peace." You perceive then yourselves to be in Sion and in Jerusalem, if being sure ye look for hope that is to be, and if you have peace with God. "And be the walls of Jerusalem built." "Deal kindly, O Lord, in Your good will with Sion, and be the walls of Jerusalem built." For not to herself let Sion ascribe her merits: do Thou with her deal kindly, "Be the walls of Jerusalem built:" be the battlements of our immortality laid, in faith and hope and charity.
— Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 51

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Zion — Sunny; height, one of the eminences on which Jerusalem was built. It was surrounded on all sides, except the north, by deep valleys, that of the Tyropoeon (q.v.) separating it from Moriah (q.v.),…
Jerusalem · The Jews: Prayed for the prosperity of — The Jews: Prayed for the prosperity of
Patriotism · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Psalms 51:18

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 51:14–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Psalms 51:18

John Gill on Psalms 51:18

John Calvin on Psalms 51:16–end

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Psalms 51:18

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 51:14–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Psalms 51:18

John Gill on Psalms 51:18

John Calvin on Psalms 51:16–end

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on Psalms 51:18–end

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Psalms 51:18-19

Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 51:18