Psalm 51, is the first of 18 Psalms bearing the name of David i.e. are called the Royal Psalms. Eight of them are like this, taken from his events of his life. This one’s about when the prophet Nathan came to him after he had committed adultery with Uriah’s wife BathSheba.(see 2 Samuel 12)
14, ¶ Deliver me from blood guilt O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.
15, O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.
16, For thou desirest not sacrifice; else 4 would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.
17, Instead, the sacrifices to God are a broken spirit: a contrite heart, O God, for that thou wilt not despise.
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This prayer echoes Deuteronomy 30: i-x where God tells the Israelites that they should they fail He will be there for them.
1, ¶ And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath driven thee,
2, And shalt return unto the LORD thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul;
3, That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee.
4, If any of thine be driven out unto the outermost parts of heaven, from thence will the LORD thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee:
——–from Dr. James M. Gray, the Moody Bible Institute of Chicago
In my anguish... 