Psalm 51:19
Then you will delight in the sacrifices of the righteous, in burnt offerings offered whole; then bulls will be offered on your altar.
Some people just love trying to find parts of the Bible that
appear to contradict each other, in an attempt to undermine our confidence that it is God’s perfect, infallible word. Those people would have a field day with Psalm 51! In verse 16 David clearly states that ‘God does not delight in sacrifice’. Here in v.19 he is
equally emphatic that God ‘will delight in sacrifice.’
But, as we’ve seen already, David has multiple sacrifices in
mind as he writes this psalm. There’s the blood sacrifice that actually takes away our sin (Jesus’ death on the cross) which isn’t mentioned explicitly, but is implied when he talks about hyssop in v7. This is not a sacrifice that we can
bring – it is something that God gives to us. Then there’s the sacrifice of v.16 - any sacrifice that we might think of bringing to God in an attempt to buy our forgiveness. That’s a sacrifice that is never welcome, which we
shouldn’t try to bring. Then there are the two sacrifices that we can bring to God – not to earn our forgiveness but in response to it. Firstly, the sacrifice of v.17, the humble, repentant heart of a sinner who has been forgiven by
Jesus. And finally, here in v.19, the lavish, generous, costly sacrifice of a whole bull, given by grateful people, in thankful celebration of their relationship with God. In our place and time, the burnt offering of a bull is probably not the best way of expressing our gratitude to God. But that
shouldn’t mean that we don’t express it at all! How can we, people who have been made righteous by Jesus, delight God today? By joyfully praising him. By
demonstrating our trust in him through wholehearted obedience. By telling others how great it is to know a God like this. By coming to him humbly, acknowledging our tendency to sin and asking for his help to resist. In these,
and many, many other ways, let’s ask God to make us those who delight him today!
