What does Psalm 51:19 mean?
In this verse David anticipates the Lord's acceptance of His people's sacrifices when their hearts are right with Him. He mentions burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings.Leviticus 1:3 specifies that the worshiper who offers a burnt offering must offer a male without blemish, and "he shall bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting, that he may be accepted before the LORD." Leviticus 1:4 instructs, "He shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him." When a bull was sacrificed as a whole burnt offering, the worshiper was instructed to lay his hand on its head. The blood of the bull was sprinkled by the priest seven times before the Lord in front of the sanctuary's veil and then poured out at the base of the altar of burnt offering (Leviticus 4:5–7). The bull's fat covering its entrails, its kidneys with the fat, and its liver were burned on the altar, and then the bull's skin, flesh, head, legs, entrails, and dung were burned outside the camp.
The worshiper's identification with the sacrifice by laying his hand on the animal's head prefigures our identification with Christ as the perfect sacrifice for our sin.
Psalm 51:16–19 is the final section of Psalm 51. These verses indicate that God doesn't primarily want sacrifices when someone sins. He accepts and deeply desires a broken spirit and a contrite heart, however. Isaiah 1:18 reinforces David's observation about what is important to God. Isaiah reported that the Lord was tired of hypocritical sacrifices. He refused to accept them, but summoned the people to have a personal relationship with Him, and He would cleanse their sin. David ends his psalm with a prayer for Jerusalem. He recognizes that when the Lord revives Jerusalem, He will accept the people's sacrifices.
This psalm opens with David's plea to God to show him mercy. He asks God to blot out his transgressions, wash his iniquities, and cleanse him from sin. He admits his sinning was against God. He also confesses his human sin nature. David asks God to make him as white as snow by purging him with hyssop. He longs for joy to return to him, but knows he was suffering because God had turned away from him. He pleads with God for a clean heart and a right spirit. He does not want God to cast him aside and remove His Holy Spirit. David longs for a renewal of the joy of his salvation. If cleansing from sin occurred and joy returned to him, David would teach transgressors God's ways, and sinners would be converted. He promises near the end of the psalm to declare God's praise if God would forgive him. He knew it would be futile to offer a sacrifice to God, because God delights in a broken and contrite heart and not in sacrifices offered with an unrepentant heart. David closes the psalm with a prayer for God to bless Jerusalem.
