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Passage Research

Psalm 51 — Sermon Preparation

Below is a research summary for Psalm 51, drawn from openly licensed scholarly databases — original-language morphology, classic sermons from the church fathers through the Puritans, and ancient geography data.

21
verses
153 / 112
Hebrew words / lemmas
20
classic sermon excerpts
6
preachers & commentators

Psalm 51 in the Hebrew

Distinctive vocabulary of this chapter, based on original-language morphology.

Hebrew Transliteration Strong's Count Glosses
רוּחַ rûwach H7307 4 wind, breath
חָפֵץ châphêts H2654 3 incline, bend
זֶבַח zebach H2077 3 slaughter, flesh
דָּכָה dâkâh H1794 2 collapse
עָוֺן ʻâvôn H5771 3 perversity, evil
בַּת־שֶׁבַע Bath-Shebaʻ H1339 2 Bath-Sheba
שָׂשׂוֹן sâsôwn H8342 2 cheerfulness, welcome

How preachers through history handled this text

20 public-domain excerpts on Psalm 51, from the church fathers to the Puritans.

Spurgeon 10 Matthew Henry 4 Alexander MacLaren 3 Ambrose 1 Thomas Watson 1 John Wesley 1

“Those who are thoroughly convinced of their misery and danger by sin, would spare no cost to obtain the remission of it. But as they cannot make satisfaction for sin, so God cannot take any satisfaction in them, otherwise than as expressing love and duty to him. The good work wrought in every true penitent, is a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart, and sorrow for sin. It is a heart that is tender, and pliable to God's word. Oh that there were such a heart in every one of us! God is graciously pleased to accept this; …”

— Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible (Concise), on Psalm 51:16–30 (Public Domain)

Places in the text

Based on ancient-geography data

  • Jerusalem — Ps 51:18
  • Zion — Ps 51:18

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Greek exegesis, historical background, current scholarship, sermon outlines, illustrations — a complete PDF report on Psalm 51, delivered in 45 minutes.