Psalms 51:8
in Psalms 51Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones You have crushed rejoice.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Make me to hear joy and gladness, That the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.
KJV
Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.
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This verse in Psalms 51
Commentary
3 notes on this verseMake me to hear joy and gladness. He prays about his sorrow late in the Psalm; he began at once with his sin; he asks to hear pardon, and then to hear joy. He seeks comfort at the right time and from the right source. His ear has become heavy with sinning, and so he prays, "Make me to hear." No voice could revive his dead joys but that which quickeneth the dead. Pardon from God would give him double joy—"joy and gladness."
This site's exposition
the bones You have crushed
on Psalms 51:8-9
The plea is for joy and gladness David can hear, and for the bones You have crushed to rejoice. The verse credits the crushing to God, and the hand that broke him is the one asked to make him glad. Verse 9 asks God to look away from the sins.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
(3.) It is God's work, not only to speak this joy and gladness, but to make us hear it and take the comfort of it. He earnestly desires that God would lift up the light of his countenance upon him, and so put gladness into his heart, that he would not only be reconciled to him, but, which is a further act of grace, let him know that he was so.
The words behind it
6 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| תַּ֭שְׁמִיעֵנִי | tashmieni | you will make hear me | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| שָׂשׂ֣וֹן | sason | joy | H8342 → | 22 times |
| וְשִׂמְחָ֑ה | vesimchah | and gladness | H8057 → | 94 times |
| תָּ֝גֵ֗לְנָה | tagelenah | let them rejoice | H1523 → | 45 times |
| עֲצָמ֥וֹת | atzamot | [the] bones | H6106 → | 126 times |
| דִּכִּֽיתָ׃ | dikita | [which] you have crushed | H1794 → | 5 times |
תַּ֭שְׁמִיעֵנִיyou will make hear me
tashmieniH8085 →1159 times
שָׂשׂ֣וֹןjoy
sasonH8342 →22 times
וְשִׂמְחָ֑הand gladness
vesimchahH8057 →94 times
תָּ֝גֵ֗לְנָהlet them rejoice
tagelenahH1523 →45 times
עֲצָמ֥וֹת[the] bones
atzamotH6106 →126 times
דִּכִּֽיתָ׃[which] you have crushed
dikitaH1794 →5 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Matthew 5:4Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
it leads to
- Revelation 21:4
‘He will wipe away every tear from their eyes,’ and there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the former things have passed away.”
- 2 Corinthians 7:9–10
And now I rejoice, not because you were made sorrowful, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you felt the sorrow that God had intended, and so were not harmed in any…
- Isaiah 61:2–3
to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of our God’s vengeance, to comfort all who mourn,
- John 16:20–22
Truly, truly, I tell you, you will weep and wail while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.
- Psalms 126:5–6
Those who sow in tears will reap with shouts of joy.
- Revelation 21:4
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Psalms
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 2; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.