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Selected Verse: Psalms 51:12 - King James

Verse	Translation	Text
Ps 51:12	King James	Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.

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A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
free spirit--"thy" ought not to be supplied, for the word "free" is, literally, "willing," and "spirit" is that of David. "Let a willing spirit uphold me," that is, with a soul willingly conformed to God's law, he would be preserved in a right course of conduct.

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

free spirit--"thy" ought not to be supplied, for the word "free" is, literally, "willing," and "spirit" is that of David. "Let a willing spirit uphold me," that is, with a soul willingly conformed to God's law, he would be preserved in a right course of conduct.

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation - literally, "Cause the joy of thy salvation to return." This implies that he had formerly known what was the happiness of being a friend of God, and of having a hope of salvation. That joy had been taken from him by his sin. He had lost his peace of mind. His soul was sad and cheerless. Sin always produces this effect. The only way to enjoy religion is to do that which is right; the only way to secure the favor of God is to obey his commands; the only way in which we can have comforting evidence that we are his children is by doing that which shall be pleasing to him: Jo1 2:29; Jo1 3:7, Jo1 3:10. The path of sin is a dark path, and in that path neither hope nor comfort can be found. And uphold me with thy free spirit - That is, Sustain me; keep me from falling. The words ""with thy"" are not in the original, and there is nothing there to indicate that by the word "spirit" the psalmist refers to the Spirit of God, though it should be observed that there is nothing "against" such a supposition. The word rendered "free" - נדיב nâdı̂yb - means properly "willing, voluntary, ready, prompt;" Ch1 28:21; Exo 35:5. Then the word means liberal, generous, noble-minded; Isa 32:5, Isa 32:8; Pro 17:7, Pro 17:26. It would seem here to mean "a "willing" spirit," referring to David's own mind or spirit; and the prayer is, that God would uphold or sustain him "in" a "willing" spirit or state of mind; that is, a state of mind in which he would he "willing" and "ready" to obey all the commands of God, and to serve him faithfully. What he prayed for was grace and strength that he might be "kept" in a state of mind which would be constant and firm Psa 51:10, and a state in which he would always be found "willing" and ready to keep the commandments of God. It is a proper object of prayer by all that they may be always kept in a state of mind in which they will be willing to do all that God requires of them, and to bear all that may be laid on them.

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]

Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation - literally, "Cause the joy of thy salvation to return." This implies that he had formerly known what was the happiness of being a friend of God, and of having a hope of salvation. That joy had been taken from him by his sin. He had lost his peace of mind. His soul was sad and cheerless. Sin always produces this effect. The only way to enjoy religion is to do that which is right; the only way to secure the favor of God is to obey his commands; the only way in which we can have comforting evidence that we are his children is by doing that which shall be pleasing to him: Jo1 2:29; Jo1 3:7, Jo1 3:10. The path of sin is a dark path, and in that path neither hope nor comfort can be found.

And uphold me with thy free spirit - That is, Sustain me; keep me from falling. The words ""with thy"" are not in the original, and there is nothing there to indicate that by the word "spirit" the psalmist refers to the Spirit of God, though it should be observed that there is nothing "against" such a supposition. The word rendered "free" - נדיב nâdı̂yb - means properly "willing, voluntary, ready, prompt;" Ch1 28:21; Exo 35:5. Then the word means liberal, generous, noble-minded; Isa 32:5, Isa 32:8; Pro 17:7, Pro 17:26. It would seem here to mean "a "willing" spirit," referring to David's own mind or spirit; and the prayer is, that God would uphold or sustain him "in" a "willing" spirit or state of mind; that is, a state of mind in which he would he "willing" and "ready" to obey all the commands of God, and to serve him faithfully. What he prayed for was grace and strength that he might be "kept" in a state of mind which would be constant and firm Psa 51:10, and a state in which he would always be found "willing" and ready to keep the commandments of God. It is a proper object of prayer by all that they may be always kept in a state of mind in which they will be willing to do all that God requires of them, and to bear all that may be laid on them.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]
In connection with רוּח נדיבה, the old expositors thought of נדיב, a noble, a prince, and נדיבה, nobility, high rank, Job 30:15, lxx πνεύματι ἡγεμονικῷ (spiritu principali) στήριξόν με, - the word has, however, without any doubt, its ethical sense in this passage, Isa 32:8, cf. נדבה, Ps. 54:8; and the relation of the two words רוח נדיבה is not to be taken as adjectival, but genitival, since the poet has just used רוח in the same personal sense in Psa 51:12. Nor are they to be taken as a nominative of the subject, but - what corresponds more closely to the connection of the prayer - according to Gen 27:37, as a second accusative of the object: with a spirit of willingness, of willing, noble impulse towards that which is good, support me; i.e., imparting this spirit to me, uphold me constantly in that which is good. What is meant is not the Holy Spirit, but the human spirit made free from the dominion of sin by the Holy Spirit, to which good has become an inward, as it were instinctive, necessity. Thus assured of his justification and fortified in new obedience, David will teach transgressors the ways of God, and sinners shall be converted to Him, viz., by means of the testimony concerning God's order of mercy which he is able to bear as the result of his own rich experience.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]

In connection with רוּח נדיבה, the old expositors thought of נדיב, a noble, a prince, and נדיבה, nobility, high rank, Job 30:15, lxx πνεύματι ἡγεμονικῷ (spiritu principali) στήριξόν με, - the word has, however, without any doubt, its ethical sense in this passage, Isa 32:8, cf. נדבה, Ps. 54:8; and the relation of the two words רוח נדיבה is not to be taken as adjectival, but genitival, since the poet has just used רוח in the same personal sense in Psa 51:12. Nor are they to be taken as a nominative of the subject, but - what corresponds more closely to the connection of the prayer - according to Gen 27:37, as a second accusative of the object: with a spirit of willingness, of willing, noble impulse towards that which is good, support me; i.e., imparting this spirit to me, uphold me constantly in that which is good. What is meant is not the Holy Spirit, but the human spirit made free from the dominion of sin by the Holy Spirit, to which good has become an inward, as it were instinctive, necessity. Thus assured of his justification and fortified in new obedience, David will teach transgressors the ways of God, and sinners shall be converted to Him, viz., by means of the testimony concerning God's order of mercy which he is able to bear as the result of his own rich experience.

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]
The joy - The comfortable sense of thy saving grace, promised and vouchsafed to me, both for my present and everlasting salvation. Free - Or, ingenuous, or liberal, or princely. Which he seems to oppose to his own base and illiberal and disingenuous and servile spirit, which he had discovered in his wicked practices: a spirit, which may free me from the bondage of sin, and enable me chearfully to run the way of God's precepts.

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]

The joy - The comfortable sense of thy saving grace, promised and vouchsafed to me, both for my present and everlasting salvation. Free - Or, ingenuous, or liberal, or princely. Which he seems to oppose to his own base and illiberal and disingenuous and servile spirit, which he had discovered in his wicked practices: a spirit, which may free me from the bondage of sin, and enable me chearfully to run the way of God's precepts.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826
Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation - This is an awful prayer. And why? Because it shows he once Had the joy of God's salvation; and had Lost it by sin! Uphold me with thy free spirit - Prop me up; support me with a princely spirit, one that will not stoop to a mean or base act. See on Psa 51:10 (note).

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826

Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation - This is an awful prayer. And why? Because it shows he once Had the joy of God's salvation; and had Lost it by sin!

Uphold me with thy free spirit - Prop me up; support me with a princely spirit, one that will not stoop to a mean or base act. See on Psa 51:10 (note).

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