Shortly after someone at church exhortated with Psalm 51, I began going through it verse by verse. I'm currently "stuck" on v 8. "Make me hear joy and gladness, that the bones You have broken may rejoice."
In looking at a word study, I got hit at "Make me hear". Root: שָׁמַע (shama) - to hear, listen, obey. Causative form (Hiphil): "cause to hear" or "let me hear".
The study pointed out: "David is asking God to actively restore his ability to experience joy, not just passively receive it. It implies that sin has deadened his spiritual senses."
"...actively restore his ability to experience joy..."
Wow. That opened my eyes...
I so often struggle with not entering in more during worship. I sing the songs, but feel like I'm going through the motions more than I am experiencing what we do on a Sunday morning to create a place for His glory.
It is like I've been feeling like I've lost the ability to experience joy.
Similar to how chemotherapy gave Marcie neuropathy in her fingers, I'm going through some kind of spiritual neuropathy.
For a while, I've known I've been in some kind of 'funk', but taking the prompting of going through Psalm 51 has given me some clue, some "lightbulb" moment (epiphany).
I had been asking God "why" for a while... Why don't I? Why can't I? WHY? I probably sprinkled in "how" a few times... But it apparently hadn't dawned on me to simply ask Him to "actively restore" my "ability to experience joy"... Also, one of the points the study made at the end was "Joy is not self-generated but comes from God." I wonder if I'm trying too hard to self-generate joy instead of allowing it to come from Him.
After a meeting with my brothers from my old church, a new iteration of K.I.S.S. came to me. Usually the second S is a rather negative term. But the one that seems to be more fitting is Keep It Simple SINNER.
In looking at a word study, I got hit at "Make me hear". Root: שָׁמַע (shama) - to hear, listen, obey. Causative form (Hiphil): "cause to hear" or "let me hear".
The study pointed out: "David is asking God to actively restore his ability to experience joy, not just passively receive it. It implies that sin has deadened his spiritual senses."
"...actively restore his ability to experience joy..."
Wow. That opened my eyes...
I so often struggle with not entering in more during worship. I sing the songs, but feel like I'm going through the motions more than I am experiencing what we do on a Sunday morning to create a place for His glory.
It is like I've been feeling like I've lost the ability to experience joy.
Similar to how chemotherapy gave Marcie neuropathy in her fingers, I'm going through some kind of spiritual neuropathy.
For a while, I've known I've been in some kind of 'funk', but taking the prompting of going through Psalm 51 has given me some clue, some "lightbulb" moment (epiphany).
I had been asking God "why" for a while... Why don't I? Why can't I? WHY? I probably sprinkled in "how" a few times... But it apparently hadn't dawned on me to simply ask Him to "actively restore" my "ability to experience joy"... Also, one of the points the study made at the end was "Joy is not self-generated but comes from God." I wonder if I'm trying too hard to self-generate joy instead of allowing it to come from Him.
After a meeting with my brothers from my old church, a new iteration of K.I.S.S. came to me. Usually the second S is a rather negative term. But the one that seems to be more fitting is Keep It Simple SINNER.
Shortly after someone at church exhortated with Psalm 51, I began going through it verse by verse. I'm currently "stuck" on v 8. "Make me hear joy and gladness, that the bones You have broken may rejoice."
In looking at a word study, I got hit at "Make me hear". Root: שָׁמַע (shama) - to hear, listen, obey. Causative form (Hiphil): "cause to hear" or "let me hear".
The study pointed out: "David is asking God to actively restore his ability to experience joy, not just passively receive it. It implies that sin has deadened his spiritual senses."
"...actively restore his ability to experience joy..."
Wow. That opened my eyes...
I so often struggle with not entering in more during worship. I sing the songs, but feel like I'm going through the motions more than I am experiencing what we do on a Sunday morning to create a place for His glory.
It is like I've been feeling like I've lost the ability to experience joy.
Similar to how chemotherapy gave Marcie neuropathy in her fingers, I'm going through some kind of spiritual neuropathy.
For a while, I've known I've been in some kind of 'funk', but taking the prompting of going through Psalm 51 has given me some clue, some "lightbulb" moment (epiphany).
I had been asking God "why" for a while... Why don't I? Why can't I? WHY? I probably sprinkled in "how" a few times... But it apparently hadn't dawned on me to simply ask Him to "actively restore" my "ability to experience joy"... Also, one of the points the study made at the end was "Joy is not self-generated but comes from God." I wonder if I'm trying too hard to self-generate joy instead of allowing it to come from Him.
After a meeting with my brothers from my old church, a new iteration of K.I.S.S. came to me. Usually the second S is a rather negative term. But the one that seems to be more fitting is Keep It Simple SINNER.
Word Study: Psalm 51:8 (NKJV)
Text: "Make me hear joy and gladness, that the bones You have broken may rejoice."
Key Words and Phrases
"Make me hear" (Hebrew: תַּשְׁמִיעֵנִי, tashmi'eni)
Root: שָׁמַע (shama) - to hear, listen, obey
Causative form (Hiphil): "cause to hear" or "let me hear"
David is asking God to actively restore his ability to experience joy, not just passively receive it
Implies that sin has deadened his spiritual senses
"Joy" (Hebrew: שָׂשׂוֹן, sason)
Exuberant joy, gladness, mirth
Often associated with celebration and festive occasions
Used frequently in contexts of deliverance and salvation (Isaiah 35:10, Jeremiah 31:13)
"Gladness" (Hebrew: שִׂמְחָה, simchah)
Joy, mirth, gaiety
A broader term for happiness and delight
Often paired with sason to intensify the expression of complete joy
"Bones" (Hebrew: עֲצָמוֹת, atzamot)
Literally: bones, skeleton
Metaphorically: the innermost being, one's core strength and vitality
In Hebrew thought, bones represented the essence of a person's physical and emotional strength
Used elsewhere to express deep emotional or spiritual distress (Psalm 6:2, 32:3, Job 30:17)
"You have broken" (Hebrew: דִּכִּיתָ, dikita)
Root: דָּכָא (daka) - to crush, be crushed, be contrite
Perfect tense: completed action
Suggests God's disciplinary action in response to David's sin
The same root appears in verse 17: "a broken and contrite heart"
"May rejoice" (Hebrew: תָּגֵלְנָה, tagelna)
Root: גִּיל (gil) - to rejoice, exult, be glad
Imperfect tense: expressing desire or potential future action
Strong, exuberant rejoicing, often with physical expression
Theological Implications
This verse reveals David's understanding that:
God's discipline, though painful, is redemptive
True restoration involves the whole person—from the innermost being outward
Joy is not self-generated but comes from God
Genuine repentance leads to the hope of restored joy
The imagery of "broken bones" rejoicing is particularly striking—David asks that the very parts of his being most devastated by his sin and God's discipline might become sources of praise.
Text: "Make me hear joy and gladness, that the bones You have broken may rejoice."
Key Words and Phrases
"Make me hear" (Hebrew: תַּשְׁמִיעֵנִי, tashmi'eni)
Root: שָׁמַע (shama) - to hear, listen, obey
Causative form (Hiphil): "cause to hear" or "let me hear"
David is asking God to actively restore his ability to experience joy, not just passively receive it
Implies that sin has deadened his spiritual senses
"Joy" (Hebrew: שָׂשׂוֹן, sason)
Exuberant joy, gladness, mirth
Often associated with celebration and festive occasions
Used frequently in contexts of deliverance and salvation (Isaiah 35:10, Jeremiah 31:13)
"Gladness" (Hebrew: שִׂמְחָה, simchah)
Joy, mirth, gaiety
A broader term for happiness and delight
Often paired with sason to intensify the expression of complete joy
"Bones" (Hebrew: עֲצָמוֹת, atzamot)
Literally: bones, skeleton
Metaphorically: the innermost being, one's core strength and vitality
In Hebrew thought, bones represented the essence of a person's physical and emotional strength
Used elsewhere to express deep emotional or spiritual distress (Psalm 6:2, 32:3, Job 30:17)
"You have broken" (Hebrew: דִּכִּיתָ, dikita)
Root: דָּכָא (daka) - to crush, be crushed, be contrite
Perfect tense: completed action
Suggests God's disciplinary action in response to David's sin
The same root appears in verse 17: "a broken and contrite heart"
"May rejoice" (Hebrew: תָּגֵלְנָה, tagelna)
Root: גִּיל (gil) - to rejoice, exult, be glad
Imperfect tense: expressing desire or potential future action
Strong, exuberant rejoicing, often with physical expression
Theological Implications
This verse reveals David's understanding that:
God's discipline, though painful, is redemptive
True restoration involves the whole person—from the innermost being outward
Joy is not self-generated but comes from God
Genuine repentance leads to the hope of restored joy
The imagery of "broken bones" rejoicing is particularly striking—David asks that the very parts of his being most devastated by his sin and God's discipline might become sources of praise.
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