Psalm 51

Overview:

v.11

Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.

v.12

Restore to the me the joy of your salvation, and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

"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: 1 John 2:29; 1 John 3:7, 1 John 3:10. The path of sin is a dark path, and in that path neither hope nor comfort can be found.

barnes

v.17

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.