“Thus,
You do as well.
You cover Yahweh’s altar
With tears,
With weeping,
With groaning,
Because he no longer regards
The offering.
He no longer accepts it
With favor
At your hand.”
Yahweh will no longer accept the sacrifices of these foreign worshippers, even though they cover his altar with tears, weeping, and groaning. He no longer regards these sacrificial offerings with favor.
“‘Now implore
The favor of God!
Thus,
He may be gracious to us.
The fault is yours.
Will he show favor
to any of you?’
Says Yahweh of hosts.
‘Oh!
That someone among you
Would shut the temple doors!
Thus,
You would not kindle fire
Upon my altar in vain!
I have no pleasure in you!’
Says Yahweh of hosts.
‘I will not accept
An offering
From your hand.’”
Yahweh wanted them to implore God’s favor, so that he might be gracious to them. However, it was their own fault. Why should Yahweh show favor to any of them? They might as well shut the doors to the Temple, because they have lit fires on his altar in vain. Yahweh was not pleased with these priests. He was not going to accept any offerings from their hands.
“Do good to Zion!
In your good pleasure!
Rebuild the walls of Jerusalem!
Then you will delight in right sacrifices.
You will delight in burnt offerings.
You will delight in whole burnt offerings.
Then bulls will be offered on your altar.”
This psalm ends with this addition about rebuilding Zion that had nothing to do with David and his sin with Bathsheba. David had not even built the Temple so that to rebuild it would have been a post-exilic effort such as in Ezra and Nehemiah. This addition is almost in contradiction to the preceding verses that were pointing out the non-importance of sacrifices. Here it is the opposite. God would delight in right sacrifices, various burnt offers, and all those bulls on his altar. This seems to go against the whole theme of this psalm, but brings the repentance back to ritual sacrifices.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 