“O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.”
The opening of lips to declare God's praise represents the restoration of the mouth from silence or false testimony to authentic worship, suggesting that penitence culminates not in withdrawal but in renewed and more authentic speech. The psalmist anticipates that the forgiven sinner will become a vehicle for divine praise, that the vocal apparatus itself will be sanctified for the purpose of acclamation. The language mirrors the pattern throughout the psalm: internal transformation leads to external expression, private confession leads to public witness. This verse indicates that true repentance is not introspective withdrawal but the reorientation of the entire person—including the mouth and voice—toward the glorification of God.
Church Fathers on Psalms 51:15
1. Neither must this multitude's throng be defrauded, nor their infirmity burthened. Silence we ask, and quiet, in order that our voice, after yesterday's labour, be able with some little vigour to last out. It must be believed, that your love has met together in greater numbers today for nothing else, but that you may pray for those whom an alien and perverse inclination does keep away. For we are speaking neither of heathens nor of Jews, but of Christians: nor of those that…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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