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Psalm 51:15
Lord, open my lips. My mouth will declare your praise.
13Then I will teach transgressors your ways. Sinners will be converted to you.
14Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, the God of my salvation. My tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.
15Lord, open my lips. My mouth will declare your praise.
16For you don’t delight in sacrifice, or else I would give it. You have no pleasure in burnt offering.
17The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit. O God, you will not despise a broken and contrite heart.
Notice
The request to open lips comes before the promise of praise, showing how even speech offered to God depends on help from God.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What would you want to say if God answered this request to open your lips?
Write on thisHow does the plea for deliverance from guilt shape your reading of the praise promised here?
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Where else Scripture says this
11 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.
This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Philippians 4:6In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.Both passages join a request to God with words that honor him: praise in the psalm and thanksgiving in Philippians.
Psalm 19:14Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, LORD, my rock, and my redeemer.Both prayers bring the speaker's mouth before God, asking for speech that praises him or is acceptable in his sight.
Psalm 63:3Because your loving kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise you.Both psalms speak of lips praising God; Psalm 63 names his loving kindness as the reason for praise.
Exodus 4:11The LORD said to him, “Who made man’s mouth? Or who makes one mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Isn’t it I, the LORD?The request for God to open human lips accords with his declaration in Exodus that he made the human mouth.
Psalm 9:1For the Chief Musician. Set to “The Death of the Son.” A Psalm by David. I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart. I will tell of all your marvelous …Both speakers pledge spoken praise to God, with Psalm 9 specifying thanks and the telling of his marvelous works.
Hebrews 13:15Through him, then, let’s offer up a sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of lips which proclaim allegiance to his name.Both passages describe praise offered to God through human lips; Hebrews names that praise a sacrifice.
Ezekiel 29:21“In that day I will cause a horn to sprout for the house of Israel, and I will open your mouth among them. Then they will know that I am the LORD.”An opened mouth depends on God in both passages: the psalm asks for it, and Ezekiel receives God's promise of it.
Ezekiel 3:27But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you shall tell them, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says.’ He who hears, let him hear; and he who refuses, …God opens the mouth in both passages, enabling praise in the psalm and the speaking of his message in Ezekiel.
Mark 7:34Looking up to heaven, he sighed, and said to him, “Ephphatha!” that is, “Be opened!”The shared thread is opening: the psalm asks the Lord to open lips, while Jesus speaks a command to be opened.
1 Samuel 2:9He will keep the feet of his holy ones, but the wicked will be put to silence in darkness; for no man will prevail by strength.Both passages place human ability under God's rule, though Samuel speaks of protection and judgment rather than praise.
Isaiah 35:6Then the lame man will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute will sing; for waters will break out in the wilderness, and streams in the desert.Both passages describe vocal praise or song made possible by God: opened lips in the psalm and a mute tongue singing in Isaiah.
Where this verse fits
Guilt and confession. praise and worship. wanting a steady prayer habit.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
Praise has a place within this prayer of confession. Even here, amid the plea for deliverance from guilt, David asks God for help to speak God's praise.
Now put it in your words.
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).