THE PSALMS
TRANSLATED
AND
EXPLAINED
JOSEPH ADDISON ALEXANDER, D.D.
1864 Edinburgh; Andrew Elliot and James Thin.
Digitized by Ted Hildebrandt
and Erin Bensing.
PREFACE
The present publication owes its origin
to Hengstenberg's Commentary on
the
Psalms. The original design was to make that work, by abridgment
and
other unessential changes, more acceptable and useful to the English
reader
than it could be in the form of an exact translation. It was soon
found,
however, that by far the most important part of such a book would
be
a literal version of the Hebrew text, and that this was precisely what
could
not be obtained at second hand, by the awkward and unsatisfying
process
of translating a translation, but must be derived directly from an
independent
scrutiny of the original. In attempting this, the deviations
from
Hengstenberg, continually in form and not unfrequently in substance,
rendered
it wholly inexpedient and improper to make him responsible for
what
was really a new translation. The only course remaining therefore
was
to make this general acknowledgment, that his work is the basis of the
one
now offered to the public, and that more has been directly drawn from
that
source than from all others put together. The present writer has so
freely
availed himself of Hengstenberg's translations, exegetical suggestions,
and
illustrative citations, in preparing his own version and explanatory
comments,
that nothing could have led him to forego the advantage of in-
serting
that distinguised name upon his title-page, except a natural unwill-
ingness
to make it answerable for the good or evil which is really his own.
At
the same time, he considers it by no means the least merit of the book,
that
it presents, in a smaller compass and a more familiar dress, the most
valuable
results of so masterly an exposition.
In justice to his work and to himself, the
author wishes it to be distinctly
understood,
that he has aimed exclusively at explanation, the discovery and
statement
of the meaning. To this he has confined himself for several
reasons:
first, because a wider plan would have required a larger book than
was
consistent with his general purpose; then, because this is really the
point
in which assistance is most needed by the readers of the Psalter; and
lastly,
because he had especially in view the wants of ministers, who are
better
able than himself to erect a doctrinal, devotional, or practical super-
structure
on the exegetical basis which he has endeavoured here to furnish.
It
follows of course, that the book is not designed to supersede the admirable
1
2
PREFACE.
works
in common use, except so far as it may be found to correct their
occasional
errors of translation or verbal exposition.
It may be thought that, in order to
accomplish this design, the author
might
have satisfied himself with a bare translation.
But experience has
more
and more convinced him, that the meaning of an author cannot be
fully
given in another language by the use of exact equivalents, which are
in
fact so few, that the deficiency can only be supplied by the addition of
synonymous
expressions or by explanatory paraphrase, or by exegetical
remark
directly added to the text, or by the use of all these means together.
The
idea which he has endeavoured here to realize is that of an amplified
translation. In the version properly so called, he has
endeavoured to pre-
serve,
not only the strength but the peculiar form of the original, which is
often
lost in the English Bible, by substituting literal for figurative and
general
for specific terms, as well as by a needless deviation from the order
of
the words in Hebrew, upon which the emphasis, if not the sense, is fre-
quently
dependent, and which has here been carefully restored wherever the
difference
of idiom would suffer it, and sometimes, it may possibly be thought,
without
regard to it. Another gratuitous
departure from the form of the
original,
which has been perhaps too scrupulously shunned, but not, it is
believed,
without advantage to the general character of the translation,
arises
from the habit of confounding the tenses, or merging the future and
the
past in a jejune and inexpressive present.
The instances where this
rule
has been pushed to a rigorous extreme may be readily detected, but
will
not perhaps be thought to outweigh the advantage of preserving one
of
the most marked and striking features of the Hebrew language.
The plan of the book, as already defined,
has excluded not only all devo-
tional
and practical remark, but all attempt to give the history of the
interpretation,
or to enumerate the advocates and authors of conflicting
expositions. This, although necessary to a complete
exegetical work, would
rather
have defeated the design of this one, both by adding to its bulk and
by
repelling a large class of readers. It
has therefore been thought better to exclude it, or rather to reserve it for a
kindred work upon a large scale, if
such
should hereafter be demanded by the public.
The same course has been
taken
with respect to a great mass of materials, relating to those topics
which
would naturally find their place in a Critical Introduction. Many of
these,
and such as are particularly necessary to the exposition, have been
noticed
incidentally as they occur. But
synoptical summaries of these, and
full
discussions of the various questions, as to the age and authors of the
several
psalms, the origin and principle of their arrangement, the best mode
of
classification, and the principles on which they ought to be interpreted,
would
fill a volume by themselves, without materially promoting the main
object
of the present publication. As the
topics thus necessarily excluded
will
probably constitute a principal subject of the author’s private and pro-
fessional
studies for some time to come, he is not without the hope of being
able
to bring something of this kind before the public, either in a separate
work
upon the Psalms, or in a general Introduction to the Scriptures.
PREFACE. 3
The difficulty of discussing these
preliminary matters within reasonable
compass,
although great in the case of any important part of Scripture, is
aggravated
by the peculiar structure of the Psalter, the most miscellaneous
of
the sacred books, containing a hundred and fifty compositions, each com-
plete
in itself, and varying in length, from two sentences (Ps. cxvii.) to a
hundred
and seventy-six (Ps. cxix.), as well as in subject, style, and tone,
the
work of many authors, and of different ages; so that a superficial reader
might
be tempted to regard it as a random or fortuitous collection of uncon-
nected
and incongruous materials.
A closer inspection shews, however, that
this heterogeneous mass is not
without
a bond of union; that these hundred and fifty independent pieces,
different
as they are, have this in common, that they are all poetical, not
merely
imaginative and expressive of feeling, but stamped externally with
that
peculiar character of parallelism, which distinguishes the higher style
of
Hebrew composition from ordinary prose. A still more marked resem-
blance
is that they are all not only poetical but lyrical, i. e. songs, poems
intended
to be sung, and with a musical accompaniment. Thirdly, they are
all
religious lyrics, even those which seem at first sight the most secular in
theme
and spirit, but which are all found on inquiry to be strongly expres-
sive
of religious feeling. In the fourth place, they are all ecclesiastical lyrics,
psalms
or hymns, intended to be permanently used in public worship, not
excepting
those which bear the clearest impress of original connection with
the
social, domestic, or personal relations and experience of the writers.
The book being thus invested with a certain
unity of spirit, form, and
purpose,
we are naturally led to seek for something in the psalms them-
selves,
which may determine more definitely their relation to each other.
The
first thing of this kind that presents itself is the existence, in a very
large
proportion, of an ancient title or inscription, varying in length and ful-
ness;
sometimes simply describing the composition, as a psalm, a song, a
prayer,
&c.; sometimes stating the subject or historical occasion, either in
plain
or enigmatical expressions; sometimes directing the performance, by
indicating
the accompanying instrument, by specifying the appropriate key
or
mode, or by naming the particular performer: these various intimations
occurring
sometimes singly, but frequently in combination.
The strenuous attempts which have been made
by modern writers to
discredit
these inscriptions, as spurious additions of a later date, containing
groundless
and erroneous conjectures, often at variance with the terms and
substance
of the psalm itself, are defeated by the fact that they are found
in
the Hebrew text, as far as we can trace its history, not as addenda, but
as
integral parts of the composition; that such indications of the author
and
the subject, at the commencement of a composition, are familiar both
to
classical and oriental usage; and that the truth of these inscriptions may
in
every case be vindicated, and in none more successfully than those which
seem
at first sight least defensible, and which have therefore been appealed
to,
with most confidence, as proofs of spuriousness and recent date.
The details included in this general
statement will be pointed out as they
4
PREFACE.
occur,
but are here referred to by anticipation, to explain and vindicate the
constant
treatment of the titles in this volume as an integral part of the
sacred
text, which in some editions of the Bible has been mutilated by
omitting
them, and in others dislocated or confused, for the purposes of refer-
ence,
by passing them over in the numeration of the verses. As this last arrangement is familiar to all
readers of the English Bible, an attempt has been made in the following
exposition to consult their convenience, by add-
ing
the numbers of the English to those of the Hebrew text, wherever they
are
different.
Another point of contact and resemblance
between these apparently de-
tached
and independent compositions is the frequent recurrence of set
phrases
and of certain forms extending to the structure of whole psalms,
such
as the alphabetical arrangement, in which the successive sentences or
paragraphs
begin with the letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
This is the more remarkable, because these alphabetic psalms have all a
common
character,
distinguishing them from the rest, to wit, that instead of a pro-
gression
of ideas, they consist of variations on a theme propounded at the outset,
whether this be regarded as the cause or the effect of the peculiar
form
itself.
The same inquiries which have led to these
conclusions also shew that the arrangement of the psalms in the collection is
by no means so unmean-
ing
and fortuitous as may at first sight seem to be the case, but that in
many
instances at least, a reason may be found for the juxtaposition, in
resemblance
or identity of subject or historical occasion, or in some
remarkable
coincidence of general form or of particular expressions. If
in
some cases it is difficult to trace the reason of the collocation, there are
others
in which two psalms bear so intimate and obvious a mutual relation,
that
they seem to constitute a pair or double psalm, either because they
were
originally meant to match each other, or because one has been sub-
sequently
added for the purpose. Sometimes,
particularly in the latter
part
of the collection, we may trace not only pairs but trilogies, and even
more
extensive systems of connected psalms, each independent of the rest,
and
yet together forming beautiful and striking combinations, particularly
when
the nucleus or the basis of the series is an ancient psalm; for instance
one
of David’s, to which others have been added, in the way of variation or of
imitation, at a later period, such as that of the Captivity.
Although the facts just mentioned are
sufficient to evince that the Book
of
Psalms was not thrown together at random, but adjusted by a careful
hand,
the principle of the arrangement is not always so apparent, or of
such
a nature as to repress the wish to classify the psalms and reduce them
to
some systematic order. The most obvious
arrangement would be that
by
authors, if the data were sufficient.
But although the title ascribe one
to
Moses, seventy-two to David, two to Solomon, twelve to Asaph, one to
Ethan,
and eleven to the Sons of Korah, it is doubtful in some of the
cases,
more particularly those last mentioned, whether the title was designed
to
indicate the author or the musical performer, and more than fifty are
PREFACE. 5
anonymous.
In some of these the hand of David may be still distinctly
traced,
but as to most, we are abandoned to conjecture, which of course
affords
no solid basis for a satisfactory or useful distribution.
Another principle of classification is the
internal character, the subject,
style,
and manner of the psalms. This was applied by the older writers,
in
accordance with the forms of artificial rhetoric, and with endless variety
in
the result. But the best application of the principle is that proposed by
Hengstenberg,
and founded on the tone of pious feeling which the psalm
expresses:
whether joyous, as in the general psalms of praise, and more
especially
in those of thanksgiving; or sad, as in the querulous and peni-
tential
psalms; or calm, as in most of the prophetic and didactic psalms.
All
these, however, are arrangements which the reader can make best to
please
himself, and which are rather the results of exposition than prelimi-
nary
aids to it.
Apart from these attempts at systematic
distribution and arrangement,
there
is also a question with respect to the division of the Psalter as it
stands.
There is an ancient division into five parts, corresponding, as the
Rabbins
say, to the five books of Moses, and indicated by doxologies at the
close
of Ps. xli., lxxii., lxxxix., cvi., while Ps. cl. is itself a doxology,
winding
up the whole. The modern critics, more especially in
have
tasked their ingenuity to prove that these are distinct collections,
contemporaneous
or successive, of detached compositions, afterwards com-
bined
to form the present Psalter. But they never have been able to
account,
with any plausibility or show of truth, for the remarkable position
which
the psalms of David occupy in all parts of the book. A much more
probable
hypothesis, though coupled with a theory, to say the least,
extremely
dubious, is that of Hengstenberg, who looks upon the actual
arrangement
as the work of Ezra, or some other skilful and authoritative
hand,
and accounts for the division into five books as follows. The first
book
(Ps. i.–xli.) contains only psalms of David, in which the use of the
divine
name Jehovah is predominant. The second (Ps. xlii.-lxxii.) contains
psalms
of David and his contemporaries, i. e.,
Solomon, Asaph, and the
Sons
of Korah, in which the predominant divine name is Elohim. The third
(Ps.
lxxiii.–lxxxix.) contains psalms of Asaph and the Sons of Korah, in
which
the name Jehovah is predominant. The fourth (Ps. xc.–cvi.) and
fifth
(cvii.–cl.,) contain, for the most part, psalms of later date, the princi-
pal
exceptions being one by Moses (Ps. xc.), and several of David's, to
which
others in the same strain have been added, in the way already
mentioned.
However ingenious this hypothesis may be,
it will be seen at once that
it
contributes very little to the just appreciation or correct interpretation of
the
several psalms, except by enabling us, in certain cases, to derive illus-
tration
from a more extended context, as the reader will find stated in its
proper
place. Even granting, therefore, the historical assumption upon
which
it rests, and the favourite doctrine as to the divine names, with
which
it is to some extent identified, it will be sufficient for our present
6
PREFACE.
purpose
to have stated it in outline, leaving the reader to compare it with
the
facts as they successively present themselves, and reserving a more full
investigation
of the general question to another time and place.
The best arrangement for the ordinary student
of the Psalter is the
actual
arrangement of the book itself: first, because we have no better,
and
the efforts to invent a better have proved fruitless; then, because, as
we
have seen, there are sufficient indications, of a principle or purpose in
this
actual arrangement, whether we can always trace it there or not;
lastly,
because uniform tradition and analogy agree in representing it as
highly
probable that this arrangement was the work of Ezra, the inspired
collector
and rédacteur of the canon, so that
even if nothing more should
ever
be discovered, with respect to his particular design or plan, we have
still
the satisfaction of relying, not on chance, but on a competent or rather
an
infallible authority, as well as the advantage of studying the psalms in
a
connection and an order which may possibly throw light upon them, even
when
it seems to us most fortuitous or arbitrary.
If any subdivision of the book is needed,
as a basis or a means of more
convenient
exposition, it may be obtained by taking, as the central column
of
this splendid fabric, its most ancient portion, the sublime and affecting
Prayer
of Moses, known from time immemorial as the Ninetieth Psalm,
and
suffering this, as a dividing line, to separate the whole into two great
parts,
the first composed entirely of psalms belonging to the times of
David,
the other of a few such, with a much greater number of later com-
positions,
founded on them and connected with them.
This simple distribution seems to secure
all the substantial advantages
of
Hengstenberg's hypothesis, without its complexity or doubtful points.
Among
the latter may be reckoned the extraordinary stress laid by this
eminent
interpreter on what may be called Symbolical Arithmetic, or the
significance
ascribed to the number of verses, of Selahs, of Jehovahs, of
Elohims,
used in any given psalm. Setting out from the unquestionable
fact,
that certain numbers are symbolically used in the Old Testament;
that
seven is the symbol of the covenant, twelve of the theocracy, ten of
completeness
or perfection, five of the reverse, &c., he attempts to trace
the
application of this principle throughout the psalms, and not, as might
have
been expected, without many palpable failures to establish his favour-
ite
and foregone conclusion. The effect which this singular prepossession
might
have had upon his exposition is prevented by his happily restricting
it
entirely to form and structure, and putting it precisely on a level with
the
alphabetical arrangement of the Hebrews, and with rhyme as used by
other
nations. There is still, however, reason to regret the space allotted
to
this subject in his volumes, and good ground for excluding it from works
of
an humbler and more popular description. As all the views of such a
mind,
however, are at least entitled to consideration, this subject may
appropriately
take its place among the topics of a Critical Introduction.
With respect to the historical relations of
the Psalter and its bearings
on
the other parts of Scripture, it will be sufficient to remind the reader,
PREFACE. 7
that
the Mosaic system reached its culminating point and full development
in
the reign of David, when the land of promise was in full possession, the
provisions
of the law for the first time fully carried out, and a permanent
sanctuary
secured, and, we may even say, prospectively erected. The chain
of
Messianic promises, which for ages had been broken, or concealed
beneath
the prophetic ritual, was now renewed by the addition of a new
link,
in the great Messianic promise made to David (2 Sam. vii.) of per-
petual
succession in his family. As the head of this royal race from which
the
Messiah was to spring, and as the great theocratical model of succeed-
ing
ages, who is mentioned more frequently in prophecy and gospel than
all
his natural descendants put together, he was inspired to originate a new
kind
of sacred composition, that of Psalmody, or rather to educe from the
germ
which Moses had planted an abundant harvest of religious poetry,
not
for his own private use, but for that of the Church, in the new form of
public
service which he added by divine command to the Mosaic ritual.
As
an inspired psalmist, as the founder and director of the temple-music.
and
as a model and exemplar to those after him, David's position is unique
in
sacred history. As his military prowess had been necessary to complete
the
conquest of the land, so his poetical and musical genius was necessary
to
secure his influence upon the church for ever. The result is, that no
part
of the Bible has been so long, so constantly, and so extensively fami-
liar,
both to Jews and Christians, as the Psalms
of David. This deno-
minatio a potiori is entirely correct, as
all the other writers of the psalms,
excepting
Moses, merely carry out and vary what had been already done
by
David; and as if to guard the system from deterioration, the further we
proceed
the more direct and obvious is this dependence upon David, as
"the
man raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the
sweet
psalmist of
other
psalmists, from the days of Solomon to those of Ezra.
The interesting questions which have so
often been discussed, as to the
theology
and ethics of the Psalter, and especially in reference to the doc-
trine
of a Messiah and a future state, and to the so-called imprecations of
the
psalms, can be satisfactorily settled only by detailed interpretation of
the
passages concerned, and any summary anticipation of the general
result
may here be spared, although it would be highly appropriate in a
Critical
Introduction.
After this brief statement of preliminary
points which might be fully
treated
in an Introduction, it only remains to add, in explanation of the
plan
adopted in the work itself, that the reader is constantly supposed to
be
familiar with the Hebrew text and with the authorised version, but that,
in
order to make the exposition accessible to a larger class of educated
readers,
the original words have been introduced but sparingly, and only
for
the purpose of saving space and avoiding an awkward circumlocution.
The
translation of the text is printed in italic type as prose, partly for a
reason
just assigned, to save room; partly because it is really prose, and
not
verse, according to the common acceptation of those terms; partly be-
8
PREFACE.
cause
the effect of the poetical element, so far as it exists, is weakened
rather
than enhanced when printed as irregular blank verse: but especially
because
the version is not meant to stand by itself, or to be continuously
read,
but to be part and parcel of the exposition, and to be qualified by the
accompanying
paraphrase and comments.
The religious uses of the Psalms, both
doctrinal and practical, though
not
directly aimed at in these volumes, are so far from being undervalued
by
the author, and indeed so essential to his ultimate design, that any effect
which
the book may have, however humble or remote, in the promotion of
this
end, will be esteemed by him as its most flattering success, and the
most
acceptable reward of his exertions.
THE
PSALMS.
PSALM I.
The book opens with an exquisite picture
of the truly Happy Man, as seen
from
the highest ground of the old dispensation. He is described both
literally
and figuratively, positively and negatively, directly and by contrast,
with
respect both to his character and his condition, here and hereafter.
The
compression of all this into so short a composition, without confusion
or
obscurity, and with a high degree of graphic vividness, shews what the
psalm
is in a rhetorical or literary point of view, apart from its religious
import
and divine authority. Its moral design is both didactic and con-
solatory.
There is no trace of any particular historical occasion or allusion.
The
teams employed are general, and admit of an easy application to all
times
and places where the word of God is known. The psalm indeed con-
tains
a summary of the doctrine taught in this book and in the Scriptures
generally,
as to the connection between happiness and goodness. It is well
placed,
therefore, as an introduction to the whole collection, and although
anonymous,
was probably composed by David. It is altogether worthy of
this
origin, and corresponds, in form and substance, to the next psalm,
which
is certainly by David. The two seem indeed to form a pair or double
psalm,
of which arrangement there are several other instances. The struc-
ture
of the first psalm is symmetrical but simple, and the style removed
from
that of elevated prose by nothing but the use of strong and lively
figures.
1. The Happy Man is first described in
literal but negative expressions,
i. e. by stating what he does
not habitually do. The description opens with
a
kind of admiring exclamation. (Oh) the blessedness of the man! The
plural
form of the original (felicities or happinesses), if anything more than
a
grammatical idiom like ashes, means,
&c., in our language, may denote
fulness
and variety of happiness, as if he had said, How completely happy is
the man! The negative
description follows. Happy the man who
has not
walked, a common figure for
the course of life or the habitual conduct, which
is
furthermore suggested by the use of the past tense, but without excluding
the
present, who has not walked and does not walk, in the counsel, i. e. live
after
the manner, on the principles, or according to the plans, of wicked
(men), and in, the way of sinners has not stood. The word translated sinners
properly
denotes those who fall short of the standard of duty, as the word
translated
wicked denotes those who positively
violate a rule by disorderly
10 PSALM
I. [VER.
2, 3.
conduct.
Together they express the whole idea of ungodly or unrighteous
men.
And in the seat, not the chair, but
the company, or the place where
men
convene and sit together, of scorners,
scoffers, those who treat religion
with
contempt, has not sat. The three
verbs denote the three acts or pos-
tures
of a waking man, namely, walking, standing, sitting, and are there-
fore
well adapted to express the whole course of life or conduct. It is also
possible
that a climax was intended, so that walking, standing, and sitting
in
the company of sinners will denote successive stages of deterioration, first
occasional
conformity, then fixed association, then established residence
among
the wicked, not as a mere spectator or companion, but as one of
themselves.
The same kind of negative description reappears in Psalm
xxvi.
4, 5, and in Jer. xv. 17. It is of course implied that no one, of whom
any
of these things can be affirmed, is entitled to the character of a Happy Man.
2. A positive trait is now added to the
picture. Having shewn what the
truly
happy man does not, the Psalmist shews us what he does. But, on
the
contrary, in contrast with the previous description, in the law of Jehovah,
i. e. the written revelation
of his will, and more especially the Pentateuch
or
Law of Moses, which lay at the foundation of the Hebrew Scriptures, (is)
his delight, not merely his
employment, or his trust, but his pleasure, his
happiness.
And in his law he will meditate, i. e. he
does so and will do so
still,
not merely as a theme of speculation or study, but as a cherished
object
of affection, a favourite subject of the thoughts, day and night, i. e.
at
all times, in every interval of other duties, nay in the midst of other
duties,
this is the theme to which his mind spontaneously reverts. The
cordial
attachment to an unfinished revelation, here implicitly enjoined,
chews
clearly what is due to the completed word of God which we possess.
3. The literal description of the Happy
Man, both in its negative and
positive
form, is followed by a beautiful comparison, expressive of his cha-
racter
and his condition. And he is, or he
shall be; the present and the future
insensibly
run into each other, so as to suggest the idea of continuous or
permanent
condition, like the past and present in the first verse. And
he is, or shall be, like a tree, a lively emblem of vitality
and fruitfulness.
He
is not, however, like a tree growing wild, but like a tree planted, in the
most
favourable situation, on or over, i. e. overhanging, streams of water.
The
original words properly denote canals or channels, as customary means
of
artificial irrigation. Hence the single tree is said to overhang more than
one,
because surrounded by them. The image presented is that of a highly
cultivated
spot, and implies security and care, such as could not be enjoyed
in
the most luxuriant wilderness or forest. The divine culture thus experi-
enced
is the cause of the effect represented by the rest of the comparison.
Which (tree) will give, or
yield, its fruit in its season, and its
leaf shall not
wither; it shall lose neither
its utility nor beauty. This is then expressed
in
a more positive and prosaic form. And all,
or every thing, which he,
the
man represented by the verdant fruitful tree, shall do, he shall make to
prosper, or do prosperously,
with good success. This pleasing image is in
perfect
keeping with the scope of the psalm, which is not to describe the
righteous
man, as such, but the truly happy man, with whom the righteous
man
is afterwards identified. The neglect of this peculiar feature of the
composition
impairs its moral as well as its rhetorical effect, by making it
an
austere declaration of what will be expected from a good man, rather
than
a joyous exhibition of his happy lot. That the common experience,
even
of the best men, falls short of this description, is because their cha-
VER.
4-6.] PSALM I.
11
racter
and life fall short of that presented in the two preceding verses. The
whole
description is not so much a picture drawn from real life, as an ideal
standard
or model, by striving to attain which our aims and our attainments
will
be elevated, though imperfect after all.
4. Not
so the wicked. The direct description of the Happy Man is
heightened
and completed by comparison with others. Not
so the wicked,
i. e. neither in condition
nor in character. The dependence of the one upon
the
other is suggested by describing them as wicked, rather than unhappy.
Not so, i. e. not thus happy, (are) the
wicked, because they are wicked, and
are
therefore destitute of all that constitutes the happiness before described.
The
immediate reference, in the phrase not so,
is to the beautiful, well-
watered,
green, and thriving tree of the preceding verse. To this delightful
emblem
of a healthful happy state the Psalmist now opposes one drawn
likewise
from the vegetable world, but as totally unlike the first as possible.
The
wicked are not represented by a tree, not even by a barren tree, a dead
tree,
a prostrate tree, a shrub, a weed, all which are figures not unfre-
quent
in the Scriptures. But all these are more or less associated with the
natural
condition of a living plant, and therefore insufficient to present the
necessary
contrast. This is finely done by a comparison with chaff, which,
though
a vegetable substance, and connected in its origin with one of the
most
valuable products of the earth, is itself neither living, fruitful, nor
nutritious,
but only fit to be removed and scattered by the wind, in the
ancient
and oriental mode of winnowing. There is a double fitness in the
emblem
here presented, as suggesting the idea of intrinsic worthlessness,
and
at the same time that of contrast with the useful grain, with which it
came
into existence, and from which it shall be separated only to be blown
away
or burned. Not so the wicked, but like
the chaff; which the wind drives
away. The same comparison is
used in Psalm xxxv. 5, Isa. xvii. 13, xxix.
5,
Hos. xiii. 3, Zeph. ii. 2, Job xxi. 18, and by John the Baptist in Mat.
iii.
12, with obvious allusion to this psalm, but with a new figure, that of
burning,
which seems to be intended to denote final and complete destruc-
tion,
while in all the other cases, the idea suggested by the chaff being
blown
away is that of violent and rapid disappearance.
5. Therefore,
because they are unlike a living tree, and like the worth-
less
chaff, fit only to be scattered by the wind, wicked (men) shall not stand,
i. e. stand their ground or
be able to sustain themselves, in the judgment,
i. e. at the bar of God. This
includes two ideas, that of God's unerring
estimation
of all creatures at their real value, and that of his corresponding
action
towards them. The wicked shall neither be approved by God, nor,
as
a necessary consequence, continue to enjoy his favour, even in appear-
ance.
Whatever providential inequalities may now exist will all be rectified
hereafter.
The wicked shall not always be confounded with their betters.
They shall not stand in
the judgment,
either present intermediate judgments,
or
the final judgment of the great day. And
sinners, the same persons
under
another name, as in ver. 1 (shall not
stand) in the congregation, or
assembly,
of righteous (men). They shall not continue intermingled with
them
in society as now, and, what is more important, they shall not for ever
seem
to form part of the church or chosen people, to which the word trans-
lated
congregation is constantly applied in
the Old Testament. Whatever
doubt
may now exist, the time is coming when the wicked are to take their
proper
place and to be seen in their true character, as totally unlike the righteous.
6. The certainty of this event is secured
by God's omniscience, from
12
PSALM I. [VER.
6.
which
his power and his justice are inseparable. However men may be
deceived
in their prognostications, he is not. The
Lord, Jehovah, the God
of
Revelation, the covenant God of Israel, knows,
literally (is) knowing, i. e.
habitually
knows, or knows from the beginning to the end, the way of right-
eous (men), i. e. the tendency
and issue of their character and conduct.
As
if he had said, the Lord knows whither they are going and where they
will
arrive at last. This is a clear though indirect assertion of their safety, here
and
hereafter. The figure of a way is
often used to express the character
and
conduct itself; but this idea is here implied or comprehended in that of
destiny,
as determined by the character and conduct. There is no need, there-
fore,
of taking the verb know in any other
than its usual and proper sense.
The
verse is an appeal to divine omniscience for the truth of the implied
assertion,
that the righteous are safe and will be happy, as well as for that
of
the express assertion, with which the whole psalm closes. The way of
wicked (men), in the same sense as before, shall perish, i. e. end in ruin.
The
apparent solecism of making a way perish only brings out in more
prominent
relief the truth really asserted, namely, the perdition of those
who
travel it. This completes the contrast, and sums up the description
of
the truly Happy Man, as one whose delight is in the law and his happi-
ness
in the favour of Jehovah, and whose strongest negative characteristic
is
his total want of moral likeness here to those from whom he is to dwell
apart
hereafter.
PSALM II.
A sublime
vision of the nations in revolt against Jehovah and his
Anointed,
with a declaration of the divine purpose to maintain his King's
authority,
and a warning to the world that it must bow to him or perish.
The
structure of this psalm is extremely regular. It naturally falls into
four
stanzas of three verses each. In the first, the conduct of the rebel-
lious
nations is described. In the second, God replies to them by word
and
deed. In the third, the Messiah or Anointed One declares the divine
decree
in relation to himself. In the fourth, the Psalmist exhorts the rulers
of
the nations to submission, with a threatening of divine wrath to the dis-
obedient,
and a closing benediction on believers. The several sentences
it
are also very regular in form, exhibiting parallelisms of great uniformity.
Little
as this psalm may, at first sight, seem to resemble that before it,
there
is really a very strong affinity between them. Even in form they are
related
to each other. The number of verses and of stanzas is just double
in
the second, which moreover begins, as the first ends, with a threatening,
and
ends, as the first begins, with a beatitude. There is also a resemblance
in
their subject and contents. The contrast indicated in the first is carried
out
and rendered more distinct in the second. The first is in fact an intro-
duction
to the second, and the second to what follows. And as the psalms
which
follow bear the name of David, there is the strongest reason to believe
that
these two are his likewise, a conclusion confirmed by the authority of
Acts
iv. 25, as well as by the internal character of the psalm itself. The
imagery
of the scene presented is evidently borrowed from the warlike and
eventful
times of David. He cannot, however, be himself the subject of
the
composition, the terms of which are wholly inappropriate to any king
but
the Messiah, to whom they are applied by the oldest Jewish writers,
and
again and again in the New Testament. This is the first of those pro-
VER.
1, 2.] PSALM
II.
13
phetic
psalms, in which the promise made to David, with respect to the
Messiah
(2 Sam. vii. 16, 1 Chron. xvii. 11-14), is wrought into the lyrical
devotions
of the ancient church. The supposition of a double reference to
David,
or some one of his successors, and to Christ, is not only needless
and
gratuitous, but hurtful to the sense by the confusion which it introduces,
and
forbidden by the utter inappropriateness of some of the expressions
used
to any lower subject. The style of this psalm, although not less pure
and
simple, is livelier than that of the first, a difference arising partly from
the
nature of the subject, but still more from the dramatic structure of the
composition.
1. This psalm opens, like the first, with
an exclamation, here expressive
of
astonishment and indignation at the wickedness and folly of the scene
presented
to the psalmist's view. Why do nations
make a noise, tumultuate,
or
rage? The Hebrew verb is not expressive of an internal feeling, but of
the
outward agitation which denotes it. There may be an allusion to the
rolling
and roaring of the sea, often used as an emblem of popular commo-
tion,
both in the Scriptures and the classics. The past tense of this verb
(why have they raged?) refers to the
commotion as already begun, while the
future
in the next clause expresses its continuance. And peoples, not people,
in
the collective sense of persons, but in the proper plural sense of nations,
races,
will imagine, i. e. are imagining and
will continue to imagine, vanity,
a
vain thing, something hopeless and impossible. The interrogation in
this
verse implies that no rational solution of the strange sight could be
given,
for reasons assigned in the remainder of the psalm. This implied
charge
of irrationality is equally well founded in all cases where the same
kind
of opposition exists, though secretly, and on the smallest scale.
2. The confused scene presented in the
first verse now becomes more
distinct,
by a nearer view of the contending parties. (Why will) the
kings of earth set
themselves,
or, without repeating the interrogation, the
kings of earth will set
themselves,
or take their stand, and rulers consult
to-
gether, literally sit
together, but with special reference to taking counsel,
as
in Ps. xxxi. 14 (13), against Jehovah and
against his Anointed, or Messiah,
which
is only a modified form of the Hebrew word here used, as Christ is
a
like modification of the corresponding term in Greek. External unction
or
anointing is a sign, in the Old Testament, of the gifts of the Holy Spirit,
and
especially of those conferred on prophets, priests, and kings, as minis-
ters
of the theocracy, and representatives of Christ himself. To kings
particularly,
as the highest and most comprehensive order, and peculiar
types
of Christ in his supremacy as Head of the church, the sacred history
applies
the title of the Lord's Anointed. The
rite of unction is explicitly
recorded
in the case of Saul, David, and Solomon, and was probably re-
peated
at the coronation of their successors. From the verse before us,
and
from Dan. ix. 26, the name Messiah
has, before the Advent, come into
use
among the Jews as a common designation of the great Deliverer and
King
whom they expected. (Compare John i. 41 with ver. 49 of the same
chapter,
and with Mark xv. 32.) The intimate relation of the Anointed
One
to God himself is indicated even here by making them the common
object
of attack, or rather of revolt. In Acts iv. 25-27, this description
is
applied to the combination of Herod and Pilate, Jews and Gentiles,
against
Jesus Christ, not as the sole event predicted, but as that in which
the
gradual fulfilment reached its culmination. From that quotation,
and
indeed from the terms of the prophecy itself, we learn that nations
here
does not mean Gentiles or heathen, as opposed to Jews, but whole com-
14
PSALM II. [VER. 3, 4.
munities
or masses of mankind, as distinguished from mere personal or
insulated
cases of resistance and rebellion.
3. Having described the conduct of the
disaffected nations and their
chiefs,
he now introduces them as speaking. In the preceding verse they
were
seen, as it were, at a distance, taking counsel. Here they are brought
so
near to us, or we to them, that we can overhear their consultations.
Let us break their
bands, i. e.
the bands of the Lord and his Anointed, the
restraints
imposed by their authority. The form of the Hebrew verb may
be
expressive either of a proposition or of a fixed determination. We will
break their bands, we are resolved to do
it. This is, in fact, involved in the
other
version, where let us break must not
be understood as a faint or
dubious
suggestion, but as a summons to the execution of a formed and
settled
purpose. The same idea is expressed, with a slight modification,
in
the other clause. And we will cast,
or let us cast away from us their cords,
twisted
ropes, a stronger term than bands.
The verb, too, while it really
implies
the act of breaking, suggests the additional idea of contemptuous
facility,
as if they had said, Let us fling away from us with scorn these
feeble
bands by which we have been hitherto confined. The application
of
this passage to the revolt of the Ammonites and other conquered nations
against
David, or to any similar rebellion against any of the later Jewish
kings,
as the principal subject of this grand description, makes it quite
ridiculous,
if not profane, and cannot therefore be consistent with the
principles
of sound interpretation. The utmost that can be conceded is
that
David borrowed the scenery of this dramatic exhibition from the wars
and
insurrections of his own eventful reign. The language of the rebels
in
the verse before us is a genuine expression of the feelings entertained,
not
only in the hearts of individual sinners, but by the masses of mankind,
so
far as they have been brought into collision with the sovereignty of God
and
Christ, not only at the time of his appearance upon earth, but in the ages
both
before and after that event, in which the prophecy, as we have seen, attained
its
height,
but was not finally exhausted or fulfilled, since the same rash and hopeless
opposition
to the Lord and his anointed still continues, and is likely to continue until
the
kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ
(Rev.
xi. 15), an expression borrowed from this very passage.
4. As the first strophe or stanza of three
verses is descriptive of the
conduct
of the rebels, so the next describes the corresponding action of
their
sovereign, in precisely the same order, telling first what he does (in
ver.
4, 5), and then what he says (in ver. 6), so that these two stanzas
are
not only regular in their internal structure, but exactly fitted to each
other.
This symmetrical adjustment is entitled to attention, as that feature
of
the Hebrew poetry which fills the place of rhythm and metre in the
poetry
of other nations. At the same time, it facilitates interpretation,
when
allowed to speak for itself without artificial or unnatural straining,
by
exhibiting the salient points of the passage in their true relation. The
transition
here is a sublime one, from the noise and agitation of earth
to
the safety and tranquillity of heaven. No shifting of the scene could be
more
dramatic in effect or form. While the nations and their kings exhort
each
other to cast off their allegiance to Jehovah, and thereby virtually
to
dethrone him, he reposes far above them, and beyond their reach. Sit-
ting in the heavens, i.
e.
resident and reigning there, he laughs,
or will
laugh.
This figure, strong and almost startling as it is, cannot possibly
be
misunderstood by any reader, as a vivid expression of contemptuous
VER.
5-7.]
PSALM II. 15
security
on God's part, and of impotent folly on the part of men. At them
may
be supplied from Ps. xxxvii. 13, and lix. 9 (8); but it is not neces-
sary,
and the picture is perhaps more perfect, if we understand the laughter
here
to be simply expressive of contempt, and the idea of directly laughing
at them to be first suggested
in the other clause. The Lord, not Jehovah,
as
in ver. 2, but Adhonai, the Hebrew
word properly denoting Lord or
Sovereign as a divine title, the
Lord shall mock them, or mock at them, as
the
strongest possible expression of contempt. This verse conveys in the
most
vivid manner, one indeed that would be inadmissible in any unin-
spired
writer, the fatuity of all rebellious opposition to God's will. That
such
is often suffered to proceed long with impunity is only, in the figura-
tive
language of this passage, because God first laughs at human folly,
and
then smites it. "Who thought," says Luther, "when Christ
suffered,
and
the Jews triumphed, that God was laughing all the time?" Beneath
this
bold anthropomorphism there is hidden a profound truth, namely,
that
to all superior beings, and above all, to God himself, there is some-
thing
in sin not only odious but absurd, something which cannot possibly
escape
the contempt of higher, much less of the highest, intelligence.
5. This contemptuous repose and seeming
indifference shall not last for
ever.
Then, after having thus derided them,
then, as the next stage in this
fearful
process, he will speak to them, as
they, after rising up against him,
spoke
to one another in ver. 3. And in his
heat, i. e. his hot displeasure,
the
wrath to which the laughter of ver. 4 was but a prelude, he will agitate
them, terrify them, make them
quake with fear, not as a separate act
from
that described in the first clause, but by the very act of speaking to
them
in his anger, the words spoken being given in the following verse.
6. The divine address begins, as it were,
in the middle of a sentence;
but
the clause suppressed is easily supplied, being tacitly involved in what
precedes.
As if he had said, you renounce your allegiance and assert your
independence,
and I, on my part, the pronoun when
expressed in Hebrew
being
commonly emphatic, and here in strong antithesis to those who are
addressed.
You pursue your course and I mine. The translation yet,
though
inexact and arbitrary, brings out the antithesis correctly in a different
form
from that of the original. And I have
constituted, or created, with
allusion
in the Hebrew to the casting of an image, or as some less probably
suppose
to unction, I have constituted my King,
not simply a king, nor even
the king, neither of which
expressions would be adequate, but my
king, one
who
is to reign for me and in indissoluble union with me, so that his reign-
ing
is identical with mine. This brings out still more clearly the intimate
relation
of the Anointed to Jehovah, which had been indicated less dis-
tinctly
in ver. 2, and thus prepares us for the full disclosure of their mutual
relation
in ver. 7. And I have constituted my King
upon
holiness, or holy hill, i. e. consecrated, set apart,
distinguished from all
other
hills and other places, as the seat of the theocracy, the royal residence, the
capital
city,
of the Lord and of his Christ, from the time that David took up his abode, and
deposited
the ark there. The translation over
only
the visible and temporary centre of a kingdom coextensive with the earth, as we
expressly
read it, ver. 8, below. This shews that the application of the verse before
us
to David himself, although intrinsically possible, is utterly at variance
with
the context and the whole scope of the composition.
7. We have here another of those changes
which impart to this whole
16
PSALM II.
VER. 7.
psalm
a highly dramatic character. A third personage is introduced as
speaking
without any formal intimation in the text. As the first stanza
(ver.
1-3) closes with the words of the insurgents, and the second (ver. 4-6)
with
the words of the Lord, so the third (ver. 7-9) contains the language
of
the king described in the preceding verse, announcing with his own lips
the
law or constitution of his kingdom. I
will declare, or let me declare,
the
same form of the verb as in ver. 3, the
decree, the statute, the organic
law
or constitution of my kingdom. The Hebrew verb is followed by a
preposition,
which may be expressed in English, without any change of
sense,
by rendering the clause, I will declare,
or make a declaration, i. e.
a
public, formal announcement (as) to the law or constitution of my
kingdom.
This
announcement is then made in a historical form, by reciting what had
been
said to the king at his inauguration or induction into office. Jehovah
said to me, My son (art) thou, this day have I
begotten thee. Whether this
be
regarded as a part of the decree or law itself, or as a mere preamble to
it,
the relation here described is evidently one which carried with it uni-
versal
dominion as a necessary consequence, as well as one which justifies
the
use of the expression my King in ver.
6. It must be something more,
then,
than a figure for intense love or peculiar favour, something more than
the
filial relation which the theocratic kings, and
God.
(Exod. iv. 22; Deut. xiv. 1,2, xxxii. 6; Isa. lxiii. 16; Hos. xi. 1;
Mal.
i. 6; Rom ix. 4.) Nor will any explanation of the terms fully meet
the
requisitions of the context except one which supposes the relation here,
described
as manifest in time to rest on one essential and eternal. This
alone
accounts for the identification of the persons as possessing a common
interest,
and reigning with and in each other. This profound sense of the
passage
is no more excluded by the phrase this
day, implying something
recent,
than the universality of Christ's dominion is excluded by the local
reference
to
centre
of an infinite circle. Besides, the mere form of the declaration is a
part
of the dramatic scenery or costume with which the truth is here
invested.
The ideas of a king, a coronation, a hereditary succession, are
all
drawn from human and temporal associations. This
day have I begotten
thee may be considered,
therefore, as referring only to the coronation of
Messiah,
which is an ideal one. The essential meaning of the phrase I
have begotten thee is simply this, I am thy father. The antithesis is per-
fectly
identical with that in 2 Sam. vii. 14, "I will be his father, and he
shall
be my son." Had the same form of expression been used here, this
day am I thy father, no reader would have
understood this day as limiting
the
mutual relation of the parties, however it might limit to a certain point
of
time the formal recognition of it. It must also be observed, that even
if
this day be referred to the inception of the filial relation, it is thrown
indefinitely
back by the form of reminiscence or narration in the first clause
of
the verse. Jehovah said to me, but
when? If understood to mean from everlasting or
eternity,
the form of expression would he perfectly in keeping with the other figurative
forms
by which the Scriptures represent things really ineffable in human language.
The
opinion
that this passage is applied by Paul, in Acts xiii. 33, to Christ's
resurrection, rests
upon
a misapprehension of the verb raised up,
which has this specific meaning only
when
determined by the context or the addition of the words from the dead, as in
the
next verse of the same chapter, which is so far from requiring the more
general
expressions of the preceding verse to be taken in the same sense,
that
it rather forbids such a construction, and shows that the two verses
VER.
8, 9.] PSALM
II.
17
speak
of different stages in the same great process: first, the raising up of
Jesus
in the same sense in which God is said to have raised him up in Acts
ii.
30, iii. 22, 26, vii. 36, i. e.
bringing him into being as a man; and then
the
raising up from the dead, which the apostle himself introduces as
another
topic in Acts xiii. 34. There is nothing, therefore, inconsistent
with
the statement that the psalmist here speaks of eternal sonship, either
in
the passage just referred to, or in Heb. v. 5, where the words are only
cited
to prove the solemn recognition of Christ's sonship, and his conse-
quent
authority, by God himself. This recognition was repeated, and, as
it
were, realised at our Saviour's baptism and transfiguration (Mat. iii. 17,
xvii.
5), when a voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son, in whom
I
am well pleased, hear ye him!"
8.
The recital of Jehovah's declaration to his Son is still continued.
Ask of me, and I will
give nations
(as) thy heritage, i. e. thy
portion as my
Son,
and (as) thy (permanent) possession, from a verb denoting to hold fast,
the ends of the earth, a common Old Testament
expression for the whole
earth,
the remotest bounds and all that lies between them. The phrase is
never
applied to a particular country, and cannot therefore be explained of
the
ridiculous. The only subject, who can be assumed and carried through
without
absurdity, is the Messiah, who, as the Son and heir of God, had a
right
to ask this vast inheritance. That he had asked it and received it,
is
implied in the dominion claimed for him in ver. 2 and 3, where the
nations
are represented in revolt against him as their rightful sovereign.
It
was to justify this claim that the divine decree is here recited, the
constitution of
Messiah's
kingdom, in which its limits are defined as co-extensive with the earth.
9. This extensive grant had been
accompanied by that of power ade-
quate
to hold it. That power was to be exercised in wrath as well as
mercy.
The former is here rendered prominent, because the previous con-
text
has respect to audacious rebels, over whom Messiah is invested with
the
necessary power of punishment, and even of destruction. Thou shalt
break them with a rod (or sceptre) of iron, as
the hardest metal, and there-
fore
the best suited to the use in question. By a slight change of pointing
in
the Hebrew, it may be made to mean, thou
shalt feed them (as a shep-
herd)
with a rod of iron, which is the
sense expressed in several of the
ancient
versions, and to which there may be an ironical allusion, as the
figure
is a common one to represent the exercise of regal power. (See for
example
2 Sam. vii. 7, and Micah vii. 14.) Like a
potter's vessel thou, shalt
shiver them, or dash them in
pieces, which last, however, weakens the
expression
by multiplying the words. The idea suggested by the last
comparison
is that of easy and immediate destruction, perhaps with an
implication
of worthlessness in the object. This view of the Messiah as a
destroyer
is in perfect keeping with the New Testament doctrine, that those
who
reject Christ will incur an aggravated doom, and that Christ himself
is
in some sense the destroyer of those who will not let him be their
Saviour,
or, to borrow terms from one of his own parables, in strict agree-
ment
with the scene presented by the psalm before us, "those mine ene-
mies
which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither and slay
them
before me" (Luke xix. 27). That false view of the divine nature
which
regards God as delighting in the death of the sinner, is more revolt-
ing,
but not more dangerous than that which looks upon his justice as ex-
tinguished
by his mercy, and supposes that the death of Christ has rendered
18
PSALM II.
[VER. 10-12.
perdition
impossible, even to those who will not believe in him. The terms of this verse
are
repeatedly applied to Christ in the Book of Revelation (ii. 27, xii. 5, xix.
15).
10. The description having reached its
height in the preceding verse,
there
is here a sudden change of manner, a transition to the tone of earnest
admonition,
still addressed, however, to the characters originally brought
upon
the scene. And now (O) kings,
after all that you have seen and
heard,
after this demonstration that you cannot escape from the dominion
of
Messiah, and that if you persist in your rebellion he will certainly destroy
you,
be wise, act wisely; be warned, be admonished of your danger
and your
duty,
(O) judges of the earth! A specific function of the regal office is
here
used
as an equivalent or parallel to kings
in the first clause, just as rulers
is
employed for the same purpose in ver. 2. The change of tone in this
last
strophe shews that the previous exhibition of Messiah as invested with
destroying
power was, as it usually is in Scripture, only introductory to
another
aspect of the same great object, which becomes more clear and
bright
to the conclusion of the psalm. At the same time the original
dramatic
structure is maintained; for the speaker, in this closing stanza,
is
the Psalmist himself.
11. Serve
the Lord, Jehovah, in the way that he requires, by acknow-
ledging
his Anointed as your rightful sovereign. Serve
the Lord with fear,
religious
awe, not only on account of his tremendous majesty, but also in
view
of his vindicatory justice and destroying power. And shout, as a cus-
tomary
recognition of a present sovereign, with
trembling, an external sign
of
fear, employed as an equivalent or parallel to fear itself. The word
translated
shout may also mean rejoice, as joy is often publicly
expressed
by
acclamation. The sense will then be, and
rejoice with trembling, i. e.
exercise
those mingled feelings which are suited to your present situation,
in
full view of God's wrath on one side, and his mercy on the other. This
explanation
agrees well with the transition, in these verses, from the tone
of
terrible denunciation to that of friendly admonition and encouragement.
12. Lest the exhortation in the preceding
verse should seem to have
respect
to Jehovah as an absolute sovereign, without reference to any other
person,
the attention is again called to his King, his Anointed, and his
Son,
as the sovereign to whom homage must be paid, in order to escape
destruction.
Kiss the Son, an ancient mode of
doing homage or allegiance
to
a king (1 Sam. x. 1), sometimes applied to the dress, and sometimes to
the
person, either of the sovereign or the subject himself. Even in modern
European
courts the kissing of the hand has this significance. In the case
before
us there may possibly be an allusion to the kiss as a religious act
among
the heathen (1 Kings xix. 18; Hos. xiii. 2; Job xxxi. 27). Kiss
the Son, the Son of God, the
Messiah, so called by the Jews in Christ's
time
(John i. 50; Matt. xxvi. 63; Mark xi-v. 61; Luke xxii. 70): do
him
homage, own him as your sovereign, lest
he be angry, and ye lose the
way, i. e. the way to happiness and heaven, as in Ps. i. 6, or perish from
the way, which is the same
thing in another form, or perish by the
way, i. e.
before
you reach your destination. All these ideas are suggested by the
Hebrew
phrase, which is unusual. The necessity of prompt as well as
humble
submission is then urged. For his wrath
will soon burn, or be
kindled. The translation,
"when his wrath is kindled but a little," does
not
yield so good a meaning, and requires two of the original expressions
to
be taken in a doubtful and unusual sense. The same view of the
Messiah
as a judge and an avenger, which appeared in ver. 9, is again
VER.
1.] PSALM
III.
19
presented
here, but only for a moment, and as a prelude to the closing beati-
tude
or benediction. Blessed (are) all,
oh the felicities of all, those trusting
him, believing on him, and
confiding in him. This delightful contrast of
salvation
and perdition, at one and the same view, is characteristic of the
Scriptures,
and should teach us not to look ourselves, and not to turn the
eyes
of others, towards either of these objects without due regard to the
other
also. The resemblance in the language of this verse to that of Ps.
i.
1 and 6, brings the two into connection, as parts of one harmonious com-
position,
or at least as kindred and contemporaneous products of a single
mind,
under the influence of one and the same Spirit.
PSALM III.
This
Psalm contains a strong description of the enemies and dangers by
which
the writer was surrounded, and an equally strong expression of con-
fidence
that God would extricate him from them, with particular reference
to
former deliverances of the same kind. Its place in the collection does
not
seem to be fortuitous or arbitrary. It was probably among the first of
David's
lyrical compositions, the two which now precede it having been
afterwards
prefixed to the collection. In these three psalms there is a
sensible
gradation or progressive development of one great idea. The
general
contrast, which the first exhibits, of the righteous and the wicked,
is
reproduced, in the second, as a war against the Lord and his Anointed.
In
the third it is still further individualised as a conflict between David,
the
great historical type of the Messiah, and his enemies. At the same
time,
the expressions are so chosen as to make the psalm appropriate to
its
main design, that of furnishing a vehicle of pious feeling to the church
at
large, and to its individual members in their own emergencies. The
structure
of the psalm is regular, consisting of four double verses, besides
the
title.
1. A
Psalm of David, literally (belonging)
to David, i. e. as the author.
This
is not a mere inscription, but a part of the text and inseparable from
it,
so far as we can trace its history. It was an ancient usage, both among
classical
and oriental writers, for the author to introduce his own name into
the
first sentence of his composition. The titles of the psalms ought, there-
fore,
not to have been printed in a different type, or as something added to
the
text, which has led some editors to omit them altogether. In all
Hebrew
manuscripts they bear the same relation to the body of the psalm,
that
the inscriptions in the prophet's or in Paul's epistles bear to the sub-
stance
of the composition. In the case before us, as in every other, the
inscription
is in perfect keeping with the psalm itself, as well as with the
parallel
history. Besides the author's name, it here states the historical
occasion
of the composition. A Psalm of David, in his fleeing, when he
fled,
from the face, from the presence, or
before, Absalom, his son (see
2
Sam. xv. 14, 17, 30). Such a psalm might well be conceived, and even
composed,
if not actually written, in the midst of the dangers and distresses
which
occasioned it. There is no need therefore of supposing the reference
to
be merely retrospective. That the terms used are so general, is because
the
psalm, though first suggested by the writer's personal experience, was
intended
for more general use.
2 (1). O
Lord, Jehovah, the name of God as self-existent and eternal,
and
also as the covenant God of Israel, how
many, or how multiplied, are
20
PSALM III. [VER. 2-4.
my foes, my oppressors or
tormentors! This is not a question, but an
exclamation
of surprise and grief. Many rising up
against me. The sen-
tence
may either be completed thus: many (are they) that rise up against
me;
or the construction of the other clause may be continued. (How)
many (are there) rising up against
me! The same periphrasis for enemies
is
used
by Moses, Deut. xxviii. 7. What is here said of the multitude of
enemies
agrees well with the historical statement in 2 Sam. xv. 13, xvi. 18.
3 (2). (There
are) many saying, or, (how) many
(are there) saying to my
soul, i. e. so as to affect my heart, though really said of him, not
directly
addressed
to him. (Compare Ps. xxxv. 3; Isa. li. 23.) There
is no salva-
tion, deliverance from evil,
whether temporal, spiritual, or eternal. There
is
no salvation for him, the sufferer, and primarily the psalmist himself, in
God, i. e. in his power, or his purpose, implying either that God does
not
concern
himself about such things, Ps. x. 11, or that he has cast the suf-
ferer
off, Ps. xlii. 4, 11 (3, 10), lxxi. 11, xxii. 8, 9 (7, 8); Matt. xxvii. 43.
This
is the language, not of despondent friends, but of malignant ene-
mies,
and is really the worst that even such could say of him. For, as
Luther
well says, all the temptations in the world, and in hell too, melted
together
into one, are nothing when compared with the temptation to
despair
of God's mercy. The first stanza, or double verse, closes, like the
second
and fourth, with the word Selah. This
term occurs seventy-three
times
in the psalms, and three times in the prophecy of Habakkuk. It
corresponds
to rest, either as a noun or verb,
and like it is properly a
musical
term, but generally indicates a pause in the sense as well as the
performance.
See below, on Ps. ix. 17 (16). Like the titles, it invariably
forms
part of the text, and its omission by some editors and translators is
a
mutilation of the word of God. In the case before us, it serves as a kind
of
pious ejaculation to express the writer's feelings, and, at the same time,
warns
the reader to reflect on what he reads, just as our Saviour was accus-
tomed
to say: He that hath ears to hear let him hear.
4 (3). From his earthly enemies and dangers
he looks up to God, the
source
of his honours and his tried protector. The connection is similar
to
that between the fifth and sixth verses of the second psalm. The and
(not
but) has reference to a tacit
comparison or contrast. This is my treat-
ment
at the hands of men, and thou, on the
other hand, O Lord, Jehovah,
(art) a
shield about me, or around me, i. e.
covering my whole body, not
merely
a part of it, as ordinary shields do. This is a favourite metaphor
with
David; see Ps. vii. 11 (10), xviii. 3 (2), xxviii. 7. It occurs, how-
ever,
more than once in the Pentateuch; see Gen. xv. 1; Deut. xxxiii. 29.
My honour, i. e. the source of the honours I enjoy, with particular refer-
ence,
no doubt, to his royal dignity, not as a secular distinction merely,
but
in connection with the honour put upon him as a type and representa-
tive
of Christ. The honour thus bestowed by God he might well be expected
to
protect. My honour, and the (one) raising my head, i. e. making me look up from
my
despondency. The whole verse is an appeal to the psalmist's previous experience
of
God's goodness as a ground for the confidence afterwards expressed.
5 (4). (With)
my voice to the Lord, Jehovah, I will call, or cry. The
future
form of the verb is probably intended to express continued or habi-
tual
action, as in Ps. i. 2. I cry and will cry still. And he hears me, or,
then he hears me, i. e. when I call. The original construction shews, in a
peculiar
manner, the dependence of the last verb on the first, which can
hardly
be conveyed by an exact translation. The second verb is not the
VER.
5-7.] PSALM
III.
21
usual
verb to hear, but one especially appropriated to the gracious hearing
or
answering of prayer. And he hears (or
answers) me from his hill of holi-
ness, or holy hill. This, as we learn from Ps.
ii. 6, is
centre
of the old theocracy, the place where God visibly dwelt among his
people.
This designation of a certain spot as the earthly residence of God,
was
superseded by the incarnation of his Son, whose person thenceforth
took
the place of the old sanctuary. It was, therefore, no play upon words
or
fanciful allusion, when our Saviour "spake of the temple of his body"
(John
ii. 21), but a disclosure of the true sense of the sanctuary under the
old
system, as designed to teach the doctrine of God's dwelling with his
people.
The same confidence with which the Christian now looks to God
in
Christ the old believer felt towards the holy hill of Zion. Here again the
strophe
ends
with a devout and meditative pause, denoted as before by Selah.
6 (5.) I,
even I, whose case you regarded as so desperate, have lain down,
and slept, (and) awaked,
notwithstanding all these dangers, for
the Lord,
Jehovah,
will sustain me, and I therefore have
no fears to rob me of my
sleep.
This last clause is not a reason for the safety he enjoys, which
would
require the past tense, but for his freedom from anxiety, in reference
to
which the future is entirely appropriate. This construction, the only
one
which gives the Hebrew words their strict and full sense, forbids the
supposition
that the psalm before us was an evening song, composed on the
night
of David's flight from
sible
or necessary, it may be regarded as a morning rather than an evening
hymn.
7 (6). The fearlessness implied in the
preceding verse is here expressed.
I will not be afraid of
myriads,
or multitudes, the Hebrew word being
used
both
in a definite and vague sense. It also contains an allusion to the first
verb
in ver. 2 (1), of which it is a derivative. I
will not be afraid of
myriads of people, either in the sense of
persons, men, or by a poetic licence
for
the people, i. e.
Whom they, my enemies, have set, or posted, round about against me. This
is
a simpler and more accurate construction than the reflexive one, who
have set (themselves) against me round
about, although the essential meaning
still
remains the same. The sum of the whole verse is, that the same
courage
which enabled him to sleep without disturbance in the midst of
enemies
and dangers, still sustained him when those enemies and dangers
were
presented to his waking senses.
8 (7). That this courage was not founded
upon self-reliance, he now
shews
by asking God for that which he before expressed his sure hope of
obtaining.
Arise, O Lord, Jehovah! This is a
common scriptural mode
of
calling upon God to manifest his presence and his power, either in wrath
or
favour. By a natural anthropomorphism, it describes the intervals of
such
manifestations as periods of inaction or of slumber, out of which he
is
besought to rouse himself. Save me,
even me, of whom they say there
is
no help for him in God. See above, ver. 3 (2). Save me, O my God,
mine
by covenant and mutual engagement, to whom I therefore have a
right
to look for deliverance and protection. This confidence is warranted,
moreover,
by experience. For thou hast, in
former exigencies, smitten all
my enemies, without exception, (on the) cheek or jaw, an act at
once violent
and
insulting. See 1 Kings xxii. 24; Micah iv. 14; v. 1; Lam. iii. 30.
The teeth of the wicked, here identified with
his enemies, because he was
the
champion and representative of God's cause, thou
hast broken, and thus
22 PSALM
IV. [VER.
1.
rendered
harmless. The image present to his mind seems to be that of
wild
beasts eager to devour him, under which form his enemies are repre-
sented
in Ps. xxvii. 2.
9 (8). To
the Lord, Jehovah, the salvation,
which I need and hope for,
is
or belongs, as to its only author and dispenser. To him, therefore, he
appeals
for the bestowment of it, not on himself alone, but on the church
of
which he was the visible and temporary head. On thy people (be)
thy blessing! This earnest and
disinterested intercession for God's people
forms
a noble close or winding up of the whole psalm, and is therefore
preferable
to the version, on thy people (is) thy
blessing, which, though
equally
grammatical, is less significant, and indeed little more than a repe-
tition
of the fact asserted in the first clause, whereas this is really an im-
portunate
petition founded on it. The whole closes, like the first and
second
stanzas, with a solemn and devout pause. Selah.
PSALM
IV.
The
Psalmist prays God to deliver him from present as from past dis-
tresses,
ver. 2 (1). He assures the haters of his regal dignity that God
bestowed
it, and will certainly protect it, ver. 3, 4 (2, 3). He exhorts
them
to quiet submission, righteousness, and trust in God, ver. 5, 6 (4, 5).
He
contrasts his own satisfaction, springing from such trust, with the hope-
less
disquietude of others, even in the midst of their enjoyments, ver. 7, 8
(6,
7). He closes with an exquisite proof of his tranquillity by falling
asleep,
as it were, before us, under the divine protection, ver. 9 (8). The
resemblance
of the last verse to ver. 6 (5) of the preceding psalm, together
with
the general similarity of structure, shews that, like the first and second,
they
were meant to form a pair, or double psalm. For the reasons given
in
explaining Ps. iii. 6 (5), the third may be described as a morning, and
the
fourth as an evening psalm. The historical occasion is of course
the
same in both, though mentioned only in the title of the third, while
the
musical directions are given in the title of the fourth. The absence of
personal
and local allusions is explained by the object of the composition,
which
was not to express private feelings merely, but to furnish a vehicle
of
pious sentiment for other sufferers, and the church at large.
1. To
the chief musician, literally the overseer
or superintendent, of any
work
or labour (2 Chron. ii. 1, 17, xxxiv. 12), and of the temple music in
particular
(1 Chron. xv. 21). The psalm is described as belonging to him,
as
the performer, or as intended for him,
to be given to him. This shows
that
it was written for the use of the ancient church, and not for any merely
private
purpose. That this direction was not added by a later hand is
clear
from the fact that it never appears in the latest psalms. The same
formula
occurs at the beginning of fifty-three psalms, and at the close of
the
one in the third chapter of Habakkuk. A more specific musical direc-
tion
follows. In, on, or with stringed instruments. This may
either qualify
chief musician, as denoting the leader
in that particular style of perform-
ance,
or direct him to perform this particular psalm with that kind of accom-
paniment.
A psalm to David, i. e. belonging to him as the author,
just as
it
belonged to the chief musician, as
the performer. The original expres-
sion
is the same in both cases. Of David
conveys the sense correctly, but
is
rather a paraphrase than a translation.
2 (1). The psalm opens with a prayer for
deliverance founded on pre-
VER.
2, 3.] PSALM
IV.
23
vious
experience of God's mercy. In my calling,
when I call, hear me, in
the
pregnant sense of hearing favourably, hear and answer me, grant me
what
I ask. O my God of righteousness, my
righteous God! Compare
my hill of holiness, Ps. ii. 6, and his hill of holiness, Ps. iii. 5 (4).
The
appeal
to God, as a God of righteousness, implies the justice of the Psalm-
ist's
cause, and spews that he asks nothing inconsistent with God's holi-
ness.
The same rule should govern all our prayers, which must be impious if
they
ask God to deny himself. The mercy here asked is no new or untried
favour.
It is because he has experienced it before that he dares to ask it
now.
In the pressure, or confinement, a
common figure for distress, which
I
have heretofore experienced, thou hast
widened, or made room for me, the
corresponding
figure for relief. All he asks is that this may be repeated.
Have mercy upon me, or be gracious unto me, now as in former
times, and
hear my prayer. This appeal to former
mercies, as a ground for claiming new
ones,
is characteristic of the Bible and of true religion. Among men past
favours
may forbid all further expectations; but no such rule applies to
the
divine compassions. The more we draw from this source, the more
copious
and exhaustless it becomes.
3 (2). Sons
of man! In Hebrew, as in Greek, Latin, and German,
there
are two words answering to man, one generic and the other specific.
When
placed in opposition to each other, they denote men of high and low
degree,
as in Ps. xlix. 3 (2), lxii. 10 (9), Prov. viii. 4. It seems better,
therefore,
to give the phrase here used its emphatic sense, as signifying men
of
note or eminence, rather than the vague one of men in general or human
beings.
This agrees, moreover, with the probable occasion of this psalm,
viz.,
the rebellion of Absalom, in which the leading men of
involved.
To what (time), i. e. how long, or
to what (point), degree of
wickedness;
most probably the former. How long (shall) my honour, not
merely
personal, but official, (be) for shame, i. e. be so accounted, or (be
converted) into shame, by my humiliation? David never loses sight of his
religious
dignity as a theocratical king and a type of the Messiah, or of the
insults
offered to the latter in his person. The question, how long? im-
plies
that it had lasted long enough, nay, too long, even when it first began;
in
other words, that it was wrong from the beginning. (How long) will ye
love vanity, or a vain thing, in
the sense both of a foolish, hopeless under-
taking,
and of something morally defective or worthless. The same word
is
used above in reference to the insurrection of the nations against God
and
Christ (Ps. ii. 1). (How long) will ye seek a lie, i. e. seek to realise a
vain
imagination, or to verify a false pretension, with particular reference
perhaps
to the deceitful policy of Absalom (2 Sam. xv. 4, 7). As the love
of
the first clause denotes the bent of their affections, so the seek of this
clause
signifies the acting out of their internal dispositions. Compare Ps.
xxxiv.
15 (14), and Zeph. ii. 3. The feeling of indignant surprise implied
in
the interrogation is expressed still further by a solemn pause. Selah.
See
above, on Ps. iii. 3 (2). The position of this word, here and in ver. 5 (4)
below,
seems
to forbid the division of the psalm into strophes or stanzas of equal length.
4 (3). The pause at the close of the
preceding verse expresses feeling.
The
connection of the verses, as to sense, is as intimate as possible. The
and at the beginning of the
verse before us has reference to the exhortation
implied
in the foregoing question. (See above, on Ps. ii. 6.) Cease to
love
vanity and seek a lie, and know, be
assured, that the Lord, Jehovah,
hath set apart, the same verb used to
signify the segregation of
24 PSALM IV. [VER. 4.
the
rest of men (Ex. viii. 18, ix. 4, xi. 7, xxxiii. 16), here applied to the
designation
of an individual to the highest theocratical dignity. The Lord
hath set apart for
himself,
for his own service, the execution of his own plans,
and
the promotion of his own honour. It was not, therefore, an attack on
David,
but on God himself and the Messiah whom he represented. The
Hebrew
word dysiHA derived from ds,H,, love to God or man,
may either
signify
an object of the divine mercy, or one actuated by religious love. If
both
ideas are included, which is altogether probable, neither godly nor any
other
single word in English is an adequate translation. The predominant
idea
seems to be the passive one, so that the words are not so much de-
scriptive
of religious character as of divine choice: and know that the Lord
hath
set apart for the accomplishment of his own purpose one selected in
his
sovereign mercy for that purpose. This is mentioned as a proof that
their
hostility was vain, and that the prayer of verse 2 (1) would certainly
be
heard and answered. This followed as a necessary consequence from
the
relation which the Psalmist bore to God, not only as a godly man, but
as
a theocratic sovereign. The Lord,
Jehovah, will hear, in my calling,
when
I call, unto him. The terms of the
opening petition are here studi-
ously
repeated, so as to connect the prayer itself with the expression of
assured
hope that it will be answered.
5 (4). The address to his enemies is still
continued, but merely as a
vehicle
of truth and his own feelings. Rage and
sin not, i. e. do not sin
by
raging, as you have done, against me, the Lord's Anointed, and indirectly
therefore
against himself. This construction of the Hebrew words, though
not
the most obvious or agreeable to usage, agrees best with the context
and
with the Septuagint version, adopted by Paul in Ephesians iv. 26, where
the
precept, Be ye angry and sin not,
seems to be a positive prohibition of
anger,
i. e., of its wilful continuance, as
appears from what the apostle adds,
perhaps
in allusion to the last clause of the verse before us. Some, it is
true,
have understood Paul as meaning, Be angry upon just occasions, but
be
careful not to sin by groundless anger or excess. But even if this be
the
sense of the words there, it is entirely inappropriate here, where the
anger
of the enemies was altogether sinful, and they could not therefore be
exhorted
to indulge it. There is still another meaning which the Hebrew
words
will bear. The verb strictly means to be violently moved with any
passion
or emotion, whether anger (Prov. xxix. 9), grief (2 Sam. xviii. 33),
or
fear (Isa. xxxii. 11). It might therefore be translated here, tremble,
stand
in awe, and sin not. But this,
although it yields a good sense, cuts
off
all connection between David's words and those of Paul, and makes the
explanation
of the latter still more difficult. The English word rage not
only
conveys the sense of the original correctly, but is probably connected
with
it in its etymology. The command to cease from raging against God
and
his Anointed, is still further carried out in the next clause. Say in
your heart, to yourselves, and not
aloud, much less with clamour, what you
have
to say. The Hebrew verb does not mean to speak
but to say, and,
like
this English word, is always followed by the words spoken, except in
a
few cases where they can be instantly supplied from the context. E. g.
Exod.
xix. 25, "So Moses went unto the people and said (not spake) to
them"
what
God had just commanded him. Gen. iv. 8, "And Cain said to Abel
his
brother (not talked with him),"
let us go into the field, as appears from
what
immediately follows. Compare 2 Chron. ii. 10 (11). It might here
be
rendered, say (so) in your heart, i. e. say we will no longer sin by raging
VER.
5-8.] PSALM
IV.
25
against
David; but the other is more natural, and agrees better with what
follows.
Say (what you do say) in your heart, upon your bed, i. e. in the
silence
of the night, often spoken of in Scripture as the season of reflec-
tion
(Eph. iv. 26), and be still, be
silent, implying repentance and submis-
sion
to authority. The effect of this exhortation to be still is beautifully
strengthened
by a pause in the performance. Selah.
6 (5). Before his enemies can be successful
they must have a fear of
God
and a faith, of which they are entirely destitute. This confirmation
of
the Psalmist's hopes is clothed in the form of an exhortation to his
enemies.
Offer offerings, or sacrifice
sacrifices, of righteousness, i. e.
righteous
sacrifices,
prompted by a right motive, and implying a correct view of the
divine
nature. There may be an allusion to the hypocritical services of
Absalom,
and especially his pretended vow (2 Sam. xv. 7, 8). The form of
expression
here is borrowed from Deut. xxxiii. 19. As an indispensable
prerequisite
to such a service, he particularly mentions faith. And trust in
the Lord, Jehovah, not in any
human help or temporal advantages.
7 (6). Many
(there are) saying, Who will shew us good? This may be
in
allusion to the anxious fears of his companions in misfortune, but is more
probably
a picture of the disquiet and unsatisfied desire arising from the
want
of faith and righteousness described in the foregoing verse. Of all
who
do not trust in God it may be said, that they are continually asking
Who will shew us good, who will shew us
wherein happiness consists, and
how
we may obtain it? In contrast with this restlessness of hope or of
despair,
he shews his own acquaintance with the true source of tranquillity
by
a petition founded on the ancient and authoritative form in which the
High
Priest was required to bless the people (Num. vi. 24-26). "The
Lord
bless thee and keep thee; the Lord make his face shine upon thee
and
be gracious unto thee; the Lord lift up his countenance upon thee and
give
thee peace." Two of these solemn benedictions are here mingled in
a
prayer. Lift upon us the light of thy
countenance, O Lord, Jehovah!
The
light of the countenance is a favourite figure in the Psalms, for a favour-
able
aspect or expression. See Ps. xxxi. 17 (16), xliv. 4 (3), lxxx. 4 (3). The
lifting
up may have reference to the rising of the sun, or be put in opposi-
tion
to the act of looking down or away from any object, as a token of
aversion
or displeasure. Upon us extends the
prayer to his companions in
misfortune,
or to all God's people, or to men in general, as if he had said, This is the
only
hope of our lost race. The plural form may be compared with those in the
Lord's
Prayer, as indicating the expansive comprehensive spirit of true piety.
8 (7). The faith, of which his enemies were
destitute, he possessed in
such
a measure, that the mere anticipation of God's favour made him
happier,
in the midst of his distresses, than his foes in the actual posses-
sion
of their temporal advantages. Thou hast
given gladness in my heart,
not
to my heart, but to me in my heart, i. e.
a real, inward, heartfelt glad-
ness,
more than the time, or more than when, i. e. more than they ever en-
joyed
when their corn and their wine abounded,
or increased. The original
nouns
properly denote the new corn and wine of the passing year, the fresh
fruits
of the field and vineyard. The reference may be either to the pro-
verbial
joy of harvest and of vintage, or to the abundant stores of David's
enemies
contrasted with his own condition when dependent on a faithful
servant
for subsistence (2 Sam. xvi. 1, 2).
9 (8). With this faith in the divine
protection, he has nothing even to
disturb
his rest. In peace, tranquillity,
composure, at once, or at the same
26 PSALM
IV. [VER.
8.
time,
by the same act, I will lie down and will
sleep, or rather go to sleep,
fall
asleep, which is the meaning of the Hebrew verb in Gen. ii. 21, xli. 5,
1
Kings xix. 5, and elsewhere. Nothing could be more natural and beauti-
ful,
as a description of complete tranquillity, than this trait borrowed from
the
physical habits of the young, the healthy, and those free from all
anxiety,
to whom the act of lying down and that of sleeping are almost
coincident.
The ground of this security is given in the last clause. For
thou, Lord, Jehovah, alone in safety, or security, wilt make me dwell. The
future
form, though not exclusive of the present (see above, on Ps. i. 2),
should
be retained because it indicates the Psalmist's assured hope of
something
not yet realised, and is thus in perfect keeping with ver. 8 (7).
Alone may be connected with
what goes before: for thou Lord, and no
other,
thou, even though all other friends and advantages should fail me, art
sufficient
to protect and provide for me. Or it may be connected with
what
follows: alone, in safety, thou wilt make
me dwell. There is then an
allusion
to the repeated application of the same Hebrew word to
dwelling
apart from other nations under God's protection and in the enjoy-
ment
of his favour. See Num. xxiii. 9, Duet. xxxiii. 28, 29, and com-
pare
Micah vii. 14, Jer. xlix. 31, Deut. iv. 7, 8, 2 Sam. vii. 23. What
was
originally said of the people is then transferred, as in ver. 4 (3)
above,
to David, not as a private member of the ancient church, however
excellent,
but as its theocratic head and representative, in whom, as after-
wards
more perfectly in Christ, the promises to
realised.
This last interpretation of alone is
so striking, and agrees so
well
with the other allusions in this context to the Pentateuch, e. g. to Lev.
xxv.
18, 19, and Deut. xxxiii. 12 in this verse, and to Num. vi. 24-26 in
ver.
7 (6), that some combine the two constructions, and suppose alone to
have
a kind of double sense, as if he had said, Thou alone wilt make me
dwell
alone. Although the form of this verse has respect to the particular
historical
occasion of the psalm, the sentiment is so expressed as to admit
of
an unforced application to the ease of every suffering believer, and to the
distresses
of the church at large, for whose use it was not only left on
record
but originally written.
PSALM V.
The
Psalmist prays for the divine help, ver. 2 (1), on the ground that
Jehovah
is his King and his God, ver. 3 (2), that he early and constantly
invokes
his aid, ver. 4 (3), that the enemies, from whom he seeks to be de-
livered,
are the enemies of God, ver. 5, 6 (4, 5), and as such must inevit-
ably
perish, ver. 7 (6), while he, as the representative of God's friends, must
be
rescued, ver. 8 (7). He then goes over the same ground afresh, asking
again
to be protected from his enemies, ver. 9 (8), again describing them as
desperately
wicked, ver. 10 (9), again appealing to God's justice to destroy
them,
ver. 11 (10), and again anticipating certain triumph, ver. 12 (11),
on
the ground of God's habitual and uniform dealing with the righteous,
ver.
13 (12). As the two preceding psalms appear to constitute a pair, so
this
one seems to contain such a pair or double psalm within itself. It is
also
obvious that this is but a further variation of the theme which runs
through
the preceding psalms, and therefore an additional proof that their
arrangement
in the book is not fortuitous or arbitrary. If ver. 4 (3) of
this
psalm be supposed to mark it as a morning hymn, its affinity to the
two
before it becomes still more close and striking.
VER.
1-3.]
PSALM V.
27
1. To
(or for) the Chief Musician. See above on Ps. iv. 1. To (or for)
Nehiloth. This, though
undoubtedly a part of the original inscription, is
obscure
and enigmatical. Its very obscurity indeed may be regarded as a
proof
of its antiquity and genuineness. Some understand it to mean flutes
or
wind-instruments in general, as Neginoth,
in the title of the fourth
psalm,
means stringed instruments. The sense would then be: (to be
sung)
to (an accompaniment of) flutes or wind-instruments. But as the
Hebrew
word is nowhere else used in this sense, and the preposition here
employed
is not the one prefixed to names of instruments, and flutes are
nowhere
mentioned as a part of the temple music, others make Nehiloth
the
name of a tune, or of another song to the melody of which this was
to
be adapted: (to be sung) to (the air of) Nehiloth. Others follow the
ancient
version in making it refer, not to the musical performance, but the
subject
of the psalm: (as) to inheritances, lots, or destinies, viz. those of
the
righteous and the wicked. This is favoured by the circumstance, that
most
of the other enigmatical inscriptions of the psalms may be more pro-
bably
explained as having reference to their theme or subject than in any
other
manner. The title closes, as in the foregoing psalm, by ascribing it
to
David as its author. Nor is there anything, as we shall see, to militate
against
the truth of this inscription.
2 (1). To
my words, O Lord, Jehovah, give ear,
perceive my thought.
Attend
not only to my vocal and audible petitions, but to my unexpressed
desires,
to those "groanings which cannot be uttered," but are no less
significant
to God than language (Rom. viii. 26, 27). The second verb
suggests
the idea of attention, as well as that of simple apprehension.
3 (2). Hearken
to the voice of my crying, or my cry for help, to which
the
Hebrew word is always specially applied. My
king and my God, not
as
a mere creator and providential ruler, but as the covenant God and king
of
so
God was his king, the lord paramount or sovereign, in whose right he
reigned.
This address involves a reason why his prayer must be heard.
God,
as the king of his people, could not deny them his protection, and
they
asked no other. For to thee, and thee
only, will I pray. As if he
had
said, It is in this capacity that I invoke thee, and I therefore must
be
heard. This is a specimen of that par>r[hsi<a, or freedom of speech
to-
wards
God, which is recognised as an effect and evidence of faith, in the New as well
as
the Old Testament, Heb. iv. 16, x. 19, 35; 1 John ii. 28, iii. 21, iv. 17, v.
14.
4 (3). O
Lord, Jehovah, (in) the morning thou shalt hear my voice.
This
is not so much a request to be heard as a resolution to persist in
prayer.
The reference may be either to stated hours of prayer or to early
devotion
as a proof of earnestness and faith. See Ps. lv. 18 (17), lxxxviii.
14
(13.) (In) the morning I will set (my prayer) in order, to (or for) thee.
There
is here a beautiful allusion to the Mosaic ritual, which is unavoidably
lost
in a translation. The Hebrew verb is the technical term used in the
Old
Testament to signify the act of arranging the wood upon the altar
(Gen.
xxii. 9, Lev. i. 7, 1 Kings xviii. 33), and the shewbread on the table
(Exod.
xl. 23, Lev. xxiv. 6, 8). It would therefore necessarily suggest the
idea
of prayer as an oblation, here described as a kind of morning sacrifice
to
God. And I will look out, or watch,
for an answer to my prayers. The
image
presented is that of one looking from a wall or tower in anxious
expectation
of approaching succour. A similar use of the same verb
occurs
in Hab. ii. 1, and Micah vii. 7. True faith is not contented
28 PSALM V. [VER. 4-7.
with
the act of supplication, but displays itself in eager expectation of an answer.
5 (4). Here, as elsewhere, the Psalmist
identifies his cause with God's,
and
anticipates the downfall of his enemies because they are sinners and
therefore
odious in God's sight. For not a God
delighting in wickedness (art)
thou, as might appear to be
the case if these should go unpunished. It is
necessary,
therefore, for the divine honour, that they should not go un-
punished.
Not with thee, as thy guest or
friend, shall evil, or the bad (man),
dwell. For an opposite use of
the same figure, see below, Ps. xv. 1, lxi.
5
(4). It is still implied, that the impunity of sinners would appear as if
God
harboured and abetted them, and therefore must be inconsistent with
his
honour as a holy God.
6 (5). What was said in the preceding verse
of sin is here, to prevent
misapprehension,
said of sinners. They shall not stand,
the proud, or
insolent, here put for wicked
men in general and for the Psalmist's enemies
in
particular, before thine eyes. Thou
canst not bear the presence of thy
moral
opposites. Sin is not only opposed to God's will, but repugnant to
his
nature. By ceasing to hate it, he would cease to be holy, cease to be
perfect,
cease to be God. This idea is expressed more directly in the other
clause.
Thou hast hated, and must still hate,
all doers of iniquity. This
last
word is originally a negative, meaning inanity or nonentity, but like
several
other negatives in Hebrew, is employed as a strong term to denote
moral
deficiency and worthlessness.
7 (6). As the preceding verse extends what
was said of sin in the abstract
to
personal offenders, so here what was said of the divine dispositions is
applied
to divine acts. That which God hates he must destroy. Particular
classes
of transgressors are here put, as before, by way of specimen or
sample,
for the whole; with special reference, however, to the sins of
David's
enemies. Thou wilt destroy speakers of
falsehood; see above, on
Ps.
iv. 3 (2.) A man of blood, literally bloods, the plural form being com-
monly
used where there is reference to blood-guiltiness or murder. See
Gen.
iv. 10, 11 ; Ps. li. 16 (14). A man of blood
and fraud, a bloody and
deceitful
man, the Lord, Jehovah, will abhor; he must and will skew his
abhorrence
by the punishment of such offenders. This confident anticipa-
tion
of God's righteous retributions really involves a prayer for the deliver-
ance
of the Psalmist from his enemies.
8 (7). For the same reason he is equally
confident in the anticipation of
his
own deliverance. Since his enemies must perish as the enemies of God,
he
must escape, not on account of his own merit, nor simply as an object
of
God's favour, but as the champion of his cause, his earthly vicegerent,
the
type and representative of his Messiah. And
I, as distinguished from
these
sinners, in the abundance of thy mercy,
which excludes all reliance on
his
own strength or goodness, will come to
thy house, the tabernacle set up
on
towards thy temple of
holiness,
thy holy temple, or rather palace, so called
as
the residence of
the
tabernacle than the temple. See 1 Sam. i. 9, iii. 3, Ps. xxvii. 4,
xxviii.
2. Towards, not in, because the worshippers did not go into the
sanctuary
itself, but worshipped in the court, with their faces turned towards
the
place of God's manifested presence. Such usages are now superseded
by
the advent of the true sanctuary. See above, on Ps. iii. 5 (4). In thy
fear, the reverence
engendered even by the view and the experience of God's
mercy.
There may be an allusion in this verse to David's painful sense of
VER.
8-11.] PSALM
V.
29
his
exclusion from the house of God (2 Sam. xv. 25); but it cannot be
merely
an anticipation of renewed access to the sanctuary, which was
equally
open to all others, and could not therefore be used to indicate the
contrast
between his condition and that of others. The verse is rather an
engagement
to acknowledge God's delivering mercy in the customary man-
ner.
See below, Ps. lxvi. 13. As if he had said, While my enemies
perish
by the hand of God, I shall be brought by his mercy to give thanks
for
my deliverance at his sanctuary.
9 (8). The Psalmist here begins his prayer
and argument anew, pursuing
the
same order as before. O Lord,
Jehovah, lead me, guide me safely,
in thy righteousness, i. e. in the exercise of that same justice which destroys
my
enemies, on account of my enemies,
that they may not triumph; make
straight before my face
thy way,
i. e. mark out a safe and easy path
for me
to
tread. The explanation of the way as
that of duty and obedience,
although
not at variance with scriptural usage, is less suited to the context
here,
in which the prayer throughout is for protection and deliverance.
10 (9). The same reason as before is now
assigned for his deliverance
from
his enemies, viz. because they were the enemies of God, and they
were
such because they were atrocious sinners. For
there is nothing in his
mouth, i. e. the mouth of any one of them, or of all concentrated in one
ideal
person,
sure or certain, i. e. true. Their inside, their heart; their real
dis-
position,
as distinguished from the outward appearance, (is) mischiefs, in-
juries,
or crimes, consists of nothing else. A
grave opened, to receive the
victim,
(is) their throat, like that of a devouring monster. Or the throat
may
be mentioned as an organ of speech, as in Ps. cxlix. 6, cxv. 7, and
compared
with the grave as a receptacle of corruption or a place of de-
struction.
Their tongue they smooth, or make smooth, by hypocrisy or
flattery,
as the wicked woman is said to make her
words smooth, Prov. ii.
16,
vii. 5. The Septuagint version of this clause is quoted by Paul (
iii.
13), with several other passages from the Old Testament, as a strong
description
of human depravity. The last words are rendered in that
version,
"with their tongues they have used craft or deceit," an idea really
included
in the literal translation.
11 (10). Condemn them, literally make
them guilty, i. e. recognise and
treat
them as such, O God! They shall fall, i. e.
they must, they cannot
but
fall, a common figure for destruction (Ps. xxxvi. 13, cxli. 10), from their
plans, i. e., before they can accomplish them, or in consequence, by means
of
them. (Compare Hos. xi. 6). In the
fulness, or abundance, of their
sins, thrust them forth,
cast them out from thy presence, and down from
their
present exaltation. For they have
rebelled against thee, not me, or
against
me only as thy instrument and representative. Or the opposition
may
be between rebelling against God and simply sinning against man.
The
imperative and future forms, in this verse, both express the certainty
of
the event, with an implication of approving acquiescence. Such expres-
sions,
in the Psalms, have never really excited or encouraged a spirit of
revenge
in any reader, and are no more fitted to have that effect than the
act
of a judge who condemns a criminal to death, or of the officer who
executes
the sentence. The objections often urged against such passages
are
not natural, but spring from over-refinement and a false view of the
Psalms
as expressions of mere personal feeling. See below, on Ps. vii.13 (12).
12 (11). The transition and contrast are
the same as in ver. 8 (7) above.
While
the wicked perish, the righteous shall have cause for everlasting joy.
30
PSALM V.
[VER. 12.
And all (those) trusting
in thee,
making thee their refuge, shall be glad;
for
ever shall they shout (or sing) for joy, and (not without
cause, for) thou wilt
cover over (or protect) them; and in thee, in thy presence and
thy favour,
shall exult, or triumph, (the) lovers of thy name, i. e. of thy manifested
excellence,
which is the usual sense of this expression in the Old Testament.
The
believers and lovers of God's name, here spoken of, are not merely
friends
of the psalmist who rejoice in his deliverance, but the great congre-
gation
of God's people, to which he belonged, and of which he was the
representative,
so that his deliverance was theirs, and a rational occasion
of
their joy, not only on his account but on their own.
13 (12). The confident hope expressed in
the foregoing verse was not a
groundless
or capricious one, but founded on the nature of God and the
uniform
tenor of his dispensations. The psalmist knows what God will
do
in this case, because he knows what he does and will do still in general.
For thou wilt bless, and art wont to bless,
the righteous, the opposite of those
described
in ver. 5-7 (4-6) and 10, 11 (9, 10), O
Lord, Jehovah! Like
the shield, as the shield protects
the soldier (so with) favour thou wilt
sur-
round him, or enclose him, still referring to the
righteous; see the same
comparison
in Ps. iii. 4 (3.) The confident assertion that God will do so,
implies
that he has done so, and is wont to do so, to the righteous as a
class.
And this affords a reasonable ground for the belief, expressed in the
preceding
verse, that he will do so also in the present case.
PSALM VI.
THE psalmist prays for the removal of God's
chastisements, ver. 2 (1),
because
they have already brought him very low, ver. 3, 4 (2, 3), because
the
divine glory will be promoted by his rescue, ver. 5 (4), and obscured
by
his destruction, ver. 6 (5), and because, unless speedily relieved, he can
no
longer bear up under his sufferings, ver. 7, 8 (6, 7). He is neverthe-
less
sure of the divine compassion, ver. 9 (8). His prayer is heard and
will
be answered, ver. 10 (9), in the defeat and disappointment of his ene-
mies,
by whose malignant opposition his distress was caused, ver. 11 (10).
This
reference to his enemies constitutes the link of connection between
this
psalm and the foregoing series, and maintains the contrast, running
through
that series, between two great classes of mankind, the righteous
and
the wicked, the subjects of Messiah and the rebels against him, the
friends
and foes of the theocracy, the friends and foes of David, as an indi-
vidual,
a sovereign, and a type of the Messiah. At the same time, this
psalm
differs wholly from the others in its tone of querulous but humble
grief,
which has caused it to be reckoned as the first of the Penitential
psalms.
This tone is suddenly exchanged, in ver. 9 (8), for one of confi-
dent
assurance, perfectly in keeping with what goes before, and true to
nature.
1. For
the Chief Musician, (to be sung) with
stringed instruments upon
the eighth. This last word
corresponds exactly to our octave;
but its pre-
cise
application in the ancient music we have now no means of ascertaining.
An
instrument of eight strings, which some suppose to be the sense, could
hardly
be described by the ordinal number eighth.
We probably lose little
by
our incapacity to understand these technical expressions, while, at the
same
time, their very obscurity may serve to confirm our faith in their
antiquity
and genuineness, as parts of the original composition. This
VER.
1-5.] PSALM
VI.
31
psalm,
like the three which immediately precede it, describes itself as a
psalm of (or by) David,
belonging to David, as its author. The correct-
ness
of this statement there is as little reason to dispute in this as in either
of
the other cases.
2 (1). O
Lord, Jehovah, do not in thine anger
rebuke me, and do not in
thy heat, or hot displeasure, chasten me. Both the original verbs properly
denote
the conviction and reproof of an offender in words, but are here, as
often
elsewhere, applied to providential chastisements, in which God speaks
with
a reproving voice. This is not a prayer for the mitigation of the
punishment,
like that in Jer. x. 24, but for its removal, as appears from
the
account of the answer in ver. 9-11 (8-10). Such a petition, while it
indicates
a strong faith, at the same time recognises the connection between
suffering
and sin. In the very act of asking for relief, the psalmist owns
that
he is justly punished. This may serve to teach us how far the confi-
dent
tone of the preceding psalms is from betraying a self-righteous spirit,
or
excluding the consciousness of personal unworthiness and ill-desert.
The
boldness there displayed is not that of self-reliance, but of faith.
3 (2). Have
mercy upon me, or be gracious unto me, O Lord, Jehovah,
for drooping, languishing, am I. The original construction is, for I am
(one who) droops or withers, like a
blighted plant. Like a child complain-
ing
to a parent, he describes the greatness of his suffering as a reason for
relieving
him. Heal me, O Lord, Jehovah, for shaken, agitated with dis-
tress
and terror, are my bones, here
mentioned as the strength and frame-
work
of the body. This might seem to indicate corporeal disease as the
whole
from which he prays to be delivered. But the absence of any such
allusion
in the latter part of the psalm, and the explicit mention there of
enemies
as the occasion of his sufferings, shows that the pain of body here
described
was that arising from distress of mind, and which could only be
relieved
by the removal of the cause. To regard the bodily distress as a
mere
figure for internal anguish, would be wholly arbitrary and destructive
of
all sure interpretation. The physical effect here ascribed to moral causes
is
entirely natural and confirmed by all experience.
4 (3). The Psalmist himself guards against
the error of supposing that
his
worst distresses were corporeal. And my
soul, as well as my body, or
more
than my body, which merely sympathizes with it, is greatly agitated,
terror-stricken,
the same word that was applied to the bones in the preced-
ing
verse. The description of his suffering is then interrupted by another
apostrophe
to God. And thou, O Lord, Jehovah, until when, how long?
The
sentence is left to be completed by the reader: how long wilt thou
leave
me thus to suffer? how long before thou wilt appear for my deliver-
ance?
This question, in its Latin form, Domine
quousque, was Calvin's
favourite
ejaculation in his times of suffering, and especially of painful sickness.
5 (4). The expostulatory question is now
followed by direct petition.
Return, O Lord, Jehovah, deliver my soul, my life, my self, from
this im-
pending
death. As God seems to be absent when his people suffer, so
relief
is constantly described as his return to them. (Oh) save me, a still
more
comprehensive term than that used in the first clause, for the sake of
thy mercy, not merely according
to it, as a rule or measure, but to vindicate
it
from reproach, and do it honour, as a worthy end to be desired and
accomplished.
6 (5). As a further reason for his rescue,
he now urges that without it
God
will lose the honour, and himself the happiness, of his praises and
32
PSALM VI.
[VER. 6-9.
thanksgivings.
For there is not in death; or the
state of the dead, thy
remembrance, any remembrance of
thee. In Sheol, the grave, as a general
receptacle,
here parallel to death, and, like it,
meaning the unseen world or
state
of the dead, who will acknowledge, or
give thanks, to thee? The Hebrew
verb
denotes that kind of praise called forth by the experience of goodness.
The
question in the last clause is equivalent to the negative proposition in
the
first. This verse does not prove that David had no belief or expecta-
tion
of a future state, nor that the intermediate state is an unconscious one,
but
only that in this emergency he looks no further than the close of life,
as
the appointed term of thanksgiving and praise. Whatever might even-
tually
follow, it was certain that his death would put an end to the praise
of
God, in that form and those circumstances to which he had been accus-
tomed.
See below, on Ps. xxx. 10 (9); lxxxviii. 11-13 (10-12), cxv. 17,
18,
and compare Isa. xxxviii. 18. So far is the argument here urged from
being
weakened by our clearer knowledge of the future state, that it is greatly
strengthened
by the substitution of the second or eternal death.
7 (6). I
am weary in (or of) my
groaning, I have become wearied with
it,
and unless I am relieved, I shall
(still as hitherto) make my bed swim
every night, my couch
with tears I shall dissolve, or make to flow. The
uniform
translation of the verbs as presents does not bring out their full
meaning,
or express the idea, suggested in the Hebrew by the change of
tense,
that the grief which had already become wearisome must still con-
tinue
without mitigation, unless God should interpose for his deliverance.
Thus
understood, the verse is not a mere description, but a disguised prayer.
8 (7). Mine
eye has failed, grown dim, a common
symptom both of men-
tal
and bodily distress, from vexation,
not mere grief, but grief mixed with
indignation
at my enemies. It has grown old, dim
like the eye of an old
man,
a still stronger expression of the same idea, in (the midst of) all my
enemies, or in (consequence of) all my enemies, i. e. of
their vexatious con-
duct.
Compare Ps. xxxi. 10 (9). In these two verses he resumes the
description
of his own distress, in order to shew that the argument in ver.
6
(5) was appropriate to his case, as that of one drawing near to death,
and
therefore likely soon to lose the capacity and opportunity of praising God.
9 (8). Here the key abruptly changes from
the tone of sorrowful com-
plaint
to that of joyful confidence. No gradual transition could have so
successfully
conveyed the idea that the prayer of the psalmist has been
heard,
and will be answered. The effect is like that of a whisper in the
sufferer's
ear, while still engrossed with his distresses, to assure him that
they
are about to terminate. This he announces by a direct and bold
address
to his persecuting enemies. Depart from
me, all ye doers of ini-
quity, the same phrase that
occurs in Ps. v. 6 (5). The sense is not that
he
will testify his gratitude by abjuring all communion with the wicked,
but
that his assurance of divine protection relieves him from all fear of his
wicked
foes. When God arises, then his enemies are scattered. This
sense
is required by the last clause of ver. 8 (7), and confirmed by a com-
parison
with ver. 11 (10), For the Lord,
Jehovah, hath heard the voice of
my weeping, or my weeping voice.
The infrequency of silent grief is said
to
be characteristic of the orientals, and the same thing may be observed
in
Homer's pictures of heroic manners.
10 (9). Jehovah
hath heard my supplication. The assurance of this fact
relieves
all fear as to the future. Jehovah my
prayer will receive. The
change
of tense is not unmeaning or fortuitous. The combination of the
VER.
10.] PSALM
VI.
33
past
and future represents the acceptance as complete and final, as already
begun,
and certain to continue. The particular petition thus accepted is
the
one expressed or implied in the next verse.
11 (10). Ashamed and confounded, i. e.
disappointed and struck with
terror,
shall be all my enemies. The desire
that they may be is not expressed,
but
involved in the confident anticipation that they will be. In the second
verb
there is an obvious allusion to its use in ver. 3, 4 (2, 3). As he had
been
terror-stricken, so shall they be. As they filled him with consterna-
tion,
so shall God fill them. They shall return,
turn back from their assault
repulsed;
they shall be ashamed, filled with
shame at their defeat; and that
not
hereafter, (in) a moment,
instantaneously.
PSALM
VII.
The
Psalmist still prays for deliverance from his enemies, ver. 2, 3 (1, 2),
on
the ground that he is innocent of that wherewith they charge him, ver.
4-6
(3-5). He prays for justice to himself and on his enemies, as a part of
that
great judicial process which belongs to God as the universal judge, ver.
7-10
(6-9). He trusts in the divine discrimination between innocence and
guilt,
ver. 11, 12 (10, 11). He anticipates God's vengeance on impeni-
tent
offenders, ver. 13, 14 (12, 13). He sees them forced to act as self-
destroyers,
ver. 15-17 (14-16). At the same time he rejoices in God's
mercy
to himself, and to the whole class whom he represents, ver. 18 (17).
The
penitential tone, which predominated in the sixth psalm, here gives
way
again to that of self-justification, perhaps because the Psalmist here
speaks
no longer as an individual, but as the representative of the righteous
or
God's people. The two views which he thus takes of himself are per-
fectly
consistent, and should be suffered to interpret one another.
1. Shiggaion,
i. e. wandering, error. The noun
occurs only here, and
in
the plural form, Hab. iii. 1, but the verb from which it is derived is not
uncommon,
and is applied by Saul to his own errors with respect to
David
(1 Sam. xxvi. 21). See also Ps. cxix. 10, 118. Hence some ex-
plain
the word here as denoting moral error, sin, and make it descriptive
of
the subject of the psalm. See above on Ps. v. 1. Still more in accord-
ance
with the literal meaning of the root is the opinion that it here denotes
the
wandering of David at the period when the psalm was probably con-
ceived.
In either case, it means a song of wandering or error, which he
sang, in the literal sense,
or in the secondary one of poetical composition,
as
Virgil says, I sing the man and arms, i.
e. they are the subject of my
poem.
To the Lord, Jehovah, to whom a large
part of the psalm is really
addressed.
Concerning (or because of) the words of
is
clear from ver. 4-6 (3-5), that the words
referred to were calumnious
reports
or accusations. These may have been uttered by one Cush, a Ben-
jamite,
who nowhere else appears in history. But as this very circum-
stance
makes it improbable that he would have been singled out, as the
occasion
of this psalm, from among so many slanderers, some suppose
Cush
to be Shimei, who cursed David when he fled from Absalom (2 Sam.
xvi.
5-13). As the psalm, however, seems much better suited to the times
of
Saul, some suppose
opia,
to be here an enigmatical name applied to Saul himself, in reference
to
the blackness of his heart, and perhaps to his incorrigible wickedness.
See
Jer. xiii. 23, and Amos ix. 7. The description Benjamite, is equally
3
34 PSALM
VII. [VER.
1-5.
appropriate
to Saul (1 Sam. ix. 1, 2; 5, 11) and Shimei, who, indeed,
were
kinsmen. This explanation of the word
might
otherwise appear, because enigmatical descriptions of the theme are
not
unfrequent in the titles of the Psalms. See above, on Ps. v. 1, and
below,
on Ps. ix. 1; xxii. 1; liii. 1;
lvii. 1; lx. 1.
2 (1). The psalm opens with an expression
of strong confidence in God,
and
a prayer founded on it. O Lord,
Jehovah, my God, not merely
by
creation, but by special covenant, in thee,
as such, and therefore in
no
other, I have trusted, and do still
trust. This relation and this trust
entitle
him to audience and deliverance. Save me
from all my persecu-
tors, or pursuers, a term
frequently employed in David's history. See
1
Sam. xxiv. 15 (14); xxvi. 20. By these we are here to understand the
whole
class of worldly and ungodly men, of which Saul was the type and
representative.
The all suggests the urgency of the necessity, as a motive
to
immediate interposition. And extricate me,
or deliver me. The primary idea of the
verb
translated save is that of making room, enlarging. See above, on Ps. iv. 2 (1).
3 (2). Lest
he tear, like a lion, my soul. The singular form, following
the
plural in the foregoing verse, may have particular reference to Saul, or
to
the class of which he was a type, personified as an ideal individual. The
imagery
of the verse is borrowed from the habits of wild beasts, with which
David
was familiar from a child. See 1 Sam. xvii. 34-37. The soul or
life
is mentioned as the real object of attack, and not as a mere periphrasis
for
the personal pronoun, as if my soul
were equivalent to me. Rending,
or
breaking the bones, and there
is none delivering, or with none to deliver.
4 (3.) He proceeds upon the principle that
God will not hear the prayer
of
the wicked, and that he must hear that of the righteous. He proceeds,
therefore,
to assert his innocence, not his freedom from all sin, but from
that
particular offence with which he had been charged. O Lord, Jeho-
vah,
my God, as in ver. 2 (1), if I have done this, which follows, or
this of
which
I am accused, referring to "the words of
which
gave occasion to the psalm itself. If
there is, with emphasis on the
verb,
which might have been omitted in Hebrew, and is therefore em-
phatic,
if there is indeed, as my accusers
say, perverseness, iniquity, in my
palms, in the palms of my
hands, here mentioned as instruments of evil.
The
apodosis of the sentence is contained in ver. 6 (5) below.
5 (4). If
I have repaid my friend, one at peace with me, evil, and spoiled,
plundered,
(one) distressing me, acting as my
enemy, without a cause. There
seems
to be an allusion here to the two periods of David's connection with
Saul,
that of their friendly intercourse, and that of their open enmity.
During
neither of these had David been guilty of the sins charged upon
him.
He had not conspired against Saul while in his service (1 Sam. xxii.
7,
8), and when persecuted by him he had spared his life (1 Sam. xxiv. 10,
11).
Some suppose this last fact to be here referred to, and translate the
second
clause, yea, I have delivered him that
without cause is mine enemy.
The
Hebrew verb is certainly used elsewhere in this sense (2 Sam. xxii. 20,
Ps.
vi. 5), but its primary meaning seems to be that of stripping or spoil-
ing
a conquered enemy. The first construction above given is moreover
much
more natural, and agrees better with the grammatical dependence of
the
second verb upon the first.
6 (5). His consciousness of innocence is
expressed in the strongest man
ner
by invoking the divine displeasure if the charge can be established. An
enemy, or by poetic licence, the enemy, whether Saul or the ideal
enemy
VER.
6-8.] PSALM VII.
35
referred
to in verse 3 (2), shall pursue, or may pursue, which is equivalent
to
saying, Let the enemy pursue my soul,
the figure being still the same as in
verse
3 (2) above, but carried out with more minuteness, and overtake (it),
and trample to the earth
my life,
and my honour in the dust make dwell,
i. e.
completely
prostrate and degrade. Some regard honour
as equivalent to
soul and life, the intelligent and vital part,
which is the glory of man's con-
stitution.
But the analogy of Ps. iii. 4 (3) and iv. 3 (2) makes it more
probable
that in this case also there is reference to the Psalmist's personal
and
official honour. The allusion, however, is not so much to posthumous
disgrace
as to present humiliation. All this he imprecates upon himself if
really
guilty of the charges calumniously brought against him. The solemnity of this
appeal
to God, as a witness and a judge, is enhanced by the usual pause. Selah.
7 (6). Upon this protestation of his
innocence he founds a fresh prayer
for
protection and deliverance. Arise,
arouse thyself, O Lord, Jehovah.
See
above, on Ps. iii. 8 (7). Arise in thine
anger, raise thyself, or be exalted,
in, i. e. amidst, the ragings of
my enemies. The idea because of my
enemies is
rather
implied than expressed. The sense directly intended seems to be
that,
as his enemies are raging, it is time for God to arise in anger too. As
they
rage against him, he calls upon God to rise in anger against them.
And
awake, a still stronger figure than arise, because implying sleep as well
as
inactivity. Awake unto me, at my call
and for my benefit. Judgment
hast thou commanded, or ordained. Let that
judgment now be executed.
He
appeals to the general administration of God's justice, as a ground for
expecting
it in this one case. As it was part of the divine plan or pur-
pose
to do justice, both on friends and foes, here was an opportunity to
put
it into execution.
8 (7). And
the congregation of nations shall surround thee, which in this
connection
is equivalent to saying, let it surround
thee. The most probable
sense
of these obscure words is, appear in the midst of the nations as their
judge.
The same connection between God's judicial government in general
and
his judicial acts in a particular case, that is implied in the preceding
verse,
is here embodied in the figure of an oriental king dispensing justice
to
his subjects in a popular assembly. And
above it, the assembly, to the
high place, or the height, return thou.
This may either mean, return to
heaven
when the judgment is concluded, or, which seems more natural,
Resume
thy seat as judge above this great ideal congregation. Above it,
thus
assembled to receive thee, to the high
place, or the judgment-seat, re-
turn thou, after so long an
absence, previously intimated by the summons to
arise
and awake. Inaction, sleep, and absence from the judgment-seat, are all
bold
metaphors for God's delay to save his people and destroy their enemies.
9 (8). The same thing is now expressed in a
direct and formal manner.
Jehovah will judge, is to judge, the nations. This is laid down as a
certain
general
proposition, from which the Psalmist draws a special inference in
the
shape of a petition. Judge me, O Lord,
Jehovah! If it be true that
God
will judge the world, redress all wrong, and punish all iniquity, let him
begin
with me. Let me share now in the justice which is to be universally
administered.
Judge me, O Lord, according to my right,
and my complete-
ness, or perfection, over me, i. e. according to my innocence which covers and
protects
me. All such expressions must be qualified and explained by the
confession
of unworthiness in Ps. vi. and elsewhere, which sufficiently demon-
strates
that the Psalmist here makes no claim to absolute perfection and
innocence,
nor to any whatever that is independent of God's sovereign mercy.
36
PSALM VII.
[VER. 9-13.
10 (9). Let
cease, I pray, the badness of wicked (men). The future has
an
optative meaning given to it by the Hebrew particle (xnA), which is often
rendered
now, not as an adverb of time, but of
entreaty. Between man and.
man,
it is frequently equivalent to if you
please in modern parlance. When
addressed
to God, it scarcely admits of any other version than I pray. The
assonance
or paronomasia in the common version, wickedness
of the wicked,
is
not found in the original, where two words, not akin to one another,
are
employed. The plural form of wicked
is also lost or left ambiguous in
the
common version. And thou wilt confirm,
or establish, a righteous (man),
and a trier of hearts
and reins,
constantly used in Scripture for the internal
dispositions,
(is the) righteous God, or (art thou) O righteous God, which
last
agrees best with the direct address to God in the preceding clauses.
This
does not merely mean that God is omniscient, and therefore able thus
to
try the hearts and reins, but that he actually does it. Here he is spe-
cially
appealed to, as a judge or umpire between Saul, or "the wicked" whom
he
represented, and "the righteous," of whom David was the type and
champion.
11 (10). My shield (is) upon God. My protection or defence depends
on
him alone. The figure is the same as in Ps. iii. 4 (3) and v. 13 (12).
Here
again the hope of personal deliverance is founded on a general truth,
as
to the course of the divine administration. My
shield (is) upon God, sav-
ing, or who saves, the Saviour of the upright, straightforward, or sincere in
heart. This is a new indirect
assertion of his own integrity and innocence.
12 (11). The second word in the original of
this verse may be either a
participle
or a noun, so that the clause admits of two translations, God (is)
a righteous judge, and, God is judging, i. e. judges, the righteous. The first
would
be a repetition of the general truth taught in ver. 9 (8) above, but
here
applied to the punishment of the wicked, as it is there to the salvation
of
the innocent. According to the other construction, the verse before us
presents
both ideas: God judges the righteous,
i. e. does him justice, and
God is angry every day. The object of this
anger, although not expressed,
is
obvious, and is even rendered more conspicuous by this omission. As if
he
had said, "God, who does justice to the righteous, has likewise objects
for
his indignation."
13 (12). If he, the sinner at whom God is angry, will not turn, i. e.
turn
back from his impious and rebellious undertakings, his sword he will
whet, i. e. with a natural though sudden change of subject, God will whet
his
sword, often referred to as an instrument of vengeance. His bow he has
trodden on, alluding to the ancient
mode of bending the large and heavy
bows
used in battle, and made it ready.
The bow and the sword were the
most
common weapons used in ancient warfare. The past tense of these
verbs
implies that the instruments of vengeance are prepared already, and
not
merely viewed as something future.
14 (13). And at him (the wicked enemy) he
has aimed, or directed, the
instruments of death, his deadly weapons.
This is still another step in
advance.
The weapons are not only ready for him, but aimed at him.
His arrows to (be)
burning he will make,
i. e. he will make his arrows
burning
arrows, in allusion to the ancient military custom of shooting
ignited
darts or arrows into besieged towns, for the purpose of setting them
on
fire, as well as that of personal injury. The figurative terms in these
two
verses all express the certainty and promptness of the divine judgments
on
incorrigible sinners. For even these denunciations are not absolute,
VER.
14-17.] PSALM VII. 37
but
suspended on the enemy's repentance or persistency in evil. That
significant
phrase, if he will not turn, may be
tacitly supplied as qualifying
every
threatening in the book, however strong and unconditional in its expressions.
15 (14). Behold, he, the wicked man, will
writhe, or travail (with)
iniquity, (towards others), and conceive mischief (to himself), and bring
forth falsehood, self-deception,
disappointment. The meaning seems to be,
that
while bringing his malignant schemes to maturity, he will uncon-
sciously
conceive and bring forth ruin to himself.
16 (15) The same idea is then expressed by
other figures, borrowed
perhaps
from certain ancient modes of hunting. A
well he has digged,
i. e. a pitfall for his
enemy, and hollowed it, or made it
deep, and fallen
into the pit he is
making,
or about to make. The change from the past
tense
to the future seems to place the catastrophe between the inception
and
completion of the plan. The translation of the last verb as a simple
preterite
is entirely ungrammatical.
17 (16). Still a third variation of the
same theme. His mischief shall
return upon his own head, literally into it,
like a falling body which not
only
rests upon an object, but sinks and is imbedded in it. And on his own
crown his violence, including the ideas of
injustice and cruelty, shall come
down.
18 (17). While the wicked enemy of God and
his people is thus made
to
execute the sentence on himself, the Psalmist already exults in the ex-
perience
of God's saving mercy. I will praise the
Lord, Jehovah, i. e.
acknowledge
his favours. See above, on Ps. vi. 6 (5). According
to his
right, desert, or due, as in
ver. 9 (8) above. Or according to his
righteous-
ness, his justice, i. e. the praise shall correspond to the
display just made
of
this attribute, as well in the deliverance of the Psalmist as in the des-
truction
of his enemies. And I will sing praise,
praise by singing, praise
in
song, the name, the manifested
excellence (see above, on Ps. v. 12 (11),)
of the Lord, Jehovah, High or Most High. He will praise the Lord in this
exalted
character as manifested by his dealings in the case which gave
occasion
to the psalm. The resolution thus expressed may be considered
as
fulfilled in the psalm itself, so confident is he that it cannot be performed
before
his prayer is answered. Or the words may be understood as en-
gaging
to continue these acknowledgments hereafter.
PSALM VIII.
This
psalm begins and ends with an admiring recognition of God's mani-
fested
excellence, ver. 2 (1) and 10 (9). In the intermediate verses the
manifestation
is traced, first in the inanimate creation, ver. 3, 4 (2, 3,
and
then in animated nature, vers. 5-9 (4-8), with particular reference
to
man's superiority. This is indeed the main subject of the psalm, the
glory
of God in nature being only introduced to heighten his goodness to
mankind.
We have here, therefore, a description of the dignity of human
nature,
as it was at first, and as it is to be restored in Christ, to whom the
descriptive
terms may therefore be applied, without forced or fanciful
accommodation
on the one hand, and without denying the primary generic
import
of the composition on the other.
1. To
the Chief Musician, on (or according to) the Gittith. This word,
which
reappears in the titles of two other psalms (the eighty-first and
38 PSALM
VII]. [VER.
1, 2.
eighty-fourth),
would seem, from its form, to be the feminine of Gitti,
which
always means a Gittite or inhabitant of
2
Sam. vi. 10, xv. 18. As David once resided there, and had afterwards
much
intercourse with the inhabitants, the word may naturally here denote
an
instrument there invented or in use, or an air, or a style of performance,
borrowed
from that city. Some prefer, however, to derive it from the
primary
sense of
to
an instrument of that shape, or to a melody or style which usage had
connected
with the joy of vintage or the pressing of the grapes. Either of
these
explanations is more probable than that which derives Gittith from
the
same root with Neginoth in the titles
of Ps. iv. and vi., and gives it
the
same sense, viz. stringed instruments, or the music of stringed instru-
ments.
Besides the dubious etymology on which this explanation rests, it
is
improbable that two such technical terms would have been used to
signify
precisely the same thing. The only further observation to be made
upon
this title is, that all the psalms to which it is prefixed are of a joyous
character,
which agrees well with the supposition that it signifies an air or
style
of musical performance. The ascription of this Psalm to David, as
its
author, is fully confirmed by its internal character.
2 (1). Jehovah,
our Lord, not of the Psalmist only, but of all men, and
especially
all
(see
above, Ps. v. 11, vii. 17), in all the
earth, which gave thy glory, i. e.
which
glory of thine give or place, above the
heavens. The verbal form here
used
is, in every other place where it occurs, an imperative, and should not
therefore,
without necessity, be otherwise translated. Thus understood,
the
clause contains a prayer or wish, that the divine glory may be made
still
more conspicuous. To give or place glory on an object is an idiomatic
phrase
repeatedly used elsewhere, to denote the conferring of honour on an in-
ferior.
See Num. xxvii. 20; 1 Chron. xxix. 25; Dan. xi. 21. It here implies
that
the glory belonging to the frame of nature is not inherent but derivative.
3 (2.) From
the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast founded strength.
The
instinctive admiration of thy works, even by the youngest children, is
a
strong defence against those who would question thy being or obscure
thy
glory. The Septuagint version of the last words in this clause, thou
hast
prepared (or provided) praise, conveys the same idea with a change of
form,
since it is really the praise or admiration of the child that is de-
scribed
in the original as strength. This version is adopted by Matthew,
in
his record of our Lord's reply to the Pharisees, when they complained of
the
hosannas uttered by the children in the temple (Mat. xxi. 16). That
allusion
does not prove that Christ was the primary subject of this psalm,
but
only that the truth expressed in the words quoted was exemplified in
that
case. If the Scriptures had already taught that even the unconscious
admiration
of the infant is a tribute to God's glory, how much more might
children
of maturer age be suffered to join in acclamations to his Son. The
sense
thus put upon the words of David agrees better with the context than
the
one preferred by some interpreters, viz., that the defence in question is
afforded
by the structure and progress of the child itself. If this had been
intended,
he would hardly have said from the mouth,
or have confined his subsequent
allusions
to the splendour of the firmament.—The effect, or rather the legitimate
tendency
of this spontaneous testimony is to silence
enemy and avenger, i. e. to stop
the
mouths
of all malignant railers against God, whose cavils and sophisms are put to
shame
by
the instinctive recognition of God's being and his glory by the youngest
children.
VER.
3-6.] PSALM
VIII.
39
4 (3). When
I see thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, an expression
borrowed
from the habits of men, to whom the fingers are natural organs of
contrivance
and construction, the moon and the stars
which thou hast fixed,
or
settled in their several spheres. As we constantly associate the sky
and
sun together, the latter, although not expressly mentioned, may be
considered
as included in the subject of the first clause. Or the mention
of
the moon and stars without the sun may be understood to mark this as
an
evening hymn. There is no ground, however, for referring this psalm to the
pastoral
period
of David's life, or for doubting that it was composed when he was king.
5 (4). The sentence begun in the preceding
verse is here completed.
When
I see thy heavens, &c., what is man,
frail man, as the original word
signifies,
that thou shouldst remember him,
think of him, attend to him, and
(any)
son of man, or the son of man, as a generic designation of the race,
that
thou shouldst visit him, i. e. according to the usage of this
figure,
manifest
thyself to him, either in wrath or mercy. See Gen. xviii. 14,
xxi.
1, Ruth i. 6, &c. Here of course the latter is intended. The
scriptural
idea of a divine visitation is of something which reveals God's
special
presence and activity, whether as a friend or foe. The interrogation
in
this verse implies a strong negation of man's worthiness to be thus
honoured,
not in comparison with the material universe, to which he is in
truth
superior, but with the God whose glory the whole frame of nature was
intended
to display and does display, even to the least matured and culti-
vated
minds. It was with a view to this comparison, and not for its own
sake,
or as the main subject of the psalm, that the glory of creation was
referred
to the foregoing verse.
6 (5). And
remove him little from divinity, i.
e. from a divine and
heavenly,
or at least a superhuman state. The Hebrew noun is the com-
mon
one for God, but being plural in its
form, is sometimes used in a more
vague
and abstract sense, for all conditions of existence higher than our
own.
1 Sam. xxviii. 13, Zech. ix. 7. Hence it is sometimes rendered
angels
in the Septuagint, which version, although inexact, is retained in
the
New Testament (Heb. ii. 7), because it sufficiently expresses the idea
which
was essential to the writer's argument. The verb in this clause
strictly
means to make or let one want, to leave deficient. Eccles. iv. 8,
vi.
2. The form here used (that of the future with vav conversive), con-
nects
it in the closest manner with the verb of the preceding verse, a con-
struction
which may be imperfectly conveyed by the omission of the
auxiliary
verbs in English. "What is man, that thou shouldst remember
him,
and visit him, and make him want but little of divinity, and crown
him
with honour and glory?" The Hebrew order of the last clause is,
and (with) honour and
glory crown him.
These nouns are elsewhere put
together
to express royal dignity. Ps. xxi. 1, 6 (5), xlv. 4 (3), Jer.
xxii.
18, 1 Chron. xxix. 25. There is an obvious allusion to man's being
made
in the image of God, with dominion over the inferior creation. Gen.
i.
26, 28; ix. 2. This is predicated not of the individual but of the race,
which
lost its perfection in Adam and recovers it in Christ. Hence the
description
is pre-eminently true of him, and the application of the words
in
Heb. ii. 7, is entirely legitimate, although it does not make him the
exclusive
subject of the psalm itself.
7 (6). The same construction is continued
through the first clause of
this
verse. Make him rule, i. e. what is man that thou shouldst
make
him
rule, in, among, and by implication over, the works, the other and
40
PSALM VIII. [VER. 7-9.
inferior
creatures, of thy hands. The use of
the future form in Hebrew up
to
this point is dependent on the question and contingent particle (what is
man that) in ver. 5 (4). The
question being now exhausted or exchanged
for
a direct affirmation, the past tense is resumed. All, everything, hast
thou put under his feet, i. e. subjected to his power. The application of
these
terms to Christ (1 Cor. xv. 27, Eph. i. 22), as the ideal representative
of
human nature in its restored perfection, is precisely similar to that of
the
expressions used in the preceding verse.
8 (7). This verse contains a mere
specification of the general term all
in
the verse before it. Sheep, or rather
flocks, including sheep and goats, and
oxen, as a generic term for
larger cattle, and also, not only
these domesti-
cated
animals, but also, beasts of the field,
which always means in Scripture
wild
beasts (Gen. ii. 20, iii. 14, 1 Sam. xvii. 44, Joel i. 20), field being
used
in such connections to denote, not the cultivated land, but the open,
unenclosed,
and wilder portions of the country. The whole verse is a
general
description of all quadrupeds or beasts, whether tame or wild.
9 (8). To complete the cycle of animated
nature, the inhabitants of the
air
and water are now added to those of the earth. Bird of heaven, a
collective
phrase, denoting the birds of the sky, i.
e. those which fly across
the
visible heavens. The common version, "fowl of the air," is
descriptive
of
the same objects, but is not a strict translation. And fishes of the sea,
and (every thing)
passing in, or through, the paths of the sea. Some read
without
supplying anything, fishes of the sea
passing through the paths of the
sea. But this weakens the
expression, and is also at variance with the
form
of the original, where passing is a
singular. Others construe it with
man,
who is then described as passing over the sea and ruling its inhabi-
tants.
But neither the syntax nor the sense is, on the whole, so natural
as
that proposed above, which makes this a residuary comprehensive clause,
intended
to embrace whatever might not be included in the more specific
terms
by which it is preceded. The dominion thus ascribed to man, as a
part
of his original prerogative, is not to be confounded with the coercive
rule
which he still exercises over the inferior creation (Gen. ix. 2, James
iii.
7), although this is really a relic of his pristine state, and at the same
time
an earnest of his future restoration.
10 (9). Jehovah,
our Lord, how glorious is thy name in all the earth, not
only
made so by the splendour of the skies, but by God's condescending
goodness
to mankind. With this new evidence and clearer view of the
divine
perfection, the Psalmist here comes back to the point from which he
started,
and closes with a solemn repetition of the theme propounded in the
opening
sentence.
PSALM IX.
This
psalm expresses, in a series of natural and striking alternations,
gratitude
for past deliverances, trust in God's power and disposition to
repeat
them, and direct and earnest prayer for such repetition. We have
first
the acknowledgment of former mercies, ver. 2-7 (1-6); then the
expression
of trust for the future, ver. 8-13 (7-12); then the petition
founded
on it, ver. 14, 15 (13, 14). The same succession of ideas is
repeated:
recollection of the past, ver. 16, 17 (15, 16); anticipation of
the
future, ver. 18, 19 (17, 18); prayer for present and immediate help,
ver.
20, 21 (19, 20). This parallelism of the parts makes the structure of
VER.
1-3.] PSALM
IX.
41
the
psalm remarkably like that of the seventh. The composition was inten-
tionally
so framed as to be a vehicle of pious feeling to the church at any
period
of strife and persecution. The form is that of the Old Testament;
but
the substance and the spirit are common to both dispensations.
1. To
the Chief Musician, Al-muth-labben. This enigmatical title has
been
variously explained. Some understand it as descriptive of the sub-
ject,
and make labben an anagram of Nabol, the name of one of David's
enemies,
and, at the same time, an appellative denoting fool, in which sense
it
is frequently applied to the wicked; see, for example, Ps. xiv. 1. The
whole
would then mean on the death of the fool,
i. e. the sinner. Such
enigmatical
changes are supposed to occur in Jer. xxv. 26, li. 1, 41; Zech.
ix.
1. Others, by a change of pointing in the Hebrew, for al-muth read
alamoth, a musical term
occurring in the title of Ps. xlvi., or a cognate
form
almuth, and explain labben to mean for Ben, or the (children of)
Ben,
one
of the Levitical singers mentioned in 1 Chron. xv. 18. Neither of
these
explanations seem so natural as a third, which supposes muth-labben
to
be the title, or the first words, or a prominent expression of some other
poem,
in the style, or to the air of which, this psalm was composed. After
the manner, or to the air, of (the song or poem) Death to the son, or the
death
of the son. Compare 2 Sam. i. 18, where David's elegy on Saul
appears
to be called Kesheth or the Bow, because that word is a prominent
expression
in the composition. As it cannot be supposed that the expres-
sion
was originally without meaning, the obscurity, in this and many
similar
cases, is rather a proof of antiquity than of the opposite.
2 (1). I
will thank Jehovah, praise him for his benefits, with all my
heart, sincerely, cordially,
and with a just appreciation of the greatness of
his
favours. I will recount all thy wonders,
the wonderful things done by
thee,
with special reference to those attested by his own experience. The
change
from the third to the second person is entirely natural, as if the
Psalmist's
warmth of feeling would not suffer him to speak any longer
merely
of God, as one absent, but compelled him to turn to him, as the
immediate
object of address. There is no need, therefore, of supplying
thee
in the first clause, and construing Jehovah
as a vocative.
3 (2). I
will joy and triumph in thee, not merely in thy presence, or
because
of thee, i. e. because of what thou
hast done, but in communion
with
thee, and because of my personal interest in thee. The form of the
verbs,
both here and in the last clause of the preceding verse, expresses
strong
desire and fixed determination; see above, on Ps. ii. 3. I will
praise, or celebrate in
song;
see above, on Ps. vii. 18 (17). Thy name,
thy
manifested excellence; see above, on Ps. v. 12 (11). (Thou) Highest, or Most High!
see
above, on Ps. vii. 18 (17). Here again there is special reference to the proofs
of God's
supremacy
afforded by his recent dealings with the Psalmist and his enemies.
4 (3). In
the turning of my enemies back, i. e.
from their assault on me,
which
is equivalent to saying, in their retreat, their defeat, their disappoint-
ment.
This may either be connected with what goes before, and understood
as
a statement of the reason or occasion of the praise there promised: "I
will
celebrate thy name when (or because) my enemies turn back;" or
it
may begin a new sentence, and ascribe their defeat to the agency of
God
himself: "When my enemies turn back (it is because) they are to
stumble, and perish from
thy presence,
from before thee, or at thy presence,
i. e. as soon as thou
appearest." The Hebrew preposition has both a causa-
tive
and local meaning. The form of the verbs does not necessarily imply
42 PSALM
IX. [VER.
4-6.
that
the deliverance acknowledged was still future, but only that it might
occur
again, and that in any such case, whether past or yet to come,
Jehovah
was and would be the true author of the victory achieved. The
act
of stumbling implies that of falling as its natural consequence, and is
often
used in Scripture as a figure for complete and ruinous failure.
5 (4). This was not a matter of precarious
expectation, but of certain
experience.
For thou hast made, done, executed,
wrought out, and thereby
maintained,
my cause and my right. This phrase is
always used elsewhere
in
a favourable sense, and never in the vague one of simply doing justice,
whether
to the innocent or guilty. See Deut. x. 18; 1 Kings viii. 45, 49;
Ps.
cxl. 12; and compare Isa. x. 2. And this defence was not merely that
of
an advocate, but that of a judge, or rather of a sovereign in the exercise
of
those judicial functions which belong to royalty. See Prov. xx. 8. Thou
hast sat, and sittest, on a throne, the throne of universal
sovereignty, judging right,
i. e. rightly, or a judge of righteousness, a righteous
judge. See above, on Ps. vii.
12
(11). In this august character the Psalmist had already seen Jehovah, and he
therefore
gives it as a reason for expecting him to act in accordance with it now.
6 (5). The forensic terms of the preceding
verse are now explained as
denoting
the destruction of God's enemies. Thou
hast rebuked nations,
not
merely individuals, but nations. God's chastisements are often called
rebukes,
because in them he speaks by act as clearly as he could by word.
Thou hast destroyed a
wicked (one),
i. e. many a wicked enemy, in former
times,
in other cases, and that not with a partial ruin, but with complete
extermination
even of their memory. Their name,
that by which men are
distinguished
and remembered, thou hast blotted out, erased,
effaced, obli-
terated,
to perpetuity and eternity, an idiomatic combination, coincident in
sense,
though not in form, with the English phrase, for ever and ever. This
verse
does not refer exclusively to any one manifestation of God's power
and
wrath, but to the general course of his dealings with his enemies, and
especially
to their invariable issue, the destruction of the adverse party.
7 (6). The
enemy, or as to the enemy, a
nominative absolute placed at the
beginning
of the sentence for the sake of emphasis—finished,
completed,
are (his) ruins, desolations, for ever; i. e. he is ruined or made desolate
for
ever. The construction of the first word as a vocative— O enemy, ended
are (thy) desolations
for ever,
i. e. the desolations caused by
thee—affords a
good
sense, but is neither so agreeable to usage nor to the context as the
one
first given. Still less so are the other versions which have been given
of
this difficult clause. E. g. The enemies are completely desolate for ever;
—the
enemies are consumed, (there are) ruins (or desolations) for ever, &c.
The
address is still to Jehovah, as in the preceding verse. And (their)
cities, viz. those of the
enemy, hast thou destroyed. According
to the second
construction
above given, this would mean, thou (O
enemy) hast destroyed
cities, but art now destroyed
thyself. The same reasons as before require
us
to prefer Jehovah as the object of address. Gone,
perish, is their very
memory. The idiomatic form of
the original in this clause cannot be
retained
in a translation. The nearest approach to it would be, gone is
their memory, themselves. This may either mean their memory, viz. (that
of) themselves, i. e. their own; or, perished
is their memory (and) themselves
(with it). There seems to be an
obvious allusion to the threatenings
against
Amalek in the books of Moses (Exod. xvii. 14; Num. xxiv. 20;
Deut.
xxv. 19), which received their literal fulfilment in the conquests of
Saul
and David (1 Sam. xv. 3, 7, xxvii. 8, 9, xxx. 1, 17; 2 Sam. viii. 12;
VER.
7-12.]
PSALM IX.
43
1
Chron. iv. 43). But this is evidently here presented merely as a sample
of
other conquests over the surrounding nations (2 Sam. viii. 11-14), and
even
these as only samples of the wonders wrought by God for his own
people,
and celebrated in ver. 2 (1) above.
8 (7). And
Jehovah to eternity, for ever, will
sit, as he sits now, upon
the
throne and judgment-seat. He has set up
for judgment, for the purpose
of
acting as a judge, his throne. It is
not as an absolute or arbitrary ruler,
but
as a just judge, that Jehovah reigns. This recognition of God's judicial
character
and office as perpetual is intended to prepare the way for an
appeal
to his righteous intervention in the present case.
9 (8). And
he, himself, with emphasis upon the pronoun, is to judge the
world, the fruitful and cultivated earth, as the
Hebrew word properly
denotes,
here put for its inhabitants, in justice,
or righteousness, i. e. in
the
exercise of this divine perfection. He
will judge, a different Hebrew
verb,
to which we have no equivalent, he will
judge nations, peoples, races,
not
mere individuals, in equities, in
equity, the plural form denoting fulness
or
completeness, as in Ps. i. 1. As the preceding verse describes Jehovah's
kingship
as judicial, so the verse before us represents him in the actual
exercise
of his judicial functions.
10 (9). And
(so) will Jehovah be a high place, out of reach of danger,
hence
a refuge, for the oppressed,
literally the bruised or broken in pieces,
a high place, refuge, in times of distress, literally at times in distress, i. e.
at times (when men are) in distress. God's judicial sovereignty
is exercised
so
as to relieve the sufferer and deliver those in danger.
11 (10). And in thee will trust, as now so in all times to come, the
knowers of thy name, those who know the
former exhibitions of thy great-
ness
and thy goodness, all which are included in the name of God. See
ver.
3 (2), and Ps. viii. 2 (1), vii. 18 (17), ver. 12 (11). For thou hast not forsaken thy
seekers, or (those) seeking thee, O Lord, Jehovah, i. e. seeking thy favour in general,
and
thy protection against their enemies in particular. The certain knowledge of
this
fact
is laid as the foundation of the confidence expressed in the first clause.
12 (11). Sing, make music, give praise by song or music, to Jehovah,
as
the God of Israel, inhabiting Zion, i. e. the sanctuary there established.
Or
the words may mean sitting, as a
king, enthroned, (in) Zion, which
agrees
well with the use of the same verbs in ver. 5, 8 (4, 7) above, al-
though
the other version is favoured by the obvious allusion to the symboli-
cal
import of the sanctuary under the Mosaic law, as teaching the great
doctrine
of God's dwelling among men. See above, on Ps. iii. 5 (4),
v.
8 (7). Zion is here represented as the centre of a circle reaching far
beyond
the house of Israel, and indeed co-extensive with the earth. Tell,
declare,
make known, in, among, the nations, his exploits, his noble
deeds,
the
wonders mentioned in ver. 2 (1). We
have here, in his inspired
formula
of worship, a clear proof that the ancient church believed and
understood
the great truth, that the law was to go forth from Zion, and the
word
of the Lord from Jerusalem, Isa. ii. 3, Mic. iv. 2.
13 (12). For seeking blood, or as an inquisitor of blood, he has remem-
bered, he remembers, it, i.
e. the blood; he has not forgotten
the cry of the
distressed. God is here revealed
in the character which he assumes in Gen.
ix.
5, where the same verb and noun are used in the first clause of the
verse
before us. The word translated blood
is in the plural form. See
above,
on Ps. v. 7 (6). Hence the literal translation of the next word is,
he has remembered them, i. e. the bloods or murders. The cry meant is
44 PSALM IX. [VER. 13, 14.
the
cry of suffering and complaint, with particular reference to Gen. iv. 10.
According,
to another reading of the last clause, the cry is that of the meek
or
humble, not of the distressed. But the common text affords a better
sense,
and really includes the other, as the innocence of the sufferers is im-
plied,
though not expressed. The general import of the verse is that God's
judgments,
though deferred, are not abandoned, that he does not forget
even
what he seems to disregard, and that sooner or later he will certainly
appear
as an avenger. Murder is here put as the highest crime against
the
person, for all others, and indeed for wickedness in general.
14 (13). Have mercy upon me, or be gracious to me, O Jehovah, see my
suffering from my
haters, raising me from the gates of death. The view
previously
taken of God's faithfulness and justice is now made the ground
of
an importunate petition for deliverance from present dangers and dis-
tress.
My haters, those who hate me. From my haters may be taken as
a
pregnant construction, meaning, see my suffering (and free me) from my
enemies.
Thus in 2 Sam. xviii. 19, "Jehovah hath judged him from the
hand
of his enemies," means "hath done him justice (and so freed him)
from
the power of his enemies." See a similar expression in Ps. xxii. 22
(21)
below. It seems more natural and obvious, however, in the case
before
us, to give from a causal meaning.
"See my distress (arising)
from,
or caused by, those who hate me." Raising
me does not denote an
accompanying
act, as if he had said, see my distress, and at the same time
lift
me up, &c. It is rather descriptive of a certain divine character or
habit,
and agrees with the pronoun of the second person understood.
"Thou
that liftest me up," that art accustomed so to do, that has done so
in
other cases, with an implied prayer, do so now. The gates of death may
have
reference to the image of a subterranean dungeon, from which no prisoner can
free
himself; or it may be simply a poetical expression for the entrance to the grave
of
the state of the dead. Compare Isa. xxxviii. 10, and Mat. xvi. 18.
15 (14). That I may recount all thy praise in the gates of the daughter of
Zion, may joy in thy
salvation.
This is one important end for which he
asks
to be delivered, namely, that God may have the praise of his deliver-
ance.
There is a trace, in the Hebrew text, of an original plural form,
praises,
which might then denote praiseworthy deeds, actions worthy to be
celebrated.
But the singular form occurs with all in
Ps. cvi. 2 below.
The
gates here mentioned are contrasted with those of the preceding verse.
The
God who saves him from the gates of death shall be praised for this
deliverance
in the gates of the daughter of Zion. This last expression is
supposed
by some to be a personification of the people inhabiting Zion or
Jerusalem,
who are then put for Israel at large, as the church or chosen
people.
Others regard the genitive construction as equivalent to a simple
apposition,
as in river of Euphrates, or in our
familiar phrase, the city of
Jerusalem. The personification is
then that of the city itself, considered
as
an ideal virgin, and on that account called daughter,
by a usage similar
to
that of the corresponding word in French. In either case, there is an
obvious
reference to the ancient church, as the scene or the witness of the
Psalmist's
praises. The verb in the last clause may be made to depend upon
the
particle at the beginning of the verse, (that)
I may exult; or it may be
still
more emphatically construed as an independent proposition, I will exult
in thy salvation. The form of the verb
is the same as in Ps. ii. 3 above.
The
second verb itself occurs in ver. 11 of that psalm, and as in that case,
may
either denote an inward emotion or the outward expression of it, I will
VER.
15-18.] PSALM
IX.
45
shout. In thy salvation, i. e. in the possession or experience of it, and in
acknowledgment
of having thus experienced or possessed it.
16 (15). Sunk are nations in a pit they made; in a net which they hid,
taken is their foot. This may be either a
confident anticipation of the future
as
if already past, or a further reference to previous deliverance, as a ground
of
hope for others yet to come. Nations,
whole nations, when opposed to
God.
Compare Ps. ii. 1. The accessory idea of Gentiles,
heathen, would
be
necessarily suggested at the same time to a Hebrew reader. Most ver-
sions
have the definite forms, the pit, the net;
but the indefinite form of the
original
is equally intelligible in English, and therefore preferable as a more
exact
translation. The ellipsis of the relative, a
pit (which) they made, is
common
to the Hebrew idiom and our own. The figures are borrowed
from
ancient modes of hunting. See above, on Ps. vii. 16 (15). Their
foot, their own foot, not
that of the victim whose destruction they intended.
17 (16). Known is Jehovah, or has made himself known. Justice has he
done, or judgment has he
executed. In the work of his (own) hands
en-
snared is a wicked
(man). Higgaion,
meditation. Selah, pause. God has
revealed
himself as present and attentive, notwithstanding his apparent obli-
vion
and inaction, by doing justice on his enemies, or rather by making
them
do justice on themselves, converting their devices against others into
means
of self-destruction. In view of this most striking attestation of
God's
providential government, the reader is summoned to reflect, and
enabled
so to do by a significant and solemn pause. The sense of medita-
tion
or reflection is clear from Ps. xix. 15 (14), and Lam. iii. 62. See
below,
on Ps. xcii. 4 (3). The addition of Higgaion
to Selah here con-
firms
the explanation already given of the latter word. See above, on Ps.
iii.
3 (2). With this understanding of the terms, we may well say, to our-
selves
or others, in view of every signal providential retribution, especially
where
sin is conspicuously made its own avenger, Higgaion
Selah!
18 (17). The wicked shall turn back even to hell, to death, or to the grave,
all nations forgetful,
of God.
The enemies of God and of his people shall
be
not only thwarted and repulsed, but driven to destruction; and that not
merely
individuals, but nations. For the meaning of Sheol see above, on
Ps.
vi. 6 (5). The figure of turning back, retreating, failing, is the same
as
in ver. 4 (3) above. The idea expressed is not that of being turned
directly
into hell, but that of turning back, first to one's original position,
and
then beyond it, to the grave or hell. In the last clause there is an
allusion
to the implied charge of forgetfulness on God's part in ver. 13 (12)
above.
He had not forgotten the "poor innocents," as they feared, and
as
their enemies believed; but these very enemies had forgotten him, and
must
now abide the consequences of their own forgetfulness. The future
forms
of this verse may have reference to the same things mentioned in the
verse
preceding as already past. It seems more natural, however, to explain
them
as a confident anticipation of results precisely similar to those which
had
already been produced by the same causes. As Jehovah had already
caused
the heathen to become their own destroyers, so he might be expected
to
renew the same judicial process in another case.
19 (18). For not for ever shall the poor be forgotten, (and) the hope of the
humble perish to
eternity.
However long God may appear to be forgetful
of
his suffering people, even this seeming oblivion is to have an end. Still
another
allusion to the charge or imputation of forgetfulness implied in ver.
13
(12) above. The difference between the readings humble and afflicted
46
PSALM X. [VER. 1.
(Myvnf and Myynf) is not essential, as
the context shews that the humble
meant
are humble sufferers.
20 (19). Arise, Jehovah! Let not man, frail man, be strong. Let na-
tions, or the heathen, be judged, and as a necessary consequence
condemned,
before thy face, in thy presence, at
thy bar. Here again, as in ver. 13, 14
(12,
13), the expression of strong confidence is made the occasion of an
earnest
prayer. So far is an implicit trust from leading men to cast off
fear
and restrain prayer before God. On the exhortation to arise, as from a
state
of previous inaction, see above, Ps. iii. 7 (6). For the full sense of the
word
translated man, see above, on Ps.
viii. 5 (4). Let him not be strong,
i. e. let him not, so appear,
or so esteem himself. Let him have no occasion,
by
indulgence or prolonged impunity, to cherish this delusion, or to prac-
tise
this imposture. The absurdity of making man the stronger party in
this
strife with God is so preposterous, that God is summoned to arise for
the
purpose of exploding it. To be judged, in the case of the wicked, is of
course
to be condemned. To be judged in God's presence, or at his tri-
bunal,
is of course to be condemned without appeal.
21 (20). Set, place, or join, O Jehovah,
fear to them. Let nations know,
or
then shall nations know, (that) man,
not God, (are) they. Selah. God
is
entreated so to frighten them, that they may become conscious of their
own
insignificance and weakness. The word translated fear is elsewhere
used
to signify a razor. Hence some would
render the first clause, apply
the razor to them, i. e. shave them, in allusion to the oriental feeling with
respect
to the beard. But this seems far-fetched, and the masoretic read-
ing
yields a better sense. The precise import of the first phrase seems to
be,
set fear as a guard over them (Ps. cxli. 3), or join it to them as a con-
stant
companion. The word translated man is
still the same as in the
foregoing
verse, and was therefore intended to suggest the idea of human
frailty,
as contrasted with divine omnipotence.
PSALM X.
The
Psalmist complains of God's neglect, and of the malice of his ene-
mies,
ver. 1-11. He prays that both these subjects of complaint may be
removed,
ver. 12-15. He expresses the most confident assurance that
his
prayer will be heard and answered, ver. 16-18.
The Septuagint and Vulgate unite this with
the ninth psalm as a single
composition.
But each is complete in itself, and the remarkable coinci-
dences
even of expression only shew that both were meant to form a pair
or
double psalm like the first and second, third and fourth, &c. From the
same
facts it is clear, that this psalm, though anonymous, is, like the ninth,
the
work of David, and that both were probably composed about the same time.
1. For
what (cause), why, O Jehovah, wilt
thou stand afar, wilt thou hide
at times (when we are) in trouble? The question really
propounded is,
how
this inaction can be reconciled with what was said of God in Ps. ix.
10
(9).—To stand afar off, is to act as
an indifferent, or, at the most, a
curious
spectator. Wilt thou hide, i. e. thyself or thine eyes, by refusing
to
see,
as in Lev. xx. 4, 1 Sam. xii. 3. The futures imply present action
and
the prospect of continuance hereafter. The question is not merely why
he
does so, but why he still persists in doing so. The singular phrase, at
times
in trouble, occurs only here and in Ps. ix. 10 (9), a strong proof of the
VER.
2-4.] PSALM
X.
47
intimate
connection of the two psalms, and perhaps of their contemporary
composition.
This expostulation betrays no defect either of reverence or
faith,
but, on the contrary, indicates a firm belief that God is able, and
must
be willing, to deliver his own people. Such demands are never uttered
either
by scepticism or despair.
2. In
the pride of the wicked burns the sufferer; they are caught in de-
vices which they have
contrived.
This very obscure verse admits of several
different
constructions. The first verb sometimes means to persecute, lite-
rally
to burn after, or pursue hotly. Gen.
xxxi. 36; 1 Sam. xvii. 53. In
one
case it seems to have this meaning even without the preposition after.
Lam.
iv. 19. The sense would then be, in the
pride of the wicked he will
persecute, &c. But the
collocation of the words seems to point out ynifA
as
the subject, not the object, of the verb. The sufferer's burning may
denote
either anger or anguish, or a mixed feeling of indignant sorrow.
The
adjective ynifA
means afflicted, suffering, whether from poverty or pain.
Poor is therefore too
specific a translation. In the Psalms this word is
commonly
applied to innocent sufferers, and especially to the people of God,
as
objects of malignant persecution. It thus suggests the accessory idea,
which
it does not formally express, of righteousness or piety.—In the last
clause
there is some doubt as to the subject of the first verb. If referred
to
the wicked, the sense will be, that they are taken in their own devices.
If
to the poor, that they are caught in the devices of the wicked. The first
is
favoured by the analogy of Ps. vii. 15-17 (14-16), and Ps. ix. 16, 17
(15, 16). But the other agrees better with the
context, as a description of
successful
wickedness.
3. For
a wicked (man) boasts of (or simply praises)
the desire of his soul,
and winning (i. e. when he wins), blesses,
despises Jehovah. This seems to
be
a description of the last stage of corruption, in which men openly defend
or
applaud their own vices, and impiously thank God for their dishonest
gains
and other iniquitous successes.—The preterite forms, has praised, &c.,
denote
that it always has been so, as a matter of familiar experience. The
desire of his soul means his natural
selfish inclination, his heart's lust.
And winning, i. e. when he wins or gains his end, with special reference
to
increase of wealth. Hence the word is sometimes used to signify the
covetous
or avaricious grasper after wealth by fraud or force. The same
participle,
joined with a cognate noun, is rendered "greedy of gain" in
Prov.
i. 19, xv. 27, and "given to covetousness" in Jer. vi. 3, viii. 10.
See
also Hab. ii. 9, where the true sense is given in the margin of the
English
Bible.—He who gains an evil gain blesses
(and) despises Jehovah,
i. e. expresses his contempt
of him by thanking him, whether in jest or
earnest,
for his own success. He blesses God, and thereby shews that he
despises
him. An illustrative parallel is Zech. xi. 4, 5. "Thus saith the
Lord
my God, Feed the flock of the slaughter, whose possessors slay them
and
hold themselves not guilty, and they that sell them say, Blessed is the
Lord,
for I am rich." This parallel, moreover, shews that blesses, in the
verse
before us, does not mean blesses himself,
as some suppose, but blesses God.
4. A
wicked (man), according to his pride, will not seek. There is no
God (are) all his thoughts. Pride is here
expressed by one of its outward
indications,
loftiness of look, or as some suppose the Hebrew phrase to
signify
originally, elevation of the nose.—Will
not seek, i. e. seek God in
prayer
(Ps. xxxiv. 4), or in the wider sense of worship (Ps. xiv. 2), or in
48 PSALM X. [VER. 5, 6.
that
of inquiring the divine will (Gen. xxv. 22), all which religious acts are
at
variance with the pride of the human heart.—All
his thoughts, not merely
his
opinions, but his plans, his purposes, which is the proper meaning of
the
Hebrew word. The language of his life is, that there is no God.—Another
construction
of the first clause is as follows. The
wicked, according to his
pride (says), He, i. e. God will not require,
judicially investigate and punish,
as
in Ps. ix. 13 (12), and in ver. 13 below, where there seems to be a re-
ference
to the words before us, as uttered by the wicked man himself. —A
third
construction thus avoids the necessity of supplying says. —'As to the
wicked
in his pride—He will not require, there is no God—are all his
thoughts."
This may be transferred into our idiom as follows: All the
thoughts
of the wicked in his pride are, that God will not require, or rather
that
there is no God. In favour of the first construction given is the fact
that
it requires nothing to be supplied like the second, and does not disturb
the
parallelism of the clauses like the third. Common to all is the impu-
tation
of proud self-confidence and practical atheism to the sinner.
5. His
ways are firm, or will be firm, in
all time, always. A height, or
high
thing, (are) thy judgments from before
him, away from him, out of his
sight.
(As for) his enemies he will puff at them,
as a natural expression of
contempt,
or he will blow upon them, i. e. blow them away, scatter them,
with
ease. This describes the prosperity and success of sinners, not only
as
a fact already familiar, but as something which is likely to continue.
Hence
the future forms, which indicate continuance hereafter, just as the
preterites
in ver. 3 indicate actual experience.—The only other sense which
can
be put upon the first clause is, his ways
are twisted, i. e. his actions
are
perverse.
But the Chaldee paraphrase, the cognate dialects, and the ana-
logy
of Job xx. 21, are in favour of the rendering, his ways are strong, i. e.
his
fortunes are secure, his life is prosperous, which moreover agrees best
with
the remainder of the verse, as a description of the sinner's outward
state.
Thus understood, the second clause describes him as untouched or
unaffected
by God's providential judgments, and the third as easily ridding
himself
of all his human adversaries. Both together represent him as im-
pregnable
on all sides, in appearance equally beyond the reach of God and
man.
(Compare Luke xviii. 2, 4.) As this immunity from danger, strictly
understood,
could exist only in appearance, the whole verse may be regarded
as
an expression of the sinner's own opinion rather than his true condition.
6. He
hath said in his heart, I shall not be moved; to generation and
generation, (I am one) who (shall) not (be) in evil, or as
the same Hebrew
phrase
is rendered in the English version of Exod. v. 19, in evil case, i. e.
in
trouble, in distress. This is a natural expression of the proud security
engendered
in the natural man by great prosperity. He
hath said, implying
that
the cause has already been in operation long enough to shew its natural
effect.
In his heart, to himself, in a spirit
of self-gratulation and self-
confidence.
To age and age, throughout all ages
or all generations. The
strength
of this expression shews that the speaker is not a real person, but
the
ideal type of a whole class. The sinner, who thus says in his heart, is
not
the sinner of one period or country, but the sinner of all times and
places,
one who never disappears, or ceases thus to feel and act. —The form
of
the last clause in Hebrew is peculiar and emphatic. He does not simply
say,
I shall never be in evil or adversity, but I am he, I am the man, who
shall
never be in evil, as if the very supposition of such a contingency,
however
justified by general experience, would be not only groundless but
absurd
in this one case. (Compare Isaiah xlvii. 8-10.) There could
VER.
7-9.] PSALM
X.
49
scarcely
be a stronger expression of the self-relying spirit of the sinner, as
contrasted
with the saints' implicit confidence in God's will and power, not
only
to preserve him from falling, but to raise him when he does fall.
7. (Of)
cursing his mouth is full, and deceits, and oppression. Under his
tongue (are) trouble and
iniquity.
He now gives a more particular descrip-
tion
of the wicked man, beginning with his sins against his neighbour, and
among
these, with his sins of word or speech. If this be a correct view of
the
whole verse, the cursing, mentioned
in the first clause, is most probably
false
swearing, or the invocation of God's name, and imprecation of his
wrath
upon one's self, in attestation of a falsehood. This kind of cursing
is
closely connected with the fraud and violence which follow. The Hebrew
word
j`To
to which the older writers gave the sense of fraud, is now com-
monly
explained to mean oppression; so that
with the noun preceding, it
denotes
injustice, injury to others, both by fraud and violence.—Under the
tongue may have reference to
the poison of serpents, or to the use of the
tongue
for speaking, as in Ps. lxvi. 17, where the same phrase occurs in
the
original, though not in the common version.—Toil,
labour, trouble,
endured
by others as the consequence of his deceits and violence.—For the
meaning
of the last word in the verse, see above, on Ps. v. 6 (5).—Oppres-
sion is here reckoned among
sins of speech, because the latter may be made
the
means of violent injustice, by tyrannical command, by unjust judgment,
or
by instigating others to deprive the victim of his rights. If only fraud
had
been referred to, this description of the sins committed with the tongue
would
have been palpably defective.
8. He
will sit in the lurking-place of villages; in the secret places he will
slay the innocent; his
eyes for the sufferer will hide, watch secretly, or lie in
wait.
From sins of word he now proceeds to those of deed or outward
action.
The wicked enemy is here represented as a robber. The futures,
as
in ver. 5, imply that what is now is likely to continue. Sitting implies
patient waiting for his prey or victim. The lurking-place, the place where
murderers
and robbers usually lurk or lie in wait. Where such crimes are
habitually
practised, there is commonly some spot especially associated with
them;
either as the scene of the iniquity itself, or as a place of refuge and
resort
to those who perpetrate it.—The mention of villages
is no proof that
the
psalm relates to any specific case of lawless violence, but only that the
Psalmist
gives individuality to his description by traits directly drawn from
real
life. 'A slight change in the form of expression would convert it into a
poetic
simile. As the robber sits in the lurking-place of villages,' &c.
The
verb hide has the same sense as in
Prov. i. 11, 18.—The word trans-
lated
sufferer (hkAl;He for j~l;yHe is peculiar to this
psalm, and was not
improbably
coined for the occasion, as a kind of enigmatical description, in
which
David seems to have delighted. A Jewish tradition makes it mean
thy host, i. e. the church of God; but this, besides being forced in itself,
is
forbidden
by the use of the plural in ver. 10 below. Others derive it from
an
Arabic root, meaning to be black, dark, gloomy, sad, unhappy. A third
hypothesis
explains it as a compound of two Hebrew words, one meaning weak or
sick,
the other sad or sorrowful, and both together representing the object of the
enemy's
malice, in the strongest light, as a sufferer both in mind and body.
9. He
will lurk in, the hiding-place as a lion in his den; he will lurk (or
lie in wait) to catch
the sufferer; he will catch the sufferer by drawing him
into his net, or in
drawing him (towards him) with his net. That the pre-
50
PSALM X.
[VER. 10-12.
ceding
verse contains a simile, and not a description of the enemy as an
actual
robber, is here rendered evident by the. addition of two new compari-
sons,
applied to the same object. In the first clause he is compared to a
lion,
in the second to a hunter. See above, on Ps. vii. 16 (15), ix. 16 (15),
and
below, on Ps. xxxv. 7, lvii. 7 (6). The force of the futures is the same
as
in the foregoing verse.—His den, his
shelter, covert, hiding-place. The
Hebrew
word is commonly applied to any temporary shed or booth, com-
posed
of leaves and branches. He lies in wait to seize the prey, and he
succeeds,
he accomplishes his purpose. A third possible construction of
the
last clause is, in his drawing (i. e. when he draws) his net.
The whole
verse,
with the one before it, represents the wicked as employing craft no
less
than force for the destruction of the righteous.
10. And
bruised he will sink; and by (or in,
i. e. into the power of) his
strong ones fall the
sufferers,
the victims. These are represented, in the
first
clause, by a collective singular, and in the second by a plural proper,
that
of the unusual word used in ver. 8 above. Its peculiar etymology and
form
might be imitated in an English compound, such as sick-sad, weak-sad,
or
the like. By his strong ones some
would understand the strong parts of
the
lion, teeth, claws, &c.; others the same parts personified as warriors.
But
even in the foregoing verse, the figure of a lion is exchanged for that of
a
hunter; and this again gives place here to that of a military leader or a
chief
of robbers, thus insensibly returning to the imagery of ver. 8. These
numerous
and rapid changes, although not in accordance with the rules of
artificial
rhetoric, add greatly to the life of the description, and are not
without
their exegetical importance, as evincing that the whole is metaphori-
cal,
a varied tropical exhibition of one and the same object, the combined
craft
and cruelty of wicked men, considered as the enemies of God and of
his
people. According to this view of the passage, by his strong ones we
may
understand the followers of the hostile chief, those who help him and
execute
his orders, or the ideal enemy himself, before considered as an indi-
vidual,
but now resolved into the many individuals, of whom the class which
he
represents is really composed.
11. He
hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten, he hath hidden his
face, he hath not seen, cloth not see, and will not see, for ever. The opening
words
are the same, and have the same sense, as in ver. 6 above. The three
parallel
clauses which follow all express the same idea, namely, that God
takes
no note of human offences. This is first expressed by the figure of
forgetfulness;
then by that of deliberately refusing to see, as in ver. 1 above;
then
by a literal and direct affirmation that he does not see, either the suf-
ferings
of his people or the malice of their enemies; and that this is not a
transient
or occasional neglect, but one likely to continue for ever.
12. Arise,
Jehovah! Almighty (God), raise thy hand! Forget not
sufferers (or the
wretched)!
The impious incredulity, expressed in the pre-
ceding
verse, is now made the ground of an importunate petition. God is
besought
to do away with the appearance of inaction and indifference. See
above,
on Ps. vii. 7 (6). Raise thy hand,
exert thy power. The second
name
by which God is addressed (lxe) is one expressive of
omnipotence,
and
may be correctly rendered by our phrase, Almighty
God. As the name
Jehovah appeals to his covenant
relation to his people, as a reason for
granting
their requests, so this invokes his power as necessary to their
deliverance
and the vindication of his own honour from the imputation of
forgetfulness
cast upon him by his enemies. This imputation he is entreated,
VER.
13-16.] PSALM
X.
51
in
the last clause, to wipe off by shewing that he does remember. Forget not
is,
in this connection, tantamount to saying, shew that thou dost not forget.
Here,
as in Ps. ix. 13 (12), the margin of the Hebrew Bible reads (Myvinf)
meek or humble, while the text has (Myynf) suffering or afflicted.
The
Kethib, or textual reading, is
regarded by the highest critical authorities as
the
more ancient, and therefore, except in some rare cases, entitled to the
preference.
13. On
what (ground) has the wicked contemned God, has he said in his
heart, Thou wilt not
require?
The question implies the sin and folly of the
conduct
described. The past tense suggests the inquiry why it has been
suffered
to go on so long. Contemned, i. e. treated with contempt. The
reference
is not to inward feeling merely, but to its external manifestation.
The
second clause shews how the feeling has been manifested. Said in his
heart; is here repeated for
the third time in this psalm. See ver. 6, 11,
above.,
The direct address to God in the last clause is peculiarly emphatic.
The
wicked man not only speaks irreverently of him, but insults him to his
face.
Thou wilt not require. The Hebrew
verb includes the ideas of in-
vestigation
and exaction. Thou wilt not inquire
into my conduct, or require
an
account of it. See ver. 4 above, and compare Ps. ix. 13 (12). The
whole
verse contains an indirect expostulation or complaint of the divine
forbearance
towards such high-handed and incorrigible sinners.
14. Thou
hast seen (this particular instance of iniquity); for trouble, the
suffering
occasioned by such sins, and provocation,
that afforded by such
sins,
thou wilt behold, it is thy purpose
and thy habit to behold it, to give
with thy hand a becoming
recompence, or to give into thy hand,
i. e. to lay
it
up there in reserve, as something to be recompensed hereafter. Upon
thee the sufferer will
leave
(his burden), will rely. An orphan, here
put for
the
whole class of innocent and helpless sufferers, thou hast been helping;
God
has ever been a helper of the friendless, and may therefore be expected
to
do likewise now. The whole verse is an argument drawn from the
general
course of the divine administration. Hence the preterite and future
forms.
Thou hast seen in this case, for thou
always wilt see in such cases.
For
the meaning of trouble and provocation, see above, on Ps. vi. 8
(7), vii. 15 (14).
15. Break
thou the arm, destroy the power, of
the wicked, and the bad
(man), or as to the bad man, thou wilt seek for his wickedness (and) not
find it. This may either mean,
thou wilt utterly destroy him and his
wickedness,
so that when sought for it cannot be found (Ps. xxxvii. 36), or
thou
wilt judicially investigate his guilt, and punish it till nothing more is
left
to punish. The Hebrew verb (wrd) has then the same
sense as in ver.
4,
13, above, and there is a direct allusion to the sinner's boast that God
will
not inquire into men's acts or require an account of them. There may
be
a latent irony or sarcasm, as if he had said, Thou wilt find nothing, as he
boasts,
but in a very different sense; not because there is nothing worthy
of
punishment, but because there will be nothing left unpunished.
16. Jehovah
(is) king! He is not dethroned, as his enemies imagine; he
is
still king, and will so remain, perpetuity
and eternity, for ever and ever.
Lost, perished, are nations, the heathen, i. e. hostile nations, from, out of,
his land, the Holy Land, the Land
of Israel, the land of which he is the king
in
a peculiar sense, distinct from that of providential ruler. The Psalmist
sees
Jehovah still enthroned, not only as the sovereign of the world, but as
the
sovereign of his people. (See Num. xxiii. 21, Deut. xxxiii. 5). The
nations or heathen of this verse may be either literal or spiritual gentiles
52
PSALM X.
[VER. 17, 18.
(Jer.
ix. 25, Ezek. xvi. 3). The psalm is so framed as to express the feel-
ings
of God's people in various emergencies. The preterite tense in the
last
clause represents the destruction of God's enemies as already past,
not
only on account of its absolute certainty, but because the process of
destruction,
although not completed, is begun and will infallibly continue.
Here,
as often elsewhere, earnest prayer is followed by the strongest ex-
pression
of confidence and hope.
17. The
desire of the meek (or humble) thou hast heard, Jehovah! Their
desire
is already accomplished. And this not merely once for all. Thou
wilt settle (or confirm) their heart, i. e. dispel
their fears and give them
courage,
by new assurances of favour and repeated answers to their prayers.
Thou wilt incline thine
ear, or
make it attentive, cause it to listen, to their
future
no less than their past petitions. The figure of a fixed or settled
heart
recurs more than once below. See Ps. li. 12 (10), lvii, 8 (7), cxii. 7.
The
essential idea is that of a firm resolution, as opposed to timid doubt
and
vacillation.
18. To
judge, or do justice to, the orphan
and the bruised, or oppressed.
See
above, on Ps. ix. 10 (9). This clause seems properly to form a part of
the
preceding verse; thou wilt incline thine ear to judge, &c. The remain-
der
of the verse is a distinct proposition. He
shall not add (or continue)
any longer to resist, or defy, i. e. to set God at defiance. The
subject of
these
verbs is placed last for the sake of greater emphasis. Man, frail man,
from the earth, springing from it, and
belonging to it; see Gen. iii. 19. For
the
full sense of the word translated man,
see above, on Ps. viii. 5 (4), ix.
20
(19), and compare the whole prayer in the latter passage with the one
before
us. The sense here is, that weak and short-lived man shall not con-
tinue
to insult and defy Almighty God. It implies a wish or prayer, but is
in
form a strong expression of the Psalmist's confident assurance that it will
be
so, and in connection with the similar expressions of the two preceding
verses,
forms a worthy and appropriate close of the entire composition. The
original
of this verse is commonly supposed to exhibit an example of the
figure
called paronomasia, an intentional resemblance, both in form and
sound,
between two words of very different meaning. The words sup-
posed
to be so related here are those translated to
defy (Crf)
and earth
(Crx). This peculiarity of
form, if really designed and significant, is one
which
cannot be completely reproduced in any version. There is reason
to
suspect, however, that in this, as in many other cases, the resemblance is
fortuitous,
like that which frequently occurs in a translation, without any-
thing
to match it in the original; e. g. in
the Vulgate version of Gen. viii.
22,
æstus and æstas, and in that of Gen. xii. 16, oves et boves.
PSALM XI.
The
Psalmist is advised, by friends or foes, to escape by flight from the
inextricable
difficulties in which he finds himself involved, ver. 1-3. This
he
refuses to do, as inconsistent with his faith in the righteousness and
grace
of God, ver. 4-7. The logical relation of these parts makes the
form
of the whole somewhat dramatic, although this peculiarity is much
less
marked than in the second psalm. The language is not so much that
of
an historical person as of an ideal sufferer, representing the whole class
of
persecuted innocents. There is no specific reference to any incidents in
David's
life, although some of the images were probably suggested by his
VER.
1-4.] PSALM
Xl.
53
recollections,
both of Saul's persecution and of Absalom's rebellion. The
general
resemblance of this psalm to that before it, and the special resem-
blance
of ver. 2 to Ps. x. 8, 9, may account for its position in the Psalter.
The
very difficulties of this psalm are proofs of its antiquity and strong
corroborations
of the title, which ascribes it to David.
1. To
the chief musician, belonging to him as the performer, and to David,
as
the author. In Jehovah I have trusted,
and do still trust. How will
(or
can) ye say to my soul, Flee (to) your mountain (as) a bird? The pro-
fession
of confidence in God at the beginning is the ground of the following
interrogation,
which implies wonder and disapprobation. How can ye say
so?
really means, ye should not say so. The question seems to be addressed
to
timid or desponding friends, rather than to taunting and exulting enemies,
as
some suppose.—To my soul does not
simply mean to me, but so as to
affect
my feelings. See above, on Ps. iii. 3 (2). In the genuine text the
verb
flee is plural, because addressed to
the whole class represented by the
ideal
sufferer in this case. Hence the frequent change of number throughout
the
psalm. See above, on Ps. x. 10. The exhortation to flee must be
understood
as implying that there is no longer any hope of safety.—To
your mountain, as a customary place
of refuge, not for birds, but for
persecuted
men. The comparison with a bird has no particular connection.
with
this clause, but is a kind of after-thought, suggesting the idea of a
solitary
helpless fugitive. (Compare 1 Sam. xxvi. 20, and Lam. iii. 52). There may be
an
allusion to the words of the angel in Gen. xix. 17, as there certainly is to
one or
both
these places in our Lord's exhortation to his followers, Matt. xxiv. 16.
2. For
lo, the wicked will tread (i. e.
bend) the bow; they have fixed their
arrow on the string, to
shoot in darkness at the straightforward (upright) of
heart. These are still the
words of the advisers introduced in the preceding
verse,
assigning a reason for the advice there given.—Tread the bow; see
above,
on Ps. vii. 13 (12). Will tread, are
about to tread, are treading.
The
preterite which follows refers to a later point of time. The speakers
are
supposed to describe what they see actually passing. "They are bend-
ing
the bow, (and now) they have fixed the arrow on the string." The
graphic
vividness of the description is impaired, if not destroyed, by giving
both
the verbs a present form.—Fixed, i. e. in its proper place. The same
verb
occurs above, in Ps. vii. 13 (12). Make
ready is too vague in the
case
before us.—In darkness, in the dark, in
secret, treacherously. See
above,
Ps. x. 8. 9.—The straight of heart,
the upright and sincere. We
do
not use the adjective in this sense; but we have the cognate substantive,
rectitude,
which properly means straightness.
3. For
the pillars (or foundations) will be (are about to be) destroyed:
what has the righteous
done, i. e. accomplished? The pillars or
founda-
tions
are those of social order or society itself. These are said to be
destroyed,
when truth and righteousness prevail no longer, but the inter-
course
of men is governed by mere selfishness. The question in the last
clause
implies that the righteous has effected nothing, in opposition to
the
prevalent iniquity. The past tense represents this as a matter of actual
experience,
but as one which still continues. The substitution of any other
form
in the translation is gratuitous and ungrammatical. The true relation
of
the tenses is correctly given in the Prayer Book Version. For the foun-
dations will be cast
down, and what hath the righteous done?
4. Jehovah
(is) in his palace (or temple) of holiness; Jehovah (or as to
Jehovah), in the heavens (is) his throne. His eyes behold, his eyelids prove
54
PSALM XI.
[VER. 5-7.
the sons of men. He is so exalted that
he can see, and so holy that he
must
see and judge the conduct of his creatures. By an equally gramma-
tical
but less natural construction, the whole verse may be thrown into a
single
proposition. "Jehovah in his holy temple, Jehovah whose throne
is
in heaven, his eyes," &c.—For the meaning of the word translated temple,
see
above on PS. v. 8 (7).—Eyelids are
mentioned as a poetical parallel
to
eyes, being the nearest equivalent
afforded by the language.—Try or
prove, as if by seeing
through them. With the whole verse compare Ps. cii. 20 (19).
5. Jehovah
the righteous will prove, will prove the righteous, and the
wicked and the lover of
violence his soul hates. The sentence might also be
divided
thus: Jehovah will prove the righteous
and the wicked, and the lover
of violence his soul
hates.
Different from both is the masoretic interpunction,
which
seems, however to be rather musical than grammatical or logical.—
The
divine proof or trial of the righteous implies favour and approval like
the
knowledge spoken of in Ps. i. 6; but in neither case is it expressed.
Violence, including the ideas of
injustice and cruelty. See above, on Ps.
vii.
17 (16). His soul has hated and still
hates. This is not simply equiva-
lent
to he hates, but denotes a cordial
hatred. Odit ex animo. He hates
with
all his heart.
6. He
will rain on wicked (men) snares, fire and brimstone, and a raging
wind, the portion of
their cup.
The mixed metaphors shew that the whole
description
is a tropical one, in which the strongest figures elsewhere used,
to
signify destruction as an effect of the divine wrath, are combined. Rain
is
a natural and common figure for any copious communication from above,
whether
of good or evil. Snares are a
favourite metaphor of David for
inextricable
difficulties. See above, vii. 16 (15), ix. 16 (15), x. 9.—Fire
and brimstone are familiar types of
sudden and complete destruction, with
constant
reference to the great historical example of Sodom and Gomorrah.
See
Gen. xix. 24, and compare Ezek. xxxviii. 22, Job xxiii. 15.—Raging
wind, literally wind (or blast) of furies, is another natural but independent
emblem
of sudden irresistible inflictions. The second Hebrew word is
elsewhere
used for strong indignation (Ps. cxix. 53), and is once applied to.
the
ragings (or ravages) of famine. (Lam.
v. 10.)—The portion of their
cup, or their cup-portion,
something measured out for them to drink,
according
to the frequent Scriptural representation, both of God's wrath
and
favour, as a draught, or as the cup containing it. Compare Ps. xvi. 5,
xxiii.
5, with Mat. xx. 22, 23, xxvi. 39. The meaning of the whole verse is
that,
notwithstanding the present security of the ungodly, they shall, sooner
or
later, be abundantly visited with every variety of destructive judgment.
7. For
righteous (is) Jehovah; righteousness he loves; the upright (man)
shall his face behold. The for suggests the
intimate connection between
God's
judgment on the wicked and his favour to the righteous. The second
clause
is a necessary inference from the first. The nature of God determines
his
judgments and his acts. He who is righteous in himself cannot but
approve
of righteousness in others. The righteousness of others is in fact
nothing
more than conformity to his will and nature. Nor does he merely
approve
of righteousness in the abstract; he rewards it in the person of the
righteous
man. This idea is expressed in the last clause, which admits of
several
constructions. It may mean that the
upright shall behold his face,
i. e. enjoy his favourable
presence, as in Ps. xvii. 15. But the collocation
of
the singular noun and the plural verb, with the analogy of ver. 4 above,
is
in favour of a different construction: his
face shall behold (or does behold)
VER.
1.] PSALM
XII.
55
the righteous, i. e. view them with favour and affection. Because the origi-
nal
expression is not properly his face,
but their face or faces, Luther
explains
this as a reason why God loves the righteous, to wit, because their
faces look upon (the)
right,
or that which is right. Another construction,
founded
on the same fact, is, the righteous shall
behold (it with) their faces.
It
is better, however, to regard this as an instance of that remarkable idiom
in
Hebrew, which applies to the One True God, verbs, nouns, and pro-
nouns
in the plural, and which some explain as a pluralis
majestaticus, like
that
employed by kings at present, and others as a form of speech trans-
ferred
from polytheism to the true religion. Most probably, however, it
was
intended to express the fulness of perfection in the divine nature, not
without
a mystical allusion to the personal distinction in the Godhead. The
most
remarkable examples of this usage may be found in Gen. i. 26, iii. 22,
xi.
7, Job. xxxv. 10, Ps. lviii. 12, Eccles. xii. 1, Isa. vi. 8, liv. 5.—The
face is here, like the eyelids in ver. 4, a poetical equivalent
to eyes, and the
same
parallelism reappears in Ps. xxxiv. 16, 17 (15, 16): "the eyes of
Jehovah
(are) towards the righteous;" "the face of Jehovah (is) against
evil-doers."
PSALM XII.
This
psalm consists of two parts easily distinguished: a complaint with
an
expression of desire, and a promise with an expression of confidence and
hope.
The Psalmist laments the waning number of good men, ver. 2 (1),
And
the abounding of iniquity, ver. 3 (2), to which he desires and expects
that
God will put an end, ver. 4, 5 (3, 4). In answer to this prayer, he
receives
an assurance of protection and deliverance for the righteous, ver.
6
(5), on which he rests as infallibly certain, ver. 7 (6), and consoles him-
self
under present trials, ver. 8 (7).
There seems to be no specific reference to
the persecution of the Jews
by
the Gentiles, or of David by Absalom or Saul. The contrast exhibited
is
rather that between the righteous and the wicked as a class, and the
psalm
seems designed to be a permanent vehicle of pious sentiment for the
church
or chosen people under persecution by malignant enemies. It con-
tains
an unusual number of difficult expressions in proportion to its length;
but
these are not of such a nature as to make its general import doubtful
or
obscure.
1. To
the Chief Musician, on the eighth (or octave),
a Psalm of David.
This
title is identical with that of the sixth psalm, except that Neginoth is
here
omitted.
2 (1). Save,
Jehovah, for the merciful (or the object of divine mercy)
ceaseth, for the
faithful fail from (among) the sons of men. The adjective
dysiHA, whether taken in an active or a passive
sense, is descriptive of the
pious
or godly man; see above, on Ps. iv. 4 (3). The preterite form of
the
verbs (has ceased, have failed) represents the fearful process as already
begun.
The word rendered faithful in the
last clause may also have the
abstract
sense of truth, fidelity; see below, Ps. xxxi. 24 (23), and compare
Isa.
xxvi. 2. In either case, the whole verse is a strong hyperbolical
description
of the small number of good men left in the community, and
their
consequent exposure to the malice of the wicked. Such expressions,
as
Luther well suggests, are too familiar in the dialect of common life to be
mistaken
or produce perplexity.
56 PSALM
XII. [VER.
2-6.
3 (2). Vanity,
i. e. falsehood, they will speak; as they now do, so will
they
persist in doing; (each) man with his
neighbour, not merely with
another
man, but with his friend, his brother, towards whom he was parti-
cularly
bound to act sincerely; compare Eph. iv. 25. A lip of smoothness,
or
of smooth things, i. e.
flattering; see above, on Ps. v. 10 (9). This may
be
connected either with what goes before or with what follows: "They
speak
falsehood, each to his neighbour, with a flattering lip;" or, "(with)
a
flattering lip (and) with a double heart will they speak." A heart and a
heart, i. e. a double heart, as a stone and a stone means "divers
weights."
Deut.
xxv. 13. By a double heart we are probably to understand, not
mere
dissimulation or hypocrisy, but inconsistency and instability of temper,
which
leads men to entertain opposite feelings towards the same object.
Compare
the description of the "double-minded man" in James i. 8.
4 (3.) May
Jehovah destroy all lips of smoothness, flattering lips, (and
every) tongue speaking
great things,
i. e. speaking proudly, boasting. The
form
of the Hebrew verb is one commonly employed to express an optative
meaning;
but as this form is often poetically used for the future proper, it
might
be rendered here, Jehovah will destroy.
There is no inconsistency
between
the flattering lips and the boastful tongue, because the subject of
the
boasting, as appears from what follows, is the flattery or deceit itself.
As
if he had said, Jehovah will destroy all flattering lips, and every tongue that
boasts
of
their possession or use. For an example of such boasting, see Isa. xxviii. 15.
5 (4). Who
have said, By our tongues will we do mightily; our lips (are)
with us: who is lord to
us, or
over us? This is an amplified specification
of
the phrase speaking great things in
the preceding verse. By our tongues,
literally,
as to, with respect to our tongues. The idea of agency or instru-
mentality
is suggested by the context. Do mightily,
exercise power, shew
ourselves
to be strong. Our lips are with us
may either mean they are our
own,
at our disposal, or, they are on our side. The idea of the whole verse
is,
by our own lips and our tongues we can accomplish what we will.
6 (5). From
the desolation of the wretched, from the sighing of the poor,
now will I arise, shall
Jehovah say, I will place in safety him that shall
pant for it. The preposition from
has a causal meaning, because of, on
account
of. The wretched, afflicted,
sufferers; see above, on Ps. ix. 13 (12).
I will arise; see above, on Ps. iii.
8 (7). The future, shall Jehovah say,
implies
that the promise is not yet uttered, much less fulfilled. An analo-
gous
use of the same form of the same verb runs through some of the pro-
phecies,
and especially the later chapters of Isaiah.—The last clause is
obscure,
and may also be translated, "from him that puffeth at him,"—
"him
at whom they puff,"—"him whom they would blow away," &c. The
most
probable meaning is the one first given, according to which the verse
contains
a promise of deliverance to those who especially desire and need it.
7
(6). The sayings of Jehovah are pure
sayings, silver purged in a fur-
nace of earth, refined
seven times.
The Psalmist does not use the term
commonly
translated words, but one derived
from the verb to say, with
obvious
allusion to the use of the verb itself in the preceding verse. What
Jehovah
there says, the promises there given, are here declared to be true,
without
any mixture of mistake or falsehood. This is expressed by the
favourite
figure of pure metallic ore. The idea of extreme or perfect purity
is
conveyed by the idiomatic phrase, purified
seven times, i. e. repeatedly,
or
sevenfold, i. e. completely. Compare Dan. iii. 19. The general mean-
ing
of the verse is clear, but it contains one phrase which is among the
VER.
7, 8.] PSALM XII. 57
most
doubtful and disputed in the whole book. This is the phrase lylfb,
Crxl. To the common version above given, in a furnace of earth, and to
another
somewhat like it, purged in a furnace as
to (i. e. from) the earth, or
earthy
particles, it has been objected, that Crx never means earth as a
material.
Some avoid this difficulty by translating, in
a furnace on the
earth (or ground), or, in the workshop (laboratory) of
the earth, i. e. the
mine;
but this is not the place where ores are purified. It is further
objected
to all these translations, that they attach a supposititious meaning
to
the noun lylf.
It is therefore explained by some as a variation of lfb,
lord
or master, and the whole clause made to mean, purified silver of a lord
of the earth, i. e. refined not for
ordinary use, but for that of some great
prince
or noble. The obscurity which overhangs the meaning of this clause
is
less to be regretted, as the main idea must, on any supposition, still be
that
of unusual and perfect purity.
8 (7). Thou,
Jehovah, wilt keep them; thou wilt guard him from this
generation to eternity, i. e. for ever. In the first clause, though not in the
second,
the pronoun thou is expressed in
Hebrew, and may therefore be
regarded
as emphatic; see above, on Ps. ii. 6, iii. 4 (3). Thou, and no
other,
or, thou without the aid of others, wilt preserve them. The plural
pronoun
in the first clause, and the singular in the second, refer to the
same
persons, viz., the' sufferers mentioned in ver. 7 (6). By a licence
common
in the Psalms, they are first spoken of as a plurality, and then as
an
ideal person; see above, on Ps. x. 10. This
generation, this contem-
porary
race of wicked men, with reference perhaps to the description, in
ver
2 (1), of the disproportion between these and the righteous. For ever,
as
long as the necessity or danger lasts, so long shall the injured innocent
experience
the divine protection.
9 (8). Round
about will the wicked walk. This may either mean that
they
shall walk at liberty and have full licence, or that they shall encompass
and
surround the righteous. Compare Ps. iii. 7 (6). The other clause is
one
of the most doubtful and disputed in the whole book. The particle k
may
denote either time or resemblance, and the noun tUl.z, which occurs no-
where
else, has been variously explained to mean a storm, an earthquake,
vileness
or contempt, &c. Among the different senses put upon the whole
phrase
are the following: "When the vileness (or vilest) of men is exalted."
"Like
the rising of a storm upon the sons of men." "When they rise (or
are
exalted) there is shame (or disgrace) to the sons of men." "When
disgrace
arises to the sons of men." "Like exaltation is disgrace to the
sons
of man." In favour of this last it has been urged, that it gives to each
word
its most natural and obvious sense, and that it closes with a prospect
of
relief, and not with an unmitigated threatening, which would be at vari-
ance
with the usage of the Psalms. The meaning of the verse is then, that
although
the wicked are now in the ascendant, and the righteous treated
with
contempt, this disgrace is really an exaltation, because only external
and
in man's judgment, not in God's, who will abundantly indemnify his
people
for the dishonour which is put upon them. The unusual and almost
unintelligible
form in which this idea is expressed, is supposed to agree
well
with David's fondness for obscure and enigmatical expressions; see
above,
on Ps. v. 1 and vii. 1.
58 PSALM
XIII. [VER.
1-3.
PSALM XIII.
This
psalm consists of a complaint, ver. 2, 3 (1, 2), a prayer for deli-
verance,
vers. 4, 5 (3, 4), and an expression of strong confidence that God
will
grant it, ver. 6 (5, 6).
There is no trace of a specific reference
to any particular period in the
life
of David, or to any persecution of the ancient Israel by heathen enemies.
The
psalm appears to be intended as a vehicle of pious sentiment, for the
church
at large and individual believers, under any affliction of the sort here
described,
namely, that arising from the spiteful hostility of wicked men.
The
tone, as in several of the foregoing psalms, varies from that of deep
depression
to that of an assured hope, connected, as in actual experience,
by
one of strong desire and fervent supplication.
1. To
the Chief Musician, a Psalm of David. This title differs from
that
of the fourth psalm, as the title of the twelfth does from that of the
sixth,
to wit, by the omission of tvnygnb.
2 (1). Until
when, how long, Jehovah, wilt thou
forget me for ever? Until
when wilt thou hide thy
face from me?
The refusal or delay of the divine
help
is here, as often elsewhere, represented by the figures of forgetfulness
and
an averted countenance. See above, on Ps. ix. 13, 19 (12, 18), x. 11,
12.
The apparent solecism of combining how
long with for ever may be
avoided
by supposing two interrogations, how
long? for ever? It may also
be
avoided by giving to Hcan, the sense of continuously,
uninterruptedly.
But
even the obvious construction, which is more agreeable to usage and
the
masoretic interpunction of the sentence, may be justified as a strong
but
natural expression of the conflict between sense and faith. To the eye
of
sense and reason, the abandonment seemed final; but faith still prompted
the
inquiry, how long, which implies that
it was not to last for ever. As if
he
had said, How long wilt thou persist in the purpose of forgetting me for
ever?
3 (2). Till
when, how long, shall I place (or lay
up) counsels, plans, in
my soul, grief in my
heart by day? Till when shall my enemy be high above
me? The idea in the first
clause seems to be that of accumulating methods
or
expedients of escape, as in a storehouse, without finding any that will
answer
the purpose. The same figure maybe continued in the second
clause:
(how long shall I lay up) sorrow in my heart? The sense is then
that
the multiplication of devices only multiplies his sorrows. Or the figure
of
laying up may be confined to the first clause, and the noun grief governed
by
a verb understood: (how long shall I feel) sorrow in my heart? The
common
version, having sorrow, conveys the
same idea, but supplies a verb
unknown
to the Hebrew and its cognate languages.—By
day is elsewhere
put
in opposition to by night, as for
instance in Ps. i. 2 above. Here it
may
possibly mean all day, but more
probably means every day, daily, as
in
Ezek. xxx. 16.—Be high: the original
expression is a verb alone. How
long
shall my enemy soar or tower above me, i.
e. be superior, prevail?
This
clause determines the precise form of suffering complained of, namely,
that
occasioned by the malice of a powerful persecutor or oppressor. In
all
such cases, Saul was no doubt present to the mind of David, but only
as
a specimen or type of the whole class to which the psalm relates.
4 (3). Look,
hear me, Jehovah, my God, lighten my eyes, lest I sleep the
death. The complaint is now
followed by a corresponding prayer. In
VER.
4, 5.] PSALM
XIII. 59
allusion
to the hiding of the face in ver. 2 (1), he now beseeches God to
look
towards him, or upon him, to shew by his acts that he has not lost
sight
of him. As he before complained Of God's forgetting him, so here he
prays
that he will hear and answer him. See above, on Ps. iii. 5 (4). The
idea
of Jehovah as a God in covenant with his people, is brought out still
more
fully by the phrase my God, i. e. one on whom I have a right to
call,
with
a well-founded hope of being heard. See above on Ps. iii. 8 (7).—
Enlighten my eyes, or make them shine, is
by some understood to mean,
Dispel
my doubts, and extricate me out of my perplexities, with reference
to
the plans or counsels mentioned in the preceding verse. Others, with
more
probability, suppose an allusion to the dimness of the eyes produced
by
extreme weakness or approaching death, and understand the prayer as
one
for restoration and deliverance from imminent destruction. Compare
1
Sam. xiv. 27, 29, where the relief of Jonathan's debility, occasioned by
long
fasting, is described by saying that his eyes were enlightened.—Lest
the sleep (in) death, or lest I sleep the (sleep of) death, as in
the common version.
Compare
the beautiful description of death as a sleep
of perpetuity, a per-
petual
or everlasting sleep, in Jer. li. 39, 57.
5 (4). Lest
my enemy say, I have overpowered him (and) my adversaries
shout when I am shaken, or because I shall be shaken.—The verb ytlky
strictly
means, I have been able. The unusual
construction with a pronoun
(vytlky) cannot be literally
rendered into English, but the meaning evidently
is,
I have been able (to subdue) him, or, I have been strong (in comparison
with)
him. As to the combination of the singular and plural (enemy and
adversaries), see above, on Ps. x.
11 (10).—Shout, i. e. for joy, or in a
and single word, triumph. See above, on Ps.
ii. 11.—The last verb (FOm.x,) has
the
same sense as in Ps. x. 6, viz., that of being moved or cast down from
one's
firm position.
6 (5, 6). And I in thy mercy have trusted; let my heart exult in thy salva-
tion; I will sing to
Jehovah, for he hath done me good, or acted kindly
towards
me. The transition indicated by the phrase and I, is the same as
in
Ps. ii. 6 above. Such are the enemies and dangers which environ me,
and (yet) I have trusted
in thy mercy.
The past tense of the verb describes
the
trust, not as something to be felt hereafter, or as just beginning to be
felt
at present, but as already entertained and cherished, and therefore likely
to
be still continued. I have trusted, and do still trust, and will trust here-
after.—There
is a beautiful gradation in the clauses of this verse. First,
a
fact is stated: 'I have trusted in thy mercy;' then a desire is expressed:
'let
my heart rejoice in thy salvation;' then a fixed purpose is announced:
'I
will sing unto Jehovah.' The reason annexed to this determination or
engagement,
implies an assured expectation of a favourable issue. As if he
had
said, I know the Lord will treat me kindly, and I am resolved to praise
him
for so doing.—In thy salvation, not
merely on account of it, but in the
contemplation,
the possession, the enjoyment of it. See above, Ps. v. 12
(11),
ix. 3 (2). The verb lmaGA which occurs above in Ps. vii. 5 (4),
corresponds
most nearly to the English treat, in
the sense of dealing with
or
acting towards; but when absolutely used, as here, almost invariably has
a
good sense, and specifically means to treat well or deal kindly with a person.
The
idea of requital or reward, which is frequently attached to it in the
English
version, is suggested, if at all, not by the word itself, but by the
context.
60 PSALM
XIV. [VER.
1, 2.
The Septuagint has an additional clause,
which is retained in the Prayer
Book
version, and thus rendered: Yea, I will
praise the name of the Lord
most Highest. The words are not found
in any Hebrew manuscript.
PSALM XIV.
We
have first a description of human depravity as universal, ver. 1-3;
then
a confident anticipation of destructive judgments on the incorrigibly
wicked,
ver. 4-6; and an earnest wish for the speedy deliverance of God's
elect
from the evils of their natural condition and from the malice of their
unconverted
enemies, ver. 7.
There seems to be no reference to any
particular historical occasion.
The
psalm was, no doubt, originally written to express the feelings of God's
people,
in all times and places, with respect to the original depravity of all
men,
and the obstinate persistency in evil of the greater number. The points
of
resemblance and of difference between this psalm and the fifty-third will
be
considered in the exposition of the latter.
1. To
the Chief Musician, by David. The fool hath said in his heart,
There is no God. They
have done corruptly, they have done abominably (in)
deed (or act); there is none doing good. Sin is constantly held up to view
in
Scripture as the height of folly, and the sinner as the fool by way of
eminence.
See Gen. xxxiv, 7, Josh. vii. 15, Ps. xxxix. 9 (8). The term is
here
collective and applied to the whole race, as appears from the plurals
which
follow, and the negative statement in the last clause. The preterites
include
the present, but suggest the additional idea, that the truth here
asserted
is the result of all previous experience and observations.—In his
heart, to himself, if not to
others, as above, in Ps. x. 11. That the
error
is one of the affections, and not merely of the understanding, is
supposed
by some to be implied in the use of the word heart, which is
often
used, however, to denote the mind or soul in general. Nyxe is properly
a
noun, and means nonentity or non-existence "nothing of God," or
"no
such
thing as God." It cannot be explained as a wish—"No God!" i. e..
Oh that there were no God!—because Nyxe in usage always includes the
substantive
verb, and denies the existence, or at least the presence, of the
person
or thing to which it is prefixed. This is also clear from the use of
the
same word in the last clause, where its sense is unambiguous. —The
addition
of the word act or deed shews that the atheism described is
not
merely
theoretical but practical.—There is obvious allusion in this verse
to
the description of the general antediluvian corruption in Gen. vi. 12.
This
makes it the more certain that the description here was not intended
either
for Jews or Gentiles, as such, but for wicked men of either class, and
that
Paul's application of the words, in Rom. iii. 10, 12, is perfectly legiti-
mate,
and not a mere accommodation of the Psalmist's language to another
purpose.
2. Jehovah
from heaven has looked down on the sons of man, to see if
there were (one) acting
wisely, seeking God.
While the fool denies the being
of
a God, Jehovah's eye is on him and his fellow-men. Yet even that om-
niscient
eye can discern no exception to the general depravity and folly.
The
earnestness of the inspection is suggested by the verb in the first clause,
which
originally means to lean or bend over, and is peculiarly appropriate
to
the act of one gazing intently down upon a lower object. The force of
VER.
3, 4.] PSALM XIV. 61
the
preterite tense is the same as in the preceding verse. The inquiry has
been
made already, and proved fruitless. It is no longer a doubtful ques-
tion,
but one definitively settled.—Acting
wisely, in contrast to the athe-
istical
folly mentioned in ver. 1. The test of wisdom is in seeking God,
whether
in the general religious sense of seeking his favour and communion
with
him, or in the special sense of seeking proofs of his existence. As if
he
had said, Even those who think there is no God, if they were wise,
would
seek one; but these fools take pleasure in the hideous negation. The
image
presented in this verse may be compared with that in Gen. vi. 12,
xi.
5, xviii.21. See also Ps. xxiii. 13, 14.
3. The
whole has apostatised; together they have putrefied; there is none
doing good; there is not
even one.
Total and universal corruption could
not
be more clearly expressed than by this accumulation of the strongest
terms,
in which, as Luther well observes, the Psalmist, not content with
saying
all, adds together, and then negatively, no
not one. It is plain that
he
had no limitation or exception in his mind, but intended to describe the
natural
condition of all men, in the widest
and most unrestricted sense.
The whole, not merely all the individuals as such, but the
entire race as a
totality
or ideal person.—The whole (race) has
departed, not merely from
the
right way, but from God, instead of seeking him, as intimated in ver. 4.
Together, not merely altogether
or without exception, but in union and by
one
decisive act or event. The etymological import of the verb is
to
turn sour, to spoil. It is applied to moral depravation not only here,
but
in Job xv. 16. The Septuagint version of these words is quoted by
Paul
in Rom. iii. 12, as a part of his scriptural description of human
depravity,
the rest of which is taken from Ps. v. 10 (9), x. 7, xxxvi. 2 (1),
cxl.
4, Isa. lix. 7, 8. Under the false impression that he meant to quote a
single
passage, some early Christian copyist appears to have introduced the
whole
into the Septuagint version of this psalm, where it is still found in
the
Codex Vaticanus, as well as in the Vulgate, and even in one or two Hebrew
manuscripts
of later date. The interpolation is also retained in the Anglican Psalter.
It
is evident, however, that the apostle's argument is strengthened by the fact of
his
proofs
being drawn, not from one, but several parts of the Old Testament.
4. Do
they not know, all (these) workers of iniquity, eating my people (as)
they eat bread, (and) on
Jehovah call not?
The question is elliptical: the
object
of the verb must be supplied from the context. Do they not know
that
they are thus corrupt and estranged from God, and therefore objects
of
his wrath? Is it because they do not know this or believe it, that they
thus
presume to oppress and persecute his people? The figure of devour-
ing
occurs often elsewhere, e.g. Prov.
xxx. 14, Mic. iii. 3, Hab. iii. 14.
See
below, on Ps. xxvii. 2 (1). As they eat
bread may either mean for
their
support—living on the plunder and oppression of my people; or for
pleasure—feeding
on them with delight; or with indifference and as little
sense
of guilt as when they take their ordinary fond.— Call not on Jehovah,
do
not worship him, as they were before said not to seek him, nor even to
acknowledge
his existence, all which are periphrastical descriptions of the
wicked
as a class. The general description of their wickedness is here
exchanged
for a specific charge, that of persecuting the righteous. The
mention
of two classes here is not at variance with the universal terms of
the
preceding context, nor does it render any limitation of those terms
necessary.
All men are alike "children of wrath," but some are elected
to
be "vessels of mercy," and thereby become objects of hatred to the
un-
62
PSALM XIV.
[VER. 5-7
converted
mass who still represent the race in its apostasy from God.—My
people does not make it
necessary to regard these as the words of God himself, who
is
nowhere introduced as speaking in this psalm, and is spoken of in the third
person
in
the very next clause. The Psalmist, as a member of the body, calls it his, and
the
same
form of expression occurs elsewhere. See 1 Sam. v. 10, Isa. iii. 12, liii. 8,
Micah
iii.
3.—For the meaning of the phrase, workers
of iniquity, see above, on Ps. v. 6 (5).
5. There
have they feared a fear, for God (is) in the righteous generation.
A
later period is now present to his view. They who seemed incapable of
fear
have now begun to be afraid at last. There,
without any change of
place
or outward situation. Where they before denied the being of a God,
even
there they have begun to fear. See below, on Ps. xxx-vi. 13 (12).
The
reason is given in the next clause. God, though denied by them,
exists
and is present, and will manifest his presence by the protection and
deliverance
of his people. Feared a fear, is a
common Hebrew idiom for
greatly
feared, were sore afraid. Generation,
contemporary race, as in Ps. xii. 8 (7).
6. The
plan (or counsel) of the sufferer (the afflicted) ye will shame, because
Jehovah is his refuge. The workers of
iniquity are here addressed directly.
The
sufferer is the persecuted innocent. Poor
is too restricted a transla-
tion.
See above, on Ps. ix. 13, 19 (12, 18). The plan or counsel is de-
scribed
in the last clause, to wit, that of trusting in Jehovah. This very
trust
is an object of contempt to the wicked. Until they are made to fear
by
the manifestation of God's presence with his people, they will continue
to
despise it. The Psalmist here seems to revert to the interval which should
precede
the
divine interposition. As if he had said, You will one day be made to fear, but
in
the
mean time you will shame the counsel of the poor. Some, however, give vwybt
its
usual sense of putting to shame, disappointing, and understand the clause as
an
ironical concession: you may shame his counsel if you can.
7. Who
will give out of Zion salvation to Israel, in Jehovah's return-
ing the captivity of his
people? Let Jacob exult, let Israel joy! The
phrase
who will give is an idiomatic optative in Hebrew, equivalent to Oh
that with a verb, and Oh for with a noun in English. Oh for the salvation
of Israel! Or, Oh that the salvation of Israel (might
come) out of Zion, as
the
earthly residence of God and seat of the theocracy. The same local
designation
is connected with the prayer or promise of divine help, in Ps.
iii.
5 (4), xx. 3 (2), cxxviii. 5, cxxxiv. 3. (Compare Ps. xxviii. 2). This
shews
that the psalm does not belong to the period of the Babylonish exile,
and
that the captivity referred to is not literal, but a metaphorical descrip-
tion
of distress, as in the case of Job (xlii. 10). The same idea is else-
where
expressed by the figure of confinement and incarceration (Ps. cxlii.
8,
Isa. xlii. 7, xlix. 9). The sense remains essentially the same in this case,
whether
the verb return be transitive or
intransitive. Most interpreters
prefer
the former sense, and understand the clause to mean, "in Jehovah's
bringing back the captivity of his
people." But as bUw in every other com-
bination
means to come back, and, like other
verbs of motion, often governs
a
noun of place directly (Exod. iv. 19, 20, Num. x. 36), it is better to under-
stand
the words as meaning that the salvation wished for would consist in
God's
revisiting his captive or afflicted people. The sense is also admis-
sible,
if not necessary, in such places as Deut. xxx. 3, Ps. lxxxv. 5 (4),
Isa.
lii. 8, Hos. vi. 11, Nah. ii. 3 (2). Let
Jacob shout (for joy)! This
is
both an exhortation and a wish, but the latter is the prominent idea, as
VER.
1, 2.] PSALM
XV.
63
the
parallelism of the clauses shews. Oh that
the salvation of Israel were
come! corresponds exactly to,
May Jacob exult, may Israel be glad!
The
common
version is forbidden by the optative form (lgeyA) of the Hebrew verb,
and
by the masoretic interpunction, which connects in the Lord's returning,
&c., not with what follows
as a specification of time, but with what goes be-
fore
as an explanatory clause. The whole may be paraphrased as follows:
"Oh
that Jehovah, from his throne in Zion, would grant salvation to his
people,
by revisiting them in their captive and forsaken state, and that
occasion
of rejoicing might be thus afforded to the church! "Or more
closely
thus: "Oh may Israel's salvation (soon) come forth from Zion, in
Jehovah's
return to the captivity of his people! (In such a restoration)
may
Jacob (soon have reason to) exult and Israel (to) triumph!"
PSALM XV.
This
psalm teaches the necessity of moral purity as a condition of the
divine
protection. It first propounds the question who shall be admitted
to
God's household, and the privileges of its inmates, ver. 1. This is an-
swered
positively, ver. 2, and negatively, ver. 3; then positively again, ver.
4,
and negatively, ver. 5. The last clause of the last verse winds up by
declaring,
that the character just described shall experience the protection
tacitly
referred to in the first verse. As the contrast exhibited in this psalm
and
the fourteenth may account for its position in the Psalter, so its obvious
resemblance
to the twenty-fourth makes it not improbable that their his-
torical
occasion was identical.
1. A Psalm
by David. Jehovah, who shall sojourn in thy tent? who
shall dwell in thy hill
of holiness? The
holy hill is Zion, as in Ps. ii. 6;
the
tent is the tabernacle which David pitched there for the ark, when he
removed
it from Gibeon (2 Sam. vi. 17, 1 Chron. xv. 1, xvi. 1, 39,
2
Chron. i. 3-5). Both together signify the earthly residence of God; see
above
on Ps. iii. 5 (4). The idea is not that of frequenting Zion as a place
of
worship, but of dwelling there, as a guest or as an inmate of God's
family.
The same figure for intimate communion with Jehovah, and par-
ticipation
of his favour, reappears in Ps. xxiii. 6, xxvii. 4, 5, xxiv. 3, lxi. 5,
lxv.
5 (4), lxxxiv. 5 (4). So too, in Eph. ii. 19, believers are described as
members
of God's family (oi]kei?oi tou? qeou?).
2. Walking
perfect, and doing right, and speaking truth, in his heart.
The
Psalmist, speaking in behalf of God, here answers his own question.
The
only person who can be admitted to domestic intercourse with God is
one
walking perfect, &c. Walking is
put for the habitual course of life
(see
above, on Ps. i. 1). Perfect,
complete, as to all essential features of
the
character, without necessarily implying perfection in degree. The form
of
expression seems to be borrowed from Gen. xvii. 1. A remarkably ana-
logous
expression is that used by Horace: integer
vitae scelerisque purus.
The
next phrase, doing right, practising
rectitude, may be either a synony-
mous
parallel to the first, or a specification under it, parallel to speaking
truth. The general idea of
walking perfect is then resolved into the two
particular
ideas of doing right and speaking truth. In
his heart, i. e. sin-
cerely,
as opposed to outward show or hypocritical profession. This phrase
seems
to qualify not merely what precedes, speaking
truth, but the whole
description,
as of one who sincerely and internally, as well as outwardly,
leads
a blameless life by doing right and speaking truth.
64
PSALM XV.
[VER. 3-5.
3. (Who)
hath not slandered with his tongue, (who) hath not done his
neighbour harm, and a
scandal hath not taken up against his neighbour.
The
positive description of the foregoing verse is now followed by a negative
one.
(Compare Ps. i. 1, 2). The social virtues are insisted on, and their
opposites
excluded, because they are apt to be neglected by hypocrites,
against
whom this psalm is directed. The past tense of the verbs denotes
a
character already marked and determined by the previous course of life.
The
verb lgr
seems strictly to denote the act of busy or officious tale-bearing.
There
seems to be an allusion to Lev. xix. 16. With
his tongue, literally
on his tongue, as we say to live on, i. e. by means of anything, an idiom
which
occurs in Gen. xxvii. 40. (Compare Isa. xxxviii. 16.) The next
clause
adds deed to word, as in the foregoing verse. Scandal, reproach,
defamatory
accusation. The verb xWn is by some explained as meaning
to
take up upon the lips (Ps. xvi. 4), and then to utter or pronounce.
Others
give it the same sense as in Gen. xxxi. 17, where lf
xWn means
to
lift
up upon, i. e. to burden. The idea
then is, that he has not helped to
load
his neighbour with reproach. Friend and
neighbour does not mean
any
other man, but one sustaining a peculiarly intimate relation, such as
that
of the members of the chosen people to each other. See above, on Ps. xii. 3
(2).
4. Despised
in his eyes (is) a reprobate, and the fearers of Jehovah he
will honour; he hath
sworn to his own hurt, and will not change The
Chaldee
Paraphrase, followed by the Prayer Book version, makes the first
clause
descriptive of humility. He is despised in his own eyes (and) rejected.
But
the parallelism with the next clause shews that a contrast was designed
between
his estimation of two opposite classes, and as one of these is those
who fear Jehovah, the other must be
represented by sxmn, rejected,
i. e.. by
Jehovah,
reprobate. The future form, as usual, suggests the idea of a
present
act repeated or continued in the future. He honours, and will still
persist
in honouring, the fearers of Jehovah. The Septuagint and Vulgate
explain
frhl
to the neighbour, and some modern
versions to the bad (man).
But
the sense is determined by the obvious allusion to Lev. v. 4: "if a
soul
swear to do evil (frhl) or to do good," i. e. whether to his own
advantage
or the contrary. So here the phrase must mean "he hath sworn to injure
(himself)"
not designedly, but so as to produce that effect. He will not change,
literally,
exchange, i. e. substitute something
else for what he has promised.
5. His
silver he hath not given for usury, and a bribe against a guiltless
(person) hath not taken. Doing these (things), he shall not be moved for
ever. In Hebrew as in French,
silver is put for money in general. There
is
obvious allusion to the frequent prohibition in the Mosaic law, not of
lending
money upon interest for commercial purposes, a practice then
unknown,
but of usurious lending to the poor, and especially to poor
Israelites.
See Exod. xxii. 24, Lev. xxv. 37, Deut. xxiii. 20, and compare
Prov.
xxviii. 8, Ezek. xviii. 8. The taking of judicial bribes is also expressly
forbidden
in Exod. xxiii. 8, Deut. xvi. 19, xxvii. 25. The masoretic inter-
punction
of this sentence seems to be merely rhythmical or musical, as in
Ps.
xi. 5. The words doing these cannot
be separated from what follows
without
destroying the sense. This last clause is an answer to the question
in
ver. 1, but with a change of form, implying that admission to God's
household
was itself security against all danger. Compare Ps. lv. 23 (22).
For
the sense of FOm.x,, see above, on Ps. x. 6, xiii. 5.
VER.
1, 2.] PSALM
XVI.
65
PSALM XVI.
A sufferer
in imminent danger of death, expresses his strong confidence
in
God, ver. 1, as the sole source and author of his happiness, ver. 2, and
at
the same time his attachment to God's people, ver. 3, his abhorrence of
all
other gods, ver. 4, his acquiescence in God's dealings with him, ver. 5, 6,
and
his assured hope of future safety and blessedness, ver. 7-11.
The psalm is appropriate to the whole class
of pious sufferers, of which
Christ
is the most illustrious representative. It is only in him, therefore,
that
some parts of it can be said to have received their highest and com-
plete
fulfilment. This will be shewn more fully in the exposition of the
ninth
and tenth verses.
1. Michtam
of David. Preserve me, O God: for I have trusted in thee.
Some
explain Michtam as a compound term;
but it is most probably a
simple
derivative of a verb meaning to hide,
and signifies a mystery or
secret.
The similar word Michtab in the title
of Hezekiah's psalm (Isa.
xxxviii.
9) is probably an imitation of the form here used, or at least
involves
an allusion to it. It seems to be substituted for the usual terms
song, psalm, &c., not only here
but in the titles of Ps. It probably
indicates
the depth of doctrinal and spiritual import in these sacred com-
positions.
The derivation from a noun meaning gold
is much less probable.
This
verse may be said to contain the sum and substance of the whole
psalm,
and is merely amplified in what follows. The prayer, Keep, save, or
preserve me, implies actual
suffering or imminent danger, while the last
clause,
I have trusted in thee, states the
ground of his assured hope and
confident
petition. The verb used is one that seems especially appropriate
to
the act of seeking shelter under some overshadowing object. See Judges
ix.
15, Isa. xxx. 2, Ps. lvii. 2 (1), lxi. 5 (4). The preterite form implies
that
this is no new or sudden act, but one performed already. He not only trusts
in
God at present, but has trusted him
before. Compare Ps. vii. 2 (1), xi. 1.
2. Thou
hast said to Jehovah, The Lord (art) thou; my good (is) not
besides thee (or beyond thee). The verb in the first
clause has the form of
a
second person feminine, which some regard as an abbreviation of the first
person,
Tir;maxA for yTIr;maxA and translate accordingly, I have said. But this
neither
agrees so well with usage, nor affords so good a sense as the old
construction,
which supplies as the object of address the same that is ex-
pressed
in Ps. xlii. 6 (5), 12 (11), xliii. 5, Jer. iv. 19, Lam. iii. 24, 25. A
similar
ellipsis is assumed by some in 1 Sam. xxiv. 11, and 2 Sam. xiii. 39.
By
this peculiar form of speech the Psalmist calls upon himself to remem-
ber
his own solemn acknowledgment of Jehovah as THE LORD or Supreme
God.—The
obscure clause which follows has been very variously explained.
Some
understand by good moral goodness,
merit, and explain the whole to
mean,
"My goodness is not such as to entitle me to thy regard." Most
interpreters,
however, give to good its usual sense
of good fortune, happiness
(see
Ps. cvi. 5, Job ix. 25), and make the whole clause mean, "My happi-
ness
is not obligatory or incumbent on thee, thou art not bound to provide
for
it;" or "My happiness is not above thee; I have no higher happiness
than
thee." The true sense is probably afforded by a modification of this
last"
My happiness is not beside thee, independent of, or separable from
thee,"
with allusion to the form of expression in the Hebrew of the first
commandment
(Exod. xx. 3). The verse, then, contains a twofold acknow-
5
66 PSALM
XVI. [VER.
3, 4.
ledgment
of God, as the universal sovereign, and as the only source of
individual
enjoyment. Compare Ps. lxxiii. 25. That this recognition was
not
a mere momentary act, but a habitual affection of the mind, seems to
be
indicated by the Psalmist's appeal to his own soul as having made the
acknowledgment
already, hitherto or heretofore.
3. To
(or with) the saints who (are) in the
land, and the nobles in whom
(is) all my delight. The construction of
the first clause, and its connec-
tion
with the preceding verse, are very obscure. Some make to synony-
mous
with as to. "As to the saints
who are in the land, and the nobles,
ia
them is all my delight." Or, "as to the saints who are in the land,
they
are the nobles in whom is all my delight." Others understand to the
saints and to Jehovah as correlative expressions.
"To Jehovah I have
said
thus; to the saints thus." Or, as the English Bible has it, "My
goodness
extendeth not to thee, but to the saints," &c. The least violent
construction
seems to be that which takes the preposition in its usual sense,
that
of belonging to, as in the phrases, to David, to the chief Musician, and
in
1 Kings xv. 27. The meaning then is that the Psalmist's recognition of
Jehovah
as The Lord, and as the only source of happiness, is not peculiar
to
himself, but common to the whole body of the saints or holy ones. This
epithet
denotes personal character, not as its primary meaning, but as the
effect
of a peculiar relation to God, as the objects of his choice, set apart
from
the rest of men for this very purpose; see Exod. xix. 6, Deut. vii. 6,
Ps.
xxxiv. 10 (9), Dan. vii. 21, viii. 24, 1 Pet. ii. 9. The pre-eminence of
these
over others, as the fruit of the divine election, is expressed by the
word
nobles, which, like saints, denotes moral character only in
an indirect
and
secondary manner. The construction in this part of the verse is
strongly
idiomatic; the literal translation is, the
nobles of all my delight in
them. Under the old
dispensation, the nobles or elect of God had their
local
habitation in the land of promise. Hence they are here described as
the
"saints or consecrated ones who are in the land," not in the earth,
which
would be too indefinite and not so well suited to the context. As
thus
explained, the whole verse may be paraphrased as follows: "This pro-
fession
of my trust in God I make, not merely as an individual believer,
but
as one belonging to the great body of the saints or consecrated ones,
the
nobles of the human race, not such by any original or natural pre-emi-
nence,
but by the sovereign and distinguishing favour of Jehovah, whom they
trust
as I do, and are therefore the rightful objects of my warmest love."
4. Many
(or multiplied) shall be their sorrows—another they have pur-
chased—I will not pour
their drink-offering of blood, and will not take their
names upon my lips. With the happiness of
those who like himself trust
the
Lord, he contrasts the wretchedness of those who have chosen any other
object
of supreme affection. The relative construction in the English ver-
sion,
"their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten," &c., gives the
sense
correctly,
but with more variation from the Hebrew idiom, which conveys the
same
idea by means of short independent propositions. In the word translated
their sorrows, (MTAObc;.fa), there seems to be an
allusion to a very similar form,
which
would mean their idols (Mh,yBecaf;), as if to suggest that
false gods are
mere
troubles and vexations. Another means
another god, in opposition to
the
one true God, Jehovah, as in Isa. xlii. 8, xlviii. 11. The contrast
which
is there expressed is here to be supplied from ver. 2 and 5, and from
the
general antithesis, running through the context, between God and gods,
VER.
5-7.] PSALM
XVI. 67
not
idols merely, but any created object of supreme affection. The verb
rhamA in its derived form means to hasten, and is so translated here by the
English
and some other versions. But in the only other place where the
primitive
verb occurs (Exod. xxii. 15), it means to endow
a wife, or secure
her
by the payment of a dowry, according to the ancient oriental custom.
The
same usage of the verb exists in several of the cognate dialects. It
seems
here to have the general sense of purchasing, by costly sacrifice or
self-denial,
but with particular allusion to the conjugal relation which is
constantly
described in Scripture as existing between worshippers and their
gods;
see Hos. iii. 2, and viii. 9, Ezek. xvi. 33, 34. In the last clause he
abjures
all communion with such idolaters. He will not join in their
impious
services, nor even name the names of their divinities. Drink-offer-
ings of blood, libations no less
loathsome than if composed of human blood,
perhaps
with an allusion to the frequent poetical description of wine as the
blood
of the grape; see Gen. xlix. 11, Deut. xxxii. 14, Isa. lxiii. 3. To
take
the name upon the lips is to stain or pollute them by pronouncing it.
Both
here and in Hos. ii. 19, there is an obvious allusion to the solemn
prohibition
of the law (Exod. xxiii. 13): "Make no mention of the name of
other
gods, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth." The pronoun their,
in
this whole clause, refers not to the worshippers but to their divinities, as
comprehended
under the collective term another.
5. Jehovah
(is) my allotted portion and my cup; thou wilt enlarge my lot.
The
other side of the contrast is again exhibited. The idea is, that in the
Lord
the Psalmist has all that he can wish or hope for. The figures are
borrowed
from the regular supply of food and drink. Compare Ps. xi. 6,
xxiii.
5. There may also be allusions to the language of the Pentateuch
in
reference to the tribe of Levi, Deut. x. 9, xviii. 1, 2. The common
version
of the last clause, thou upholdest my lot,
is neither so grammatical
nor
yields so good a sense as that above given, where enlarge implies both
honour
and abundance, and the future form expresses confident assurance
that
the favour now experienced will be continued.
6. The
lines are fallen to me in pleasant things (or pleasant places); yea,
my heritage is goodly. The lines here spoken of are those used. in
measur-
ing
and dividing land. Fallen, i. e. assigned, with or without allusion
to
the
lot, as the means of distribution. Compare Num. xxxiv. 2, Judges
xviii.
1. The idea of places is suggested by
the context, or the plural ad-
jective
may have the abstract sense of pleasure, pleasures, like the cognate
form
in Job xxxvi. 11. The particle (Jxa) which introduces the
last clause
is
more emphatic than the simple copulative and.
It properly means also,
and
implies that this clause contains something more than that before it.
The
original construction of the last clause is, a heritage is goodly to me or
upon me, with allusion to the
natural and common image of gifts or favours
as
descending from above. The heritage or portion thus described is God
himself,
but considered as including all desirable possessions.
7. I
will bless Jehovah, who hath counselled me; also by night have my
reins prompted me. He praises God for
having counselled or persuaded
him
to choose this goodly heritage in preference to every other portion.
The
second clause begins with yea or also, as in the preceding verse. It
here
implies that, under the divine control just mentioned, his own habitual
dispositions
tended to the same point. By night,
literally nights, an idiom
not
unknown in vulgar English. The plural may in this case be emphatic,
68 PSALM XVI. [VER. 8-10.
meaning
whole nights, all night long. The night is mentioned, both as a
time
naturally favourable to reflection, and as skewing that the same sub-
ject
occupied his thoughts by night as well as by day; see above on Ps. i. 2.
The
reins are figuratively put like the heart, bowels, &c., for the affec-
tions;
see above on Ps. vii. 10 (9). My reins
have taught me, warned me,
prompted
me, to utter the praise mentioned in the first clause, or to make
the
choice described in ver. 1, 2, 5.
8. I
have set Jehovah before me always: because (he is) at my right hand,
I shall not be moved. I have set him before
me, i. e. I recognise his pre-
sence
and confide in his protection. The actual expression of this confidence
is
given in the other clause. The right hand is here mentioned, not as a
post
of honour, but as that of a guard or defender. See below, on Ps. cix.
31,
cx. 5, cxxi. 5.—I shall not be moved
from my secure position. See
above,
on Ps. x. 6, xv. 5. The whole verse is a varied repetition and
amplification
of the last clause of ver. 1, I have
trusted (or sheltered myself)
in thee.—The Septuagint version
of this sentence is quoted in Acts h. 25,
with
an express recognition of David as the author of the psalm.
9. Therefore
has rejoiced my heart and exulted my glory; yea, my flesh
shall dwell in security (or confidence).—Therefore, because God is
my ever
present
helper. Glory seems here to mean his
nobler part, his soul, but
not
as wholly separate from the body, as appears from what follows. See
above,
on Ps. vii. 6 (5).—Flesh may either
mean the body, as distinguished
from
the soul, or the whole person as including both. Compare Ps. lxiii.
2
(1), lxxxiv. 3 (2).—The idea of dwelling in security or confidence of safety
is
borrowed from the Pentateuch. See Deut. xxxiii. 12, 28, and compare
Judges
xviii. 7, Jer. xxiii. 6, xxxiii. 16. A similar allusion has been found
already
in Ps. iv. 9 (8). The Septuagint version of the sentence, although
it
substitutes tongue for glory, is substantially correct, and
therefore retained
in
Acts ii. 26.—The second clause is not simply parallel and equivalent
to
the first, but is rather an actual performance of the duty there described.
Having
there said that his heart did triumph in the certainty of God's
protection,
he here proves the truth of his assertion, by professing his
assured
hope that his whole person, not excepting his material part, shall
dwell
in safety under that protection. This is applicable both to pre-
servation
from death and preservation in death, and may therefore without
violence
be understood, in a lower sense, of David, who did die and see
corruption,
but whose body is to rise again, as well as in a higher sense
of
Christ, whose body, though it died, was raised again before it saw corruption.
10. For
thou wilt not leave my soul to Hell; thou wilt not give thy Holy
One to see corruption. He now assigns the
ground or reason of the con-
fidence
expressed in the preceding verse. "I am sure my soul and body
will
be safe, because thou canst not, without ceasing to be God and my
God,
give me up to the destroyer." He does not say leave in but to, i. e.
abandon
to, give up to the dominion or possession of another. The same
Hebrew
phrase occurs, with the same sense, in Lev. xix. 10, Job xxxix. 14,
and
in Ps. xlix. 11 (10) below.—Hell is
here to be taken in its wide old
English
sense, as corresponding to the Hebrew Sheol
and the Greek Hades,
the
invisible world or state of the dead. See above on Ps. vi. 6 (5), and
ix.
18 (17).—Give, i. e. permit, or more
emphatically, give up, abandon,
which
makes the parallelism of the clauses more exact. Thy Holy One, or
more
exactly, thy favourite, the object of thy special favour. See above, on
Ps.
iv. 4 (3). The textual reading is a plural form (jydysH), the singular
VER.
11.] PSALM
XVI.
69
(jdysH) being a marginal
correction or keri. The Jews contend
for
the
former, and most Christians for the latter, which is favoured by
the
oldest versions and retained in the New Testament. The essential
difference
between the two is less than it may seem at first sight, since
even
the singular is really collective, and includes the whole class of God's
chosen
and favoured ones, of whom Christ is the head and representative.
—To see, i. e. to experience or undergo corruption. Compare the phrase
to
see death, Luke ii. 26.—It has been disputed whether tHawa is derived
from
HaUw,
and means a pit, or from tHawA, and means corruption. Both
allegations
are probably true, the antecedent improbability of such a double
sense
and derivation being counterbalanced by the clear analogy of tHan
which
is of a different sense and gender, as derived from tHanA and HaUn. The
use
of this equivocal expression may have been intentional, in order to
make
it applicable both to David and to Christ. (See above, on the pre-
ceding
verse.) To both, the words contain a promise of deliverance from
death,
but in the case of Christ with a specific reference to his actual escape
from
the corruption which is otherwise inseparable from dissolution. Be-
lievers
in general are saved from the perpetual dominion of death, but Christ
was
saved even from the first approach of putrefaction. In this peculiar
and
most pregnant sense the words are applied to Christ exclusively by
two
apostles, and in that sense declared to be inapplicable to David. (Acts
ii.
29-31, xiii. 35-37.) Their reasoning would utterly forbid the applica-
tion
to any lower subject, were it not for the ambiguity or twofold meaning
of
the Hebrew word, which cannot therefore be explained away without
embarrassing
the interpretation of this signal prophecy.
11. Thou
wilt teach me the way of life, fulness of
joy with thy face (or
presence), pleasures in thy right hand for ever. He trusts God not only
for
deliverance from death, but for guidance in the way to life, or blessed
immortality.
(Compare Prov. ii. 19.) The Hebrew verb is causative, and
means
thou wilt make me know, point out, or
shew to me. Fulness, satiety,
or
rather satisfaction, in its strongest sense, including the ideas of content-
ment
and abundance. The plural, joys,
denotes not only richness but
variety.
The next phrase may simply mean before thy face or in thy presence.
But
it will also bear a stronger sense, and represent God's presence or the
sight
of him, not merely as the place, but the source of enjoyment. See
above,
on Ps. iv. 7 (6), and compare Ps. xvii. 15, lxxx. 4 (3). So in the
last
clause, the idea is not merely at thy
right hand as a place of honour
and
of safety, but in thy right hand as
the depository of eternal joys, or
with thy right hand, as the instrument by
which they are dispensed. See
below,
on Ps. xvii. 7.—This last clause is omitted in Peter's citation of the
passage,
Acts 27, no doubt because it is a mere poetical reiteration of
the
one before it, which is itself only added to complete the period, and not
because
it was essential to the apostle's purpose. That purpose was accom-
plished
by applying the two preceding verses to our Saviour, not exclusively
indeed,
but by way of eminence and in a peculiar sense, which we learn,
however,
from Acts ii. 30, 31, was actually present to the mind of the
inspired
Psalmist. The same argumentative interpretation of the prophecy
is
given by Paul in Acts xiii. 35-37.
70 PSALM
XVII. [VER.
1-3.
PSALM
XVII.
A sufferer,
in imminent danger, professes his sincere conformity to God's
will,
and invokes his favour and protection, ver. 1-5. This petition is en-
forced
by an appeal to former mercies, ver. 6, 7, and a description of the
wickedness
of his enemies, ver. 8-12, whose character and spirit he con-
trasts
with his own, ver. 13-15.
The position of this psalm in the
collection seems to have been determined
by
the resemblance of its subject, tone, and diction, to those of the six-
teenth,
with which it may be said to form a pair or double psalm, like the
first
and second, third and fourth, ninth and tenth, &c.
1. A
Prayer. By David. Hear, O Jehovah, the right, hearken to my
cry, give ear to my
prayer not with lips of deceit. This psalm is called a
prayer
because petition is its burden, its characteristic feature, its essential
element.
By David, literally, to David, i. e. belonging to him as its author.
—The right, righteousness or justice in
the abstract, here put for a just
cause,
or perhaps for one who is in the right, who has justice on his side.
The
prayer that God will hear the right implies that no appeal is made to
partiality
or privilege, but merely to the merits of the case. The righteous-
ness
claimed is not merely that of the cause but that of the person, not
inherent
but derived from the imputed righteousness of faith according to
the
doctrine of the Old as well as the New Testament. The quality alleged
is
not that of sinless perfection but that of sincere conformity to the divine
will.
The last clause, not with lips of deceit, applies to all that goes before,
and
represents sincerity as necessary to acceptance. The original expres-
sion
is still stronger, and conveys much more than a negative. It does not
merely
say, not with deceitful lips, but
more positively with lips not deceitful.
2. From
before thee my judgment shall come forth; thine eyes shall be-
hold equities. This sentence really
involves a prayer, but in form it is the.
expression
of a confident hope. From before thee,
from thy presence, thy
tribunal.
My judgment, my acquittal,
vindication; or my justice, i. e. my
just
cause, my cause considered as a just one. Shall
come forth, to the
view
of others, shall be seen and recognised in its true character, as being
what
it is. The reason is, because God's judgments are infallible. His
eyes
cannot fail to see innocence or righteousness where it exists. The
plural,
rectitudes or equities, is an emphatic abstract. See above, on the
parallel
passage, Ps. xi. 7.
3. Thou
hast tried my heart, hast visited (me) by night, hast assayed
me; thou wilt not find;
my mouth shall not exceed my thought. He
still
appeals to God as the judge and witness of his own sincerity. The
preterites
represent the process as no new one, although still continued in
the
present. Visited for the purpose of
examination or inspection, in which
specific
sense the English verb is often used. By
night, as the time when
men's
thoughts are least under restraint, and when the evil, if there be any,
is
most certain of detection. Purged me, as the purity of metals is tested
by
fire, to which process the Hebrew word is specially applied. Thou shalt
not find any thing at variance
with the sincerity of this profession.—The
future
form implies that the investigation is to be continued, but without
any
change in the result. —The last clause is doubtful and obscure. The
common
version, I am purposed (that) my mouth
shall not trangress, agrees
well
enough with the form of the words, but is forbidden by the accents.
The
reversed construction, my thoughts shall
not exceed my mouth (or speech),
VER.
4-8.] PSALM
XVII.
71
is
ungrammatical; nor does either of theseconstructions suit the context
so
well as the first, which makes the clause a renewed profession of sincerity.
4. (As)
to the works of man, by the word of thy lips I have kept the paths
of the violent
(trangressor.)
The works of man are the sinful courses to
which
man is naturally prone. The generic term man
(MdAxA)
is often used
in
reference to the sinful infirmities of human nature. See 1 Sam. xxiv.
10
(9), Hos. vi. 7, Job xxxi. 33. The word of God's lips is the word
uttered
by him, with particular reference to his precepts or commands, but
including
his entire revelation. By this word,
by means of it as an instru-
ment,
and in reliance on it as an authority.—The verb (rmawA) translated
kept properly means watched, and is elsewhere applied to the
observance of
a
rule, but in this place seems to mean watched
for the purpose of avoid-
ing,
as we say in English to keep away from
or keep out of danger.—From
the
verb (CraPA)
to break forth, elsewhere applied to gross iniquities (Hos.
iv.
2.) comes the adjective (CyriPA) violent, outrageous, here used as an
epithet
of the flagrant sinner.
5. My
steps have laid hold of thy paths, my feet have not swerved. His
profession
of integrity is still continued. The first verb is in the infini-
tive
form, but determined by the preterites before and after. The Eng-
lish
language does not furnish equivalents to the parallel terms in Hebrew,
both
which denote footsteps. The common version violates the context by
converting
the first clause into a prayer, which would here be out of place.
6. I
have invoked thee because thou wilt answer me, O God! Incline thine
ear to me, hear my
speech.
The alternation of the tenses is significant. 'I
have
invoked thee heretofore, and do so still, because I know that thou wilt
hear
me." It is needless to observe how much the sentence is enfeebled by
the
change of either to the present.—Thou
wilt hear me, in the pregnant
sense
of hearing graciously or answering a prayer. See above, on Ps. iii.
5
(4). —O (mighty) God! The divine name
here used is the one denoting
God's
omnipotence. See above, Ps. v. 5 (4), vii. 12 (11), x. 11, 12. xvi. 1.
—My
speech, what I say, hrAm;xi from rmaxA to say.
7. Distinguish
thy mercies, (O thou) saving those trusting, from those
rising up, with thy
right hand.
The first verb is the same that occurs in
Ps.
iv, 4 (3.) Here, as there, it means to set apart, or single out, but
with
particular reference to extraordinary favours, implying an unusual neces-
sity.
Such mercy is described as perfectly in keeping with the divine
mode
of action in such cases.—Trusting,
seeking refuge, i. e. in God. See
above,
on Ps. xvi. 1. The same ellipsis may be assumed after rising up,
or
we may supply against them.—With thy
right hand, as the instrument
of
deliverance. Compare Ps. xvi. 11. These words must be connected in
construction
with saving.
8. Keep
me as the apple of the eye, in the shadow of thy wings thou wilt
hide me. The first verb means
to watch over, guard, preserve with care.
See
above, on ver. 4, where it occurs in a figurative application. The pupil
or
apple of the eye is a proverbial type of that which is most precious and
most
easily injured, and which therefore has a double claim to sedulous
protection.
The original phrase is strongly idiomatic, exhibiting what seems
to
be a singular confusion of the genders. Its literal meaning is, supplying
the
articles omitted by poetic licence, the
man (or the little man, or the man-
like part) the daughter of the eye. The first word has reference to the image
72 PSALM
XVII. [VER. 9-12.
reflected
in the pupil, which is then described, as belonging to the eye, by
an
oriental idiom which uses personal relations, son, daughter, &c., to
denote
the mutual relations even of inanimate objects. The comparison
is
borrowed from Deut. xxxii. 10, where it is followed by another with the
eagle's
treatment of her young, to which there seems to be allusion in the
last
clause of the verse before us. The imperative form of the first verb is
no
reason for departing from the future form of the other, which is much
more
expressive. What he asks in one clause he expresses his assured hope
of
obtaining in the other.
9. From
the face of the wicked who have wasted me; mine enemies to the
soul will surround me. The preceding sentence
is continued, with a more
particular
description of the objects of his dread. "Thou wilt hide me
from
the face, sight, or presence of the wicked." Wasted, desolated, de-
stroyed,
with allusion perhaps to the siege of a town or the invasion of a
country.
The same term is applied to a dead man in Judges v. 27. The
enemies of the last clause are
identical with the wicked of the first. Ene-
mies in soul may mean cordial
haters, or enemies who seek the soul or life,
called
deadly enemies in the English version. Or wp,n,B;, may be construed
with
the verb: surround me eagerly (with craving appetite); or surround me
against
my soul or life, i. e. with a view to
take it.—The future form sug-
gests
that the danger which the first clause had described as past, was still
present,
and likely to continue. As if he had said, "from my wicked foes
who
have already wasted me, and will no doubt still continue to surround
me."
In this description present danger is included, whereas if we substitute
the
present form, we lose the obvious allusion to the future and the past.
10. Their
fat they have closed; (with) their mouth they have spoken in
pride. The first clause,
though not exactly rendered, is correctly para-
phrased
in the English Bible; they are enclosed
in their own fat. This is
no
uncommon metaphor in Scripture for moral and spiritual insensibility;
see
Deut. xxxii. 15, Job xv. 27, Ps. lxxiii. 7, cxix. 70. The literal sense
of
the expressions derives some illustration from Judg. iii. 22. Some give
to
fat the specific sense of heart, which is said to have in Arabic,
"their heart
they
have closed." But the other explanation yields the same sense in a
more
emphatic form, and with closer conformity to Hebrew usage.
11. In
our footsteps now have they surrounded us; their eyes they will set,
to go astray in the land. The meaning of the
first words, in our footsteps,
seems
to be, wherever we go. Compare Ps. cxxxix. 3, 5. For the masore-
tic
reading us, the text has me, which,
although harsher, amounts to the
same
thing, as the sufferer is an ideal person respecting many real ones.
The
parallel clauses exhibit the usual combination of the preterite and
future
forms, implying that what had been done was likely to be still con-
tinued.
They fix their eyes, upon this as the
end at which they aim. To
go astray or turn aside, i. e. from the way of God's commandments, to which
the
Psalmist, in ver. 5, had declared his own adherence. The translations
bowing down and casting down are less in accordance with
the context and
with
the usage of the Hebrew verb, which is constantly employed to express
departure
from God and aberration from the path of duty; see 1 Kings xi.
9,
Job xxxi. 7, Ps. xliv. 19 (18), cxix. 51, 157. To the earth, or in the earth,
although
grammatical, affords a less appropriate sense than in the land, i. e.
the
holy land or land of promise, the local habitation of God's people under
the
old economy; see above on Ps. xvi. 3, and compare Isaiah xxvi. 10.
12. His
likeness (is) as a lion; he is craving to tear; and as a young
VER.
13-15.] PSALM
XVII. 73
lion sitting in secret
places.
The singular suffix refers to the enemy as an
ideal
person. The future (JOsk;yi) means that he is just about to feel or
gratify
the appetite for blood. To tear in
pieces, as a wild beast does his
prey
before devouring it.—Sitting,
lurking, lying in wait, with special refer-
ence
to the patient promptness of the wild beast in such cases.—The com-
parison
is the same as in Ps. x. 8-10.
13. Arise,
Jehovah, go before his face, make him bow, save my soul from
the wicked (with) thy
sword.
On the meaning of the prayer that God would
arise,
see above on Ps. iii. 8 (7).—Go before
his face: the same Hebrew
phrase
occurs below (Ps. xcv. 2), in the sense of coming into one's
presence.
Here the context gives it the more emphatic sense of meeting,
encountering,
withstanding. Make him bend or bow, as the conquered bows
beneath
the conqueror.—The construction of thy
sword seems to be the
same
with that of their mouth in ver. 10.
The Septuagint puts thy sword
in
apposition with my soul, the Vulgate
with the word immediately preced-
ing,
men (who are) thy sword, as the
Assyrian is said to be the rod in God's
hand
(Isa. x. 5). But such a representation of the enemy as God's chosen
instruments,
instead of enforcing, would enfeeble the petition. The verb
translated
save is a causative strictly meaning make to escape.
14. From
men (with) thy hand, from the world; their portion is in (this)
life, and with thy hoard
thou wilt fill their belly; they shall have enough of
sons, and leave their
residue to their babes. All the parts of this obscure
verse
have been variously explained. As in the preceding verse, some here
read
men (which are) thy hand, i. e. the instrument of thy wrath. The
diffi-
cult
expression dl,H,me is by some understood as a description
of their cha-
racter
and spirit—men of the world—men who
belong to it, and whose hearts
are
set upon it. Others give dl,H, its primary meaning of duration, and
make
the phrase descriptive of prosperity—men
of duration or perpetuity—
who
not only prosper now, but have long done so, and seem likely to con-
tinue.
The simplest construction is that given in the prayer-book version,
which
takes the proposition in the same sense before both nouns—"from
the
men, I say, and from the evil
world." "World is then
simply a col-
lective
equivalent to the plural men. This
translation of the former word
is
justified by the analogy of Ps. xlix. 2 (1).—Life is by some understood
to
mean a life of ease or pleasure; but this is far less natural than the obvi-
ous
sense of this life, this present
state as distinguished from futurity. The
rest
of the verse shews that their desires have not been disappointed. To
the
eye of sense God sometimes seems to have reserved his choichest gifts
for
the ungodly. Thy hidden (treasure), i. e. hoarded, carefully secreted.
Fill their belly, satisfy their
appetite. The future form implies that the
state
of things described is likely to continue.—The next clause may be also
rendered:
(their) sons shall be satisfied, and
leave their residue to their babes.
This
would be a strong description of prosperity continued from generation
to
generation. According to the version before given, the men of the world
are
represented as having their largest wishes gratified, not only in the num-
ber
but the prosperous condition of their children; see Ps. cxxvii. 3, cxxviii.
3,4,
Job xxi. 11. The whole is only a description of things as they seem
to
man, before God's judgments interpose to change them.
15. I
in righteousness shall see thy face; I shall be satisfied in awaking
with thy appearance. The pronoun expressed
at the beginning of the sen-
tence
is emphatic. I, in opposition to the men described in the preceding
74 PSALM XVII. [VER. 15.
verse.
"They may rejoice in richer providential gifts, and be satisfied with
what
they thus possess. But I enjoy what they do not, the sense of accept-
ance
in thy sight, righteousness, justification, recognition as a righteous
person."
The ambiguity of construction in the last clause is the same both
in
Hebrew and in English. The preposition with
may connect what follows
either
with awaking or with satisfied. Thus the prayer-book version
reads,
"And
when I awake up after thy likeness, I shall be satisfied with it;" but
the
authorised version: "I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy like-
ness."
The latter construction is the one required by the accents, and pre-
ferred
by most interpreters, the rather as the last word does not mean re-
semblance in the abstract, but
form, shape, or visible appearance, Exod. xx. 4,
Num.
xii. 8, Deut. iv. 16, 23, 25, Job iv. 16. The idea here suggested is
the sight of thee, exactly corresponding to
behold thy face, in the parallel
clause.—In awaking, or when I shall awake, is understood by some to
mean,
when I awake to-morrow, and from this expression they infer that the
psalm
was originally composed, and intended to be used, as an evening-song
or
prayer. See above on Ps. iii. 6 (5), iv. 9 (8), v. 4 (3). Others give
the
phrase the same sense but a wider application; in awaking, i. e. when-
ever
I awake. As if he had said, while the men of the world think day and
night
of their possessions and their pleasures, I rejoice, whenever I awake,
in
the sight of God's reconciled countenance and the consciousness of friend-
ship
with him. A third interpretation puts a still higher sense upon the
phrase
as referring to the act of awaking from the sleep of death. But
this
excludes too much from view the enjoyment of God's favour and pro-
tection
even here, which is the burden of the whole prayer. If the hope of
future
blessedness had been enough, the previous petitions would have been
superfluous.
The utmost that can be conceded to this view of the passage
is
that, by a natural association, what is here said of awaking out of sleep
in
this life may be extended to that great awaking which awaits us all here-
after.
The same state of mind and heart which enables a man now to be
contented
with the partial views which he enjoys of God will prepare him
to
be satisfied hereafter with the beatific vision through eternity.
PSALM
XVIII.
This
psalm consists of five unequal parts. In the first, David announces
his
desire to praise God for his wonderful deliverances, ver. 2-4 (1-3).
In
the second, these are described, not in historical form, but by the use of
the
strongest poetical figures, ver. 5-20 (4-19). In the third, he declares
them
to have been acts of righteousness as well as mercy, and in strict
accordance
with the general laws of the divine administration, ver. 21-28
(20-27).
In the fourth, he goes again into particulars, but less in the way
of
recollection than of anticipation, founded both on what he has experienced
and
on what God has promised, ver. 29-46 (28-45). In the fifth, this
change
of form is accounted for by summing up the promises referred
to,
and applying them not merely to David as an individual, but to his
posterity
for ever, thus including Christ, and shewing the whole composition
to
be one of those Messianic psalms, in which he is the principal subject of
the
prophecy, though not the only one, nor even the one nearest to the eye
of
the observer, ver. 46-51 (45-50).
1. To
the Chief Musician. By a Servant of Jehovah. By David, who
spake unto Jehovah the
words of this song, in the day Jehovah freed him
VER.
1, 2.] PSALM
XVIII. 75
from the hand of all his
foes and from the hand of Saul. The first clause
of
the title shews, in this as in other cases, that the composition was
designed
from the beginning to be used in the public worship of the ancient
church,
and has reference therefore to the experience of the writer, not as a
private
person, but as an eminent servant of the
Lord, i. e. one entrusted
with
the execution of his purposes, as an instrument or agent. The expres-
sions,
spake unto Jehovah, &c., are
borrowed from Exod. xv. 1, and Deut.
xxxi.
30. This is the more observable, because the psalm contains obvious
allusions
to the song of Moses in Deut. ch. xxxii. An analogous case is
found
in 2 Sam. xxiii. 1, where the form of expression is evidently borrowed
from
Num. xxiv. 3.—The repetition of hand
is not found in the original,
where
the first word (JKa) properly denotes the palm or inside of the hand,
but
is poetically used as an equivalent to dyA. The hand is a common
figure
for
power and possession. This whole clause bears a strong analogy to
Exod.
xviii. 10, where "out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the
hand
of Pharaoh" corresponds exactly to "out of the hand of all his foes
and
out of the hand of Saul," i. e.
and especially of Saul. Compare "Judah
and
Jerusalem," Isa. i. 1; "the land and Jericho," Josh. ii. 1. This
form
of expression does not imply that Saul was the last of his enemies,
but
rather that he was the first, both in time and in importance, so that he
might
be considered equal to all the others put together. And accordingly
we
find their idea carried out in the structure of this psalm, one half of
which
seems to relate especially to Saul, and the remainder to his other
enemies.
The general expressions of this title shew that the psalm was
not
occasioned by any particular event, but by a retrospect of all the deliver-
ances
from persecution which the writer had experienced.
2 (1). And
said, I will love thee, Jehovah, my strength! The sentence is
continued
from the foregoing verse, who sang unto
the Lord . . . and
said. The future form, I will love, represents it as a
permanent affection,
and
expresses a fixed purpose. I not only love thee now, but am resolved
to
do so for ever. The verb itself occurs nowhere else in its primitive
form,
but often in one of its derived forms, to express the compassionate
regard
of a superior to an inferior. The simple form is here used to denote
the
reciprocal affection of the inferior party. From its etymology the verb
seems
to express the strongest and most intimate attachment, being properly
expressive
of storgh>> or parental love. The noun translated strength is also peculiar to
this
passage, though its root and cognate forms are very common. Combined with one
of
the
divine names, it constitutes the name Hezekiah,
which may have been suggested by
the
verse before us. My strength, i. e. the giver of my strength or the
supplier of its
deficiencies,
the substitute for my strength, my protector and deliverer.
3 (2). Jehovah
(is) my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my o
(is) my rock, I will
trust in him; my shield and my horn of salvation, my
height (or high place). By this accumulation of
descriptive epithets, the
Psalmist
represents God as the object of his trust and his protector. The
first
two figures, my rock and my fortress, contain an allusion to the
physical
structure
of the Holy Land, as well as to David's personal experience. The
caves
and fissures of the rocks, with which the land abounded, had often
afforded
him shelter and concealment when pursued by Saul. See Judges
vi.
2, 1 Sam. xxiv. 3, 2 Sam. v. 7. The literal expression, my deliverer,
seems
to be added as an explanation of the figures which precede. My
God may also be explained as
one of the descriptive terms; but it seems
76 PSALM
XVIII. [VER.
3-5.
more
natural to make it the subject of a new proposition, equivalent and
parallel
to that in the first clause. Here again we are obliged to use the
same
English word as a translation of two different words in Hebrew. As
the
rock (flas,) of the first clause
suggests the idea of concealment and
security,
so the rock (rUc) of the second clause
suggests that of strength
and
immobility. The figure is borrowed from Deut. xxxii. 4, and reappears
in
Ps. xcii. 16 (15). Compare Isaiah's phrase, a
rock of ages (Isa. xxvi. 4),
and
Jacob's phrase, the stone of Israel (Gen.
xlix. 24), where stone, like
rock in the clause before us,
denotes not the place but the material, not a
stone, but stone, as one of the hardest and least
mutable substances with
which
we are acquainted, and therefore an appropriate figure for combined
immutability
and strength. For the figurative use of shield in such con-
nections,
see above on Ps. iii. 4 (3). The next phrase has allusion to the
defensive
habits of horned animals. The figure seems to be borrowed from
Deut
xxxiii. 17. (Compare 1 Sam. 10, Job. xvi. 15.) My horn of
salvation may be understood to
mean, my horn, to wit, my salvation,
so
that
the second noun is explanatory of the first. More probably, however,
the
expression means the horn that saves me,
by repelling or destroying all
my
enemies. In Luke i. 69, the same phrase is applied to Christ by
Zacharias.
The last term in the description belongs to the same class with
the
first, and was probably suggested by the Psalmist's early wanderings
among
the rocks and caverns of Judea. The Hebrew word properly denotes
a
place so high as to be beyond the reach of danger. See above, on Ps.
ix.
10 (9), where the same word is twice used in the same sense and
figurative
application.
4 (3). To
be praised I will call Jehovah, and from my enemies I shall be
saved. "I will invoke
God as a being worthy of all praise." The first
Hebrew
word, which has the force of a future passive participle, is a stand-
ing
epithet of Jehovah in the lyrical style of the Old Testament. See Ps.
xlviii.
2 (1), xcvi. 4, cxiii. 3, cxlv. 3, 1 Chron. xvi. 25. The connection of
the
clauses is, that the believing invocation of Jehovah in his true character,
and
with a just appreciation of his excellence, must needs be followed by
the
experience of his favour. They who cry and are not heard, as we read
in
ver. 42 (41) below, cry indeed to Jehovah, but they do not invoke him
as
the one to be praised, they do not see him as he is, and cannot pray to him as
they
ought. They ask and receive not, because they ask amiss (James iv. 3).
5 (4). The
bands of death have enclosed me, and the streams of worthless-
ness (or Belial) will (still) affright me From
the general acknowledgment
contained
in ver. 1-4, he proceeds to a more particular description of his
danger.
By bands we are probably to understand the cordage of a net,
such
as fowlers spread for birds. This is a favourite metaphor with David
to
denote dangers, and particularly those of an insidious and complicated
kind.
See below, Ps. cxvi. 3. The word Belial properly
means worthless,
good for nothing. The reference is here
to wicked men, whose number and
violence
are indicated by the figure of torrents, overflowing streams. The
use
of the future in the last clause shews that the writer, as in many other
cases,
takes his position in the midst of the event, and views it as partly
past
and partly future. This bold assumption of an ideal situation greatly
adds
to the life and vividness of the description.
6 (5). The
bands of hell surrounded me, the snares of death encountered
me. This verse merely repeats
and amplifies the first clause of the fifth,
VER.
6-9.] PSALM
XVIII.
77
Hell, in the wide old
English sense, is a poetical equivalent to death.
See
above,
on Ps. vi. 6 (5). The explicit mention of snares in the last clause
confirms
the explanation before given of bands.
Encountered, met me,
crossed
my path. The sense prevented or anticipated does not suit the con-
text,
and that of surprised is not
sufficiently justified by usage. See above,
on
Ps. xvii. 13.
7 (6). In
my distress I will invoke Jehovah, and to my God will cry; he
will hear from his
palace my voice, and my prayer before him will come,
into his ears. The verbs are in the
future, because they express the feelings
not
of one looking back upon the danger as already past, but of one actually
implicated
in it. See above, on ver. 5 (4). The literal meaning of the
words
is, in distress to me. Compare the
phrase, at times in distress, Ps.
ix.
10 (9), x. 1. My God implies a
covenant relation and a hope of
audience
founded on it. The verb translated cry is specially appropriated
to
a cry for help. His palace here means
heaven, as God's royal residence.
See
above, on Ps. xi. 4. Into his ears is
a kind of after-thought, designed
to
strengthen the preceding expression. It shall not only reach his presence,
but,
as it were, shall penetrate his ears. The whole expresses an assured hope
of
being heard, and is really tantamount to an assertion that he was heard.
8 (7). Then
did the earth shake and quake, and the foundations of the
mountains trembled and
were shaken because he was angry. The idea of
succession
expressed by the English then is
conveyed in Hebrew by the
form
of the verb. The resemblance, in form and sound, of shake and quake,
corresponds
to that of the original verbs (wfar;Tiva wfaG;Tiva). A reflexive or
emphatic
passive form of the first verb appears in the second clause. The
closing
words of this clause strictly mean because
it was inflamed (or en-
kindled) to him with an ellipsis of the
noun (Jxa)
anger. The full construc-
tion
may be found in Deut. vi. 15, and Ps. cxxiv. 3. The phrase founda-
tions of the mountains is copied from Deut.
xxxii. 22.
9 (8). There
went up smoke in his wrath, and fire from his mouth devours:
coals are kindled from
it.
Smoke and fire are mentioned as natural con-
comitants
and parallel figures, both denoting anger, and suggested by the
phrase
it was inflamed to him in the
preceding verse. Compare Deut.
xxxii.
22, xxix. 19 (20), Ps. xxiv. 1. The translation nostrils rests on a
confusion
of two collateral derivatives from the verb to breathe. (See my
note
on Isa. xlviii. 9.) Nor is this sense required by the parallelism, unless
mouth and nose must always go together. There
seems to be some allusion
to
the fire and smoke at Sinai, Exod. xix. 18. From
it may have reference
to
fire; but the nearest antecedent is his mouth. Compare Job xli. 11-13
(19-21).
There is no need of supplying any object with devours; the idea
is
that of a devouring fire, i. e. one capable of consuming whatever
combus-
tible
material it may meet with.
10 (9). So
he bowed the heavens and came down, and gloom (was) under
his feet. The scene seems here
to be transferred from heaven to earth,
where
the psalmist sees not only the divine operation but the personal pre-
sence
of Jehovah. The word so, familiarly employed in English to continue
a
narrative, here represents the vau conversive of the Hebrew. The word
translated
gloom is not the usual term for
darkness, but a poetical expres-
sion
specially applied to dense clouds and vapours. The expression seems
to
be derived from Deut. v. 22. Compare with this clause, Exod. xix. 16,
and
with the first, Isa. lxiii. 19 (lxiv. 1).
78 PSALM XVIII. [VER. 10-15.
11 (10). And
he rode on a cherub and flew, and soared on the wings of a
wind. The cherubim of the
Mosaic system were visible representations of
the
whole class of creatures superior to man. The singular form cherub
seems
to be used here to convey the indefinite idea of a superhuman but
created
being. The whole verse is a poetical description of God's interven-
tion,
as a scene presented to the senses. As earthly kings are carried by
inferior
animals, so the heavenly king is here described as borne through
the
air in his descent by beings intermediate between himself and man.
The
word soared, in the second clause, is
used to represent a poetical term
in
the original borrowed from Deut. xxviii. 49. With the whole verse com-
pare
Ps. lxviii. 18 (17), and civ. 3.
12 (11). (And) set darkness (as) his covert about him, his shelter, dark-
ness of waters, clouds
of the skies,
This concealment suggests the idea of a
brightness
insupportable by mortal sight. Compare Deut. iv. 11, Job
xxxvi.
29, Ps. xcvii. 2. Darkness of waters does
not mean dark waters, but
watery
darkness, a beautiful description of clouds charged with rain. The
two
nouns in the last clause both mean clouds, but the second is used only
in
the plural, and seems properly to designate the whole body of vapours
constituting
the visible heavens or sky. A somewhat similar combination
occurs
in Exod. xix. 9.
13 (12). From the blaze before him his clouds passed—hail and coals of
fire. The dark clouds which
enveloped him are now described as pene-
trated
by the light within. Passed, i. e. passed away, were dispelled. The
last
clause may be construed as an exclamation such as an eye-witness
might
have uttered. The combination is borrowed from Exod. ix. 24.
(Compare
Ps. lxxviii. 47, 48.) Hail, as an instrument of the divine ven-
geance,
is also mentioned in Josh. x. 11.
14 (13). Then thundered in the heavens Jehovah, and the Highest gave
his voice—hail and coals
of fire.
The second clause is a poetical repeti-
tion
of the first. "The Most High gave his voice," means in this connec-
tion
neither more nor less than that he "thundered in the heavens."
Though
visibly present upon earth he is described as still in heaven. Com-
pare
Gen. xi. 5, 7; xviii. 21; John iii. 13. The last clause may be con-
strued
as in ver. 13, or made dependent on the verb gave, as in Exod. ix.
23:
"Jehovah gave thunder and hail." This clause is repeated because
the
hail and lightning were not merely terrific circumstances, but appointed
instruments
of vengeance and weapons of destruction.
15 (14). Then sent he his arrows and scattered them, and shot forth,
lightnings and
confounded them.
The lightnings of the last clause may be
understood
as explaining the arrows of the first. Instead of shot forth light-
nings some translate and lightnings much, i. e. many, in which sense the
Hebrew
word (brA)
occurs sometimes elsewhere (Exod. xix. 21, 1 Sam. xiv. 6,
Num.
xxvi. 54). In several other places it seems to mean enough or too
much (Gen. xlv. 28, Exod.
ix. 28, Num. xvi. 3, 7, Deut. i. 6). If either of
these
constructions is adopted, the verb sent must
be repeated from the other
clause.
The version first given, shot, is
justified by the analogy of Gen.
xlix.
23. The last verb in the sentence is a military term denoting the con-
fusion
of an army produced by a surprise or sudden panic; see Exod. xiv. 24,
xxiii.
27, Josh. x. 10, and with the whole verse compare Ps. cxliv. 6.
16
(15). Then were seen the channels of
water and uncovered the founda-
tions of the world, at
thy rebuke, Jehovah, at the blast of the breath of thy
wrath. The idea meant to be
conveyed by this poetical description is that
VER.
16-19.] PSALM XVIII. 79
of sudden and complete subversion, the turning of the whole earth upside
down.
The language is not designed to be exactly expressive of any real
physical
change whatever. From, or at thy rebuke, i. e. after it and in con-
sequence
of it. The breath of thy wrath, thy
angry breath, might also be
rendered,
the wind of thy wrath, thy angry or
tempestuous wind. That the
Hebrew
words do not mean thy nose or nostrils, see above, on ver. 9 (8).
Some
suppose an allusion, in the figures of this verse, to the floods of worth-
lessness in ver 5 (4), and the
bands of hell in ver. 6 (5).
17 (16). He will send from, above, he will take me, he will draw me out
of many waters. Here again the writer
seems to take his stand between the
inception
and the consummation of the great deliverance, and to speak just
as
he might have spoken while it was in progress. "All this he has done
in
preparation, and now he is about to send," &c. This seems to be a more
satisfactory
explanation of the future forms than to make them simple
presents,
and still more than to make them preterites, which is wholly
arbitrary
and ungrammatical, although the acts described by these futures
were
in fact past al the time of composition. To
send from above in our
idiom
means to send a messenger; but in Hebrew this verb is the one used
with
hand, where we say stretch out, e. g. in the parallel
passage Ps. cxliv. 7.
(See
also Gen. viii. 9, xlviii. 14). The noun, however, is sometimes omitted,
and
the verb used absolutely to express the sense of the whole phrase, as in
2
Sam. vi. 6, Ps. lvii. 4 (3). From above,
from on high, from the height
or
high place, i. e. heaven, the place
of God's manifested presence. There
is
peculiar beauty in the word translated draw,
which is the root of the name
Moses, and occurs, besides
the place before us, only in the explanation of
that
name recorded by himself, Exod. ii. 10. The choice of this unusual
expression
here involves an obvious allusion both to the historical fact and
the
typical meaning of the deliverance of Moses, and a kind of claim upon
the
part of David to be regarded as another Moses.
18 (17). He will free me from my enemy (because he is) strong, and from
my haters, because they
are mightier than I.
The futures are to be explained
as
in the verse preceding. The enemy here mentioned is an ideal person,
representing
a whole class, of whom Saul was the chief representative.
The
idiomatic phrase, my enemy strong,
may be understood as simply mean-
ing
my strong enemy; but the true
construction seems to be indicated by
the
parallelism. His own weakness and the power of his enemies is given
as
a reason for the divine interposition.
19 (18). They will encounter me in the day of my calamity; and Jehovah
has been for a stay to
me. The
first clause seems to express a belief that
his
trials from this quarter are not ended, while the other appeals to past
deliverances
as a ground of confidence that God will still sustain him. Most
interpreters,
however, make the future and preterite forms of this verse
perfectly
equivalent. "They encountered me in the day of my calamity,
and
the Lord was for a stay to me." As to the meaning of the first
verb,
see above, on ver. 6 (5). It is not improbable that David here alludes to his
sufferings
in early life when fleeing before Saul; see above on ver. 3 (2).
20 (19). And brought me out into the wide place; he will save me because
he delights in me. The construction is
continued from the foregoing sen-
tence.
As confinement or pressure is a common figure for distress, so relief
from
it is often represented as enlargement, or as coming forth into an open
space.
See above, on Ps. iv. 2 (1). Here, as in the preceding verse, most
interpreters
make no distinction between preterite and future. The mean-
80 PSALM
XVIII. [VER.
20-24.
ing
may, however, be that he expects the same deliverance hereafter which
he
has experienced already.
21 (20). Jehovah will treat me according to my righteousness; according
to the cleanness of my
hands will he repay me. The future verbs have
reference
to the condition of the Psalmist under his afflictions, and the
hopes
which even then he was enabled to cherish. At the same time they
make
this the announcement of a general and perpetual truth, a law by
which
God's dispensations are to be controlled for ever. The hands are
mentioned
as organs or instruments of action. Compare Isa. i. 15, Job
ix.
30, xxii. 30. The righteousness here claimed is not an absolute perfection or
entire
exemption
from all sinful infirmity, but what Paul calls submission to the righteousness
of
God (Rom. x. 3), including faith in his mercy and a sincere governing desire to
do
his
will. This is a higher and more comprehensive sense than innocence of some
particular
charge, or innocence in reference to man, though not in reference to God.
22 (21). For I have kept the ways of Jehovah, and have not apostatised
from my God. The Lord's ways are
the ways which he marks out for us
to
walk in, the ways of duty and of safety. To keep them is to keep one's
self
in them, to observe them so as to adhere to them and follow them. The
last
clause strictly means, I have not been
wicked (or guilty) from my God;
a
combination of the verb and proposition which shews clearly that the
essential
idea in the writer's mind was that of apostasy or total abjuration
of
God's service. Itsis of this mortal sin, and not of all particular trans-
gressions,
that the Psalmist here professes himself innocent.
23 (22). For all his judgments (are) before me, and his statutes I will not
put from me. Judicial decisions and
permanent enactments are here used
as
equivalent expressions for all God's requisitions. To have these before
one
is to observe them, and the opposite of puffing them away or out of
sight.
The terms of this profession have been evidently chosen in allusion
to
such dicta of the law itself as Deut. v. 29, xvii. 11. From the past tense
of
the foregoing verse he here insensibly slides into the present and the future,
so
as to make his profession of sincerity include his former lifer his actual
dispositions,
and his settled purpose for all time to come.
24
(23). And I have been perfect with him,
and have kept myself from
my iniquity. He not only will be
faithful, but he has been so already, in
the
sense before explained. There is evident reference in the first clause
to
the requisition of the Law, "thou shalt be perfect with the Lord thy
God,"
Deut. xviii. 13. (Compare Gen. xvii. 1.) With
means not merely
in
his presence, or his sight, as distinguished from men's estimate of moral
objects,
but "in my intercourse and dealing with him." Compare 1 Kings xi. 4,
and
the description of David in 1 Kings xiv. 8, xv. 5. In the last clause some
see
an allusion to David's adventure in the cave, when his conscience smote
him
for meditating violence against Saul. See 1 Sam. xxiv. 6, and compare
1
Sam. xxvi. 23, 24. But whether this be so or not, the clause undoubtedly
contains
a confession of corruption. My iniquity can
only mean that to
which
I am naturally prone and subject. We have here, then, a further
proof
that the perfection claimed in the first clause is not an absolute
immunity
from sin, but an upright purpose and desire to serve God.
25 (24). And Jehovah has requited me according to my righteousness,
according to the
cleanness of my hands before his eyes. This verse shews
clearly
that the futures in ver. 21 (20) must be strictly understood. What
he
there represents himself as confidently hoping, he here professes to
have
really experienced. In the intervening verses he shews how he had
VER.
25-28.] PSALM
XVIII.
81
done
his part, and now acknowledges that God had faithfully performed his own.
26, 27 (25, 26). With the gracious thou wilt shew thyself gracious; with
the perfect man thou
wilt shew thyself perfect; with the purified thou wilt shew
thyself pure; and with
the crooked thou wilt shew thyself perverse. What he
had
previously mentioned as the method of God's dealings towards him-
self,
he now describes as a general law of the divine administration. The
essential
idea is that God is, in a certain sense, to men precisely what they
are
to him. The particular qualities specified are only given as examples,
and
might have been exchanged for others without altering the general sense.
The
form of expression is extremely strong and bold, but scarcely liable to
misapprehension,
even in ver. 27 (26). No one is in danger of imagining
that
God can act perversely even to the most perverse. But the same
course
of proceeding which would be perverse in itself or towards a righteous
person,
when pursued towards a sinner becomes a mere act of vindicatory
justice.
In the first clause of ver. 26 (25), the ambiguous word gracious
has
been chosen to represent the similar term dysiHA, for the comprehensive
use
of which we see above, on Ps. iv. 4 (3), xii. 2 (1). Perfect has the
same
sense as in ver. 23 (22), namely, that of freedom from hypocrisy and
malice.
The verbs are all of the reflexive form and might be rendered,
thou wilt make thyself
gracious, thou wilt act the gracious, or simply thou
wilt
be gracious, &c., but the
common version approaches nearest to the force of
the
original expression. The first verb of ver. 27 (26) occurs once else-
where
(Dan. xii. 10), the rest only here. The forms may have been coined
for
the occasion, to express the bold conception of the writer. The resem-
blance
of the last clause of ver. 27 (26) to Lev. xxvi. 23, 24, makes it highly
probable
that the whole form of this singular dictum was suggested by that
passage,
the rather as this Psalm abounds in allusions to the Pentateuch
and
imitations of it.
28 (27). For thou wilt save the afflicted people, and lofty eyes thou wilt
bring down. Another general
description of God's dealings with mankind,
repeated
more than once in the New Testament. See Mat. xxiii. 12, Luke
xiv.
11, xviii. 14. High looks or lofty eyes is a common Old Testament
expression
for pride and haughtiness. See below, on Ps. ci. 5, cxxxi. 1,
and
compare Prov. xxi. 4, xxx. 13, Isa. x. 12, xxxvii. 23. The afflicted
people means the people of God
when in affliction, or considered as sufferers.
Thou is emphatic: "however
men may despise and maltreat thy afflicted
people,
I know that thou wilt save
them."
29 (28). For thou wilt light my lamp; Jehovah, my God, will illuminate
my darkness. Having ascended from
particulars to generals, he now reverses
the
process. On his own experience, as described in ver. 4-25 (3-24), he
had
founded a general declaration of God's mode of dealing with men,
which
statement he proceeds now to illustrate by recurring to his own
experience.
In this second part there is reason to believe that he has
reference
to the other cases of deliverance in his history, besides those from
Saul's
persecutions which had furnished the theme of his thanksgiving in the
first
part of the psalm. In accordance with this difference of subject, it
has
been observed that in this second part he appears more active, and
not
merely as an object but an instrument of God's delivering mercy. As
to
the form of expression in this part, it has been determined by the writer's
assuming
his position at the close of the Sauline persecution, and describing
his
subsequent deliverances as still prospective. This was the more con-
6
82 PSALM
XVIII. [VER.
29-32.
venient,
as he wished to express a confident assurance of God's goodness,
not
only to himself individually but to his posterity. A lamp or candle in
the
house is a common Hebrew figure for prosperity, and its extinction for
distress.
See Job xviii. 5, 6, xxi. 17, Prov. xxiv. 20. The first clause
may
also be translated, thou wilt make my
light shine. The verb in the
parallel
clause is from another root, and there is consequently no such
assonance
as in the English version (light,
enlighten). The pronoun in the
first
clause is again emphatic. "Whatever I may suffer at the hands of
others,
thou at least wilt light my
candle." The emphasis is sustained in
the
last clause by a sudden change of person and introduction of the divine name.
30 (29). For in, thee I shall run (through or over) a troop, and in my
God I shall leap a wall. From his ideal post of
observation he foresees
the
military triumphs which awaited him, and which were actually past at
the
time of composition. The for, as in
the two preceding verses, connects
the
illustration with the general preposition in ver. 27-29 (26-28). "This
is
certainly God's mode of dealing, for
I know that he will deal thus with me."
In thee, and in my God, i. e. in intimate union with him and possession of
him,
a much stronger sense than that of mere assistance (by thee), which
however,
is included. See below, on Ps. xliv. 6 (5). —The ellipsis of the
preposition,
with which the verbs are usually construed, belongs to the
licence
of poetical style. Even in prose, however, we can say, to walk the
streets,
to leap a wall. To run a troop may
either mean to run against or
through it; the phrase may
therefore be completed so as to have either an
offensive
or defensive sense. In like manner, leaping a wall may either
mean
escaping from an enemy or storming his defences. Most interpreters
prefer
the stronger meaning of attack, which is certainly entitled to the
preference,
unless the writer be supposed to have selected his expressions
with
a view to the suggestion of both these ideas, which together compre-
hend
all possible varieties of success in war. As if he had said, "Weak
though
I be in myself, I am sure that in conjunction with thee, neither
armies
nor fortifications shall be able to subdue or even to resist me." With
David's
tone of triumphant confidence in this verse, compare Paul's in
2
Cor. ii. 14, and Philip. iv. 13.
31 (30). The Almighty — perfect is his
way—the word of Jehovah is tried
—a shield (is) he to all
those trusting in him.
The first clause seems to be
an
amplification of my God in the
preceding verse. In my God, the Mighty
(God), whose way is
perfect, i. e.
his mode of dealing, as before described, is
free
from all taint of injustice. This explanation suggests a further descrip-
tion
of Jehovah as a sure protector. His word
here means especially his
promise,
perhaps with specific allusion to the seventh chapter of 2 Samuel.
Tried, as metals are tried by
fire, and thus proved to be genuine; see
above,
on Ps. xii. 7 (6). A shield; see
above, on Ps. 4 (3). Trusting
in him; see above, on Ps. ii.
12.
32 (31). For who is God save Jehovah? And who is a rock besides our
God? The for shews that this verse gives the
ground of the strong assur-
ances
contained in that before it. "I affirm all this because I recognise
Jehovah
as the only true God." Rock has
the same sense as in ver. 3 (2).
The
whole verse bears a strong resemblance to 2 Sam. vii. 22.
33 (32). The Almighty girding me with strength, and (who) has given
(or rendered) my way
perfect.
The connection of the verses is the same as
that
between ver. 31 (30) and 32 (31). The our
God of the preceding
verse
is here described as the Almighty girding
me, &c. For the true
VER.
33-37.] PSALM
XVIII.
83
sense
of the divine name here and in ver. 32 (31), see above, on Ps. v.
5
(4). vii. 12, (11), x. 11, 12, xvi. 1, xvii. 6. The imparting of a quality
or
bestowing of a gift is in various languages described as clothing. Thus
the
English words endue and invest have almost lost their original
mean-
ing.
The figure of girding is peculiarly significant, because in the oriental
dress
the girdle is essential to all free and active motion. Compare Ps.
lxv.
13 (12), as translated in the margin of the English Bible, and Isa. xi. 5.
The
last clause may either mean, "who is faultless in the way by
which
he leads me," i. e. whose
dispensations towards me are free from all
injustice;
or, "who gives my conduct the perfection which belongs to it."
The
first construction gives the words the same sense as in ver. 31 (30);
but
the other is by far the simplest and most natural, and as such
entitled
to the preference.
34 (33). Making my feet like hinds, and on my heights he makes me stand.
The
first word properly means equalling, assimilating, the idea of resem-
blance
being expressed in Hebrew both by the verb and by the particle of
comparison.
The female animal is supposed by some to be mentioned
because
it was regarded as more fleet, and accordingly we find it used in
the
Egyptian hieroglyphics as a symbol of swiftness. The name, however,
may
be used generally, as in English we apply either the masculine or
feminine
pronoun to some whole species. My heights,
those which are to
be
mine by right of conquest and by divine gift. The heights may be
either
the natural highlands of the country or the artificial heights of its
fortified
places. It has been disputed whether the swiftness mentioned in
the
first clause has reference to attack or flight. Most probably both were
meant
to be included, as in ver. 30 (29) above. For both reasons swift-
ness
of foot was prized in the heroic age, as appears from Homer's standing
description
of Achilles. See 2 Sam. ii. 18, 1 Chron. xii. 8.
35 (34). Teaching my hands to war, and my arms have bent a bow of
brass. The construction is
continued from the preceding verse, all the
participles
having reference to the name of God in ver. 33 (32). The last
clause
is a strong expression for extraordinary strength, which is mentioned
merely
as a heroic quality. The translation broken
rests on what is now
regarded
as a false etymology. Brass was used before iron in Egypt and
other
ancient countries as a material for arms.
36 (35). And hast given me a shield, thy salvation; and thy right hand
is to hold me up, and thy
condescension is to make me great. In the first
clause
we may also read the shield of thy
salvation, or thy shield of salva-
tion,
i. e. thy saving shield, without
material variation of the sense. The
futures
have reference to the point from which he is surveying things past
as
still future. The noun in the last clause means humility, as an attribute
of
human character (Prov. xv. 33), but when applied to God, benignant
self-abasement,
condescending kindness to inferiors. Compare Ps. viii. 5
(4),
Isai. lxvi. 1, 2.
37 (36). Thou wilt enlarge my steps under me, and my ankles shall not
swerve. To enlarge the steps
is to afford ample room for walking freely
without
hindrance. The opposite figure is that of confined steps. See Prov. iv. 12,
Job
xviii. 7. The meaning of the whole verse is, thou wilt guide me safely.
38 (37). I am to pursue my enemies and overtake them, and not to turn
back until I destroy
them.
This is not a threat of vengeance, but a confi-
dent
anticipation of perpetual triumphs, either in his own person or in that
of
his descendants. The form of expression in the first clause is borrowed
84
PSALM XVIII.
[VER. 38-45.
from
the Song of Moses, Exod. xv. 9. See above on Ps. vii. 6 (5), where
the
same two verbs are combined. The reference of all these future forms
to
past time would be not only gratuitous but ungrammatical.
39 (38). I shall smite them and they cannot rise, they shall fall beneath
my feet. This simply carries out
the idea of successful pursuit in the preceding verse.
40 (39). And thou hast girded me with
strength for the war (or battle),
thou wilt bow down my
assailants under me.
He returns to God as the
author
of his triumphs and successes. The first clause blends the ideas
expressed
in the corresponding clauses of ver. 33, 36 (32, 35).—My
assailants, literally, my insurgents, those rising up against
me. See ver.
49
below, and compare Ps. xliv. 6 (5), lix. 2 (1), Job xxvii. 7. Here
again
the spirit of the Psalmist is not that of an ambitious conqueror, but
of
a willing instrument in God's hand, to be used for the promotion of his
sovereign
purpose.
41 (40). And my enemies—thou hast given to me the back—and my
haters—I will destroy
them.
Each clause begins with an absolute nomina-
tive
which might be rendered, as to my
enemies, as to my haters. The
remainder
of the first clause is highly idiomatic in its form, and scarcely
admits
of an exact translation. The word translated back properly means
the
back of the neck, but is frequently used in such connections. The
meaning
of the whole phrase is, thou hast given me their back, i. e. made
them
to turn it towards me by putting them to flight. This is also a
Mosaic
form of speech. See Exod. xxiii. 27, and compare Josh. vii. 8,
2
Chron. xxix. 6. Ps. xxi. 13 (12).
42 (41), They shall call for help, and there is no deliverer—upon Jehovah,
and he hears them not. Because they have no
covenant relation to him, as
the
Psalmist had. Their calling on Jehovah does not exclude all reference
to
heathen foes, as appears from Jonah i. 14. —Hear,
in the pregnant sense
of
hearing favourably, granting, answering a prayer. See above, on Ps.
iii.
5 (4).
43 (42). And I shall beat them small as dust before the wind, as dirt in
the streets I will pour
them out.
The comparisons in this verse are intended
to
express the Psalmist's superiority to his enemies, his consequent con-
tempt
for them, and the facility with which he will destroy them. Similar
images
are not unfrequent in the Old Testament. See for example Isa. x. 6,
Zeph.
i. 17. Zech. x. 5.
44 (43). Thou wilt save me from the strifes of the people; thou wilt place
me at the head (or for a chief) of nations; a people I have not known shall
serve me. He was not only to be
freed from the internal strifes of his own
people,
but by that deliverance enabled to subdue other nations. The
closing
words of the psalm, and its obvious connection with the promises in
2
Sam. vii., shew that this anticipation was not limited to David's personal
triumphs,
either at home or abroad, but meant to comprehend the victories
of
his successors, and especially of him in whom the royal line was at once
to
end and be perpetuated. It may, therefore, be affirmed with truth that
this
prediction had its complete fulfilment only in Christ.
45, 46 (44, 45). At the hearing of the ear they will obey me, the sons of
outland will lie to me;
the sons of outland will decay, and tremble out of
their enclosures. The meaning of the
first words of this verse is clear from
Job
xlii. 5, where the hearing of the ear is put in opposition to the sight of
the
eye, report or hearsay to personal and ocular inspection. The verb
translated
will obey, whenever it occurs elsewhere,
is a simple passive of the
VER. 46.] PSALM XVIII. 85
where verb to hear,
and accordingly some render it here, they who have only been
heard
of by the hearing of the ear, i. e.
those whom I have only heard of,
but
have never seen, will feign obedience. But as the corresponding form
of
the verb to lie (UwHEKAyi) is used by Moses
actively in Deut. xxxiii. 29, to
which
place there is an obvious allusion here. the first translation above
given
is entitled to the preference, and the sense is, that as soon as foreign
nations
hear of him they will lie to him, i. e.
yield a feigned obedience
through
the influence of fear, in which sense another form of the same verb
is
used, not only in the passage of the Pentateuch just cited, but in Ps.
lxvi.
3, lxxxi. 16 (15).—The old word outland,
which may still be traced in
its
derivative adjective outlandish, has
been here employed to represent a
Here Hebrew word for which we have no equivalent
in modern English, and
of
his which means foreign parts
indefinitely or collectively. The marginal version
in
the English Bible (sons of the stranger)
is only an inexact approximation
to
the form of the original. The verb decay,
which properly denotes the
withering
of plants (see above, Ps. i. 3), is applied to the wasting of the
human
subject, and indeed of whole communities, in Exod. xviii. 18. To
tremble from, or out of,
is a pregnant phrase, involving the idea of a verb of
motion,
and meaning to come forth with fear. The same form of expres-
sion
may be found in Micah vii. 17, and analogous ones in 1 Sam. xvi. 4,
Hosea
xi. 11.—Their enclosures, their
retreats or refuges, perhaps with
made special reference to military enclosures,
such as fortresses and camps.
47 (46). Jehovah lives, and blessed be my rock, and high shall be the God
of my salvation. The first phrase, (hOAhy;
yHa)which
is elsewhere always
used
as a formula of swearing (as the Lord
liveth, i. e. as certainly as God
exists),
is by some interpreters confounded with a kindred phrase (yHiy;
j`l,m,.ha) vive
le roi, (long) live the king, and regarded as a kind of acclama-
tion,
similar to those which were uttered at the coronation of the Jewish kings
(1
Sam. x. 24, 1 Kings i. 25, 39, 2 Kings xi. 12). But besides the differ-
ence
of form in Hebrew, such a wish is inappropriate to any but a mortal.
There
may, however, be an intentional allusion to the custom in question,
as
well as to the practice of swearing by the life of Jehovah, both of which
would
naturally be suggested to a Hebrew reader. Jehovah is described as
the
living God, in contrast to dead
idols, or imaginary deities, which, as
Paul
says (1 Cor. viii. 4), are nothing in the world. Blessed be my rock,
the
foundation of my hope, my refuge and protector; see above, on ver. 3
(2).
The word translated blessed does not
mean happy, but praised, and
may
here have the peculiar sense of worthy to
be praised, like ll.Ahum; in ver.
4
(3) above. It may be rendered as an affirmation: My rock (is) worthy
to
be praised. Or it may be taken as a wish: Praised (be) my rock, to
which
there is the less objection, as the preceding proposition is, in fact
though
not in form, a doxology, i. e. a
declaration of what God is in him-
that
self, and of that to which he is in consequence entitled. The third phrase,
he shall be high, may be understood to
mean, not only he shall still be
glorious,
but he shall be magnified as such, exalted by the praises of his
creatures.
The God of my salvation, or, my God of salvation, does not
merely
mean the God who saves me, but my God who is a Saviour, of whom
this
is one essential character. Compare Luke i. 47. This epithet is
common
in the Psalms, and occurs once or twice in the Prophets. Isa.
xvii.
10, Mic. vii. 7, Hab. iii. 18.
86 PSALM
XVIII. [VER.
47-50.
48 (47). The Mighty (God) who gives revenges to me and has subdued
nations under me. The construction is
the same as in ver. 31, 33 (30, 32)
above.
This verse contains a further description of the God of his salva-
Lion,
and at the same time justifies the affirmations of the preceding verse,
What
the Psalmist here rejoices in is not vengeance wreaked upon his per-
sonal
enemies, but punishment inflicted on the enemies of God through
himself
as a mere instrument. Not to rejoice in this would have proved him unworthy
of
his high vocation. With the last clause compare Ps. xlvii.4 (3), cxliv. 2.
49 (48). Saving me from my enemies; yea, from my assailants (or insur-
gents) thou wilt raise
me high; from the man of violence thou wilt deliver me.
Here
again the construction changes from the participle to the finite verb,
but
with a further change to the second person, which adds greatly to the
life
and energy of the expression. The yea
may be taken as a simple copu-
lative,
and assailants as a mere equivalent
to enemies. Some prefer, how-
ever,
to assume a climax, and to understand the verse as meaning that he
had
not only been delivered from external foes, but from the more danger-
ous
assaults of domestic treason or rebellion. There would then seem to
be
an allusion to Absalom's conspiracy. Thou
wilt raise me, set me up on
high,
beyond the reach of all my enemies. For a similar expression see
below,
Ps. lix. 2 (1), as translated in the margin of the English Bible,
The man of violence has, no doubt,
reference to Saul, but only as the type of
a
whole class. Compare Ps. cxl. 2, 5 (1, 4).
50 (49). Therefore I will thank thee among the nations, O Jehovah, and
to thy name will sing. The first word has
reference not merely to the fact
of
his deliverance and promotion, but to the character in which he had ex-
perienced
these blessings, and the extent of the divine purpose in bestowing
them.
"Therefore—because it is God who has done and is to do all this
for
me, and because it is in execution of a purpose comprehending the whole
race—I
will not confine my praises and thanksgiving to my own people,
but
extend them to all nations." The performance of this vow has been
going
on for ages, and is still in progress wherever this and other psalms of
David
are now sung or read. The verse before us is legitimately used by
Paul,
together with Deut. xxxii. 43, Isa. xi. 1, 10, and Ps. cxvii. 1, to
prove
that, even under the restrictive institutions of the old economy, God
was
not the God of the Jews only, but of the Gentiles also. (Rom. iii. 29,
xv.
9-12).—The verb in the first clause strictly means I will confess or
acknowledge, but is specially
applied to the acknowledgment of gifts received
or
benefits experienced, and then corresponds almost exactly to our thank.
The
corresponding verb in the last clause means to praise by music. See
above,
on Ps. vii. 18 (17), ix. 3, 12 (2, 11).
51 (50). Making great the salvations of his King, and doing kindness to his
Anointed, to David, and
to his seed unto eternity. We have here another
instance
of the favourite construction which connects a sentence with the
foregoing
context by means of a participle agreeing with the subject of a
previous
sentence; see above, ver. 31 (30), 32 (31), 33 (32), 34 (33), 49
(48).
Making great salvations, saving often
and signally. The plural form
conveys
the idea of fulness and completeness. As the phrase His Anointed
might
have seemed to designate David exclusively, he shews its comprehen-
sive
import by expressly adding David and his
seed, from which it clearly
follows
that the Messiah or Anointed One here mentioned is a complex
or
ideal
person, and that Jesus Christ, far from being excluded, is, in fact, the
principal
person comprehended, as the last and greatest of the royal line of
VER.
1.] PSALM
XIX. 87
David,
to whom the promises were especially given, in whom alone they are
completely
verified, and of whom alone the last words of this psalm could
be
uttered, in their true and strongest sense, without a falsehood or with-
out
absurdity. In this conclusion, as in other portions of the psalm, there
is
a clear though tacit reference to the promise in 2 Sam. vii. 12-16, 25,
26,
where several of the very same expressions are employed. Compare
also
Ps. xxviii. 8, lxxxiv. 10 (9), and Ps. lxxxix, passim.
Another copy of this psalm is found
recorded near the close of David's
history
(2 Sam. ch. xxii.), which confirms the intimation in the title,
that
it was not composed in reference to any particular occasion, but in
a
general retrospection of the miseries of his whole life. The two texts
often
differ, both in form and substance, which has led some to suppose,
that
one is an erroneous transcript of the other. But this conclusion is for
bidden
by the uniform consistency of each considered in itself, as well as
by
the obvious indications of design in the particular variations, which may
be
best explained by supposing, that David himself, for reasons not recorded,
prepared
a twofold form of this sublime composition, which is the less im-
probable,
as there are other unambiguous traces of the same process in the
Old
Testament, and in the writings of David himself. See below, the expo-
sition
of Ps. liii., and compare that of Isaiah, ch. xxxvi.—xxxix. If this be a
correct
hypothesis, the two forms of the eighteenth psalm may be treated as
distinct
and independent compositions; and it has therefore been thought
most
advisable, both for the purpose of saving room and of avoiding the con-
fusion
which a parallel interpretation might have caused, to confine the
exposition
in this volume to that form of the psalm, which was preserved in the
Psalter
for permanent use in public worship, and which exhibits strong
internal
proofs of being the original or first conception, although both are
equally
authentic and inspired.
PSALM XIX.
This psalm consists of three parts. The
subject of the first is God's
revelation
of himself in his material works, ver. 2-7 (1-6). That of the
second
is the still more glorious revelation of himself in his law, ver. 8-11
(7-10). The third shews the bearing of these
truths upon the personal
character
and interest of the writer, and of all who are partakers of his faith,
ver.
12-15 (11-14).
The object of the psalm is not to contrast
the moral and material revela-
tions,
but rather to identify their author and their subject. The doctrinal
sum
of the whole composition is, that the same God who reared the frame
of
nature is the giver of a law, and that this law is in all respects worthy of
its
author.
1. To
the Chief Musician, a Psalm by David. The form of this inscrip-
tion
is the same as that of Ps. xiii. Its historical correctness is attested by
its
position in the Psalter, its resemblance to Ps. viii., and its peculiar
style
and spirit.
2 (1). The
heavens (are) telling the glory of God, and the work of his hands
(is) the firmament declaring. The participles are
expressive of continued
action.
The glory of God is the sum of his
revealed perfections (compare
Ps.
xxiv. 7-10, xxix. 3, Rom. i. 20. The expanse
or firmament is used as
an
equivalent to heaven, even in the
history of the creation, Gen. i. 8. To
88 PSALM
XIX.
[VER. 2-5.
declare
the work of his hands is to shew what he can do and has actually
done.
The common version handywork means
nothing more than hand-
work; to take handy as an epithet of praise is a
vulgar error.
3 (2). Day
to day shall pour out speech, and night to night shall utter
knowledge. Both verbs are peculiar
to the poetical dialect and books of the
Old
Testament. Pour out, in a copious ever-gushing
stream. As the par-
ticiples
of ver. 2 (1) express constant action, so the futures here imply continuance in
all
time
to come. Speech means the declaration
of God's glory, and knowledge the
knowledge
of the same great object. The idea of perpetual testimony is conveyed by
the
figure of one day and night following another as witnesses in unbroken
succession.
4 (3). There
is no speech, and there are no words; not at all is their voice
heard. As the first clause
might have seemed to contradict the first clause
of
ver. 3 (2), the Psalmist adds no words,
to shew that he here uses speech
in
the strict sense of articulate language.—The first word of the last clause
is
properly a noun, meaning cessation or defect, non-entity, and here used as
a
more emphatic negative, expressed in the translation by the phrase not at
all.—Their voice might either be referred exclusively to the heaven and
firmament of ver. 2 (1), or
extended to the day and night of ver. 3 (2). But
the
first is the true construction, as appears from the next verse. The absence
of
articulate language, far from weakening the testimony, makes it stronger.
Even
without speech or words, the heavens testify of God to all men. This
construction
of the sentence is much simpler, as well as more exact, than
the
ancient one, retained in the common version, "there is no speech nor
language
where their voice is not heard," or that preferred by others, "it
is
not a speech or language whose voice is not heard." The true sense is
given
in the margin of the English Bible.
5 (4.) In
all the earth has gone out their line, and in the end of the world
(are) their words. For the sun he has pitched a tent in them. The word ren-
dered
line always means a measuring line,
and in Jer. xxxi. 39 is combined
in
that sense with the same verb as here. The idea is, that their province
or
domain is co-extensive with the earth, and that they speak with autho-
rity
even in its remotest parts.—Words may
also be construed with the verb
of
the first clause, but it will then be necessary to translate the preposition
to. The explanation of line as meaning the string of a musical
instrument,
and
then the sound which it produces, although favoured by the ancient
versions,
is entirely at variance with Hebrew usage. The subject of the
verb
in the last clause is the name of God expressed in ver. 2 (1) above.—
Pitched a tent, provided a dwelling,
or without a figure, assigned a place.
In them must refer to the heavens mentioned in ver. 2 (1),
which makes it
probable
that all the plural pronouns in the intervening clauses have the
same
antecedent. The sun is introduced in this sentence probably because
his
apparent course is a measure of the wide domain described in the first
clause.
It must be co-extensive with the earth, because the sun which
visits
the whole earth has his habitation in the sky. The boundless exten-
sion
of the heavens and their testimony is used by Paul (Rom. x. 18) to
signify
the general diffusion of the gospel, and the same thing might have
taught
the earlier Jews that their exclusive privileges were granted only for
a
time, and as a means to a more glorious end.
6 (5). And
he (is) as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber; he rejoices
as a mighty man to run a
race.
The second simile has reference to the sun's
daily
course, the first to his vigorous and cheerful reappearance after the
darkness
of the night. By a fine transition, the general idea of a tent or
VER.
6-8.] PSALM
XIX.
89
dwelling
is here exchanged for the specific one of a nuptial couch or cham-
ber.
Rejoices, literally will rejoice, for ever as he now does.
7 (6). From
the end of the heavens (is) his outgoing, and his circuit even
to the ends of them, and
there is none (or nothing) hidden from his heat.
What
is said in ver. 5 (4) of the heavens is here said of the sun, to wit,
that
his domain is coextensive with the earth or habitable world. The
last
clause is added to shew that it is not an ineffective presence, but one
to
be felt as well as seen. The sun's heat is mentioned, not in contrast
with
his light, but as its inseparable adjunct.—The plural ends seems to be added to
the
singular in order to exhaust the meaning, or at least to strengthen the
expression.
The
word translated circuit includes the
idea of return to a starting-point. The
Hebrew
preposition properly means up to (or down to) their very extremity.
8 (7). The
law of Jehovah is perfect, restoring the soul; the testimony of
Jehovah is sure, making
wise the simple.
The God, whose glory is thus
shewn
forth by the material creation, is the author of a spiritual law, which
the
Psalmist now describes in the next three verses, by six characteristic
names,
six qualifying epithets, and six moral effects produced by it. In
the
verse before us, besides the usual term law, it is called God's testimony,
i. e. the testimony which he
bears for truth and against iniquity. It is
described
as perfect, i. e. free from all defect or blemish, and as sure, i. e.
definite,
decided, and infallible. Its two effects, mentioned in this verse.
are,
first, that of restoring the soul, i. e. the life and spirits exhausted by
calamity.
See below, on Ps. xxiii. 3, and compare Ruth. iv. 15, Lam. i.
11,
16. The effect of converting the soul would
not have been attributed
to
the law in this connection, where the writer is describing the affections
cherished
towards the law by men already converted, which removes all
apparent
inconsistency with Paul's representation of the law as working
death,
and at the same time the necessity of making the law mean the
gospel,
or in any other way departing from the obvious and usual import
of
the Hebrew word. The other effect ascribed to the law is that of mak-
ing wise the simple, not the foolish, in
the strong sense in which that term
is
applied to the ungodly—see above, on Ps. xiv. 1—but those imperfectly
enlightened
and still needing spiritual guidance, a description applicable,
more
or less, to all believers. It is a singular fact, that while this usage of
the
Hebrew word is peculiar to David, Solomon constantly applies it to the
culpable
simplicity of unconverted men. (See Ps. cxvi. 6, cxix. 130, Prov.
i.
22, vii. 7, ix. 4, xiv. 15, &c.)—In like manner Paul describes the
"sacred
scriptures" as able to make wise
unto salvation, 2 Tim. iii. 15.
9 (8). The
statutes of Jehovah (are) right, rejoicing the heart; the com-
mandment of Jehovah is
pure, enlightening the eyes. The words translated
statute and commandment differ very slightly from each other, the one ex-
pressing
more distinctly the idea of a charge or commission, the other that
of
a prescription or direction. There is also no great difference between
the
epithets applied in this verse to the law of God, which is right, as being
an
exact expression of his rectitude, and pure,
as being free from all taint
of
injustice or iniquity. The first effect described is that of rejoicing the
heart, to wit, the heart
loving righteousness, and consequently desirous of
knowing
what is right by knowing what is acceptable to God, and what
required
by him. The other effect, enlightening
the eyes, is understood by
some
of intellectual illumination with respect to spiritual things. But it
is
more agreeable to Hebrew usage to suppose an allusion to the dimness of
the
eyes produced by extreme weakness and approaching death, recovery
90 PSALM XIX. [VER. 9-11.
from
which is figuratively represented as an enlightening of the eyes. See
above,
on Ps. xiii. 4 (3), and compare Ps. xxxiv. 6 (5). The figure,
thus
explained, bears a strong resemblance to restoring
the soul in the preceding
verse,
the one referring rather to the sense, and the other to the life itself.
10 (9). The
fear of Jehovah is clean, standing for ever; the judgments of
Jehovah are truth, they
are righteous altogether. As the fear of Jehovah, in
its
proper sense, would here be out of place, and as the law was designed to
teach
men how to fear the Lord (Deut. xvii.
19), the phrase may here
be
understood as a description of the law viewed in reference to this peculiar
purpose,
the fear of the Lord being put for that which leads or teaches
men
to fear him, a sense which the expression is supposed to have in several
other
places. See Ps. xxxiv. 12 (11), Prov. 29, ii. 5, xv. 33.—Standing
for ever, of perpetual
obligation. Even Christ came not to destroy, but to
fulfil.
See Mat. v. 17, 18. With the form of expression here compare
Ps.
xxxiii. 11, cxii. 3.—Judgments are
properly judicial decisions, but
are
here put, as in Ps. xviii. 23 (22), for all God's requisitions. They are
truth (itself) may be a strong
expression, meaning they are perfectly and
absolutely
true; but as this would make the last clause little more than a
tautology,
the first phrase may be understood to mean that they are really
that
which they purport and claim to be, and therefore must be righteous
altogether, i. e. all, without exception, righteous, which is tantamount, in
fact,
though not in form, to wholly or completely righteous.
11 (10). (Judgments) to be desired more than gold, and much fine gold;
and sweeter than honey
and the dropping of the combs. The description of
the
law of God is wound up by comparing it to the costliest and sweetest
substance
in common use. The sense of the passive participle is like that
in
Ps. xviii. 4 (3). Its plural form, and the article prefixed to it in Hebrew,
shew
that it is to be construed with judgments,
and that the sentence,
is
continued from the foregoing verse, as in Ps. xviii. 31 (30), 33 (32), 34
(33),
35 (34), 48 (47), 51 (50).—The Hebrew answering to fine gold is a
single
word (zPA),
not used in prose, and by some supposed to mean solid
or
massive gold, but according to a more probable etymology denoting
purified
or fine gold. The combination here used is found also in Ps. cxix.
127.
See also Prov. viii. 19, and compare Ps. xxi. 4 (3), below. To
make
the resemblance of the clauses perfect, the usual word for honey is
followed
by a beautiful periphrasis, denoting that kind which was most
highly
valued, The ideas expressed by both comparisons are those of
value
and delightfulness.—As the preceding verses describe what the law
is
in itself and in its general effects, so this seems to express what it is to
the
Psalmist's apprehensions and affections, thus affording a transition
from
the comprehensive doctrines of the foregoing context to the practical
and
personal approbation of those doctrines, which now follows and con-
cludes
the psalm.
12 (11). Moreover, thy servant is enlightened by them; in keeping them
there is much reward. The verb in the first
clause is used with special
reference
to admonition and warning against danger. See Eccles. iv. 13,
Exod.
xxxiii. 4, 5, 6, Eccles. xii. 12. The plural suffixes have reference to
judgments in ver. 10 (9) above.—Reward is here used not to signify a
recompence
earned in strict justice, but a gratuity bestowed. The spirit of
the
passage is the same as in 1 Cor. xv. 19, 1 Tim. iv. 8. The phrase
VER.
12-14.] PSALM
XIX.
91
thy servant brings the general
doctrines of the foregoing context into
personal
application to the writer.
13 (12). Errors who shall understand? Clear thou me from hidden
ones! The word translated errors is akin to one sometimes used in
the
Law
to denote sins of inadvertence, error, or infirmity, as distinguished
from
deliberate, wilful, and high-handed sins, such as are deprecated in
the
next verse. See Lev. iv. 2-27, Num. xv. 27. Against such sins no
wisdom
or vigilance can wholly guard.—The word translated clear is also bor-
rowed
from the Law, and means not so much to cleanse by renovation
of
the heart, as to acquit by a judicial sentence. See Exod. xxxiv. 7, Num.
xiv.
18. Such an acquittal, in the case of sinners against God, involves the
idea
of a free forgiveness.
14 (13). Also from presumptuous (ones) withhold thy servant; then shall
I be perfect and be
clear from much transgression. As he prays for the
forgiveness
of his inadvertent sins, so he prays for the prevention of deli-
berate
ones. The Hebrew word (Mydize) properly denotes proud men, but
seems
to be here applied to sins by a strong personification. The use of
the
verbal root and its derivatives in the Old Testament may be seen by com-
paring
Exod. xxi.14, Deut. xvii.12, xviii. 22, 1 Sam. xvii. 28.—To be per-
feet
has the same sense as in Ps. xviii. 24-26 (23-25). That it does not
there
mean sinless perfection is confirmed by the language of the verse
before
us.—The great transgression, as if
referring to some one particular
offence,
is not the true sense of the Hebrew phrase, which is indefinite and
perfectly
analogous to that rendered much (or great) reward in ver. 12 (11) above.
15 (14). (Then) shall be for acceptance (or acceptable) the sayings of my
mouth, and the thought
of my heart before thee, Jehovah, my rock and my
redeemer. The simplest and most
obvious construction of the Hebrew
sentence
makes it a direct continuation of the last clause of ver. 14 (13),
and
like it an anticipation of the happy effects to be expected from an
answer
to the foregoing prayers. If his sins of ignorance could be for-
given,
and the deliberate sins, to which his natural corruption prompts him,
hindered
by divine grace, he might hope not only to avoid much guilt but
to
be the object of God's favour. As this confident anticipation really
involves
a wish that it may be fulfilled, there is little real difference be-
tween
the construction above given and the common version: let the words
of my mouth and the
meditation of my heart be acceptable, &c. It is much
more
natural, however, to connect the words before thee with my meditation,
which
immediately precedes, than with the first words of the verse as in
the
English Bible. What I think in thy
presence is then joined with the
words of my mouth, to express all prayer,
whether clothed in words or not.
See
above, on Ps. v. 2 (1). The prayer or expectation of acceptance in this
clause
derives peculiar beauty from the obvious allusion to the frequent use
of
the same Hebrew phrase (NOcrAl;) in the law of Moses, to denote the
accept-
ance
of the sacrificial offerings, or rather the acceptance of the offerer on
account
of them. See Exod. xxviii. 38, Lev. xix. 5, 7, xxii. 19, 20, 29,
xxiii.
11, Isa. lvi. lx. 7, Rom. xii. 1. This allusion also serves to sug-
gest
the idea, not conveyed by a translation, of atonement, expiation, as
the
ground of the acceptance which the Psalmist hopes or prays for.
92
PSALM XX.
[VER. 1-3.
PSALM XX.
A prayer
for the use of the ancient church in time of war. Addressing
her
visible head, she wishes him divine assistance and success, ver. 2-6
(1-5),
and expresses a strong confidence that God will answer her petition,
ver.
7-9 (6-8), which she then repeats and sums up in conclusion, ver. 10 (9).
There
is no trace of this psalm having been composed with reference to
any
particular occasion, its contents being perfectly appropriate to every
case
in which the chosen people, under their theocratic head, engaged in
war
against the enemies of God and Israel.
To
the Chief Musician. Written for his use and entrusted to him for
execution.
As in all other cases, this inscription shews the psalm to have
been
written, not for the expression of mere personal feelings, but to be a
vehicle
of pious sentiment to the collective body of God's people. — A
Psalm by David. The correctness of
this statement is not only free from
any
positive objection, but confirmed by the whole tone and style of the per-
formance,
as well as by its intimate connection with the next psalm. See
below,
on Ps. xxi. 1.
2 (1). Jehovah
hear thee in the day of trouble! The name of Jacob's God
exalt thee! The name of God, the
revelation of his nature in his acts.
"May
those divine attributes, which have been so often manifested in the
experience
of the chosen people, be exercised for thy protection. See above,
on
Ps. v. 12 (11).—The God of Jacob, of
the patriarch so called, and of
his
seed. See Mat. xxii. 32.—Exalt thee,
raise thee beyond the reach of
danger.
See above, on Ps. ix. 10 (9), xviii. 3, 49 (2, 48).
3 (2).
(May Jehovah) send thee help from (his) sanctuary, and from Zion
sustain thee. The mention of Zion
and the sanctuary shews that Jehovah
is
appealed to as the king of his people, and as such not only able but bound
by
covenant to afford them aid. See below, on ver. 10 (9.) Sustain thee,
hold
thee up, the same verb that is used in Ps. xviii. 36 (35). Both verbs
may
also be translated as simple futures, will send, will sustain; but see below.
4 (3). (May
Jehovah) remember all thy gifts and accept thy offering. Selah.
The
word remember in the first clause seems to involve an allusion to the
memorial (hrAKAz;xa), a name given in the
sacrificial ritual to that part of the
vegetable
offering which was burnt upon the altar. See Lev. ii. 2, vi. 8
(15).—The
word translated gifts, although
properly generic, is specially
used
to denote the vegetable offerings of the law, while the word translated
offering is the technical name
of the principal animal sacrifice. They are
put
together to describe these two species of obligation. Compare Ps.
xl.
7 (6), Jer. xvii. 26, Dan. ix. 27.—The verb translated accept means
elsewhere
to make fat (Ps. xviii. 5), or to remove the ashes of the altar.
(Exod.
xxvii. 3, Num. iv. 13). Some give it here the sense of turning into
ashes
or consuming, others that of pronouncing fat, and therefore fit for
sacrifice.
In either case acceptance is implied. The optative form of the
verb
in the original seems to confirm the sense already put upon the fore-
going
futures. From this verse it has been inferred, with some probability,
that
the whole psalm was specially intended to be used at the sacrifice
offered
by the Israelites before a campaign or a battle. (See 1 Sam. xiii.
9,
10). To this some add the supposition, that the selah, in the verse be-
VER.
4-6.] PSALM
XX. 93
fore
us, marks the pause in the performance of the psalm, during which the
sacrifice
was actually offered. See above, on Ps. iii. 3 (2).
5 (4). (May
he) give thee according to thy heart, and all thy counsel (or
design) fulfil. This is not a vague
wish for success in general, but a prayer
for
success on the particular occasion when the psalm was to be used.—
Thy heart, thy desire. Thy counsel, the plan which thou hast
formed and
undertaken
to execute in God's name, and for the protection or deliverance
of
his people.
6 (5). May
we rejoice in thy deliverance, and in the name of our God
display a banner! May Jehovah
fulfil all thy petitions! The phrase thy
deliverance may mean that wrought
or that experienced by thee. In all
probability
both ideas are included. In the name of
our God, and therefore
not
as a mere secular triumph. The second verb (lGod;ni) seems to be con-
nected
with a noun (lg,D,) used by Moses to denote the banners
under which
the
four great divisions of the host marched through the wilderness (Num.
i.
52, ii. 2, 3, 10, 18, 25, x. 14). Hence the conjectural translation,
"may
we set up (or display) a banner." But as the participle of the same
verb
seems, in the only other place where it occurs (Song of Sol. v. 10),
to
signify distinguished or exalted, others follow the Septuagint
and Vulgate
in
translating, may we be lifted up or magnified.—The last clause is a com-
prehensive
prayer, equivalent in meaning to ver. 5 (4) above, and including
not
merely what had been expressly specified, but all that the theocratic
sovereign
might desire or attempt in conformity with God's will, whether
known
to the whole body of his followers or not. This clause concludes
the
first division of the psalm by recurring to the theme with which it
opens,
and with which again the whole psalm closes. See below, on ver. 10 (9).
7 (6). Now
I know that Jehovah has saved his Anointed—he will hear him
from his holy
heavens—with the saving strength of his right hand. What
was
asked in the foregoing context is here said to be already granted.
Hence
some imagine that a battle or other decisive event must be supposed
to
intervene. But this, besides being highly improbable and forced in so
brief
a composition, is forbidden by the immediate recurrence to the future
form,
he will hear. A far more natural
solution is, that this verse expresses
a
sudden conviction or assurance that the preceding prayers are to be an-
swered.
As if he had said: "Such are my requests, and I know that Jehovah
has
already granted them, so that in his purpose and to the eye of faith,
his
Anointed is already safe, and has already triumphed." The change
to
the first person singular does not indicate a different speaker, but merely
puts
what follows into the mouth of each individual believer, or of the whole
body
viewed as an ideal person.
The second member of the sentence may be
best explained as a paren-
thesis,
leaving the third to be construed directly with the first, as in the
version
above given. In this verse we have two examples of a common
Hebrew
idiom, one of them a very strong one. The phrase translated from
his holy heavens might seen; to mean the heavens of his holiness; but the
true
construction is his heavens of holiness,
i. e. the heavens where the Holy
One
resides, and from which his assistance must proceed. See above, on
Ps.
ii. 6, xi. 4. The attribute of holiness is mentioned to exalt still further
the
divine and sacred nature of the warfare and the victory to which the
psalm
relates. Another example of the Hebrew idiom before referred to is
the saving strength of
his right hand,
which literally rendered is the strengths
94 PSALM
XX. [VER.
7-9.
of the salvation of his
right hand.
The plural strengths may either be
inten-
sive,
or refer to the various exertions of the power here described. The
right
hand has the same sense as in Ps. xviii. 36 (35). Here, as in Ps.
xviii.
51 (50), His Messiah or Anointed One includes the whole
succession
of
genuine theocratic kings, not excepting him whose representatives they
were,
and in whom the royal line was at the same time closed and made
perpetual.
8 (7). These
in chariots and these in horses, and we in the name of Jehovah
our God, will glory. All the objects are
connected by the same pre-
position
with the same verb, namely, that at the end of the sentence. In
order
to retain the preposition, which must otherwise be varied, and thereby
obscure
the structure of the sentence, the verb glory,
which is construed
with
the preposition in, has been substituted for the strict sense of the is
verb,
we will cause to be remembered, i. e.
mention or commemorate. See
Exod.
xxiii. 13, Amos vi. 10, Isa. xlviii. 1, lxiii. 7. The insertion of the
verb
trust, in the English versions of the
first clause, is entirely gratuitous.
These and these is the Hebrew idiom for some and others. Compare this to
this, in Exod. xiv. 20, Isa.
vi. 3.—The verb, in the case before us, may
have
been selected in allusion to the cognate form in ver. 4 (3) above.
"As
God has remembered thy offerings, so we will cause his name to be
remembered."—Our God is again emphatic and
significant, as shewing that
the
whole psalm has reference to the covenant relation between God and
his
people represented by their theocratic sovereign. With the contrast
in
this verse compare 1 Sam. xvii. 45, Isa. xxxi. 3, Ps. xxxiii. 16, 17.
9 (8). They
have bowed and fallen, and we have risen
and stood upright,
Here,
as in ver. 7 (6), the past tense expresses the certainty of the event,
or
rather the confidence with which it is expected. The emphatic they at
the
beginning means the enemies and oppressors of God's people. We have
arisen seems to imply a previous
prostration and subjection.—The last verb
occurs
only here in this form, which is properly reflexive, and may be ex-
plained
to mean, we have straightened ourselves
up.
10 (9). Jehovah,
save! Let the King hear us in the day we call, or still
more closely, in the day
of our calling.
The Septuagint and Vulgate make
the
king a part of the first clause: "Jehovah, save the king" (Domino
salvum fac regem). But this not only
violates the masoretic accents, which,
though
not ultimately binding, are entitled to respect as a traditional
authority,
but separates the verb in the last clause from its subject, so that
both
the ancient versions just referred to have been under the necessity of
changing
the third into the second person (hear us).
The first clause is
besides
more expressive and emphatic without the king than with it. No-
thing
could be more pregnant or sonorous than the laconic prayer, Jehovah,
save! The object is, of
course, to be supplied from ver 7 (6), and from the
tenor
of the whole psalm. The other construction, it is true, enables us to
make
the King of this verse the same
person with the Anointed of ver. 7
(6).
But
far from any disadvantage, there is great force and beauty, in referring the
expected
blessing to the true King of Israel, whom David and his followers
only
represented. See Deut. xxxiii. 5, Ps. xlviii. 3 (2), Mat. v. 35.—By
taking
the last verb as a future proper (the
King will hear us) the psalm may
be
made to close with a promise, or rather with a confident anticipation of
God's
blessing. Most interpreters, however, prefer to make it optative,
and
thus to let the psalm conclude as it began, with an expression of intense
desire.
VER.
1-3.] PSALM
XXI.
95
PSALM XXI.
As in the eighteenth psalm, David publicly
thanks God for the promises
contained
in 2 Sam. vii., so here he puts a similar thanksgiving into the
mouth
of the church or chosen people. In ver. 2-7 (1-6), the address is
to
Jehovah, and the king is spoken of in the third person. In ver. 8 (7)
this
form of speech is used in reference to both. In ver. 9-13 (8-12) the
address
is to the king. In ver. 14 (13) it returns to Jehovah. As to the
substance
or contents of these successive parts, the first praises God for
what
he has bestowed upon the king, ver. 2-7 (1-6). In the second, there
is
a transition to another theme, ver. 8 (7). The third congratulates the
king
on what he is to do and to enjoy through the divine mercy, ver. 9-13
(8-12).
The fourth returns to the point from which the whole set out,
ver.
14 (13). The opinion that this psalm relates to the fulfilment of the
prayer
in that before it, seems to be inconsistent with its structure and
contents
as just described. They are rather parallel than consecutive, the
principal
difference being this, that while the twentieth psalm relates to the
specific
case of assistance and, success in war, the twenty-first has reference
to
the whole circle of divine gifts bestowed upon the Lord's Anointed.
1. To
the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David. The correctness of the
first
inscription is apparent from the structure of the psalm, throughout
which
the speaker is the ancient church. The correctness of the other may
be
argued from the general resemblance of the style to that of the Davidic
psalms,
from numerous coincidences of expression with the same, and from
the
tone of lively hope which seems to indicate the recent date of the divine
communication,
especially when compared with psalms which otherwise
resemble
it, such as the eighty-ninth. The particular resemblance between
this
psalm and the twentieth makes them mutually testify to one another's
genuineness
and authenticity.
2
(1). Jehovah, in thy strength shall the
king rejoice, and in thy salvation
how shall he exult! This verse commences
the description of God's favour
to
the king with a general statement, afterwards amplified in ver. 3-7 (2-6).
Thy strength, as imparted to him, or
as exercised in his deliverance, which
last
agrees best with the parallel expression, thy
salvation, i. e. thy deliver-
ance
of him from the evils which he felt or feared. In thy strength and
salvation, i. e. in the contemplation and experience of it. The future verbs
shew
that the gift has not yet been consummated, without excluding the
idea
of it as begun already.
3 (2). The
desire of his heart thou hast given unto him, and the quest of
his lips hast not
withholden. Selah.
The occasion of the joy and exultation
mentioned
in the preceding verse is now more particularly set forth. It is
easy
to imagine, although not recorded, that the great promise in the seventh
chapter
of 2 Samuel was in answer to the fervent and long-continued
prayers
of David for a succession in his own family.—The word translated
quest occurs only here, but
its sense is determined by the parallelism and
the
Arabic analogy. The combination of the positive and negative expres-
sions
of the same idea (given and not withholden) is a favourite Hebrew
idiom.
4 (3). For
thou wilt come before him with blessings of goodness, thou wilt
set upon his head a
crown of gold.
This, as Luther observes, is an answer
to
the question what he had desired. The for
connects it with the state-
96
PSALM XXI.
[VER 4-7.
ment
in the foregoing verse, which is here explained and justified. As the
preterites
in ver. 3 (2) shew that his request was granted in the divine pur-
pose,
so the futures here shew how it was to be fulfilled in fact. Come
before, come to meet in a
friendly manner. See above, on Ps. xvii. 13,
xviii.
6 (5), and compare Deut. xxiii. 5 (4).—Blessings
of good, not blessings
prompted
by the divine goodness, but conferring, or consisting in, good
fortune,
happiness. See above, on Ps. xvi. 2.—The reference in the last
clause
is not to David's literal coronation at the beginning of his reign, nor
to
the golden crown which he took from the Ammonitish king of Rabbah
(2
Sam. xii. 30), but to his ideal coronation by the granting of these glorious
favours
to himself and his successors. The divine communication in the
seventh
of 2 Samuel seems to be here viewed, as the only real coronation
of
David as a theocratic sovereign. The last word in the sentence is the
same
that was translated pure gold when
contrasted with the ordinary word
for
gold, Ps. xix. 11 (10).
5 (4). Life
he asked of thee, thou hast given (it) to him, length of days,
perpetuity and eternity. By disregarding the
masoretic interpunction, the
construction
may be simplified without a change of sense. "Life he asked
of
thee, thou hast given him length of days," &c. The last words of the
verse
are often used adverbially to mean for
ever and ever; but as they are
both
nouns, it is best to put them here in apposition with the same part of
speech
which immediately precedes. This last clause shews that the life
which
David prayed for was not personal longevity, but the indefinite con-
tinuation
of his race, an honour which was granted to him, even beyond
his
hopes and wishes, in the person of our Saviour. Compare 2 Sam. vii.
13,
16. Ps. lxxxix. 5 (4), cxxxii. 12.
6 (5). Great
shall be his majesty in thy salvation; glory and honour thou
wilt put upon him. His personal
experience of God's saving grace, and his
connection
with the great scheme of salvation for mankind, would raise him
to
a dignity far beyond that of any other monarch, and completely justifying even
the
most
exalted terms used in Scripture, from the charge of adulation or extravagance.
7 (6). For
thou wilt make him a blessing to eternity; thou wilt gladden
him with joy by thy
countenance
(or presence). He shall not only be
blessed
himself,
but a blessing to others, the idea and expression being both derived
from
the promise to Abraham in Gen. xii. 2, an allusion which serves also
to
connect the Davidic with the Abrahamic covenant, and thus to preserve
unbroken
the great chain of Messianic prophecies. Make
him a blessing,
literally,
place him for (or constitute him) blessing. The plural form suggests
variety
and fulness, as in Ps. 51 (50), xx. 7 (6).
By thy countenance,
or
with thy face, i. e. by looking on him graciously, not merely in thy pre-
sence
or before thee, as the place of the enjoyment, but by the sight of thee,
as
its cause or source. See above, on Ps. xvi. 11.
8 (7). For
the king (is) trusting in Jehovah, and in the grace of the Most
High he shall not be
moved.
The consummation of this glorious promise
was
indeed far distant, but to the eye of faith distinctly visible. In the grace
seems
to mean something more than through the
grace (or favour) of the
Most High, as the ground of his
assurance, or the source of his security.
The
words appear to qualify the verb itself, and to denote that he shall not
be
shaken from his present standing in God's favour. The use of the third
person
in this verse, with reference both to God and the king, makes it a
kind
of connecting link between the direct address to God in the first part
of
the psalm, and the direct address to the king in the second.
VER.
8-13.] PSALM
XXI. 97
9 (8). Thy
hand shall find out all thine enemies; thy right hand shall
find (those) hating thee. Having shewn what God
would do for his
Anointed,
the psalm now describes what the latter shall accomplish through
divine
assistance. Corresponding to this variation in the subject, is that
in
the object of address, which has been already noticed. By a kind of
climax
in the form of expression, hand is
followed by right hand, a still
more
emphatic sign of active strength. To find,
in this connection, includes
the
ideas of detecting and reaching. Compare 1 Sam. xxiii. 17, Isa. x. 10;
in
the latter of which places the verb is construed with a preposition (L),
as
it is in the first clause of the verse before us, whereas in the other
clause
it governs the noun directly. If any difference of meaning was intended, it
is
probably not greater than that between find
and find out in English.
10 (9). Thou
shalt make them like a fiery furnace at the time of thy
presence; Jehovah in his
wrath shall swallow them up, and fire shall devour
them. The ascription of this destroying
agency to God in the last clause
serves
to shew that the king acts merely as his instrument. Thou shalt
make, literally set or place, i. e. put them in
such or such a situation. A
fiery furnace, literally a furnace (or oven) of fire. To make
them like a
furnace
here means, not to make them the destroyers of others, but, by a
natural
abbreviation, to make them as if they were in a fiery furnace. At
the time of thy presence, literally thy face, which may be understood to
mean,
when thou lookest at them.
11 (10). Their fruit shalt thou make to perish from the earth, and their
seed from (among) the
sons of man
(or Adam). This extends the threat-
ened
destruction of the enemies to all their generations. The same figura-
tive
use of fruit occurs in Hos. ix. 16.
12 (11). For they stretched out evil over thee; they devised a plot; they
shall not be able (to effect it). The
figure of the first clause is the same as
in
1 Chron. xxi. 10. (Compare 2 Sam. xxiv. 12.) The idea here is that they
threatened
to bring evil on thee. As the verb to be
able is sometimes used
absolutely,
it is translated, they shall not prevail.
13 (12). For thou, shalt make them turn their back; with thy (bow) strings
shalt make ready against
their face.
The common version of the first word
(therefore)
is not only contrary to usage, but disturbs the sense by obscur-
ing
the connection with the foregoing verse, which is this: "they shall not
prevail,
because thou shalt make them turn
their back." This last phrase,
in
Hebrew, is so strongly idiomatic that it scarcely admits of an exact
translation.
Thou shalt make (or place) them shoulder. See above, on Ps.
xviii
41 (40), where a similar idiom occurs. In the verse before us, the
chronological
succession is reversed; it was by shooting at their face that
he
should make them turn their back. The true relation of the clauses is
denoted,
in the English Bible, by supplying a particle of time: "thou
shalt
make them turn their back (when) thou shalt make ready (thine
arrows)
upon thy strings against the face of them." The version make
ready
is also a correct one, although some translate the phrase take aim,
which
is really expressed by another form of the same verb. The true
sense
of the one here used is clear from Ps. xi. 2, and the distinctive use
of
both from Ps. vii. 13, 14 (12, 13).
14 (13). Be high, Jehovah, in thy strength; we will sing and celebrate thy
power. Here the psalm returns
to God as its great theme, and gives him
all
the glory. Be high, exalted, both in
thyself and in the praises of thy
people.
See above, on Ps. xviii. 47 (46). Thy
strength and power, as
98 PSALM
XXII. [VER.
1.
displayed
in the strength given to thine anointed. Celebrate
by music, as
the
Hebrew verb always means. There is a beautiful antithesis in this
verse,
as if he had said: thou hast only to deserve praise, we will give it.
PSALM XXII.
The
subject of this Psalm is the deliverance of a righteous sufferer
from
his enemies, and the effect of this deliverance on others. It is so
framed
as to be applied without violence to any case belonging to the class
described,
yet so that it was fully verified only in Christ, the head and repre-
sentative
of the class in question. The immediate speaker in the psalm is an
ideal
person, the righteous servant of Jehovah, but his words may, to a
certain
extent, be appropriated by any suffering believer, and by the whole
suffering
church, as they have been in all ages.
The psalm may be divided into three nearly
equal parts. The first
pleads
the necessity of God's interposition, arising from his covenant rela-
tion
to the sufferer, ver. 2-11 (1-10). The second argues the same
thing
from the imminence of the danger, ver. 12-22 (11-21). The
third
declares the glorious effects which must follow from an answer to the
foregoing
prayer, ver. 23-32 (22-31). Ver. 12 (11) and 22 (21) form
connecting
links between the first and second, second and third parts.
1. To
the Chief Musician. On the hind of the morning. A Psalm by
David. Designed for the
permanent use of the church, and therefore not
relating
to mere individual or private interests. The second clause of the
inscription
is one of those enigmatical titles in which David seems to have
delighted.
See above, on Ps. v. 1, vii. 1, ix. 1, xvi. 1. The opinion
that
it refers to the melody or subject of some other poem, is less probable
than
that it describes the theme of this. The hind
may then be a poetical
figure
for persecuted innocence, and the morning,
or rather dawn, for de-
liverance
after long distress. Compare 2 Sam. i. 19, Prov. vi. 5, Isa.
xiii.
14, with Isa. viii. 20, xlvii. 11, lviii. 8, 10, Hos. vi. 3, x. 15. The
use
of such emblems here is less surprising, as this psalm abounds in
figures
drawn from the animal kingdom. See below, ver. 13 (12), 14
(13),
17 (16), 21 (20), 22 (21).
2 (1). My
God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me, far from my deliver-
ance, the words of my
roaring?
In this verse and the next we have the
sufferer's
complaint, the summary description of his danger and distress,
the
highest point of which is here described as the sense of desertion or
abandonment
on God's part. "Why hast thou left me so to suffer, that I
cannot
but consider myself finally deserted? "The use of these words by
our
Saviour on the cross, with a slight variation from the Hebrew (Mat.
xxvii.
46, Mark xv. 34), shews how eminently true the whole description is
of
him, but does not make him the exclusive subject. The divine name
here
used is the one descriptive of God's power (lxe), and may therefore be
considered
as including the idea of my strength.
"Why hast thou, whom
I
regarded as my strength, my support, and my protector, thus forsaken
me
in this extremity?" The last clause admits of several constructions.
"Far
from my deliverance (are) the words of my roaring," i. e. they are
far
from having the effect of saving me. Or the question may be repeated:
(Why
art thou) far from my help and the words of my roaring" Or the
same
idea may be expressed by a simple affirmation: "(Thou art) far from
VER.
2-6.] PSALM
XXII.
99
my
help," &c. But the simplest construction is to put these words into
apposition
with the object of address in the first clause, and throw the
whole
into one sentence. "Why hast thou forsaken me, (standing or
remaining)
far from my help, i. e. too far off
to help and save me, or even
to
hear the words of my roaring?" This last combination shews that al-
though
the figure of roaring is borrowed from the habits of the lower animals,
the
subject to which it is applied must be a human one, and as such
capable
of articulate speech. The roaring of the psalmist was not the
mere
instinctive utterance of physical distress, but the complaint of an in-
telligent
and moral agent. Compare Isaiah xxxviii. 14.
3 (2). My
God, I call by day and thou wilt not answer, and by night
and there is no silence
to me.
The divine name here used is the common
Hebrew
word for God, denoting an object of religious worship. I call,
literally
I shall call, implying a sorrowful
conviction that his cries will still
be
vain. Thou wilt not hear or answer: the original expression is a
verb
specifically
appropriated to the favourable reception of a prayer. See above,
on
Ps. iii. 5 (4). Day and night, i. e. without intermission. See above,
on Ps. i. 2.
No silence implies no answer, and the parallelism is
therefore an exact one.
4 (3). And
thou (art) holy, inhabiting the praises of Israel. Here begins
his
statement of the grounds on which he might claim to be heard, and all
which
may be summed up in this, that Jehovah was the covenant God of
Israel.
The word translated holy, in its
widest sense, includes all that
distinguishes
God from creatures, not excepting what are usually termed
his
natural perfections. Hence the epithet is often found connected with
descriptions
of his power, eternity, &c. See Isa. vi. 3; xl. 25, 26; lvii.
15;
Hab. iii. 3; Ps. cxi. 9. The primary meaning of the verb appears to
be
that of separation, which may here be alluded to, in reference to Jeho-
vah's
peculiar relation to the chosen people. Or it may be taken in its
wider
and higher sense, leaving the other to be expressed in the last clause.
"Thou
art the glorious and perfect God who inhabitest the praises of
Israel,"
i. e. dwellest among those praises,
and art constantly surrounded by
them.
Some prefer, however, to retain the primary meaning of the Hebrew
verb,
sitting (enthroned upon) the praises of
Israel.
5 (4). In
thee trusted our fathers; they trusted and thou savedst them.
Not
only was Jehovah the covenant God of Israel, and as such bound to
help
his people, but he had actually helped them in time past. This is
urged
as a reason why he should not refuse to help the sufferer in this case.
The
plural form, our fathers, makes the
prayer appropriate to the whole
church,
without rendering it less so to the case of Christ, or to that of the
individual
believer.
6 (5.) To
thee they cried and were delivered; in thee they trusted, and were
not ashamed. This last word is
continually used in Scripture for the dis-
appointment
and frustration of the hopes. The argument of this verse lies
in
the tacit contrast between the case referred to and that of the sufferer
himself.
As if he had said, "How is it then that I cry and am not deli-
vered,
I trust and am confounded or ashamed?"
7 (6). And
I (am) a worm, and not a man; a reproach of men, and de-
spised of the people. The pronoun expressed
at the beginning is emphatic.
I, as contrasted with my
fathers. Our idiom would here require an adver-
sative
particle, but I, the use of which is
much less frequent in Hebrew.
See
above, on Ps. ii. 6. The insignificance and meanness of mankind in
general
are elsewhere denoted by the figure of a worm (Job xxv. 6). But
100 PSALM
XXII. [VER.
7-9.
even
in comparison with these, the sufferer is a worm, i. e. an object of con-
temptuous
pity, because apparently forsaken of God, and reduced to a
desperate
extremity. (Compare Isa. xli. 14, and 1 Sam. xxiv. 15.) A
reproach of mankind, despised by them, and
disgraceful to them.—The people,
not
a single person or a few, but the community at large.
8 (7). All
seeing me mock at me; they pout with the lip; they shake the
head. This is an
amplification of the last clause of the verse preceding.
The
verb in the second member of the sentence is of doubtful meaning. It
may
either mean to stretch the mouth, or to part the lips with a derisive
grin.
(See Ps. xxxv. 21, Job xvi. 10.) The shaking of the head may be
either
a vague gesture of contempt, or the usual expression of negation, by
a
lateral or horizontal motion, equivalent to saying "No, no!" i. e. there
is
no hope for him. Either of these explanations is more probable than
that
which applies the words to a vertical movement of the head or nodding,
in
token of assent, and acquiescence in the sufferings of the sufferer, as just
and
right. The peculiar gesture here described is expressly attributed by
the
evangelists to the spectators of our Saviour's crucifixion (Mat. xxvii.
39,
Mark xv. 29). It is one of those minor coincidences, which, although
they
do not constitute the main subject of the prophecy, draw attention to
it,
and help us to identify it.
9 (8). Trust
in Jehovah! He will deliver him, he will save him, for he de-
lights in him. The literal meaning of
the first clause is, roll to (or on)
Jehovah, which would be
unintelligible but for the parallel expressions in
Ps.
xxxvii. 5, roll thy way upon Jehovah,
and in Prov. xvi. 3, roll thy work
upon Jehovah, where the idea is
evidently that of a burden cast upon another
by
one who is unable to sustain it himself. This burden, in the first case,
is
his way, i. e. his course of life, his fortune, his destiny, and in the
other
case,
his work i., e. his business, his
affairs, his interest. In evident allu-
sion
to these places, the apostle Peter says, casting
all your care upon him,
for he careth for you (1 Pet. v. 7). By these
three parallels light is thrown
on
the elliptical expression now before us, roll,
i. e. thy burden or thy care
upon Jehovah.—A further difficulty
is occasioned by the form of the origi-
nal,
which, according to usage, must be either the infinitive construct or
the
second person of the imperative. But as these seem out of place in
such
a context, some arbitrarily explain it as an absolute infinitive, or a
third
person imperative, or change the form to that of a preterite. This
last
is the construction in the Septuagint version retained in the New Tes-
tament
(Mat. xxvii. 43), and really included in the Hebrew, but by no
means
an exact representation of its form. Perhaps the best solution of the
syntax
is to make this clause a quotation, or derisive repetition of the suf-
ferer's
own words, as if they had said, "This is he who was so fond of
repeating
the precept, Trust in Jehovah! Let him now try its virtue in
his
own case. He in whom he has trusted, and exhorted others to trust
also,
will no doubt deliver him." The next two verbs are ironical futures,
not
imperatives, and should be so translated.—The last words of the verse
(OB
CpeHA) are
always applied elsewhere to God's complacency in man, and
not
to man's reciprocal delight in God. The Septuagint version, retained
in
the New Testament, if he will (have) him,
or if he will (deliver) him,
although
not incorrect, is much inferior in strength to the original.—By appropriating
these
words, the spectators of our Lord's sufferings identified themselves with the
wicked
persecutors, by whom they are here supposed to be originally uttered.
10 (9). For
thou didst draw me from the womb, making me trust upon the
VER.
10-14.] PSALM
XXII.
101
breasts of my mother. The argument from past
time is here pushed still
further.
God had not only shewn himself to be the God of the sufferer's
forefathers,
but of the sufferer himself in early life. The for connects this
verse
with the last clause of the one preceding. What his enemies ironically
said
was seriously true. God had indeed delighted in him once, for it was
he
that brought him into life, and through the perils of infancy. Thou
didst draw me, literally; thou (art or wast) my breaking forth, i. e. the cause
of
it, as God is said to be the light, joy, strength of the believer, i. e. the
source
or the dispenser of these blessings.—Made
me trust, does not refer
to
the literal exercise of confidence in God, which could not be asserted of
a
suckling, but means gave me cause to trust or feel secure, in
other words,
secured
me, kept me safe. The original construction is, making me trust,
but
the Hebrew infinitive and participle used in these two clauses may be
here
represented by the past tense of the English verb.—As applied to the
whole
church or chosen people, this verse may be considered as descriptive
of
God's dealings with them at the exodus from Egypt, which is elsewhere
metaphorically
represented as a birth. The direct and obvious reference,
however,
is to individual birth and infancy.
11 (10). Upon thee was I cast from the womb; from the bowels of my
mother, my God (art)
thou.
Into thy arms I was at first received, as into
those
of an affectionate parent. See Ruth iv. 16, and compare the oppo-
site
use of the same figure in Ezek. xvi. 5. In the last clause we are brought back
to
the
point from which we set out, the sufferer having, in the mean time, as it were,
established
his right to say, my God, my God, why
hast thou forsaken me?
12 (11). Be not far from me, for distress is near, for there is no helper.
Having
shewn that he was justified in expecting that God would not for-
sake
him in extremity, he now shews that the extremity exists. The first
clause
constitutes the link of connection between the first and second sub-
divisions
of the psalm. "Since, then, thou art my God, and as such
must
be near in my distress, Oh be not far from me now, for my distress is
near,
and there is no one else to help me."—Near
is not put in opposition
to
proximity or actual contact, but to distance. The particular form of
expression
was suggested by the prayer in the first clause. It was no
time
for God to be afar off, when trouble was so near, so close upon the
sufferer.—The
second for may be subordinated to the
first, and introduce
a
reason for declaring that distress was near. But it is much more natu-
ral
to make the two co-relative, and understand the second as suggesting
an
additional reason for the prayer, be not
far from me.
13 (12). Many
bulls have compassed me, strong bulls of Bashan have
surrounded me. He now proceeds to
amplify the last clause of the fore-
going
verse, by shewing that trouble was indeed at hand. The strength
and
fierceness of his persecutors are expressed by comparing them to cattle
fed
in the rich and solitary pastures of Bashan, where the absence of men
would
of course increase their wildness. Corresponding to the noun in the
first
clause is an epithet frequently applied to it in Hebrew.
14 (13). They have opened upon me their mouth, a lion tearing and roar-
ing. The tropical nature of
the language is evinced by the entire change
of
figure in this verse. The same persons who before were bulls of Bashan
now
appear as a ravening and roaring lion. There is no need of supplying
a
particle of comparison, the absence of which in both these verses, by sub-
stituting
metaphor for simile, adds greatly to the life of the description.
15 (14). Like water I am poured out, and all my bones are parted; my
102 PSALM
XXII. [VER. 15,
16.
heart has become like
wax, melted in the midst of my bowels. Similar terms
are
used in Josh. vii. 5, Lam. ii. 19, to describe dismay and fear; but in
the
case before us they seem rather descriptive of extreme weakness. See
Ps.
lviii. 8 (7), 2 Sam. xiv. 14, and compare the symbolical action in 1 Sam.
vii.
6. The comparison with water is applied to moral weakness also in
Gen.
xlix. 4. The parting of the bones may either denote dislocation or
extreme
emaciation, making the bones prominent. In either case the essen-
tial
idea is still that of desperate exhaustion and debility.
16 (15). Dried like the potsherd (is) my strength, and my tongue fastened
to my jaws, and to the
dust of death thou wilt reduce me. The description
of
debility is still continued. He is as destitute of vigour as a broken piece
of
earthenware is of sap or moisture.—Fastened,
literally, made to cleave
or
stick, through dryness.—The dust of death,
i. e. the grave, the place of
burial,
or more generally, the debased, humiliated state of the dead.—Thou wilt place me
in it, or reduce me to it. The translation of this
future as a preterite is not only
ungrammatical,
but hurtful to the sense, as the idea evidently is, that this is something not
experienced
already, but the end to which his sufferings are tending. The direct address to
God
recognises him as the sovereign disposer, and men only as his instruments.
17 (16). For dogs have surrounded me, a crowd of evil-doers have beset
me, piercing my hands
and my feet.
He now resumes the description of
his
persecutors, under figures borrowed from the animal kingdom. The
comparison
with dogs is much less forcible to us than to an oriental reader,
because
dogs in the east are less domesticated, more gregarious, wilder,
and
objects not of affection, but abhorrence, as peculiarly unclean. In the
next
clause the figurative dress is thrown aside, and the dogs described as
an assembly of
malefactors.
The first noun seems intended to suggest the
idea
of a whole community or organised body as engaged in the persecu-
tion.
See above, on people, in ver. 7 (6).
This makes the passage spe-
cially
appropriate to the sufferings of our Saviour at the hands both of the
mob
and of the government. The Hebrew word is one of those applied in
the
Old Testament to the whole congregation of Israel. (See above, on
Ps.
i. 5, and compare Exod. xii. 3, xvi. 1, 2, 9, Num. xxvii. 17, Lev. iv. 15.)
The
last clause, as above translated, contains a striking reference to our
Saviour's
crucifixion, which some have striven to expunge, by denying that
the
ancients nailed the feet as well as the hands to the cross. But although
there
is a singular absence of explicit declaration on the subject, both in
the
classical and sacred writers, the old opinion, that the feet were pierced,
may
be considered as completely verified by modern investigation and dis-
cussion.
So far, therefore, as the question of usage is concerned, we can
have
no difficulty in referring this clause to our Saviour's crucifixion, and
regarding
it as one of those remarkable coincidences, some of which have
been
already noticed, all designed and actually tending to identify our Lord
as
the most prominent subject of the prophecy. It is very remarkable, how-
ever,
that no citation or application of the clause occurs in any of the gos-
pels.
It is also worthy of remark that the clause, thus explained, although
highly
appropriate to one part of our Saviour's passion, is, unlike the rest
of
the description, hardly applicable, even in a figurative sense, to the case
of
any other sufferer. Even supposing the essential idea to be merely that
of
wounds inflicted on the body, it seems strange that it should be expressed
in
the specific and unusual form of piercing the hands and the feet. On
further
inspection it appears that, in order to obtain this meaning, we must
either
change the text (UrxEKA or yrexEKA for yrixEKA) or assume a plural
form
VER.
17-19.] PSALM
XXII.
103
so
rare that some grammarians deny its existence altogether (yrixEKA for
MyrixEKA), and an equally rare form of the
participle (MyrixEKA for MyriKA),
and
a meaning of the verb itself which nowhere else occurs, but must be
borrowed
from a cognate root (rUK for hrAKA); an accumulation of
gramma-
tical
and lexicographical anomalies, which cannot be assumed without the
strongest
exegetical necessity, and this can exist only if the words admit of
no
other explanation more in accordance with analogy and usage. Now
the
very same form in Isa. xxxviii. 13, is unquestionably used to mean like
the lion, and a slight
modification of the same, in Num. xxiv. 9, Ezek.
xxii.
25, like a lion. This idea would be
here the more appropriate, because
the
psalm abounds in such allusions, and because the lion is expressly
mentioned
both before and afterwards. See above, ver. 14 (13), and below,
ver.
22 (21). The sense would then be: "they surround my hands and
my
feet, as they would a lion," or, "as a lion would," i. e. with the strength
and
fierceness of a lion. The hands and feet may be mentioned as the
parts
used in defence and flight. That the mention of these parts, after
all,
in connection with the lion is not altogether natural, cannot fairly be
denied,
and this objection should have all the weight to which it is entitled.
But
whether it can outweigh the grammatical difficulties that attend the
other
construction, is a serious question, which ought not to be embarrassed
by
any supposed conflict with New Testament authority, since no citation of
the
clause occurs there. It may even be possible to reconcile the two inter-
pretations
by supplying a verb and giving yrixEKA its usual meaning.
"Like
the
lion (they have wounded) my hands and my feet." The point of com-
parison
would then be the infliction of sharp wounds in those parts of the
body,
an idea common to the habits of the lion, and to the usages of crucifixion.
18 (17). I tell all my bones (while) they look and stare upon me. The
pronoun
of the last clause is expressed in Hebrew, which removes the
ambiguity
of the construction, by shewing that the subject of the following
verbs
is not the bones of the preceding
clause, but something more remote,
namely,
the sufferer's enemies and persecutors. The ambiguity of the
English
word tell corresponds to that of the
Hebrew (rPesaxE), which means
both
to number and to relate, to count and to recount. Some suppose,
not
improbably, that this verse presents the sufferer as stripped by his
enemies,
and looking with grief and wonder at his own emaciation, while
they
gaze at it with delight, as the Hebrew phrase implies. See below, on
Ps.
xxvii. 13.
19 (18). They (are about to) divide my garments for themselves, and on
my clothing they (are
ready to) cast lots.
This is the last stroke necessary
to
complete the picture. Having stripped him, nothing more is left but to
appropriate
his garments, whether from cupidity or in derision The futures
intimate
that things can go no further without actual loss of life, and that
the
case is therefore an extreme one. The providential realisation of this
ideal
scene in our Lord's history is expressly mentioned by all the four
evangelists
(Mat. xxvii. 35, Mark xv. 24, Luke xxiii. 34, John xix. 23, 24).
This
makes their silence as to ver. 17 (16) the more remarkable.
20 (19). And thou, Jehovah, be not far; my strength! to my assistance
hasten. The pronoun in the
first clause is emphatic. "Such is the con-
duct
of my enemies; but as for thee, O Lord, be not far from me." The
word
translated strength is used in this
place only, and apparently in refer-
104 PSALM
XXII. [VER. 20-25.
ence
to the name of God with which the psalm begins (ylixe) and to the
word
hind (tl,y.,xa) in the title, both
which are akin to it in etymology.
21 (20). Free from the sword my life (or soul), from the hand of the dog
my lonely one (or only
one).
The sword is a general expression for life-
destroying
agents. See 2 Sam. xi. 24,25, where it is applied to archery.
—My life, my soul, i. e. myself considered as a living person.—The apparent
solecism,
hand of the dog, shews that both
terms are figurative, or as one has
quaintly
expressed it, that the dog meant is a dog with hands. See above,
on
ver. 17 (16), where the plural dogs
is co-extensive in its meaning with
the
ideal or collective singular in this place.—My
only (life), the only one
I
have to lose, is a good sense in itself, both here and in Ps. xxxv. 17; but
the
analogy of Ps. xxv. 16, and lxviii. 7 (6), recommends the sense of
solitary, lonely, which is admissible in
all the places.
22 (21). Save me from the mouth of the lion, and from the horns of the
unicorns thou hast heard (or answered) me. The petition in the first clause
is
directly followed by an expression of confident assurance that his prayer
will
be answered, or rather that it is already heard, corresponding to the
figurative
expression in ver. 3 (2), thou wilt not
hear (or answer), where
the
same Hebrew verb is used.—From the horns
denotes of course the
place
from which the prayer preceded, not the answer. The figure is a
strong
one for the midst of danger. The name of any wild horned animal
would
be appropriate. The precise sense of the Hebrew word (Mymire) is
therefore
comparatively unimportant. The common version unicorns rests
on
the authority of the Septuagint; but although the unicorn, long regarded
as
a fabulous animal, has now been proved to be a real one, we have no
reason
to believe that it was ever known in Palestine, or to dissent from
the
common judgment of the learned, that the Hebrew word denotes the
wild
bull or a species of the antelope, most probably the former.
23 (22). I
will declare thy name to my brethren, in the midst of the assembly
I will praise thee. His certainty of
audience and acceptance is further
expressed
by declaring his intention to give thanks for it.—To declare
God's
name, in Scripture usage, is to celebrate the acts by which he has
manifested
his perfections. See above, on Ps. v. 12 (11).—The assembly,
or
congregation of Israel, to which the Hebrew word is constantly applied (Lev.
xvi.
17,
Deut. xxxi. 30), whether present in person or by their representatives (2
Chron.
xx.
13-15). The same sense of the word occurs below, Ps. xxxv. 18, xl. 10 (9). The
idea
here is that his praise shall not be merely private or domestic, but public.
24 (23). Fearers of Jehovah, praise him! All the seed of Jacob, glorify
him! And be afraid of
him, all the seed of Israel! These words are
uttered,
as it were, in the midst of the ideal congregation mentioned in the
verse
preceding. That the call, though formally addressed to the whole
race,
was really intended for the spiritual Israel, excluding wicked Israelites
and
including the righteous of whatever name or nation, is indicated by the
words
of the first clause, while the last shews that the praise required is not
familiar,
but in the highest degree reverential.
25 (24). For he has not despised and not abhorred the suffering of the
sufferer, and has not
hid his face from him, and, in his crying to him, heard.
This
is the ground on which the fearers of the Lord are called upon to
praise
him, namely, the faithful execution of his promise to the sufferer in
this
case, and the pledge thereby afforded of like faithfulness in every other.
26 (25). From thee (shall be) my praise in (the) great congregation; my
VER.
26-28.] PSALM XXII. 105
vows I will pay before
his fearers,
those who fear him. From thee is
some-
thing
more than of thee. It does not merely
indicate the theme or subject,
but
the source or cause of his thanksgiving. "It is thou who givest me
occasion
thus to praise thee." In the last clause there seems to be a refer-
ence
to the sacrificial feasts connected with the fulfilment of vows made in
distress
or danger. (See Deut. xii. 18, xvi. 11.) These were occasions of
festivity,
not only to the offerer and his nearest friends, but to a wide
circle
of invited guests, which makes the metaphor peculiarly appropriate
in
this place. The essential idea is the same as in ver. 23 (22).—His
fearers, worshippers, the true
Israel, as distinguished from the mere natural
descendants
of the patriarch.
27 (26). (Then) shall eat (thereof) the
humble, and be satisfied; (then)
shall praise Jehovah
those who seek him. May your heart live for ever!
The
adverb then is here supplied in the
translation, in order to retain the
Hebrew
order of the sentence. The word thereof is
introduced to remove
all
ambiguity of syntax, and to connect the act of eating with the sacrificial
feast
of the foregoing verse. —To seek God,
in the dialect of Scripture, is to
seek
to know him, and also to seek his favour, not only by specific acts of
prayer,
but by the whole course of the life. See above, on Ps. xiv. 2.—
The
concluding wish, your heart live for ever,
comprehends an assurance
that
it shall live. The heart is said to die, in cases of extreme grief and
distress.
See 1 Sam. xxv. 37, and compare Ps. cix. 22. The objects of
address
are those who seek and praise God. The sudden change of person
is
analogous to that in ver. 26 (25), which begins from thee, and ends with
fearing him. That this is not an
inadvertent irregularity, appears from its
recurrence
in the next verse. —The humble and
the seekers of Jehovah are
parallel
descriptions of the same class, namely, true believers, those who
are
elsewhere called the righteous.
28 (27). Remember and return to Jehovah shall all the ends of the earth,
and worship before thee
all the kindreds of the nations. As the joyful effects
of
this deliverance were not to be restricted to himself or his domestic circle,
but
extended to the great congregation of
God's people, so too we now read
that
they shall not be confined to any one race, but made to embrace all.
The ends of the earth, here put for the
remotest nations. See above, on
Ps.
ii. 8. These are named as the least likely to be comprehended in the
promise,
but of course without excluding those less distant. As if he had
said,
the ends of the earth and all that is between them. In the other
clause,
accordingly, we find as a parallel expression, not the furthest, but
all
nations. They shall remember this
deliverance, this exhibition of God's
faithfulness
and might, and shall turn unto Jehovah,
be converted to his
worship
and his service. Some suppose an allusion to the great original
apostasy,
or to the temporary casting off of the Gentiles: they shall remember
their
original condition, and return unto the
Lord, from whom they have
revolted.
But this, though true and really implied, is not the strict sense
of
the words, which would then have no perceptible connection with the
general
subject of the psalm, and the immediate occasion of the praise which
it
contains.—Worship, literally prostrate themselves, the accustomed
oriental
indication
both of civil and religious worship.—The form of expression in the last clause
is
evidently borrowed from the patriarchal promise. Compare Gen. xii. 3, xxviii.
14.
29 (28). For unto Jehovah is the kingdom, and (he is) governor among
the nations. This will not be a
gratuitous extension to the Gentiles of what
properly
belongs to Israel alone, but a restoration of God's mercies, after
106 PSALM
XXII. [VER.
29-31.
ages
of restriction, to their original and proper scope. For Jehovah is not
the
king of Israel only, but of all mankind. See Rom. iii. 29.—The king-
dom, i. e. general ecumenical dominion.—Governor, properly a participle,
ruling, the use of which may
be intended to suggest that as he has always been their
governor
de jure, so now he begins to govern
them de facto, not with a
providential sway,
which
is invariable as well as universal, but with a spiritual sway, which is
hereafter to be
co-extensive
with the earth itself. Compare the similar expressions, Obad. 21, Zech. xiv.
9,
and the still closer parallels, Ps. xcvi. 10, xcvii. 1, xcix. 1.
30 (29). They have eaten and worshipped—all the fat (ones) of the earth
—before him shall bend
all going down (to) the dust, and (he who) his own
soul did not save alive. The distinction of
ranks shall be as little regarded
at
this feast as that of nations.—Eaten and
worshipped, partaken of the
sacrificial
feast in honour of this great salvation. Fat,
a common oriental
figure
for the prosperous, and especially the rich. These are particularly
mentioned
to exhibit a peculiar feature of the feast in question, which was
not,
like the sacrificial feasts of the Mosaic law, designed expressly for the
poor,
though these are not excluded, as appears from the parallel clause.—
Going down to the dust, i. e. the dust of death, as in ver. 16 (15) above.
Compare
the analogous expressions used in Ps. xxviii. 1, 4, 10 (3, 9), lxxxviii.
5
(4), cxv. 17, 7. The idea is, that this enjoyment shall be common
to
the rich and those who are ready to perish, or as it is expressed in the
last
clause, he who cannot keep his soul
(or himself) alive, a strong expression
for
the extreme of destitution. He who before, or a little while ago, no
longer
kept himself alive, but was just about to perish, is now seen kneeling
at
the sacrificial feast in honour of this great salvation.
31 (30). Posterity shall serve him; it shall be related of the Lord to the
(next)
generation. The last restriction to
be done away is that of time.
The
effects of this salvation shall no more be confined to the present genera-
tion
than to the higher classes of society, or the natural descendants of the
patriarchs.—A seed, i. e. posterity, the seed of those who witness or first
hear
of the event.—Shall serve him, i. e. worship and obey Jehovah, the
same
thing that is expressed by eating and bowing down in ver. 30 (29)
above.
The means of this conversion shall be the perpetuated knowledge
of
what God has done.—Generation is used
absolutely, as in Ps. lxxi. 18,
where
it means not this generation, but the
next. The complete phrase
(NvrHx
rvd) occurs
below, Ps. xxviii. 14 (13), lxxviii. 4. The
Lord. The
original
is not Jehovah, but Adhonai, the divine name properly
denoting
sovereignty.
See above, on Ps. ii. 4, xxi. 2. The exposition above given
of
the verse before us is equally agreeable to usage, and much better suited
to
the context, than the one which makes it mean that a seed shall be reck-
oned by the Lord (as belonging) to the generation, i. e. to the
generation of
his
people. (See below, on Ps. xxiv. 6.) It is highly improbable that the
passive
verb (rPasuy;) has a meaning wholly different from that of the corres-
ponding
active form (hrAP;saxE) in ver. 23 (22) above.
32 (31). They shall come and shall declare his righteousness to a people
born, that he hath done
(it).
The subjects of the first verbs are the seed
and
generation of the preceding verse. They shall come into existence, shall
appear
upon the scene. But even they shall not monopolise the knowledge
thus
imparted, but communicate it to a people now unborn, but then born,
i. e. to their own
successors. The construction of the participle as a future
is
unnecessary, although not unauthorised by usage. See above, on Ps.
VER.
1, 2.] PSALM
XXIII. 107
xviii.
4 (3). Compare with this verse the beautiful figures of Ps. xix. 3 (2).
—His righteousness, including the
faithful execution of his gracious pro-
mise.
The last clause gives the substance of the declaration to be made,
to
wit, that he has done what forms the
subject of the whole psalm. A
similar
ellipsis of the object, where the context readily supplies it, may be
found
above in ver. 27, 28, 30 (26, 27, 29). To these words it is supposed
by
some that our Lord alluded in his dying exclamation, It is finished!
(John
xix. 30). The allusion, though not obvious, is interesting, as it brings
the
beginning and the end of this remarkable psalm into connection with
each
other and with that affecting scene to which there are so many clear
and
pointed references in the whole composition; thus completing, as it
were,
the proof, already strong enough, that Christ is the great subject of
the
psalm, as being the great type and representative of that whole class to
whom
it ostensibly relates, but of whom some parts, and especially the last
five
verses, are true only in a modified and lower sense.
PSALM XXIII.
As exquisite description of God's care over
his people under the figure
of
a shepherd and his flock, no doubt suggested by the writer's recollections
of
his own pastoral experience, although probably composed at a much later
period
of his life. The idea of the whole psalm is contained in ver. 1, carried
out
and amplified in ver. 2-5, and again summed up, without continuing
the
metaphor, in ver. 6. The psalm is so constructed as at the same time
to
express the feelings of the Psalmist, and to serve as a vehicle for those
of
every individual believer and of the whole body of God's people for
whose
use it was intended.
1. A
Psalm of David. Jehovah (is) my shepherd, I shall not want.
This
is the general theme or idea of the whole psalm, that the believer's
relation
to Jehovah carries with it necessarily the full supply of all his
wants.
Spiritual gifts are neither excluded nor exclusively intended. No
nice
distinction between these and temporal advantages is here made for
us,
and none need be made by us. The comparison of God's care to that
of
a shepherd is first used by Jacob, (Gen. xlviii. 15, xlix. 24), then by
Moses
(Deut. xxxii. 6-12, compared with Ps. lxxviii. 52), both of whom,
like
David, had themselves lived a pastoral life. From these the figure is
frequently
borrowed by the later writers of the Old Testament. See Isa.
xl.
11, Ezek. xxxiv. 12, Micah vii. 14, Ps. lxxx. 2 (1), xcv. 7. This
endearing
relation of Jehovah to his people was exercised under the old
dispensation
by the agency of human or angelic messengers, but under the
new
by Christ, of whom these were only types and representatives (Zech.
xiii.
7), and to whom the figure is expressly applied by himself (John x. 11),
and
his apostles (1 Peter ii. 25, v. 4, Heb. xiii. 20). From him again, on
the
principle of delegated representation, is derived the pastoral character
of
Christian ministers (Eph. iv. 11). The future form, I shall not want,
includes
the present, I do not want, with, an
additional assurance that the
provision
will be still continued. The form of expression is derived from
Deut
ii. 7, viii. 9, and recurs below, Ps. xxxiv. 11 (10).
2. In
pastures of verdure he will make me lie down; by waters of rest
(or
repose) he will lead me. Here begins the amplification of the general
proposition
in the foregoing verse. The first specification is, that he shall
not
want healthful and delightful rest. This is expressed by figures bor-
108 PSALM
XXIII. [VER.
3, 4.
rowed
from the exquisite enjoyment of a flock in verdant and well-watered
pastures.
The allusion, in the first clause, is not to the supply of food,
which
is mentioned afterwards in ver. 5, but to the refreshing rest and cool-
ness
of green meadows. The first noun properly means dwellings, but is
applied
specifically to the dwellings of flocks, i.
e. their pasture-grounds.
See
below, Ps. lxv. 13 (12), and compare Amos i. 2, Jer. ix. 9 (10),
xxv.
87. The next word in Hebrew means the fresh tender grass, here
referred
to, not as food, but in allusion to its cooling effect upon the eye
and
the skin. This explanation is confirmed by the fact, that the act
expressed
by the verb is not that of eating but of lying down. The verb
itself
is one which specially denotes the lying down of animals (Gen. xxix. 2,
Num.
xxii. 27, Isa. xi. 6), but is sometimes transferred to the human
subject
(Isa. xiv. 30, Job. xi. 19), or to other objects (Gen. xlix. 25, Deut.
xxix.
19). By waters, not simply to them, but along them, which is one
of
the senses of the Hebrew preposition, and affords a much more pleasing
image.
By waters of rest we are not to
understand still or quiet waters, a
sense
which the Hebrew word has nowhere else, and which would here
suggest
the idea of stagnation, or at least that of silence, which is far less
agreeable
than that of an audible flow. The idea really conveyed is that
of
waters, by or at which rest may be enjoyed. The repose is not that of
the
waters themselves, but of the flocks reclining near them. The last
verb
sometimes means to nourish, or more generally to provide for (Gen.
xlvii.
17, 2 Chron. xxxii. 22), and the Septuagint version so explains it
here.
The idea would then be that the shepherd takes
care of his flock, or
tends it, by the waters of
repose. But a more specific act is described, and
therefore
a more vivid image presented, by retaining the common version, leadeth,
which
is fully sustained by the use of the same Hebrew verb in Exod. xv. 13,
2
Chron. xxviii. 15. The form, however, should be future, as in the preceding
verse.
3. My
soul he will restore; he will lead me in paths of right (or rectitude)
for his name's sake. To restore the soul,
here as in Ps. xix. 8 (7), is to
vivify
or quicken the exhausted spirit. Paths of
right may either mean
right paths, as opposed to those
which are devious and dangerous, or paths
of righteousness, not man's but God's,
not ways of upright conduct on the
Psalmist's
part, but ways of faithfulness on God's part. The righteousness
of
God, so often appealed to by the ancient saints, includes his covenanted
mercy,
the exercise of which, according to his promise, was ensured by his
essential
rectitude. For his name's sake, not
merely for his own sake, nor
for his own glory, but for the sake of
what he has already done, the pre-
vious
display of his perfections, which would be dishonoured by a failure
to
fulfil his promises. See above, on Ps. xxii. 23 (22).
4. Also
when I walk into (or through) the valley of death-shade, I will
not fear evil, for thou
(wilt be) with me; thy rod and thy staff, they will
comfort me. He is sure, not only
of repose, restoration, and guidance, but
of
protection. The also shews that
something new is to be added; not
only
this which I have said, but more. The common version (yea, though
I walk) is too indefinite and
hypothetical. The situation is not spoken of
as
possible, but certain, though still future.—Death-shade
is a strong poetical
expression
for the profoundest darkness. See below, Ps. xliv. 20 (19).
The
common version, shadow of death,
conveys more than the original, and
fails
to reproduce its compound form. The effect is heightened, by the
mention
of a valley, as a deep place, often overhung with woods, and natu-
rally
darker than a plain or mountain. There may be some allusion to the
VER.
5, 6.] PSALM
XXIII.
109
dread
of darkness on the part of sheep and other timid animals.—The rod
and
the staff are mentioned, not as weapons of defence, but as badges of
the
shepherd and as tokens of his presence.
5. Thou
wilt spread before me a table in the presence of my adversaries;
thou hast anointed with
oil my head; my cup (is) overflowing. To the
negative
benefits before enumerated, he now adds the positive advantage of
abundant
sustenance. Instead of retaining the image of a sheep and its
pasture,
the Psalmist substitutes that of a table furnished for a human guest.
The
connection, however, is so close and the metaphors so near akin, that
the
general impression remains undisturbed.—In
the presence of my enemies
implies
in spite of them; they are forced to
witness my enjoyment without
being
able to disturb it.—Anointed,
literally fattened, in allusion to
the
richness
and abundance of the unction. This was a familiar part of an
ancient
festal entertainment, and is therefore frequently employed in Scrip-
ture
as a symbol of joy. See below, on Ps. xlv. 8 (7). My cup,
my
beverage,
which, with food, makes up the supply of necessary nutriment,
but
with the additional suggestion of exhilaration. See above, on Ps. xvi. 5.
—Overflowing, literally overflow, or abundant drink. The change
of tense
is
significant and expressive. What he had just before confidently foreseen,
he
now describes as actually realised.
6. Only
goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and
I shall dwell in the
house of Jehovah to length of days. The specifications
of
the four preceding verses are followed by another summary expression of
the
general idea propounded in the first verse, but with a change of form.
The
Hebrew particle at the beginning has its usual and proper sense of only
or
exclusively. The favour which he shall experience is so great that he
regards
it as unmixed, or the exceptions as unworthy of consideration.—
The
word translated goodness may be
understood to mean good fortune,
good
experienced, as a cognate form does in Ps. xvi. 2; but the other version
agrees
better with the parallel expression, mercy.
The verb to follow or
pursue seems to be chosen in
allusion to the persecution of his enemies,
and
as a strong expression for an unbroken series or succession of divine
benefactions.
Dwelling in the house of Jehovah does not mean frequenting
his
sanctuary, but being a member of his household and an inmate of his
family,
enjoying his protection, holding communion with him, and subsisting
on
his bounty. See above, on Ps. xv. 1.
PSALM XXIV.
This
psalm consists of two distinct and, it may seem at first sight, un-
connected
parts. The first praises God as the universal sovereign by right
of
creation, ver. 1, 2, and describes the moral requisites to intimate com-
munion
with him, ver. 3-6. The second represents him, in a striking
figurative
form, as entering some place provided for his residence, ver. 7-10.
The
idea common to both parts is the supremacy of God, both in holiness
and
majesty. There is no historical occasion to which such a composition
would
seem more appropriate than the removal of the ark to mount Zion
by
David, as described in 2 Sam. vi. and 1 Chron. xv. And as the first
part
of this psalm carries out the idea of dwelling in God's house, expressed
at
the close of Ps. xxiii., it is not an improbable conjecture, though by no
means
a necessary supposition, that the two psalms were designed to form
a
pair, and to be sung upon the same occasion; the first, it may be, as the
110 PSALM
XXIV. [VER. 1-4.
ark
left its former resting-place, the second as it drew near to its new one.
The
resemblance of ver. 3-6 to Ps. xv. make it not improbable that that
psalm
also was composed for use on a similar if not the same occasion.
The
supposition of alternate choirs in the case before us appears to be a
useless
and gratuitous refinement. The sanctuary of the old economy,
both
in its permanent and temporary forms, was intended to symbolise the
doctrine
of God's special presence and residence among his people; and as
this
was realised in the advent of Christ, the psalm before us has a per-
manent
interest and use, and in a certain sense may be described as Messianic.
1. To
David, i. e. belonging to him as
its author. See above, on Ps.
iii.
1, iv. 1, v. 1. A Psalm. To Jehovah
(belongs) the earth and its fulness,
the world and (those)
dwelling in it.
Its fulness, that which fills it, its con-
tents.
The word translated world is a
poetical equivalent to earth, denot-
ing
specially, according to its etymology, the productive portion of the
earth,
and thus corresponding indirectly to the Greek oi]koume<nh, or inhabited
earth.
This assertion of Jehovah's sovereign propriety is intended to shew
that
he was not the God of Israel only, but of the whole world, and thereby entitled
to
be
served with reverence and purity, an idea more distinctly brought out
afterwards.
2. For
He above the seas has settled it, and above the streams has fixed it.
The
pronoun is emphatic; He and no one else. See below, Ps. c. 3. He
has
made the earth what it is, and is therefore the sovereign, both of it and
its
inhabitants. The idea is not that of subterraneous waters bearing up the
land,
but simply that of the habitable earth, raised above the surface of the
waters
which surround it. The use of the Hebrew preposition (lfa) is the
same
as in Ps. i. 3. There is obvious allusion to the rescue of the dry
land
from the universal prevalence of water, as described in the Mosaic cos-
mogony,
Gen. i. 9, 10. The sense of the two verses, taken in connection,
is
that since Jehovah is the God who collected the waters, and caused the
dry
land to appear, he is the rightful sovereign of the habitable earth, and
of
those whom it sustains.
3. Who
shall go up into the mountain of Jehovah, and who shall stand in his
holy place? Since he is thus, by
right of creation, the universal sovereign,
which
of his creatures shall enjoy the happiness and honour of appearing in
his
presence! The hill of the Lord, or mountain of Jehovah, is mount
Zion,
henceforth to be hallowed as his earthly dwelling-place. The verb in
the
last clause does not simply mean to stand,
but to stand fast, to maintain
one's
ground. See above, on Ps. i. 5. It may, therefore, be implied, that
some
who gain a bodily access to the consecrated place shall not be suffered
to
remain there. It is indeed implied in the whole interrogation that mere
bodily
presence on mount Zion might be wholly unconnected with spiritual
access
to the holy place.
4. The
clean of hands and pure of heart, who has not lifted up his soul to
vanity, and has not
sworn to fraud
(or falsehood). This is the answer to
the
foregoing question, given by the Psalmist himself. There is no more
need
of supposing two speakers than in the rhetorical interrogations which
are
so abundant in Demosthenes and other animated writers. All moral
purity
is here referred to the hands, the tongue, and the heart, as the organs
of
external action, speech, and feeling. The same distribution may be made
in
the commandments of the decalogue. The second clause is very obscure.
The
form of expression is directly borrowed from the third commandment
(Exod.
xx. 7), where the common version (take in
vain) is neither intelli-
VER.
5, 6.] PSALM XXIV. 111
gible
in itself nor an exact copy of the original. The precise construc-
tion)
(xv;wAla) is found in these two places only; but a cognate one (xWAnA
lx,) occurs repeatedly in the sense of setting the
heart or the desires on
something
(See Deut. xxiv. 15, Prov. xix. 18, Ps. xxv. 1, lxxxvi. 4,
cxliii.
8). The only two plausible interpretations of the former phrase are
that
which makes xv;wA.la a mere poetical variation of xv;w.Aha
lxa and that
which
gives xv;w.Ala xWAnA, in both places, the sense of carrying to vanity, i. e.
bringing
the name of God or the soul of man into connection with a false-
hood,
whether this be taken in its strict sense, or as meaning an unlawful or
unsatisfying
object of affection. It seems more natural, however, to explain
the
case before us, not by the single one in which the combination l;
xWAnA
occurs,
but by the many in which the same verb is connected with the same
noun
although by a different preposition. The meaning of the clause will
then
be, who has not set his heart on
falsehood, or on any false and sinful
object.
That false swearing is particularly mentioned in the last clause can-
not
prove that it is exclusively intended here, as parallel clauses very
seldom
say precisely the same thing.—Sworn to
falsehood, i. e. made a false
oath,
or sworn for deceit, i. e. with a fraudulent design.
5. He
shall carry away a blessing from Jehovah, and righteousness from
the God of his salvation. The first verb (xWA.yi) seems to have been
chosen with
some
reference to its use in the foregoing verse, but not so as to require us
to
take it in precisely the same sense. A blessing from Jehovah, not merely
from
man, with allusion, as some think, to David's blessing the people,
2
Sam. vi. 18.—Righteousness may either
mean a practical justification, an
attestation
of his innocence afforded by his experience of God's favour; or
the
gift of righteousness itself, the highest and most precious of all gifts,
and
one which always follows upon justification.—The God of his salvation,
i. e. God his Saviour, or his
God, who is a Saviour. See above, on Ps. xviii. 47 (46).
6. This
is the generation seeking him; the seekers of thy face (are) Jacob,
i. e. the true Jacob, the
true Israel. This refers to the description in
ver.
6.—Seeking him (in the singular) is
the reading in the text; the mar-
ginal
reading is those seeking him, which
amounts to the same thing. To
seek God and to seek his face, i. e., his countenance or presence, are common
phrases
for the earnest endeavour to secure his favour, Ps. xxvii. 8, cv. 4,
Hos.
v. 15, 2 Sam. xxi. 1. Our language does not furnish equivalents to
the
two Hebrew verbs employed to express this idea in the verse before
us.—The
connection of the last word with the rest of the sentence is
obscure.
Some make it a vocative: "who seek thy face, O Jacob!" i. e.
who
seek the countenance and friendship of God's people. Or, "who
seek
thy face, O (God of) Jacob!" a very harsh ellipsis, which could only
be
justified by exegetical necessity. The best sense is yielded by the con-
struction
first proposed, or by another, which differs from it only in dis-
pensing
with a verb and throwing all into one sentence "This is the
generation
seeking thee, those seeking thy face (O Jehovah), (the true)
Israel."
The sudden apostrophe to God himself makes the sentence more
impressive
without making it obscure.—The distinction here made between
the
nominal and real Israel was peculiarly necessary on occasions which
were
suited to flatter the natural pride of the chosen people, such as that
of
Jehovah's solemn entrance into Zion, as the peculiar God of Israel. To
112 PSALM
XXIV. [VER. 7-10.
correct
this abuse of their extraordinary privileges, two great doctrines are
here
set forth; that their God was the God of the whole earth; and, secondly,
that
he was holy, and required holiness as a term of admission to his pre-
sence.
The idea of a true and false Israel reappears in the New Testament, and is
propounded
with peculiar distinctness and emphasis by Paul in Rom. ix. 6, 7.
7. Lift
up, O gates, your heads, and be lilted up, ye doors of perpetuity!
And in will come the king
of glory!
The procession is now commonly
supposed
to have arrived at the entrance of the citadel or walled town of
Zion,
the acropolis of Jerusalem. The gates of this acropolis are those
personified
in this fine apostrophe. They are called perpetual
or everlasting
on
account of their antiquity, and not in mere anticipation of their subse-
quent
duration, as in 1 Kings viii. 13. They are called upon to raise their
heads,
that he who is about to enter may not debase himself by stooping to
pass
through them. The connection of the clauses is correctly given, but
in
a form much more agreeable to the English than the Hebrew idiom, by
translating
the future as a subjunctive tense, that
the king of glory may
come in. The king of glory is a
phrase analogous to hill of holiness,
strength
of salvation, &c., and means glorious king.
8. Who
is this, the king of glory? Jehovah strong and mighty, Jeho-
vah mighty in battle (or a mighty warrior). The supposition of
alternate
or
responsive choirs is as unnecessary here as in ver. 4 above. It is the
case,
so common in all animated speech and composition, of a speaker ask-
ing
a question simply for the purpose of answering it himself. As if he
had
said, "Do you ask who this king of glory is? It is the Lord," &c.
The
common version, Who is this king of glory?
does not fully convey the
force
of the original, the sense of which is, "who is this (of whom you
speak
as) the king of glory?" The word translated mighty, although pro-
perly
an adjective, is continually used as a noun substantive, and is the
nearest
equivalent in Hebrew to the classical term hero.
But the simple
majesty
of David's language would be marred in a translation by the use of
this
word, and still more by that of the combination, martial or military
hero, in the other clause.
The idea, both in this and other places, is bor-
rowed
from the Song of Moses, Exod. xv. 3.
9. Lift
up, O gates, your heads, and lift (them) up, ye doors of perpe-
tuity, and in will come
the king of glory.
In order to conclude with an
emphatic
repetition of the epithets in ver. 8, it was necessary that the
question
in that verse should be repeated likewise; and in order to this
the
summons in ver. 7 is repeated here, but, as in most like cases, with a
variation,
which, though slight, relieves the repetition from entire same-
ness.
The variation here consists in the exchange of the passive form, be
lifted up, for the corresponding
active, lift up, so your heads, the object
being
readily suggested by the other clause.
10. Who
is this, the king of glory? Jehovah (God) of Hosts, he is the king
of glory. Selah. Between the question
here and in ver. 8 the only varia-
tion
is one which cannot well be imitated in translation. For the simple
Hebrew
phrase (hz,-ymi) Who is this? we
have here the fuller form (xUh ymi
hz,), in which the personal pronoun is interposed
between the interrogative
and
demonstrative, so as to suggest the two forms, Who is he? and Who is
this? though really
constituting but a single question, as the personal pro-
noun
(xUh),
in Hebrew usage, often serves as an index of the substantive
when
not expressed.—There is a more material variation in the answer,
VER.
10.] PSALM
XXIV. 113
where,
instead of the two phrases, Jehovah
strong and mighty, Jehovah
mighty in battle, the Psalmist
substitutes the single but still more expres-
sive
title, Jehovah Zebaoth, or of Hosts. In Exodus xii. 41, Israel is
called
the hosts of Jehovah; but a much more
frequent designation is the host or
hosts of heaven, sometimes applied to
the heavenly bodies, especially as
objects
of idolatrous worship (Deut. iv. 19, xvii. 3, 2 Kings xvii. 16, Isa.
xxxiv.
4, Jer. xxxiii. 22, Zeph. i. 5, Dan. viii. 10), and sometimes to the
angels
(Jos. v. 14, 15, 1 Kings xxii. 19, 2 Chron. xviii. 18, Ps. ciii. 21,
cxlviii.
2). In both these senses God may be described as the God of
Hosts,
i. e. as the sovereign both of the
material heavens and of their
inhabitants.
From the use of hosts in Gen. ii. 1,
some would extend it to the
earth
as well as the heavens, and explain the compound title as denoting
Lord of the Universe, as Mohammed in the
Koran speaks of Allah as the
Lord of Worlds. But this explanation,
even supposing it to be correct as
to
the single place on which it rests, derives no countenance from usage
elsewhere.
Still less admissible is that which makes it simply mean the
God
of Battles or the God of War, a name and an idea much less scrip-
tural
than heathenish. The phrase Jehovah
Zebaoth does not occur in the
Pentateuch,
Joshua or Judges, from which some have inferred that it was
afterwards
introduced in opposition to the worship of the heavenly bodies, and
of
the spirits which were supposed to govern and inhabit them. According to
the
usage of the Hebrew language, Jehovah,
as a proper name, cannot be con-
strued
with a genitive directly, nor is it ever so connected with any other
noun.
The anomaly can only be removed by making Zebaoth
itself a
proper
name, or by supplying the word God
between it and Jehovah. The
first
solution may appear to be favoured by the sabaw<q of the Septuagint,
retained
in Rom. ix. 29 and James v. 4. But the other is proved to be
the
true one by such passages as Hos. xii. 6 (5), Amos iv. 13, where we
have
the full form, Jehovah God of Hosts. Compare Ps. lix. 6 (5),
lxxx.5 (4),
lxxxiv.
9 (8).—This description of Jehovah as the God of heaven no less
than
of earth, while it sensibly strengthens the expressions of ver. 8, and
thus
removes the appearance of a mere tautological reiteration, at the same
time
brings us back in the conclusion to the point from which we set out
in
ver. 1, to wit, the universal sovereignty of God. The whole psalm is then
brought
to a solemn and sonorous close by making the answer echo the
terms
of the interrogation, He is the king of
glory! These points of diffe-
rence
between ver. 8 and 10 impart a beautiful variety to the repeated
sentence,
without impairing in the least the rhetorical or musical effect
of
the repetition itself, which is followed only by the customary indica-
tion
of a pause, both in the sense and the performance. See above, on
Ps.
iii. 3 (2).
PSALM XXV.
The
first of the alphabetical psalms, in which the verses begin with the
different
Hebrew letters in their order, an arrangement peculiar to those
psalms,
in which a single theme or idea is repeated under various forms,
and,
as it were, in a series of aphorisms. Now and then, in order to com-
plete
the expression of the thought, the series of the letters is neglected,
either
by repeating or omitting one. In this psalm, for example, two suc-
cessive
verses begin with x, and two with r, while v and q are left out.
The first verse, however, does not
properly belong to the alphabetical
114 PSALM
XXV. [VER.
1-6.
series,
but constitutes one sentence with the short verse at the end, which
is
added after the completion of the alphabet. The theme which runs
through
this psalm is deliverance from enemies, occasionally blended with
a
prayer for the divine forgiveness.
1. By
David. Unto thee, Jehovah, my soul will I lift up, or as some
explain
it, bring or carry. All agree, however, that the essential idea is
that
of confident desire. See above, on Ps. xxiv. 4, and compare Ps.
lxxxvi
4, cxliii. 8, below, where the phrase occurs again. The sentiment
expressed
is that of settled confidence in God, to the exclusion of all other helpers.
2. My
God, in thee have I trusted, let me not be ashamed; let not my
enemies triumph over me, or more exactly, with respect to me. As the future
verb
of the preceding verse implies a fixed determination to confide in God
hereafter,
so the preterite in this verse indicates that such trust has been
exercised
already. The present is included under both forms.—Ashamed,
disappointed,
defeated in my plans and expectations. See above, on Ps.
xxii.
6 (5).—The last clause shews that suffering from enemies was in the
Psalmist's
mind throughout.
3. Likewise
all (those) waiting for thee shall not be ashamed, ashamed
shall be the traitors
without cause.
He does not ask for any special dispen-
sation
in his own behalf, but merely for a fair participation in God's cus-
tomary
mode of dealing with the whole class of which he is a member, here
described
as those waiting for God, i. e. hoping in him, awaiting the
fulfil-
ment
of his promises. The modern English sense of waiting on is too
restricted,
though the phrase once exactly corresponded to the Hebrew.—
The
position of the verbs, at the end and the beginning of successive
clauses,
gives a peculiar turn to the sentence, which is lost in some trans-
lations.—Without cause qualifies the word
immediately preceding, and
describes
the enemy not only as perfidious, but as acting so gratuitously,
and
without provocation. See above, on Ps. vii. 5 (4), and below, on Ps.
xxxv.
19, xxxviii. 20 (19), lxix. 5 (4).
4. Thy ways, Jehovah, make me know; thy paths
teach me. As the
ways
of God, throughout this psalm, are the same as in Deut. xxxii. 4,
namely
his dispensations towards his people, the way in which he orders
their
condition and disposes of their lot, the teaching prayed for must be
that
of experience. "Let me know in my own case what it is to be guided
and
protected and provided for by God himself." This meaning suits the
context
better than that of moral guidance, which however is implied, if
not
expressed.
5. Make
me walk in thy truth and teach me, for thou (art) the God of my
salvation; for thee have
I waited all the day.
The obvious meaning of this
verse,
interpreted according to New Testament and modern usage, would
be
that of a prayer for divine instruction in religious truth or doctrine. But
the
usage of the Psalms, and the preceding context, are in favour of ex-
plaining
truth to mean the veracity of God, or
the faithful performance of
his
promises. See Ps. xxx. 10 (9), lxxi. 22, xci. 4. The teaching asked
is
then experimental teaching, or the actual experience of God's faithful-
ness.—The God of my salvation, or my Saviour
God. See above, on Ps.
xviii.
47 (46). —I have waited. This is no
new or untried exercise of faith,
to
be attempted for the first time, but one with which I have been long
familiar.—All the day, continually, always.
6. Remember
thy mercies, O Jehovah, and thy favours, for from eternity
are they. The prayer for future
favours is here founded upon those experi-
VER.
7-11.] PSALM
XXV.
115
enced
already.— Of old is an inadequate
translation of MlAOfme, and even in
the
stronger form, ever of old, less
exact and expressive than the literal
translation
from eternity, to which there is the
less objection here, as the
words
relate not merely to God's acts but to his attributes.
7. The
sins of my youth and my transgressions (O) remember not; accord-
ing to thy mercy
remember thou me, for the sake of thy goodness, O Jehovah!
Among
the mercies which he craves, the most important is the pardon of
his
sins, not only in itself considered, but as that without which all the
others
must be worthless. The sins of his youth are mentioned as the
earliest
in date, and probably as those committed with the least restraint,
at
an age when reflection is subordinate to passion. Compare Job xiii. 26,
2
Tim. ii. 22. Besides the obvious reference to the youthful sins of indi-
viduals,
there may be also an allusion to the national iniquities of Israel,
committed
in the period of their childhood as a people, namely, that of
their
sojourn in the wilderness. See below, on ver. 22, and compare Deut. ix. 7.
8. Good
and upright (is) Jehovah; therefore will he guide sinners in the
way. Not only the goodness,
but the rectitude of the divine nature requires
the
exercise of covenanted mercy. The second epithet is borrowed from
Deut
xxxii. 4.—The way meant in the last
clause is the way of safety or
salvation.
What is meant may be either that God guides sinners into it
by
converting them, or that he guides those sinners in it who are still his
people,
as the same person claims to be both righteous and a sinner in Ps.
xli.
5, 13, (4, 12). Hence perhaps he uses the indefinite term sinners, not
the
distinctive phrase the sinners, or
the more emphatic epithet, the wicked.
9. He
will guide humble (sinners) in
justice, and teach humble (sinners)
his way. The common version of Myvnf, meek, is too restricted and descriptive
of
inere temper. The Hebrew word is the nearest equivalent to humble in
its
strong religious sense. The omission of the article may be explained as
a
poetic licence, and the word translated the
humble, so as to include the
whole
class. But the intimate connection between this verse and the one
before
it, makes it more natural to take Myvnf as a description of the
sin-
ners
mentioned in ver. 8, who are then of course to be regarded as penitent
believing
sinners, i. e. as true converts. In justice, i. e. in the exercise of
justice,
as before explained. The way and the teaching are the same as in
the
foregoing context, namely, those of Providence.
10. All
the paths of Jehovah (are) mercy and truth to the keepers of his
covenant and his testimonies. The paths of Jehovah
are the paths in which
he
walks himself, in other words, the ways in which he deals with his crea-
tures.—Truth, veracity, fidelity. See above, on
ver. 5. A similar com-
bination
occurs, John i. 14. The last clause shews that the preceding
promises
are limited to those who are in covenant with God.—Keepers,
observers,
those obeying.—His covenant, the
commands to which his pro-
mise
is annexed. The same are called his
testimonies against sin and in
behalf
of holiness. See above, on Ps. xix. 8 (7).
11. For
the sake of thy name (wilt thou do this), and wilt pardon my
iniquity because it is
great.
The form of the verb (TaH;lasAv;) is one that is
commonly
preceded by a future, which may here be readily supplied, so as
to
make the first clause refer to the preceding promises. For thy name's
sake, for the honour of thy
nature and thy attributes, as heretofore revealed
in
act. See above on Ps. xxiii. 3. The emphatic pronoun at the end
(xUh-bra) may possibly refer to
the remoter antecedent, as in Ps. xxii.
116 PSALM
XXV. [VER.
12-17.
18
(17). The sense will then be, "and forgive my iniquity because that
name
is great." (Compare Mal. i. 11.) There is nothing ungrammatical,
however,
in the usual construction, which also agrees better with the usage
of
the adjective (bra), as denoting rather quantity than elevation,
and with
the
parallel phrase, much transgression (bra
fwaP,), in
Ps. xix. 14 (13).
12. Who
(is) the man fearing Jehovah? Be will guide him in the way
he shall choose. In the first clause
the form of the original is highly idio-
matic;
who (is) this, the man, a fearer of Jehovah? See above, on Ps.
xxiv.
8. —The ellipsis of the relative in the last clause is common to both
idioms.—He guides
him, and will guide him. There is not only an affir-
mation,
but a promise. The way, as in the foregoing context, is the providential way
in
which God directs the course of a man's life. His choosing it implies not only
sovereign
authority, but a gracious regard to the interests of his servant.
13. His
soul in good shall lodge, and his seed shall possess the land.
The
parallelism between soul and seed seems to shew that by his soul we
are
to understand himself, for which the
Hebrew has no appropriate expres-
sion.
The promise, then, includes both himself and his posterity. To
lodge, to be at home, to
dwell at ease, and by implication, to abide or con-
tinue
undisturbed. In good, not goodness,
but good fortune or prosperity.
The
verb, translated shall possess,
denotes specifically to inherit, or
possess
as
an inheritance, i. e. from generation
to generation, in perpetual succession.
The land, to wit, the land of
Canaan; and as this was the standing pro-
mise
of the law, uttered even in the decalogue (Exod. xx. 12), it became
a
formula for all the blessings implicitly embraced in the promise of Canaan
to
the ancient Israel, and is so used even by our Lord himself, (Mat. v. 5.)
14. The
friendship of Jehovah is to (those) fearing him, and his covenant
to make them know. The word translated friendship means originally a
company
of persons sitting together, Ps. cxi. 1; then familiar conversation,
Ps.
lv. 15 (14); then confidential intercourse, intimacy, friendship, Prov.
iii.
32; then a confidence or secret, Prov. xi. 13. The last sense is com-
monly
preferred in the English version, even When one of the others would
be
more appropriate, as in this case, where the sense of intimacy, friend-
ship,
seems required by the context. The last clause is ambiguous, and
may
either mean, his covenant is designed to be known by them, or his
covenant
is designed to make them know, i. e.
his way; or in general, to
give
them knowledge. To make them know his covenant
is a forced con-
struction,
and forbidden by the collocation of the Hebrew words. The
meaning
of the whole verse seems to be, that Jehovah condescends to hold
familiar
intercourse with those who fear him, and enters into covenant rela-
tion
with them, for the purpose of making them know all that they need
know
for his service or their own advantage.
15. My
eyes (are) always towards Jehovah; for he will bring out from
the net my feet. The first clause
expresses settled trust and constant expec-
tation.
The figure of a net is a favourite one for dangers arising from the
craft
and spite of enemies. See above, on Ps. ix. 16 (15), x. 9.
16. Turn
thee unto me, and have mercy upon me, for lonely and distressed
(am) I. The prayer to turn
implies that his face was before averted, a
common
figure in the Psalms for the suspension or withholding of God's
favour.
See above, on Ps. iv. 7 (6).—The word translated lonely is the
same
that occurs above, Ps. xxii. 21 (20).
17. The
troubles of my heart have they enlarged; from my distresses do
VER.
18-22.] PSALM
XXV.
117
thou bring me out. The plural of the
first clause is indefinite, equivalent to
a
passive construction in English, are
enlarged. (Compare the common
version
of Luke xii. 20.) It does not refer even to his enemies specifically,
but
to all others, as distinguished from his lonely self, and from his sole
deliverer.
18. See
my affliction and my trouble, and forgive all my sins. So long
as
God leaves him to endure, he is conceived of as not seeing his condition.
The
prayer that he will see includes the prayer that he will save. The
renewed
prayer for forgiveness in the last clause seems again to recall to
mind
the intimate connection between suffering and sin.
19. See
my enemies, for they are many, and (with) hatred of violence
have hated me. The agency of wicked
foes in causing his distresses, which
had
been referred to in ver. 2, 15, 17, is here again brought into view.
The
word translated violence is very strong, including the ideas of injustice
and
cruelty. See above, on Ps. xi. 6 (5), xviii. 49 (48).—The past tense
represents
the enmity as something of long standing.
20. (O)
keep my soul and deliver me; let me not be ashamed, for I have
trusted in thee. To keep is here to keep in safety, to
preserve.—Ashamed,
confounded,
disappointed. See above, on ver. 2. The word translated
trusted is not that employed in
ver, 2, but the one which occurs in Ps. ii. 12,
and
which originally means to seek a refuge or a hiding-place. See above,
on
Ps. xi. 2 (1).
21. Integrity
and rectitude shall preserve me, because I have waited for
thee. The first word means
completeness or perfection (integritas),
i. e.
freedom
from essential defect. See above, on Ps. xviii. 21, 24 (20, 23).
Here,
however, it may signify the perfect rectitude of God, which will not
suffer
him to cast off or forsake those who wait
for him, i. e. trustfully
expect
the fulfilment of his promises.
22. Redeem,
O God, Israel out of all his troubles! As the psalm was
designed,
from the first, to be a vehicle of pious feeling and desire for the
whole
church, it is here wound up with a petition shewing this extent of
purpose.
The Psalmist prays no longer for himself, but for all Israel.
The
peculiar name, Jehovah, which had
hitherto been used exclusively, is
here
exchanged for the generic name of God,
perhaps in opposition to the
human
adversaries of the Psalmist, and his total destitution of all human
help.
This verse forms no part of the alphabetical series, but begins with the
same
letter as ver. 16. Like the first verse, it consists of a single clause,
as
if the two together were designed to constitute one sentence.
PSALM XXVI.
An
appeal to God's justice and omniscience, ver. 1-3, enforced by a dis-
avowal
of all sympathy and communion with the wicked, ver. 4-6, and a
profession
of devotion to God's service, ver. 7, 8, with an earnest prayer to
be
delivered from the death of those whose life he abhors, ver. 9, 10, and
an
expression of strong confidence that God will hear his prayer, ver. 11, 12.
There
is a certain similarity of form between this psalm and the foregoing,
which,
together with their collocation in the Psalter, makes it not improbable
that
they were designed to constitute a pair or double psalm.
1. By
David. Judge, me, Jehovah, for I in my integrity have walked,
and in Jehovah I have
trusted; I shall not swerve (or slip). The correct-
ness
of the title is confirmed by the resemblance of the psalm itself to
118
PSALM XXVI.
[VER. 2-6.
several,
the authorship of which is undisputed, more especially Ps. xv.
xvii.
xviii. xxiv.—Judge me, do me justice,
vindicate or clear me. See
above,
on Ps. xvii. 1, 2.—In my integrity of
purpose and of principle. To
this
is added its inseparable adjunct, trust in God.—Walked, lived, pur-
sued
a certain course of conduct. See above, on Ps. i. 1. The last clause
is
by some explained as the expression of a wish, let me not be moved. But
there
is no reason for departing from the strict sense of the future, as
expressing
a confident anticipation. Swerve, as
in Ps. xviii. 37 (36), xxxvii. 31.
2. Try
me, Jehovah, and prove me; assay my reins and my heart. The
first
verb is supposed by etymologists to signify originally trial by touch,
the
second by smell, and the third by fire. In usage, however, the second
is
constantly applied to moral trial or temptation, while the other two are
frequently
applied to the testing of metals by the touchstone or the furnace.
This
is indeed the predominant usage of the third verb, which may there-
fore
be represented by the technical metallurgic term, assay. See above,
on
Ps. xvii. 3, where two of the same verbs occur.—Reins and heart are
joined,
as seats of the affections. See above, on Ps. vii. 10 (9).—The
prayer
of this verse is an appeal to God's omniscience for the psalmist's
integrity
of purpose, which agrees much better with the context than the
explanation
of hpvrc
as a participle, and of the last clause as an affirmation,
purified (or purged) are my reins and my heart.
3. For
thy mercy (is) before my eyes, and I have walked in thy truth.
This
verse assigns a reason for his confident persuasion that he shall not
slide,
to wit, because God's mercy is before his eyes, literally, in front of
them,
i. e. constantly in view, as an
object of memory and ground of hope.
He
is also encouraged by his previous experience of God's truth or faithful-
ness.
See above, on Ps. xxv. 5. The verb translated walked is an intensive
form
of that used in ver. 1 above, and ver. 11 below. It means properly
to
walk about or to and fro, and expresses more distinctly than the primitive
verb,
the idea of continuous habitual action. "My constant experience
of
thy mercy and thy faithfulness assure me that I shall not fall away
hereafter."
4. I
have not sat with men of falsehood, and with hidden (men) I will not
go. He is further
encouraged to believe that he will be sustained because
he
has not hitherto espoused the cause of those who hate God.—Men of
falsehood, liars or deceivers,
which appears to suit the context better than
the
wider sense of vain men, i. e.
destitute of all moral goodness, good for
nothing,
worthless. See above; on Ps. v. 7 (6), xxiv. 4. The same class
of
persons are described in the last clause as masked, disguised, or hypo-
critical.—Sat, not merely in their company, but in
their councils, taking
part
in their unlawful machinations. The change of tense is anything
rather
than unmeaning. "I have not sat with them in time past, and I
will
not go with them in time to come." The form of expression is bor-
rowed
from Gen. xlix. 6.
6. I
will wash in innocence my hands, and will compass thy altar, O
Jehovah! To the negative
professions of the two preceding verses he now
adds
a positive declaration of his purpose. Not content with abstaining
from
all share in the counsels of the wicked, he is fully resolved to adhere
to
the service of the Lord. He will cleanse himself from all that would
unfit
him for that service, and then cleave to the sanctuary where God
dwells.
The expression in the first clause seems to be copied from Gen.
xx.
5, and the symbol or emblem from Deut. xxi. 6. (Compare Mat.
VER.
7-11.] PSALM
XXVI.
119
xxvii.
24.) Whether compassing the altar be
explained to mean going
round
it in procession, or embracing it, the idea expressed is still that of
close
adherence and devoted attachment.
7. To
make known with a voice of thanksgiving, and to recount all thy
wondrous works. The object of the acts
described in the preceding verse
was
to promote's God's glory. To make known,
literally to cause to hear
or
to be heard. The clause admits of
several constructions. 1. To publish
thanksgivings
with the voice. 2. To publish with a
thankful voice, without
expressing
what. 3. To publish and recount all thy
wondrous works with
a
voice of thanksgiving. The last is on the whole entitled to the preference.
—The
last word in the verse is a passive participle, meaning wonderfully
made or done. The plural
feminine is used indefinitely like the neuter in
Greek
and Latin, to mean things done
wonderfully, which is also the idea of
the
common version, wondrous works.
8. Jehovah,
I have loved the habitation of thy house, and the place of the
dwelling of thy glory. This verse expresses
more directly and literally the
idea
of ver. 6 above, and shows that his compassing the altar was intended
to
denote his love for the earthly residence of God, the altar being there
put
for the whole sanctuary, which is here distinctly mentioned. The
habitation of thy house might be understood to
mean a residence in it; but
the
usage of the first noun and the parallelism chew that it rather means
the place where thy
house dwells,
perhaps in allusion to the migratory move-
ments
of the ark and its appendages before the time of David. So too in
the
last clause, Hebrew usage would admit of the translation, thy glorious
dwelling-place, as in Ps. xx. 7 (6);
but the use of dObKA in the Pentateuch,
to
signify the visible presence of Jehovah (Exod. xxiv. 16, xl. 34, 35),
seems
decisive in favour of explaining it the
place where thy glory dwells, i. e.
where
the glorious God is pleased to manifest his presence.
9. Take
not away my soul with sinners, and with men of blood my life.
The
primary meaning of the first verb is to gather, as a harvest or as fruit,
a
figure not unfrequently applied in various languages to death, here
described
as the taking away of the life or soul. This verse and the next
contain
a prayer that he may die as he has lived; that since he has had
no
community of interest or feeling with ungodly men in life, he may not
be
united with them in his death.—Men of
blood, literally bloods, i. e.
murderers,
either in the strict sense or by metonymy for sinners of the worst class.
See
above, on Ps. v. 7 (6). Another idiomatic plural in this sentence is the word lives
at
the end, which is used as an abstract simply equivalent to life in English.
10. In
whose hands is crime, and their right
hand is filled with a bribe.
The
first clause exhibits the peculiar construction of the relative in Hebrew
with
the personal pronoun expressed, of which it is the substitute in other
languages.
Who (or as to whom)—in their hands
(is) crime. This last
word
(hm.Azi)
is a very strong one, used in the Law to denote specifically
acts
of gross impurity, but signifying really any wicked act or purpose
The
common version, mischief, is too
weak. The last word in the verse
denotes
especially a judicial bribe (Ps. xv. 5), and may be intended to
suggest
that the whole description has reference to unrighteous rulers, or
to
wicked men in public office.
11. And
I in my integrity will walk; redeem me and be merciful to me.
The
use of the conjunction and emphatic pronoun is the same as in Ps.
ii.
6 above. Our idiom would require an adversative conjunction, but I, in
120 PSALM
XXVII. [VER.
1, 2.
opposition
to the sinners just described, but as for
me, I will still walk as
I
have done in sincerity and simplicity of purpose. The obvious contrast
of
the tenses here and in ver. 1, may serve to shew how seldom they are
used
promiscuously or confounded.—That the Psalmist's perfection or in-
tegrity was neither absolute
nor inherent, is clear from the petition of the
last
clause. He expects still to be perfect, not because he is without sin,
but
because he hopes to be redeemed from
its dominion through the mercy
of
Jehovah.
12. My
foot stands in an even place; in the assemblies will I bless Jehovah.
As
a state of danger and distress might be compared to a precipitous and
rugged
path, so one of ease and safety is denoted by a smooth or level path.
My foot (now) stands, or has (at last) stood,
found a resting-place, implying
previous
wanderings and hardships.—The assemblies
primarily meant are
no
doubt the stated congregations at the sanctuary. The determination to
praise
God implies a strong assurance that the occasion for so doing will
be
granted. See above, on Ps. v. 8 (7). The whole verse indeed is an
expression
of confident belief that God will hear and answer the foregoing
prayers,
and thus, as in many other psalms, we are brought back at the
conclusion
to the starting-point. Compare the last clause of ver. 1.
PSALM
XXVII.
A sufferer,
surrounded by enemies intent on his destruction, and de-
prived
of human help, implores divine assistance and expresses his assured
hope
of obtaining it. The expression of confidence occurs at the begin-
ning
and the end, the description of the danger and the prayer for deliver-
ance
in the body of the psalm. If God be for him, and admit him to his
household,
he is satisfied and safe, ver. 1-6. With this persuasion he
implores
that God will interpose for his deliverance from present danger,
ver.
7-12. If he did not believe that God would grant his request he must
despair;
but as he does believe it; he encourages himself to wait for it, ver.
13,
14. There is no apparent reference to any particular historical occa-
sion,
but an obvious intention to provide a vehicle of pious sentiment for all
God's
people under the form of trial here described.
1. By
David. Jehovah (is) my light and my salvation; of whom shall I
be afraid? Jehovah (is)
the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be in
dread? As darkness is a common
figure for distress, and light for relief
from
it, the same idea is here twice expressed, first in a figurative form as
light,
and then more literally as salvation.
These terms are applied to
God,
by a natural and common figure of speech, as the source or dispenser
of
light and salvation. Compare Micah vii. 8. The interrogations imply
negation
of the strongest kind. The form of expression is imitated in Rom.
viii.
31-35. —The noun OzfmA is sometimes used as an abstract, strength;
but
its proper meaning, as its very form denotes, is local. The stronghold
or
fortress of my life, that which makes
my life as safe as walls and forti-
fications.
The variation of the verbs in the two clauses is merely rhetorical,
without
any change in the idea.
2. In
the drawing near against me of evil-doers, to devour my flesh, (in
the
drawing near of) my adversaries and my
enenies to me, (it is) they (that)
have stumbled and fallen. Even in the most
imminent dangers which have
hitherto
befallen me, the divine protection has enabled me to see those who
VER. 3-6.] PSALM XXVII. 121
sought
to overwhelm me overwhelmed themselves. Evil-doers,
not only
against
me, but in general. It was not because they were his enemies
merely,
but because they were the enemies of God, that he so easily sub-
dued
them.—To eat my flesh, a figure
borrowed from the habits of wild beasts.
Compare
Job xix. 22, Ps. xiv. 4, xxxv. 1.—To me
is to be construed not with enemies,
but
with the verb, as in Job xxxiii. 22. See below, on Ps. lv. 19. The pronoun
expressed
in
the last clause is emphatic, "They
themselves, not I, as they expected, fell."
3. If
there encamp against me an encampment, my heart shall not fear;
if there arise against
me war,
(even) in this (case) I (am) confident. With
the
sentiment of this verse compare Ps. iii. 7 (6). The primary meaning
of
the noun in the first clause is retained in the translation for the sake of
its
assonance with the verb, which is lost in the common version, although
marked
in the original. By encampment,
however, must be understood
the
men encamped, the host, the army.—In this,
even in this extremity.
Compare
Lev. xxvi. 27, Job i. 22. The common version, in this will I be
confident, although ambiguous,
appears to mean, "I will confide in this,
i. e. in the fact that
Jehovah is my light and my salvation." This con-
struction
is grammatical, and yields a good sense, but the other is more
pointed
and emphatic, and the absolute use of HaFeOB in the sense of safe,
secure, is justified by Judges
xviii. 27, Jer. xii. 5, Prov. xi. 15.
4. One
(thing) have I asked from Jehovah, (and) that will I (still) seek,
that I may dwell in the
house of Jehovah, to gaze at the beauty of Jehovah, and
to inquire in his temple. To dwell in the house
of the Lord is not merely
to
frequent his sanctuary as a place of worship, but to be a member of his
household,
and as such in intimate communion with him. See above, on
Ps.
xv. 1, xxiii. 6.—Beauty, loveliness,
desirableness, all that makes God
an
object of affection and desire to the believer. See below, on Ps. xc. 17.
Some
take the last verb in the secondary sense of meditating; but the
proper
one of inquiring is entirely appropriate.—Temple,
properly palace,
the
earthly residence of the great King, and therefore equally appropriate
to
the temple and the tabernacle. See above, on Ps. v. 8 (7).
5. For he will hide me in his covert in the day
of evil; he will secrete me
in the secrecy of his
tent; on a rock he will set me high. This verse assigns
his
reason for wishing to be still a member of Jehovah's household, namely,
because
there he is sure of effectual protection.—The word translated covert
means
a booth or shelter made of leaves and. branches, such as the Jews
used
at the feast of tabernacles (Lev. xxiii. 42). It is here used as a figure
for
secure protection in the day of evil,
i. e. of suffering or danger.—Secrete
and
secrecy are used in the translation
to represent the cognate verb and
noun
in Hebrew. — By his tent, as appears
from the preceding verse, we are
to
understand the tabernacle, not considered merely as a place of public
worship,
but as Jehovah's earthly residence, his mansion. In the last
clause
the idea of protection is conveyed by an entirely different figure, that
of
a person placed upon a high rock beyond the reach of danger. See above,
on
Ps. ix. 14 (13), xviii. 49 (48).
6. And
now shall my head be high above my enemies around me, and I
will sacrifice in his
tabernacle sacrifices of joyful noise; I will sing and make
music to Jehovah. And now may either be a formula of logical resumption,
as
in Ps. ii. 10, xxxix. 8 (7), or be taken in its strict sense, as denoting
that
he not only hopes for future safety, but is ready in the mean time,
even now, to thank him publicly
for his protection as already realised. The
first
clause merely amplifies the last of the preceding verse. The next adds
122 PSALM
XXVII. [VER.
7-11.
the
promise of a thank-offering at the tabernacle, which implies an assured
hope
of deliverance and prosperity. By a joyful
noise some understand the
blowing
of trumpets which accompanied certain offerings (Num. x. 10,
xxix.
1); but as this is never mentioned in connection with private sacri-
fices,
it seems more advisable to rest in the general sense of the expression.
7. Hear, O Jehovah! (with) my voice I will
call, and do thou have mercy
on me and answer me. The Psalmist here
descends from the tone of con-
fident
assurance to that of strong desire, prompted by a sense of urgent
need.—With my voice, not merely with my mind,
but audibly, aloud.
See
above, on Ps. iii. 5 (4).
8. To
thee hath said my heart—Seek ye my face—thy face, Jehovah, will
I seek. The general meaning of
this verse is obvious enough, although
its
syntax is exceedingly obscure. The best solution is to take "seek ye
my
face" as a citation of God's own words. "My heart has said to thee
—
(whenever thou hast said) Seek ye my face,—thy face," &c. Or, "my
heart
has said to thee—(in answer to thy words) Seek ye my face—thy
face,"
&c.—My heart hath said, i. e. I have said with or from the
heart.
See
above, on Ps. xi. 1. There may be an allusion to Deut. iv. 29, from
which
the expression seek God (2 Sam. xii.
16, 2 Chron. xx. 4), and seek
his face (Ps. xxiv. 6, cv. 4)
seems to be derived. The idea is that of
seeking
admission to his presence for the purpose of asking a favour. See
above,
on Ps. xxiv. 6.
9. Hide
not thy face from me, put not away in wrath thy servant; my
help thou hast been;
forsake me not, and leave me not, (O) God of my
salvation! The first petition is
that God will not withhold from him the
manifestation
of his love or favour. See above, on Ps. iv. 7 (6).—Put not
away, or thrust aside, as
one unworthy to be noticed.—Thy servant,
and as
such
entitled to thy kind regard.—My help,
i. e. the source and author of
my
help, my helper. Thou hast been; the
past tense is here essential:
what
thou hast been, continue to be
still.—God of my salvation, my
Saviour
God,
or God my Saviour; see above, on Ps xviii. 47 (46).
10. For
my father and my mother have left me, and Jehovah will take me
in. Parents are here put for
the nearest friends, whose loss or desertion is
frequently
complained of in the Psalms as one of the most painful signs of
desolation.
See Ps. xxxi. 12 (11), xxxviii. 12 (11), lxix. 9 (8), lxxxviii.
9
(8), and compare Job xix. 13. The first clause may also be translated,
when my father and my
mother have left me, then the Lord will take me in.
—The
last expression is applied to the compassionate reception of strangers
or
wanderers into one's house. See Josh. xx. 4, Judges xix. 15, and com-
pare
Mat. xxv. 35, 43. The case described is an ideal one, and may be
thus
expressed in paraphrase: "The kindness of the nearest earthly friends
may
cease by death or desertion (for the verb to leave may comprehend
both);
but the Lord's compassions cannot fail."
11. Guide
me, Jehovah, (in) thy way, and lead me in a straight (or level)
path, because of my
adversaries.
The way in which he here desires to be
led,
is not the way of duty but of providence, which he calls a straight or
smooth
path, as distinguished from the rough or crooked ways of adversity.
See
above, on Ps. xxv. 4, xxvi. 12.—Because
of my enemies, that they may
have
no occasion to exult or triumph. Of the many Hebrew words applied
to
enemies, the one here used is supposed by some to signify malignant
watchers for the errors or
calamities of others. The one used in the next verse
means
oppressors or causers of distress.—With this clause compare Ps. xxvi. 12.
VER.
1.] PSALM
XXVIII.
123
12. Give
me not up to the will of my enemies; for risen up against me
are witnesses of
falsehood, and a breather forth of cruelty. The word trans-
lated
will properly means soul, and is here used for the ruling
wish or heart's
desire,
as in Ps. xxxv. 25. The second clause assigns the ground or reason
of
this prayer. As if he had said, I have reason to ask this, for there have
risen
up, &c.—One breathing violence or
cruelty, a strong but natural expres-
sion
for a person, all whose thoughts and feelings are engrossed by a favour-
ite
purpose or employment, so that he cannot live or breathe without it.
Compare
the description of Saul's persecuting zeal in Acts ix. 1, and the
Latin
phrases, spirare minas, anhelare scelus.
13. Unless
I believed (or fully expected) to
look upon the goodness of
Jehovah in the land of
life.
This is an instance of the figure called aposio-
pesis,
in which the conclusion of the sentence is suppressed, either from
excitement
and hurried feeling, or because of some unwillingness to utter
what
is necessary to complete it. Thus in this case the apodosis would
probably
have been, I would despair, or I must have perished. (Compare
Ps.
cxix. 92.) Of the other cases usually cited, that in Gen. xxxi. 42 espe-
cially
resembles this, because the sentence opens with a similar conditional
expression.—To look upon, not merely to behold, but to gaze at with delight.
See
above on Ps. xxii. 18 (17).—The land of
life, as opposed to that of
darkness
and the shadow of death (Job x. 21), seems to be a more correct
translation
than the common one, land of the living.
14. Wait
thou for Jehovah; be firm, and may he strengthen thy heart;
and wait thou for
Jehovah!
Instead of finishing the inauspicious sentence
which
he had begun, he interrupts himself with an earnest exhortation to
await
the fulfilment of God's promises, to hope in him. See above, on Ps.
xxv.
3.—The optative and causative senses of the third verb (CmexEya) are
both
determined by its form, which equally forbids the versions, let thy heart
be strong, and he will strengthen it.—The repetition, wait for the Lord, and
wait for the Lord, implies that this is
all he has to enjoin upon himself or
others,
and is more impressive, in its native simplicity, than the correct
but
paraphrastic version of the last clause in the English Bible, wait, I say,
upon the Lord.
PSALM
XXVIII.
As in the preceding psalm, a righteous
sufferer prays that he may not be
confounded
with the wicked whom his soul abhors, so here a like prayer is
offered
by the Anointed of Jehovah. He first prays in general for audience
and
acceptance, without which he must quickly perish, ver. 1, 2. He then
asks
to be distinguished from the wicked in the infliction of God's judgments,
ver.
3-5. He then gives thanks for the anticipated answer to his prayer,
ver.
6-8, and implores an extension of the blessing to all God's people at
all
times, ver. 9. The collocation of the psalm is clearly not fortuitous,
but
founded on its close resemblance to the one before it.
1. By
David. Unto thee, Jehovah, will I call; my rock, be not silent from
me, lest thou hold thy
peace from me, and I be made like to those going down
(into) the pit. My rock, the
immoveable foundation of my hope and object
of
my trust. See above, on Ps. xviii. 3, 32 (2, 31), xix. 15 (14). That
God
is such affords a sufficient reason for the importunate demands which
follow.
It is inconsistent with the relation he sustains to those who trust
124 PSALM XXVIII. [VER. 2-5.
him,
that he should be silent when they pray, i.
e. refuse to answer. The
ideas
of distance and estrangement are really implied in being silent, and
suggested
by the pregnant construction silent from.
The meaning of the
last
clause is correctly given, with a change of idiom, in the English version,
lest, if thou be silent, &c. The passive
verb does not merely mean to be
like,
but to be made like, assimilated, confounded. The pit, the grave, both
in
its narrower and wider sense. (Compare Isa. xiv. 15, 19.) Those going
down into the pit is a common description
of the dead. See Ps. xxx. 4 (8),
lxxxviii.
5 (4), and compare Ps. xxii. 30 (29).
2. Hear
the voice of my supplications, in my crying unto thee (for help);
in my lifting up my
hands to thy holy oracle. In my crying, in my lifting,
i. e. at the time of my so
doing, when I am in the very act. The lifting up
of
the hands is a natural symbol of the raising of the heart or the desires to
God,
and is therefore often mentioned in connection with the act of prayer.
Exod.
ix. 29, xvii. 11, 12, 1 Kings viii. 22, 54, Lam. ii. 19, iii. 41, Ps. lxiii.
5
(4).—The Sword translated oracle is
derived from the verb to speak, and
seems
to mean a place of speaking or conversation, like the English parlour
from
the French parler. Now we learn from
Exod. xxv. 22, Num. vii. 89,
that
the place whence God talked with Moses was the inner apartment of
the
tabernacle; and from 1 Kings vi. 19, that the corresponding part of
the
temple bore the name here used. To this, as the depository of the
ark
and the earthly residence of God, the ancient saints looked as we look
now
to Christ, in whom the idea of the Mosaic sanctuary has been realised.
See
above, on Ps. v. 8 (7).
3. Draw
me not away with wicked (men), and with workers of iniquity,
speaking peace with
their neighbours, and evil (is) in their heart. This is
the
prayer for which he bespeaks audience and acceptance in the foregoing
verse.
Draw me not away, i. e. to punishment or out of life.
Compare
Ps.
xxvi. 9, where the parallel expression is gather
me not. In both cases
he
prays that he may not be confounded in his death with those whose life
he
abhors. The last clause exhibits a particular trait in the character of
the
wicked men and evil doers of the other clause. This trait is hypocritical
dissimulation,
the pretence of friendship as a mask to hatred. The simple construction
with
the copulative and is equivalent to our expressions, but, though, while, &c.
4. Give
to them according to their act, and according to the evil of their
deeds, according to the
work of their hands give thou to them; return their
treatment to them. Having prayed that he
may not share the destruction of
the
wicked, he now prays that they may not escape it. But as this is
merely
asking God to act as a just and holy being must act, the charge of
vindictive
cruelty is not merely groundless, but absurd.—The evil of their
deeds
is a phrase borrowed from Moses (Deut. xxviii. 20), and often
repeated
by Jeremiah (iv. 4, xxi. 12, xxiii. 2, 22, xxvi. 3, xliv. 22). The
same
prophet has combined two of the phrases here employed in Jer. xxv.
14,
and Lam. iii. 64. The word translated treatment
is a participle
meaning
that which is done by one person to another, whether good or
evil.
See above, on Ps. vii. 5 (4).
5. Because
they will not attend to the acts of Jehovah and to the doing of
his hands, he will pull
them down and will not build them up. Having
appealed
to the divine justice for a righteous recompence of these offenders,
he
now shews what they have deserved and must experience, by shewing
what
they have done, or rather not done. The acts of Jehovah and the
works
of his hands are common expressions for his penal judgments. See
VER.
6-9.]
PSALM XXIII. 125
Ps.
lxiv. 10 (9), xcii. 5 (4), Isa. v. 12, xxviii. 21, xxix. 23.—Pull down
and not build up, is an idiomatic
combination of positive and negative
terms
to express the same idea.—Build,
therefore, does not mean rebuild,
but
is simply the negative or opposite of pull
down. The form of expression is
copied
repeatedly by Jeremiah (xxxi. 28, xlii. 10, xlv. 4.) See also Job xii. 14.
6. Blessed
(be) Jehovah, because he hath heard the voice of my supplica-
tions. What he asked in ver.
2 he has now obtained, or at least the assur-
ance
of a favourable answer, in the confident anticipation of which he begins
already
to bless God. The word translated supplications
means, according
to
its etymology, prayers for grace or mercy.
7. Jehovah,
my strength and my shield! In him has my heart trusted,
and I have been helped,
and my heart shall exult, and by my song I will
thank (or praise) him. The construction of the first clause as a proposition,
by
supplying the substantive verb, Jehovah
(is) my strength and my shield,
is
unnecessary, and neither so simple nor so strong as that which makes
it
a grateful and admiring exclamation.—My
heart is twice used in this
sentence
to express the deep and cordial nature of the exercises which he is
describing.
The same heart that trusted now rejoices. As he believed
with
all his heart, so now he rejoices in like manner.—By my song, literally
from or out of it, as the source and the occasion of his praise. Compare
Ps,
xxii. 26 (25).
8. Jehovah
(is) strength to them, and a stronghold of salvation (to) his
Anointed (is) He. The Psalmist having
spoken hitherto not only for him-
self
but for the people, here insensibly substitutes the third person plural
for
the first person singular. In the last clause he reverts to himself, but
with
the use of an expression which discloses his relation to the people, of
which
he was not only a member but the delegated head, the Anointed of
Jehovah.
See above, on Ps. ii. 2. A stronghold. See above on Ps.
xxvii.
1.—Salvations, full salvation. See
above on Ps. xviii. 51 (50). The
personal
pronoun at the end of the sentence is emphatic, and intended to
concentrate
the attention upon one great object.
9. Oh
save thy people, and bless thy heritage, and feed them, and carry (or
exalt them) even to eternity! The whole psalm closes with a prayer that the
relation
now subsisting between God and his people may continue for ever.
Thy heritage, thy peculiar people,
whom thou dost preserve and treat as
such
from generation to generation. The idea and expression are Mosaic.
See
Deut. ix. 29, and compare Ps. xxxiii. 12, lxviii. 10 (9), xciv. 5. The
image
then merges into that of a shepherd and his flock, a favourite one
with
David and throughout the later scriptures. See above, on Ps. xxiii. 1.
—Feed them, not only in the strict sense,
but in that of doing the whole
duty
of a shepherd. The next verb is by some translated carry them, in
which
sense the primitive is elsewhere used in speaking of a shepherd (Isa.
xl.
11), and this very form appears to have the same sense in Isa. lxiii. 9,
while
in 2 Sam. v. 12 it is applied to the exaltation of David himself as
a
theocratic sovereign.
PSALM XXIX.
The
essential idea in this psalm is the same as in the twenty-eighth, to
wit,
that God is the strength of his people, but clothed in a different cos-
tume,
the divine power being proved or exemplified by its exertion in the
126 PSALM
XXIX. [VER.
1-3.
elements,
and then applied, in the close, to the believer's consolation. The
Psalmist
first invokes the heavenly host to celebrate their sovereign's
honour,
ver. 1, 2. He then describes Jehovah's voice as producing the
most
striking physical effects, ver. 3-9, and represents it as belonging to
the
same God who presided at the deluge, and who now protects and will
continue
to protect and bless his people, ver 10, 11. The superficial
notion
that this psalm is merely a description of a thunderstorm, or of
Jehovah
as the God of thunder, may be corrected by observing that the
last
verse gives the key-note of the whole composition.
1. A
psalm by David. Give to Jehovah, ye sons of the mighty, give to
Jehovah honour and
strength.
To give in such connections, is to recognise
something
as belonging to another, to ascribe it to him. The form of
expression
is derived from Deut. xxxii. 3, and is found not only elsewhere
in
the the Psalms (xcvi. 7, 8), but with a slight modification in the New
Testament
(Rev. iv. 11, v. 12, xix. 1, 1 Peter v. 11).—The word translated
mighty is the plural form of
one of the names (lxe) which describe God as
omnipotent.
See above, on Ps. v. 5 (4), vii. 12 (11), x. 11, 12, xvi. 1,
xvii.
6 (5), xviii. 3, 31, 33, 48 (2, 30, 32, 47), xix. 2 (1), xxii. 2 (1). The
plural
form may here arise from assimilation, both parts of the compound
phrase
being put into the plural, son of God,
sons of Gods. Compare words
of
deceits, Ps xxxv. 20. But a much more probable solution is that Mylixe
is
here used as Myhilox< is elsewhere, by a kind
of ellipsis for Mylixe lxe,
Dan.
xi. 36, the God of Gods, or the
Supreme God. Compare Deut. x. 17.—
The
sons of God are the beings intermediate between God and man, some-
times
called angels, in reference to their office. The same application of the
same
phrase occurs in Ps. lxxxix. 7 (6).
2. Give
to Jehovah the honour of his name; bow to Jehovah in beauty of holi-
ness. The honour of his name
is that belonging to it, due to it. His name is
his
manifested nature. See above, on Ps. v. 12 (11). The verb in the
last
clause strictly means, bow down or prostrate yourselves in worship.—
The beauty of holiness is by many understood
to mean holy or consecrated
garments,
such as were put on in the place of ordinary dress, as a token
of
reverence, by the priests when they approached unto the presence of
Jehovah.
See 2 Chron. xx. 21. But neither here nor in Ps. xcvi. 9,
cx.
3, is there any valid objection to the obvious but spiritual sense of
ornament
produced by or consisting in holiness, such decoration as became
the
peculiar people of Jehovah. Compare 1 Peter iii. 3-5.
3. The
voice of Jehovah on the waters! The God of glory thundered.
The voice of Jehovah (was) on many waters. The invocation to the
hea-
venly
host in the two preceding verses is now justified by an appeal to one
particular
manifestation of God's majesty, to wit, that afforded by the tem-
pestuous
strife of elements.—The first clause may be construed as an
exclamation,
or the substantive verb may be supplied, either in the past or,
present
tense. The preterite form of the original does not relate to any
specific
point of past time, but merely shews that the phenomena described
have
been heretofore witnessed, and though grand are nothing new. Our
present
tense gives the sense correctly, but with a departure from the
idiomatic
form of the original.—The God of glory
contains an allusion to
ver.
1, 2. Compare Ps. xxiv. 7-10. —On (or
above) the waters, i. e. the
clouds
charged with rain. See above, on Ps. xviii. 12 (11), and compare
Jer.
x. 13.
VER.
4-8.] PSALM
XXIX.
127
4. The
voice of Jehovah in power! The voice of Jehovah in majesty!
The
exclamations, as in ver. 3, may be converted into propositions by sup-
plying
either the past or present tense of the verb to be. 'The voice of
Jehovah
is (or was) in power.' In power, in majesty, i. e. invested with
these
attributes, a stronger expression than the corresponding adjectives
strong and majestic, would be, and certainly more
natural and consonant to
usage
than the construction which makes in
a mere sign of that in which
something
else consists. It is, indeed, little short of nonsense to affirm that
the
voice of God consists in power, consists in majesty, whereas there is
truth
as well as beauty in describing it as clothed or invested with those qualities.
5. The
voice of Jehovah (is) breaking cedars, and Jehovah has broken the
cedars of Lebanon. In the powerful
working of the elements the Psalmist
hears
the voice of God. That this expression always denotes thunder (Exod.
ix.
28) is a perfectly gratuitous assumption.—Cedars are mentioned as the
loftiest
forest trees, and those of Lebanon as the loftiest of the species.
Between
the verbs of the two clauses there is a twofold variation which
appears
to be significant. The first is the primitive verb which simply
means
to break; the other an intensive form, implying an extraordinary
violence.
See above, Ps. iii. 8 (7). This distinction can be reproduced
in
English only by a change of verb (break
and crush), or by some quali-
fying
addition (break and break in pieces), But besides this
variation, the
first
word is an active participle (breaking),
and the Second a finite tense
denoting
past time (broke or has broken), which together may indicate
progression
(it is breaking and now he has broken), or express the same
idea,
namely, that he habitually breaks, or has often broken, the cedars of
Lebanon.
6. And
made them skip like a calf, Lebanon and Sirion like the young of
the unicorns (antelopes or wild bulls).
The pronoun in the first clause may
refer
to cedars, or by anticipation to Lebanon and Sirion. This last is the
Sidonian
name of Hermon (Deut. iii. 9), the principal summit in the range
of
Anti-libanus, here mentioned simply as a parallel to Lebanon, without
any
special local reference. By a similar rhetorical specification, the natu-
ral
vivacity of young animals is specially ascribed to a particular species,
well
known to the writer and his readers as remarkable for wildness and
agility.
See above, on Ps. xxii. 22 (21).
7. The
voice of Jehovah (is) hewing flames (or with
flames) of fire. The
reference
to lightning in this verse is universally admitted, some even seeing
an
allusion to the brief and sudden flash in the single clause of which the
sentence
is composed. Interpreters are not agreed, however, with respect
to
the specific image here presented. Some understand the act described
to
be that of cleaving or dividing, in allusion to the forked
appearance of a
flash
of lightning; others that of hewing out,
extracting flames; and others
that
of hewing with them, i. e. using them as weapons of warfare
or instru-
ments
of vengeance. This last construction is a common one in Hebrew,
and
is favoured here by the analogy of Isa. li. 9, Hos. vi. 5, where the
same
verb is applied to God's penal judgments.—The voice of God must
here
mean his authority or order, as it could not be said without absurdity,
that
the thunder either hews the lightning, or hews with it.
8. The
voice of Jehovah is about to shake the wilderness; Jehovah will
shake wilderness of Kadesh. This is equivalent to saying
that he can do so,
the
Hebrew verb having no distinct potential form. The verb translated
shake is stronger, meaning
properly to cause to tremble. Having
spoken of
128 PSALM
XXIX. [VER. 9-11.
God's
power as exerted on the mountains, he now says the same thing of
the
desert; and as the mountains which he specified were on the northern
frontier,
so the wilderness which he selects is that which bounded Palestine
upon
the south, the northern portion of the great Arabian desert, with
which
the Israelites had many strong associations, founded partly in their
personal
experience, but still more in their national history. See Deut.
i.
19, viii. 15, xxxii. 10. It is in this point of view, and not simply as a
plain,
which it is not in its whole extent, that the wilderness of Kadesh is
here
added to Mount Lebanon.
9. The
voice of Jehovah can make hinds bring forth, and strip forests;
and in his temple, all
of it says, Glory!
The use of the futures is the same
as
in the foregoing verse. As if to shew that the divine control extends to
things
both small and great, the Psalmist passes suddenly from lofty. moun-
tains
and vast deserts to the weakest animals, in whom the terror of his
presence
hastens the throes of parturition. See Job xxxix. 1-3, and com-
pare
1 Sam. iv. 19. He then returns to more imposing natural phenomena,
such
as the stripping of the leaves and branches from whole forests by a
mighty
wind, which, no less than the thunder, is to be regarded as the voice
of
mighty temple or palace mentioned in the last clause is not the
temple
at Jerusalem, nor any earthly structure, but heaven, or the whole
frame
of nature, considered as God's royal residence. See above, on Ps.
v.
8 (7). Throughout this palace, all of it,
i. e. all its parts, its contents,
or
its inhabitants—with special reference, perhaps, to the angelic hosts
invoked
in ver. 1, who are then described as doing what he there invites
them
to do—not merely speaks of his glory,
as the English version has it,
but
says "glory!" as their
constant and involuntary exclamation. As to
the
true sense of the verb rmaxA, see above, on Ps. iv. 5 (4).
10. Jehovah
at the flood sat (enthroned), and Jehovah sits (as) King to
eternity. There are only two
ways in which this verse can be understood.
It
must either be explained as introducing a new trait in the description of
a
tempest, namely, that of a flood or inundation—or referred to the uni-
versal
deluge, as the grandest instance of the natural changes which had
been
described. In favour of the latter explanation may be urged the in-
trinsic
grandeur of the image which it calls up, its better agreement with the
solemn
declaration in the last clause, the peculiar fitness of a great historical
example
just in this place, and the invariable usage of lUBm.aha to mean
Noah's
flood. The sense of the whole verse may be thus expressed in
paraphrase.
The God whose voice now produces these effects is the God
who
sat enthroned upon the deluge, and this same God is still reigning over
nature
and the elements, and will be able to control them for ever.
11. Jehovah
strength to his people will give; Jehovah will bless his people
(with) peace. This is the
application of the whole psalm, clearly shelving
that
the description of external changes was not given for its own sake, or
for
mere poetical effect, but as a source of consolation and a ground of
hope
to true believers, who are here assured, in a pregnant summary of
all
that goes before, that the God who is thus visible and audible in nature,
who
presided at the flood and is to reign for ever, is pledged to exercise the
power
thus displayed for the protection and well-being of his people.
VER.
1-3] PSALM XXX.
129
PSALM XXX.
After
a title, giving the historical occasion of the psalm, ver. 1, the
writer
praises God for a signal deliverance from destruction, ver. 2-4 (1-3),
and
calls upon God's people to join in the praise of the divine compassion,
ver.
5, 6 (4, 5). He then reverts to the cause of his affliction, ver. 7, 8
(6,
7), and recounts the means which he employed for its removal, ver.
9-11
(8-10), and for the success of which he vows eternal thankfulness,
ver.
12 (13), 11 (12). The occasion and design of the psalm will be con-
sidered
in the exposition of the title or inscription, which constitutes the
first
verse of the Hebrew text.
1. A
Psalm. A Song of Dedication (for) the House. By David.
The
construction house of David, although
not ungrammatical, is forced, as
that
idea would, according to usage, have been otherwise expressed in He-
brew.
This construction has moreover given rise to the false notion, that
the
psalm has reference to the dedication of the king's own dwelling,
whereas
the house, as an absoulte phrase, can
only mean the house of God.
The
historical occasion of the psalm is furnished by the narrative in 2 Sam.
xxiv.
and 1 Chron. xxi. David's presumption in numbering the people
had
been punished by a pestilence, which raged until the destroying angel
had,
in answer to the king's prayer, been required to sheathe his sword.
The
spot where this indication of God's mercy had been given, was imme-
diately
purchased by David, and consecrated by the erection of an altar,
upon
which he offered sacrifices and received the divine approbation in the
gift
of fire from heaven (1 Chron. xxi. 26). This place the king expressly calls
the
house of God (1 Chron. xxii. 1), either in the wide sense of the patri-
archal
Bethel (Gen. xxviii. 17, 22), or as
the designated site of the temple,
for
which he immediately commenced his preparations (1 Chron. xxii. 2), and
in
reference to which this psalm might well be called a song of dedication,
although
naturally more full of the pestilence, and the sin which caused it,
than
of the sanctuary yet to be erected,
2 (1). I
will exalt thee, O Jehovah, because thou hast raised me up, and
hast not let my enemies
rejoice respecting me. In the first clause there is an
antithesis
of thought, though not of form. "I will raise thee because
thou
hast raised me." The second verb is a modified form of one mean-
ing
to draw water from a well (Exod ii. 16, 19), and may therefore have
been
chosen for the purpose of suggesting the idea of a person drawn up
from
some depth in which he had been sunk, a figure not unfrequent else-
where.
See particularly Ps. xl. 3 (2), below.—Hast
not caused or permitted
to rejoice by abandoning me to
them.— yli
does not properly mean over me,
but
as to me. The specific idea of
rejoicing over is suggested by the context.
3 (2.) Jehovah,
my God, I cried to thee (for help) and thou didst heal me.
The
address, my God, is never unmeaning
or superfluous, but always inti-
mates
a covenant relation as the ground of confidence. Any severe
suffering
is represented in Scripture under the figure of disease, and relief
from
it as healing. See above, on Ps. vi. 3 (2), and compare Ps. xli. 5 (4),
cvii.
20, Jer. xiv. 19, xv. 18, xvii. 14, xxx. 17. The healing here meant is
identical
with the help in ver. 4 (3) and the joy in ver. 12 (11,) and proves
nothing
therefore as to literal sickness in the Psalmist's case. It is alto-
gether
natural, however, to suppose that David may himself have been
affected
by the prevalent disorder.
4 (3.) Jehovah,
thou hast brought up out of hell my soul, thou hast made
130 PSALM
XXX. [VER.
4-8.
me alive from (among those) going down (into the) pit. The extremity of
his
danger is described in the strongest terms afforded by the language.
The
essential meaning of both clauses is, that God had saved him from what
seemed
to be inevitable and irrecoverable ruin.—Hell,
sheol, the state of
the
dead. See above, on Ps. vi. 6 (5).—Going
down into the pit, i. e. dying.
See
above, on Ps. xxii. 30 (29).—Made me
alive from them, i. e. separated
me
from
them by restoring or preserving my life, so that I no longer can be
numbered
with them.
5 (4.) Make
music to Jehovah, ye his gracious ones, and give thanks to
the memory of his
holiness.
The exhortation in the first clause is to praise
God
by song with instrumental accompaniment. See above, on Ps. vii.
18
(17), ix. 3, (2, 11). His gracious ones,
the objects of his mercy, and
themselves
endowed with the same attribute. See above, on Ps. iv. 4 (3).—
Memory, in this connection,
does not mean the power or the act of remem-
bering,
but that which is remembered when we think of God, to wit, his glorious
perfections,
which are summed up in his holiness,
as to the comprehensive
sense
of which, see above, on Ps. xxii. 4 (3). See also Hos. xii. 6 (5),
where
the memory of God is particularly
cdupled with his mercy, and
Exod.
iii. 15, Isa. xxvi. 8, Ps. cxxxv. 13, where memory
and name are used
as
parallel expressions.
6 (5). For
a moment in his wrath, life in his favour; in the evening
shall lodge weeping, and
at the morning shouting (or singing).
Some un-
derstand
the contrast in the first clause to be one of duration; there is only
a
moment in his wrath, but a lifetime in his favour. It is simpler, how-
ever,
and more agreeable to the usage of the word translated life, to read
the
clause without an antithesis; his wrath endures but a moment, and then
his
favour restores life, in its wide sense, as including all that makes exist-
ence
desirable. The same idea is expressed in the last clause by a beauti-
ful
figure. Sorrow is only a sojourner, a stranger lodging for the night, to
be
succeeded, at the break of day, by a very different inmate. This,
though
primarily referring to the joys and sorrows of the present state,
admits
of a striking application to the contrast between this life and the
next.
See above, on Ps. xvii. 15.
7 (6). And
I said in my security, I shall not be
moved for ever. The
pronoun
is emphatic: it was I that said.—Security.
The Hebrew word
includes
the ideas of prosperity, and of that self-confidence which it pro-
duces.
Compare Deut. viii. 11-18, xxxii. 15, Hos. xiii. 6, 2 Chron. xxxii.
25.—Moved, disturbed in my enjoyment, shaken
from my present firm
position.
See above, on Ps. x. 6, xvi. 8, and compare Ps. xiii. 5 (4), xv. 5, xxi. 8 (7).
8 (7). Jehovah,
in thy favour thou didst establish to my mountain strength;
thou didst hide thy
face, I was confounded. It was only through God's
mercy
that his power was established.—Thou
didst confirm strength (liter-
ally,
make it stand) to my mountain, a
common figure for royal power, and
especially
for that of the theocracy, the central point of which was mount
Zion.
See 2 Sam. v. 9, 12, Neh. iii. 15, Micah iv. 8, Isa. ii. 3. The idea
of
personal prosperity in general, though not expressed directly, is suggested
by
the special case of David's official eminence. —Thou didst hide thy face,
withdraw
the tokens of thy presence and thy favour. See above, on Ps.
xiii.
2 (1). —I was confounded, agitated,
terrified, perplexed. See above,
on
Ps. vi. 3, 4, 11 (2, 3, 10), and compare Ps. ii. 5. The common version,
troubled, is too weak.
9 (8). Unto
thee, Jehovah, will I call, and to Jehovah, I will cry for mercy.
VER.
9-12.] PSALM
XXX. 131
This
was the resolution formed at the time when God concealed his face
and
he was troubled. The insertion of the words then
said I, at the begin-
ning
of the verse, would render the connection clear, but is unnecessary.
The
translation of the futures as past tenses is a licence which could only
be
justified by extreme exegetical necessity, certainly not by the trivial cir-
cumstance,
that the last clause speaks of Jehovah in the third, person, which
is
not more surprising in a prayer than the second person of the first clause
would
be in a narrative. The sudden change of person is, of course, the
same
in either case.
10 (9). What
profit (is there) in my blood, in my
descending to corrup-
tion (or the grave)? Will dust praise (or thank)
thee? Will it tell thy truth?
This
argument in favour of his being heard and rescued is the same as that
in
Ps. vi. 6 (5), and reappears in Ps. lxxxviii. 11-13 (10-12), and in Heze-
kiah's
psalm, Isa. xxxviii. 18, 19, both of which are obvious imitations of
David.
For the twofold etymology and sense of tHawa, either of which is
here
appropriate, see above, on Ps. xvi. 10. —Dust,
the lifeless and dis-
organised
remains of the body.—Tell thy truth, attest
the truth of thy pro-
mises
by reciting their fulfilment, and so bear witness to the divine veracity
and
faithfulness. The questions of course imply negation. "My destruction can
be
no advantage to the divine glory, but must rather involve a loss of
praise."
11 (10). Hear, Jehovah, and have mercy on me; Jehovah, be a helper for
(or
to) me. This petition is an indirect conclusion from the reasoning of
the
preceding verse. The logical connection may be made clear by a change
of
form. "Since thy glory will not be promoted by my death, I am en-
titled
to deliverance, not for my sake but thy own." This last idea is.
suggested
by his appealing to the divine mercy,
as the ground on which he
asked
God to become his helper.
12 (11). Thou hast turned my lament into a dance for me; thou hast
opened my sackcloth and
hast girded me (with) joy. To his prayer he now
adds
the account of its fulfilment. The relief of his distress is described as
an
exchange of his lament or funeral
song for a joyful dance, Compare
Jer.
xxxi. 13, Lam. v. 15. In further allusion to the mourning customs of
the
east, he represents his mourning dress, made of the coarsest hair-cloth,
as
now opened, i. e. loosened, unfastened, for the purpose of removal, to be
replaced
not merely by a gay or festive dress, but by joy itself, poetically
represented
as a garment. See above, on Ps. xviii. 33, 40 (32, 39), and
compare
Isa. lxi. 3.
13 (12). In order that glory may make music to thee and not be dumb,
Jehovah, my God, I will
praise thee
(or give thanks to thee) for ever. This
verse
describes not only the effect but the design of the deliverance asked
for,
and so furnishes a counterpart to the argument in ver. 10 (9). As the
death
of the Psalmist would deprive God of praise, so his deliverance is in-
tended
to ensure it.—The use of glory in the
first clause is obscure. Some
understand
by it the tongue or voice, which is entirely arbitrary; others
the
soul, the nobler part of man, as in Ps. xvi. 9, lvii. 9, cviii. 2 (1). But
as
the form in all these cases is my glory,
it seems better to take glory here
without
the pronoun in the wide sense of every
thing glorious, including the
worshipper's
highest powers, and perhaps his regal dignity, as in Ps. vii. 6 (5)
As
in God's temple every thing says "Glory!" (Ps. xxix. 9), so every
thing
glorious among his works is bound to praise him.—Not be dumb, a
stronger
phrase than not be silent.—With the
last clause compare the words
of
Hezekiah, Isa. xxxviii. 20.
132 PSALM
XXXI. [VER. 1-3.
PSALM XXXI.
The
Psalmist first prays in general for deliverance from his sufferings
and
his enemies, on the ground of his confidence in God and previous ex-
perience
of his mercy, ver. 2-9 (1-8). He then prays more particularly
for
deliverance from his present danger, with a description of the same, ver.
10-14
(9-13). In the remainder of the psalm, the tone of supplication and
complaint
is gradually exchanged for that of thankful assurance, ver. 15-23
(14-22),
and the whole is wound up with an application of the lesson fur-
nished
by the Psalmist's experience to the case of all God's people, ver.
24,
25 (23, 24).
1. To
the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David. Here we meet again
with
the inscription, to the chief musician,
which has not appeared before
since
the title of Ps. xxii. As in all other cases, it explicitly describes the
psalm
as intended for musical performance in the public worship of the
ancient
church. As this, however, was the case with all the psalms, the
fact
that it is mentioned only in some may be explained by supposing, that
in
them there was something which might otherwise have caused them to
be
looked upon as mere expressions of personal feeling.—The correctness
of
the other clause—a Psalm of David—is
fully attested by internal evidence.
The
idea that Jeremiah wrote it rests entirely on the imitation of the first
clause
of ver. 14 (13) in Jer. xx. 10, which is in perfect keeping with the
practice
of that prophet.
2 (1). In
thee, Jehovah, have I trusted. Let me not be shamed for ever.
In thy righteusness
deliver me
(or help me to escape). The first
clause con-
tains
the ground of the petitions following, which ground is the same that
is
often urged elsewhere, namely, that a just God cannot destroy those who
trust
him. See above, Ps. vii. 2 (1), xi. 1.—The prayer in the next clause
may
be either that his present shame may not endure for ever, or that he
may
never be put to shame, which last
idea could not well be otherwise
expressed
in Hebrew. Shamed, i. e. utterly confounded, disappointed,
and
frustrated in his hopes. See above, on Ps. vi. 11 (10), xxii. 6 (5),
xxv.
2, 20. He appeals to God's righteousness or justice, in the strict
sense,
upon which trust or faith creates a claim, even on the part of the
unworthy,
not by virtue of any intrinsic merit, but of God's gracious con-
stitution.
See, above, on Ps. xvii. 1, 2, xviii. 21-25 (20-24), xxv. 21.
xxvi.
1. This verse and the two following reappear, without material
variation,
in Ps. lxxi. 1-3.
3 (2). Incline
unto me thine ear; (in) haste deliver me; be to me for a rock
of strength for a house
of defences to save me. The prayer for speedy deliver-
ance
implies extreme necessity and danger. For the meaning of the figures,
rock of strength and
house of defences
or fortress, see above, on Ps. xviii.
3
(2), and as to the plural form, on Ps. xviii. 51 (50), xx. 7 (6).—The
petition
of the first clause seems to imply that God had hitherto appeared
to
turn a deaf ear to his prayers. It may perhaps have been intended to
suggest
the additional idea, that his cry was feeble, so that it had hitherto
escaped
the ear of him to whom it was addressed, and who is now implored
to
bow down or incline his ear, that the distant sound may reach him.
4 (3). For
my rock and my fortress (art) thou, and for thy name's sake
thou wilt lead me and
conduct me
(or provide for me). What he asks in
the
preceding
verse he here asserts, to wit, that God is his protector, and must
therefore,
of necessity, protect him, not only for the sufferer's sake, but for
VER.
4-8.] PSALM
XXXI.
133
the
honour of his own name or manifested nature. See above, Ps. xxiii. 3,
for
the meaning of this phrase, and on the second verse of the same psalm,
for
that of the last verb.—The futures in the second clause suggest the
idea
of necessity, and might perhaps be correctly rendered by the use of
our
auxiliary must.
5 (4). Thou
wilt bring me out from the net which they have hid for me;
for thou (art) my
strength
(or my stronghold). "By thee I
confidently
hope
to be delivered from the craft and malice of my enemies, for my de-
fence
and safety are in thee alone." With. the first clause compare Ps.
xxv.
15, and with the last Ps. xxvii. 1. The change of figure in the last
clause
shews the whole verse to be highly metaphorical.
6 (5). Into
thy hand I will commit my spirit; thou hast redeemed me,
(O) Jehovah, God of
truth.
The verb in the first clause means to entrust
or
deposit anything of value. By my spirit
we may either understand my
my life or myself, but not my soul,
as distinguished from my body.—The
preterite
thou hast redeemed, expresses, in the
strongest manner, his assured.
hope,
and the certainty of the event—God of
truth, veracity or faithful-
ness.
See above, on Ps. xxv. 5, and compare Jer. x. 10. The words of
the
first clause of this verse were quoted or imitated by our Saviour on the
cross,
Luke xxiii. 46, which only proves that he considered himself one of
those
to whom the psalm might be applied, but without excluding others;
and
accordingly John Huss, while on his way to the stake, repeatedly
quoted
this whole verse, as the expression of his own emotions.
7 (6). I
have hated those regarding vanities of falsehood, and I (for my
part)
in Jehovah have confided. The present
is included in the preterite
of
the first clause. "I have hated them, and hate them still." "I
hate
them,
and have done so heretofore." See above, Ps. xvi. 4, xxvi. 5.—Re-
garding, religiously observing,
waiting upon, watching with respect and
trust.
Compare Hos. iv. 10, Zech. xi. 11, Jonah ii. 9 (8). This last place
contains
also the word vanities here used, and
even in the Law applied to idols,
as
no gods, and as "nothing in the world" (1 Cor. viii. 4). See Deut.
xxxii.
21, and compare Jer. 5, x. 15, xiv. 22, xvi. 19, xviii. 15. The
words
here combined are highly contemptuous, denoting vanities of empti-
ness, or nothings of nonentity, presented in
contrast to Jehovah, God of truth, in whom
the
Psalmist has confided. And I, as
opposed to them. See above, on Ps. ii. 6.
8 (7). I
will triumph and joy in thy mercy, thou who hast seen my afflic-
tion, hast known the
pangs of my soul.
In the strength of his faith he sees
deliverance
already present.—Hast known in the pangs
of my soul, i. e. in
the
time of my distress hast been aware of it, which seems to be the mean-
ing
of this verb and preposition elsewhere (Gen. xix. 33, 35, Job xxxv. 15).
Luther
and others give a different construction, hast
known my soul in dis-
tress, but the other is
favoured by the occurrence of the phrase distress
(or
agonies) of soul in Gen. xlii. 21, and Ps. xxv. 17. The sight and knowledge
here applied
to
God imply a corresponding action. "Thou hast seen and known my state, and
dealt
with
me accordingly." With the first clause compare Ps. ix. 3 (2).
9 (8). And
hast not shut me up in the hand of a foe, (but) hast made to stand
in the wide place my
feet.
To shut up in the hand of any one is to abandon
to
his power. The expression is a figurative one, but occurs in prose, and
even
in the history of David. See 1 Sam. xxiii. 11, xxvi. 8. The figure
of
the last clause is a favourite with David. See above, on Ps. iv. 2 (1),
xviii.
20, 37 (19, 36).
134 PSALM
XXXI. [VER.
9-13.
10 (9). Have
mercy upon me, O Jehovah, for distress is to me; sunken
through grief is my eye,
my soul, and my belly.
Having thus professed his
confidence
of ultimate deliverance, he reverts to his actual condition, and
prays
for the divine interposition, on the ground of what he has already
suffered.
On the sinking or falling of the eye, as a sign of extreme grief
and
weakness, see ahove, on Ps. vi. 8 (7). Having mentioned this as a
specific
symptom, he then uses the generic terms, soul
and belly, i. e. body.—
For
the true sense of the word translated grief,
see above, on Ps. x. 14.
11 (10). For wasted with grief (or indignation)
is my life, and my years
with sighing; my
strength totters because of my iniquity, and my bones are
decayed. Wasted, consumed
before the time.—Life and years, grief and
sighing, are correlative expressions.
Life is made up of years; grief is
expressed
by sighs and groans.—To totter or stumble is a verb applied else-
where
to the parts of the body—as the knees in Ps. cix. 24—here meta-
phorically
to the strength itself.—Because of my
iniquity or guilt is not
inconsistent
with the appeal to God's righteousness in ver. 2 (1), but only
proves
that the Psalmist lays no claim to a sinless perfection. See above,
on
Ps. xviii. 24 (23).—The bones are
mentioned as the seat of strength, the solid
frame-work
of the body.—Decayed, grown old, worn
out. See below, on Ps. xxxii. 3.
12 (11). By means of (or because of)
all my adversaries I was a reproach,
and to my neighbours
very (much), and a fear to my acquaintances; seeing me
in the street they fled
from me
(or those seeing me in the street fled
from me).
The
first word properly means from or out of. It was from his enemies,
both
as the cause and the occasion, that his disgrace proceeded. A reproach,
despised
by others, and considered a disgrace to them. See above, on Pr.
xxii.
7 (6). In the second clause there is an obvious progression. He
was
so esteemed, not only by his fellow-men indefinitely, but by his neigh-
bours,
and that greatly (dxom;), which seems equivalent to saying,
"and to
none
more than my neighbours," or, "above all to my neighbours." In
the
last
clause the climax is completed. Not only were his neighbours ashamed
of
him; his acquaintances were afraid of him. See below, Ps. xxxviii.
12
(11), lxix. 9 (8), lxxxviii. 19 (18), and compare Job xix. 13, 14.
13 (12). I was forgotten as a dead man out of mind; I was like a broken
vessel (or a vessel perishing). The next stage of
his calamity was that of
contemptuous
oblivion, which usually follows the acute one of disgust and
shame
described in the foregoing verse.—From
the heart, i. e. the memory;
the
expression seems to correspond exactly to the second member of the
English
proverb, Out of sight, out of mind.—The
comparison with an
earthen
vessel, at best of little value, easily broken, and when broken,
worthless,
only fit to be contemptuously thrown aside, is a favourite with
Jeremiah,
who appears to have derived it, with some other favourite ideas
and
expressions, from the psalm before us. See Jer. xix. 11, xxii. 28,
xxv.
34, xlviii. 38, and compare Hos. viii. 8.
14 (13). For I heard the slander oy
many—terror (was) all around—in
their consulting
together against me, to take my soul (or my
life) they plotted.
The
for connects what follows not so much with what immediately precedes
as
with the general description of his urgent need in ver. 10 (9). Have
mercy upon me, for
distress is to me,
of which he is about to give another
proof
or instance. The first clause is closely copied in Jer. xx. 10, and
the
phrase magor missabib (fear round
about) is a favourite with that pro-
phet.
See Jer. vi. 25, xx. 3, xlvi, 5, xlix. 29, and compare Lam. ii. 22.
—The
term used for consulting is akin to
that in Ps. ii. 2.—The connec-
VER.
14-19.] PSALM XXXI. 135
tion
between the slander of the first clause and the plotting of the second
seems
to be, that the former was regarded as a necessary means to the
successful
execution of the latter.
15 (14). And I on, thee did trust, Jehovah; I said, my God (art) thou!
"Amidst
these distresses, and in spite of them, I still confided in Jehovah,
and
expressed my confidence by solemnly avouching him to be my God, and
therefore
bound by covenant to save me, as I am no less bound by cove-
nant
to trust him." It is worthy of remark how constantly the ancient
saints
make trust in God essential to all spiritual safety.—With the last
clause
of this verse compare Ps. xvi. 1.
16 (15). In thy hand (are) my times;
set me free from the hand of my
foes and from my
persecutors.
By times we are to understand the
cur-
rent
of events or the vicissitudes of life, as when we speak familiarly of
good
times, hard times, and the like. There may be also an allusion to
the
turning-points or critical junctures of his history. The first clause
presents
the ground or reason of the second. "Since the events of my
life
are at thy disposal, set me free," &c. Freeing from the hand is the
opposite
of shutting up in it. See above, on ver. 9 (8).—Foes and perse-
cutors, not as distinct
classes, but as different descriptions of the same.
17 (16). Let thy face shine on thy servant; save me in thy mercy. The
first
clause contains an allusion to the sacerdotal benediction recorded in
Num.
vi. 25. See above, on Ps. iv. 7 (6), where we have a similar allu-
sion
to that passage. "Grant me a sensible assurance of thy favour."
This
he asks because he is his servant, a relation implying the necessity of
God's
interposition in his favour. While God is God, he cannot leave his
faithful
servants to perish. Even here, however, his appeal is to God's
mercy,
as, the only source or means of safety.
18 (17). Jehovah, let me not be shamed, for I have called (upon thee).
Let the wicked be
shamed, be silenced, in hell. He distinguishes himself, as
one
who calls upon God, from the wicked who do not, and appeals to the
righteousness
of God as requiring that defeat, and disappointment, and
frustration
of the hopes, should fall, not upon the class to which he belongs
and
of which he is the representative, but upon that represented by his
enemies,
of whom it has been well said, that they are not reckoned sinners
because
they are his enemies, but enemies because they are sinners, or in
other
words, enemies to him because they are the enemies of God.—
Silenced
in reference to their present loud and angry contests with the
righteous.—In hell, or in the grave, i. e. in death.
19 (18). Struck dumb be the lips of lying, the (lips) speaking against a
righteous (man),
insolently in pride and scorn. This wish has special refer-
ence
to the slanders mentioned in ver. 14 (13).—Insolently,
literally insolent,
that
which is insolent, or as an abstract, insolence, audacity.
20 (19). How great is thy goodness which thou hast hidden for those
fearing thee, (and) wrought for (those) trusting in thee before the Son of man
(or
mankind)! Some suppose an antithesis
between what God does secretly
for
those who trust him openly, or publicly profess their faith. Compare
Mat.
vi. 4. But usage and the masoretic accents are in favour of a dif-
ferent
construction, which connects before the
sons of man with wrought, and
supposes
the antithesis to be between the two successive stages of God's
dispensations
towards believers, first what he does in secret, and then what
he
does in public. "How great is thy goodness which thou hast first treasured
up, and
then
wrought openly before the sons of men for those who trust thee."
136 PSALM XXXI. [VER. 20-23.
21 (20) Thou
wilt secrete them in the secret of thy face (or presence) from
the leagues of man; thou
wilt hide them in a covert from the strife of tongues.
A
particular manifestation of this goodness is now specified, to wit, the
protection
of its objects from the craft and malice of their fellow-men. The
figures
are the same as in the first clause of Ps. xxvii. 5, except that the
presence
of God is substituted for his dwelling, which indeed derives its
power
of protection solely from that presence. The leagues or plots of man
are
those mentioned in ver. 14 (13), and the strife
of tongues the slander
there
referred to; not the strife of tongues in mutual dispute among his
enemies,
but the united strife of all their tongues against himself.
22 (21). Blessed (be) Jehovah, for he hath made his mercy wonderful to
me in a city of defence (or fortified city). What he had just
asserted to be
generally
true of all believers, he now declares to have been verified in his
own
experience.—Has made his mercy wonderful,
has exercised surprising
mercy,
or in modern phrase, has been wonderfully gracious.—In a fenced
city is by some understood
to mean as such a city, a comparison which
really
occurs in other places. For another supposed instance of the same
construction,
see above, on Ps. xxix. 4. In this case, however, as in that,
the
strict sense of the particle may be retained, not only without injury
but
with advantage to the sense, which will then be, that Jehovah had
exercised
extraordinary mercy towards the psalmist, by bringing him into a
position
where he was as safe from the evils which he felt or feared, as he
would
have been from mere corporeal perils in a walled town or a fortress.
23 (22). And (yet it was) I (that)
said in my terror, I am cut off from
before thine eyes. Nevertheless, thou didst hear the voice of my prayers (for
mercy)
in my crying unto thee (for help).
The full force of the emphatic
pronoun
can be represented only by a paraphrase. The meaning is that
this
very person who experiences this wonderful protection was the same
who,
but a little while before, had given himself up for lost.—In my haste.
The
Hebrew word denotes the hurried flight of one escaping panic-struck
from
his pursuers. See the literal application of the verb, in historical
prose,
to the case of David himself, 1 Sam. xxiii. 26, and compare Ps.
xlviii.
6 (5), civ. 7. Our idiom absolutely requires an adversative particle
at
the beginning of the second clause, although the Hebrew word is pro-
perly
a particle of affirmation, meaning certainly
or surely. Notwithstand-
ing
his despondency and unbelief, Jehovah heard and answered his prayers for mercy
and
his cries for help, both which ideas are suggested in the original.
24 (23) Love
Jehovah, ye his gracious ones (or favoured
ones); faith-
keeping (is) Jehovah, and repaying in plenty (the
man) working pride (or
acting proudly). In this and the
remaining verse, he makes a further
application
of the truth, which he had just attested from his own experi-
ence,
to the case of all God's saints or gracious ones, at once the subjects
and
the objects of benignant dispositions, those who are merciful because
they
obtain mercy (Mat. v. 7). See above, on Ps. iv. 4 (3).—The next
words
admit of two interpretations: keeping
(preserving) the faithful, and
keeping faith, literally fidelities, the plural being often used
in Hebrew as
an
abstract. The predominant usage of Mynvmx, is in favour of this
last
construction.
See above, on Ps. xii. 2 (1). Keeping
faith of course
means
with those who are faithful to himself, so that we still have the
antithesis
between them and the man doing,
exercising pride, a form of
speech
much stronger than its English equivalent, acting proudly.—Abun-
dantly, or literally, in plenty.
VER.
1, 2.] PSALM
XXXII.
137
25 (24). Be strong, and let him confirm your heart, all ye that wait for
Jehovah (or hope in him). The idea and the form of
expression are the
same
as in Ps. xxvii. 14, except that what the Psalmist there says to him-
self,
or to his own soul, he here says to all that hope in God, or wait for
the
fulfilment of his promises. See the same description of God's people
in
Ps. xxxiii. 18, below.—Be strong in
purpose and desire, and he will make
you
strong in fact. This promise is conveyed under the form of a wish,
may he strengthen (or confirm) your heart. See above, on Ps. xxvii. 14.
PSALM
XXXII.
THE Psalm opens with a general assertion of
the blessedness arising from
the
pardon of sin, ver. 1, 2, which is then exemplified by a statement of
the
Psalmist's own experience, ver. 3-6, and extended to the case of others
also,
ver, 7-9, the whole ending, as it began, with an assertion of the
misery
of sinners and the happiness of the righteous, ver. 10, 11.
1. By
David. Maschil. Happy (he whose) transgression (is) taken
away, covered (his) sin. The ascription of the
psalm to David is not only
free
from all improbability, and recognised in the New Testament (Rom.
iv.
6), but confirmed by its resemblance to his other compositions, and by
a
seeming reference to a signal incident in David's life, described as unique
in
the history itself (1 Kings xv. 5), and the same which gave occasion to
the
fifty-first psalm. The feelings here described bear a striking analogy
to
those recorded in the narrative, 2 Sam. xii., as will be more distinctly
pointed
out below. But although there is reason to believe that this psalm
was
connected, in its origin, with a peculiar and most painful passage of
the
writer's own experience, it was not intended to express his personal
emotions
merely, nor even those of other saints in precisely the same situa-
tion,
but to draw from this one case a general lesson, as to the misery of
impenitent
dissimulation, and the happiness arising from confession and
forgiveness.
And lest this wide scope of the psalm should be lost sight of
in
the contemplation of the circumstances which produced it, it is described
in
the inscription as a maschil, an
instructive or didactic psalm, a designa-
tion
which, in the case of many other psalms, would be superfluous, and
which
is actually found, for the most part, only where the didactic purpose
of
the composition is for some cause less obvious than usual. (Compare
the
introduction to Ps. xxxiv. below.) That the maschil was prefixed by
David
himself, is rendered still more probable by the allusion to it in the
body
of the psalm. See below, on ver. 8.—Taken
away, put out of sight,
the
same idea that is expressed in the other clause by covered. This
verse
is explained by Paul, in Rom. iv. 6, as relating to justification
"without
works" and "by faith."
2. Happy
man — Jehovah will not impute to him iniquity — and
there is not in his
spirit guile.
The peculiar form of the construction may
be
thus resolved into our idiom: happy the man to whom the Lord, &c.
The
phrase at the beginning, Oh the
happinesses of the man, is substantially
the
same as in Ps. i. 1.—Impute, reckon
or charge to his account, and
deal
with him accordingly. The whole phrase occurs in 2 Sam. xix. 20
(19).
The threefold designation, sin,
transgression, and iniquity,
seems to
be
borrowed from Exod. xxxiv. 7, where the doctrine of forgiveness is first
fully
and explicitly propounded.—Guile,
deceit, including self-deception as
to
one's own character and dissimulation in the sight of God, the attempt
138 PSALM
XXXII. [VER.
3-6.
to
palliate or conceal sin instead of freely confessing it, which is an indis-
pensable
condition of forgiveness, according to the doctrine of both testa-
ments
(Prov. xxviii. 13,1 John i. 8-10).
3. For
I kept silence (and) my bones decayed, in my roaring all the day.
The
sentence admits of several different constructions—'because I kept
silence
my bones decayed when I kept silence,' &c. But the simplest
is
that which gives the yKi its usual and proper meaning, and supposes it
to
introduce
the Psalmist's, proof of the preceding proposition drawn from his
own
experience. "I know this happiness, for
I was once in a different con-
dition
and have been delivered."—Kept
silence, refrained from acknowledging
my
sins to God. The bones are here put for the framework of the body,
in
which the strength resides, and the decay of which implies extreme debi-
litation.
The verb translated decayed is
especially applied to the weaken-
mg
effect of time; they grew old, or wore out.— In denotes both time and
cause—'while
I roared,' and 'because I roared.' The figure is borrowed
from
the habits of inferior animals, and means loud or passionate complaint.
See
above, on Ps. xxii. 2 (1).
4. For
day and night thy hand weighs upon me; changed is my mois-
ture in (or into) droughts of summer. Selah. The for
at the beginning
shows
the connection of this verse with that before it, as assigning the cause
of
the decay there mentioned. "My bones waxed old because thy hand,"
&c.—The
future in the first clause cannot, without arbitrary violence, be
taken
as a preterite. It seems to have been used for the purpose of describ-
ing
his condition as it seemed to him at the time, when the hand of God
not
only weighed upon him but seemed likely still to do so. See above, on
Ps.
xviii. 17 (16). The word translated moisture,
i. e. vital juice, analo-
gous
to the sap of plants, is so explained from an Arabic analogy; but some
think
this sense inappropriate in the only other case where the Hebrew
word
occurs (Num. xi. 8), and infer from Ps. cii. 5 (4), that it is an un-
usual
expression for the heart. His inward agonies are represented as intense
and
parching heats.
5. My
sin I will make known to thee, and my guilt I did not conceal. I
said, I will make
confession of my transgressions to Jehovah. And thou
didst take away the
guilt of my sin. Selah. Most interpreters explain the
future
verb of the first clause as a preterite, because all the other verbs are
preterites;
but this only renders the future form of the first verb more
remarkable,
and makes it harder to explain why a past tense was not used
in
this, as in all the other cases, if the writer intended to express past time.
The
only consistent method of solution is to understand the first clause as
a
reminiscence of the Psalmist's resolution in the time of his distress,
repeated
in the second clause, and, in both cases, followed by a recital of
the
execution of his purpose. (I said) my sin I will make known to thee,
and
my guilt I (accordingly) did not conceal. I said, I will make confession to
Jehovah,
and
thou didst take away the guilt of my sin. See above, on Ps. xxx. 9 (8).
6. For
this shall every gracious one make supplication to thee at the (right)
time (for) finding (thee);
surely at the overflow of many waters, unto him
they shall not reach. The first words are
equally ambiguous in Hebrew and
in
English. At first sight, both may seem to mean, for this grace, this
forgiveness,
every godly man shall pray to thee. But although this con-
struction
yields a good sense, it is less consistent with the usage of the
Hebrew
verb and preposition than another which explains the phrase to
mean
for this cause, or on this account,
to wit, because I have experienced
VER.
7-9.] PSALM
XXXII.
139
the
blessedness of penitent confession and the pardon which invariably fol-
lows
it. For the true sense of rysHA, see above, on Ps.
xxxi. 24 (23).
Shall pray is not a mere
prediction or anticipation, but a jussive future,
such
as is constantly employed in laws. The sense might therefore be
conveyed
by rendering it, let every pious person
pray.—The time of finding
is
the time when God is to be found. See Isa. lv. 6, and compare Deut.
iv.
29, Jer. xxix. 12-14. In this case there may be a particular allusion
to
the interval between the sin and punishment, during which the penitent
confessions
and importunate petitions of the sinner,—i.
e. the offending
saint,
to whom alone the Psalmist here refers—may avail to avert the judg-
ments
which must otherwise inevitably follow. This effect is described in
the
last clause by the figure of a flood, which is not suffered to extend to
him.
The word translated surely means in
strictness only; i. e. the effect
of
such a prayer will be only this, or, as we say, neither more nor less.
7. Thou
(art) a hiding-place for me; from distress thou wilt preserve me;
with songs (or shouts) of deliverance thou wilt surround me. Selah. This
is
not, as some suppose, the prayer itself, which the believer is exhorted, in
ver.
6, to offer, but a confirmation of the truth of the assurance that the
prayer
will prove effectual, derived from the psalmist's own experience, or
rather
from the feelings which it has produced. As if he had said, "Every
gracious
soul may try this method without fear of disappointment, for I
have
tried it, and the effect is that, at this very moment, God is my refuge
and
protector, and I feel a strong assurance that he has the joy of his sal-
vation
in reserve for me." The solemnity and truth of this profession are
then
indicated by a meditative pause, denoted in the usual manner.
8. I
will instruct thee, and will guide thee, in the way which thou shalt go;
I will counsel thee, my
eye
(shall be) upon thee. Some regard
these as the
words
of God to David; but besides the gratuitous assumption of two dif-
ferent
speakers in the two successive verses, without anything to indicate
a
change, the obvious allusion in the first word (j~l;yKiW;xa) to the laconic
title
of the psalm (lyKiW;ma)—as if the instruction there promised
was about
to
be imparted—makes it altogether probable that David is here speaking
in
his own person and fulfilling the vow recorded in another place, that
when
forgiven and restored to communion with God, he would teach trans-
gressors
his ways. See Ps. li. 15 (13). He may therefore be considered
as
addressing another like himself—to wit, a godly person (dysiHA) overtaken
in
transgression or exposed to strong temptation—and offering to point out
to
him the path of safety. The construction of the latter clause which some
prefer—I will
counsel for thee (with) my eye—is
much less natural and.
simple
than the one above given, where the phrase, my
eye is (or shall be)
upon thee, adds to the idea of
advice that of friendly watchfulness and supervision.
9. Be
ye not as a horse (or) as a mule
(in which) there is no understand-
ing—in bridle and bit (consists) its ornament, to muzzle it, (because of
its)
not approachiny to thee. The counsel or advice,
which was promised in
the
previous verse, is here imparted. The plural form does not imply a
change
in the object of instruction, but merely shews that the individual
addressed
in ver. 8 was the representative of a whole class, namely, that
described
by the collective phrase, every gracious
(person), in ver. 6.—The
mule
is, among various nations, a proverbial type of stubborn persistency
in
evil, and we find analogous allusions to the horse in Jer. v. 8, viii. 6.
140 PSALM
XXXII. [VER.
10, 11.
The
reason for using a comparison with brutes is intimated in the second
clause,
to wit, that the debased irrationality of sin might be distinctly
brought
into view. The analogy is carried out with no small subtilty by
representing
that what seems to be the trappings or mere decoration of these
brutes
is really intended to coerce them, just as that in which men pride
themselves
may be, and if necessary will be used by God for their restraint
and
subjugation. The common version of the last clause—lest they come
near unto thee—would be suitable
enough in speaking of a wild beast, but
in
reference to a mule or horse the words can only mean, because they will
not
follow or obey thee of their own accord, they must be constantly coerced,
in
the way both of compulsion and restraint.
10. Many
pains (are) to the wicked; and
(as to) the (man) trusting in
Jehovah, mercy shall
encompass him, or, he will encompass him (with) mercy.
In
this and the remaining verse the psalmist loses sight, not only of the
horse
and mule, to which he had compared the stubborn sinner, but of the
particular
case which had occasioned the comparison, and closes with the
statement
of a general truth, founded in necessity and verified by all expe-
rience,
that sin produces misery and trust in God salvation. It is implied
though
not expressed in the first clause, that the sufferings of the wicked,
while
he still continues such, are hopeless and incurable, while those to
which
the righteous is subjected, are salutary in effect and temporary in
duration.
See below, Ps. xxxiv. 20 (19). Here again, as in Ps. xxxi. 15
(14)
above, we may observe that the antithesis is not between the wicked
and
the absolutely righteous, but between the wicked and the man trusting
in
Jehovah, and that the effect ascribed to this trust is not the recognition
of
the man's inherent righteousness, but his experience of God's mercy,
which
implies that he is guilty and unworthy in himself, and can only be
delivered
from the necessary consequences of his sin, by simply trusting in
the
mercy of the very Being whom he has offended.—Of the two construc-
tions
given in the version of the closing words, the last is recommended by
the
analogy of ver. 7, where the same verb governs two accusatives.
11. Rejoice
in Jehovah, and exult, ye righteous, and shout (or sing), all ye
upright in heart! This is the practical
use to be made of the preceding
doctrine;
for, if that be true, it follows that the righteous have abundant
cause
for exultation, not in themselves but in Jehovah, i. e. in their knowledge
and
possession and enjoyment of him.—The
righteous, as opposed to the
wicked; not the absolutely
perfect, but those trusting in the mercy of
Jehovah
for deliverance both from punishment and sin. The verb of the
second
clause is properly a causative, and means to make others shout or
sing
for joy. See Deut. xxxii. 43, Ps. lxv. 9 (8), Job xxix. 13. In one
place,
however, Ps. lxxxi. 2 (1), it appears to be intransitive, and such may
be
the case here, where the other verbs mean simply to rejoice.
PSALM XXXIII.
A song
of praise, intended to excite and to express the confidence of
Israel
in Jehovah, and closely connected with the didactic psalm before it,
the
closing sentiment of which is here carried out. This intimate relation
of
the two psalms may account for the absence of a title in the one before
us,
as in the case of the ninth and tenth. See above, p. 46.
After a general invitation to praise God,
ver. 1-3, the reasons are assigned,
to
wit, his truth, faithfulness, and mercy, ver. 4-6, his creative power, ver-
VER.
1-5.] PSALM
XXXIII. 141
7-9,
and his control of human agents, not only individuals but whole
nations,
making them subservient to his own designs, ver. 10, 11, from all
which
is inferred the happy lot of his peculiar people, ver. 12. The
Psalmist
then continues his praise of God, as omniscient, ver. 13, 14, and
contrasts
the insufficiency of all created help, ver. 15, 16, with the security of
those
whom he protects, ver. 17, 18, and the whole concludes with an expres-
sion
of strong confidence in him, on the part of all his people, ver. 19-21.
1. Exult,
ye righteous, in Jehovah! To the upright suitable (is) praise.
The
Hebrew verb, according to the etymologists, originally means to dance
for
joy, and is therefore a very strong expression for the liveliest exultation.
In Jehovah, i. e. in the knowledge and possession of him, with particular
reference
to the covenant relation between him and his peculiar people, who
are
here called the righteous and the upright, by way of eminence, as in
Num.
xxiii. 10, not because they were all actually so, but because they ought
to
have been so, as this was the idea or, so to speak, the theory of a chosen
people,
and those natural descendants of Israel who were not of this cha-
racter
were not entitled to the privileges of the church, which, on the con-
trary,
to the true Israel, were legitimate occasion of rejoicing, and made
praise
peculiarly comely or suitable to them.
2. Give
thanks to Jehovah with a harp; with a lyre of ten (strings) make
onusic to him. The first verb means
to acknowledge, either sins or favours;
in
the first case, it answers to confess,
Ps. xxxii. 5, in the other to thank,
Ps.
vii. 18 (17). See also Ps. xxviii. 7, xxx. 10 (9). The common ver-
sion,
praise, is too indefinite, though
this idea is undoubtedly included. The
mention
of the instruments does not exclude vocal praise, but merely gives
it
an accompaniment and support, as if the voice were too weak by itself to
utter
the divine praise. The precise form of the instruments here named
is
now unknown and wholly unimportant. The ten strings of the second
are
mentioned, either to identify it by a similar circumstance, or, as some
suppose,
because the number had a mystical significance. The same com-
bination
reappears below in Ps. cxliv. 9, while in Ps. xcii. 4 (3) the two
words
are separately used, as if denoting different instruments.
3. Sing
unto him a new song; play well with joyful noise! A new
song
implies the continual recurrence of fresh reasons and occasions for the
praise
of God, and also the spontaneous ebullition of devout and thankful
feelings
in the hearts of those by whom the praise is offered. This is the
first
instance of the expression, but it frequently reappears in later psalms—
Ps.
xl. 4 (3), xcvi. 1, xcviii. 1—and once or twice in the New Testament,
Rev.
v. 9, xiv. 3.—Play well, literally do well to play or in playing. This
peculiar
idiom occurs in the history of David, 1 Sam. xvi. 17.—Joyful noise, see above,
on
Ps. xxiii. 6, in which place, as in this, there is no certain or necessary
reference to sacrifice, but only to an audible and lively expression of
religious feeling.
4. For
right is the word of Jehovah, and all his work is (done) in faithful-
ness. The word here meant is the word of promise,
and the work is its
performance
or fulfilment. The word is right or
upright, i. e. uttered in
sincerity
and with a full determination to redeem it. In
faithfulness, exe-
cuted
faithfully. Compare Num. xxiii. 19, Ps. cv. 42.
5. Loving
righteousness and justice—(with) the
mercy of Jehovah is the
earth filled. He is loving, i. e. he habitually loves. The last
clause repre-
sents
God's mercy as a matter of notorious and universal observation, and
the
whole verse exhibits his justice and his mercy as in harmony with one
another,
and equally consolatory to his people.
142 PSALM
XXXIII. [VER.
6-11.
6. By
the word of Jehovah were the heavens made, and by the breath of his
mouth all their host. Having set forth the
righteousness, fidelity, and mercy
of
Jehovah, as displayed on earth, the Psalmist now demonstrates his ability
to
deliver and protect his people, by exhibiting his almighty power in the
creation
and sustentation of the universe. There is obvious allusion to the
history
of the creation in Genesis. This is especially apparent in the clos-
ing
words, all their host, which are
borrowed from Gen. ii. 1. Breath is a
poetical
equivalent
to word, and conveys still more
strongly the idea of the ease with which a
God
could make a world. At the same time, it is not a mere fortuitous coincidence,
that
these two words are used in Scripture to designate the second and third persons
of
the
Godhead. Compare Gen. i. 2, Job xxvii. 3, xxxiii. 4, Ps. civ. 29, 30, Isa. xi.
4.
7. Gathering
as a heap the waters of the sea, putting in storehouses the
depths. The participle
represents it is an act still continued, and affording
a
perpetual evidence of God's almighty power, which is just as necessary
now
as on the first day of creation, to prevent the earth from being totally
submerged.
—As a heap. Dealing with fluids as if
they were solids, with
an
obvious allusion to Exod. xv. 8. See also Josh. iii. 13-16, Ps. lxxviii. 13.
—Putting, literally giving, storing, depositing.—Depths,
masses of water.
The
main point of the description is God's handling these vast liquid masses,
as
men handle solid substances of moderate dimensions, heaping the waves
up
and storing them away, as men might do with stones or wheat.
8. Let
them be afraid of Jehovah—all the earth; let them stand in awe
of him—all the dwellers
in the world.
The position of the verbs at the
beginning
of the clauses adds greatly to the strength of the expression. The
parallelism
is exact, the terms being nearly synonymous. That the earth
of
the first clause means its rational inhabitants, is implied in the plural
verb,
and expressed in the parallel clause. For the precise sense of the
word
translated world, see above, on Ps.
xxiv. 1. The remoter inference
suggested
is, that this omnipotent creator and preserver of the universe is
able
to protect his people, and entitled to their confidence.
9. For
(it was) He (that) said (Be), and it was; (it was) He
(that) com-
manded, and it stood. The whole form of the
sentence here is modelled
upon
that of the cosmogony in Genesis, where these two verbs repeatedly
alternate.
The common version, he spoke and it was
done, is liable to three
exceptions.
The first is, that the emphatic pronoun of the Hebrew is not
fairly
represented; the second, that the phrase it
was done is much less
striking
than it was; the third, that the
Hebrew verb (rmaxA) does not mean
to
speak but to say. See above, on Ps. iv. 5 (4). What was said, every
reader
could supply from recollection of the narrative in Genesis.—Stood,
appeared,
came into existence. Compare Ps. cxix. 90, 91.
10. Jehovah
has annulled the counsel of nations; he has frustrated the
plans of the peoples. What he has done he
can do, although this is not
explicitly
affirmed. He who created and sustains the universe can frustrate,
as
he pleases, the designs of his own creatures, whether individuals or
nations,
from whom, therefore, his own people can have nothing to fear.
11. The
counsel of Jehovah to eternity shall stand; the thoughts of his
heart to generation and
generation.
This is the converse of the proposition.
For
the same reason that no purpose of his creatures can succeed against
his
will, no opposition of the creature can affect the execution of his own
designs.—Counsel, plan, purpose.—Thoughts of his heart, conceptions or
intentions
of his mind.—To generation and generation,
a common idiomatic
phrase
meaning one generation after another, or indefinitely, all generations.
VER.
12-19.] PSALM XXXIII. 143
12. Happy the nation whose God (is) Jehovah, the
people he hath chosen
for a heritage for him. This is the centre of
the whole psalm, the conclu-
sion
from what goes before, and the text or theme of all that follows. Under
the
general proposition is included a particular felicitation of Israel as the
actual
choice and heritage of God, i . e.
chosen to be his, in a peculiar sense,
by
hereditary succession, through a course of ages.
13. From
heaven looked Jehovah; he saw all the
sons of man (or Adam).
He
looked not at any one time merely, but at all times; he has always
looked
upon them since he first created them. As his omnipotence is con-
stantly
exerted to sustain them in existence, so his omniscience is continually
exercised
in the same inspection as at first.
14. From
the place of his dwelling he gazed at all the dwellers on the
earth. From his own residence
without and above the earth, he has con-
tinued
still to look intently upon its inhabitants. The verb is a poetical
one,
stronger than the ordinary look. See
Song Sol. ii. 9, Isa. xiv. 16.
15. The
(God) forming all their hearts, the (God) attending to all their
deeds. The article agrees with
the subject of the verb understood, and this
construction
it is necessary to retain, in order to connect the sentence as
closely
with the one before it as in the original. Forming
implies knowing,
which
is more distinctly expressed, in reference to their outward conduct,
in
the other clause. God is also described as the creator of the human soul
in
Zech. xii. 1. Compare Num. xvi. 22, xxvii. 16. His control of it is
expressly
affirmed in reference to kings, Prov. xxi. 1.
16. Not
at all is the king saved by greatness of force; a mighty (man)
shall not be freed by
greatness of strength.
It shall not be, because it is not
so,
nor ever has been. The future therefore really includes a universal pre-
sent.
The negation is of course to be limited by what precedes, the saving
power
of mere human strength being only denied as it stands opposed to
God,
or affects to be independent of him. The Psalmist here begins a con-
trast
between God's perfection and all created helps, considered as objects
of
confidence. The king is a generic
term, describing a whole class, more
strongly
than our indefinite phrase, a king.
17. A
lie (is) the horse for salvation, and
by the greatness of his strength
he shall not deliver. This is a mere
specification of the general statement
in
the sixteenth verse. The horse meant
is the war-horse, and is singled
out
as one of the elements of military strength in which the ancients were
especially
disposed to trust. See above, on Ps. xx. 8 (7), and compare Isa.
xxxi.
1-3. A lie, a falsehood, i. e. something which deceives and
disappoints
the
confidence reposed in it. The deliverance and salvation here referred
to
are deliverance and salvation from the perils of war.
18. Lo,
the eye of Jehovah (is) towards his
fearers, to those waiting for his
mercy. While the material
strength of other men fails to secure them, those
who
fear the Lord, and hope in his mercy, are secure beneath his vigilant
inspection.
That
this is intended for their good, is more distinctly stated in the next verse.
19. To
deliver from death their soul, and to keep them alive in the famine.
The
sentence is continued from the foregoing verse. His eye is towards
them
for the very purpose of interposing when he sees it to be necessary,
for
the rescue of their soul, their life,
from death in general, to which is
added
one specific form of danger well known to the ancient Hebrews. The
famine is a similar expression
to the king in ver. 16, and to our
common
phrase
the pestilence, when used in a
generic sense, and not in reference to
any
particular disease or visitation.
144 PSALM XXXIII. [VER. 20-22.
20. Our
soul has hoped (or waited) for Jehovah; our help and our shield
(is) He. In the remainder of
the psalm, the people of God express their
trust
in him, and pray that he will deal with them according to their faith.
The
preterite expresses a habit already formed and fixed, and therefore really
including
a description of the present. In the terms of this verse, there
appears
to be a reference to the language of the Pentateuch in several places.
See
Gen. xv. 1, xlix. 18, Deut. xxxiii. 29. The figure of a shield occurs
above,
in Ps. iii. 4 (3), xviii. 3, 31, 36 (2, 30, 35). The position of the pronoun is
emphatic
and significant. Our safety and protection are in him, and him alone.
21. For
in him shall our heart rejoice, for in his holy name have we
trusted. The consecution of the
tenses is not unmeaning or fortuitous.
The
Psalmist's assurance of the future is derived from the possession of a
faith
already tried and proved to be truly in existence. It is because he
has
trusted that he knows he shall rejoice. The exchange of both these
tenses
for a present is at once enfeebling to the sense and ungrammatical.—
His holy name, in the wide sense
which the epithet so often has in this book,
nearly
corresponding to his glorious, his divine
name. See above on Ps.
xxii.
4 (3). To trust in this name is to build one's hopes on the manifes-
tation
of God's attributes in previous acts; to believe that what he [has
heretofore
shewn himself to be, he will be still in the experience of his
people.
22. Be
thy mercy, Jehovah, upon us, as we have waited for thee. The
faith
implied in this hope being the sole condition of God's mercy, its pos-
session
constitutes a claim upon that mercy, which is here urged as the
sum
of all the previous petitions. What is thus waited for cannot but be
realised.
A merciful and righteous God cannot, without denial of himself,
withhold
that which his people thus expect. Any appearance of a merito-
rious
claim is excluded by the doctrine sufficiently implied here and abun-
dantly
taught elsewhere, that the condition is as much the gift of God as
that
which is suspended on it. The claim in reality amounts to a petition
that
as God had given the desire he would fulfil it.—As, according as, not
merely
since, because, in proportion to our faith, so deal with us. Com-
pare
Mat. ix. 29.
PSALM
XXXIV.
AFTER the title containing the historical
occasion, ver. 1, the Psalmist ex-
presses
his determination to praise God for his goodness as experienced
already,
ver. 2, 3, (1, 2), and invites others to unite with him in so doing,
ver.
4 (3). He then briefly states his own experience, ver. 5-7 (4-6), and
founds
upon it the general doctrine of God's care for his own people, ver.
8-11
(7-10). Assuming then the tone of an instructor, he lays down
rules
for the securing of this great advantage, ver. 12-15 (11-14), and
contrasts,
in the remainder of the psalm, the safety of the righteous, even
when
afflicted, with the certain ruin of the wicked, ver. 16-23 (15-22).
The psalm is so evidently a didactic one,
or maschil, that an express
designation
of this character was not required. See above, on Ps. xxxii. 1.
As to its form, this is the second instance
of an alphabetical psalm, ap-
proaching
very nearly to perfect regularity, the only letter omitted being v
It
is very remarkable that here, as in Ps. xxv. the last verse begins with J,
like
ver. 16, and seems to be added to the alphabetic series.
VER.
1-6.] PSALM
XXXIV.
145
1. By
David, in (the time of) his changing
(disguising) his reason before
Abimelech, and he drove
him away, and he went.
The incident referred to
is
recorded in 1 Sam. xxi. David, having fled from Saul into the land of
the
Philistines, was brought into the presence of Achish king of Gath, from
whom
he had reason to expect retaliation for injuries formerly received, and
therefore
pretended to be mad, an expedient which, in spite of its dubious
morality,
it pleased God to allow to be successful. In grateful recollection
of
this undeserved deliverance, not without some compunction with respect
to
the means by which he had secured it, David seems, at a later period of
his
life, to have composed this psalm for popular instruction, to which it is
peculiarly
adapted by its clearness and simplicity, as well as by its alpha-
betic
form, which is a valuable aid to the memory.—In his changing does
not
necessarily designate the date of composition, but only that of the
event
which gave occasion to it. The common version, behaviour, is in-
consistent
with the usage of the Hebrew word, which means taste, judg-
ment,
understanding, reason.—Abimelech,
king's father, hereditary sove-
reign,
was the traditional title of the king. See Gen. xx. 2, xxvi. 1. His
personal
name was Achish, 1 Sam. xxi. 10, 11, 12, 14.
2 (1). I
will bless Jehovah at every time: always his praise (shall be) in
my mouth. The promise of
unceasing praise suggests the idea of extraordinary benefits
to
call it forth. —In all time, in every
variety of situation, even the most discouraging,
he
is resolved to bear in mind what God has done for him in times past.
3 (2). In
Jehovah shall glory my soul; the humble shall hear and rejoice.
The
first verb is strictly a reflective form, and means to praise one's self,
i. e. to boast, or, as denoting a more permanent affection of the mind, to
glory, i. e. to exult in the possession and enjoyment of some admired and
beloved
object. The act of glorying is ascribed to the soul, in order to
describe
it as done cordially, ex animo.—The humble, as opposed to the
proud
and the presumptuous, is a general description of God's people, who
are
naturally interested in the good experienced by the Psalmist, both for
his
sake and their own. See above, on Ps. xxii. 27 (26), xxv. 9.
4 (3). Magnify
(praise) to Jehovah with me, and let us
exalt his name
together. In Ps. lxix. 31 (30),
the verb to magnify is construed
directly
with
its object, but in this case with a dative, to
Jehovah, which may either
be
regarded as a poetical equivalent to the accusative, or connected with the
noun
praise understood, or with name, supplied from the other clause.
5 (4). I
sought Jehovah, and he answered me, and from all my fears
delivered me. He here begins to
assign a reason why he and others should
praise
God. He had delivered him from all his fears by removing the
occasions
of them. The same plural form occurs Isa. lxvi. 4.
6 (5). They
looked unto him and brightened, and let not their faces blush.
The
plural they refers to the whole class
of which the Psalmist was the
representative.—Brightened, or as we say in English, brightened up, is a
natural
expression of relief and renewed cheerfulness. In the last clause
the
optative form is substituted for that of simple affirmation, so as to
increase
the emphasis. The wish, let not their
faces blush, implies that
there
is danger of their doing so, and need of divine grace to prevent it.
7 (6). This
sufferer called, and Jehovah heard, and from all his distresses
saved him. From the general
expressions of the preceding verse, he now
recurs
to his own case in particular. This sufferer,
or afflicted one, mean-
ing
himself, as we say in modern phrase, the speaker or the writer, as a
periphrasis
for the personal pronoun.
146
PSALM XXXIV. [VER. 7-13.
8 (7). Encamping
(is) the angel of Jehovah round about his fearers—and
(now)
he has rescued them. The angel, not
only in the collective sense of
angels,
but in its specific sense, as denoting the Angel of the Lord by way
of
eminence, the angel of the covenant and of the divine presence (Isa.
lxiii.
9), in whom the manifestation of the Godhead took place under the
Old
Testament. As this angel was the captain of the Lord's host (Josh. v.
14,
1 Kings xxii. 19), his presence implies that of many others, and the
word
encamp is therefore perfectly
appropriate. The conversive future
represents
the act denoted by the last verb as consequent upon the other.
This
grammatical relation can only be imperfectly expressed in a transla-
tion,
though the general idea is sufficiently clear.
9 (8). Taste
ye and see that Jehovah is good; happy the man who will
trust in him. The only proof is
furnished by experience. The exhortation
seems
to imply that the provision is already made and only waiting for the
guests.
Compare Luke xiv. 17, and see above, on Ps. ii. 12.
10 (9). Fear
Jehovah, ye his saints, for there is no want to his fearers.
The
fear of God is here put, as in several other places, for the whole of
piety
or genuine religion, which must ever rest upon the basis of profound
awe
and veneration. See Ps. ii. 11, Prov. i. 7, ix. 10. His saints, those
set
apart and consecrated to his service, and as such bound to be holy in
the
strict sense. See above, on Ps. xvi. 3. The last clause represents
this
as no less the interest than the duty of God's people. They are called
upon
to fear him, not only because fear is due to him, but because it is the
surest
method of securing their own safety and supplying their own wants.
11 (10). Young lions have lacked and hungered, and the seekers of Jehovah
shall not want all (or any) good.
The first verb properly means grown poor
or
become impoverished, and is therefore strictly applicable only to a human
subject,
a sufficient proof that such a subject is really referred to here under
the
figure of a lion, which is frequently used elsewhere to denote men of
strength
and violence. See Job iv. 10, 11, and compare Ps. lvii. 5 (4),
Nahum
ii. 12-14 (11-13), Ezek. xix. 2, 3, xxxviii. 13. The sentiment
then
is, that while the most powerful and least scrupulous of men may be
reduced
to want, the people of God shall be abundantly and constantly
provided
for. The contrast is analogous to that presented in Isa. xl. 30, 31.
12 (11). Come, sons, hearken to me; the fear of Jehovah I will teach
you. As one experienced in
the ways of God, he now addresses those less
enlightened,
and invites them to avail themselves of his instructions. Sons
or
children is a natural and common
designation of the pupil as related to
the
teacher. Compare Prov. i. 8, 10, 15. To teach men the fear of the
Lord
is to teach them how and why they should fear him. And accord-
ingly
we find in the ensuing verses a practical argument in favour of true
piety
derived from its beneficent effects on those who cherish it and practise it.
13 (12). Who (is) the man, the
(one) desiring life, loving days (in
which)
to see good? The interrogation is
equivalent to saying, whosoever desires
life, i. e. desires to live, not in the sense of mere existence but of
genuine
enjoyment,
which is distinctly expressed in the last clause by the words
loving days, i. e. desiring many days or long life, not for its own sake, but
as
a time of happiness. Whoever does desire this—and the wish must of
course
be universal—let him observe the following precepts. To see good
is
to know it by experience, to possess it and enjoy it. See above, on Ps.
iv.
7 (6).
14 (13). Keep thy tongue from evil and thy lips from speaking guile.
VER
14-17.] PSALM XXXIV. 147
The
man who was inquired for in ver. 13 (12), is here directly addressed.
Whoever
thou art, if thou desire thus to live, keep,
watch, guard, thy tongue
from speaking evil, a comprehensive
phrase, for which the last clause sub-
stitutes
one more specific, namely, speaking guile,
uttering deceit, or lying.
The
stress here laid upon this sin is so remarkable, when viewed in con-
nection
with the means by which David escaped from Achish, as suggested
in
the title, that it can only be explained by supposing that he looked on
the
success of his deception as a most unmerited forbearance upon God's
part,
which, far from recommending the same course in other cases, made
it
incumbent on the Psalmist to dissuade others from it.
15 (14). Depart from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. Not
only
in relation to this one sin, but to all, if thou desire to enjoy life, de-
part from evil, break off the practice
and abjure the love of it; and since
this
is neither practicable nor sufficient as a mere negation, effect it by a
positive
performance of its opposite, do good.
Compare the exhortation in
Isa.
i. 16, 17, Cease to do evil, learn to do
good. The last clause may be
explained
as a return from generals to particulars, hostility and hatred being
singled
out as falsehood and deceit were in the preceding verse. Compare
Rona.
xii. 18, 2 Cor. xiii. 11. Or peace may
be understood as comprehend-
ing
peace with God and the enjoyment of his favour.—In either of these
senses,
or in both, if thou desire to enjoy life, seek
peace, not in an indolent
and
listless manner, but pursue it, chase it, hunt for it, and eagerly en-
deavour
to attain it. The command implies that the object is both worthy
of
pursuit and liable to be lost.
16 (15). The eyes of Jehovah (are) towards
the righteous, and his ears
towards their cry. The inducement to
comply with the foregoing precepts
is
that God will protect his servants from those dangers against which
neither
violence nor craft can secure them. They have no need neither to
speak
guile or break the peace, in order to be safe from injury. Another
watches
over them, whose vigilance cannot be eluded or exhausted. The
eyes of the Lord are to
the righteous,
i. e. open to them, or turned towards
them,
so that he continually sees their true condition, and his ears are
directed
to their cry, or open to receive it.
This, without a figure, means,
that
he is constantly apprised of their necessities and ready to receive their
prayers,
in which assurance that of safety and abundance is fully comprehended.
17 (16). The face of Jehovah (is) with
evil-doers, to destroy from the
earth their memory. The same unsleeping
vigilance is exercised towards
others
also, but for a very different purpose. The
face of the Lord is with
evil-doers, i. e. visible or present to them, no less than to good men. The
preposition
before evil-doers is not the same
that occurs twice in the verse
preceding,
and which properly denotes direction, but another meaning in,
or
with. The unfavourable sense, against, which it may seem to have both
here
and elsewhere (e. g. Jer. xxi. 10,
xliv. 11), is suggested by the context.
In
all these cases some interpreters suppose the sense to be that the eyes
or
face of God penetrate, as it were, and rest in the object.—The design
with
which Jehovah watches evil-doers is not to interpose for their deliver-
ance
or relief, but to destroy from the earth
their very memory, a strong
expression
for entire extirpation. Compare Exod. xvii. 14, Deut. xxv. 19,
Isa.
xxvi. 14, and see above, on Ps. ix. 6, 7 (5, 6).
18 (17). They cried and Jehovah heard, and fromt all their distresses de-
livered them. This may at first
sight seem to have respect to the evil-doers
of
the preceding verse, who are then represented as obtaining relief from
148 PSALM
XXXIV. [VER. 18-22.
deserved
judgments by humble prayer to God. But as the wicked are, in
this
whole passage, mentioned only incidentally, and as a kind of foil or
contrast
to the righteous, it seems better on the whole, to make the first
verb
here indefinite, men cry for help,
but with special reference to the
righteous
of ver. 16 (15). God watches over the righteous to protect them
—as
he does over the wicked to destroy them—and whenever they cry to
him
for help, he saves them. This parenthetical construction of ver. 17
(16)
is the more admissible because it contains no finite verb, whereas ver.
18
(17) contains three.
19 (18). Near (is) Jehovah to the broken in heart, and the crushed in
spirit he will save. These figurative terms
are always used in a good sense
and
applied to humble penitents. See Ps. li. 19 (17), Isa. lvii. 15, lxi. 1,
lxvi.
2. They are descriptive of the contrition wrought by divine grace in
the
hearts of sinners. To such the Lord is always near, i. e. ready to
deliver
and protect. See above, on Ps. xxii. 12 (11).
20 (19). Many evils (befall) the
righteous, and from them all will Jehovah
deliver him. The preceding promise
might have seemed to imply exemp-
tion
from all suffering; but this can only be enjoyed in connection with ex-
emption
from all sin. While sin continues to exist, sorrow must coexist
with
it, even in the case of true believers or the righteous, who are never
described
in this book as absolutely sinless. See above, Ps. xix. 13 (12),
xxv.
7. While the sufferings of the righteous shew them to be sinners,
their
deliverance illustrates the divine compassion. The relation of the
clauses
would in our idiom require a but instead of the simple copulative,
which
the Hebrew writers commonly employ in such connection.
21 (20). Keeping all his bones—not one of them is broken. The sentence
may
be completed by supplying the substantive verb: (he is) keeping, i. e.
habitually
keeps; but it is simpler and better to regard this and the verse
before
it as one sentence, and the participle as agreeing regularly with
Jehovah.—Keeping, in the pregnant sense
of watching and preserving.—
His bones, his frame, his body.
See above, Ps. xxxii. 3, and below, Ps.
xxxv.
10.—The literal translation of the last clause, one of them is not
broken, would be equivocal in
English. The original expression occurs also in Isa. xxxiv. 16. The doctrine or
promise of this verse is analogous to that in Mat. x. 30.
22 (21.) Evil shall slay the wicked, and the haters of the righteous shall
be guilty. While the sufferings
of which the righteous man is a partaker
are
but temporary, those of the wicked shall be ultimately fatal. See above,
on
Ps. xxxii. 10. Evil must have the
same sense in both cases, namely,
that
of physical evil, suffering or misfortune. The result here described is
not
fortuitous, but brought about by moral causes. They must be destroyed because
they
are found guilty, i. e. of rebellion against God, one
conclusive proof of which
is
afforded by their hatred of his people. They shall be guilty, i. e.
recognised and
known
as such and treated accordingly. "The sufferings of the wicked man, unlike
those
of the righteous, tend to death, because the hatred of the former to the latter
proves
himself to be worthy of destruction."
23 (22.) Jehovah redeems the soul of his servants, and guilty shall none be
(of)
those trusting in him. The precise
form of the first clause in Hebrew
is,
Jehovah redeeming the soul of his
servants, which seems to mean that he
is
doing so now, and that he habitually does so. The soul or vital principle
is
named because the case was one of life and death. None of those trust-
ing
in him shall be recognised and treated as guilty, the opposite of that
VER.
1-3.]
PSALM XXXV. 149
which
had been just asserted of the wicked. The condition and ground of
this
immunity is faith or trust in God, without which, according to the
doctrine
of both testaments, there can be no escape from guilt or punishment.
PSALM XXXV.
We
have here another of those psalms, in which two great parties, the
righteous
and the wicked, are exhibited in contrast and in an attitude of
mutual
hostility. The psalm may be divided into three parts, parallel to
one
another, in all of which the elements combined are complaint, prayer,
and
the promise of thanksgiving for anticipated deliverance. The first
division
is occupied with an invocation of divine judgments on God's ene-
mies,
ending with an expression of triumph in God's favour, ver. 1-9. The
second
contains a more particular description of these enemies, as oppres-
sors,
false accusers, unthankful renderers of evil for good, and malignant
scoffers,
with a prayer for the divine interposition, and a pledge of public
thanksgiving,
ver. 10-18. The third renews briefly the description of the
enemy,
but is chiefly filled with prayer to be delivered from them, and
closes,
like the others, with a promise of perpetual thanksgiving, ver. 19-28.
1. By
David. Oppose, Jehovah, my opposers; devour my devourers.
The
correctness of the title is confirmed by the appearance of allusion to
1
Sam. xxiv. 16 (15), the incident recorded in which place may have been
present
to the Psalmist's mind although we have no reason to believe that
he
wrote it with exclusive reference to that time or to himself, but for the
use
of pious sufferers in general.—Strive
with my strivers, or contend with
my contenders. The original verb is
one specifically used to denote judicial
contest,
litigation, in which sense a cognate noun is used below, ver. 23,
and
the English Bible thus translates the verse before us: plead (my cause)
with them that strive
against me; fight against them that fight against me.
It
is only in the passive form, however, that MHl means to fight; its
pri-
mary
sense is to devour. The application of this metaphor to warfare is
not
uncommon. See below, Ps. lvi. 2, 3 (1, 2), and compare Num. xiv. 9,
xxiv.
8, Deut. vii. 16.
2. Lay
hold of shield and buckler; and stand up
in my defence (or for
my help). The manifestation of
God's saving and protecting power is
described
in Scripture under various figures corresponding to the form of
the
particular suffering or danger. Against injustice he appears as an ad-
vocate
or judge (see ver. 23 below); against violence as a warrior (see Deut.
xxxii.
41, 42). In this character the Psalmist here entreats him to appear,
and
for that end to seize, grasp, or lay
hold of his weapons of defence.
The
shield and buckler seem to have been different in size (1 Kings x.
16,
17), though not in use.—Arise, address thyself to action. See above,
on
Ps. iii. 8 (7).—In my help is by some
explained to mean as my help,
i. e. my helper; but the Hebrew idiom seems to be identical with our
phrase
in my defence.
3. And
draw out the spear, and stop (the way) against
my pursuers; say
to my soul, Thy
salvation (am) I.
The first verb properly means empty,
pour out, and then draw out. Some suppose the expression to
be strictly
applicable
only to the sword, but to be here applied by a kind of poetic
licence
to the spear. Others suppose it to be strictly used, but in relation
to
the drawing of it out of its repository or concealment. Some explain
150 PSALM
XXXV. [VER. 4-7.
rgs as a foreign word, identical with the Scythian sa<garij, or battle-axe.
But
no such word occurs in Hebrew elsewhere, and the meaning of the
verb
rgasA,
is entirely appropriate, to close or
stop the way against another.
Against, or literally to meet, in a hostile or military sense
which the word
has
in Deut. i. 44, Josh. viii. 14, and elsewhere.—To my soul; see above,
on
Ps. xi. 1.—Thy salvation, see below,
Ps. xxxviii. 23 (22).
4. Shamed
and confounded be the seekers of my soul; turned back and
made to blush the
devisers of my hurt.
Entirely disappointed in their
hopes
and efforts. The optative meaning of the futures is determined
by
the unambiguous form yhiy; in ver. 6 below. The seekers of my soul or
life, i. e. such as seek it to
destroy it. Compare Mat. ii. 13, 20. Turned
back, disgracefully repulsed
and defeated. See above, on Ps. ix. 18 (17).
Made to blush: the form of the verb
in Hebrew is not causative, but simply
means
to blush or be confused. The causative form is here employed in
order
to give uniformity to the English sentence.—My
hurt, literally my
evil, i. e. evil fortune, calamity, or injury.—Devisers, literally thinkers,
i. e.
such
as meditate or purpose my destruction.
5. Let
them be as chaff before a wind, and the angel of Jehovah smiting.
Under
the influence of inspiration, the Psalmist sees the natural and right-
eous
consequences of their wickedness, and viewing the case merely in itself,
apart
from personal feeling, speaks of this effect as desirable. The wish
expressed
is, to all intents and purposes, equivalent to a prediction or the
affirmation
of a general truth. The Psalmist desires the destruction of these
sinners
precisely as God wills it; nor is it any harder to reconcile such
wishes
with the highest degree of human goodness than it is to reconcile
the
certain fact that God allows some men to perish with his infinite bene-
volence.
The figure of chaff before the wind suggests
the idea of intrinsic
worthlessness
with that of easy and complete destruction. Compare Ps.
i.
4. The participle at the close means striking
(them) down, so that they
cannot
rise. Compare Ps. xxxvi. 13 (12). The angel
of Jehovah, his
appointed
instrument of vengeance. See above, on Ps. xxxiv. 8 (7).
6. Let
their way be dark and slippery, and the angel of Jehovah chasing
them. The optative form of the
verb at the beginning determines the sense
of
those which go before, and which otherwise might be ambiguous.—Dark
and slippery, literally darkness and srnoothnesses, an emphatic
substitution
of
the abstract for the concrete. The fearful image thus suggested of men
driven,
like chaff before the wind, along a dark and slippery path, is
rendered
more terrific by the additional idea of their being hotly pursued by
the
destroying angel. The construction of the last clause, both in this verse
and
the one before it, is: (let) the angel of Jehovah (be) pursuing them.
7. For
without cause they hid for me their pit fall; without cause they
digged for my soul. This verse assigns the
reason of the imprecations or
denunciations
which precede.—Without cause,
wantonly, gratuitously, un-
provoked,
and therefore prompted by mere malice. See below, ver. 19.—
The pit of their net is an idiomatic phrase
like the hill of my holiness. See
above,
on Ps. ii. 6. The true sense of the phrase appears to be their net-
pit, i. e. their pit covered with a net, a figure borrowed from .the
ancient
modes
of hunting. See above, on Ps. vii. 16 (15), ix. 16 (15). In the
last
clause we may either supply a relative, as in the common version, which
they digged, or take the verb in
the absolute sense of making a pit or ditch.
VER.
8-13.] PSALM
XXXV.
151
8. Let ruin come (upon) him (when) he does not know; and his net which
he hid—let it take him—with
ruin
(to his ruin) let him fall into it.
The first
noun
properly denotes a crash, as of a
falling house, and then a ruin, both
in
the narrower and wider sense. When he
does not know, unawares, unex-
pectedly,
as in Isa. xlvii. 11, Job. ix. 5. The last clause may also be
translated,
into ruin let him fall into it, i. e. as the common version has it,
into that very ruin. But it is simpler to
let hxAOwB; qualify the verb; let
him
fall with ruin, i. e. ruinously to
his own destruction.
9. And
my soul shall exult in Jehovah, shall joy in his salvation. Our
idiom
would require so or then at the beginning of the sentence, to make
the
connection of the verses clear.—In
Jehovah, not merely on account of
him,
but in union with him and possession of him, as the parallel phrase,
in his salvation, means in the
experience and enjoyment of it. This is a
kind
of promise that the favour asked shall not be unrequited by thanks-
giving,
and the same idea is still further carried out in the next verse.
10. All
my bones shall say, Jehovah, who is like thee, delivering the sufferer
from (one) stronger than himself, and the sufferer and
the needy from his
spoiler? The bones, the frame,
the person, are here put for the whole man.
See
above, on Ps. xxxii. 3. The interrogative form implies negation. "There is
no such
saviour
besides God." The apparent tautology may be relieved in English by
translating
even the sufferer, &c. But such
repetitions are entirely congenial to the Hebrew idiom.
With
the second clause compare Jer. xxxi. 11, and with the third Ps. x. 2.
11. There
rise up witnesses of violence; (as
to) that which I have not known
they ask me. The future verbs
describe the acts as still in progress, and as
likely
to be long continued. They are rising
or about to rise, asking or about
to ask. The word translated violence is one of very frequent
occurrence in
the
psalms, and includes the ideas of injustice and cruelty. See above, on
Ps.
vii. 17 (16), xi. 5, xviii. 49 (48), xxv. 19, xxvii. 12. "They endeavour
to
draw from me the acknowledgment of crimes which I have not committed,
and
of which I have no knowledge."
12. They
repay me evil for good—bereavement to my soul. "If given up
to
them, I have nething to expect but a continued recompence of evil for
good,
extending even to the loss of what is most essential to my being and
well-being."
The word translated bereavement
commonly means loss of children, but
is
here used metaphorically for the most extreme and lamentable destitution.
13. And
I—in their sickness my clothing (was) sackcloth;
I humbled with
fasting my soul—and my
prayer into my bosom shall return. The general
idea
is that he displayed the deepest sympathy with their distresses. This
idea
is expressed by figures borrowed from the oriental mourning usages.
Sackcloth,
fasting, and prayer are here particularly mentioned. To humble
the soul (or one's self), or as some explain it, to mortify the appetite, is the
phrase
by which fasting is described in the Law of Moses (Lev. xvi. 31,
xxiii.
27, 32, Num. xxix. 7), and which is here combined with the later
word
MUc—The
last clause is obscure, and is by some understood to signify
the
constancy of supplication, coming back and going out again without
cessation.
Others explain it as a mere description of the attitude of prayer
with
the head bowed upon the bosom, as if he had said, I was continually
pouring
prayer into my bosom. But neither of these explanations is so
probable
as the traditional one of the Jews, according to which he desires
that
the prayer which he offered for them might redound to his own advan-
tage.
Or the clause may be still more simply construed as a prediction
152 PSALM
XXXV [VER.
14-17.
"My
prayer shall not be lost, it shall return in blessings to the heart which
prompted
it."
14. As
(if it had been) a friend, a brother to
me, I went on (or went about);
as a mourner for a
mother, squalid I bowed down. He not only mourned in
their
calamity, but with the deepest grief, as for a friend, a brother, or a
parent,
which terms are so arranged as to produce a beautiful and striking
climax.—The
verb in the first clause corresponds very nearly to the familiar
English
phrase went on, in the sense of lived
or habitually acted. See
above,
on Ps. i. 1.—The Hebrew word rdEq means squalid, dirty, in allusion
to
the ancient oriental practice of neglecting the appearance, and even
covering
the dress and person with dust and ashes, as a token of extreme
grief.
The bowing down is also to be taken as a part of the same usage.
15. And
(yet) in my limping they rejoiced, and
were gathered together;
there were gathered
together against me cripples, and I did not know (it): they
did tear and were not
silent.
With his behaviour to them in their affliction
he
contrasts theirs to him. As disease in general is a common figure for
distress,
so lameness in particular is so used here and in Ps. xxxviii. 18
(17),
Jer. xx. 10. They assembled not to comfort but to mock him and
revile
him.—The obscure word Mykine has been variously explained to mean
smiters
with the tongue (Jer. xviii. 18), i. e.
slanderers—whipped (Job
xxx.
8), i. e. degraded criminals—and smitten (Isa. liii. 4), i. e. afflicted.
But
Luther's explanation, which connects the word with the cognate form
Myilag;ra hken; (2 Sam. iv. 4. ix. 3), smitten in the feet, lame, crippled, not
only
yields
a good sense, but agrees best with the figure of the first clause.
'When
I limped cripples mocked at me'—i. e.
those who were themselves
contemptible
treated me with contempt. I did not know
it. It was done
behind
my back, and while I was entirely unsuspicious. See above, on
ver.
8. This is a more natural construction than whom
I did not know,
Which
is, moreover, inconsistent with what goes before.—They rent or tore
me
by their slanders.
16. With
worthless mockers for bread—gnashing against me their teeth.
This
they did in the company of impious, reprobate, or worthless scoffers,
who
calumniate others for the sake of gaining favour with their wicked
patrons.
Hence they are called bread or cake scoffers, those who earn their
food
by spiteful mockery of others. The form of the whole verse is
extremely
idiomatic, and scarcely admits of an exact translation. The
literal
meaning of the first clause is with the
worthless of mockers of bread,
and
in the second the verb gnash is an
infinitive, which can only be ren-
dered
in intelligible English by a participle or a finite verb, they gnashed, or
gnashing. This is always
expressive of malignant rage, and shews that
what
is here described is not mere raillery but spiteful defamation.
17. Lord,
how long wilt thou look on? Restore my soul from their
rains (or ruinous plots), from the young lions my lonely one. The first
Hebrew
word is not Jehovah but Adhonai, properly expressive of dominion
or
sovereignty. See above, on Ps. xvi. 2—How
long? The Hebrew phrase
usually
means how much, but is here specially applied to time; how much
time? how long? Wilt
thou see
what treatment I receive, and merely see
it,
as an indifferent spectator?—Restore my
soul has not the same sense as
in
Ps. xix. 8 (7), xxiii. 3, but the strict one of bringing back from the dan-
gerous
extreme to which he had been brought by the ruins
or ruinous de-
vices—i. e. designed to ruin others—of his enemies. Lions are mentioned
VER.
18-22.] PSALM
XXXV.
153
as
the strongest and fiercest of wild beasts, and young lions as the most
active
of their specics. See above, on Ps. xxxiv. 11 (10).—My lonely, soli-
tary
soul. See above, on Ps. xxii. 21
(20).
18. I
will thank thee in the great assembly, in (the midst of the) mighty
people I will praise, thee On the supposition
that his prayer will be heard
and
answered, he engages to give public thanks, in
the great congregation
or
assembly of God's people. See above, on Ps. xxii. 23, 26 (22, 25).—
Strong people, strong in numbers, a
poetical equivalent to great congrega-
tion.—The verb in the last
clause means to praise in general;
that in the
first
to praise for benefits received, to acknowledge favours, in other words
to
thank. See above, on Ps. xxxiii. 2.
19. Let
them not rejoice respecting me, my enemies of falsehood, (and let
not)
my haters without cause wink the eye.
Respecting me, at my expense,
or,
in this and similar connections, over me,
although this idea is not so
much
expressed in the text as suggested by the context. See above, Ps.
xxv.
2, and below, ver. 24, Ps. xxxviii. 17 (16). Let them not rejoice, let
them
have no occasion so to do.—My enemies of
falsehood, my false enemies,
who
gratify their spite by calumny and slander.—My
haters without cause,
those
who hate me gratuitously, out of sheer spite, without any reasonable
ground
or even colourable pretext. This is a favourite description of the
enemies
of the righteous—see above, on Ps. vii. 5 (4), xxv. 3—and was
pre-eminently
true of the enemies of Christ, to whom it is applied in the
New
Testament (John xv. 25). The negation of the first clause is to be
repeated
in the other, as in Ps. ix. 19 (18). Winking is here referred to
as
a gesture of mutual congratulation among accomplices in guilt. Com-
pare
Prov. vi. 13, x 10.
20. For
not peace will they speak, and against the quiet of the land words
of deceits will they devise. The for assigns a reason why they ought not
to
be
suffered to rejoice in the success of their designs. The reason is,
because
their design, are evil, tending not to peace—in
the strict sense, as
opposed
to strife, or in the wide sense, as opposed to trouble and calamity
—but
to the disturbance of those who are peacefully inclined, the quiet (or
tranquil) of the land, i. e. the land
of promise, considered as the home of
God's
chosen people, who, as its rightful proprietors, are characteristically
peaceful,
and averse from all strife and disorder. Compare Mat. v. 5. To
disturb
these, the wicked devise words of deceits,
in which phrase words is
not
an idiomatic pleonasm,—compare xli. 9 (8), lxv. 4 (3), —but a sub-
stantive
expression, meaning false (or lying) words, and more specifically
slanders—see
below, Ps. xxxvi. 4 (3)—the utterers of which are called
lying enemies in ver. 19. The futures
of this verse include the present:
they
do so now and will do so still. Some connect not peace as an
emphatic
compound, meaning just the opposite of peace. Compare Isa. x. 15.
21. And
have widened against me their mouth; they have said, Aha, aha,
our eye has seen. "They have mocked
at my distress with contemptuous
grimaces,
and rejoiced in the fulfilment of their spiteful wishes." With
the
first clause compare Ps. xxii. 8 (7) above. The Hebrew interjection in
the
last clause (HxAh,) seems to be a natural expression of
joyful surprise.
Their
success was almost too great to be real, yet attested by their senses.
The
verse ends with a kind of aposiopesis: "our own eyes have seen"—
what
we could not have believed on the report of another, to wit, the grati-
fication
of our warmest wishes. See below, ver. 25.
22. Thou
hast seen, Jehovah, be not silent; Lord, be not far from me.
154 PSALM XXXV. [VER. 23-27.
"But
they are not the only witnesses of my distress, for thou, Lord, like-
wise
seest and hast long seen it. Seeing it, therefore, be no longer silent;
refrain
no longer from interposing in my favour; speak in my behalf; be
near
me in this time of peril." The connection of the verses is like that
in
Ps. x. 13, 14, and the prayer in the last clause not unlike that with
which
the same psalm opens. With the other petition, be not silent, com-
pare
that at the beginning of Ps. xxviii., and with the first words, thou hast
seen, those of ver. 17
above.
23. Arouse
(thee) and awake for my right (or judgment), my God and
me Lord, for my cause. "Put an end to
this inaction and apparent indif-
ference,
and manifest thy presence, as my sovereign and my covenant-
keeping
God, for the vindication of my innocence against false accusers and
us
righteous judges." The same petition, clothed in nearly the same words,
occurs
above in Ps. vii. 7, 9 (6, 8). See also Ps. ix. 5 (4), xvii.
24. Judge
me according to thy righteousness, Jehovah, my God, and let
them not rejoice
respecting me.
"Do me justice, clear me from aspersion,
grant
an attestation of my innocence, in the exercise and exhibition of thine
own
essential rectitude, and in accordance with that covenant relation
which
exists between us; and thus, in the most effectual manner, take away
from
my malignant enemies all pretext and occasion for exulting in my
overthrow,
or otherwise triumphing at my expense." With the last clause
compare
Ps. xxx. 2 (1) above, where he thanks God for the very favour
which
he here asks. The verb in this clause may be referred to men in
general,
or with still greater probability to the enemies described in the
preceding
context.
25. Let
them not say in their heart, Aha, our soul (or our heart's desire)!
Let them not say, We
have swallowed him up! In their heart, not secretly,
but
cordially, not as opposed to saying so to others, but to mere profession.
—Our heart's desire! an abbreviated
exclamation prompted by strong feeling.
"This
is precisely what we have so long and so intensely wished for! "See
above,
on Ps. xxvii. 12. Let them not say, let them not have occasion so to
say;
let not the events which befall me justify them in so saying.—Swallowed
him up, utterly destroyed him.
See above, on Ps. xxi. 10 (9), and compare Lam. ii. 16,
where
the form of expression is no doubt copied from the verse before us.
26. Let
them be ashamed and blush together—the rejoicers in my evil; let
them put on shame and
contempt the
(men) magnifying against me (their
words,
or their deeds, or themselves)! The relative construction, who
rejoice in my hurt, who
magnify against me,
gives the sense, but in an English.
rather
than a Hebrew form.—Ashamed,
disappointed and defeated. See
above,
on ver. 4.—Blush, be confused or
confounded.—My evil, i. e. evil
fortune,
injury, including the idea of injustice, as the antithetical term in
ver.
27 is righteousness or justification.—Put on, as a dress, and wear it, or
be
covered with it. See below, on Ps. cix. 18 (17), and compare Job viii.
24.—Contempt, disgrace, ignominy.—Making great, &c., their mouth or
words,
i. e. speaking proudly, Obad. 12,
Ezek. xxxv. 13; or still more pro-
bably
and agreeably to usage, acting proudly,
as in Ps. lv. 13 (12), and
elsewhere.
The complete expression may be that used in Joel ii. 20.
27. Let
them shout (or sing) and rejoice—the desirers of my righteousness
and let them always say,
Great is
(or be) Jehovah, the (God) willing
(or
desiring)
the peace of his servant! The sentence may be brought into closer
conformity
to our idiom by adopting a relative construction. "Let them
rejoice
who desire my righteousness," i. e.
my justification, who desire to
VER.
1.] PSALM
XXXVI.
155
see
me practically justified by God's providential dealings with me.—Let
them always say, i. e. always have occasion
so to do, which is virtually wish-
ing
that the peace or prosperity of Jehovah's servant may be perpetual. The
verbal
adjective in both these clauses means desiring,
with a strong implica-
tion
of complacency or satisfaction in the object, and therefore really includes
the
two ideas of desire and delight.—The righteousness or justification
of the
first
clause is an obvious antithesis to the evil,
hurt, or injury of ver. 26,
and
no less obviously identical, or at least coincident, with the peace or
welfare of the last clause
here.
28. And my tongue shall utter thy righteousness—all the day (long) thy
praise. The and connects the verse with what
precedes, as the effect with
its
occasion or its muse. This connection may be made clear in our idiom
by
the use of a more definite particle, such as then or so.—The verb used
in
this verse is applied elsewhere both to articulate and inarticulate animal
sounds.
The nearest equivalent in English is to utter.
For a secondary
or
derived sense of the same verb, see above, on Ps. i. 2. —All the day long,
or
every day, common expressions for
continually, always.—The righteous-
ness of the first clanse is
the object of the praise in the
second. The right-
eousness
of God here mentioned has reference to the Psalmist's righteousness
in
ver. 27. By vindicating this, the divine justice or fidelity acquires, as it
were,
a new claim to the praises of the justified sinner, which he here declares
himself
resolved to pay.
PSALM
XXXVI.
This
remarkable psalm consists of three distinguishable parts, besides
the
title, ver. 1. The first contains a strong description of human depravity,
ver.
2-5 (1-4). The second contrasts with this the divine excellence, ver.
6-10
(5-9). In the third, the Psalmist prays to be delivered from the
first,
and made a partaker of the second, with a strong assurance that his
desire
will be fulfilled, ver. 11-13 (10-12).
The first part differs from the rest, in
form as well as substance, being
much
more obscure and difficult.
1. To
the Chief Musician. By a Servant of Jehovah. By David. This
peculiar
collocation of the words, which occurs only here and in the title of
the
eighteenth psalm, seems to imply something more than would have been
conveyed
by the description, David, a servant of
Jehovah. The difference
intended
may be this, that servant of Jehovah
is not added to the name as
a
descriptive epithet, but is itself the salient point of the inscription, the
name
being added merely to identify the person. This would seem to shew
that,
for some reason founded in the psalm itself, it is important that it be
regarded
as the work of a servant of Jehovah, one inspired by him, perhaps
in
opposition to the inspiration of depravity referred to in the next verse.
2
(1). Thus saith depravity to the wicked
(one) in the midst of my heart,
there is no fear of God
before his eyes.
This is one of the most difficult and
doubtful
verses in the whole book of Psalms. The first word in Hebrew
(Mxun;) is a passive participle
used as a noun, like the Latin dictum,
and
employed
as a standing formula in prophecy to indicate the person speaking.
The
usual combination is (hOAhy; Mxun;) a dictum of Jehovah, commonly
translated
in our Bible, saith (or thus saith) the Lord. Instead of the divine
name,
that of David is substituted in 2 Sam. xxiii. 1 (dviDA Mxun;) and the man
156 PSALM
XXXVI. [VER.
2.
there
and also in Prov. xxx. 1 (rb,G,ha Mxun;), both which appear to
be copied
from
the words of Balaam in Num. xxiv. 15. The constant use of this
formula
to introduce prophetic dicta seems to
require an analogous inter-
pretation
of it here, as meaning something more than the mere act of speak-
ing
and suggesting the idea of an authoritative dictum or oracular response,
proceeding
not from God nor from his prophets, but from sin (fwaP,), which
here supplies their place. A dictum of depravity, or, copying the
para-
phrastic
but familiar version of hOAhy; Mxun; in the English Bible, thus saith
transgression or corruption.—The meaning of the next phrase (fwArAlA) is
determined
by the analogy of Ps. cx. 1, where the same preposition, after
hOAhy; Mxun;, can only indicate the
object of address, the saying of Jehovah
(or thus
saith Jehovah) to my Lord. So
here, the true construction is not,
the transgression of the
wicked,
which indeed is ungrammatical, but thus
saith
transgression to the
wicked.
The only possible modification of this syntax,
at
all justified by usage, is to make fwArAlA denote the subject, not
the object
of
the dictum—thus saith depravity (as) to
the wicked—this is the testimony
which
it bears against him. This explanation, although not supported by
Psl
cx. 1, is consistent with the frequent use of l to denote the subject,
and
affords
a good sense, namely, that depravity itself bore witness against the
wicked,
in the Psalmist's mind, that there was no fear of God before his
eyes.
If, on the other hand, fwArAlA indicates the object of address, the
first
clause may be the words of the wicked man himself, and the last clause
the
comment of the Psalmist on them. "Thus
saith depravity to (me) the
wicked man, in the midst
of my heart."
There is no fear of God before his
eyes. That is to say, the wicked
man makes sin his god, and its suggestions
his
prophetic oracles, and thereby shews that there is no fear of God before
his
eyes. By a different interpunction, this sense may be put upon the
sentence.
Thus saith depravity to the wicked man:
"In the midst of my
heart there is no fear
of God before his eyes," or even in his presence. But
as
this interpretation would make sin speak of its own heart in addressing
the
sinner, and as the reference of his eyes
to God is somewhat forced, the
choice
seems to lie between the other two constructions before stated, one
of
which yields the same sense that appears to be intended in the common
version,
the transgression of the wicked saith
within my heart that there is
no fear of God before
his eyes,
and that of the Prayer Book, my heart
sheweth,
me the wickedness of the
ungodly that there is,
&c. Amidst these various
and
doubtful explanations, one thing is certain, that the wicked man is here
described
as one who fears not God, just as the fear of God is elsewhere
put
for godliness or piety.
3 (2). For
he has flattered himself in his own eyes, as to (God's) finding
his iniquity (and) hating (it). The obscurity of the
original may be shown
by
a bald translation. For he has made smooth to him in his eyes,
to find
his iniquity to hate. To make smooth, here
and in Prov. xxix. 5, is an
elliptical
expression for making smooth the words or the actions, i.e.
speaking
or acting in a flattering manner. See above, on Ps. v. 10 (9).
As
there is no reflexive pronoun in Hebrew, the personal pronouns are
occasionally
so used, him for himself, his for his own, &c. In this case,
however,
it is possible to give them their strict meaning by referring them
toy
God. He (the wicked man) has made (his words or actions) smooth to
him (i. e. to God), in his eyes
(the eyes of God). In other words he has
VER.
3-6.] PSALM
XXXVI.
157
endeavoured
to deceive him by a specious appearance. But this construc-
tion
is less natural, because it makes the phrase in his eyes still more re-
dundant,
because it represents the sinner as a hypocrite, rather than a
bold,
self-confident transgressor; and because it makes the last clause
more
obscure and difficult. To find iniquity,
i. e. to detect and punish it,
is
an expression borrowed from Gen. xliv. 16. The unfavourable meaning
of
the phrase is determined by the addition of the words to hate. The
reference
of this clause to the sinner's own feelings is at variance with usage. With
the
whole verse compare Deut. xxix. 18 (19), and see above, on Ps. x. 6.
4 (3). The
words of his mouth (are) falsehood and fraud, he has ceased to
act wisely, to act well. The use of the
abstract for the concrete, falsehood
and
deceit for false and deceitful, adds
to the strength of the expression.
What
he say is not merely false, but falsity itself. For the precise
meaning
of the Hebrew words, see above, on Ps. v. 6, 7 (5, 6). The verbs
of
the last clause are in the causative form, which always has an
active
meaning. To be wise is therefore an
inadequate translation, and to
do good an ambiguous one, as
this English phrase is specially applied to
acts
of benefience or practical utility. The true sense of the last verb is
to do well or right, in opposition to doing wrong. See below, on Ps. xxxvii. 3.
Instead
of ceasing from his sins, the sinner has abandoned even the appear-
ance
of well-doing. The form of expression is like that in Isa. i. 16.
5 (4). Falsehood
he will meditate upon his bed; he will take his stand
upon a way not good;
evil he will not abjure. The first word (Nv,xA), both in
this
and the preceding verse, does not mean mere false speaking, but a
false
character, one not according to the truth, of which the divine will is
the
standard. It is therefore nearly equivalent to wickedness. The futures
express
present habit and a settled purpose of continuance. While he con-
tinues
what he is, he will continue thus to act. On
his bed, by night, the
natural
season of reflection. Or the idea may be, that instead of sleeping
he
spends the hours of rest in meditating evil, or contriving mischief.—The
verb
to set himself, or take his stand, is the same that
occurred before in Ps.
2,
and implies both a settled purpose and the commencement of its exe-
cution.—A way not good is an example of the
figure called meiosis, in
which
more meant than is expressed, although suggested by the context.
The
idea really conveyed to every reader is that of an extremely bad way, or
the
worst way possible.—The last verb means to reject or renounce with
contempt
and abhorrence. See above, on Ps. xv. 4.
6 (5). O
Jehovah, in the heavens (is) thy mercy, and thy faithfulness unto
the clouds. From the odious image
of the sinner just presented he now
turns
away to contemplate the divine perfections. The parallelism of the
clauses
seem to shew that in the heavens
means in heaven as well as on
earth,
i. e. reaching from the one to the
other, which idea is then literally expressed, as
far
as, even to, or up to, the clouds,
which last is simply an equivalent to heavens.—
Mercy and faithfulness are also parallels, the
latter meaning God's fidelity or truth in the
fulfilment
of his promises, even to the undeserving. See below, on Ps. xxxvii. 3.
7
(6). Thy righteousness (is) like the
hills of the Almighty; thy judgments
(are) a great deep; man
and beast thou wilt save, (O) Jehovah! Righteous-
ness
here means rectitude in its widest sense, including the veracity and
faithfulness
mentioned in the foregoing verse. Judgments
is an idiomatic
synonyme,
thee plural being either used to give it an abstract meaning, as
in
(Myy.iha) life, or to
denote particular acts of righteousness. This attribute
158 PSALM
XXXVI. [VER.
7-10.
is
here described as infinite, by a comparison with natural emblems of im-
meosity.
The first mentioned are the mountains of
God, or of the mighty
(God), the divine name here
used being that which properly denotes omni-
potence.
See above, on Ps. v. 5 (4). By explaining this word as an
abstract,
we obtain the sense, mountains of
strength, i. e. strong mountains;
but
the constant usage of the term as a divine name seems decisive in
favour
of the sense, hills produced by the almighty power of God and
therefore
proving it.—The great deep, the
ocean, as in Gen. vii. 11.
(Compare
Gen. i. 2). The idea conveyed is not so much that of depth
and
mystery as that of vastness and immensity. The comprehensiveness
of
God's protecting care is further indicated by the combination man and
beast
(or brute). To save includes the acts
of helping, protecting and providing.
8 (7). How
precious (is) thy mercy, (O) God, and the sons of man in the
shadow of thy wings may
trust (or
take refuge). The richness of God's
mercy
is apparent from the very fact that it affords protection to mankind,
mewling
of course only those to whom it has been promised. The figure
of
overspreading wings is carried out more fully in Deut. xxxii. 11, and
Mat.
xxiii. 37.—For the meaning of the verb used in this verse, see above,
on
Ps. ii. 12.
9 (8).
They shall be drenched with the
abundance of thy house; (with) the
stream of thy pleasures
thou wilt water them (or
give them drink). They, i. e.
such
of the children of men as are permitted to take refuge under God's
protection.—Shall drink abundantly, or to satiety,
be soaked or drenched.
The
derivative noun occurs above, in Ps. xxiii. 5.—Abundance, literally fat
or
fatness, put for the richest food. Thy
house, thy household, with or
without
allusion to the tabernacle, not as a place of worship merely, but
as
the earthly residence of God. See above, on Ps. xxiii. 6, xxvii. 4. In
the
second clause there is a beautiful allusion to the river which watered
the
garden of Eden (Gen. ii. 10). This allusion, although lost in a trans-
lation,
is marked in the original by the use of the word eden in the plural
number
to mean pleasures or delights. The verb to water
or make drink is
also
the one used in Gen. ii. 10, which shews that it is not a mere fortui-
tous
coincidence.
10 (9). For
with thee is a fountain of life; in thy light shall we see light.
They
shall derive all this from thee, because in thee alone is the exhaust-
less
source of all these blessings.—With thee,
in thy presence, in union and
communion
with thee.—The well-spring, fountain-head, or source of life, a
sum
ary expression for all enjoyments and advantages. The same idea is
then
clothed in another figurative dress. In
thy light we shall see light. It
is
only by the light of God's countenance that man can see any good. It
is
only in God's favour that he can be happy. The only bliss attainable
or
desirable is that which is bestowed by God and resides in him. See
above,
on Ps. iv. 7 (6).
11 (10). Continue thy mercy to those knowing thee, and thy righteousness
to the upright in heart. To his glowing
description of the blessedness
resident
in God and flowing from his favour, he now adds a prayer that it
may
be extended to the class, of which he claims to be a member. The
first
verb literally means to draw out or protract, and is the same that is
used
in different applications in Ps. x. 9, xxviii. 3, above.—Those knowing
thee, and as a necessary
consequence loving thee, since genuine knowledge
of
the true God is inseparable from right affections towards him.—Thy
righteousness, thy true and faithful
dealings with those trusting in thy mercy,
VER.
1.] PSALM
XXXVII. 159
here
and often elsewhere represented as the upright
or straightforward in
heart as well as in
behaviour.
12 (11). Suffer not to come (upon) me foot of pride, and let not hand of
wicked ones expel me. What he had just asked
for the upright in general,
he
now asks for himself in particular, plainly implying that the view which
he
had taken of human depravity in ver. 2-5 (1-4), was suggested by his
own
sufferings, or fear of suffering, at the hand of wicked enemies.—The
verb
in the first clause does not merely mean to come
against, invade or
threaten,
but to come upon, implying actual and
violent assault. See
above,
Ps. xxxv. 8. The mention of the foot
suggests the ideas of spurning
trampling,
and crushing; that of the hand the
more general idea of exerted
strength
or violence. The last verb is a causative, and strictly means to
put
to flight; cause to wander, or send into exile. Compare its use in
2
Kings xxi. 8. The general idea of the verse is, do not give me up to the
power
of my enemies.
13 (12). There are the doers of iniquity fallen; they are struck down and
cannot rise (or stand). The prayer is followed by a
sudden assurance of
its
being answered, in the strength of which the Psalmist speaks of his
desire
as already accomplished. See above, on Ps. xx. 7 (6).—There has
very
much the same sense as in common parlance, when uttered as a sudden
exclamation.
There! they have fallen (already).
Strictly explained, it
means
on the very spot and in the very midst of their anticipated triumph.
See
above, on Ps. xiv. 5, where the same use of the particle occurs, and
compare
Ps. cxxxii. 17, and Judges v. 11, in all which places it is better
to
retain the lo6a1 sense of there than to exchange it for the supposititious
one
of then, which never occurs
elsewhere.—Iniquity, vanity or
falsehood,
in
the sense explained above, on ver. 5 (4).—Struck,
or smitten down, a
stronger
phrase than cast down. See above, Ps.
xxxv. 5.—The last words
may
either mean, they cannot stand their ground, save themselves from
falling,
or they cannot rise again when fallen. See above, Ps. i. 5, xviii.
39
(38), and compare Prov. xxiv. 16.
PSALM
XXXVII.
This
is an alphabetical psalm, and, like others of the same kind (see
above,
on Ps. xxv.), consists of variations on the theme propounded in the
two
first verses, namely, the idea, that the sinner is a self-destroyer, and
therefore
not an object of envy or revenge to the righteous, who may safely
leave
the punishment of his enemies, and the vindication of his own cause,
in
the hands of God. The whole psalm seems to have reference to David's
own
experience in the case of, Saul, Nabal, Absalom, Ahithophel, and
others.
See especially 1 Sam. xxv. 39. The psalm, from its aphoristic
form,
bears a very strong resemblance to the book of Proverbs, and may
have
been the model on which it was constructed. The alphabetical
arrangement,
as in other cases of the same kind, is not perfect. Most of
the
letters have two verses each, but one has three, three have only one,
and
the letter f is omitted.
1. Fret
not thyself at evil-doers; be not envious at workers of iniquity.
The
first Hebrew verb is a reflexive form, and strictly means to heat one's
self with anger. It occurs
only here and in Prov. xxiv. 19, where there is
obvious
allusion to this verse, as there is also in ver. 1 of the same chapter,
and
in chap. iii. 31, xxiii. 17 of the same book.—Be not envious at, do not
160 PSALM XXXVII. [VER. 2-5.
envy,
the original verb being almost always construed with a preposition.
Evil-doers in the Hebrew is a
participle, and literally means those making
evil, i. e. making their own conduct so. Workers, or more simply, doers
of iniquity. The last noun,
according to its etymology, denotes perversion,
depravation,
or depravity.
2. For
like the grass (in) haste shall they be mown, and like the green
herb shall they fade (or wither). This verse assigns the reason
of the
exhcrtation
in the one before it. Why should we vex ourselves or indulge
an
envious feeling towards that which is so soon to perish, and is therefore
rather
an object of compassion? These two verses contain the theme, of
which
the rest is a protracted variation.—In
haste, soon, quickly. The
preposition
is expressed before the same noun in Eccles. iv. 12, but sup-
pressed
as here, in many other places, e. g.
Num. xvii. 11, (xvi. 46), Deut.
xi.
17.—The green herb, literally greenness of herbage, the second noun
denoting
the young tender grass, or the first growth of other plants. See
above,
on Ps. xxiii. 2. The verb at the end of the sentence is the same
with
that in Ps. i. 3.
3. Trust
in Jehovah and do good; inhabit the land and feed (on) truth.
The
leading verb of each clause suggests the idea of security, the first
sometimes
meaning to be safe (Prov. xi. 15), and the second to repose
(Deut.
xxxiii. 20, Ps. lv. 7). Trust securely,
dwell at ease or in safety.
To
do good is not merely to perform acts
of kindness and promote the
hap
iness of others, but in a wider sense, to do what is morally good or
right.
See above, on Ps. xxxvi. 4 (3). The land
is the land of promise,
a
secure abode in which is often used as a comprehensive expression for
all
the covenanted blessings of the chosen people. See Prov. ii. 21, x. 30.
The
verb feed, in Hebrew as in English,
is used both transitively, and in-
transitively,
to denote the act of the shepherd and his flock respectively.
Here
it means to feed upon anything with delight, as in Hosea xii. 2 (1),
Isa.
xliv. 20. The truth thus fed upon is
God's truth and faithfulness in
the
performance of his promise. See above, on Ps. xxxvi. 6 (5). This
last
clause has the force, though not the form, of a promise, and is so
paraphrased
in many versions. A less excusable departure from the form
of
the original is the explanation of hnAUmx< as an adverb (verily), thus
depriving
the verb of its object and the clause of its chief emphasis, which
lies
in representing the veracity of God, or the certain fulfilment of his
promise,
as the very food by which the believer is sustained and his hope
nourished.
4. And
delight thyself in Jehovah, and he will give thee the requests of
thy heart. Here too the command
implies a promise, which is afterwards
expressed.
Delight thyself, seek and find thy
happiness, in Jehovah, literally
upon
him, the form of expression suggesting the idea of dependence and
reliance,
as well as that of union and communion. Requests,
not mere
desires, but askings, prayers. Compare Ps. xx. 6 (5),
xxi. 3 (2).
5. Roll
upon Jehovah thy way, and trust upon him, and he will do (it).
This
last expression shews that the way is something to be done, and
accorldingly
we find in Prov. xvi. 3, the explanatory variation, roll to (or on)
the Lord thy works, i. e. what thou hast to do but canst not do it, meta-
phorically
represented as a burden too heavy for the person bearing it, and
therefore
rolled upon the shoulders of another. See above, on Ps. xxii. 9 (8),
and
below, on Ps. lv. 23 (22), and compare 1 Peter v. 7.—Trust upon him,
a
phrase more suggestive of dependence than trust
in him. See above, on
VER.
6-12.] PSALM
XXXVII. 161
ver.
4.—He will do what thou canst not do,
or whatever must be done.
See
above, on Ps. xxii. 32 (31).
6. And
(will) bring out thy right like the light, and thy cause like the
noon. He will espouse thy
cause, and make it triumph in the sight of all
men.
The figure of light suggests the double idea of relief from suffering
and
clear revelation after long concealment. Compare Job xi. 17, Isa.
lviii.
8, Mic. vii. 91—The Hebrew word for noon
is of the dual form, and
properly
denotes twofold or double light, i. e.
the brightest, the most intense.
7. Be
silent to Jehovah, await in silence what he is about to do, without
impatient
clamour or presumptuous interference. Compare Exod. xiv. 13,
2
Chron. xx. 17. And wait for him,
allow him time to act, instead of
attempting
to act for him. Fret not thyself, as
in ver. 1, heat not thyself
with
anger, at (one) prospering his way,
making his way prosperous, i.e.
succeeding
in his course of life. See above, on Ps. i. 1, 3. At a man
doing, i. e. practising or executing, plans
or plots, as the Hebrew word has
constantly
a bad sense. Let no success or prosperity of sinners tempt thee
to
anticipate God's righteous judgments.
8. Cease
from anger, and forsake wrath; fret not thyself only to do evil.
Do
not indulge a passion which can only make thee a partaker in the guilt
of
those who are its objects.
9. For
evil-doers shall be cut off. This is a twofold reason for obeying
the
injunction of the preceding verse: first, because the certain destruction
of
the wicked made such anger unnecessary as well as uncharitable;
secondly,
because the same destruction would befall the servant of the
Lord,
if he indulged an anger tending only to evil. And (those) waiting for
Jehovah, patiently expecting
the fulfilment of his promises and threatenings.
As
for them, they, with emphasis on the
pronoun, shall inherit the land, the
land
of promise, the common formula for covenanted blessings. See above,
on
ver. 3, and on Ps. xxv 13.
10. And yet a little, i. e. ere long, soon—bear and forbear a little longer
—and the wicked is not, or there is no
wicked, there is no such person as
the
wicked man who seemed so prosperous—and
thou shalt gaze, or look
attentively,
upon his place, the place which he
now occupies, and it is not,
his
very place has disappeared—or referring the pronoun to the person, he
is not, he is no more. Why
then be discomposed, and even tempted into
sin,
by the sight of what is so soon to vanish?
11. And
the humble, or, as we should say in our idiom, but the humble,
on
the other hand, on their part, as contrasted both with the presumptuous
sinner
and the impatient querulous believer. The
humble, here put for the
whole
class of submissive waiters upon God. For the true meaning of
the
Hebrew word, see above, on Ps. ix. 13 (12).—Shall
inherit the land,
possess
it by a filial right, be heirs to all the blessings of the covenant.
See
above, on ver. 3, 9.—And delight
themselves, enjoy themselves, be
happy,
as in ver. 4, above.—In abundance, or
increase, the infinitive of a
verb
which means to be increased or multiplied, and which occurs above,
in
Ps. iii. 2 (1).—Of peace, in the wide
sense of prosperity, well-being, as
opposed
to want and suffering, and not merely of repose or quiet, as opposed
to
strife and perturbation.
12. Plotting,
habitually meditating evil, (is the)
wicked (man), as to (or
against) the righteous, and gnashing at him (or upon him) with his teeth,
gnashing
his teeth at him, as a natural token of bestial malignity. This
is
a kind of concession, that the wicked man deserves no forbearance on
162 PSALM
XXXVII [VER. 13-16.
the
part of the righteous, who is not, however, therefore at liberty to anti-
cipate
God's judgments, for the reason given in the next verse.
13. The
Lord, the sovereign of the universe, as well as the protector of
his
people, laughs, or will laugh, at him, with derisive pity. See above,
on
Ps. ii. 4.—For, because, he sees, he has already seen, as
something
fixed
and certain, that his day, his own
appointed day of vengeance, or
more
probably, the sinner's day of punishment, will
come, is coming.
However
long it may be put off, God knows that it will come at last, a
fearful
intimation of the certainty of future retribution. Compare Eccles.
viii.
11, 2 Pet. iii. 4, Heb. x. 37.
14. The
sword, put for all offensive weapons, and indeed for all destruc-
live
agents. See above, on Ps. xxii. 21 (20).—They
have opened, i. e.
loosened
or uncovered, drawn.—The wicked, the
whole class of evil-doers,
whose
destruction he had just foretold.—And
have trodden, i. e. bent by
treading
on it. See above, on Ps. vii. 13 (12).—Their
bow, often coupled
with
the sword, both in prose, as being literally the other most familiar
implement
of ancient warfare, and in poetry, as a parallel figure for destruc-
tive
hostility.—To make fall, cast down,
overthrow, the sufferer, the
afflicted.
See
above, on Ps. ix. 13 (12).—And the poor,
the destitute or needy one,
a
more specific term, often added to the generic one, which here precedes
it.
In all such cases, it is implied that the sufferers are the suffering
righteous,
the afflicted people of Jehovah.—To slay,
or slaughter. The
original
expression is a very strong one, being properly applied to the
slaughtering
of cattle. See Exod. xxi. 37, xxii. 1, 1 Sam. xxv. 11. So
in
English a sanguinary battle is described as a great slaughter.—The
straight, straightforward,
upright, or sincere, (in) way, a
common figure
for
the course of life or the habitual conduct. See above, on Ps. i. 1.
The
mention of this moral quality confirms the explanation just given of the suffering,
and needy, not as such
considered, but as sufferers in the cause of truth and and
righteousness,
as suffering for God and from the malice of his enemies.
15. Their
sword, the sword of these malignant foes, shall go into their
heart, their own heart. They
shall be destroyed by the very means which
they
prepared for the destruction of their betters. This idea of a provi-
dential
lex talionis is one repeatedly
expressed under various figurative
forms.
See above, Ps. vii. 16, 17 (15, 16), ix. 16, 17 (15, 16), and below,
Ps.
lvii. 7 (6), and compare the imitation in Prov. xxvi. 27, and the histori-
cal
example afforded by the case of Haman, Esther vii. 10.—And their bows,
the
parallel expression, as in ver. 14, for their implements of warfare and
destruction,
shall be broken, rendered useless.
The substitution of the
plural
for the singular, and of a single verb for the expected repetition of
the
first clause, adds greatly to the force and beauty of the passage.
16. Good
is a little to the righteous, which, in our idiom, means, better
is a little that the righteous
has.
This clause exemplifies two remarkable
deficiencies
of the Hebrew language, the want of a distinct form for the
comparative
degree, which can only be suggested by construction or the
context,
and the want of the verb have, which
is common to the whole
Semitic
family of languages.—Than the noise,
tumult, turmoil, which attends
the
acquisition and the care of great possessions. That the Hebrew word
(Nvmh) denotes this incident
of wealth rather than wealth itself, may be
inferred,
not only from its etymology and its use in 1 Sam. iv. 14, xiv. 19,
1
Kings xviii. 41, &c., but from the analogy of Ps. xxxix. 7 (6), and Prov.
xv.
16.—Of many wicked, whose noisy and
vexatious wealth is here con-
VER.
17-20.] PSALM XXXVII. 163
trasted
with the quiet enjoyment of one righteous man, not only with respect
to
present ease of mind, but also to their future destiny, as stated in the
next
verse.
17. For
the arms of the wicked shall be broken. The ambiguity of our
word
arms has othing corresponding to it
in the Hebrew, where the only
possible
sense is that of arms as members of
the body. Not only their
weapons,
but their arms, not only their implements of death, but the
strength
with which they wielded them, is broken, weakened, rendered use-
less.—And, or, as our idiom requires an
adversative in such connections,
but sustaining the
righteous,
their habitual supporter, (is) Jehovah,
the
divine
name being placed emphatically at the close, a feature copied in the
ancient
versions, but obliterated in most modern ones.
18. Knowing,
habitually, always knowing, (is) Jehovah,
i. e. Jehovah
knows.—The days,
the life, including both duration and events. Compare
Ps.
xxxi. 16 (15).—Of perfect (men),
those free from essential defect or
obliquity
of character. See above, on Ps. xviii. 24 (23). The epithet is
evidently
used as an equivalent to the righteous
in ver. 17. God knows
their
days, how long they are to live, and what is to befall them, with an
implication
that he knows they will be numerous and good days. See
above,
on Ps. i. 3. The same idea is then stated more distinctly in the
last
clause. And their heritage, their
portion, their condition, as God's
heirs,
to eternity shall be, or shall
continue. While this expression would
perhaps
suggest to a contemporary reader nothing more than an undisturbed
possession,
on the part of the righteous, as contrasted with the short-lived
prosperity
of sinners, it necessarily conveys to our minds the idea of a lite-
rally
everlasting, indefeasible inheritance. See 1 Pet. i. 4.
19. They
shall not be ashamed, disappointed, or deceived in their expec-
tations.
See above, on Ps. vi. 11 (10), xxii. 6 (5).—In
an evil time, or,
in a time of evil, i. e. of calamity or danger. See above, on Ps. ix. 10 (9),
x.
1. At such a time, their expectation of deliverance and safety shall not
be
frustrated.—And in days of famine, a
specification of the general descrip-
tion,
evil time, time of evil, not unlike that of the general term, suffering
or
afflicted, by the specific one, poor or needy, in ver 14 above.—They shall
be
satisfied, or filled, but only in a good sense, without any implication of
satiety
or surfeit. Compare Mat. v. 6, Luke vi. 21. The promise of this
clause
is not only specific but positive, whereas that of the first is both
generic
and negative. Compare Ps. xxxiii. 19.
20. This verse shews how the truth of the
foregoing promises can be
consistent
with the actual prosperity of wicked men. Do not doubt the
truth
of these assurances because the wicked now seem happy, or because
they
now prevent your being so, by their oppressions and hostilities. For
all
this is soon to cease. The wicked shall
perish, are to perish, and the
enemies of Jehovah, another description of
the same class, shewing that
these
judgments awaited them, not merely as the foes of the Psalmist, or of
righteous
men in general, but of God himself. See above, on Ps. v. 5 (4).
—Like the precious (part) of lambs, i. e. the sacrificial fat,
which was burnt
upon
the altar, they have consumed; in smoke,
or into smoke, they have con-
sumed (or vanished). The preterite form of the
verb represents the pre-
dicted
consummation as already past in the perceptions of the writer. Some
understand
by MyriB rqay;, the delight of
lambs, i. e. their pasture, and sup-
pose
an allusion to the short-lived verdure of the fields, a common figure for
the
brevity of human life, which occurs near the beginning of this very
164 PSALM XXXVII. [VER. 21-24.
psalm
(ver. 2). Others obtain the same sense by explaining MyriKA itself to
mean
pastures, as it seems to do in Isa.
xxx. 23, and perhaps in Ps. lxv.
14
(13). It is best, however, to retain the usual and certain sense of
lambs, whether the reference
be to their pasture or their fat, which last is
recommended
by the mention of smoke in the same
connection. This may
indeed
be an independent figure, but it is much more natural to connect it
with
the lambs, and understand it to denote the smoke ascending from the
altar
upon which they were consumed in sacrifice. In either case, however,
and
on any exegetical hypothesis whatever, the essential meaning of the
figures
is the same, to wit, that the prosperity of sinners is but short-lived,
and
that they themselves will vanish speedily and wholly, and are therefore
in
the mean time not a proper object of envious dissatisfaction or a legiti-
mate
occasion of sceptical misgiving to the righteous.
21. Borrowing,
a habitual borrower, (is) the wicked, and
he will not pay,
i. e. he cannot, because he is
reduced to poverty, whereas the righteous,
under
the divine blessing on his outward condition, is continually shewing
mercy, doing acts of kindness,
and particularly giving, supplying
the neces-
sities
of others. This description of the difference between the two condi-
tions
is derived from the promise in the Law to the true Israel. "For the
Lord
thy God hath blessed thee as he said to thee, and thou shalt lend to
many
nations and thou shalt not borrow, and thou shalt rule over many
nations,
and over thee they shall not rule." Deut. xv. 6, xxviii. 12, 44.
Compare
Prov. xxii. 7. This proverbial use of borrowing and lending as
a
sign of poverty and wealth, shews that the verse before us does not relate
to
willingness but to ability to lend or give. It is not the moral but the
material
difference of the two men, or the classes which they represent,
that
is here brought directly into view, although the one is really dependent
on
the other, as appears from the next verse.
22. For
his blessed ones, those blessed by him, i.
e. by God, shall inherit
the land, in the same sense as
before, and so be able not only to lend but
to
give away, and, on the other hand, or
but, his cursed ones, those cursed
by
hina, shall not only be unable to do either and dependent on the charity
of
others, but shall be cut off,
destroyed, exterminated, with allusion no
doubt
to the use of the same Hebrew verb in reference to excision from the
communion
and the privileges of the chosen people. See Gen. xvii. 14,
Exod.
xii. 15, Lev. vii. 20, 21; Num. xv. 30, &c., but especially Lev. xvii.
14,
xi. 17, where the verb is absolutely used in this sense as in the case
before
us. Thus understood, the verse assigns the blessing and the curse
of
God as a reason for the difference of condition mentioned in the verse
preceding,
whereas no such reason could be given for the difference of moral
character,
and the for in that case would be either out of place or unmeaning.
23. From
Jehovah, by him, or by a power proceeding from him, the steps
of a man, his course of life,
all that befalls him, have been settled,
fixed, or
ordered,
and in his way, a parallel expression
to his steps, will he delight,
i. e. he will delight to
execute the plan thus formed. Although this is in
form
a general proposition, it is obviously meant to be applied specifically
to
the righteous as the objects of God's favour, and to account for their
superior
prosperity, if not at present, yet hereafter.
24. For
he will fall; in this life fluctuations and reverses are to be ex-
pected,
and it forms no part of the divine plan to prevent them. (But) he
shall not be thrown down, prostrated wholly or
for ever. The contrast of a
mere
fall and a permanent prostration is intended to express that between
VER.
25-28.] PSALM
XXXVII.
165
occasional
misfortunes and utter ruin. This clause may also be translated,
when (or if) he
falls he shall not be thrown down; but the construction is
less
simple, and the sense given to the particle more doubtful and unusual.
And
although the essential meaning of the sentence is the same in either
case,
it is weakened by losing the concession, that even the righteous must
expect
to suffer, but not to perish like the wicked. For Jehovah (is) hold-
ing up his hand, or holding him up by
his hand. See below, on Ps. lxxiii.
23.
The participle, as usual, denotes continued action. God not only
sustains
him in particular emergencies, but is his habitual upholder. See
above,
on ver. 12, 18, 21.
25. A
boy, a child, or more indefinitely, young
have I been; I have also
been old, am now become old; and
yet, throughout this long life, I have
not
seen a righteous (man)
forsaken (of God),
i. e. finally and utterly, and his
seed, his children or his
more remote descendants, begging bread,
subsisting
on
the charity of others. This is not to be absolutely understood, but as
a
general proposition, and with due regard to the peculiar state of things
under
the law of Moses, which made ample provision for the temporal com-
fort
of every indiidual who acknowledged its authority and obeyed its
precepts,
so that entire destitution might more justly be regarded as a token
of
divine displeasure than it can be among us.
26. On the contrary, he has enough, not
only for himself, but for his
poorer
neighbours. All the day (long), i. e. continually, as a habitual
employment,
(he is) skewing mercy, doing acts of
kindness, and lending, as
an
act of charity, not as a commercial operation, which was unknown among
the
ancient Hebrews. See above, on Ps. xv. 5.—And
his seed (is) for a
blessing, i. e. happy themselves and a source of happiness to others. The
form
of expression seems to be borrowed from the promise to Abraham in Gen. xii. 2.
27. Depart
from evil, and do good, and dwell for evermore. This is the
practical
application of the foregoing lessons. Evil
and good are correla-
tive
and coextensive terms. As evil includes all that is morally wrong,
good includes all that is
morally right, and to do good is to
do well or act
rightly.
See above, on ver. 3.—Dwell, i. e. dwell securely, as in ver. 3,
where
as here the exhortation or command involves a promise. For ever,
literally
to eternity or perpetuity. As to the idea which these expressions
would
convey to Jewish and to Christian readers, see above, on ver. 18.
28. For
Jehovah (is) loving, he habitually loves, judgment, i. e. justice
actually
exercised, he doing of justice. The for
assigns a reason for the
strong
assurance a the close of the preceding verse. No one need fear to
lay
hold of the promise in its widest sense; for it is not an arbitrary one,
but
a spontaneous expression of Goa's natural essential love of moral rec-
titude.
And, as a necessary consequence of
this, he will not forsake his
gracious ones, the objects of his
grace or favour. For the true sense of
the
Hebrew word, see above, on Ps. iv. 4 (3), xii. 2 (1), xviii. 26 (25),
xxx.
5 (4), xxxi. 24 (23.) Those whom he once favours he will not forsake.
For ever, to eternity, they are kept, kept safe, preserved. The
past tense
of
the verb is peculiarly appropriate to describe their preservation as already
secured.
So certain is it, that he seems to look back upon the future as
already
past, and says, they have been kept for
ever. Here again, although
a
Jewish reader might have been inclined to put a lower sense upon for ever,
as
denoting nothing more than permanency in contrast with the fluctuations
of
secular prosperity, it is neither right nor possible for us to give it any
but
its strongest and its most extensive application. (See above, on ver. 18,
166 PSALM XXXVII. [VER. 29-36.
and
compare 1 Peter i. 5.—Equally certain is the fate of the ungodly:And the
seed of
wicked men (is) cut off, has already been cut
off, in the divine prescience and purpose,
from
all participation in the blessings of the righteous. See above, on ver. 22.
29. The
righteous shall inherit the land, possess the land of promise by
a
filial right, and dwell, securely and in peace, for ever, to eternity, upon
it.
See
the same expressions used and explained above, on ver. 3, 9, 18, 22.
30. The
mouth of the righteous will utter wisdom. Lest the foregoing
promises
should be appropriated by the wicked, he lays down a test of
character
by which the righteous man may be distinguished. He is one
whose
mouth utters wisdom, in the high religious sense. For the meaning
of
the verb, see above, on Ps. xxxv. 28.—And
his tongue will speak judg-
ment, i. e. justice, rectitude, here used as an equivalent to wisdom,
both
denoting
true religion, in its intellectual and moral aspects, with particular
reference
to its effects upon the speech or conversation of its subjects.
31. The
Law of his God is in his heart, not merely on his lips, and may
therefore
be expected to keep him in the right way. His
steps shall not
swerve from the straight path,
or waver in it. See above, on Ps.
xvii. 37 (36).
32. Watching,
ever watching, (is) the wicked for the
righteous, for means
and
opportunities of injury, and seeking to
kill him. The enemies of God,
as
all the wicked are, must needs be the enemies of his people also.
33. Jehovah
will not leave him in his hand, will not abandon the righteous
to
the power of the wicked, and will not
make him guilty, a forensic term of
the
Mosaic Law, meaning to regard or treat as guilty, to condemn (Exod. xxii.
8,
9, Deut. xxv. 1), in his being judged,
when he is tried. The image here
presented
may be that of a judicial process between the righteous and the
wicked
at the bar of God, who will not and cannot condemn the innocent.
34. Wait
thou for Jehovah, for the manifestation of his presence and his
will,
as in ver. 7 above. And keep his way,
adhere to the path which he
has
marked out for thee. And he will raise
thee, lift thee up, exalt thee,
from
thy present low condition to inherit the
land, to enjoy the benefits
and
blessings of his covenant. See above on ver. 8, 9, 11, 30. In the ex-
cision of the wicked, when the wicked are
cut off from all connection with
God's
people and participation in their privileges, thou shalt see (it). Or
as
the verb to see, when construed with
this preposition (b), often means
to
see with pleasure, this clause may be translated, at the excision of the
wicked thou shalt gaze, as a pleased and
wondering spectator.
35. I
saw a wicked (man). The issue just predicted is now made the
subject
of a picture, as if present to the senses. The Hebrew word which
follows
(CyyifA)
means terrible, especially from one's extraordinary strength
or
power, with an implication sometimes of its violent exertion. I saw
(such)
a wicked man, a terrible one, and
spreading himself, like a native
(tree) i. e. one which has never been transplanted, green and flourishing.
The
word translated native is always
elsewhere used of human subjects,
but
is here applied, by a bold personification, to a vigorous tree, rooted in
its
native soil, and seemingly immoveable
36. And
he passed (away), and lo! an expression always implying
something
unexpected, he was not, he wasno more, there was no longer
such
a person. See above, on ver. 10. And I sought him. I looked
round
as if to see what was become of him, and
he was not found, or as we
might
say, to be found. This, verse may be
referred to the tree, it passed
away,
I looked for it, and it could not be found. But as the tree
is only
VER.
37-40.] PSALM
XXXVII.
167
introduced
in the preceding verse as a comparison, it is better to regard the
wicked
man as the subject of both sentences.
37. Mark
the perfect (man), observe him closely, and
behold the upright,
or
straightforward. He appeals to general experience and calls upon his
hearers
or readers to judge for themselves. For
an end, a future state,
and
by implication a happy one, (is) to the
man of peace, who instead of
undertaking
to avenge himself, patiently waits for the divine interposition.
The
common version (for the end of that man
is peace) is forbidden not
only
by the accents, but by the impossibility of making wyxil; mean of that
man, without a violation of
all usage and analogy.
38. And
the rebels against God, those who revolt from his authority, and
cast
off their allegiance to their rightful sovereign, a common scriptural
description
of the wicked, are destroyed together,
or at once. See the use
of
the same adverb in Ps. iv. 9 (8). This certain issue is referred to, as
already
past or present. See above, on ver. 28. The
end, futurity, or
hope,
of the wicked is cut off. The
futurity meant is one of happiness, as
in
ver. 37, the true sense of which is thus determined. The contrast pre-
sented
is, that one has an end or a futurity, the other none.
39. And
the salvation of the righteous, far from being wrought out by
themselves,
(is) from Jehovah, comes from him as
its author and source.
See
above, on Ps. iii. 9 (8). (He is) their
strength, or stronghold, fortress,
place
of refuge and defence, as in Ps. xxvii. 1, xxviii. 8, xxxi. 3, 5 (2, 4).
In time of trouble, or distress. See
above, on Ps. ix. 10 (9), x. 1.
40. And
Jehovah has helped them. It is not in name or in profession
merely
that he is their stronghold and protector. Jehovah
has helped them
and delivered them. And what he has done
he will still do. He will deliver
them from the wicked. The mention of this
specific evil brings us back to
the
point from which we started, the temptation to repine at the prosperity
of
sinners and resent their evil treatment. But the true wisdom of the
righteous
is to wait, to wait for God. He will
deliver them from the wicked,
and will save them from all evil, as this
verb when absolutely used imports,
not
because of any merit upon their part, but because
they have trusted, taken
refuge,
sought for shelter, in him, not only
under his protection, but in
intimate
union and Communion with him. See above, on Ps. ii. 12, v.
12
(11), vii. 2 (1), xxv. 20, xxxi. 2 (1).
PSALM
XXXVIII.
A sufferer,
in sore distress of mind and body, aggravated by the neglect
of
friends and the spite of wicked enemies, acknowledges all to be the fruit
of
his own sins, and prays that the effect may cease by the removal of the
cause.
The psalm contains three distinct
complaints, or descriptions of his suf-
fering,
separated by two appeals to God, with a prayer at the beginning
and
the end of the whole Psalm. After the title, ver. 1, comes the first
prayer,
ver. 2 (1); then the first complaint, ver. 3-9 (2-8); then an appeal
to
the divine omniscience, ver. 10 (9); then the second complaint, ver.
11-15
(10-14); then an expression of hope and confidence in God, ver.
16
(15); then the third complaint, ver. 17-21 (16-20); and then the
closing
prayer, ver. 22, 23 (21, 22).
1. A
Psalm. By David. To remind, or bring to remembrance, i. e.
168 PSALM
XXXVIII. [VER.
1-6.
to
remind God of the sufferer, whom he seems to have forgotten, with allusion no
doubt
to the frequent use of the same verb in reference to penitent self-recollection
on
the part of sinners. See 1 Kings xvii. 18, Ezek. xxi. 29 (24), xxix. 16, Num.
v. 15.
2 (1). Jehovah,
do not, in thy wrath, rebuke me, and in thy heat (or hot
displeasure) chasten me. The force of the negative extends to both clauses.
Rebuke, not in word merely,
but in deed, corresponding to chasten,
chastise,
punish,
in the other clause. He does not pray, as some suppose, for mo-
derate
punishment, or for loving as opposed to angry chastisement, but for
deliverance
from any punishment whatever, which is always indicative of
God's
displeasure. See above, on Ps. vi. 2 (1).
3 (2). For
thine arrows are sunk into me, and thy
hand has sunk upon me.
This
verse assigns the reason of the prayer in that before it. Arrows, sharp
inflictions,
as in Deut. xxxii. 23, Job vi. 4. The verbs of the two clauses
are
active and passive forms from the same root. Sunk into, penetrated,
and
by implication, stuck fast, although
this specific idea is not expressed.
Sunk upon, heavily descended, or,
as the English version has it, presseth
me sore. Compare Ps. xxxii. 4,
xxxix. 11 (10).
4 (3). There
is no sound place in my flesh because of thine anger; there is
no peace in my bones
because of my sin.
Here begins a more particular de-
scription
of the sufferings indicated by the general terms of the preceding
verse.
The first thing mentioned is his bodily suffering, as a token of God's
wrath
and an effect of his own sin, by which that wrath had been provoked.
Flesh and bones are put for the whole bodily
frame. The word translated
sound place is a local noun, as
indicated by its form, and not an abstract
(soundness). It occurs only in this
passage and in Isaiah's imitation of it
(Isa.
i. 6). There, as here, the body is represented as one bruise, in which
there
is no sound place, i. e. no spot free from pain or
soreness.—Because of,
literally
from the face of, from the presence of, from before, the phrase being
primarily
used to denote fear or flight before an enemy. Peace may be
taken
in the wide sense of well-being, good condition, health (see above, on
Ps.
xxxvii. 11); but it more probably denotes peace in the strict sense, i. e.
rest
or freedom from the disquietude produced by pair.
5 (4). For
my iniquities are gone over my head ; as a heavy burden, they
are too heavy for me. This is an
amplification of the last words of the
verse
preceding. "I say my sin, because the sense of my iniquities has now
become
intolerable." Gone over,
literally passed, i. e. surpassed, exceeded,
or
transcended. Too heavy for me, or heavier than I, i. e. heavier than I
can
bear. The reference is not merely to the effects of sin, but to the sense
of
sin itself, the consciousness of guilt, which he now associates with all his
sufferings.
As the preterite of the first clause represents the overwhelming
sense
of guilt as something experienced already, so the future of the second
speaks
of its excessive weight as something likely to continue.
6 (5). My
stripes have putrefied and are corrupted because of my foolish-
ness. The first noun does not
denote wounds in general, but the
swelling
produced
by stripes. Compare Isa. i. 6. The two verbs both denote sup-
puration,
the first in reference to the offensive smell, the second to the
running
or discharge of matter. This may be literally understood as denot-
ing
a particular form of bodily distress; but it seems more natural to explain
it
as a figurative representation of extreme suffering, not unmingled with
disgrace.
All this he refers to his own foolishness
or folly, in the strong
sense
of criminal blindness and irrationality. See above, on Ps. xiv. 1.
7 (6). I
have writhed, I have bowed down greatly; all the day mourning I
VER.
7-10.] PSALM
XXXVIII. 169
have gone. The first word is a
passive, meaning strictly to be twisted or
distorted,
elsewhere metaphorically applied to moral obliquity or perverse-
ness
(Prov. xii. 8, 1 Sam. xx. 30), but here used in its proper sense to
signify
the distortion of the body by extreme pain, as in Isa. xxi. 3. The
bowing
or bending down may be from the same cause, or as a customary
sign
of grief. Indeed, the two ideas of sorrow and bodily pain run into each
other
throughout this passage. The word translated mourning properly
means
black, or more specifically, black
with dirt, begrimmed, or squalid, in
allusion
to the ancient oriental custom of sitting in the dust and putting
ashes
on the head, as signs of mourning. See above, on Ps. xxxv. 14.
Greatly. The Hebrew phrase means
until very much, or unto extremity.
dxom; is originally a noun meaning strength, but except in the formula, with
all thy strength, is generally used as
an adverb answering to very, greatly,
or
exceedingly, in English. I have gone. The Hebrew, verb is an
intensive
form,
nearly equivalent to gone about in
English. For a still stronger in-
tensive
from the same root, see above, on Ps.. xxvi. 3, xxxv. 14, in the last of which
places
we have also the words here translated bowed
down and mourning.
8 (7). For
my loins are filled with parching, and there is no sound place
in my flesh. The loins, instead of
being covered with fat (Job xv. 27), are
filled
with dryness, literally (something) parched or dried up with extreme
heat.
To a Hebrew reader this word would necessarily suggest the addi-
tional
idea of despised, contemptible, which
the same form often conveys
elsewhere
(e. g. Sam. xviii. 23, Prov. xii. 9,
Isa. iii. 5). Indeed, it may
be
doubted whether this is not the only sense intended here, as that of
parched
is always expressed elsewhere by a different participial form (Lev.
ii.
14, Josh. v. 1 ). On either supposition, the meaning given in the English
version
(a loathsome disease) is implied, if
not expressed. The repetition
in
the last clause from ver. 4 (3) above brings him back to the point from
which
he starte .
9 (8). I
am benumbed and bruised exceedingly: I have roared from the
murmur of my heart. Benumbed, especially from cold, chilled, frozen,
torpid.
Bruised or broken. The same verb is
used to express contrition
or
brokenness of heart in Ps. li. 18 (17) below; but here it has its proper
sense,
and is descriptive of a bodily condition. See above, on Ps. x. 10.—
Exceedingly, the same phrase as in
ver. 7 (6) above. In the last clause
two
words are employed, both denoting animal sounds, and nearly corres-
ponding
to our roar and growl. In Isa. v. 29, both verbs are, applied to
the
lion, and both translated roar in the
English Bible. For the use of
such
figures, see above, on Ps. xxii. 2 (1). The idea here is that his audible
complaints
are
not expressions of mere bodily distress, but of mental and spiritual anguish.
The
roaring of his voice is but an echo of the murmur in his heart.
10 (9). Lord
before thee (is) all my desire, and my
sighing (or groaning)
from thee is not hid. This is at once an
asseveration that his account of
his
own sufferings was not exaggerated or fictitious, and a reason why it
need
not be continued. "Thou kowest, O Lord, what I ask and what I
need,
the depth of my necessities and the intensity of my desires."
11 (10). My heart pants (or palpitates); my strength has left (or failed)
me; and the light of my
eyes—even they are not with me. Here begins his
second
complaint or compassionate description of his sufferings, in which
those
arising from the conduct of others are made prominent. In this
introductory
verse, however, he describes the effect upon his own feelings,
170 PSALM XXXVIII. [VER. 11, 12,
before
proceeding to declare the cause. The palpitation of the heart,
denoting
violent agitation, is combined with loss of strength and,that dim-
ness
of the eyes, so often mentioned as a sign of extreme weakness. See
above,
on Ps. xiii. 4 (3), and compare Ps. vi. 8 (7), xxxi. 10 (9), xl. 13 (12).
The
last clause admits of two grammatical constructions. 1. "My strength
has
failed me, and (so has) the light of my eyes; even they are not with
me." 2. "(As to) the light of my eyes, even
they are not with me." The
first
agrees best with our idiom, and the last with the masoretic interpunc-
tion,
which separates the light of my eyes
from the preceding verb and noun
by
a pause accent.—Even they, literally,
they too.—"Not only is my
strength
gone, but my eye-sight likewise, but my very eyes."—Not with me,
not
in my possession, not at my command, gone from me. For a similar expression,
see
above,
on Ps. xii. 5 (4).—The preterites in the first clause represent the palpitation
and
debility
as something of long standing, or at least as fully experienced already.
12 (11). My lovers and my friends away from my stroke will stand, and
my neighbours afar off
have stood.
He now gives expression to the anguish
caused
by human unkindness, and first, by that of such as he believed to
be
his friends. These are represented as standing
aloof, literally from
before, i. e. out of sight, as in Gen. xxi. 16, and Isa. i. 16, not over
against,
as
im flying opposition or hostility. What he here complains of is indiffer-
ence
and neglect, as appears from the parallel expression, far off, literally
from afar, according to a common
Hebrew idiom which expresses the posi-
tion
of an object in terms strictly denoting in motion or direction. See for
example
Gen. ii. 8, where eastward is in
Hebrew from, the east, and the
familiar
phrase from the right or left hand, where we say at or on it. This
usage
renders it unnecessary, although not inadmissible, in the case before
us,
to supply a word, "they stand (looking) from afar." The word trans-
lated
neighhours means those near one,
either in local habitation or affinity,
and
may therefore be considered as including the idea expressed in the
English
Version, kinsmen. Unless the
variation of the tenses in this sen-
tence
is entirely unmeaning, which is highly improbable, both in itself and
from
analogy, the last clause may be understood to state as an actual reality,
what
is only apprehended in the first as probable or certain but still future.
As
if he had said, "My friends will no doubt stand aloof from this affliction;
nay,
they are already afar off."—Stroke
is here put for a providential or
divine
infliction in general, not for sickness exclusively, much less for a
particular
disease, such as the leprosy, which Jerome actually introduces
into
his translation. See below, on Ps. xxxix. 11 (10), and compare Job
xix.
21, Isa. liii. 4. Some suppose that there is an allusion to this verse
in
the statement made by one of the evangelists, that the women who had
followed
Christ from Galilee, and all his
acquaintances, stood afar off, gazing
at
his crucifixion. See Luke xxiii. 49, and compare Mark xv. 40, 41.
13 12). And
those seeking my soul (or life) have laid wait (or laid
snare) for me, and those seeking my hurt have spoken mischiefs, and deceits
all the day will they
utter
(or devise). While his friends and
neighbours
stand
aloof, his enemies are busy in attempting to destroy him. Seeking
my life, as in Ps. xxxv. 4, and
Exod. iv. 19. This phrase is particularly
frequent
in the history of David's persecutions. See 1 Sam. xx. 1. xxii. 23,
xxiii.
15, 2 Sam. iv. 8, xvi. 11. The idea of seeking
is expressed by two
entirely
different verbs in Hebrew. With the first clause compare Ps.
xxxvii.
32.—Mischiefs, or still more
strongly, crimes. See above, on Ps.
v.
10 (9). The reference may be either to malicious consultation, or to
VER.
13-17.] PSALM
XXXVIII. 171
slander,
or to both. The last verb may be taken in either of its senses
(see
above, on Ps i. 2, ii. 1, xxxvii. 30), both which are appropriate in
this
connection. All the day (long),
continually. See above, on Ps. xxxvii. 26.
14 (13). And I, as a deaf (man), will not hear, and as a dumb (man)
will not open his mouth. This is at the same
time an aggravation of his
sufferings
and a declaration of his patience under them. He is obliged to
hear
their calumnies and blasphemies as though he heard them not, being
neither
able to silence them nor willing to dispute them. The same two
Hebrew
words for deaf and dumb are used together in Exod. iv. 11.
Not
only
the idea, but the form of expression in this sentence, is copied by
Isaiah
in his prophetical description of Christ's sufferings (Isa. liii. 7), and
seems
to have been present to our Saviour's own mind when he "held his
peace"
before the High Priest (Mat. xxvi. 62, 63), and "gave no answer"
to
the Roman Governor (John xix. 9).
15
(14). And I was as a man who does not
hear, and there are not in his
mouth replies (or arguments). The same thing is repeated,
to make still
more
prominent the patience and forbearance of the sufferer. Does not
hear, literally (is) not hearing. In our idiom the last
clause would have
been,
in whose mouth there are no replies.
The meaning reproofs is a
secondary
one, derived from that of proofs or
arguments. See Job xiii. 6,
xxiii.
4.—The idea in both verses is, that he endured the evil speaking of
his
enemies, as one who had nothing to say for himself or in reply to their
reproaches.
This, while it mortified his pride, and thereby added to his
pain,
was at the sake time an evidence of faith and patience, and thus
prepares
the way for the profession in the next verse.
16 (15). Because for thee I waited; thou wilt answer, Lord, my God!
His
silence and forbearance, though a part of his sore trial, did not spring
from
weakness, but, from faith in God, and submission to his precept.
(See
above, Ps. xxxvii. 7.) "I retorted not their calumnies and taunts,
because
I waited for thee to vindicate my cause, and so thou wilt, thou
wilt
certainly answer." The last verb does not mean shalt answer for me,
as
the Prayer-Book version has it, but as in other cases, hear or answer my
petition
for relief and vindication, whether silent or expressed. See above,
on
Ps. v. 2 (1), and compare Ps. iii. 5 (4), iv. 2 (1), xiii. 4 (3), xvii. 6,
xviii.
42 (41), xx. 10 (9), xxii. 3 (2), xxvii. 7, xxxiv. 5 (4).—Lord, not
Jehovah, but Adhonai, the divine name which properly
means Lord or
Sovereign. See above, Ps. ii. 4,
xxii. 31 (30), xxxv. 17, 22, 23, xxxvii. 13.
—My God, and as such bound by covenant to
hear me.
17 (16). For I said, Lest they rejoice respecting me; in the slipping of
my foot they have (already) magnified (themselves) against me. His tran-
quillity
did not arise from insensibility to danger, but from confidence in
God.
He was not without fear that his enemies might triumph over him,
as
they were already disposed to do, when he merely stumbled, but did
not
actually fall.
18 (17). Because I for limping (am) ready, and my grief is before me
always. This verse assigns a
reason for the triumph of his enemies, to
wit,
that he was really in danger. Ready to
halt or limp, i. e. constantly
liable
to some interruption of his even prosperous course. See above, on
Ps.
xxxv. 15. The form of expression does not exclude the idea of his
actually
halting, but rather suggests it. As if he had said, "The slightest
occasion
makes me halt or limp." Grief or
sorrow seems to be put here
for
that which causes it. I am always in full view of my worst distress.
172 PSALM
XXXVIII. [VER.
18-22.
19 (18). For my iniquity I will declare, I will be anxious on account of
my sin. In our idiom this is
tantamount to saying, I must confess that I
am
guilty; I have reason to be anxious on account of my sin.
20 (19). And my deadly enemies are strong, and multiplied are those
hating me falsely (or without a cause). Instead of deadly some find the
opposite
idea, lively, here expressed. My enemies (are) living (or alive),
they are strong. Or, my living enemies are strong. But Myy.iHa is the coin-
mon Hebrew word for life, and as rqw yxnW means my enemies of false-
hood, MyyH
ybyx may
mean my enemies of life, those who
hate my life and
would
deprive me of it. Compare wpnb ybyx in Ps. xvii. 9 above.—
Hating me falsely. Compare Ps. xxxv. 19,
lxix. 5 (4).
21 (20). And (those) repaying evil for good—they will oppose me for
pursuing good. The first clause seems
to belong to the preceding sentence,
and
to complete the description of his enemies, "those hating me without
cause,
and repaying evil for good." Compare Ps. xxxv. 12-16. Oppose
me, be my enemies. The
Hebrew verb is the root of the name Satan, the
enemy
or adversary of God and man. From its etymology, the verb would
seem
to denote specifically treacherous hostility.—The preposition in the
last
clause properly means under, then instead of, and more rarely in return
for, which is the sense
here. In return for my pursuing good,
i. e. ear-
nestly
and eagerly endeavouring to be good and to do right. This was of
itself
sufficient to provoke their enmity.
22 (21). Leave me not (O) Jehovah! (O) my God, be not far from
me! Having twice described
his urgent need, he now resumes the tone of
complaint
with which the psalm began. The petition in this verse is one
of
frequent occurrence in the Psalms. See above, Ps. x. 1, xiii. 2 (1),
xxii.
2 (1), xxxv. 22. The most striking parallel, however, is Ps. xxii.
20
(19).
23 (22). Hasten to help me, (O) Lord, my salvation! The literal
meaning
of the first clause is hasten to (or for) my
help. The same words
form
the last clause of Ps. xxii. 20 (19). My
salvation, my deliverer, my
saviour.
This form of address bears a strong resemblance to the prayer in
Ps.
xxxv. 3: Say unto my soul, I am thy
salvation.
PSALM XXXIX.
This
psalm consists of two parts, in the first of which the Psalmist
describes
his feelings and his conduct at a former period, in relation to
God's
providential dealings, ver. 2-7 (1-6), while in the second he
expresses
what he now feels and believes in reference to the same subject,
closing
with an earnest appeal to the divine compassion, ver. 8-14 (7-13).
If this view of the structure of the psalm
is just, the first part ought not
to
be quoted as an expression of pious feeling, but as an acknowledgment
of
sin and error. Some interpreters have gone so far as to affirm this of
the
whole psalm; but there seems to be an obvious change of tone and
spirit
in ver. 8 (7). There is no impropriety or danger in admitting that
the
Psalms contain expressions of unhallowed feeling, if the admission be
restricted
to those cases where the fact is indicated in the psalm itself, and
not
left to the discretion or caprice of the interpreter.
1. For
the Chief Musician. For Jeduthun (or Jedithun).
A psalm.
By David. The masoretic
punctuation requires the first name to be read
VER.
1-3.] PSALM
XXXIX.
173
Jeduthun, while the text itself
presents the form Jedithun. The same
diversity
appears in Ps. lxxvii. 1, 1 Chron. xvi. 38, Neh. xi. 17. The first
form
stands alone in 1 Chron. xvi. 41, 42, xxv. 1, 3, 2 Chron. v. 12. In
all
these places, it is the name of one of David's chief musicians or levitical
singers,
whose descendants held the same employment, as appears from
Neh.
xi. 17. The personal name is here added to the official title, perhaps
for
the purpose of doing honour to the individual, by connecting his name
with
this inspired composition, as in modern dedications and inscriptions.
2 (1). I
said, I will keep my way, from sinning with my tongue; I will
keep for my mouth a
muzzle, while the wicked (is) before me. Here begins
the
account of his former experience, but without any intimation of the
time
which had elapsed before he wrote. The two states of mind here
described
may have followed one another in immediate succession. I said
to
myself, implying a resolution, although this is not the meaning of the
verb
itself, as some allege. The idea of a fixed determination is moreover
suggested
by the form of the next verb, which is that of the paragogic
future.
I will
keep, guard, preserve. Take heed to,
although not incor-
rect,
is an inadequate expression, of the meaning. My ways, my course
of
conduct, my habitual behaviour. See above, on Ps. i. 1. From
sinning, so as not to sin, that
I may not sin, a form in which this idea is
frequently
expressed in Hebrew. The word translated muzzle
occurs only
here,
but its verbal root is used in Deut. xxv. 4, thou shalt not muzzle the
ox when he treadeth out
the corn,
and in Ezek. xxxix.11, where it evidently
means
to stop, either the nose or the way.
The noun therefore must mean
a
stopper or a muzzle rather than a curb or bridle, by which some explain
it.
While the wicked is before me, or more literally, in the wicked's (being)
still before me. If this referred
merely to his personal presence, the verse
would
contain a resolution to avoid unguarded speeches in his company or
hearing.
But this is not the sin to which the Psalmist afterwards pleads guilty, and the
true
sense of the clause appears to be, while the prosperity of wicked men is still
before
my eyes, instead of vanishing at once as I expected. See above, Ps. xxxvii. 10,
36.
—For my mouth, i. e. in reserve for it, or to
my mouth, i. e. in actual contact with it.
3 (2). I
was silenced (with) dumbness; I held my peace from good, and my
sorrow was stirred. The first clause is
highly idiomatic, but the sense is
clear,
to wit, that he enjoined the strictest silence on himself, in reference
to
the providential mysteries which excited his envious discontent. The
silence
meant is abstinence from murmurs and repining against God. The
second
clause is obscure. From good is
understood by some to mean from
every thing, because that idea is
elsewhere expressed by the idiomatic com-
bination,
good or evil. See Gen. xxxi. 24, 29,
2 Sam. xiii. 22. But the
antithesis
in all such cases is essential, and the omission of one term de-
stroys
the meaning. Others give from a negative or privative sense, away
from good, without good, i. e. without any good effect. But the simplest
construction
is the one given in the English Bible, even
from good, or more
fully
in the Prayer-Book version, yea, even from
good words. The meaning
then
is, that in his anxiety to avoid the language of complaint against God,
lie
was silent altogether, and suppressed even what he might have said
without
sin, or was in duty bound to say. The natural effect was that his
inward
grief, instead of being soothed, was roused, excited, and exasperated.
4 (3). Hot
was my heart within me; while I muse the fire is kindling;
(then)
spake I with mg tongue. His
compulsory silence only rendered more
intense
the feelings which it was intended to conceal. The less he said the
174 PSALM
XXXIX. [VER.
4-6.
more
he thought and felt, until at last it burst forth with more violence
than
if expressed at first. My heart glowed,
or was hot, with angry discon-
tent
and envious repining. Within me,
literally in my inner part, or inside,
an
emphatic phrase referring to the studied absence of all outward indica-
tions.
Without, all seethed calm and cool; within, his heart was in a glow
on
fire. While I muse, literally in my meditation. See above, on Ps.
v.
2 (1). The future verb in this clause marks a transition. The fire will
bnrn, or is about to burn,
is kindling. The gradation is completed by the
laconic
phrase, I spake. "I did what I
had fully resolved not to do." The
reference
to ver. 2 is made more obvious by the additional words, with my
tongue, which would else be
unmeaning and superfluous. "That very
tongue,
with which I had determined not to sin, I nevertheless spake with,
inn
unadvised and unbecoming manner."
5 (4). Make
me to know, (O) Jehovah, my end, and the measure of my
days, what it is; let me
know when I shall cease. According to the view
already
taken of the first part of the psalm, this is not a prayer to be made
duly
sensible of the brevity of life, which would have been superfluous, but
an
impatient wish to know how soon its sufferings are to cease. The same
sentiment
is amplified in Job vi. 8-12, vii. 7, xiv. 13, xvi. 21, 22. The
last
clause may also be translated, let me
know how ceasing, i. e. frail or
short-
lived,
I (am). But the general drift of the
passage favours the construc-
tion,
let me know (at) what (point), or (at) what (time) I (am) ceasing, or
about
to cease. The indefinite pronoun (hmA has then the same sense
as
in
the compound phrase (hm-df) until
what (point), until when, how long? The
verbal
adjective (ldH), as in other cases, is only a less usual
participial form.
6 (5). Lo
(by) spans, or (as) hand-breadths, hast thou given my days, and
my life (is) as nothing
before me.
Only all vanity is every man constituted.
Selah. The idea of the first
clause is, that God had dealt out life to him
in
the scantiest measure. Hence the verb given
must be taken in its proper
sense,
and not in that of placed or made, which it sometimes has. See
above,
on Ps. viii. 2 (1), xxxiii. 7. The lo
or behold, at the beginning, is
expressive
of surprise, not unmixed with indignation. As if he had said,
"See
how short a space thou hast allotted me."—The word rendered
life is not the common one,
but that employed in Ps. xvii. 14, and here
used
in its primary sense of duration or
continued existence. As nothing,
or
more strictly, non-existence, nonentity. See above, on Ps. xiv. 1. "My
duration
is so short that I seem scarcely to exist at all." Before thee, not
merely
in thy estimation, but by thine authority or sovereign constitution.
"I
only appear in thy presence long enough to disappear." Only all
vanity, consisting or composed
of nothing else. The word translated vanity
means
primarily breath, but is transferred,
by a natural figure, to anything
impalpable
and evanescent. The whole phrase means a
mere breath. Every
man, or taking the Hebrew
noun as a collective, all mankind.
The parti-
ciple
at the end means fixed, established, constituted, ordained, and
describes
the brevity of life as something not fortuitous but comprehended
in
the divine purpose. The melancholy nature of the fact alleged, and per-
haps
the reasonableness of the complaint founded on it, are indicated by a
meditative
pause.
7 (6). Only
in an image does a man walk; only (for) a breath do they
make a noise; he hoards
up and he knows not who will gather them. So
short
and transient is man's life, that what he does, and what befalls him,
VER.
7, 8.] PSALM
XXXIX.
175
seems
to be not so much a reality as a show, a picture, a phantasma, an
ideal
scene, in which he walks about, as
one of the imaginary actors. For
a breath, i. e. the time spent in a single respiration, an instant, a moment.
Or
as a breath, i. e. something intangible and momentary. Or as vanity,
vainly,
in vain, without use or effect. This last agrees best with the previ-
ous
use of lb,H,,
and its frequent usage elsewhere, in the sense of vanity.
What
is said in the first clause of the individual is said in the second of
the
species, as indicated by the plural verb. The noise referred to is the
bustling
clamorous activity with which men seek for pleasure and especially
for
wealth. Hence the derivative noun, which properly means noise, has
frequently
the secondary sense of wealth. See
above, on Ps. xxxvii. 16.
Disquieted is too weak, as
denoting passive uneasiness rather than tumultu-
ous
exertion. In the last clause the plural is again exchanged for the
singular,
a clear proof that they both relate to the same subject. The first
verb
in this clause is applied elsewhere to the heaping up of earth (Hab.
i.
10), the storing away of corn (Gen. xli. 35), and the hoarding of trea-
sures
(Job xxvii. 16), which is its sense here. Who
will gather them, i. e.
the
hoarded treasure, not accumulate them, which is done already, but
take
them to himself, enjoy, or use them. The future verbs describe this
as
a process which may be expected to continue, and perhaps to last for ever.
8 (7). And
now what have I waited for? Lord, my hope
is in thee.
The
conclusion, to which the previous complaints seemed to tend, was that
he
would wait no longer, but abandon the hope of divine favour in despair.
But
this result did not ensue, and he asks, as if in wonder at his own in-
consistency,
how it is that he has waited after all, or still waits, for the
good
which seemed, a little while ago, so desperate. The answer is given
in
the other clause. His hope was, from the first, in God, and although
sorely
tried, was not extinct. At this point it revives, and recovers its as-
cendancy,
and from this point he takes a new and more believing view of
those
very inequalities and riddles, which before so severely exercised his
faith.
This may, therefore, be regarded as the turning-point of the whole
psalm,
the transition from a worse to a better state of feeling. And now
may
be strictly understood, in opposition to past time and to a previous state
of
mind. At the same time, it serves as a term of logical resumption and
connection,
as in Ps. 10. Now, i. e. since this is the case. In thee,
literally
to (or as to) thee, the Hebrew
particle denoting relation in the
widest
sense; the particular relation is suggested by the context. See
above,
on Ps. xxx. 2 (1). The divine name, Adhonai,
Lord, seems to be-
long
more naturally to the second clause, although the masoretic interpunc-
tion
joins it with the first. And now, what
wait I for, O Lord? The
emphatic
pronoun at the end of the sentence cannot well be imitated in
translation.
(As for) my hope, in thee (is) it.
9 (8). From
all my transgressions free me; the reproach of the fool do not
make me. The first clause
contains an implicit acknowledgment that his
error
was a sinful one. Transgressions,
treasons, or apostasies, committed
against
God. The Hebrew word is much stronger than its English equiva-
lent.
In asking to be freed from his transgressions, he asks to be delivered
from
their consequences, one of which is then particularly mentioned. A
reproach, an object of derision
and contempt. See above, on Ps. xxii. 7
(6).
The fool, by way of eminence, the
impious unbeliever. See above,
on
Ps. xiv. 1. Do not make me, literally
place (or put) me, i. e. set me up,
exhibit,
or expose me, as a mark for their invective or their ridicule.
176 PSALM
XXXIX. [VER.
9-12.
10 (9). I
am silenced, I will not open my mouth, because thou hast done
(it). This is far from being
a reiteration of the sttement in ver. 3 (2)
above.
The common version of the second verb (I
opened not) is alto-
gether
arbitrary, and even the first, although a preterite, does not mean I
was dumb, i. e. at some former time, but I
have been silenced or am dumb,
at
present. There is obvious allusion to the similar expressions of ver. 3 (2),
but
rather in the way of contrast than of repetition. As before he was
kept
silent by an obstinate suppression of the rebellious feelings which he
really
experienced, so now he is kept silent by a filial submission to his
father's
chastisements. I will not open my mouth,
to murmur or give
utterance
to undutiful complaints. Thou hast done
the very thing at which
I
was tempted to repine. See above, on Ps. xxii. 32 (31). The pronoun
is
emphatic: (it is) thou (who) hast done
(it), and no other. See above, on
Ps.
xxx. 7 (6), xxxiii. 9.
11 (10). Remove from upon me thy stroke; from the strife of thy hand I
have wasted away (or consumed). The silence vowed in the
preceding
verse
had reference merely to repining and undutiful complaint, not to
prayer,
which he immediately subjoins. Remove,
or retaining the form of
the
original, cause to remove, make to
depart, take away, withdraw, not
merely
from me, but from upon me, implying previous pressure. Thy
stroke,
thy chastisement, thy punishment. See above, on Ps. xxxviii. 12
(11).
The same thing is intended by the strife
of thy hand, the judgments
of
God being sometimes represented as a controversy or contention between
him
and the afflicted person. See Isa. lxvi. 16, Ezek. xxxviii. 22. The last verb
is not
a
passive but a neuter, as in Ps. xxxviii. 20. Here again. the pronoun is
emphatic. I, even
I, and not merely men in
general, know this by experience.
12 (11). With rebukes for iniquity thou dost chasten man, and waste like
the moth what he desires. Only vanity is every man (or all
mankind).
Selah. He here presents his
new and more correct view of God's provi-
dential
strokes which he has now learned to regard as the punishment of
sin.
The emphasis of the sentence rests upon the first clause. It is not
with
cruel and vindictive strokes, it is not with random and unmeaning
blows,
but with penal visitations, with rebukes
(or chastisements) for sin,
that
thou dost chasten man. The past tense of the verb implies that what
he
suffers is but one link in a long chain of consistent uniform experiences.
He
is looking not at what has happened once or for the first time, but at
something
which has always been so. It is God's accustomed mode of
dealing
with his sinful creatures. The deduction of meanings in tHkroT,
is
first argument, then conviction, then condemnation, then punishment.
See
above, on Ps. xxxviii. 15 (14).—Waste,
literally cause to melt away.
The
same verb is used above, Ps. vi. 7 (6), and below, Ps. cxlvii. 18.—Like
the
moth, not as the moth decays, but as the moth consumes. See Job iv.
19,
xiii. 28.—What he desires, literally his desired or desirable, whatever he
delights
in. Beauty is too specific and
confined a sense. The last clause,
with
the selah at the close, announces
that the Psalmist has come back to
the
point from which he started, but, as we have seen, with an extraordi-
nary
change of views and feelings.
13 (12). Hear
my prayer, O Jehovah, and to my cry (for help) give ear;
to my weeping be not
silent, for a stranger (am) I with thee, a sojourner like
all my fathers. The word translated weeping properly means tear, but is
always
used collectively for tears. Be not silent, as an expression of
indif-
ference
or hostility, not to be moved even by the sight of tears. A stranger,
VER.
13.] PSALM
XXXIX. 177
and
by implication homeless and friendless, wholly dependent on thy hos-
pitable
bounty. To a Hebrew, familiar with the law of Moses, which con-
tinually
joins the stranger with the widow and the orphan, as legitimate
objects
of compassionate regard, this description must have been peculiarly
affecting.
With thee, under thy roof, at thy
fireside, or in Scripture phrase,
within thy gates, (Ex. xx. 10), i. e. at thy mercy, and dependent on
thee.
The
parallel term (bwAOT) means one who has no land of his own,
but is
settled
upon that of another, as a tenant, a vassal, or a beneficiary. The
same
description is applied by Abraham to himself (Gen. xxiii. 4), by Moses
to
all Israel, considered as the feudal subjects and dependents of Jehovah
(Lev.
xxv. 23), and by David to himself and his contemporaries (1 Chron.
xxix.
15), on a different occasion from the one before us, and in a different
connection,
thus affording a striking incidental confirmation of the truth of
the
inscription which makes him the author of the psalm. See above, on
ver.
1. In both cases, the expression like our
fathers shews the relation
which
the words describe to be not merely personal but national. Another
interesting
parallel is 1 Kings xix. 4, where Elijah, in a state of feeling not
unlike
the one recorded in the first part of this psalm, "requested for him-
self
that he might die, and said, It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my
life,
for I am not better than my fathers."
14 (13). Look away from me, and let me cheer up before I go (hence), and
am no more. Both Hebrew words are
causatives, and seem to govern face
understood.
"Cause thy face, thy angry countenance, to look away from
me,
and let me cheer up or exhilarate my own face." The last clause in
Hebrew
is exceedingly laconic; the literal translation is, before I go and
am not. It has been justly
represented as remarkable, that all the words
and
phrases of this verse occur in different places of the book of Job. How
long
wilt thou not look away from me? (Job vii. 19). Look away from him
and
let him cease (Job xiv. 6). Are not my days few? Cease then and
let
me alone, that I may cheer up a little before I go (hence) and return no
more
(Job. x. 20, 21). Thine eyes are upon me, and I am not . . . thou.
shalt
seek me in the morning and I am not, or I shall not be (Job vii. 8,
21).
These repeated coincidences, not in common but comparatively rare
expressions,
together with the analogies already mentioned in the explana-
tion
of ver. 6 (5) above, seem to shew, not only that the writer of that
book
was acquainted with the psalm before us, but that the germ or seminal
idea
of the book itself is really included in this psalm. We have seen
already
that the thirty-seventh psalm sustains a similar relation to the Book
of
Proverbs. See above, p. 159. Thus the Psalter, and especially the
Psalms
of David, furnished themes and models to the inspired writers of a
later
date, while at the same time they abound themselves with allusions to
the
Pentateuch and imitations of it. This was the more natural, and even
unavoidable,
because the books of Moses and the Psalms were especially
familiar
to all pious Jews from their incessant use in public worship. That
the
Book of Job is not, in this case, the original, is clear from the number
and
dispersion of the passages in which this one psalm is alluded to or copied.
PSALM XL.
The
Psalmist celebrates delivering grace, already experienced by himself
and
others, ver. 2-6 (1-5). He declares his resolution to attest his grati-
178 PSALM
XL. [VER.
1-4.
tude,
by deed as well as word, ver. 7-14 (6-13). He prays that God will
grant
him new occasion of thanksgiving, by delivering him from present
troubles,
ver. 15-18 (14-17). This psalm, like the sixteenth, twenty-
second,
and some others, seems to be so constructed that it may be applied
generically
to the whole class of pious sufferers, but specifically to its head
and
representative, the Messiah.
The reappearance of the last part of this
psalm in the seventieth will he
considered
in the exposition of the latter.
1. For
the Chief Musician. By David. A Psalm. This title, with a
slight
transposition, is the same with that of Ps. xiii. xix. xx. xxi. xxxi. It
shews
that the psalm was not, as might have been supposed from its contents,
a
mere expression of personal feeling, but designed for permanent and public use.
2 (1). I
waited, waited for Jehovah, and he bowed (or inclined) unto me,
and heard my cry. The psalm opens with
the narrative of what the writer,
or
ideal speaker, had himself experienced. The emphatic repetition of the
verb
implies patient perseverance, and is perhaps exclusive of all other
means.
"I simply waited; I did nothing but wait." Bowed himself, or
the
heavens, as in Ps. xviii. 10 (9), or his ear, as in Ps. xvii. 6, xxxi. 3 (2),
most
probably the last. The image then presented is that of one leaning
forward
to catch a faint or distant sound. My cry
for help. See above,
on
Ps. v. 3 (2), xviii. 7 (6), xxxix. 13 (12).
3 (2). And
brought me up from a pit of noise, and from the miry clay,
and made my feet stand
on a rock; he fixed my steps. The first verb in
Hebrew
is a causative, he caused me to ascend. The noise referred to seems
to
be that of water in a deep place. Miry
clay, literally clay of mire, in
which
there can be no firm foothold, as there is upon the rock, with which
it
is contrasted. Fixed, established,
rendered firm.
4 (3). And
put in my mouth a new song, praise to our God; many shall
see and shall fear, and
shall trust in Jehovah. In this, as in ver. 3 (2), the
construction
is continued from the foregoing sentence. Put,
literally gave,
gave
(to me) in my mouth. See above, on Ps. iv. 8 (7). A new song,
implying
a new subject or occasion. See above, on Ps. xxxiii. 3. By the
new song, we are not to
understand this psalm exclusively, but fresh
praise,
of
which this psalm is an instance or particular expression. Our God, the
God
of Israel, a further proof that this is not an expression of mere personal
feeling,
but a permanent formula of public praise. The effect of it, antici-
pated
in the last clause, is the same as in Ps. xxii. 26-32 (25-31). The
original
exhibits a paronomasia, which is lost in the translation, arising from
the
close resemblance of the verbs see
and fear (Uxr;yi and UxrAyyi). The fear
meant
is that religious awe or reverence, which always accompanies true
faith or trust in God.
5 (4). Happy
the man who has made Jehovah his trust, and has not looked
to proud (men) and
(those) swerving to falsehood. From his own experience
he
draws a general conclusion, as to the safety and prosperity of those who
trust
in God. The first phrase is properly an exclamation, Oh the happi-
nesses of the man, as in Ps. i. 1, ii.
12, xxxii. 1,2, xxxiii. 12. The next
words
in Hebrew have properly a local sense. Who
has set Jehovah (as) his
place of security, the form of the noun
being one which has commonly a
local
meaning. See above, on Ps. xxvii. 1. The verb translated looked
means
strictly turned round towards an
object for the purpose of looking at
it.
It may here imply confidence or trust, as cognate verbs do in Isaiah
xvii.
7, 8. Or it may convey the additional idea of taking sides, espousing
VER.
5, 6.] PSALM
XL.
179
the
cause, joining the party, of those swerving,
turning aside, apostatising,
from
the way of truth and duty, or from God himself. See above, on Ps.
xiv.
3, xviii. 22 (21).
6 (5). Many
(things) hast thou done, Jehovah, my God; thy wonders and
thy thoughts to us it is
not
(possible) to state unto thee; I would
declare and
speak (them; but) they are too many to be numbered. This
is not the only
instance
of the kind, but one of a great multitude. Many
things, i. e. many
such
things. My God, as well as our God, i. e. in personal covenant with
me,
as well as in national covenant with Israel. See above, on ver. 3 (2).
The
combination of the two divine names suggests that Jehovah was not
the
God of Israel only, but the Supreme God. The word translated wonders
is
properly a passive participle, meaning (things)
made wonderful or wonder-
fully done, and therefore
constantly used absolutely as a noun in the sense
of
wondrous deeds or wonderful works. See above, Ps. ix. 2 (1), xxvi. 7.
Thoughts,
purposes, and in this connection, purposes of mercy. To us,
towards
us, respecting us, and for our benefit. The next words may also,
mean,
there is no resemblance (or comparison) to thee, i. e. none to be
com-
pared
with thee. See below, Ps. lxxxix. 7 (6), and compare Isa. xl. 18,
Job
xxviii. 17, 19. This use of the Hebrew
word is founded on its primary
sense
of arranging, putting in order, with particular reference to the arrange-
ment
of the offerings and other sacred objects under the Mosaic law. Then
it
was used to signify the act of putting things together, side by side, and
so
comparing them. See above, on Ps. v. 4 (3), where it is figuratively
applied
to the presentation of a prayer, and compare its similar use in Isa.
xliv.
7, Job xxxvii. 19, xxxii. 14, in the last of which places we have the
phrase
to order or present words. As this is
a more frequent sense than
that
of resembling or comparing, and in this case agrees better with the
Words
immediately hefore and after, it is safer to retain it. I would declare,
literally
I will declare, the form of the verb
being that of the paragogic
future,
which expresses in the first person strong resolution. This is more
expressive
than the hypothetical proposition, "I would declare them, if I
did
not know it to be impossible." The idea conveyed by the original
expression
is that of an actual attempt and failure. As if he had said:
"Yes,
I will declare and tell thy wondrous works; but no, they are too
many
to be numbered or recounted." For the meaning of the last verb,
see
above, on Ps. ii. 7, ix. 2, 15 (1, 14), xix. 2 (1), xxii. 18, 23 (17, 22), xxvi.
7.
7 (6). Sacrifice
and offering thou has not desired; my ears thou hast
pierced. Burnt-offering
and sin-offering thou hast not asked. Here begins
his
account of the way in which his gratitude should be expressed. This
is
first negatively stated—not by mere oblations or other ceremonial rites.
To
express this idea he combines four technical expressions of the Law.
The
first two are the usual descriptions of animal and vegetable offerings.
The
first means anything slaughtered for a sacrificial purpose. The second
means
originally any gift, but is appropriated, in the Law, to those secondary
offerings
of corn, oil, wine, and incense, which accompanied the animal
oblations.
In the English version of the Pentateuch, it is rendered meat-
offering, a version which no
longer conveys the correct meaning to the com-
mon
reader, since these were precisely the offerings from which meat, in the
modern
sense of flesh, was entirely
excluded. In this case, however, the
Hebrew
word is joined with that before it to describe the two great kinds of
offering,
animal and vegetable. The parallel terms in the last clause are
those
denoting the general expiatory sacrifice statedly offered, and the spe-
180 PSALM
XL. [VER.
7.
cial
sacrifice in reference to particular offences. The last words of the first
clause
are exceedingly obscure. The Hebrew verb elsewhere means to dig,
and
is so used in Ps. vii. 16 (15) above. It may be naturally used, how-
ever,
to denote the act of piercing, perforating. Some suppose it to mean
opening
the ear or causing one to hear, and understand the whole phrase
as
meaning, "thou hast told me so, or hast revealed it to me." This is
favoured
by the use of cognate phrases to express the same idea, such as
opening,
uncovering, awakening, the ear, &c. See Isa. 1. 4, 5; 1 Sam.
ix.
15, xx. 2, 12; xxii. 8. It is more probable, however, that the strong
expression
here used was intended to suggest the additional idea of obeying
or
rendering obedient, which is often expressed even by the simple verb to
hear. The peculiar
figurative form in which the thought is clothed may be
accounted
for, by supposing an allusion to the ceremony of boring a slave's
ear
with an awl, as a symbol of perpetual obedience. See Exod. xxi. 6.
The
whole verse may then be paraphrased as follows:—"Thou hast not
required
ceremonial services, but obedience, and hast pierced my ear, as a
sign
that I will hear thee and obey thee for ever." The Septuagint version
of
this clause (a body hast thou prepared
me) is retained in the New Testa-
ment
as an unimportant variation, i. e. in
reference to the writer's purpose
in
making the quotation, and perhaps as suggesting that the incarnation of
the
Son was a prerequisite to his obedience. The contrast intended is
between
ceremonial rites in themselves considered, and the obedience, of which they
only
formed a part, and from which they could not be severed without rendering them
worthless.
There is obvious allusion to 1 Sam. xv. 22, not only here but in the parallel
passages,
Ps. li. 18, 19 (16, 17), Hos. vi. 6, Isa. i. 12, Jer. vii. 22-24.
8 (7). Then
I said, Lo, I come, in the volume of the book it is written of
me. The first word refers
not so much to time as to other circumstances.
Then, in these
circumstances, this being the case. Seeing and knowing
that
mere ceremonial services are worthless, I
come, I bring myself, all that
I
have and am, as a rational or spiritual service. (Rom. xii. 1.) The
volume of the book, or the roll of scripture. The second noun
is the one used
in
Hebrew to denote the written revelation of God's will, and the first to
describe
the form of an ancient oriental book, not unlike that of a modern
map,
and still retained in the manuscripts used in the synagogue worship.
The
reference is here to the Law of Moses. Written
of me is by some referred
to
prophecy, by others to the requisitions of the law. The literal meaning
of
the Hebrew words is written upon me, i. e.
prescribed to me, the upon
suggesting
the idea of an incumbent obligation. "Enjoined upon me by a
written
precept." This is clearly the meaning of the same phrase in
2
Kings xxii. 13. Thus understood, the clause before us may be para-
phrased
as follows:—"Since the ceremonies of the Law are worthless, when
divorced
from habitual obedience, instead of offering mere sacrifice I offer
Myself,
to do whatever is prescribed to me in the written revelation of thy
will."
This is the spirit of every true believer, and is therefore perfectly
appropriate
to the whole class to whom this psalm relates, and for whom it
was
intended. It is peculiarly significant, however, when applied to Christ:
first,
because he alone possessed this spirit in perfection; secondly, because
he
sustained a peculiar relation to the rites, and more especially the sacri-
fices,
of the Law. David, or any other individual believer under the old
economy,
was bound to bring himself as an oblation, in completion or in
lieu
of his external gifts; but such self-devotion was peculiarly important
upon
Christ's part, as the real sacrifice, of which those rites were only
VER.
8-10.] PSALM
XL. 181
figures.
The failure of any individual to render this essential offering
insured
his own destruction. But if Christ had failed to do the same, all
his
followers must have perished. It is not, therefore, an accommodation
of
the passage to a subject altogether different, but an exposition of it in its
highest
application, that is given in Heb. x. 5-10. The limitation of the
words
to Christ, as an exclusive Messianic prophecy, has the twofold incon-
venience
of forbidding its use by the large class of godly sufferers, for whom
it
seems so admirably suited, and of requiring us to understand even the
confession
of sins as uttered in his person. See below, on ver. 13 (12).
9 (8). To
do thy will, my God, I have delighted (or desired) and thy law
(is) in the midst of my
bowels.
The self-devotion, just professed, is now
described
as a cordial and spontaneous act, because the law requiring it is
not
regarded as a mere external rule, but as existing in the heart and coin-
ciding
with the This, which is true, in measure, of all genuine obe-
dience,
is pre-eminently true of that obedience unto death, by which Christ
magnified
the law and honoured it, proved his own zeal for God and
deference
to his will, and wrought out that salvation which alone can render
similar
obedience upon man's part possible. With the last clause compare Ps.
xxxvii.
31, Deut. xx. 14, Prov. iii. 3, vii. 3, Isa. li. 7. This verse, together
with
the one before it, on which it is a kind of comment, holds up to view
the
sincere obedience of the true believer, including the observance of com-
manded
rites, in contrast with the formal hypocritical observance of the rites
alone,
and at the same time the perfect obedience and self-sacrifice of Christ
in
contrast with the types by which they were prefigured.
10 (9). I
have proclaimed righteousness in a great assembly. Lo, my lips
I will not restrain;
Jehovah, thou knowest
(or hast known). The first verb
is
the nearest Hebrew equivalent to the Greek eu]aggeli<zomai, to announce
good
news, to proclaim glad tidings. The righteousness
meant is that of
God.
The great congregation or assembly is his church or people. Re-
strain, i. e. from still proclaiming it. The past tense, in the first
clause,
shews
this to be, not a mere engagement or a promise, but a statement of
what
has been already done. The future following completes the statement,
by
providing also for the time to come. The return to the preterite in the
last
clause appeals to God's omniscience for the truth of what was first
alleged,
as well as of the promise just recorded. "Thou hast already been
a
witness of my zeal in the annunciation of thy righteousness, and art a witness,
at this
moment,
of the sincerity with which I vow that it shall be continued."
11 (10). Thy righteousness I have not hid in the midst of my heart; thy
faithfulness and thy
salvation I have uttered; I have not concealed thy
mercy and thy truth from
the great congregation (or assembly).
The same
idea
is again expressed, but with a pointed allusion to the last clause of
ver.
9 (8), as if to guard against a misconstruction of its language. In
opposition
to a mere external formal service, he had there said that the
Law
of God was in his heart. But now he hastens, as it were, to add that
it
was not confined there. He was not contented with his own impressions
of
God's righteousness, derived both from his word and from his provi-
dence.
He considered himself bound to make it known to the whole body
of
God's people, for the twofold purpose of comforting and edifying them,
and
of promoting the divine glory. The expression of the same thing,
both
in negative and positive form, is a natural method of enforcing what
is
said, which is common to all languages, although particularly frequent
in
the Hebrew.
182 PSALM
XL. [VER.
11-16.
12 (11). Thou,
Jehovah, wilt not withhold thy compassions from me;
thy mercy and thy truth
will always preserve
me. This is not a prayer, as
it
seems to be in the common version, but an expression of strong con-
fidence,
like that in Ps. xxiii. 6. As if he had said, "I am sure that thou
wilt
not withhold," &c. Here, again, there is an obvious allusion to a pre-
vious
expression. As he had said in ver. 10 (9), my
lips I will not restrain,
so
now he says, and thou, O Lord (on thy
part), wilt not restrain thy mer-
cies from me. The phrase supplied, on thy part, is really included in the
pronoun
thou, which, being unnecessary to the
sense, must be emphatic.
See
above, on Ps. ii. 6. Thy compassion,
tender mercies, warm affections.
See
above, on Ps. xxv. 6, and compare Ps. xviii. 2 (1). Truth means the
veracity
of God's engagements, as in the preceding verse, where it is joined
with
faithfulness, fidelity. Preserve me from distresses, dangers,
enemies.
See
above, Ps. xii. 8 (7), xxxi. 24 (23), xxxii. 7.
13 (12.) For upon me have gathered evils till there is no number; my
sins have overtaken me,
and I am not able to see; they are more than the
hairs of my head, and my
heart has failed me.
The original expression in the
first
clause, to surround upon, is a strong
one, to denote an accumulation
of
evils from all quarters. This is intended to account for the necessity of
protection
and deliverance, implied in the last clause of the verse preced-
ing.
It introduces the prayer for relief from present troubles, founded on
previous
experience of God's mercy, and forming the conclusion of the psalm.
Sins, not punishments,
although the experience here described is that of
their
effects. Overtaken, reached after
long delay and hope of escape. See
Deut.
xxviii. 15. The common version, cannot
look up, gives a meaning
which
the Hebrew phrase never has elsewhere. It always denotes dimness
or
failure of sight, arising from distress, weakness, or old age. See 1 Sam.
iii.
2, iv. 15, 1 Kings xiv. 4, and compare Ps. vi. 8 (7), xiii. 4 (3), xxxi.
10
(9), xxxviii. 11 (10). More than the
hairs of my head. See below,
Ps.
lxix. 5 (4). My heart has failed me, literally left me. See above, on
Ps.
xxxviii. 11 (10), where the same thing is said of his strength. This
picture
of complicated sufferings, produced by his own sins, is inapplicable
to
the Saviour, who neither in prophecy nor history ever calls the sins for
which
he suffered my sins.
14 (13). Be pleased, (O) Jehovah, to deliver me; (O) Jehovah, to my help
make haste! The first clause
contains an implied acknowledgment of dependence on
God's
mercy. In the second, the form of expression is the same as in Ps. xxii. 20
(19).
15 (14). Ashamed and confounded together shall be (those) seeking my soul
to destroy it; turned
back and disgraced shall be (those) desiring (or delight-
ing in) my hurt. Strictly speaking,
this is not so much the expression of
a
wish as of a confident expectation. See above, on ver. 12 (11). But
its
intimate connection with the foregoing prayer seems to give it the force
of
an optative. The wish implied is precisely the same as in Ps. xxxv. 4, 26.
16 (15). They shall be desolate on account of their shame—those saying
to me, Aha, aha! The common version, for
a reward of their shame, seems
to
make their shame the crime for which they were to be punished. The
Hebrew
word (bq,fe)
sometimes means wages or reward, as the consequence
of
labour. See Ps. xix. 12 (11), Prov. xxii. 4. But the general meaning
of
the phrase, in consequence, is
admissible, and quite sufficient here. For
the
meaning of the last clause, see above, on Ps. xxxv. 21, 25.
17 (16). They shall rejoice and be glad in thee—all (those) seeking thee.
They shall say always,
Great be Jehovah—(those) loving thy salvation. The
VER.
1.] PSALM
XL 183
structure
of the classes is alike, each beginning with the action, and ending
with
a description of the agent. The joy and praise are represented as the
fruit
of the deliverence here prayed for. In
thee, in communion with thee,
in
the enjoyment of thy favour. Seeking thee,
seeking that communion
and
that favour. Great is Jehovah, or the Lord
be magnified, i. e. recog-
nised
as great and glorious. Loving thy
salvation, not merely desiring it
for
themselves, but rejoicing in it as bestowed on others. See above, Ps.
xxxv.
27, and compare xxii. 24 (23), lxix. 33 (32).
18 (17) And
I (am) afflicted and poor, and the Lord will think of me
(or
for me). My help and my deliverer (art) thou. O my God, do not
delay. The connection is the
same as in Ps. ii. 6, above. "And (yet) I
am
a sufferer, and poor; and (yet) the Lord will think," &c. The Hebrew
phrase
(yl bwHy) may either mean, will
think respecting (or concerning) me,
i. e. remember me, attend to
me—or will think for me, i. e. plan, provide,
for
me. My help art thou, and therefore
canst not fail to help me; my
deliverer,
and there fore must deliver me. See above, on Ps. iii. 4 (3).
The
same thing is implied in the address, my
God. See above, on ver.
4,
6 (3, 5). Do not tarry, linger, or
delay to grant this prayer.
PSALM XLI.
1. To
the Chief Musician. A Psalm, by David. This psalm, though
intended,
like all he rest, for permanent and public use, exhibits very
strong
marks of thy personal experience of the author. He first states a
general
rule of the divine dispensations, namely, that the merciful shall
obtain
mercy, ver. 2-4 (1-3). He then claims the benefit of this law in
his
own case, which is described as one of great suffering from sickness and
the
spite of wicked enemies, ver. 5-10 (4-9). He concludes with an ear-
nest
prayer to God for succour, and expresses a strong confidence that he
shall
receive it, ver 11-14 (10-13).
The juxtaposition of this psalm with that
before it is not fortuitous, but
founded
on their common resemblance to the thirty-fifth, and on their mutual
resemblance
as generic descriptions of the sufferings of the righteous, with
specific
reference to those of the Messiah, as the head and representative
of
the whole class. In this, as in the fortieth psalm, the exclusive refer-
ence
to Christ is forbidden, by its obvious adaptation to a whole class, and
by
the explicit confession of sin in ver. 6 (5).
2 (1). Happy
(the man) acting wisely towards the poor (man); in the day
of evil Jehovah will
deliver him.
The form of expression at the beginning
is
the same as in Ps i. 1, xl. 5 (4). As the first verb sometimes has the
sense
of attending or attentively considering, some understand it to mean
here
considering (or attending to) the poor.
But its proper import of act-
ing
prudently (or wisely) is entirely appropriate, and therefore entitled to
the
preference. See above, on Ps. ii. 10, xiv. 2. What is meant by act-
ing wisely towards the
poor,
may be gathered from the parallel passage, Ps.
xxxv.
13, 14. The principle assumed is that expressed by our Saviour in
Mat.
v. 7. See above, on Ps. xxxvii. 28. The
poor, in the wide sense of
the
English word, corresponding very nearly to that of the Hebrew lDa,
which
means poor in flesh (Gen. xli. 19), and poor in strength (2 Sam.
iii.
1), as well as poor in point of property and social standing (Exod.
xxiii.
3). It here includes all forms of want and suffering, and might be
translated
wretched. This is not a mere
reflection on the unkindness of his
184 PSALM
XLI. [VER.
2-6.
own
acquaintances, but an indirect assertion of his own benevolence.
"Happy
the man acting wisely towards the poor—as
I have done. In the
day
of evil, of his own misfortune, when his own turn comes to suffer, the
Lord
will deliver him—as I desire and expect
to be delivered."
3 (2.) Jehovah
will keep him and save him alive; he shall be prospered in
the land; and do not
thou give him up to the will of his enemies. What he
has
done for others the Lord will do for him. Save
him alive: the same
verb
occurs above in Ps. xxii. 30 (29). Prospered: the Hebrew verb
(rwxy) orignally means led straight, or in a straight path. See
above, on
Ps.
xxiii. 3. But here it has the same sense as in Prov. iii. 18. The mar-
ginal
reading in the Hebrew Bible (rwxv) only differs from the
text by in-
troducing
the conjunction and. In the land, i. e. the land of promise.
See
above, on Ps. xxv. 13, xxxvii. 3, 9, 11, 22 29, 34. These are gene-
rally
propositions, but are evidently meant to be applied specifically to him-
self.
His solicitude respecting the event is betrayed by his sudden transi-
tion
from prediction to petition. Give him up
to the will, literally into the soul,
here put
for
the desire or appetite. See above, on Ps. xxvii. 12, and compare Ps. xvii. 9.
4 (3.) Jehovah
will support him on the couch of languor; all his bed
hast thou turned in his
sickness.
The images are borrowed from the usages
of
real life. The first is that of holding a sufferer up, sustaining him, in
pain
and weakness; the other that of changing, making, or adjusting his
bed.
The parallelism favours this interpretation of the second clause much
more
than that which makes it mean "thou has converted all his sickness
into
health." The words translated couch
and languor are unusual equi-
valents
to bed and sickness in the other clause.
5 (4). I
have said, Jehovah, have mercy upon me; heal my soul, for I have
sinned against thee. The pronoun at the
beginning is emphatic. He is
here
applying to himself the doctrine which he had before laid down in general
terms.
"Knowing this to be the rule of the divine administration, I my-
self
have claimed the benefit of it; I myself have said," &c. There is no
need
of diluting the past tense into a present. The use of the preterite im-
plies
that it is not an act yet to be performed, but one that has been done
already.
The same emphasis, though not required by the form of the
original,
may be supposed to rest upon the me
and the my. The prayer for
the
healing of his soul may be considered as including that for the removal
of
his bodily disease, which seems to be referred to in this psalm as a mere
(consequence
of inward agony. And this is itself referred to sin as its occa-
sion
in the last clause of the verse. The intimate connection between sin
,and
suffering is continually recognised by David. See above, Ps. xxxi.
111
(10), xxxii. 5, xxxviii. 4, 5, 19 (3, 4, 18), xl. 13 (12). Against thee,
literally
to thee, as to thee. The idea of
direct opposition is suggested by
the
context. See above, on Ps. xxx. 2 (1), xxxv. 19, 24, xxxviii. 17 (16).
6 (5.) My
enemies will say evil to (or as to)
me: when shall he die and
his name perish? The word translated
evil is constantly applied to moral
evil,
and here means spite or malice. The ambiguous phrase to me seems
to
include the two ideas of speaking of him and in his hearing, or as we say in
familiar
English, talking at him. See above,
on Ps. iii. 3 (2), xi. 1. The question in the
second
clause implies impatience. With the last phrase compare Ps. ix. 7 (6).
7 (6.) And
if he come to see me, falsehood he will speak; (in) his heart
he is gathering mischief;
he will go out, to the street (or out
of doors) he will
speak (or tell it). The subject of the sentence is
his enemy viewed as an
VER.
7, 8.] PSALM
XLI.
185
ideal
person. Compare the alternation of the singular and plural forms in
ver.
6 (5) and 12 (11). If he come,
literally has come, at any former
time;
or
still better, if he has come now, if he is now here, the scene being then
described
as actually present to the writer's senses, which adds greatly to
its
graphic vividness and beauty. To see,
not merely to see me, in the usual
sense
of visiting, which is rather an
English than a Hebrew idiom, but
to see for himself, to observe, to play
the spy, to watch the progress of the
malady,
and judge how soon a fatal termination may be looked for. False-
hood, vanity, in the strong
scriptural sense of emptiness, hypocrisy, false
professions
(in this case) of sympathy and friendly interest. He will speak:
I
am sure that he will do so; I know him too well to doubt it for a moment.
The
idea thus suggested by the future is entirely lost by exchanging it for
the
present, which it really includes, but something in addition. The con-
struction,
his heart gathereth, is at variance
witch the Masoretic accents, and
does
not yield so good a sense as that which makes his heart an adverbial
phrase,
a Hebrew idiom of perpetual occurence. In our idiom it will then
mean
in (or as to) his heart, as opposed to the outward appearance
of bene-
volence
and friendship. The second future (Cbqy) may be either
construed
like
the first, he (certainly) will gather, (I know that) he will gather; or
understood
to signify an action which has been begun but is not finished,
he is gathering. To gather mischief is,
in this connection, to collect mate-
rials
for calumnious reports. He will go out,
he will speak, or as we should
say
in English, when he goes out he will
speak. The Hebrew verb itself
(xcy) means to go out. The
additional phrase means strictly to the
street,
or
to the outside of the house. It might
be grammatically construed with
the
verb before it, he will go out to the
street. But the accents connect it with the
verb
that follows, to the street he will tell
(it), or to the outside, i. e. to those without,
who
are perhaps to be conceived of, as impatiently awaiting his report.
8 (7). Together
against me they will whisper all (those) hating me; against
me they will
meditate—injury to me.
The collocation in the first clause is
like
that in Ps. x1.15-17, (14-16), the action being first described, and then
the
actors. The future has the same force as in the first clause of ver.
6,
7 (5, 6). They will certainly persist in doing as they now do. The
substitution
of the present in translation conveys only half of this idea. The
last
word in Hebrew (yli) is omitted in most versions, though expressed
in
the
margin of the English Bible. It defines the evil
meditated, not as
evil
in the abstract or in general, but as evil to the sufferer, i. e. injury,
which
is the usual meaning of the Hebrew word (hfArA), a modified form
of
(fra),
the one used in ver. 6 (5) to denote moral evil: The last words are
a
kind of after-thought. —Against me they
will meditate or plot, is a com-
plete
proposition in itself, which is then made more explicit by mention-
ing
the object of their plots, namely, evil
(or injury) to me. This form of
the
sentence may have been adopted to render the resemblance in the
structure
of the clauses more complete.
9 (8). A
word of Belial is poured into him, and he who lies (there) shall
arise no more. These are the words of
his malignant visitors, either
uttered
in his presence, or to their companions after leaving him. The
literal
translation of the first clause is given, to shew its obscurity, and
enable
the reader to understand the different explanations of it which have
been
proposed. Some give word its not
unfrequent idiomatic sense of
thing, affair (1 Sam. x. 2, 2 Sam.
xi. 18, 19, Ps. cv. 27), and Belial
that
186
PSALM XLI.
[VER. 9.
a ruin or destruction, which they suppose it
to have in Nah. i. 11, and
Ps.
xviii. 5 (4) above. But there, as elsewhere, it is better to retain its
primary
meaning, good for nothing, worthless,
or as an abstract, worthless-
ness, a strong though
negative expression for depravity. The whole phrase
will
then mean a wicked matter, a depraved affair. By this again some
understand
the disease with which he was afflicted, and which is then
described
as the result of his own wickedness; others the plan or plot
devised
by the speakers for the ruin of the sufferer. But this would hardly
be
described by themselves as a depraved affair. None of these explana-
tions
seem so natural or so exact, as that which gives to both words their
customary
meaning, and understands by a word of
Belial a disgraceful
charge
or infamous reproach, which is then represented as the cause of his
distress
and his approaching death. The next phrase may either mean
poured into his mind or soul, as a
moral poison, producing agony and
death;
or poured upon him, so as to submerge
or overwhelm him. In
Job
xli. 15, 16 (23, 24), the same participle (qUcyA) seems to be thrice used
in
the sense of poured out, melted, soldered, firmly fastened. So here the
English
Bible renders it cleaveth fast unto him,
and the same meaning is
assumed
by some who understand by the preceding words a wicked plot or
a
destructive visitation, which is then described as cleaving fast to him so
that
he cannot shake it off or otherwise escape from it. The common ver-
sion
of the next words, now that he lieth,
is extremely forced. The only
natural
construction of the relative is that which refers it to the sufferer
himself.
He who has lain down shall not add to
rise, the common Hebrew
method
of expressing a continued or repeated action. See above, on Ps.
x.
18. The expression becomes still more graphic if we understand it to
mean
he who is lying (here before you), or
he who lies there, i. e. in yonder
house
or chamber.
10 (9). Even
the man of my peace—whom I confided in—eating my
bread—has lifted against
me the heel.
The first word properly means also.
Not
only foes, but also friends; not only
strangers, but likeivise they of my
own
household. The man of my peace, or my man of peace, is a strong
idiomatic
expression for the man with whom I was at peace. As to the
construction,
see above, on Ps. ii. 6. Eating my bread,
not merely as a
guest,
but as a dependent. Such must have been the current usage of the
phrase
in David's time. See 2 Sam. ix. 11, 13, xix. 29 (28), and compare
1
Kings xviii. 19. Lifted, literally magnified or made great. See above,
on
Ps. xxxv. 26, xxxviii. 17 (16). The act described seems to be one of
contemptuous
violence, but probably with an implicit allusion to supplant-
ing
as an act of treachery. Our Lord applies this verse expressly to him-
self
and Judas (John xiii. 18), which shews that he was really included in
the
class to which the psalm relates. It is remarkable, however, that he
only
quotes the second of the three descriptive phrases, eating my bread,
enjoying
my society and subsisting on my bounty, while he omits the other
two,
because these would have represented Judas as his friend, and one in
whom
he trusted. But he knew from the beginning who it was that should
betray
him (John vi. 64). This accurate distinction seems to confirm the
assumption
that the psalm has a generic meaning, and is only applicable
to
our Saviour as the most illustrious representative of the class which it
describes.
The allusion to Judas would be still more striking if, as some
suppose,
the phrase man of my peace had
reference to the customary use
of
the word peace in salutation. He who
was wont to wish me peace or to
VER.
10-12.] PSALM
XLI.
187
say,
Peace be with thee. Compare Mat. xxvi. 49. But this, although
ingenious,
is by no means an obvious or natural interpretation.
11 (10). And thou, Jehovah, have mercy upon me, and cause me to arise,
and I will repay them. The connection between
this verse and the one
before
it can be fully expressed in English only by a but at the beginning
of
the sentence. The pronoun is emphatic, thou,
on thy part, as distin-
guished
from these spiteful enemies. He here resumes the prayer begun
in
ver. 5 (4), and interrupted by the description of the malice of his enemies.
Make me to rise, help me up from this
bed of weakness and suffering, with
obvious
allusion to their having said that he would never rise again, ver. 9
(8).
"O Lord, do what they pronounce impossible." The last words of
this
verse seem at first sight inconsistent with the Christian doctrine of
forgiveness,
as laid down in Mat. v. 39, 40, Rom. xii. 19. (Compare
1
Pet. ii. 23.) But as this is also an Old Testament doctrine (see Prov.
xx.
22), as David himself recognised the principle, Ps. vii. 5 (4), and acted
on
it, as appears from 2 Sam. xix. 24 (23), the disagreement can be only
an
apparent one. It may be partially removed by observing that the
speaker
here is neither Christ nor David in his proper person, but an ideal
character,
representing the whole class of righteous sufferers, so that what is
here
said really amounts to little more than a prediction that the malignant
persecutors
of this class shall be requited. In the next place, let it be
observed
that it is not said how he will repay them, whether by punish-
ment
or by heaping coals of fire upon their heads, according to Solomon's
and
Paul's directions. (Prov. xxv. 21, 22, Rom. xii. 20, 21.) Lastly,
the
rule laid down by Christ himself admits of righteous retribution, not
only
on the part of magistrates and rulers, but of private persons, where
the
means employed are lawful in themselves, and where their use is
prompted,
not by selfish pride or a revengeful malice, but by a desire to
prevent
a greater evil, to assert God's honour, and even to benefit the
offender
himself.
12
(11). By this have I known that thou hast
delighted in me, because
any enemy is not to
triumph over me.
This implies a previous divine assur-
ance
that his enemy should not so triumph. For a similar intimation, see
above,
Ps. xx. 7 (6). The certainty thus afforded is expressed by the past
tenses
of the two first verbs. "Since thou hast assured me that my
enemy
is not to triumph over me, I know already that thou hast even here-
tofore
regarded me with favour." The original expression is a very strong
one,
and denotes not only preference but warm and tender affection. See
Gen.
xxxiv. 19, where it first occurs. The last verb means properly to shout or make
a
noise
as a sign of exultation, more especially in war. See 1 Sam. xvii. 20.
13 (12). And as for me—in my integrity thou hast held me, and hast
made me stand before thy
face for ever.
The first phrase literally means
and I, as if agreeing with
some verb suppressed, or as if the construction
had
been suddenly changed from I have been
held to thou hast held me.
The
integrity here claimed is not absolute or sinless perfection, as appears
from
the confession in ver. 5 (4), but freedom from essential or fatal defect.
See
above, on Ps. xviii. 21-25 (20-24). In my
integrity, not simply on
account of it, which is rather
implied than expressed, but in the possession
and
exercise of it. Thou hast held may
either mean held fast or held up,
but
the first seems to be the essential meaning of the verb, and really involves
or
at least suggests the other. "Thou hast so held me fast as to hold
me
up. By retaining thy hold upon me thou hast sustained me." Setting
188 PSALM
XLI. [VER.
13.
before the face seems here to mean making
one the object of attention.
keeping
constantly in view. The reciprocal act of man towards God is
spoken
of in Ps. xvi. 8. As man sets God before him as an object of trust,
so
God sets man before him as an object of protection. That this is not
to
be a transient but a permanent relation, is implied in the future form
of
the verb, and expressed in the adverbial phrase for ever.
14 (13). Blessed (be) Jehovah, the God of Israel, from everlasting and to
everlasting. Amen and
Amen.
In such connections, blessed is
nearly
synonymous
with praised or glorified. In the sense of happy,
the Hebrew
word
can only be applied to creatures. From
the perpetuity (already past)
and even to the
perpetuity
(to come), is a paradoxical but strong expression for
unlimited
duration. Amen is a Hebrew verbal
adjective meaning firm, sure,
certain, true. It is used as an
expression of assent, just as we use right,
good, and true itself, for the same purpose. It
was uttered by the people
as
an audible response, not only in the time of Moses (Num. v. 22, Deut.
xxxii.
15-26), and of David (1 Chron. xvi. 36), but after the return from
exile
(Neh. v. 13, viii. 6), and under the New Testament (1 Cor. xiv. 16).
Its
repetition here and elsewhere simply makes it more emphatic and ex-
pressive
of a stronger and more cordial acquiescence. The doxology before
us
marks the close of the first of the five books into which the Psalter is
divided.
See below, on Ps. lxxii. 19, lxxxix. 53 (52), cvi. 48.
PSALM XLII.
1. To
the Chief Musician. Maschil. To the Sons of Korah. The
obvious
reference to personal experience and feelings in this psalm made it
th
more necessary to designate it as a maschil
or didactic psalm, intended
for
permanent and public use. See above, on Ps. xxxii. 1. The experience
described
is evidently that of David, and most probably at the time of his
exclusion
from the sanctuary in consequence of Absalom's rebellion. See
2
Sam. xv. 25. The only doubt is whether the psalm was composed by
him
or by the Sons of Korah. These were a Levitical family of singers,
1
Chron. vi. 1, 7, 16 (16, 22, 31), ix. 19, xxvi. 1, who still continued that
employment
in the reign of Jehoshaphat, as appears from 2 Chron. xx. 19.,
This
being their office, it would seem more natural to regard them as the
performers
rather than the authors of the psalm. It seems improbable,
moreover,
that the composition should be ascribed to a whole class or
family.
On the other hand, the Sons of Korah
are here separated from the
Chief Musician, and occupy precisely
that place where we usually find the
author's
name. It is also remarkable that we never find the Sons of Korah,
named
with David or any other individual author except Heman, who was
probably
one of themselves. See below, on Ps. lxxxviii. 1. If he, or any
other
of the Sons of Korah, be regarded as
the author of the psalm before
us,
he must be supposed to have composed it in the person of David, i. e.
to
express David's feelings at a particular juncture of his history. It is,
of
course, a much more obvious supposition, that David himself wrote it
for
this purpose. Nor can the intrinsic probability of this supposition be
destroyed,
although it may undoubtedly be weakened, by the difficulty of
accounting
for the fact, that David's name is never mentioned in the titles
of
any of the eleven psalms inscribed to the Sons
of Korah. The psalm
before
us is divided by its structure into two parts, marked by the burden
or
refrain in ver. 6, 12 (5, 11). In the
first, he laments his exclusion from
VER.
1-4.] PSALM
XLII.
189
God's
presence, ver. 2, 3 (1, 2), aggravated by the taunts of his enemies,
and
the recollection of his former privileges, ver. 4 (3), but confidently
anticipates
their restoration, and calls upon his soul to hope and trust in
God,
ver. 5, 6 (4, 5). In the second, he goes over the same ground,
though
not in the same words, ver. 7, 11 (6, 10), and closes with the same
expression
of confidence as before, ver. 12 (11).
2 (1). As
a hart panteth after streams of water, so panteth my soul for
thee, (O) God. The first noun is
masculine but the verb feminine, so that
we
may either read hart or hind. The verb occurs only here and in
Joel
i.
20, which is evidently copied from the verse before us. The allusion
may
be either to the exhaustion caused by flight, or to the natural effects
of
drought. See below, on Ps. lxiii. 2 (1). The essential idea is that of
intense
desire and an overwhelming sense of want. Streams
of water, water-
brooks.
See above, on Ps. xviii. 16 (15).
3 (2). Thirsted
has my soul for God, for the living God. When shall I
come and appear before
God?
The past tense of the first verb shews that
he
is not expressing a desire just conceived for the first time, but one with
which
he is already familiar. Of the two divine names here used, one
(Elohim)
describes God as an object of religious worship, the other (El) as
a
Being of infinite power. He is Living and Mighty, as distinguished from
imaginary
deities, and from impotent and lifeless, idols. When shall I
come? implies a local, bodily
approach, and this agrees with the following
phrase,
appear before God, which is the technical
expression in the Law for
stated
appearance at the sanctuary, except that the divine name Jehovah is
exchanged
for Elohim, which occurs ten times in this psalm, and Jehovah only once.
4 (3). My
tears have been my bread day and night, in (their) saying to me
all the day, Where (is) thy
God?
The word translated tears is the
collective
term
used in Ps. xxxix 13 (12). The Hebrew verb is in the singular.
"My
weeping has been my bread," i. e.
my food. "Instead of eating I
have
wept." See below, Ps. cii. 5 (4), and compare 1 Sam. i. 7, Job
iii.
24. Day and night, all the day, are
strong but common phrases for con-
tinually,
constantly. See above, on Ps. i. 2. In
saying, i. e. in the time
of
saying, while it is said. Or a pronoun may be supplied, in (their) saying,
while
they say, i. e. his enemies. Where is thy God? The very question
is
an indirect assertion that God had forsaken him. See above, Ps. iii. 3 (2),
xxii.
9 (8), and below, Ps. lxxi. 11, cxv. 2, and compare Joel ii. 17. The
words
of Shimei may have been present to the mind of David. See 2 Sam.
xvi.
7, 8.
5 (4). These
(things) I will remember and will pour out upon me my
soul, when I pass in the
crowd, (when) I march (with) them up to the house
of God, with the voice
of joy and praise, with festive noise (or tumult).
This
is
the only construction of the sentence which gives the future forms their
proper
force instead of converting them into past tenses, which is wholly
arbitrary,
and therefore ungrammatical. If the last clause contained a
reminiscence
of his former privileges, there was nothing whatever to prevent
the
use of the preterite forms. These things,
not his former enjoyments,
but
his present sufferings. I will remember,
I am determined so to do,
this
idea being suggested by the very form of the Hebrew verb. If the
verse
related only to the past, this strong expression would be out of place.
The
act of reflection or self-introversion is expressed by the stong figure of
pouring
out his soul upon himself, which at the same time suggests the
idea
of lively emotion; not necessarily of grief, as in Job. xxx. 16, but of
190
PSALM XLIL [VER. 5, 6
mingled
joy and sadness in the recollection of past sufferings and deliver-
ances,
just as we might speak of a man's heart being melted, either with
sorrow
or gratitude, or both. When I pass, or still more literally, for I
shall pass, which in that case
expresses the confident expectation of a favour-
able
issue. Pass, i. e. pass along in
solemn procession. The crowd, or
throng,
the Hebrew word suggesting, by its etymological affinities, the idea
of
a thicket, and then of a confused mass. The verb translated march
occurs
only here and in Isa. xxxviii. 15, where it seems to be borrowed
from
the place before us. Its construction is like that of the English march,
which,
though commonly intransitive, in some cases governs the noun
directly.
If we render it here, I shall march them,
it conveys the additional
idea
of conducting as well as joining the procession. Up to, a stronger
expression
than to, implying actual arrival at
the place in question. The
use
of music in the processions to the temple may be inferred from 2 Sam.
vi.
5. The word translated noise or tumult may also mean the multitude
by
whom it is produced. See above, on Ps. xxxvii. 16, xxxix. 7 (6). But,
the
other is the primary meaning and agrees best with the parallel expres-
sions.
The last word in Hebrew means originally dancing
(1 Sam. xxx. 16),
but
with special reference to its ceremonial use, as an expression of religious
joy
(2 Sam. vi. 14).
6 (5). Why
art thou cast down, (O) my soul, and why art thou dis-
quieted within me? Wait
thou for God, for I shall yet thank him (for) the
salvation of his face (or presence). The Psalmist's faith addresses his un-
believing
fear, as if it were another person. The question involves a
reproof,
as if he had said, thou hast no reason to be thus dejected. Why,
literally
what, i. e. for what cause, or on what account. Art thou, literally
wilt thou be? Why wilt thou persevere
in this extreme and gratuitous de-
jection?
The form of the Hebrew verb is reflexive, why
wilt thou deject
thyself, implying, still more
strongly than before, that the dejection was a
voluntary
one, and therefore culpable. Disquieted,
the same verb that is
used
in Ps. xxxix. 7 (6), and the root of the noun meaning noise or multitude
in
ver. 5 (4) above. Here, as elsewhere, it denotes, not mere uneasiness,
but
violent agitation, and is sometimes applied to the commotion of the sea.
See
below, on Ps. xlvi. 4 (3), and compare Jer. v. 22. Within me, literally
upon me, as in the foregoing
verse. Wait for God, i. e. for the fulfilment
of
his promises, implying confidence and hope. The verb translated thank
means
strictly to acknowledge, and is
applied both to the confession of sin
and
to the thankful acknowledgment of benefits received. See above, on
Ps.
xxx. 5 (4), xxxii. 5. Salvations,
frequent or complete deliverance. See
above,
on Ps. xviii. 51 (50). His face, his
propitious countenance or aspect,
with
allusion to the benediction in Num. vi. 25, 26. See above, on Ps. iv. 7 (6),
xvi. 11,
xvii.
15, xxxi. 17 (16). The determination to thank God for his goodness implies a
confident
expectation that it will be exercised. See above, on Ps. v. 8 (7).
7 (6). My
God, upon me is my soul cast down. Therefore I will remem-
ber thee from the land
of Jordan and the Hermon, from the hill Mizar. In
spite
of his expostulations, his dejection still continues, and can only be re-
moved
or mitigated by a more direct recollection of what God is, and has
done
for him, and of the mutual relation still subsisting between them.
Upon me, as in the two
preceding verses. Here perhaps the phrase may
be
intended to suggest, that reliance on himself only deepened his dejection,
and
compelled him to repose his trust on some other and more sure found-
ation. Is cast down, will be so, unless and
until thou lift it up. From the
VER.
7, 8.] PSALM
XLII.
191
land implies that he was
there excluded from God's presence by exclusion
from
his sanctuary. The indefinite expression, land
of Jordan, i. e. the
tract
through which it flows, as we say the valley of the Mississippi, is
referred
specially to the eastern side by the mention of the Hermons, i. e. as
some
suppose mount Hermon, and the other mountains upon that side of
the
river, just as Baalim means Baal, and
other idols worshipped with him
(1
Kings xviii. 18), or more probably mount Hermon, considered not as a
single
eminence, but a chain or range like the Alps, the Alleghanies, &c.
In
either case it is put for the whole region east of Jordan, which did not
properly
belong to Canaan or the Holy Land. (See Josh. xxii. 11). In
this
wide sense the expression might be used by David, even in reference to
his
abode at Mahanaim, north of the Jabbok, on the borders of Gad and
Manasseh
(2 Sam. xvii: 24, 27, 1 Kings ii. 8). Mizar,
little or littleness.
Whether
this be taken as a proper name, of which there is no trace else-
where,
or as a descriptive epithet, it seems to be contemptuous.
8 (7). Deep
unto deep (is) calling at the voice of thy waterspouts; all thy
billows and thy waves
over me have passed.
The first word in Hebrew seems
to
denote strictly a great body of water, and in that sense is applied to the
ocean—see
above, on Ps. xxxvi. 7 (6)—and also to its waves. It may here
mean
either a wave or a flood. The participle (calling)
represents the
scene
as actually passing. The idea may be simply, that they respond to
one
another's noise, or more emphatically, that each wave invites or sum-
mons
another to succeed it. For a somewhat similar expression see above,
Ps.
xix. 3 (2). Voice, i. e. sound or
noise. The Hebrew word is less re-
stricted
in its application than the English, so that it is not necessary even
to
assume a personification. The next word, in the only other place where
it
occurs (2 Sam. v. 8), has the literal meaning of a water-spout or gutter.
It
may here denote the continued streams of rain poured upon the earth.
The
sense of water-falls or cataracts, although supported by the ancient
versions,
has no foundation in etymology or usage. The idea that David
here
alludes to the water-falls of Lebanon, by which he was surrounded,
rests
on a false interpretation of ver. 7 (6), which, as we have seen, con-
tains
a general description of the country east of Jordan, called in later times
Perea.
Billows and waves, literally breakers and rollers, i. e. masses of
water rolling towards the
shore
and broken on it. Throughout this verse there is an obvious allusion to the
universal
deluge,
as there is in Ps. xxix. 11 (10), xxxii. 6, and often elsewhere.
9 (8). By
day will Jehovah command his mercy, and by night his song with
me, a prayer to the God
of my life.
Notwithstanding his distresses he is
still
convinced that God has not forsaken him. By day
and night some
understand
prosperity and adversity; but they are probably put together to
denote
all time, the opposition between song and prayer being merely rhyth-
mical,
i. e. occasioned by the parallelism.
Compare Ps. xcii. 3 (2). Com-
mand his mercy, i. e. exercise it authoritatively, or as a sovereign. His song,
a
song of praise to him, implying the experience of his goodness, even in a
season
of distress. Compare Job xxxv. 10. These words may be governed
by
the verb of the first clause, he will
command his song (to be) with me, he
will
give me occasion to sing his praise, or construed with the substantive
verb
understood, his song (shall be) with me.
The God of my life may be
explained
to mean my God of life, i. e. my living God. Compare the hill of
my holiness—my hill of holiness—my
holy hill, Ps. ii. 6. It is more natural,
however,
to understand by the God of my life
the God to whom my life be-
longs,
upon whom it depends, and who is bound to protect it. "A prayer
192 PSALM
XLII. [VER. 9-11.
to
him who is by creation the author, and by covenant the preserver of my
life."
10 (9). I
will say to God, my rock, why hast thou forgotten me? Why
go I mourning in the
oppression of the enemy? This expostulation may be
regarded
as a part or a sample of the prayer
which God enabled him to
offer,
even in the midst of his afflictions. The divine name here used is
(lxe) the one significant of
strength. My rock, my refuge, my
protector,
and
the foundation of my hope. See above, on Ps. xviii. 3 (2). Why go
I? more exactly, why shall
or must I go? Mourning, literally
squalid,
dirty.
See above, on Ps. xxxv. 14, xxxviii. 7 (6). In
the oppression, may
either
mean during its continuance, or in consequence of it, or rather both
ideas
are included.
11 (10). With murder in my bones, my enemies have taunted me, in their
saying to me all the
day, where is thy God? The strong expression in the
first
clause is intended to denote excruciating pain. My enemies, oppressors,
or
persecutors, as the Hebrew word denotes. Taunted
me, a stronger ex-
ression
than reproach or reviled me, implying
scorn as well as anger and
hatred.
In their saying, i. e. by their saying and while they say, as in the
foregoing
verse. All the day, continually. See
above, on ver. 9 (8).
Where is thy God? See above, on ver. 4
(3).
12 (11). Why art thou cast down, (O) my soul, and why art thou dis-
quieted within me. Hope
thou in God, for I shall yet thank him (as) the
help of my countenance
and my God.
As usual in such cases, there is a
slight
variation in the burden or refrain
from that in ver. 6 (5). See
above
on Ps. xxiv. 7-10. Instead of the salvations
of his face we have here
the
salvations of my face. The attempt to
assimilate the two expressions,
by
an emendation of the text, is not only destitute of all authority and
evidence,
but forbidden by the general practice of the sacred writers in re-
peating
the expressions either of themselves or others. The salvations of
my face is a bold and unusual
expression, which appears to mean such de-
liverances
or such abundant help as clears up and illuminates the counte-
nance
before clouded and dejected. And my God
is not an unmeaning or
gratuitous
addition, but has reference to the taunting question in the pre-
ceding
verse, Where is thy God? As if he had
said, "Behold him, he is
here.
My God is he who dissipates my clouds and animates my hopes,
and
raises me superior to the sneers as well as to the fury of my enemies."
While
this variation relieves the repetition from entire sameness, the repe-
tition
itself brings the second strophe and the whole psalm to a striking and
symmetrical
conclusion.
PSALM XLIII.
A sufferer
prays to be delivered from unjust and treacherous enemies,
ver.
1-3, expresses a confident assurance that his request will be granted,
ver.
4, and upbraids himself for his despondency and unbelief, ver. 5.
As the last verse is identical with that of
the preceding psalm, and the
last
clause of ver. 2 nearly so with that of Ps. xlii. 10 (9), some have
inferred
that this is really the third stanza or strophe of that psalm,
separated
from it by mistake. But the difficulty of accounting for such a
mistake,
a difficulty aggravated by the resemblance of the compositions,
together
with a very perceptible difference in the general tone of the two
VER.
1-8.] PSALM
XLIII.
193
psalms,
makes it far more probable that it is a supplementary psalm, com-
posed
by the same person, or in imitation of him, on a different occasion.
The
union of the two in more than thirty Hebrew manuscripts, only shews
that
their transcribers drew the same hasty conclusion that has since been
drawn
by many interpreters, and is much more easily explained than the division of
the
psalms
in all the other copies, on the contrary hypothesis. Their juxtaposition in the
Psalter
is owing not merely to their mutual resemblance, but to the fact that one was
actually
written as an appendix or continuation of the other. The same hypothesis
sufficiently
accounts for the absence of a title or inscription in the psalm before us.
1. Judge
me, (O) God, i. e. do me justice,
vindicate my innocence, exercise
thy
righteousness in my behalf. See above, on Ps. x. 18, xxvi. 1. And
plead my cause, literally strive my strife, but with particular
allusion to liti-
or
forensic contest. See above, on Ps. xxxv. 1. Against an ungodly
nation, literally from one; the idea of deliverance, as
the necessary con-
sequence
of Gods being his advocate, is here implied, and afterwards ex-
pressed.
The word nations (MyOG) being constantly
applied to the gentiles
or
heathen, the use of the singular in reference to Israel always conveys an
idea
of reproach. Compare Isa. i. 4. Ungodly,
more exactly not merci-
ful, the Hebrew word
denoting both the object and the subject of benignant
pity.
See above on Ps. xxxvii. 28. From a man
of fraud. See above,
on
Ps. v. 7 (6). And iniquity, or more precisely, perverseness, moral
obliquity.
Thou wilt deliver me. This is
strictly an expression of strong
confidence,
but really includes the prayer, deliver
thou me.
2. For
thou art the God of my strength. The last word means properly
my place of strength, my stronghold, or my
fortress. See above on Ps.
xxvii.
1. For what (cause) hast thou cast me off,
renounced, rejected me?
The
original expression is a very strong one, and implies disgust or loath-
ing.
Compare Rev. iii. 16. (Why) do I go,
or more exactly, shall I, must
I go, i. e. go about, in different directions. The verb is an intensive
form
of
that used in Ps. xlii. 10 (9), and occurs above, in Ps. xxxv. 14, in the
same
connection as here. Mourning, with
special reference to the neglect
of
neatness, both) in dress and person, as a customary sign of grief. See
above,
on Ps. xxxv. 14, xxxviii. 7 (6), xlii. 10 (9). In (i. e. during and
because
of) the oppression (persecution) of the enemy. All this is indirectly
represented
as inbonsistent with the covenant relation he sustains to God.
3. Send,
i. e. send forth out from thy
presence. See above, on Ps. xiv.
7,
xx. 3 (2). Thy light, the light of
thy countenance, thy favourable
aspect,
as in Ps. iv. 7 (6), or more generally, light,
as the opposite of
darkness,
and a figure for relief from that of which darkness is the emblem,
to
wit, danger and distress. And thy truth,
thy veracity, thy faithfulness,
the
certain fulfilnient of thy promises. See above, on Ps. xxv. 5, xxvi. 3,
xxx.
10 (9). To send it out is to exercise this attribute, to manifest it in
act,
by performing his engagements. They,
with emphasis on the pronoun,
which
is otherwise superfluous in Hebrew, they and no other, nothing else.
See
above, on Ps. xxiii. 4. Shall guide (conduct or lead) me, or
giving the
future
an optative meaning, which is certainly implied in this connection,
let
them lead me. They shall cause me to come
(or let them bring me) to thy
hill of holiness (thy
holy hill) and to thy dwellings, or thy
tabernacles, as the
Hebrew
word is specially applied to the Mosaic sanctuary (Ex. xxv. 9,
Num.
i. 50). This petition seems to imply a previous exclusion from it,
and
thereby shews that the historical occasion of the psalm, if not the
same,
was similar to that of the forty-second. The form of expression
194 PSALM
XLIII.
[VER. 4, 5.
seems
to be borrowed from Exod. xv. 13. The mention of the tabernacle
and
the holy hill, i. e. mount Zion,
shews that the psalm is neither earlier
nor
later than the times of David and Solomon, before whom there was no
holy
hill, and after whom there was no tabernacle. This strengthens the
presumption
that David was himself the author of both psalms.
4. And
I shall come, as an expression of strong confidence that God will
save
him from his present troubles, or I will
come, as the expression of a
purpose,
amounting to a vow or solemn promise. Both these ideas, though
requiring
a slight variation of expression in our idiom, would be necessarily
suggested
to a Hebrew reader by the original verb, the paragogic form of
which,
however, shews that the second is the primary idea. See above, on
Ps.
xlii. 5 (4). To the altar of God (Elohim),
as the place of sacrifice
here
put for the whole sanctuary. To God (El)
the gladness of my joy, my
joyous
gladness, the author and the object of my highest exultation. And
I will thank thee, praise thee for thy
benefits, with a harp (rOn.Ki), the instru-
naent
on which David's history describes him as excelling. See above, on
Ps.
xxxiii. 2, and compare 1 Sam. xvi. 16, 23. What he here vows is not
mere
private praise, but participation in the public praises of the sanctuary.
God, my God. Not merely God in
general, but my God in particular.
Either
expression by itself would have been insufficient to express the whole
idea,
God being too vague, my God too restricted, whereas the
combination
of
the two implies that his God was not a personal, domestic, or national
divinity,
but the supreme God.
5. Why
art thou cast down, literally why
wilt thou deject thyself, implying
self-rebuke
for an unreasonable and untimely sadness. (O)
my soul, which
is
really equivalent to myself. And why art thou disquieted, why wilt
thou
be
agitated by these anxious doubts and groundless fears? See above, on
Ps.
xlii. 6 (5). Within me, literally upon me, as if his unbelieving fears
weighed
upon him as a heavy burden. Hope thou in
God, or more exactly,
wait thou for him, for his appearance,
for his help, for the fulfilment of his
promise.
This, he is confident, will come at last. For
I shall yet praise
him, thank him, or
acknowledge his kindness. (As) the health
of my coun-
tenance, or more exactly, the salvations of my face, the
salvations which are
yet
to cheer my clouded aspect and lift up my dejected countenance. The
exact
coincidence of this verse with the last of the preceding psalm, so far
from
proving it to be a part of it, rather proves the contrary, for reasons
which
have been already stated in the exposition of Ps. xlii. 12 (11).
PSALM XLIV.
1. To
the Chief Musician. To the Sons of Korah. Maschil. The same
question
here arises as in Ps. xlii., as to the sense in which the psalm is
ascribed
to the Sons of Korah. For the reasons there assigned, it is, on
the
whole, most probable that David is the author, however difficult it may
be
to account for the omission of his name in the inscription, and the appear-
ance
of the sons of Korah in the place which it usually occupies. See above,
on
Ps. xlii. 1. The addition of Maschil, i.
e. a didactic psalm, is meant to
shew
that though occasioned by a particular event, perhaps the same as in
Ps.
lx., it was composed and left on record for the permanent use and edifi-
cation
of God's people. See above, on Ps. xxxii. 1. The train of thought.
is
marked with unusual distinctness. God was, in ancient times, the pro-
tector
and deliverer of Israel, ver. 2-5 (1-4). He is still their national
VER.
1-4.] PSALM
XLIV.
195
and
covenanted God, ver. 6-10 (5-9). But he seems to have given them
up
to their enemies, ver. 11-18 (10-17). Yet Israel still cleaves to him
and
suffers for his sake, ver. 19-23 (18-22). He is therefore importuned
to
reappear for their deliverance, ver. 24-27 (23-26). The state of things
described
and the sentiments expressed in this psalm, do not afford the
slightest
reason for referring it to any later period than that of David, when
the
same occasions of complaint and importunity were in existence,
although
not to so great an extent as afterwards.
2 (1). O
God, with our ears have we heard, our fathers have recounted to
us, the work thou didst
work in their days, in the days of old. What they
had
heard with their ears is tacitly contrasted with the very different things
which
they had seen with their eyes. See below, Ps. xlviii. 9 (8), and
compare
Judges vi. 13, 2 Chron. xx. 7, Hab. iii. 2. Our
fathers have told us,
as
enjoined or predicted in Exod. x. 2. The verb means properly to count,
and
then to recount or relate, with
particular reference to the detailed enu-
meration
of particulars. See above, on Ps. ii. 7. The last clause may be
construed
as a separate proposition. A work thou
didst work, &c. But
this
leaves the active verbs of the first clause without a grammatical object.
The
emphatic combination of the verb and its derivative noun is greatly
weakened
in the English Bible, what work thou
didst, and still more in the
Prayer-book
version, what thou hast done. The
particular work meant, as appears from
what
follows, is the conquest of Canaan and the settlement of Israel in it.
3 (2). Thou
(with), thy hand didst nations dispossess and plant them, didst
crush peoples and extend
them.
This, though a literal translation, is obscure
in
English, because the pronoun them in
both clauses refers to Israel. In
the
second clause it might indeed have reference to the Canaanites, and the
verb
be taken in the sense of sending out, expelling, as in Gen. iii. 23,
1
Kings ix. 7, Isa.,1. 1. But as it is also used to signify the sending out
of
shoots or branches by a tree or vine, Ps. lxxx. 12 (11), Jer. xvii. 8,
Ezek.
xvii. 6, 7, xxxi. 5, the parallelism seems decisive in favour of that
meaning
here. The verb translated dispossess means
properly to cause to
inherit,
but is sometimes applied to the substitution of one heir or possessor
for
another. See Exod. xxxiv. 24, Num. xxxii. 21, xxxiii. 52, Deut. iv. 38.
The
verb translated crush may simply mean
to injure; but the stronger
sense
is here entitled to the preference.
4 (3). For
not with their sword did they possess the land, and their (own)
arm did not save them;
for (it
was) thy right hand, and thy arm and the
light of thy countenance;
for thou didst favour them. The for at the
begin-
ning
introduces the proof or amplification of the general statement in the
preceding
verse, that it was God who planted and settled them. Save them,
literally
to or for them. i. e. did not
bring deliverance to them, or work out
deliverance
for them. The translation of the second yKi by but gives the
sense
but not the form of the original, as the use of the particle, in its strict
sense,
just before and after, forbids our taking the intermediate one in any
other.
With the first clause compare Josh. xxiv. 12 with the last clause,
Ps.
iv. 7 (6).
5 (4). Thou
art He, my King, (O) God! Command deliverances for
Jacob. The form of expression
in the first clause is highly idiomatic and
somewhat
obscure. It may either mean, "Thou who hast done all this
art
still my king," or "Thou art he who is my king," which last may
be
thus
resolved into the English idiom, "It is thou who art my king." Com-
pare
2 Sam. vii. 28, 1 Chron. xxi. 17. The church here claims the same
196 PSALM
XLIV. [VER.
5-10.
relation
to Jehovah that was sustained by the former generations of his
people.
The last clause may also be translated, order
the salvations of Jacob,
i. e. cause them to take
place and regulate them by thy providence. The
personal
name of the patriarch is poetically substituted for his official title
as
the father of the chosen people. See above, on Ps. xxiv. 6.
6 (5). In
thee our adversaries will we push; in thy name will we trample
our assailants. The hopes of Israel
still rely upon that power which expelled
the
Canaanites. The word translated adversaries
properly means those who
press,
oppress, or persecute. See above, on Ps. iii. 2 (1), and compare Ps.
xiii.
5 (4), xxvii. 2, 12. Our assailants,
literally our risers up, those
rising
up against us. See above, on Ps. xviii. 40 (39), and compare Deut.
xxxiii.
11. The verb in the first clause means specifically to push with the
horns,
to toss, or gore. See Exod. xxi. 28-32, and compare Deut. xxxiii.
47,
1 Kings xxii. 11. In thy name, not
merely by thy authority, or as thy
representatives,
but in thyself, in union and communion with thee. See
above,
on Ps. v. 12 (11), xviii. 30 (29). The meaning of the future verbs
in
this connection is, that they will triumph, if at all, in this way. They
must
prevail thus or be vanquished.
7 (6). For
not in my bow will I trust, and my sword
will (or can) not
save me. "What was true of
my fathers is equally true of me. As they
did
not prevail by their own strength, neither can I hope to prevail by mine."
8 (7). In
God have we praised all the day, and thy name unto eternity
will we acknowledge.
Selah.
The construction in the first clause, although
foreign
from our idiom, is more expressive than the simple phrase, we have
praised God. It names God first, as
the object in which the occasion and
the
theme of praise had been sought and found. "It is in God that we
find
the subject of our praises." The common version (boasted) confounds
the
verb here used with another derivative of the same root. Thy name,
thy
manifested nature. See above, on Ps. v. 12 (11). To eternity, or
perpetuity,
for ever. All the day (long), i. e. always. See above, on Ps.
xxv.
5, xlii. 11 (10). Acknowledge, i. e. gratefully give thanks. See above,
on
Ps. vi. 6 (5).
9 (8). For
thou hast saved us from our adversaries, and our haters (or
those hating us) hast shamed. The preterites in this verse are explanatory
of
the futures in the one before it. "We will not rely upon ourselves
hereafter,
because it is thou who hast helped us heretofore." This logical
relation
of the verses is destroyed by confounding the preterites and futures
with
each other, or explaining both as presents. Shamed,
i. e. defeated,
disappointed.
See above, on Ps. vi. 11 (10), xiv. 6.
10 (9). Nay,
thou hast rejected and disgraced us, and thou wilt not go
forth with our hosts. The particle at the
beginning (Jxa) implies something
more
than a negation of the favours just described. "But now thou dost
not
so deal with us; nay more, thou hast
rejected us." This Hebrew verb
implies
disgust and abhorrence. See above; on Ps. xliii. 2. The other
verb
means to put to shame, to cover with disgrace, as in Ps. xxxv. 4, xl.
15
(14). The past tense of the first verbs implies that the rejection was
already
manifest; the future following implies an apprehension that it would
continue.
Go out with our hosts, as a guide, a
commander, and an ally.
Compare
2 Sam. v. 24.
11 (10). Thou wilt make us turn back from the adversary, and (already)
those hating us have
plundered for them,
i. e. for themselves. Two of the
most
unwelcome incidents of warfare are here specified, flight and spolia-
VER.
11-18.] PSALM
XLIV.
197
tion.
Spoiled for themselves, not merely
for their own advantage, but at
their
own will and discretion. Compare 1 Sam. xiv. 48, xxiii. 1.
12 (11). Thou wilt give us as sheep (for) food, and among the nations
hast scattered us, The consecution of the
tenses is the same as in the pre-
ceding
verse. Sheep for food, or flocks of food, i. e. intended and accustomed
to
be eaten. Give may either mean place,
render, constitute, or give up,
abandon.
The last clause has by some been understood to refer to the
Babylonish
exile, and regarded as a proof of later date. But in every war
with
the surrounding countries, there were partial deportations and disper-
sions.
See Joel iv. 2, Amos i. 6, 9, and compare 1 Kings viii. 46.
13 (12). Thou wilt sell thy people without gain, and hast not increased by
their price. They seemed to be
gratuitously given up, i. e. without
necessity
or
profit. Without gain, literally
wealth or riches, as a product or equivalent.
The
same noun may be repeated in the next clause, thou hast not increased
(thy wealth), just as the verb gain is absolutely used in English. Their
price, literally their prices, perhaps with reference to
the individual captives,
or
to repeated sales of the kind here mentioned. Another possible but far
less
natural construction, treats the preposition as a mere connective, and
reads,
thou hast not enhanced their price, i. e. set a high price upon them,
implying
that he had, on the contrary, sold them for too little, or rather
given
them away for nothing. Compare Jer. xv. 13.
14 (13). Thou wilt make us a reproach to our neighbours, a scoff and a jest
to those around us. If this state of
things continues, such will be the neces-
sary
issue. Make us, literally place us, set us up, expose us. See
above,
on
Ps. xxxix. 9 (8), and with the whole verse compare Ps. lxxix. 4, lxxxix. 42 (41).
15 (14). Thou wilt make us a byword among the nations, a shaking of the
head among the peoples. A byword, literally a
likeness or comparison, a
case
that may be cited as a memorable instance or example. The expression
is
borrowed from Deut. xxviii. 37. A shaking
of the head, i. e. an object at
which
men will shake their heads, as an expression of contemptuous pity.
See
above, on Ps. xxii. 8 (7).
16 (15). All the day my disgrace is before me, and shame my face has
covered. It is before me so
that I cannot fail to see it or lose sight of it.
See
above, Ps. xxxviii. 18 (17). Shame is here represented as a covering,
as
in Jer. 25, but perhaps with special reference to the suffusion of the
face
with blushes, as in Ps. lxix. 8 (7).
17 (16). From the voice of slanderer and reviler, from the face of enemy
and avenger. The preposition
indicates the source or the occasion of the
shame
described in the preceding verse. Face
may here mean either pre-
sence
or the expression of the countenance. The last word is properly a
participle,
and means taking vengeance or avenging one's self. Here, as in
Ps.
viii. 3 (2), it denotes a spiteful and revengeful enemy.
18 (17). All this has come upon us, and we have not forgotten thee, and
have not been false to
thy covenant.
With the first clause compare Judges
vi.
13. Come upon us: the construction is
the same as in Ps. xxxv. 8.
We have not been false, or acted falsely. The same verb with the
same pre-
position,
in Lev. xix. 11, has the sense of lying, or acting fraudulently,
towards
another. See also Ps. lxxxix. 34 (33). What is here professed
is
not entire exemption from all acts of infidelity, but freedom from the
deadly
sin of total oblivion and apostasy. In spite of his unfaithfulness,
Israel
still claimed to be and was the chosen people of Jehovah.
19 (18). Our heart has not turned back and our steps declined from thy
198 PSALM
XLIV. [VER.
19-22.
path. The force of the
negative extends to both clauses, as in Ps. ix. 19 (18).
Heart and steps are put for inward affection and
its fruit, external action.
Turned back and turned aside are natural and common
figures for moral
delinquency.
Thy path, the way of thy commandments.
20 (19). That thou hast crushed us in a place of dragons, and hast covered
over us with deathshade. The construction is
continued from the preceding
sentence.
The connection may be thus made plain in our idiom. "We
have
been guilty of no such infidelity or total apostasy, that thou shouldest
deal
with us in this way." Crushed,
bruised, or broken in pieces. See
above,
on Ps. x. 10, and below, on Ps. li. 9 (8). Dragons
may here be
understood
as meaning wild beasts or lonely animals in general. Whether
the
Hebrew word specifically signifies wild-cats, wolves, or jackals, is a
question
of little exegetical importance. The essential meaning of the
whole
phrase is a place inhabited by lonely creatures, i. e. a wilderness or
desert.
Compare Isa. xiii. 22, xxxiv. 13, xliii. 20, Jer. ix. 10 (11), x. 22,
xlix.
33, Ps. lxiii. 11 (10). Covered over,
i. e. covered up, completely covered,
a stronger
expression
than the simple verb. Deathshade, or
the shadow of death, a strong poetical
expression
for the profoundest darkness. See above, on Ps. xxiii. 4.
21 (20). If we have forgotten the name of our God, and spread our hands
to a strange God. Some regard this as
the common elliptical formula of
swearing.
"(God do so to us and more also) if we have forgotten," which
is
equivalent to saying, "we have not forgotten." Another method of
supplying
the ellipsis is exemplified in Josh. xxii. 22. But since the verse,
conditionally
understood, yields a good sense in connection with the next
verse,
this, as being the more obvious construction, is entitled to the pre-
ference.
The act of holding up or stretching out the hands is often men-
tioned
as a natural gesture of entreaty. See Exod. ix. 29, 33, 1 Kings
viii.
38, Isa. i. 15. The word God in the
version represents two different
divine
names in Hebrew, Elohim and El. See above, on Ps. xliii. 4. A
strange God, or a God (who is) a stranger, i. e.
to Jehovah and his people.
The
Hebrew word is applied by Moses both to men (Exod. xxx. 33) and idols
(Deut.
xxxii. 16),
22 (21). Shall not God search this out? For he knoweth the secrets of
the heart. This is the apodosis
of the sentence begun in the preceding
verse."
If we have done thus, must not God know it?" The primary
meaning
of the verb translated search out is
to dig, to bring to light what
is
hidden under ground. Thence, by a natural transition, it denotes the
investigation
and disclosure of all secrets. The interrogation is an indirect
but
strong affirmation of the fact in question. The for, at the beginning of
the
last clause, does not indicate the reason of the question, but of the
affirmative
answer which is tacitly implied. He (is)
knowing, a form of
expression
which denotes continued and habitual knowledge. See above,
on
Ps. i. 6, and with the sentiment compare that of Ps. vii. 10 (9).
23 (22). Because for thee have we been killed all the day; we have been
reckoned as sheep for
slaughter.
The causal particle at the beginning does
not
refer to what immediately precedes, but to the remoter context, and
adduces
a proof of the assertion, that the church had not forgotten or for-
saken
God. This proof is afforded by the fact that their very sufferings
were
on his account. For thee, for thy
sake, literally on thee, on (account
of) thee, on thy account. The
preterite form, we have been killed,
includes
the
present, we are killed, but with the
additional idea that the sufferings
in
question were not new or altogether recent, but had long been experi-
VER.
23-26.] PSALM XLIV. 199
enced.
Reckoned, counted, estimated, i. e. by our enemies, who set no
higher
value on our lives than on those of sheep
for the slaughter, literally
a flock of slaughter, i. e. one destined or accustomed to be slaughtered.
This
expression ccrresponds exactly to sheep
for food, or flock of food, in
ver.
12 (11) above. The whole verse is a strong poetical description of
severe
persecution or distress arising from the spite of enemies, and as such
is
applied by Paul to the sufferings of the church of Christ, in which the
ancient
Israel continues to exist. See Rom. viii. 36.
24 (23). Arouse thee! Why wilt thou sleep, O Lord? Awake, do not
cast off for ever. This bold apostrophe
implies strong faith, as well as warm
affection.
Such an address would not be made to an inanimate object, or
an
imaginary being. The idea is the same as in Ps. iii. 8 (7), to wit, that
the
withholding of God's help, or of his sensible presence, may be figura-
tively
described as a state of inaction or of sleep, from which he awakes and
arises
when he once more manifests his presence and affords his aid.
Compare
Ps. cxxi. 4, Mat. viii. 25. The verse is therefore really nothing
more
than an importunate petition for divine assistance. Cast off, reject with
loathing
and contempt, the same strong expression that occurs in ver.
10
(9), above. For ever, literally to perpetuity. The Hebrew phrase is not
the
same, however that occurs in ver. 9 (8). above.
25 (24). Why wilt thou hide thy face, wilt thou forget our suffering and
our persecution (or oppression)? The same thing which had
just been re-
presented
by the figure of sleep is here described as a refusal to see and to
remember.
Both figures are employed in Ps. xiii. 2 (1), above, in refer-
ence
to precisely he same subject. These anthropomorphisms, which
would
be unlawful in an uninspired writer, are perfectly intelligible, and
exceedingly
expressive. The word translated suffering
(or affliction) is
generic,
and includes all forms of physical evil, one of which is then speci-
fied,
to wit, the suffering caused by powerful and spiteful enemies. The
same
word denotes oppression or persecution at the hand of wicked men,
in
Ps.
xlii. 10 (9), xli i. 2. Why wilt thou
forget is evidently more than why
dost thou forget, for it conveys the
additional idea, "Why wilt thou persist
in
doing as thou hast done heretofore, and art doing now?"
26 (25). For bowed (or sunk) to the dust is our soul, fixed to the earth
is
our belly. Both Hebrew verbs are
active, and literally mean, our soul has
bowed
down, our belly has adhered. Belly
may either have the sense of body,
as
opposed to soul, as in Ps. xxxi. 10
(9), above, or be taken in its proper
sense,
in which case the whole clause is descriptive of the deepest degrada-
tion,
a grovelling on the earth, without the capacity or wish to rise, a state
like
that of the lowest reptiles, or the one denounced upon the serpent in
Gen.
iii. 14. Whatever the image here presented may be, it is evidently
meant
to represent a state of deep depression and debasement.
27 (26). Rise, a help for us, and redeem us for the sake of thy mercy!
This
is the conclusion of his arguments, and the sum of his petitions.
Arise, from this state of
apparent inaction, and exert thy power. Not
merely
for our help, as in Ps. xxxviii. 23
(22), but as our help, thou who
art
thyself our help, its source, its author, a much stronger expression than
our helper, though essentially
synonymous. See above, Ps. xl. 18 (17),
and
below, Ps. lxiii. 8 (7). Because of thy
mercy, as a ground or reason;
according to thy mercy, as a rule or measure; for the sake of thy mercy, i. e.
for
its honour, as a motive and an end to be accomplished.
200 PSALM XLV. [VER. 1.
PSALM XLV.
The
intimate relation of the Messiah to the chosen people, and eventu-
ally
to the other nations, is described in this psalm as the union of a mighty
king
with foreign princesses, among whom one is represented as the queen.
This
kind of allegory is a common one in Scripture, but appears to have
derived
its peculiar form in this case from the court and household of Solo-
mon.
After a title, ver. 1, the Psalmist announces his design to sing the
praises
of the King, ver. 2 (1), whom he then describes as full of beauty,
grace,
and the divine blessing, ver. 3 (2), as a conquering hero in the cause
of
truth and righteousness, ver. 4-6 (3-5), as a divine, perpetual, and
righteous
sovereign, ver. 7 (6), and as such invested with peculiar honours
and
enjoyments, ver. 8 (7), clothed in royal, festal, and nuptial garments,
ver.
9 (8), surrounded by kings' daughters, with a queen at his right hand,
ver.
10 (9). The Psalmist then addresses her directly in the language of
congratulation
and admonition, ver. 11-13 (10-12), and describes her
apparel
and her marriage procession, ver. 14-16 (13-15). In conclusion,
the
king is again addressed, with the assurance of a numerous posterity,
ver.
17 (16), and endless fame, ver. 18 (17). The attempt to explain
this
as a mere epithalamium in honour of Solomon, or Ahab, or some
later
king, Jewish or Persian, has always been defeated by the difficulty of
determining
the subject, and the impossibility of accounting for the recep-
tion
of such a poem into a collection of devotional songs, intended for the
permanent
use of the ancient church. The absence of any analogous
example
is admitted upon all hands. The allegorical or Messianic sense is
given
by the oldest interpreters, both Jewish and Christian. The allego-
rical
idea of this psalm is carried out in the Song of Solomon, to which it
bears
the same relation as Ps. xxxvii. to the Book of Proverbs, and Ps.
xxxix.
to the Book of Job.
1. To
the Chief Musician. Upon lilies. To the Sons of Borah. Mas-
chil A
song of loved (ones).
The unusual accumulation of descriptive
titles
in this verse suggests at once that the psalm is one of deep and
solemn
import, and thus raises a presumption against its being a mere
epithalamium,
or a secular poem of any kind. This presumption is con-
firmed
by the inscription to the Chief Musician,
implying that the psalm
was
designed for permanent and public use. See above, on Ps. iv. 1.
This
description, it is true, might be applied to all the psalms without
exception;
but it was particularly needed in the case of those which seem,
at
first sight, to be mere expressions of individual feeling, and still more
in
the case of those which, to a superficial reader, seem to be entirely secu-
lar
in theme and spirit. The same thing is true, in substance, of the next
term,
maschil, instruction. The psalm
before us is among the last which
would
have been selected by a modern critic as didactic in its character.
But
since it is so, this very fact affords a cogent reason for so designating
it.
This designation, at the same time, corroborates the previous pre-
sumption,
that the psalm is allegorical, because an amatory nuptial song
could
not, in any sense, be called a maschil.
The same thing is rendered
still
more certain by the ascription to the
Sons of Korah, whether as authors
or
performers, since in either character their function was a sacred one;
they
were not profane bards or minstrels, but Levitical precentors in the
temple
worship. See above, on Ps. xlii. 1. As this employment was con-
tinued
in the family for many generations, there is no difficulty in assum-
VER.
1.] PSALM XLV. 201
ing
that the Sons of Korah here meant were contemporaries of Solomon,
to
whose regal and domestic habits the psalm contains so many obvious
allusions.
The other two expressions in the title are more dubious. Upon
lilies is supposed by some to
mean on instruments of that shape. See
above,
on Ps. viii. 1. Others suppose it to denote a mode of execution, or
an
air, or another composition upon which this was modelled. Others
more
plausibly maintain that this and all analogous inscriptions have respect
to
the subject or contents, and that lilies
are a natural emblem of female
beauty,
the plural form implying a plurality of persons, such as we meet
with
in the psalm itself. See below, ver. 10, 11, 16 (9, 10, 15). A song
of loves would seem to mean
either a love-song or a lovely song. But the
usage
of the Hebrew word requires it to be taken in the concrete sense of
loved or beloved, the plural feminine form serving to identify the person
thus
described with the lilies of the
other clause. These two phrases,
taken
together, represent the subject of the psalm to be lovely and beloved
women,
while the other terms of the description, which have been explained
already,
shew that the love and marriage here referred to are not natural,
but
spiritual, to wit, the union of Messiah with his people, or of Christ
with
his church, an idea running through both testaments. Compare Isa.
liv.
5, lxii. 4, 5, Jer. iii. 1, Ezek. xvi. and xxiii., Mat. ix. 15, xxii. 2,
xxv.
1, John iii. 29, Rom. vii. 4, 2 Cor. xi. 2, Eph. v. 25-32, Rev. xix. 7,
xxi.
2, xxii. 17. The allegory is more fully carried out in the first three
chapters
of Hosea, but in these and all other passages referred to, the essen-
tial
idea is borrowed from the Law, in which the national unfaithfulness to
Jehovah
is constantly described as a spiritual adultery, implying a conjugal
relation
between him and his people. See Exod. xxxiv. 15, 16, Lev. xvii. 7,
xx.
5, 6, Num. xiv. 33. On the whole, then, this psalm appears to be a
description
of Messiah in his conjugal relation both to Israel and other
nations,
composed either by or for the sons of Korah in the reign of Solo-
mon,
from which the imagery seems to be borrowed, and designed for the
permanent
instruction of the church, by being used as a vehicle of pious
feeling
in her public worship.
2 (1). My
heart has overflowed—a good word (am) I saying—my works
for the king—my tongue
the pen of a rapid writer. The whole verse is a
strong
metaphorical description of the way in which his thoughts were
engrossed,
and his words suggested, by one great theme. The first word
properly
denotes ebullition, the agitation and effervescence of a boiling
liquid,
or the similar phenomena presented by the bubbling up of water in
a
fountain. It is here used to express the spontaneous gush of feeling,
thought,
and word, in the inspired writer. This first clause may also be
connected
with the next, as indicated by the accents. My
heart is over-
flowing (with) a good
word (or goodly speech), i. e. the
subject upon which
he
is about to speak. The next words may then be rendered, I am saying,
(or
I say), my works to the king, i. e.
they belong to him, or as an exclama-
tion,
"let them be his!" My works,
all that I do, including the praise
here
offered. The king meant is the ideal and expected king of Israel, the
Messiah.
The last clause may also be an exclamation.
(Be) my tongue the
pen of a rapid writer! i.
e. let
it skilfully and promptly give expression to my thoughts
and
feelings. It is probably in allusion to this passage that Ezra is described as
a ready
scribe or rapid writer (Ezra vii. 6). Although particular expressions in this
verse may be
obscure,
its general import is entirely unambiguous, as an animated declaration of the
writer's
purpose, and a preface to his praise of the Messiah.
202 PSALM
XLV. [VER.
2-4.
3 (2). Beautiful,
beautiful, art thou above the sons of man; grace is
poured into thy lips;
therefore God hath blessed thee to eternity. The first
word
in Hebrew is a reduplicated form, expressing the idea with intensity
and
emphasis. He is not praised as the fairest or most beautiful of men,
but
as fair or beautiful beyond all human standard or comparison. This
general
ascription of all loveliness is followed by the specification of a single
chain',
that of delightful captivating speech. Grace,
in Hebrew as in
English,
denotes both a cause and an effect; in this case, grace or beauty
of
expression, produced by the divine grace or favour, and reciprocally tend-
ing
to increase it. On any hypothesis, except the Messianic one, this verse
is
unintelligible. If the first clause were intended to describe a mere cor-
poreal
beauty, how could this be followed up by commending the grace of
the
lips, or either be recognised as the ground of an eternal blessing? It
is
only by supposing that the person here meant is the chief among ten
thousand
and altogether lovely, that the beauty predicated of him includes
every
moral and spiritual attraction, and that the grace of his lips has refer-
ence
to his prophetic character and office, that the sentence can be made
to
seem coherent, and the promise at its close appropriate. The type, in
this
allegorical description, may have been furnished by him, of whom the
queen
of Sheba said (1 Kings x. 8), "Happy thy men, happy these thy
servants
who stand before thee always, who hear thy wisdom." But the
glorious
antitype was He, to whom "all bare witness, and wondered at the
words of grace proceeding out of his mouth" (Luke iv.
22).
4 (3). Gird
thy sword on thy thigh, Mighty (One), thy honour and thy
majesty. Arm thyself for battle
and for conquest. Compare 1 Sam. xxv. 13.
As
the act of girding is applied both to weapons and to clothing, the men-
tion
of the one here suggests the other. "Arm thyself with strength and
clothe
thyself with majesty." The two words at the end of the sentence
are
constantly employed to denote the divine majesty (Ps. xcvi. 6, civ. 1,
cxi.
3), as distinguished from that of mortals (Job xl. 10), or as bestowed
upon
them by a special divine favour (Ps. xxi. 6). The first of the two is
separately
used to signify specifically royal dignity (1 Chron. xxix. 25, Dan.
xi.
21). The use of these expressions, together with the epithet of Mighty or Hero,
which
is
one of the characteristic titles of Messiah in prophecy (Isa. ix. 6), confirms
the previous
conclusion
that he is here the object of address. As to the sword, see Rev. i. 16, ii. 12,
xx.
15,
21; and with the whole verse compare Ps. cx. 5-7.
5 (4). And
(in) thy majesty, pass on, ride forth, for the sake of truth and
humble right; and thy right
hand shall guide thee (to) terrible deeds. The
first
words may also be explained, without supplying in, as an emphatic
repetition
of what goes before. And thy majesty (I
say). The first verb
may
be rendered prosper, as in Isa. liii.
10; but it seems best to retain its
primary
sense, which is to pass by or over, to advance, or as we say fami-
liarly,
to go ahead. By riding we may
understand the act of riding in a
chariot
of war, which was customary with the ancient kings. See the same
verb
so used in 2 Kings ix. 16, and compare 1 Kings xxii. 34, 35. For
the sake, literally on the word, which may possibly denote
that on which the
conqueror
rides, to wit, the word of truth. But
this figure would not be
very
intelligible, and in almost every other case where the Hebrew phrase
occurs,
it is evident that word is used
precisely as the English words
account and sake are in the familiar combinations, on account of, for the
sake of. See above on Ps.
xviii. 1. Thus understood, it here points out
the
object of Messiah's conquests, to wit, the vindication of truth, i. e.
VER.
5, 6.]
PSALM XLV. 203
veracity,
as opposed to fraud, and humble right,
as opposed to proud
iniquity.
In this last phrase both the Hebrew words are nouns, but rather
in
apposition than regimen, so that the literal translation would be humility-
righteousness, right asserted in
humility against a wrong maintained by
pride
and selfishness. Thy right hand, as
the seat of martial strength,
and
the organ of aggressive action. Shall
guide, or point the way, the
proper
meaning of the Hebrew verb, which, like other verbs expressing or
implying
motion, may be followed directly by a noun, where our idiom
would
require an intervening preposition. Terrible
(things), fearful (deeds),
literally
dreaded; but the Hebrew passive
participle frequently includes the
idea
of a future passive participle in Latin. The insensible transition from
the
imperative to the future shews that the former was really prophetic,
and
that the prayer of this and the preceding verse is only a disguised prediction
of
Messiah's triumphs, as one going forth conquering and to conquer.
6 (5). Thine
arrows are sharp—nations under thee shall fall—in the
heart of the king's
enemies.
The word translated sharp is properly
a par-
ticiple
meaning sharpened, like acutus from acuo, and may here have the
same
sense as in Isa. v. 28, whose arrows are sharpened and all his
bows
bent, i. e. all his weapons of war ready for immediate use. Nations, not
merely
individuals, nor even armies, but whole nations, a description
peculiarly,
though. not exclusively, appropriate to a superhuman conqueror.
In
order to remove the apparent incoherence of the second and third mem-
bers
of the sentence, some give heart the
local sense of midst. "Nations
shall
fall under thee in the midst of the king's enemies." But this explana-
tion
of heart is not justified by usage,
and the king's enemies are evidently
the
nations themselves. Others make the
second clause a vocative—thou
under whom the nations
fall—or
a mere parenthesis, with a verb supplied
after
it—thy sharp arrows (nations fall under
thee) shall penetrate into the
heart of the king's
enemies.
But these are forced if not ungrammatical
constructions,
and by far the simplest solution is to repeat the first clause
before
the third—thine arrows are sharp—nations fall under thee—(thine
arrows
are sharp) in the heart of the king's enemies. This is the more
natural,
as the falling of the nations is supposed to be produced by the
arrows.
"Thine arrows are sharpened, and ready for the conquest of the
nations;
yes, thine arrows are already sharp in the heart of the king's
enemies."This
last expression does not refer to a different person from
the
one addressed, but is merely a more emphatic way of saying, "thine
enemies,
O king!"
7 (6). Thy
throne, (O) God, (is) for ever and ever; a sceptre of rectitude
(is) the sceptre of thy
kingdom.
To avoid the obvious ascription of divinity
contained
in the first clause, two very forced constructions have been pro-
posed. 1.
Thy throne (is the throne of) God for ever and ever. 2. Thy
God-throne
(or divine throne) is for ever. But even admitting, what is
very
doubtful, that a few examples of this syntax occur elsewhere, the sense
thus
obtained is unsatisfactory and obscure, and this is still more true of
that
afforded by the only obvious or natural construction besides the one
first
given, namely, thy throne is God for ever
and ever. The explanation
of
God as a vocative is not only the
most obvious, and sustained by the
analogy
of Ps. xliii. 1, xliv. 5 (4), xlviii. 10, 11 (9, 10), &c., but is found
in
all the ancient versions and adopted in the New Testament (Heb. 8),
and
was admitted even by the anti-Messianic interpreters, until they were
obliged
to abandon the position that Elohim
might be taken in a lower
204 PSALM
XLV. [VER.
7, 8.
sense.
For ever and ever, literally eternity and perpetuity. See above,
on
Ps. v. 12 (11), ix. 6 (5). The same perpetuity is asserted of Jehovah's
reign
in Ps. x. 16. It is also promised to the royal line of David, ending
and
eternised in Messiah. See the original promise in 2 Sam. vii. 13, 16,
and
its varied repetition in Ps. xxi. 5 (4), xviii. 51 (50), lxxii. 5, lxxxix. 5,
37,
38 (4, 36, 37), cx. 4, cxxxii. 12 (11), Isa. ix. 6 (7). A sceptre, pro-
perly
a staff or rod, particularly as a badge of office and especially of royal
dignity.
See above, on Ps. xxiii. 4. Rectitude,
in a moral or figurative
sense,
derived from the physical and proper one of straightness, whether
linear
or superficial. See below, Ps. lxvii. 5 (4), and compare Isa. xi. 4.
Kingdom, or as an abstract, royalty, in which sense it may qualify
the
noun
before it, so that the whole phrase will express the idea royal sceptre.
8 (7). Thou
hast loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God,
thy God, hath anointed
thee (with) oil of joy above thy fellows. The moral
excellency
of the person here addressed is represented as the meritorious.
ground
of the divine favours by which he was distinguished. In an epi-
thalamium,
or an amatory poem, this would be ridiculous. The past
tenses
represent the moral qualities ascribed to him as already manifested
and
familiar. The substitution of the present greatly weakens the express
Sion.
Here, as in the verse preceding, God may be a vocative. Thy God, O
God, hath anointed thee,
&c.
Compare Ps. xliii. 4, li. 15 (14). But the more
obvious
construction above given is favoured by the collocation of the words.
and
the analogy of Ps. 1. 7. Oil of joy
(or gladness) is a figure borrowed
from
the ancient oriental usage of anointing the head on festive occasions.
See
above, on Ps. xxiii. 5. The expression is copied in Isa. lxi. 3. Above thy
fellows, more than thy
companions, i. e. other men,or more
specifically, other
kings.
Compare what is said of Solomon, 1 Kings iii. 12, 13, 2 Chron. i. 12.
9 (8). Myrrh
and aloes (and) cassia (are) all thy garments, from palaces
of ivory, from (thence)
have they gladdened thee. The figure of unction in
the
close of the preceding verse suggests the idea of perfumes and aromatic
substances,
several of which are specified, as samples of the whole class,
which
makes it comparatively unimportant, though by no means difficult,
to
identify the species. His dress is described as so impregnated with
these
odours, that it may be poetically said to be composed of them. By
another
natural association, these perfumed garments, which were not
usually
worn, suggest the idea of some rare festivity, and especially of that
which
is most joyous in all countries. It is from marriage feasts in splendid
palaces
that these sweet odours and these joyful feelings have been brought
away.
Why more than one such celebration is referred to, will appear
below.
Palaces of ivory, i. e. adorned with it, like that of Ahab
in
1
Kings xxii. 39, and that of Menelaus in the Odyssey. That this kind
of
luxury was not unknown in real life, may also be inferred from Amos
in.
15, vi. 4, Song of Sol. vii. 5 (4). The next word (yni.mi) is by some
explained as a contraction of (Myni.mi), a word meaning
strings, and then
stringed
instruments (Ps. cl. 4). From palaces of
ivory stringed instru-
ments have gladdened
thee.
But as this breaks the connection between
verses
8 and 10 (7 and 9), others make yni.mi the poetical form of
the pre-
position
Nmi,
as it is in Ps. xliv. 11, 19 (10, 18), lxviii. 32 (31). See also,
Judges
v. 14, and Isa. xlvi: 3. The repetition of the particle without the noun
is
similar to that in Isa. lix. 18, according
to their deeds, according to
(them) will he repay. So here, from palaces of ivory, from them (or thence)
VER.
9, 10.] PSALM
XLV.
205
have they gladdened thee. The plural verb may be
construed indefinitely,
as
tantamount to saying, thou hast been
gladdened, or referred to a more
definite
subject, namely, that presented in the next verse.
10 (9). Daughters
of kings (are) among thy precious (ones); stationed is
the queen at thy right
hand, in gold of Ophir. The idea of a marriage-feast,
suggested
in the foregoing verse, is here carried out by a description of
the
bride or brides. These are represented as being of the highest rank
and
splendid in appearance. Precious,
dear, not in the sense of beloved,
which
the Hebrew word never has, but in that of costly, valuable, which it
always
has. Stationed, not simply stands, but placed there, as the post of
honour.
Compare 1 Kings ii. 19. The word translated queen
means pro-
perly
a spouse or consort, but is specially applied to the wives of kings,
particularly
those of Babylonia (Dan. v. 2) and Persia (Neh. ii. 6). It is
here
used as a poetical expression, which is also the case with the word
translated
gold, and derived from a verb meaning
to conceal; it may there-
fore
denote ore, as hidden in the mine, or
hoarded treasure. Here, and in
Isa.
xiii. 12, it is combined with Ophir, one of the places to which Solo-
mon's
ships traded with the Phenicians (1 Kings ix. 28, x. 11, 2 Chron.
viii.
18, ix. 10). Its situation is disputed, and of no exegetical importance
in
the case before us. Whether it was in India, Arabia, or Africa, it is
here
mentioned only as an El Dorado, with the very name of which the idea
of
gold was associated in the. mind of every Israelite, as it is in ours with
the
name of California. In gold means, of
course, in garments decked
with
gold, or golden jewels. The image here presented of a queen sur-
rounded
by inferior princesses was probably borrowed from the court of
Solomon
(1 Kings xi. 1), but employed to represent the chosen people as
the
bride of the Messiah, and as such pre-eminent among the nations. This kind of
personification
is not uncommon. See, for example, Isa. xlvii. 1, liv. 1, Jer. xlvi. 11.
11 (10). Hear, daughter, and see, and bend thine ear, and forget thy
people and the house of
thy father.
The Psalmist, in view of the ideal scene
which
he has brought before us, utters a kind of nuptial exhortation to
the
queen or chief bride of Messiah. Hear
what I have to say; see, with the
mind's
eye, what I set before thee, look at it, consider it. Incline thine
ear, lean forward as a sign
of attention, so that nothing shall escape thee.
See
above, on Ps. xvii. 6, xxxi. 3 (2). This preliminary summons to attend
implies
that something of serious moment is to follow. The word daughter
may
be simply used, as son is elsewhere,
to suggest the relation of a junior
to
a senior, or of a pupil to a teacher. See above, on Ps. xxxiv. 12 (11),
and
compare Prov. i. 8, ii. 1, iii.1, iv. 1, &c. Or the Psalmist may be under-
stood
as speaking in the person of the bride's father, when about to part
with
her; but this is less natural, since the father is referred to, in the last
clause,
as a third person. Some suppose a specific reference to the
daughter of Zion as the real object of
address, while others understand by
daughter a king's daughter, a
royal princess, or suppose her to be here
addressed
as one who was no longer to be treated as a daughter, but as a wife
and
mother. As if he had said, "Hitherto thou hast been a daughter, but
now
thou must forget thy father's house." All these ideas may have been
present
to the writer's mind, as they are all spontaneously suggested to the
reader's.
Forget thy people, &c., is a
strong but natural and perfectly
intelligible
mode of saying, form new relations, or accommodate thyself to
them
when formed. There is obvious allusion to the law of marriage in
Gen.
ii. 24, and to the calling of Abraham in Gen. xii. 1. What the
206 PSALM
XLV. [VER. 11,
12.
patriarch
was there required to do is here enjoined upon his children in the
person
of their ideal representative. The ancient church or chosen people is
required
to come out from the world and be exclusively devoted to Jehovah.
The
exhortation becomes still more pointed and significant when taken in connection
with
the fact, that Solomon's wives, who seem to have supplied the figures for this
striking
allegorical tableau, instead of acting on the principle here laid down, by
adopting
the
religion of their husband, "turned away his heart after other gods"
(1 Kings xi. 4).
12 (11). And let the king desire thy beauty; for he is thy Lord, and
(therefore)
bow thyself to him. The common
version (so shall the king
desire, &c.) is inconsistent with
the form of the Hebrew verb, which is one
used
to express a command or wish. The verse must be read in close
connection
with the one before it. "Forget thy father's house and be en-
tirely
devoted to thy husband, so that his affection may be fixed upon
thee,
without anything to hinder or impair it, such as a lingering desire for
thy
previous condition." This is enjoined as a duty springing from the
very
nature of the conjugal relation, in which the husband is the head by
divine
right. Compare Gen. iii. 16, xviii. 12, 1 Pet. iii. 5, 6. In recog-
nition
of this obligation, she is called upon to bow down or prostrate her-
self
(1 Sam. xxv. 41, 1 Kings i. 16, 31), a gesture both of civil and reli-
gious
homage, and therefore peculiarly appropriate here, where the ideal
king
and husband represents the real object of religious worship.
13 (12). And the daughter of Tyre with a gift thy face shall soften—the
rich of the people. In the Hebrew idiom the daughter of Tyre, or the
daughter (i. e. the virgin) Tyre denotes the city, or the population
of the
city,
personified as a woman. See above, on Ps. ix. 15 (14). It has been
proposed,
indeed, to take this as a vocative (and O
daughter of Tyre, the
rich of the people
shall, &c.)
addressed to Jezebel, in honour of whose mar-
riage
with Ahab (1 Kings xvi. 31) the psalm is then supposed to have been
written.
But besides the harsh construction of the first words, and the
constant
usage of the phrase and others like it in the sense explained above,
it
is inconceivable that a poem in celebration of the marriage between a
wicked
king of Israel and a heathen princess could have been composed by
the
sons of Korah for permanent religious use in the kingdom of Judah.
And
yet this is the only hypothesis, except the Messianic one, on which
the
reference to Tyre can be explained. In the time of Solomon, the
Tyrians
were the most commercial nation in the world, and the one with
which
the Israelites had most commercial intercourse. It was natural,
therefore,
to use Tyre as a type for the wealth and commerce of the world,
and
the same mode of representation is employed by later writers. (See
especially
Isa. xxiii. 18.) Thus understood, the promise that the daughter
of
Tyre should seek, by means of gifts, to conciliate the favour of the
queen,
is a prediction that the richest of the nations should seek union and
communion
with the chosen people. See below, Ps. xlvii. 10 (9), 10,
lxxxvii.
4, in the last of which places Tyre is particularly mentioned. See
also
Isa. lx. 6, Hag. ii. 7, 8, Zech. ix. 10. That the daughter of Tyre is
here
an ideal person, comprehending many individuals, is clear from the
plural
verb with which it is construed, and from the epexegetical clause,
the rich (i. e. the richest) of the
people, whether this be understood to mean
the
richest of that people, or the richest of the nations. In either case it
is
an apposition with daughter of Tyre,
and in some way explanatory of it.
"The
daughter of Tyre, that richest of the nations (or the daughter of
Tyre,
even the richest of that nation), shall entreat thy favour." This last
VER.
13-15.] PSALM
XLV. 207
idea
is conveyed by a highly idiomatic phrase, meaning, as some suppose,
to
stroke or soothe the face, and then, by a natural transition, to conciliate,
to
flatter. Others obtain nearly the same sense by making it mean to
weaken,
soften, or subdue the face, i. e. the
opposition which the face expresses.
14 (13). All glorious (is) the king's daughter within; of gold embroidery
(is) her vesture. The second word in
Hebrew may be either an adjective,
as
in Ezek. xxiii. 41, or a substantive, as in Judges xviii. 21. All (i. e. alto-
gether) splendid, or all splendour, i. e. containing nothing else, as the king's
garments
are said, in ver. 9 (8) above, to be all
perfume, and mankind in
Ps.
xxxix. 6 (5), to be only all vanity.
The local adverb in the first
clause
means within doors, in the house
(Lev. x. 18, 1 Kings vi. 18,
2
Kings vii. 11), and describes the bride as still awaiting her removal from
her
father's to her husband's house. Gold
embroidery, or network of gold.
The
common version (wrought gold) conveys
the false idea of a dress
entirely
metallic, whereas the Hebrew phrase denotes some kind of artificial
texture
or tissue, in which gold is interwoven.
15 (14). With (or on) variegated cloths shall she be conducted to
the
king; virgins behind
her, her companions, brought unto thee. The lively
picture
of an oriental wedding is now completed by a view of the procession
to
the bridegroom's house. The customary train of female friends is not
forgotten,
but with this peculiar feature added, that the bridesmaids are
themselves
described as brides, being brought (or
made to come) to the king,
precisely
as the queen was. This departure from the usages of real life,
which
would have been revolting in a mere epithalamium, is peculiarly
appropriate
to the design of the allegory, as it enables the writer to include
in
his description a striking figurative representation of the eventful acces-
sion
of the Gentiles to the spiritual privileges and prerogatives which for
ages
were confined to Israel. The ancient church or peculiar people is the
chief
bride or queen of the Messiah, chosen from among the nations; but
these
very nations are the virgins, her
companions, not her servants or
attendants
merely, who are brought to the king afterwards as she was
brought
before, to be united with him in an honourable marriage, not as
the
inferiors but the equals of his first and chosen consort. The noun at
the
beginning of the verse has been variously explained as meaning needle-
work, embroidery, and variegated stuffs; but the essential
idea is sufficiently
clear,
to wit, that of rich and highly ornamented fabrics. As the dress of
the
bride has been twice described already, in ver. 10, 14 (9, 13), some
suppose
that these words have allusion to the practice of spreading rich and
costly
cloths or carpets on the ground where royal personages walk.
(Compare
Mat. xxi. 8.) Others refer the clause to the embroidered cover-
ings
of the nuptial couch. The preposition here used is the one denoting
relation
in the most indefinite manner, and may be translated in, upon, or
to, according to these
different hypotheses respectively. See above, on
Ps.
xxx. 2 (1), xxxv. 19, 24, xxxviii. 17 (16). Conducted,
or escorted in
procession,
as the Hebrew word denotes, being applied both to nuptial and
funeral
pomps. Compare Job x. 19, xxi. 32. The king is first men-
tioned
in the third person, and then in the second, by which insensible
transition
the way is prepared for the direct address with which the psalm
concludes,
although the third person is resumed for a moment in the
next
verse.
16 (15). They shall be conducted with rejoicings and mirth; they shall
come into the palace of
the king.
The first clause exhibits the procession,
208
PSALM XLV.
[VER. 16, 17.
as
it were, in motion, while the second brings it to its destination. As if
he
had said, "I see the joyous train advancing; to the sound of merry
music,
towards the palace; and now they reach it and are entered in."
This
brings the description of the marriage to a close, and leaves nothing
to
be added but the joyful anticipations expressed in the concluding verses.
17 (16). Instead of thy fathers shall be thy sons; thou shalt set them for
princes in all the earth. In the translation,
this might seem to be a re-
newed
address to the bride, consoling her, in her separation from her
father's
family, by the hope of having one herself. The antithesis, how-
ever,
is not between parents and children in general, but between fathers
and
sons in particular. Nor does the
ambiguity of the translation exist in
the
original, at least in the masoretic text, where the pointing of the suffixed
pronouns
shews them to be masculine, so that the object of address must
be
the king himself, as it is in ver. 3-11 (2-10). We have here another
allusion
to the marriage customs of the ancient orientals, among whom it
was
usual to wish the newly married pair a numerous and distinguished
offspring.
See Gen. xxiv. 60, Ruth iv. 11, 12. This wish is here replaced
by
a positive prediction, that the king's descendants shall be more illus-
trious
than his progenitors. Such a comparison would have but little
force,
however, unless he were himself descended from a long line of royal
ancestors,
a sufficient proof that the king here glorified was neither Solomon
nor
Ahab. At the same time there is obvious allusion to the state of things
under
the reign of Solomon, who divided his kingdom into twelve vice-
royalties
(1 Kings iv. 7), and that of David, who made his own sons
viceroys
(2 Sam. viii. 18), a policy which seems to have been still pursued
by
Rehoboam (2 Chron. xi. 23). What they did on a small scale, the
Messiah
is to do upon a large one. As they made their sons princes in
Israel,
so he shall make his to be rulers over the whole earth. Some,
indeed,
translate the last words all the land;
but this is inconsistent with
the
conquests promised in ver. 5-7 (4-6), with the mention of Tyre in
ver.
14 (13), and with that of nations in
ver. 18 (17). The sons of Mes-
siah
are his spiritual seed (Isa. liii. 10), to
set whom for princes is to con-
stitute
or make them such, to give them places suited to their royal rank.
The
universal reign here predicted is also promised in Ps. ii. 8 above and
Ps.
lxxii. 11, below. Compare Zech. ix. 10.
18 (17). I will make thy name to be remembered in all generations; there-
fore shall nations
acknowledge thee for ever and ever. The Psalmist speaks
as
one in the long series of inspired heralds, and in behalf of all. The
form
of the first verb implies fixed determination, and involves a pledge.
Thy
name, as the expression of thy nature. See above, on Ps. v. 12 (11),
xliv.
21 (20). In all generations,
literally in every generation and genera-
tion.
For ever and ever, literally to
eternity and perpetuity. See above,
on
Ps. xliv. 9, 24 (8, 23). Therefore,
not merely because I celebrate his
name,
but because his name itself is glorious. Acknowledge
thee to be
what
thou art, involving therefore the ideas of praise in general and thanks-
giving
in particular. See above, on Ps. vi. 6 (5), xliv. 9 (8).
PSALM XLVI.
The
Church is safe under divine protection. This theme is amplified in
three
strophes, the close of which is indicated by the selahs in ver. 4 (3),
8
(7), 12 (11). If the psalm owed its origin to any particular historical
VER.
1-3.] PSALM
XLVI.
209
occasion,
of which there seem to be some traces in the last part, there is
none
to which it would be more appropriate than the miraculous destruc-
tion
of the Assyrian host in the reign of Hezekiah (2 Kings xix. 35, Isa.
xxxvii.
36), as this was a signal instance of divine interposition for the deliverance
of
the
chosen people, and peculiarly adapted to exalt the God of Israel among the
nations.
1. To
the Chief Musician. To the Sons of Korah. Upon Alamoth. A
song. The Sons of Korah may
here be mentioned either as the authors or
performers
of the psalm. (See above, on Ps. xlii. 1, xlv. 1). In either
case,
we are perhaps to understand the Sons of Korah in the reign of Heze-
kiah.
Some have ascribed the psalm to Isaiah; but of this there is no
evidence.
Alamoth means virgins or a youn women, and is here used as a
technical
expression of the Hebrew music, to denote soprano or treble voices.
See
above, on Ps. iv. 1, vi. 1.
2 (1). God
(is) for us a refuge and strength; a help in distresses he has
proved—exceedingly. The first clause
states the general theme or proposi-
tion
of the psalm; the last asserts it to have been established by experience.
A refuge, a hiding-place, a
place where men seek shelter and security from
impending
danger. The original expression is a local noun derived from a
verb,
the primary sense of which is to take refuge. (See above, on Ps.
ii.
12, xvi. 1). A different word is so translated in ver. 8, 12 (7, 11), be-
low.
In this connection, strength may mean
a stronghold or fortified place,
which
figure is expressly used in Ps. xviii. 3 (2), xxvii. 1, and elsewhere.
Or
it may simply mean the source or author of strength, as in Ps. xxviii. 8,
and
elsewhere. In distresses: the plural
form may involve a reference to
various
occasions, or to complex and aggravated troubles in some one case.
He has proved, literally been found, i. e. by us, in our experience. The
common
version (a present help) is scarcely
justified by the occasional use
of
the original expression in the sense of being present or forthcoming. The
last
word, very or exceedingly, appears to have been added to qualify the
whole
clause or proposition, as one eminently and emphatically true.
3 (2). Therefore
we will not fear in the changing of the earth, and in the
moving of mountains in
the heart of seas.
The simple idea expressed by
these
strong figures is, in the midst of the most violent changes and com-
motions.
By the changing or exchanging of the earth (see above, on
Ps.
xv.
4), we may understand either its change of place, violent removal, or
more
probably a change of face and aspect or condition, as the effect of
mighty
revolutions. In its changing, i. e. when it changes and because it
changes.
See above, on Ps. xlii. 4 (3). The mountains, as appears from
ver.
7 (6) below, are emblems of great kingdoms and powerful states. See
above,
on Ps. xxx. 8 (7), and compare Isa. xxxvii. 24, Rev. viii. 8. The
sea
may be mentioned only as the place to which the mountains are trans-
planted
(Luke xvii. 6), or in which they are shaken; but it may also be a
specific
emblem of the world, continually moved and agitated by the strife
of
human passions. See Isa. lvii. 20, and compare Isa. xxvii. 1, Dan.
vii.
2, 3. This description is peculiarly appropriate to the commotions
necessarily
produced by the extensive conquests of the great empires of the
ancient
world, perhaps with special reference in this case to Assyria.
4 (3). Let
its waters roar and foam, let mountains tremble in its swelling.
Selah. The singular pronoun
refers to the sea, which is only poetically
plural
in the preceding verse. The verb translated roar
occurs above in Ps.
xxxix.
7 (6). The one translated foam means
strictly to ferment or effer-
vesce.
As the word rendered swelling is also
used elsewhere in the figura-
210 PSALM XLVI. [VER. 4-8.
tive
sense of pride, it is peculiarly
appropriate to the commotions of the
world,
occasioned by the pride of man. The verbs in this verse may also
be
explained as proper futures. Its waters
shall (indeed) roar and foam,
the hills shall tremble
at its swelling;
but the people of God shall still be
safe,
as promised in the next verse. The selah,
as usual, indicates a pause in the
performance,
and at the same time marks the close of the first stanza or strophe.
5 (4). (There
is) a river—its streams shall gladden the city of God, the
holy (place) of the
dwellings of the Highest. In contrast with the turbulent
and
threatening sea, he now presents a peaceful and abundant river. This
emblem
of God's favour, which is frequent in the Scriptures, seems to have
been
borrowed by the later writers from the river of Eden, Gen. ii. 10. See
above,
on Ps. xxxvi. 9 (8), and compare Ezek. xlvii. 1, Joel iv. (iii.) 18,
Zech.
xiv. 8, Rev. xxii. 1. The city of God,
i. e. Jerusalem, his earthly
residence,
and the centre of the theocracy. See below, Ps. xlviii. 2, 3
(1,
2). The holy (place) may either mean
the same thing, or be a more specific
designation
of the temple. See below, Ps. lxv. 5 (4), and compare Exod.
xxix.
31, Lev. vi. 9, 19 (16, 26). The place rendered holy by the presence
of
God's earthly residence. The Highest
or Most High, the divine name
which
denotes God's infinite superiority to other beings. See above, Ps.
vii.
18 (17), ix. 3 (2), xxi. 8 (7). The mention of streams in the plural
indicates
variety and fulness of divine favour.
6 (5). God
(is) in the midst of her, she shall not be moved; God will help
her at the turning of
the morning.
This last idiomatic phrase seems to mean,
at
the point when the day turns to come back, after reaching its greatest
distance.
See Exod. xiv. 27, Judges xix. 26, and compare Deut. xxiii.
12
(11). The idea is that of a critical transition from grief to joy. See
Ps.
xxx. 6 (5), xlix. 15 (14), xc. 14, cx. 8. The terms of this verse be-
come
still more significant and striking, if we suppose a specific reference to
the
night in which Sennacherib's host was smitten, and the sight which was
disclosed
at break of day. See Isa. xxxvii. 36, and compare Isa. xvii. 14.
7 (6). Nations
roared, kingdoms quaked; he has uttered his voice, the
earth will melt. There is here an
allusion to the roaring, foaming sea of
ver.
4 (3). Uttered, literally gave (a sound) with his voice, just as we may
speak
of giving a groan or a shriek. Compare Ps. lxviii. 34 (33), Jer.
xii.
8. This voice is not represented as assuaging the commotion, but in-
creasing
it, by making the very earth dissolve. As in many other instances,
the
psalmist takes his stand between the inception and the consummation
of
the. event which he describes. Hence the transition from the past tense
to
the future. See above, on Ps. xviii. 7 (6). With the last clause com-
pare
Ps. lxxv. 4 (3), Amos ix. 6. God is represented as the ultimate author
of
these mighty changes. See Haggai ii. 21, 22.
8 (7). Jehovah
of Hosts (is) with us; a refuge for us (is) the God of
Jacob. Selah. Notwithstanding these
commotions and dangers, the
divine
protection makes us perfectly secure. Jehovah
of Hosts, the God of
the
Universe, and especially of heaven. See above, on Ps. xxiv. 10, and
below,
on Ps. xlviii. 9 (8). With us.
Compare the name Immanuel, Isa.
viii.
8. A refuge, literally a high place,
a place beyond the reach of ene-
mies
and dangers. See above, on Ps. ix. 10 (9), xviii. 3 (2). God of
Jacob. See above, oh Ps.
xxiv. 6.
9 (8). Come,
see the doings of Jehovah, who hath put desolations in the
earth. The first word
properly means go, but is constantly
used in sum-
moning
and inviting others. See above, Ps. xxxiv. 12 (11). The doings,
VER.
9-11.] PSALM
XLVI.
211
what
he has been doing. The common version, what
desolations he hath
made, is not so natural as
that above given, which takes the relative in its
proper
sense, and refers it to the nearest antecedent. Put (or placed) deso-
lations, i. e. produced, occasioned, caused them to exist in the earth,
because
the ruling power of the world was smitten; or in the land, i. e. the
Holy
Land, as the immediate scene of God's retributive judgments, which
all
men are invited now to witness. The use of the name Jehovah intimates that
the
God who thus controls the world is identical with the God of Israel.
10 (9). Silencing
wars to the end of the earth; the bow he will break, and
cut the spear, and the
chariots will burn in the fire. The participle, followed
by
the future, she ws that the process is not finished, but still going on.
Silencing, making to cease. To the end. The original expression is a
stronger
one, and means up to the end, or to the very end. The bow, spear,
and
chariots, are named as necessary instruments of warfare. See above,
on
Ps. vii. 13 (12), and with the whole verse compare Isa. ii. 4, Mic. iv. 3,
Josh.
xi. 9, Ezek. xxxix. 9.
11 (10). Leave off, and know that I (am) God; I will be exalted in the
nations, I will be
exalted in the earth.
These words are addressed to the
discomfited
foes of Jehovah and his people. "Cease from your vain
attacks
upon my people; learn from what you have already seen and felt
that
their protector is divine, and that he is resolved to be acknowledged as
supreme,
not only by his chosen people, but by all the nations and
throughout
the earth." This general recognition of Jehovah as the true
and
the supreme God, would of course be promoted by such a signal over-
throw
as that experienced by Sennacherib. Compare Isa. xxxvii. 20.
12 (11). Jehovah of Hosts (is) with us; a refuge for us (is) the God of
Jacob. Selah. This repetition of the
burden or refrain in ver. 8 (7),
brings
us back not only to the close of the second stanza, but to the begin-
ning
of the first, where the same idea is expressed in other words.
PSALM XLVII.
1. To
the Chief Musician. To the Sons of Korah. A Psalm. A song
of
triumph, in celebration of a signal victory gained by the chosen people
over
certain confederated nations. In the first stanza, ver. 2-5 (1-4),
Jehovah
is celebrated as the conqueror of the nations; in the second, ver.
6-10
(5-9), as their rightful sovereign; in both, as the tutelary God of
Israel.
Another difference of form between the two parts seems to be,
that
in the first, the exhortation to praise God is addressed directly to the
Gentiles;
in the second, to Israel or the ancient church. The psalm has
every
appearance of having been composed in reference to some particular
event;
but as this is not indicated in the psalm itself, it can only be con-
jectured.
Of the various suppositions which have been suggested, the
most
probable is, that it was written to commemorate the victory of Jehosha-
phat
over the Ammonites and Edomites, recorded in the twentieth chapter
of
Second Chronicles. Besides the general appropriateness of the compo-
sition
to the juncture there described, it is, to say the least, a very singular
coincidence,
that the history records the presence, upon that occasion,
not
only of Levites in general, but of the Korhites (sons of Korah) in par-
ticular
(2 Chron. xx. 19). We read too that singers went before the army
(ver.
21), and that on the fourth day they assembled in a valley which they
212 PSALM
XL VII. [VER.1-6.
called
Berachah (blessing), because there
they blessed the Lord (ver. 26).
There
is also something in the simple, animated, flowing style of the psalm
before
us which agrees very well with the supposition of its being an in-
spired
impromptu, a psalm composed upon the spur of the occasion, either
by
some anonymous prophet who accompanied the army, or by the Sons of
Korah
themselves. See above, on Ps. xlii. 1. This conjecture, as to the
historical
occasion of the psalm before us, is corroborated by the apparent
relation
of the next psalm to the same event. See below, on Ps. xlviii. 1.
2 (1). All
nations, clap the hand! shout unto God with a voice of
triumph! The clapping of the
hands is a natural gesture both of triumph
and
applause. See Nah. iii. 19, and compare Ps. xcviii. 8, Isa. Iv. 12. The
last
word in the verse does not denote a feeling, but the audible expression
of
joy and exultation, by song or shout. See above, on Ps. v. 12 (11).
The
nations addressed are not the particular nations which had just been
conquered,
but the whole gentile world, the nations collectively, who are
summoned
to rejoice in the proof just afforded, that Jehovah is their
rightful
sovereign. See above, on Ps. xviii. 50 (49), and below, on Ps.
lxvi.
4 (3), cxvii. 1, and compare the original expression upon which this
is
modelled, Deut. xxxii. 43.
3 (2). For
Jehovah, Most High, is terrible, a great king over all the
earth. He is not, as the
heathen were disposed to imagine, a mere local
deity,
the God of the Hebrews only, but the God of the whole earth, the
Universal
Sovereign, and an object of fear to its inhabitants. See the
same
epithet applied to him in Ps. lxviii. 36 (35).
4 (3). He
will subdue nations under us, and peoples under our feet. This
is
a proof both of his covenant relation to his people, and of his sovereign
power
over other nations. What he has done is but an earnest of what he
will
do. Compare Ps. xviii. 39 (38), 48 (47). This, though not a matter
of
rejoicing to the nations immediately concerned, may well be represented
as
a matter of rejoicing to the world at large, because it involves a pro-
mise
that the Gentiles shall one day be included among the subjects of this
divine
protector, and partakers of his favour.
5 (4). He
will choose for us our heritage, the pride of Jacob whom he loved.
Selah. By defeating the
enemies who sought to expel Israel from the land
of
promise (2 Chron. xx. 11), God might be poetically said to settle them
again
therein, and, as at first, to choose their inheritance for them. The
pride of Jacob, that of which he is
proud, in which he glories, whether this
be
understood specifically of the Holy Land, or generically of all the privi-
leges
and distinctions which belonged to them as the peculiar people of
Jehovah.
Pride, exaltation, or distinction, as
in Nah. ii. 3 (2), Amos
vi.
8. In Amos viii. 7, God himself is so described. Jacob, as in Ps. xxiv. 6, xlvi.
8
(7), 12 (11). Whom he loved. See Mal.
i. 2, and compare Ps. lxxviii. 68.
6 (5). God
has gone up with shouting, Jehovah with, sound of trumpet.
He
is here described as returning to heaven after the conquest of his enemies
and
the rescue of his people, as in Ps. vii. 8 (7), he does the same, after
sitting
in judgment on the nations, and asserting the right of his own
people.
See Ps. lxviii. 19 (18), and compare Gen. xvii. 22, Judges xiii. 20.
The
shouting and sound of the trumpet represents the ascension as a public
and
triumphant one. The ideal scene is typical of the actual ascension of
our
Saviour. See below, on Ps. lxviii. 19 (18).
7 (6). Sing
praises (to) God, sing praises! Sing praises to our King,
sing praises! The Hebrew
corresponding to sing praises is a
single word
VER.
7- 9.] PSALM
XLVII. 213
(Urm;.za), which means to praise
musically, both with voice and instrument.
See
above, on Ps. ix. 3, (2). God, who is first mentioned as the object of
the
praise, is then described as our King,
the actual King of Israel and the
rightful
King of all the earth.
8 (7). For
King of all the earth (is) God. Perform a maschil, i. e. sing
and
play a didactic psalm. See above, on Ps. xxxii. 1, xlii. 1, xliv. 1,
xlv.
1. The maschil here meant is the
psalm itself. The designation may
have
been omitted in the title for the very reason that it is contained in the
body
of the composition. The doctrine taught is that of Jehovah's univer-
sal
sovereignty, and of the ultimate subjection of all nations to his peaceful
sway.
This idea is realised in the reign of the Messiah, so that the psalm
is,
in a wide sense, Messianic. The peculiar import of this last clause is
lost
in the common version (sing ye praises
with understanding), which is
also
that of the Septuagint (Ya<late sunetw?j), the Vulgate (psallite sapien-
ter), and Jerome (canite erudite).
9 (8). God
hath reigned over the nations, God hath sat down on his throne
of holiness. He has begun to reign,
has become a king, and as such has
ascended
the throne of universal empire. This and the next verse may be
specially
regarded as constituting the maschil
mentioned in ver. 8 (7). The
throne of his holiness, his holy throne, i. e. his divine throne, his throne un-
like
and above all others. See above, on Ps. xxii. 4 (3), and below, on Ps.
ciii.
19, and compare Isa. vi. 1, lxvi. 1.
10 (9). Princes
of nations are assembled—the people of the God of Abra-
ham; for unto God belong
the shields of the earth; he is greatly exalted.
The
first word properly means willing, and especially spontaneous givers;
then
by a natural deduction, liberal, generous, noble, and as a substantive,
nobles,
princes. They are here named as the representatives of the nations,
gathered
in the presence of God, to do him homage and acknowledge his
supremacy.
The next phrase may mean either as, with,
or to the people of
God, most probably the
first. The God of Abraham, their
founder and pro-
genitor,
with whom the covenant was made, not only for himself but for
his
children. See the same phrase, Gen. xxxi. 42, Exod. iii. 6, Mat.
xxii.
32. The shields of the earth, its
protectors, here put for protection in
the
abstract, or for the princes
mentioned in the foregoing clause. Com-
pare
Hos. iv. 18. It is not till all the principalities and powers of earth
acknowledge
their subjection to Jehovah, that he can be duly and sufficiently
exalted.
See above, on Ps. xxii. 29 (28).
PSALM
XLVIII.
1. A
Psalm. A Song. To the Sons of Korah.
The generic term psalm
(mizmôr) is rendered more specific by the
addition of song (shir), which
commonly
denotes a song of praise. See above, on Ps. xlii. 9 (8). It is
further
described as (belonging) to the Sons of
Korah, either as authors or
performers.
See above, on Ps. xlii. 1. The psalm before us celebrates
Jehovah,
and Jerusalem as his residence, ver. 2-4 (1-3), with particular
reference
to a recent deliverance from certain confederate kings, ver. 5-9
(4-8),
which is recognised as a subject of perpetual praise, ver. 10-15
(9-14).
The most probable conjecture as to the historical occasion of the
psalm
is, that it has reference to the same event that is commemorated in
the
one before it. This is the more probable, as we learn from 2 Chron.
xx.
19, 27, that Jehoshaphat and his followers first praised God for their
214 PSALM
XLVIII.
[VER. 1-6.
deliverance
on or near the field of battle, and then again in the temple after
their
return to Jerusalem. The psalm before us was probably written for
the
latter purpose.
2 (1). Great
(is) Jehovah, and to be praised exceedingly, in the city of
our God, his holy
mountain.
This verse propounds, as the theme of the
whole
psalm, the glory of Jehovah as revealed to his own people. To be
praised: see above, on Ps.
xviii. 4 (3). The paronomasia, great and
greatly
to be praised, is not in the
original, where the words translated great
and.
greatly in the English Bible,
are entirely different both in form and etymo-
logy.
The city of our God: see above, on
Ps. xlvi. 5 (4). The parallel
expression,
the mountain of his holiness, his
mountain of holiness, his holy
mountain, is intended to convey
the same idea, Jerusalem in general and.
Zion
in particular being here referred to as the seat of the theocracy, the
place
where God resided in the midst of his peculiar people, as their king
and
their tutelary deity, and where the duty of praising him was therefore
peculiarly
incumbent.
3 (2). Beautiful
for elevation, the joy of the whole earth, Mount Zion, (on).
the sides of the north,
the city of the great king. The common version,
situation,
although not erroneous, is too vague. The reference is to the
lofty
site of Jerusalem, as seen from the surrounding country. It is called
the
joy of the whole earth, as a source of spiritual blessings to all nations.
The
sides of the north may mean the
northern division of the city, and be
joined
with Zion, which was in the southern part, in order to express the
whole.
Or as the word here rendered sides
always denotes the extreme
edge
or frontier, it may here be used to describe the appearance of the
Holy
City, as it rose upon the view of the army returning from the south.
Either
of these is a more natural interpretation than the modern one, which
supposes
an allusion to the heathen notion of a mountain in the extreme
north,
where the gods resided, to which belief there is supposed to be a
reference
in Isa. xiii. 14.
4 (3). God
in her palaces is known for a refuge. In this, his chosen
seat,
he has revealed himself already, as the protector of his people. See
below,
on Ps. lxxvi. 2 (1).
5 (4). For
lo, the kings met—they passed away together. They had no
sooner
come together than they disappeared together. Lo or behold, as
usual,
indicates something unexpected. The definite expression, the kings,
seems
to refer to something recent and well-known. The kings originally
meant
were those of Moab and Edom. The word translated met means to
come
together by appointment or agreement, and here implies a combination against
Judea.
Compare Ps. lxxxiii. 4-6 (3-5). Passed
away, fled or disappeared.
6 (5). (As)
they saw, so they wondered, were struck with terror, were put
to flight. This verse explains
what was meant by their passing in the on
before
it. The as, corresponding to so, which is expressed in ver. 9 (8),
seems
to be here omitted, as in Isa. lv. 9. As
soon as they saw the holy
city,
or the tokens of divine protection. The last two verbs are passives.
For
the meaning of the first, see above, on Ps. ii. 5, and for that of the
second,
on Ps. xxxi. 23 (22). The whole verse is descriptive of a panic
leading
to a disorderly retreat or flight.
7 (6). Trembling
seized them there, pain as of a travailing (woman).
There,
i. e. on the very spot of their
anticipated triumph. See above, on
Ps.
xiv. 5. Or on the spot from which they first obtained a sight of Jeru-
salem.
This may have been Tekoa (2 Chron. xx. 20), the lofty site of
VER.
7-11.] PSALM XLVIII. 215
which
commands an extensive prospect. See Robinson's Palestine, ii. 182.
The
comparison in the last clause is a common one in Scripture, to denote
intense
but transient pain. Compare Isa. xiii. 8, xxi. 3, xlii. 14.
8 (7). With
an east wind thou wilt break ships of Tarshish. It is an
interesting
coincidence that such a disaster did befall the navy of Jehosha-
phat
himself. See I Kings xxii. 49 (48), 2 Chron. xx. 36, 37. Some
suppose
this to be specifically meant in the case before us, while others
understand
it as a figurative description of God's sovereign control over all
inferior
agents. The east wind seems to be mentioned as the one most to
be
dreaded in the neighbouring seas. The trade to Tarshish and Ophir
was
almost the only maritime commerce known to the contemporary He-
brews.
See 2 Chron. ix. 21, and compare Isa. ii. 16, xxiii. 1, 14; lx. 9.
9 (8). As
we have heard, so have we seen, in the city of Jehovah of Rests,
in the city of our God.
God will confirm it to eternity. Selah. What
they
had heard of as occurring elsewhere or in ancient times, they had now
witnessed
for themselves. See above, on Ps. xliv. 2 (1), and compare Job
xlii.
5. Jehovah of Hosts; see above, on
Ps. xxiv. 10. God will confirm
it, or establish her, i. e. Jerusalem, the city of our God. He will secure
it
against
all such assaults as it has just escaped. As Jerusalem is here
regarded
not as a mere town, but as the seat of the theocracy, the earthly
residence
of God, the promise is still valid, in its strongest sense, with.respect to the
church,
of which the ancient Zion was the constituted type and local centre.
10 (9). We
have compared, O God, thy mercy in the midst of thy temple.
The
verb in this verse sometimes means to meditate,
but scarcely ever, if
at
all, without some reference to its primary sense of likening or comparing.
It
may here denote the act of comparing what they saw with what they had
previously
heard, as in the foregoing verse. In the
midst of (i. e. within)
thy temple, literally thy palace, a term applied both to the
tabernacle and
the
temple, as the royal residence of Jehovah. See above, on Ps. v. 8 (7),
xi.
4, xviii. 7 (6), xxvii. 4, xxix. 9. This expression agrees well with the
supposition,
that this psalm was intended to be sung at the temple after
the
return of the army. See 2 Chron. xx. 27.
11 (10). As thy name, O God, so is thy praise, to the ends of the earth;
(of) righteousness full
is thy right hand.
The most obvious meaning of the
first
clause would seem to be that wherever God is known he is praised.
Some,
however, understand by name the
previous manifestations of God's
nature,
and by praise the glory due to his
most recent interposition in behalf
of
his people. The sense will then be still the same as in ver. 9 (8), namely,
that
what the contemporary Israelites had heard of God's wonderful works
in
time past they had now seen and felt in their own experience. To the
ends of the earth, literally on or over them, which may be a poetical hyper-
bole
describing the fame of these events as already gone beyond the
boundaries
of earth. See below on ver. 15 (14). Righteousness,
that of
God,
as manifested in the destruction of his enemies and the rescue of his
people.
See above, on Ps. xxxv. 28. This is said to fill his right hand,
i. e. to be abundantly
displayed in the exercise of his almighty power. See
above,
on Ps. xvi. 11.
12 (11). Rejoice shall Mount Zion, exult shall the daughters of Judah,
because of thy judgments. According to a very
ancient usage, which is
found
even in the prose of technical geography (Josh. xv. 45, 47), the
daughters of Judah may be the minor towns
dependent on Jerusalem. The
more
obvious sense is that of female inhabitants, who, as the weaker sex,
216 PSALM
XLVIII.
[VER. 12-14.
had
particular occasion to rejoice in the deliverance of the country from its
barbarous
invaders. The verbs may be understood as expressive of a wish
or
prayer (let mount Zion rejoice,
&c.). But the proper future sense agrees
better
with what immediately precedes, as the declaration of the glory,
which
has already redounded to the name of God from this exhibition of
his
power and faithfulness, is then followed up by a declaration, that the
same
effect shall be continued. For the sake (or
on account) of thy judgments, these
experimental
proofs of thy righteousness, afforded by its actual exercise.
13 (12). Surround Zion and encircle her; count her towers. The verbs
in
the first clause mean to walk (or go) around.
They are twice used
together
in the history of the taking of Jericho (Josh. vi. 3, 11). The
second
occurs above in Ps. xvii. 9, xxii. 17 (16). The object of the walk
here
proposed is to survey the perfect state of her defences, as untouched
by
the recent dangers. Compare Isa. xxxiii. 20. Count her towers, to see
if
any of them have been demolished.
14 (13). Set your heart to her rampart, examine her palaces, that you,
may recount (it) to a
generation following.
The meaning of the first phrase
is,
apply your mind, give attention, observe closely. The word translated
rampart
seems to denote the exterior circumvallation, here contrasted with
the
palaces which it surrounded. Recount it,
i. e. the result of your inspec-
tion,
or the sound state of the defences, both as a reminiscence of this
particular
deliverance, and as a type or emblem of the safety which the
church
enjoys under divine protection, and therefore entitled to perpetual
remembrance.
The last word in Hebrew is not a participle but an adjec-
tive,
strictly meaning later or latter, subsequent or future.
15 (14). For this God (is) our God for ever and ever; he will guide us
unto death. The for assigns a
reason for representing this event as one to
be
remembered, namely, because it is an instance of the favour of Jehovah,
who
is our perpetual defender. The whole may be thrown into a single
sentence,
without supplying is in the first clause. For
this God, our God,
for ever and ever, he
will guide,
&c. Or still more in accordance with the
usual
construction of the pronoun (hz,), this is our God for ever and ever,
i. e. he who has done this is
and is to be our God. According to the other
and
more usual construction, this God means the God who has performed.
these
wonders. For ever and ever, literally
eternity and perpetuity. See,
above,
on Ps. ix. 6 (5), x. 16, xxi. 5 (4), xlv. 7 (6). Unto death, or as
some
explain it, at death, i. e. he will save us from it; others, over death,
beyond
it. But the most obvious explanation, and the one most agreeable
to
usage, is that which makes the phrase mean even to the end of life, or
as
lono, as we live. The idea of a future state, though not expressed, is not
excluded.
See above, on Ps. xvii. 15.
PSALM XLIX.
1. To
the Chief Musician. To the Sons of Borah. A Psalm. This
psalm,
like the thirty-seventh, is intended to console the righteous under
the
trials arising from the prosperity and enmity of wicked men, by shewing
these
to be but temporary, and by the prospect of a speedy change in the
relative
position of the parties. It consists of a short introductory stanza,
inviting
general attention to the subject, ver. 2-5 (1-4), followed by two
VER.
1-5.] PSALM
XLIX.
217
longer
stanzas, the close of which is marked by the recurrence of a burden
or
refrain in ver. 13 (12) and 21 (20).
In the first of these two divisions,
the
prominent idea is the fallacy of all merely secular advantages and hopes,
ver.
6-13 (5-12). In the other, these advantages and hopes are directly
contrasted
with those of the believer, ver. 14-21 (13-20). There is nothing
in
the psalm to determine its date or historical occasion. The inscription
to the Sons of Korah is consistent with any
date from the time of David to
that
of Ezra. See above, on Ps. xlii. 1, xliv. 1, xlv. 1, xlvi. 1, xlvii. 1, xlviii.
1. In favour
of
an earlier date, however, may be urged the obscurity and difficulty of the
style.
2 (1). Hear
this, all the nations; give ear, all
inhabitants of the world!
This
general invocation implies that the doctrine to be taught is one of
universal
interest. The form of expression is similar to that in Micah i. 2
and
1 Kings xxii. 28, and may be borrowed, in all these cases, from the
still
stronger one in Deut. xxxii. 1. See below; Ps. 1.1, and compare Isa.
i.
2. The word translated world means
primarily duration or continued
existence;
then more specifically, human life,
the present state of things;
and
by a natural transition, the world,
as the place where it is spent. See
above,
on Ps. xvii. 14, xxxix. 6 (5), and below, on Ps. lxxxix. 48 (47).
3 (2). Both
low and high together, rich and poor This is the conclusion
of
the sentence begun in the preceding verse. The first clause is highly
idiomatic
in its form, and cannot be literally rendered into intelligible
English.
Likewise sons of man, likewise sons of
man. The word man here
corresponds
to two distinct Hebrew words which, when placed in opposition,
denote
men of high and low degree. See above, on Ps. v. 3 (2), and below,
on
Ps. lxii. 10 (9), and compare Prov. viii. 4. The same antithesis is pre-
sented
in a different form, Ps. xxii. 30 (29). The rich are here summoned
to
receive reproof and warning, the poor consolation and encouragement.
4 (3). My
mouth shall speak wisdom, and the meditation of my heart (is)
understanding. This is no
self-praise, as he is only to communicate what he
has
received. Shall speak, is speaking or
about to speak. Wisdom and
understanding are both plural in the
Hebrew, that form denoting fulness or
variety.
See above, on Ps. xviii. 51 (50). The plural of the first word is
also
applied to the personification of the highest wisdom, in Prov. ix. 1.
The
speech mentioned in the first clause is the outward expression of the
thought
or meditation in the second. See the same combination above,
Ps.
v. 2 (1), xix. 15 (14).
5 (4). I
will incline to a parable my ear, and open with a harp my riddle.
I
will hear what God says, and impart it to others. To incline (or bend)
the ear is to lean forward as a
sign or gesture of attention. See above, on
Ps.
xvii. 6, xxxi. 3 (2), xl. 2 (1). Parable,
literally likeness or comparison;
then
any figurative, tropical expression. See above, on Ps. xliv. 15 (14).
The
parallel word here means an enigma, something hard to understand.
To
open it is not to begin it, but
either to utter it or to explain it, probably
the
latter. What he hears from God he will open or expound to man.
With the harp indicates the form in
which his exposition is to be presented,
namely,
that of a lyrical composition, intended to be sung with an instru-
mental
accompaniment. See above, on Ps. xxxiii. 2, xlvii. 4.
6 (5). Why
should I fear in days of evil, (when) the iniquity of my oppres-
sors (or supplanters) shall surround me? The theme of the whole psalm is
the
negative proposition involved in this interrogation, namely, that the
righteous
has no cause to fear, even when surrounded by powerful and
spiteful
enemies. Days of evil, i. e. of misfortune or distress. The
word
218 PSALM XLIX. [VER. 6-10.
translated
oppressors commonly means heels; but as this yields no good sense
here,
it may be taken as a verbal noun, meaning either treaders, tramplers,
oppressors,
or supplanters, traitors, in a sense akin to which the verbal root
is
used, Gen. xxvii. 36, Hos. xii. 4 (3). In either case, it is clearly a
description
of his enemies, as practising violence or fraud against him.
7 (6). Those
relying on their strength, and in the abundance of their wealth
they glory. A further description
of the oppressors and supplanters. The
Hebrew
word translated strength is applied,
in different cases, to bodily,
pecuniary,
military, and moral strength. The parallelism here would seem
to
indicate a reference to the power which naturally springs from great pos-
sessions.
The word translated abundance may
also mean increase. For
the
use of the verbal root, see above, on Ps. iii. 2 (1). Glory, boast, or
praise
themselves, which last is the exact sense of the reflexive verb here used.
8 (7). A
brother can not (or he shall not)
even redeem; a man can not give
to God his ransom. In the first clause, brother may be either the subject
or
the object of the verb; the rich man cannot redeem his brother, or,
his
brother cannot redeem him. The former agrees better with the obvious
design
to shew the worthlessness of mere wealth, which does not enable
a
man to redeem a brother, i. e. save
another's life. The even in this ver-
sion
is intended to express the emphatic repetition of the verb in Hebrew.
It
cannot do that which is most essential, and without which other advan-
tages
are worthless. Unless the last clause be regarded as a mere reitera-
tion
of the same idea in other words, it must be understood to mean that
as
the rich man cannot redeem his brother from the inevitable stroke of
death,
much less can he redeem himself, or pay to God his own ransom.
This
construction of the last words is the less unnatural, because there is
properly
no reflexive pronoun in the Hebrew language. See above, on
Ps.
xxxvi. 3 (2).
9 (8). And
costly is the ransom of their soul, and he (or it) ceases for ever.
This
obscure verse admits of several constructions. Their soul refers most
probably
to the rich man and his brother. The soul or life of both requires
so
much to ransom it, that neither can redeem the other. The verb in the
last
clause may mean ceases to live,
perishes, and agree with either or with
each
of the subjects previously mentioned. The ransom of their life is so
costly,
that neither can be saved. Or the verb may agree with ransom,
as
in the English Bible; it is too costly to be paid, and therefore ceases,
or
remains unpaid, for ever. The same sense substantially may be obtained
by
making cease mean cease (or fail) to
pay, and construing it with one of
the
preceding nouns. The ransom is so costly that he fails to pay it, or
ceases
to attempt it, for ever. Upon any of these various suppositions,
the
essential idea is that the ransom of their life is too expensive to be
paid.
10 (9). That
he should still live for ever, and not
see corruption. The
form
of the first verb in Hebrew shews that this is a dependent sentence,
to
be immediately connected, as some think, with the ninth verse: "he can-
not
even redeem a brother, a man cannot pay to God a ransom, so as to
live
for ever and not see corruption." The tenth verse is then a parenthetical
amplification
of the ninth. Others connect the ninth and tenth directly, by
taking
cease to mean that he cannot bring to
pass. The redemption of their
soul
is too costly; he can never so contrive it, that he shall live for ever
and
not see corruption.
11 (10). For he shall see (it); wise (men) must die; likewise the fool and
VER.
11, 12.] PSALM XLIX. 219
brute must perish, and
leave to others their substance. The usual construc-
tion
of the first words—when he sees (or for he sees) that wise men die
—is
neither so simple in itself, nor so well suited to the context, as that
which
gives the verb the same sense, and the same object, as in the pre-
ceding
verse. Wealth cannot ransom its possessor, so that he shall live
for
ever and not see corruption, for he shall
see it, as all others do. Even
the
wisest men must die, much more the fool and brutish person. These
are
the terms so frequently used in the Book of Proverbs to describe the
sinner
as irrational. See above, on Ps. xiv. 1, and compare Prov. i. 32, x. 1,
xii.
1, xxx. 2, Eccles. ii. 16. In the use of the verbs die and perish, there may
be an
intentional
allusion to the different destiny of the wise and foolish. Likewise, or more
literally
together, at the same time. See
above, Ps. iv. 9 (8), and compare Isa. i. 28.
Substance, strength, pecuniary
strength, the same word that is used in ver 7 (6) above.
12 (11). Their inward thought (is that) their
houses (shall continue)
for ever, their
dwellings to generation and generation: they call their lands
by their own names. This is substantially
the common version, which is
here
retained because it yields a good sense, and is as probable as any
other
explanation of this very obscure verse. The first word in Hebrew
strictly
means the inside of anything, and especially of man, i. e. his mind
or
heart, particularly as distinguished from his words or outward conduct.
See
above, on Ps. v. 10 (9), and below, on Ps. lxiv. 7 (6). The plural
form
at the end of the sentence occurs nowhere else, but corresponds to our
word
grounds, when applied to cultivated
lands. As the singular, how-
ever,
though it commonly means ground, seems occasionally to denote
a land or country, some understand the clause to mean that they (i. e. men
indefinitely)
proclaim (or celebrate) their names over
lands, i. e. throughout
various
countries. Another possible, though not a probable construction,
makes
the last two words mean upon earth,
the form of the Hebrew noun
being
assimilated to that of the particle before it. Amidst these various
constructions
the essential meaning still remains unchanged, to wit, that the
rich
fools of the foregoing context imagine their prosperity to be perpetual.
13 (12). And man in honour shall not lodge; he is made like to the brutes;
they are destroyed. The and at the beginning is equivalent to and yet, or
to
the simple adversative but. It
introduces the contrast of man's real
frailty
with his imaginary permanence. As if he had said, "Such are the
dreams
of the rich fool, and (yet) man really," &c. The word translated
honour properly means value, price, but is applied precisely
like the corre-
sponding
Greek word (timh<). It here includes all that makes the
condition
of
the rich fool seem desirable, either to his own conceit, or to the envious
admiration
of his neighbours. In this position he is
not to lodge, i. e.
remain
permanently, or with closer adherence to the strict sense of the verb,
continue
even for a night, implying that he is to perish before morning.
This
passage seems to have been present to our Lord's mind, when he
uttered
the parable of the Rich Fool. Compare especially with the verse
before
us, Luke xii. 20. Made like,
assimilated, not in his origin, but in
his
end. The point of comparison seems to be their blindness and irra-
tional
destitution of all foresight. The word translated brutes may be still
more
closely rendered beasts, being
properly descriptive of the larger qua-
drupeds.
It might even seem in this case to denote specifically cattle or
domesticated
animals, as those which men are especially accustomed to see
suddenly
deprived of life. But this limitation of the term is peculiar to
prose
style, whereas in poetry, when used distinctively, it rather signifies
220
PSALM XLIX.
[VER. 13, 14.
wild beasts. It is better,
therefore, to give it here its wider sense of beasts
in
general, and to explain even these as mere representatives or samples of
the
whole class, brutes or irrational animals, like whom the rich fool is cut
off
suddenly and unawares. They are destroyed,
or as the word seems to
signify
originally, silenced, brought to
silence, i. e. stilled or hushed in
death.
By
assuming an enallage or sudden change of number, we may construe
this
verb with the human subject. He (the
rich fool) is treated like the
brute; (like these) they (the rich fools) are
destroyed. A less emphatic but
more
obvious construction is that which refers it to the brutes themselves.
He is made like to the
beasts
(which) are destroyed (before they
are aware).
14 (13). This (is) their course; (such is) their folly; and (yet) after
them (men) will delight
in what they say. Selah. Their way or
course
means
not only their behaviour, but their fate or destiny. See above, on
Ps.
i. 6. Such is their folly; literally folly (is) to them, they have folly,
they
are fools. The noun means originally hope
or expectation; then an
overweening
confidence, a fond or foolish hope; then folly,
but not with-
out
a special reference to this specific form of it. The term is peculiarly
appropriate
to those who had just been described as confidently looking for
a
permanent enjoyment of their present pleasures, when about to be de-
prived
of them for ever. After them may
refer to those who follow them
in
time, their successors or descendants. But as a similar expression else-
where
denotes those who follow in the sense of imitating or adhering to a
leader
(Exod. xxiii. 2, 2 Sam. ii. 10), it is best to retain this meaning in
the
case before us. They who follow them,
their imitators, their adherents,
will delight in their
mouth,
approve of what they say, adopt their principles,
and
act upon their maxims. The general meaning of the verse, as thus explained, is
that
notwithstanding the gross folly of such sinners, as proved by the end to which
it
brings
them, they will still find some to walk in their footsteps, and to share their
ruin.
Against
this propagated and perpetuated folly there is a tacit but emphatic protest in
the
meditative
pause which follows, and in the Selah which denotes it.
15 (14). Like a flock to the grave they drive; death is their shepherd; and
the righteous shall rule
over them in the morning; and their form the grave
(is) to consume; from (their) home to him (they go or they belong).
This
is
one of the most obscure and difficult verses in the book, although its
general
meaning is obvious enough. Like sheep,
or like a flock, i. e. blindly,
in
confusion, and without choice or foresight of their own. See above, on
ver.
13,(12). Hell, in the wide old
English sense of the grave or the
state
of the dead. See above, on Ps. vi. 6 (5), ix. 18 (17), xvi. 10, xviii.
6
(5), xxx. 4 (3), xxxi. 18 (17). They
drive; the Hebrew verb, like the
English
one, is active in form, but really involves a passive meaning, they
are driven, literally put or placed. See above, on Ps. xii. 6 (5). The
figure
of a flock is carried out by representing Death as the shepherd, by
whom
they are led or driven. The literal meaning of the words is, Death
shall feed them, but the Hebrew verb
means to feed as a shepherd; or
rather
to perform the whole office of a shepherd. To this word and its
synonyme
in greek (poimai<nw) we have no exact equivalent in English.
The
bald translation, death shall feed them,
seems to imply that the pro-
minent
idea is that of nourishment, whereas it is that of guidance or direc-
tion.
The common version, death shall feed on
them, although not ungram-
matical,
is entirely at variance with the figure of a flock and a shepherd,
which
immediately precedes. The verb translated rule
seems originally to
denote
the act of treading on or trampling, in which sense it is supposed
VER.
15, 16.] PSALM
XLIX. 221
to
be used by Joel, iv. 13 (iii. 13). If this sense be adopted here, the idea
may
be either that of treading on a grave, or on the neck of a conquered
enemy.
As the Hebrew verb, however, in every other case, means to rule
over, and especially when
followed by the same preposition as in this place,
it
is better to adhere to the established usage, which affords a perfectly
good
sense, namely, that the righteous shall soon triumph over their once
prosperous
oppressors. At break of day, or in
the morning, i. e. very soon,
to-morrow,
with allusion, no doubt, to the form of expression in ver. 13 (12),
above,
and to the general use of night and morning, as figures for distress
and
relief from it. See above, on Ps. xxx. 6 (5). Their form, shape,
figure,
perhaps with an implication of beauty, which is expressed in the
English
version. Consume, literally make old,
wear out, waste away. See
above,
on Ps. xxxii. 3. Is to consume, will
do so, or is about to do so.
The
last clause is even more obscure than what precedes. The last word
in
Hebrew means to him (or it), which most interpreters exchange,
by an
enallage
of number, into them. It may,
however, be referred directly to
the
nearest antecedent, hell, the grave,
or to death, personified in the first
clause.
From (their) dwelling, i. e. driven from it, (they descend or they
belong)
to him. However harsh the ellipsis
here assumed may seem, it is
really
less so than to omit the preposition with some writers, or the pro-
noun
with others, or with one to understand from
dwelling to mean a
dwelling
which is not a dwelling, or, as we might say, an undwelling.
Apart
from these minute verbal difficulties, the general idea of the verse is
plain,
to wit, that they who are now an object of envy or congratulation
are
soon to be deprived by death of all their coveted and boasted advantages.
16 (15). Only God will redeem my soul from the hand of Hell, for he will
take me. Selah. The Hebrew particle at
the beginning of the sentence
always
denotes a limitation or exception. See above, on Ps. xxxvii. 8,
xxxix.
12 (11). It may here mean either that his own case is excepted
from
the destruction which he has been describing, and which might seem
to
be described as universal; or that God alone can afford that safety which
the
rich fool hopes to derive from his secular advantages. Redeem, in allu-
sion
to ver. 8, 9 (7, 8), above. The hand
is a common emblem of power,
but
it may here belong to a personification of Sheol,
the grave, or hell, like
that
of death in ver. 15 (14). For he will
take me, i. e., as some suppose,
will
take me to himself, accept me. But as the verb is nowhere absolutely
used
in this sense, it is better to explain it as a parallel expression to redeem.
"He
will redeem me from the hand of Sheol, for he will take me (out of
it)."
Either of these constructions is more natural than that which makes
Sheol
the subject of the last verb. "He will redeem me from the hand of
Sheol,
when it seizes (or would seize) me." The hostile sense thus put
upon
the verb may be justified by the analogy of Isa. xxviii. 19; but the
change
of subject and the less usual meaning of the. particle (yKi) are not to
be
assumed without necessity.
17 (16). Be not thou afraid because a man grows rich, because the glory
of his house increases. Here begins the
application or practical conclusion
of
the foregoing meditations. It is marked by a change of form, the Psalm-
ist
now no longer speaking of himself, but to himself, or to another, as the
person
most directly interested in his subject. See a similar transition
in
Ps. xxxii. 8, and compare the parental or authoritative tone of the
address
with that in Ps. xxxiv. 12 (11). Fear not,
be not apprehensive
or
solicitous, not merely for thyself, but for the cause of truth and goodness.
222 PSALM
XLIX. [VER.
17, 18.
See
above, on Ps. xxxvii. 1. The conjunction in the first clause may also be
translated
when or though. But the proper causal meaning of the particle
should
always be preferred when admissible, and especially in cases like the
present,
where it yields not only a good sense but the best sense, since the
increasing
wealth and honour of the wicked is certainly assigned as the
cause
or occasion of the anxious apprehensions here forbidden. The use
of
the English present tense in the translation of this verse is merely idio-
matic,
since in such connections it is really a future. The verb of the first
clause
is a causative, and strictly means to enrich
or make rich. The tran-
sition
to the neuter or intransitive sense is precisely similar to that of the
English
verb increase, which strictly means
to make greater, but in this very
sentence
has the intransitive sense of growing
(or becoming) greater. There
is
no other clear example of the first Hebrew verb being so used. Dan.
xi.
2, and Prov. x. 4, are at least ambiguous. A
man cannot of itself denote
a bad man, but that idea is
suggested by the context, and especially by the
use
of the word man in ver. 8 (7), 13
(12). Glory or honour here includes
all
the sensible effects of riches, as a source of admiration and applause.
House, in the wide sense,
common to both languages, including both the dwelling
and
the family, the house and household. See Gen vii. 1, xviii. 19, xxxv. 2, 1. 4.
18 (17.) For not in his death will he take the whole; not down will go
after him his glory. The form of the
original is here retained as far as
possible,
in order to exhibit its highly idiomatic character. The position
of
the negative in both clauses makes it far more emphatic than in our Eng-
lish
collocation. At his death, in his
dying, when he dies. The whole
this
word is usually rendered all, but it
is invariably a substantive in He-
brew,
and is here determined to be such by the definite article prefixed.
Not the whole, however, or not all,
is by no means so significant a phrase
in
English as in Hebrew, where the absence of indefinite pronouns makes
this
the only way of saying not anything, i. e. nothing While the words
therefore
certainly mean that he shall not take all,
they likewise mean that he
shall not take any of his secular
possessions with him; and this stronger sense
is
here required by the context. His glory,
as in the preceding verse, his
wealth
and the honours or distinctions springing from it. Descend after
him, not in the moral or
legal sense of a hereditary descent to his heirs, but
in
the local sense of a descent into the grave or the unseen world. The
whole
verse assigns a reason for not envying the wealthy sinner, namely,
because
he will be soon obliged to leave his wealth behind him.
19 (18). For his soul in his life he will bless, and (others) will praise
thee because thou doest
good to thyself.
There is no need of giving yKi the
sense
of but, though, or any other than its
proper causal sense of for, because.
See
above, on ver. 17 (16). This verse assigns the reason of the fact
alleged
in the one before it. The wealthy sinner is to carry nothing with
him
when he dies, because he is to have his "good things" in the present
life.
This is God's appointment in accordance with his own free choice.
In his life (or lifetime), as long as he lives, he is to bless his soul (or him-
self), i. e. to reckon himself happy, and to be so esteemed by others. In
the
last clause, the third person is abruptly exchanged for the second, and
the
wealthy sinner, of whom the Psalmist had been speaking to himself or
his
disciple, is directly addressed, as if personally present. This applica-
tion
of the figure called apostrophe is made with great skill and rhetorical
effect.
The plural verb is indefinite, as in ver. 14 (13) above. They, i. e.
men
in general, or others, as distinguished from himself. The verb itself
VER.
19, 20.] PSALM
XLIX. 223
means
strictly to acknowledge or confess;
then more specifically, to acknow-
ledge
benefits received, to thank; and then
to praise in general. See above, on
Ps.
vi. 6 (5). The primary meaning may be here still kept in view, by
understanding
him to mean, they will recognise thee
(or take knowledge of
thee) that thou doest
good
(or as one doing good) to thyself. There is no
need
of substituting either a present or a past tense for the futures, which
are
perfectly appropriate in speaking of a course of conduct yet to be acted
out,
the wealthy sinner being represented as still living, both in this verse
and
the one before it. There is pungent sarcasm in the close of this verse:
they
will praise thee because thou doest good—to
thyself. Or, because
thou
doest well for thyself. The addition
of this last phrase serves to
characterise
vividly, not only the rich sinner but his flatterers. There can
be
little doubt that our Saviour tacitly alluded to the first clause of this
verse,
when he made Abraham say to Dives, "Son, remember that thou in
thy
lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things;
but
now he is comforted, and thou art tormented" (Luke xvi. 25). This is
indeed
a most instructive commentary on the passage now before us, as
exhibiting
the future revolution in the relative position of the parties, as a
reason
for not envying the wealthy sinner now. It is equally certain, that the Rich
Fool's
address
to his own soul, in Luke xii. 19, was suggested by the same clause of the psalm
before
us, in his lifetime he will bless his
soul. Indeed, the whole conception of the Rich
Man
in the one case, and the Rich Fool in the other, may be said to be borrowed
from this
psalm,
and may therefore derive instructive and interesting illustration from it.
20 (19). It shall go (or thou shalt go)
to the generation of his fathers; for
ever they shall not see
light.
The first verb may be either a third person
feminine,
agreeing with soul, or a second
person masculine, addressed directly
to
the wealthy sinner. In the latter case, we must suppose an immediate
change
to the third person, in order to account for the expression his fathers.
In
either case, the idea is that he shall go,
though this would not be a
correct
translation of the Hebrew words. The whole clause has reference
to
the frequent description of death in the Old Testament, as a man's
sleeping
with his fathers, or being gathered to his fathers. Generation may
be
taken as a collective term, denoting the successive generations of his
fathers,
either natural or spiritual, i. e.
either his literal progenitors, or his
predecessors
in the same way of thinking and. the same course of life.
There
is no absurdity indeed in supposing the two senses to be here coinci-
dent.
To perpetuity they shall not see, in
our idiom, they shall never see.
The light, i. e. the light of life, or the
light of the living, an expression used
by
David, Ps. lvi. 14 (13). The meaning of the whole verse is, that the wealthy
sinner is to
die
as his fathers died before him, and continue dead like them, without returning
to
revisit,
much less to repossess, the riches and honours which he once imagined were to
last
for ever. This completes the proof that these advantages are not legitimate or
even
rational
occasions of envious dissatisfaction to the righteous.
21 (20). Man (that is) in honour and
understandeth not is likened to the
beasts (that) are destroyed. The first verb in this
verse and the first verb
in
ver. 13 (12) differ only in a single letter (Nyby and Nyly), in consequence
of
which they are confounded by the ancient Greek and Syriac translators,
and
some modern critics have proposed to amend one of the places by
assimilation
to the other. But the prevalent practice of the Hebrew
writers,
where the same burden or refrain
recurs, is not to repeat it slavishly,
but
with some slight variation in the form, which not unfrequently suggests
224 PSALM
L. VER. 1-3.
a
new idea, or modifies the one before expressed. See above, on Ps.
xxiv.
10, xlii. 12 (11). So here, at the close of the first strophe, the rich
fool
is compared to the brutes that perish, with respect to the uncertainty
of
his enjoyments; and again at the close of the second, with respect to his
irrationality,
the points of comparison being distinct but inseparable. No
wonder
that the sinner is cut off unawares like the brutes, when in fact he
is
equally irrational. By tampering with the text of either passage, there-
fore,
we take from the psalm one of its moral lessons, as well as one of its
rhetorical
beauties.
PSALM L.
Under
the figure of a great judicial process, God himself is introduced,
exposing
and condemning the hypocrisy of formalists, and expounding the
true
nature of his law. After a striking introduction, ver. 1-6, he reproves
the
perversion, and exhibits the true meaning, of the first table of the law,
ver.
7-15, and then of the second, ver. 16-21, and closes with a solemn
warning
and a gracious promise, ver. 22-23.
1. A
Psalm. By Asaph. The Almighty, God, Jehovah, speaks, and
calls the earth, from
the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof.
Asaph
was one of David's chief musicians (1 Chron. xv. 17, 19), and
also
an inspired psalmist (1 Chron. xxv. 2, 2 Chron. xxix. 30). In
both
these capacities the psalm might be Ascribed to him, nor is it pos-
sible
either to prove or disprove that it was composed by him. Mighty or
Almighty is not an adjective
agreeing with the next word (the Mighty
God),
but
a substantive in apposition with it. Three divine names are put to-
gether
in a kind of climax, El, Elohim, Jehovah.
The first represents God
as
almighty, the second as the only proper object of worship and (by its
plural
form) as perfect, the third as self-existent and eternal, and at the
same
time as the peculiar God of Israel. The same combination occurs in
Josh.
xxii. 22. It is here intended to enhance the grandeur of the scene
by
setting forth the titles of the judge or sovereign. Speaks, or more exactly
spoke, has spoken, by which, however, we
may understand an act just past.
The
same remark applies to the word calls,
which is here used in the sense
of
summoning or citing. From sunrise to sunset, or from east to west, is
a
natural description of the earth in its whole extent, including its remotest
bounds
but not excluding that which lies between them. See above, on
Ps.
ii. 8.
2. Out
of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined. He comes
forth,
in a splendid and imposing manner, from his royal residence, the
seat
of the theocracy, which is described as perfectly beautiful, not only in
a
moral and spiritual sense, but in reference also to its lofty situation, cele-
brated
in Ps. xlviii. 3 (2) above. The Hebrew verb is borrowed from the
sublime
theophany in Deut. xxxiii. 2; see also Ps. lxxx. 2 (1), xciv. 1.
3. Our
God shall come—and let him not be silent—fire before him shall
devour, and around him
it shall be tempestuous exceedingly. The future in
the
first clause may be rendered he is coming,
as if the sound of his voice
and
the light of his glory had preceded his actual appearance. The imagery
is
borrowed from the giving of the law at Sinai, Exod. xix. 16, xx. 18.
Consuming
fire is a common emblem of God's vindicatory justice (Deut.
xxxii.
22, 2 Thess. i. 8), and of God himself considered as a righteous God
(Deut.
iv. 24, ix. 3, Heb. xii. 29).
VER.
4-8.]
PSALM L. 225
4. He
will call to the heavens above and to the earth, to judge his people.
The
future, as before, describes an act just about to be performed. It
might
even be translated, he is calling.
The compound preposition, from
over, is used adverbially in
the sense of above. See for example Gen. i. 7.
The
strict sense, from, above, would here
be inappropriate, since God is re-
presented
not as speaking from heaven, much less from above it, but as
appearing
upon earth, and visibly coming out of Zion. In our idiom these
words
would naturally mean that he summons heaven and earth to sit in
judgment
on his people. But according to Hebrew usage, the last clause
may
refer to the remoter antecedent, the subject of the principal verb, and
be
translated, so that he may judge his
people. The heavens and earth, put
for
the whole creation, are summoned not as judges but as witnesses, as
appears
from ver. 6 below. See Deut. iv. 26, xxx. 19, xxxi. 28, and compare Isa. i. 2.
5. Gather
for me my saints, ratifying my covenant over sacrifice. Tho
judge
here addresses, as it were, the ministerial officers of justice. Com-
pare
Mat. xxiv. 31. For me, as my messengers, acting in my behalf, or to
me, i. e. to the place where I am, here, around me. My saints, the objects of
my
mercy, those whom I have called and specially distinguished. See
above,
on Ps. iv. 4 (3). The term is here descriptive of a relation, not of
an
intrinsic quality. Ratifying,
literally cutting, striking, perhaps
in allu-
sion
to the practice of slaying and dividing victims as a religious rite accom-
panying
solemn compacts. See Gen. xv. 10, 18. The same usage may be
referred
to in the following words, over sacrifice,
i. e. standing over it, or on
sacrifice, i. e. founding the engagement on a previous appeal to God. There
is
probably allusion to the great covenant transaction recorded in Exod.
xxiv.
4-8. This reference to sacrifice shews clearly that what follows was
not
intended to discredit or repudiate that essential symbol of the typical or
ceremonial
system.
6. And
(now) the heavens have declared his
righteousness, for God (is) judge
himself. Selah. The heavens are
witnesses of God's judicial rectitude, for
he himself (and not a delegated
man or angel) is the judge (on this
occasion).
Or
the last words may be rendered, he is
judging, i. e. acting as a judge.
The
parties and the witnesses having been summoned, the judicial process
now
begins. The pause, denoted by the Selah,
is one indicative of awe,
excited
by the dread solemnity of these proceedings.
7. Hear,
my people, and let me speak, and let me testify against thee. God,
thy God, am I. The introductory
description being ended, the divine judg-
ment
now begins. Let me speak, or I will speak, the peculiar form of the
Hebrew
verb, sometimes expressing strong desire and sometimes fixed de-
termination.
See above, on Ps. ii. 3. God is himself the witness against
Israel,
by whom the charge is to be proved, the heavens and the earth being
only
witnesses of the judicial scene or spectacle. I am not only God, but
thy God, bound to thee by
covenant, and reciprocally claiming thy alle-
giance.
This may be added as a reason why he has a right to testify against
them;
or it may be the beginning of the testimony itself. "Let me testify
against
thee as thy God," or, "I will testify against thee, that I am thy
God,"
although I am not so regarded or so treated.
8. Not
for thy sacrifices will I reprove thee, and thy burnt-offerings before
me always. The insertion of the
words to have been, in the common version,
seems
to make the clause mean, that although they had neglected this ex-
ternal
rite, it was of no importance, whereas the simple meaning of the
Hebrew
sentence is, that they were not chargeable with this neglect, im-
226
PSALM L. [VER. 9-13.
plying
that the observance was obligatory, which is in perfect keeping with
the
tenor of the psalm. "I do not charge thee with withholding the material
offerings
to which I am entitled, for in truth they are ever before me." To
the
generic term sacrifices, animal oblations, he adds the more specific one,
burnt-offering, the usual English
version of a Hebrew term, denoting the
principal
and ordinary expiatory offering of the Mosaic ritual. See above,
on
Ps. xx. 4 (3), xl. 7 (6).
9. I will not take from thy house a bullock,
(nor) from thy folds he-goats.
Here
begins the correction of the false and foolish notion, extensively pre-
valent
among the heathen, and not unknown among the ancient Jews,
especially
in times of great corruption, that the sacrifices were designed to
satisfy
some physical necessity on God's part, whether in the way of food
or
otherwise. In opposition to this impious absurdity, it is argued that,
even
if God needed such supplies, he would not be dependent on the wor-
shipper,
who is here addressed directly as an individual, with great advan-
tage
to the liveliness and force of the whole passage. "If I needed bulls
and
goats, as you imagine, I would not be under the necessity of seeking
them
at your hands."
10. For
to me (belongs) every beast of the
forest, the cattle in hills of a
thousand. This last idiomatic
phrase may either mean a thousand hills, or
hills
where the cattle rove by thousands, with probable allusion to the hilly
grounds
of Bashan beyond Jordan. See above, on Ps. xxii. 13 (12). Ac-
cording
to etymology, the noun in the first clause means an animal, and
that
in the second beasts or brutes in general. See above, on Ps.
xlix. 13
(12).
But when placed in antithesis, the first denotes a wild beast, and
the
second domesticated animals or cattle. Both words were necessary to
express
God's sovereign propriety in the whole animal creation. Thus
understood,
the verse assigns a reason for the negative assertion in the one
before
it. Even if God could stand in need of animal oblations, for his
own
sake, or for their sake, he would not be under the necessity of coming
to
man for them, since the whole animal creation is his property and per-
fectly
at his disposal.
11. I
know every bird of the hills, and the population of the field (is) with
me, i. e. in my presence, under my inspection, and within my reach. The
past
tense of the verb suggests not merely that it is so now, but that it has
been
so from the beginning. This is no newly acquired knowledge or
authority,
but such as are involved in the very relation between creature
and
creator. Population, literally
movement, motion, i. e. animal
motion,
and
by a natural metonymy that which lives and moves.
12. If
I were hungry, I would not say (so) to thee; for to me (belongs)
the world and its
fulness,
that which fills it, its contents and its inhabi-
tants.
See above, on Ps. xxiv. 1. The first clause may be rendered, with
a
closer adherence to the form of the original, if I am hungry, I will not
say (so) to thee. All this is said upon
the supposition, that God may, in
some
sense, need supplies of this kind, although even then he would be
wholly
independent of man's bounty or fidelity in furnishing them. But
the
supposition is of course a false one, and is so represented in the next verse.
13. Will
I eat the flesh of bulls and drink the blood of goats? The
future
of the Hebrew verb is very expressive, suggesting the ideas of pos-
sibility,
necessity, and desire. Do I desire the
flesh and blood of beasts
for
my refreshment? Do I need them for my sustenance? Or is it even
possible
for me to use them in the way that you imagine? The negative
VER.
14-16.] PSALM
L. 227
answer,
which is obviously expected to these questions, presupposes the
great
doctrine that Jehovah is a spirit, and as such exempt from all cor-
poreal
necessities. This, then, is another refutation of the gross and.
impious
error that he needed their oblations. If they were necessary in
themselves,
he could obtain them elsewhere; and that they are not neces-
sary
follows, as an inevitable consequence, from the spirituality of the
divine
nature. This is not the language of dry and formal ratiocination,
which,
on such a subject and in such a connection, would be not only mis-
placed
but revolting. It is rather the language of impassioned. and indig-
nant
expostulation, holding up the absurdities, to which the error of the
formal
worshipper inevitably tended, as a refutation of the error itself,
14. Sacrifice
to God thanksgiving, and (so) pay unto the Most High thy
vows. The first word means
something more than offer, and
contains a
distinct
allusion to the animal sacrifices mentioned in ver. 8 above. This
is
not an exhortaton to offer thanks or praise instead
of material sacrifices,
which
would. be inconsistent with the express requisition of the latter, but
to
offer them as expressions of thanksgiving, or in other words, to offer
these
as they were intended to be offered, not as a meritorious operation,
nor
as gross attempts to feed the Deity, but as symbolical expressions of
devout
affection, repentance, faith, and love, all which we may suppose to be
represented,
or at least suggested, by the single act of praise or thanks-
giving,
here explicitly enjoined. The imperative in the last clause may,
according
to a very common Hebrew idiom, be resolved into a future, and
the
whole verse paraphrased as follows: "If you offer your material sacri-
fices,
not merely as such, but as the prescribed expression of inward. spiritual
exercises,
you
will thereby really discharge your obligations to the being whom you
worship."
15. And
call upon me in a day of distress; I will free thee and thou
shalt honour me. The imperative in the
first clause, is dependent upon
that
in the preceding verse. The connection may be rendered clearer by
substituting
then for and. Offer such sacrifices, and you will really dis-
charge
your obligations; then, when you call upon me, I will hear you.
Thou shalt honour me, thou shalt have
occasion to renew thy praises and.
thanksgivings
for new benefits received. With this encouraging assurance
closes
the divine exposition of the sacrificial system.
16. And to the wicked God saith, What hast thou
(to do) to declare my
statutes, and take thy
covenant into thy mouth? Thus far the doctrine of
the
psalm has had respect to the formal worshipper, whose rites are, mere
external
services, expressive of no inward faith or love. But now it is
applied.to
him who actually violates the law which he professes to acknow-
ledge.
The wicked, the man of vicious life,
who is afterwards described
with
more particularity. He is not necessarily distinct in real life from
the
formalist of the foregoing context. The description is not of two indi-
viduals,
but of two classes, to which one and the same person may belong,
or
two characters, which one and the same person may exhibit. Saith,
said,
or hath said, on the same ideal occasion. What
(is) to thee, the only
Hebrew
mode of saying, what hast thou, i. e. what right or reason hast
thou?
To declare, either by profession of
one's own faith, or by authori-
tative
teaching of others. There may perhaps be some allusion to the
primary
meaning of the Hebrew verb, which is to count or number. See
above,
on Ps. xl. 6 (5). To count off or reckon up God's statutes is a
very
natural expression for censorious or ostentatious iteration, especially
in
this connection, where an obvious reference to the ten commandments
228
PSALM L.
[VER. 17-21.
follows.
My covenant, my law considered as
conditional, or as involving
reciprocal
engagements upon my part. See above; on ver. 5. To take
into the mouth, or more literally, to take up on the mouth, is a strong idio-
matic
phrase for uttering, pronouncing. See above, on Ps. xvi. 4.
17. And
thou hast hated instruction, and hast cast my words behind thee.
The
very person who enforces the law, in all its rigour, upon others, refuses
to
submit to it himself, and treats its precepts not only with neglect but
with
contempt. This passage seems to have been present to the mind of
Paul,
in that remarkable series of interrogations, "Thou therefore which
teachest
another teachest thou not thyself," &c. Rom. ii. 21-23.
18. If
thou sawest a thief, thou consentedst with him, and with adulterers
(has
been) thy portion. The first clause
conveys far more than the simple
idea
of consent. The expression if thou sawest
implies great eagerness and
an
instinctive drawing towards the thief as a congenial spirit. The second verb in
Hebrew
denotes
a cordial and complacent acquiescence. Thy
portion or participation, common
interest,
communion. These particular sins are mentioned with reference to their
prohibition
in the seventh and eighth commandments (Exod. xx. 14, 15).
19. Thy
mouth thou hast given up to evil, and thy tongue will weave (or
frame) deceit. The ninth commandment is now added to the other two, as
being
habitually violated by the person here addressed. Given up to,
literally
sent out with (or into) evil. The first clause is descriptive of mere
evil
speaking, the second of more artificial and ingenious lying. Both
verbs
include present time, but the first with the additional idea of an early
habit,
formed and settled in time past, the other with that of an inveterate
habit,
not likely to be broken or reformed hereafter.
20. Thou
wilt sit (and) against thy brother speak; at the son of thy
mother thou wilt aim a
blow.
To the general charge of falsehood is now
added
the specific one of slander, not against strangers, but his nearest
friends.
The idea suggested by the future is that such behaviour may be
confidently
looked for on the part of such a character. Thou
wilt sit, in
the
company of others, or more specifically of the wicked, or of other wicked
slanderers,
as one of them. See above, on ver. 18. As brother
might be
understood
as meaning merely any other man, it is determined by the un-
ambiguous
phrase, thy mother's son. This is
mentioned merely as an
extreme
case, not as excluding other relations and friends, but rather com-
prehending
them. Aim a blow, literally give a thrust, so as to cast him
down.
The blow meant is a stroke of the tongue. Compare Jer. xviii. 18.
21. These
things hast thou done, and I have held my peace; thou hast
imagined I was just like
thyself. I will reprove thee, and array (thy sins)
before thine eyes. God is described as
silent when he does not interpose
with
his reproofs or manifest his displeasure. See above, on Ps. xxviii. 1.
Imagined; the Hebrew verb
originally means to liken or compare, and.
another
of the same form to be silent, so that it is peculiarly appropriate
in
this place, where the mention of God's silence immediately precedes,
and
the imagining referred to was a false assimilation of the Most High to
the
sinner himself. Just like, or exactly
like, the intensive adverb corre-
sponding
to the emphatic repetition of the verb in Hebrew. In our idiom,
an
adversative particle is almost indispensable between the clauses; but
the
more abrupt transition is congenial with the spirit and usage of the
Hebrew
language. Array, arrange, set in
order, so that none shall be
omitted
or overlooked. See above, on Ps. v. 4 (3). Before
thine eyes,
literally
to thine eyes, or to thy face, again implying that the sight of them
VER.
22, 23.] PSALM
L. 229
is
not to be avoided. This declaration of severe fidelity forms an appro-
priate
conclusion to the second lesson of the psalm, or that in which the
mask
is stripped off from the vicious hypocrite, who professes to serve God
while
he lives in the grossest violation of his precepts, as in the first part
(ver.
7-15) it was torn from the formal hypocrite, who satisfies himself
with
a mere outward and mechanical performance of rites designed to be
significant
of spiritual and devout affections.
22. Oh
consider this, forgetters of God, lest I rend and there be no deliverer.
To
both the argumentative invectives which precede there is added in con-
clusion
a solemn exhortation, including both a warning or admonitory
threatening
and a promise. This verse contains the warning. The
Hebrew
particle of entreaty (xnA) is not so well expressed by the now of the
English
Bible as by the Oh of the Prayer Book
version. The image pre-
sented
in the last clause is that of a ravenous beast, and more especially a
lion.
See above, on Ps. xxii. 14 (13). No
deliverer, or more literally
none delivering. The description of
those addressed, as forgetting (or for-
getters of) God, suggests that
both forms of hypocrisy exhibited in this
psalm
owe their origin to ignorance, mistaken notions, or oblivion, of God's
attributes
and purposes and former acts.
23. (The man) sacrificing praise shall honour me, and prepare a way
that
I may shew him the salvation of God,
that of which he is the author.
See
above, on Ps. iv. 9 (8). This phrase is used instead of my salvation,
for
the sake of a more sonorous close. The common version of the first
clause
makes it an identical preposition: whoso
offereth praise glorifieth me.
At
the same time it greatly weakens the expression by the use of the ambi-
guous
term offer. The words are all
borrowed from ver. 14, 15, to which
there
is therefore a direct allusion, and by which the clause must be inter-
preted.
It is really a promise that he whose offerings are genuine expres-
sions
of thanksgiving shall have cause or occasion to praise God for his
mercies.
The rest of the sentence is more doubtful. According to the
construction
above given, which sums to be required by the accents, the
meaning
is, that he who offers the right kind of sacrifice, as before ex-
plained,
prepares the way, literally sets or lays a way, by which he shall
himself
attain to the experience of salvation. But as this confines the
promise
to the observance of the first great lesson taught in the psalm, we
may
give it a wider application, and the sentence a more regular form, by
rendering
the last clause thus, and (the man) ordering (his) way, I will
shew the salvation of
God.
The man ordering his way, i. e.
placing it,
defining
it, marking it out, is then contrasted with such as turn aside unto
their
crooked ways (Ps. cxxv. 5). The precise form of the construction is,
(as to the man) ordering
(his) way, I will shew him the salvation of God.
This
clause then has reference to the second lesson of the psalm (ver.
16-21),
as the other to the first (ver. 7-15). The preposition before salva-
tion in Hebrew often gives
the verb to see the pregnant sense of
gazing at
or
viewing with delight. See above, on Ps. xxii. 18 (17), xxxvii. 34.
PSALM
LI.
1, 2. To
the Chief Musician. A Psalm. By David. When Nathan
the Prophet came unto
him, as he
(i. e. David) had come unto Bathsheba.
230 PSALM
LI. [VER. 1-4.
The
first inscription was particularly necessary here, to shew that the psalm
was
designed for permanent and public use, since it might otherwise have
been
regarded as expressive of mere personal emotions. It has reference
to
the one great crime of David's life, noted as such in the inspired history
itself
(1 Kings xv. 5), and involving the guilt of both adultery and murder.
See
2 Sam. xi. and xii. The significant repetition of the phrase came unto
in
ver 2 is lost in the English and most other versions. As is not a mere
particle
of time, simply equivalent to when,
but suggests the ideas of ana-
logy,
proportion, and retaliation. The psalm consists of two parts, a prayer
and
a vow. In the first, he prays to be forgiven and restored to the divine
favour,
ver. 3-14 (1-12). In the second, he shews how he means to tes-
tify
his gratitude, ver. 15-21 (13-19).
3 (1). Be
gracious to me, (O) God, according to thy mercy; according to
the abundance of thy
compassions, blot out my transgressions. In this verse
and
the next, he presents the petition which constitutes the theme or bur-
den
of the psalm. The appeal to the divine grace, mercy, and compassion,
involves
a confession of his own guilt and the justice of his condemnation.
According to, literally like thy mercy, i. e. in accordance with it, in propor-
tion
to it. Here again there is a tacit admission of the greatness of his
guilt,
as requiring infinite mercy to forgive it. Abundance,
increase, mul-
titude.
See above, on Ps. v. 8 (7). Compassions,
tender mercies, a term
expressive
of the warmest and tenderest affections. See above, on Ps.
xviii.
2 (1). Blot out, erase, from thy
remembrance. The allusion is
probably
to a record or register of crimes, or to the cancelling of accounts,
although
the former seems to agree better with ancient and oriental usage.
Compare
Num. v. 23. Transgressions, or with
closer adherence to the
primary
etymological import of the term, revolts,
apostasies. See above,
on
Ps. xix. 14 (13), xxxii. 1.
4 (2). Thoroughly
wash me from my iniquity, and from my sin cleanse
me. The first word in
Hebrew is the infinitive or imperative of a verb
meaning
to increase or multiply, but often used adverbially in the sense of
plentifully,
abundantly. The verb in the first clause properly denotes the
act
of washing the garments, as distinguished from that of bathing the body.
See
Num. xix. 19. The image here presented, therefore, is the same as in Jude ver.
23,
sin
being represented as a stain, and the grace of God as purifying water.
5 (3). For
my transgressions I know, and my sin (is) before me always.
His
consciousness of guilt is urged, not only as a reason why he should ask
forgiveness,
but as a reason why God should grant it. As no one is for-
given
unless convinced of sin, so this conviction constitutes a kind of claim
to
pardon, not as being meritorious or intrinsically efficacious, but as an
indication
of God's merciful intentions, since conviction and forgiveness are
alike
his gift. The same mutual connection of the two things is uniformly
recognised
in Scripture. See above, on Ps. xxxii. 5, and compare 2 Sam.
xii.
13, Prov. xxviii. 13, 1 John i. 9. The future in the first clause is
significant.
I know it and shall know it; I can never henceforth lose the
sense
or knowledge of it.
6 (4). To
thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done the evil in thine eyes,
to the intent that thou
mayest be just in thy speaking, and be clear in thy
judging. The particle at the beginning
denotes general relation, as to, or
respecting. The precise relation
meant must be determined by the context.
See
above, on Ps. xxxv. 19, 24, xxxviii. 17 (16). It does not, therefore,
directly
and explicitly substitute God for man as the injured party, which
VER.
5-7 .] PSALM
LI.
231
is
the only sense that can be put upon the English phrase against thee.
This
idea, however, is undoubtedly implied, as well as perfectly consistent
with
the usage of the Scriptures in describing all sin as committed against
God.
Even murder, the highest crime that can be committed against man,
is
condemned and punished as the violation of God's image (Gen. ix. 6).
It
is also possible to understand thee, thee
only, as opposed not to other
objects,
but to the sinner himself, as one of two contending parties. As if
he
had said, thou hast not sinned against me, but I have sinned against
thee,
thee only. The evil, not this evil, which restricts the
acknowledgment
too
much, but that which is evil, meaning
sin in general. To the intent
that may have reference to
the divine purpose in permitting David's sin to
take
this aggravated form, so that there could be neither doubt nor transfer
nor
participation of his guilt, and so that
when God spoke in condemnation
of
it, he might not only be, but appear to be, entirely just. There is no
need,
therefore, of adopting the weaker meaning, so that, denoting a mere
consequence
but not a purpose, or of supposing the intention indicated to
be
merely that of the confession, "I acknowledge this, that thou mayest be
just,
&c. Speaking, i. e. speaking as a
judge, deciding, or more definitely still,
condemning.
It is therefore substantially equivalent to the parallel term judging.
7 (5). Lo,
in iniquity I was born, and in sin did my mother conceive me.
The
meaning of the first verb is determined by its use in Job xv. 7, Prov.
viii.
24, 25, and that of the corresponding active form in Job xxxix. 1.
The
iniquity and sin meant are not those of his mother, but his own.
Having
just before confessed his actual transgressions, he now acknowledges
the
corruption of his nature. This has always been regarded as the locus
classicus of the Old Testament,
in reference to the doctrine of original sin.
8 (6). Lo,
truth thou hast desired in the inward (or secret) parts, and in
the hidden (part)
wisdom, thou wilt make me know. The repetition of behold
or
lo, at the beginning of the sentence, seems to indicate a close connection
with
the preceding verse. That connection is most probably as follows: —
"Since
I am corrupted in my very nature, and thou canst be satisfied with
nothing
short of inward sincerity, thou must bestow what thou requirest,
by
imparting to me heavenly wisdom." Truth,
sincerity, reality, as opposed
to
hypocritical profession or pretence. The first verb means not merely to
desire,
but to will, as in Job xxxiii. 32. The past tense implies that it has
always
been so, that the requisition is no sudden or capricious one, but an
eternal
law founded in God's very nature. The inward and hidden parts
are
mentioned as opposed to the mere outside. Wisdom,
divine illumina-
tion,
without which no correct view either of sin or holiness is possible.
Thou wilt make me know, involves a prayer,
although in form it is an ex-
pression
of strong confidence.
9 (7). Thou
wilt purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; thou wilt
wash me, and I shall be
whiter than snow.
What he asked in ver. 4 (2) he
here
anticipates with confidence. The verb translated purge is very expres-
sive,
being a derivative of that which means to sin
in ver. 6 (4) above. It
denotes
specifically, therefore, purification from the stain of sin, either by
actual
payment of the penalty (Gen. xxxi. 39), or by vicarious satisfaction
(Num.
xix. 19). Hyssop is mentioned as a
plant much used in the Levi-
tical
purgations, either as a convenient instrument of sprinkling (Exod. xii.
22),
or as an emblem of the divine condescension, viewed in contrast with the
divine
majesty (Isa. lxvi. 1, 2), as represented by the cedar, with which the
hyssop
is perpetually joined. See Num xix. 18, and compare 1 Kings v. 13.
232
PSALM LI. [VER. 8-10.
iv.
33. In either case, to purge with hyssop
necessarily suggests the idea of
a
purification founded on atonement, as the hyssop was employed to sprinkle
purifying
substances, and sometimes mingled with them (Exod. xii. 22,
Num.
xix. 6, 18). The second future in each clause expresses both consent
and
expectation. Whiter than snow is a
natural hyperbole denoting perfect
purity.
See the sames image applied to the same subject in Isa. i. 18. The
last
verb answers to the English whiten,
being properly a causative, but
sometimes
used intransitively, just as we may say, that blushing reddens the
face,
or that the face reddens in the act
of blushing. "Wash me, and I
shall
whiten (become white) from (away from, as distinguished from, and
by
implication more than) snow."
10 (8.) Thou
wilt make to hear joy and gladness; (then) shall rejoice
the bones (which) thou hast
broken (bruised, or crushed). What is formally
expressed
is still a confident expectation or assured hope, under which,
however,
an intense desire is implicitly contained. The joy here antici-
pated
is that of pardoned sin. See above, on Ps. xxxii. 1. He expects
to
hear it, as communicated or announced
by God. The word then is in-
troduced
in the translation for the sake of retaining the original arrange-
ment
of the sentence, closing, as it does in Hebrew, with the emphatic
figure,
crushed or broken, which expresses, in a very lively manner, the dis-
order
and distress produced by consciousness of aggravated and unexpiated
guilt.
The change from this condition to a sense of safety and reconciliation with
God,
is
not too strongly represented by the bold but most expressive figure of broken
bones
rejoicing.
The ellipsis of the relative in this clause is common to both idioms.
11 (9.) Hide
thy face from my sins, and all my iniquities blot out. The
desire
implied in the anticipations of the two preceding verses now breaks
out
into its proper form, that of direct petition. Hide thy face from them,
so
as not to see them, look no longer at them. The same figure is ap-
plied,
in an unfavourable sense, to God's apparent neglect of his suffering
servants,
his refusal to behold them or to notice their condition. See above,
on
Ps. xiii. 2 (1), xliv. 25 (24). Blot out,
expunge, from thy account, or
from
the book of thy remembrance, as in ver. 3 (1) above. What he asks
as
to his sins is that God will cancel and forget them.
12 (10.) A pure heart create for me, (O) God, and a fixed (or settled)
spirit renew within me. The petition in the
first clause involves a confes-
sion
of impurity, and of dependence on almighty power and sovereign grace
for
its removal. A pure heart is, a familiar Scriptural figure for affections
free
from the taint of sin. See above, on Ps. xxiv. 4, and below, on Ps.
lxxiii.
1, and compare Mat. v. 8, Acts xv. 9. While the use of the
word
create implies the necessity of an
almighty intervention, the additional
phrase
to (or for) me suggests the idea
of a gift which is often expressed
elsewhere
in the same connection. See Jer. xxiv. 7, Ezek. xi. 19, xxxvi.
26,
and compare 1 Sam. x. 9. The gift demanded in the last clause is that
of
a firm, unwavering spirit, as opposed both to fickleness and cowardice,
Compare
the use of the same adjective or participle in Ps. lvii. 8 (7),
lxxviii.
37, cxii. 7. The word renew implies a
previous possession of it,
derived
not from nature but from grace, and interrrupted by his yielding
to
temptation. Though his faith and love could not utterly fail, his fixed-
ness
of purpose was destroyed for the time, and could only be recovered
by
a new conversion, as in the case of Peter (Luke xxii. 32). Within, me, in-
the midst (or in the inside) of me. The same Hebrew noun is repeatedly used
elsewhere,
to denote the inward dispositions and affections, as distinguished
VER.
12-14.] PSALM
LI.
233
from
a mere profession or appearance. See above, on Ps. v. 10 (9), xlix. 12 (11).
13 (11). Cast me not away from thy presence, and thy Holy Spirit take
not from me. As indispensable
prerequisites and means to the possession
of
such a heart and spirit as he had just prayed for, he recognises intimate
communion
with God, and the active influences of his Spirit. This prayer,
unless
we arbitrarily supply again or for ever, seems to imply that David
was
in actual possession of these blessings and afraid of losing them.
There
may be an intentional allusion to his own reception of the Spirit and
to
Saul's privation of it, as recorded in 1 Sam. xvi. 1, 7, 13. Compare
1
Sam. x. 6, 10, Isa. xi. 2.
14 (12). Restore to me the joy of thy salvation, and (with) a willing spirit
uphold me. The first verb is a
causative in Hebrew, meaning make to
return, implying previous
possession. The next phrase may be explained,
according
to a very common Hebrew idiom, thy joy of
salvation, thy saving
joy.
See above, on Ps. ii. 6. But the obvious construction seems to yield
the
best sense, namely, that of joy occasioned by salvation, or relating to it
as
its subject. This joy was of course incompatible with any interruption
of
God's presence and the assurance of his favour. The word translated
willing means spontaneous,
prompt, forward to act without coercion; then
liberal,
generous, noble. See above, on Ps. xlvii. 10 (9). It may be taken
as
an epithet of the Holy Spirit; but the omission of the pronoun (thy)
which
determines it in the foregoing verse, and the repeated use of spirit in
the
context to denote his own heart, makes it more probable that this is
the
sense here likewise. By such a spirit of spontaneous conformity to
God's
will he desires and hopes to be held up,
i. e. preserved from falling as
he
fell before.
15 (13). (Then) will I teach transgressrs thy ways, and sinners unto thee
shall return. Here begins the
expression of his thankfulness, or rather a
description
of the way in which he is determined to express it. The word
supplied
at the beginning points out the connection of the verses. "Then,
when
these petitions have been answered, I will teach," &c. The form of
the
Hebrew verb denotes a strong desire and a settled purpose, as if he had
said,
"I am resolved to teach." Transgressors,
rebels, traitors, apostates.
See
above, on ver. 5 (3). Thy ways, as
well the ways in which thou
walkest
as the ways in which thou requirest us to walk, the course of pro-
vidence
and the course of duty. See above, on Ps. xviii. 22, 31 (21, 30).
In
both these senses, he might naturally wish to "vindicate the ways of
God
to man." Of this resolution a partial fulfilment is recorded in Ps.
xxxii.
8, 9. The effect of such instructions is recorded in the last clause
of
the verse before us. The Hebrew verb there used is not a passive
(shall be converted), but an active form,
shall turn or return to the Lord,
perhaps
with an allusion to the great original apostasy, in which the whole
race
is involved. See above, on Ps. xxii. 28 (27). To this verse there seems
to
be particular allusion in our Saviour's words to Peter, Luke xxii. 32.
16 (14). Free me from blood, O God, God of my salvation, (and) my
tongue shall celebrate
thy righteousness.
The first clause contains the
condition
of the second, and the whole is equivalent to saying "If thou wilt
save
me, I will praise thee." Blood,
literally bloods, the plural being
idio-
matically
used when there is reference to murder. See above, on Ps.
v.
7 (6). There may be an allusion to the frequent personification of the
victim's
blood, as crying out for vengeance on the murderer or pursuing
him
(Gen. iv. 10, ix. 5, 6). The verb translated free is applied to deliver-
234
PSALM LI.
VER. 15-18.
ance
from enemies in Ps. vii. 2 (1), and from sins (as here) in Ps.
xxxix.
9 (8). The strength of the desire here expressed may derive some
illustration
from the threatening in 2 Sam. xii. 9,10. Celebrate,
applaud
by
shout or song. See above, on Ps. v. 12 (11), xx. 6 (5), xxxii. 11, xxxiii. 1.
17 (15). Lord, my lips thou wilt open, and my mouth shall declare thy
praise. The relation of the
clauses to each other is the same as in the
foregoing
verse. "If thou wilt open my lips, my mouth," &c. The first
clause
therefore really includes a petition that his lips may be opened; but
it
also includes more, to wit, a confident anticipation that his prayer will
be
granted. The sense is therefore only partially expressed by rendering
the
future as an imperative (open thou my
lips). The exact form as well
.as
the sense of the original is given in the Prayer-Book Version (thou shalt
open my lips, O Lord). Open, my lips, i. e.
enable me to praise thee by
affording
an occasion, and empower me to praise thee, by removing this
oppressive
sense of guilt, which condemns me to perpetual silence. Com-
pare
Isa. vi. 5-7. Declare, tell, utter,
or proclaim. See above, Ps.
xix.
2 (1).
18 (16). For thou desirest not sacrifice, else would I give (it), (in) burnt-
offering thou delightest
not. He
now assigns the reason why he is deter-
mined
to requite God's favour by becoming praise. The literal translation
of
the first clause is, thou wilt not desire
sacrifice, and I will give (it), i.
e.
but
if thou dost desire it, I will give it. By sacrifice we must here under-
stand
the mere material oblation, apart from the penitent and thankful
spirit,
of which it was the required expression. See above, on Ps. xl.
7,
(6). The parallel terms, sacrifice and
burnt-offering, are commonly re-
garded
as generic and specific expressions of the same idea. But some
interpreters
deny that they are ever confounded or promiscuously used, and
give
the first the sense of thank-offerings,
which are then joined with expia-
tory
offerings, as a general description of all animal oblations.
19 (17). The sacrifices of God (are) a broken spirit; a heart broken and
crushed, (O) God, thou
wilt not despise.
These are natural and perfectly
intelligible
figures for profound and submissive sorrow on account of sin.
There
is great significance and beauty in what seems at first to be a sole-
cism
in the language of the first clause. The
sacrifice of God is a broken
spirit might seem to be a more
correct expression; but it would have failed
to
suggest the striking and important thought, that one such heart or spirit
is
equivalent to all the various and complicated sacrifices of the ritual. The
sacrifices of God are those which he
requires and is willing to accept. The
use
of the word contrite in the English
versions mars the beauty of the
metaphor,
because that term is confined to the dialect of theology, whereas
the
Latin contritum, from which it was
borrowed, as well as the original
expression,
exactly corresponds to broken, both
in its literal and figurative
usage.
Thou wilt not despise, when it is
offered, and especially when I
present
it, as the solemn expression of my thanks for this deliverance. The
substitution
of the present for the future would both weaken and obscure
the
sentence, and the same consideration might be urged in favour of a
strict
translation in the verse preceding. So far is a habitual sorrow for
sin
from being inconsistent with the joy of God's salvation, that David here
engages
to present it as a perpetual thank-offering. Compare the language
of
Hezekiah, Isa. xxxviii. 15.
20 (18). Do good, in thy favour, to Zion; thou wilt build the walls of
Jerusalem. From his own personal
necessities his mind now passes to
VER.
19.] PSALM
LI. 235
those
of the whole church, of which he was the visible head and representa-
tive,
thereby implying that his sense of guilt and danger had been aggra-
vated
by the thought of his official relation to God's people, who must
have
shared in his disgrace and punishment. See above, on Ps. iii. 4 (3),
iv.
3 (2). The change of construction from the imperative to the future
marks
a natural transition from importunate desire to confident anticipa-
tion.
See above, on ver. 9-11 (7-9). This delicate transition there is
surely
no need of obliterating by a gratuitous assimilation of the moods and
tenses.
The building of the walls is a poetical parallel to doing good or
shewing
favour, and the opposite of dismantling in Ps. lxxxix. 41 (40).
21 (19). Then shalt thou be pleased with sacrifices of righteousness, burnt-
offering and holocaust;
then shall they offer on thine altar bullocks. Then
i. e. when thou past done
good to Zion and fortified Jerusalem. Sacrifices
of righteousness, righteous or right
sacrifices. See above, on Ps. iv. 6 (5).
Some
have inferred from this verse, that the psalm was written in the
Babylonish
exile, when the temple was in ruins and the ceremonial law
suspended,
and that the Psalmist here anticipates the time when both
should
he restored. But this is forbidden by his saying, in ver. 18 (16),
that
if God desired burnt-offerings he would give them, plainly implying
the
continued observance of the sacrificial system. There is no ground,
therefore,
for disputing either the correctness of the title, which ascribes
the
psalm to David, or the genuineness of the last two verses, which some
have
rejected as an addition by a later hand. These verses are not only
appropriate
but necessary as a conclusion to the psalm, and every difficulty
is
removed by giving them their natural but figurative meaning, as an
expression
of desire and hope that God would favour his own people and
graciously
accept their service. Holocaust is
here used to translate a single
Hebrew
word, meaning a sacrifice entirely consumed upon the altar. It
does
not describe something wholly distinct from the burnt-offering, but
the
burnt-offering itself considered as a complete and unreserved oblation.
See
1 Sam. vii. 9. Bullocks are mentioned as the choicest victims in point
of
species, size, and age. By a slight change of construction we obtain the
bold
and striking declaration that the bullocks shall themselves ascend the
altar,
i. e. as a living and spontaneous
sacrifice. Compare Isa. lx. 7.
PSALM LII.
This
psalm, besides the title, yes. 1, 2, contains three stanzas of three
verses
each. In the first, the Psalmist expostulates with an arrogant,
cruel,
and deceitful enemy, ver. 3-5 (1-3). In the second, he foretells the
destruction
of his enemy by the divine judgments, and the contempt to be
excited
by his folly, ver. 6-8 (4-6). In the third, he contrasts this fatal
fruit
of unbelief with the happy effects of his own trust in God, ver. 9-11
(7-9).
The two Selahs in ver. 5, 7 (3, 5),
have reference not so much to
the
form of the psalm as to the feelings of the Psalmist, and are therefore
placed
irregularly. See above, on Ps. iii. 3 (2). The variation of the
English
and the Hebrew Bible, in numbering the verses of this psalm, is
the
same, and arises from the same cause, as in the fifty-first.
1. To the Chief Musician. Maschil. By David.
The psalm is ex-
pressly
designated as a Maschil or didactic psalm, because its adaptation
to
this purpose might very easily be overlooked in consequence of its avowed
236 PSALM
LII. [VER.
1-4.
relation
to a particular event in David's history.
See above, on Ps.
xxxii.
1, xlii. 1, xlv. 1. Though occasioned by this incident, however, it
was
written for the permanent and public use of the ancient church, and is
therefore
inscribed to (or for) the Chief Musician.
See above, on Ps.iv. 1, li. 1.
2. When
Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul, and said unto him, David
is come to the house of
Ahimelech.
This is merely the beginning of the
story,
which is supposed to be familiar to the reader of the psalm, and
which
is given at length in 1 Sam. xxii. Doeg is mentioned only as the
witness
or informer, by whose means the matter came to Saul's knowledge.
When he came, literally in his coming, the same form of
expression as in
Ps.
li. 2.
3 (1). Why
wilt thou boast thyself in evil, mighty (man)? The mercy of
the Almighty (is) all
the day.
The future form of the verb suggests the
idea
of obstinate persistency. Boast thyself
in evil, exult or triumph in the
injury
of others. The mighty man is not Doeg
but Saul, who, of all the
characters
in sacred history, approaches nearest to the classical idea of a
hero.
There is something, therefore, of respect and admiration implied in
the
address, as if he had said "How can one who might have been so,
eminent
in well-doing, glory in his shame or boast himself in evil?" In
the
last clause there is an obvious antithesis between the malice of this
mighty
man and the unfailing goodness of the mighty God. The particular
divine
name here used therefore is peculiarly significant. See above, on Ps.
v.
5 (4), 1. 1. As if he had said, "Mighty and malicious as thou art, the
might
and mercy of Jehovah are still greater." All the day, i. e.
perpetual,
unceasing.
See above, on Ps. xlii. 11 (10).
4 (2). Mischiefs
will thy tongue devise, like a razor whetted, working deceit-
fully. The first word means
calamitous events, brought on one man by the
malice
of another. See above, on Ps. v. 10 (9), xxxviii. 13 (12), and be-
low,
on Ps. lvii. 2 (1). The distinctive meaning of the future is the same
as
in ver. 3 (1). The tongue is here
said to meditate or devise mischief,
because
it is personified, or poetically substituted for the speaker. The
allusion
is to Saul's cutting words when he accused Ahimelech and David
of
conspiracy against him (1 Sam. xxii. 13). This false charge, or the
tongue
which uttered it, is likened to a razor, not merely sharp but sharp-
ened,
whetted, for the purpose or occasion. See above, on Ps. xlv. 6 (5).
Similar
comparisons occur in Ps. lv. 22 (21), lvii. 5 (4), lix. 8 (7), lxiv. 4 (3),
Jer.
ix. 2, 7 (3, 8). Working deceitfully,
literally deceit or fraud. These
words
may be grammatically referred to the speaker or his tongue as prac-
tising
deceit; but it yields a more striking sense to understand them of the
razor,
as working deceitfully, i. e. moving
silently and smoothly, when it
cuts
most keenly.
5 (3). Thou
hast loved evil (more) than good, falsehood (more) than speaking
righteousness. The past tense, like
the futures in the foregoing verses, in-
cludes
the idea of the present; but unlike them, it represents the love of
sin
as already long-continued and habitual. Compare the form of expres-
sion
with that in Ps. xlv. 8 (7). Righteousness
includes truth or veracity,
as
the genus comprehends the species. The particular unrighteousness
here
meant is falsehood, as appears from the antithesis. The selah tacitly
suggests
the writer's abhorrence of that which he describes.
6 (4). Thou
hast loved all devouring words, tongue of fraud. This is not
so
much a continuation of the foregoing discourse, as a resumption or re-
capitulation
for the purpose of drawing a conclusion from it. In periodic
VER.
5-7.] PSALM
LII.
237
style,
the connection of the ideas might be thus exhibited: "Since then
thou
lovest, &c., therefore God will," &c. Devouring words, literally words
of swallowing or deglutition. The
second noun occurs only here; but the
verb
to swallow up is continually used in
Hebrew to express the idea of
complete
destruction. See above, on Ps. xxi. 10 (9), xxxv. 25. Tongue of
deceit or deceitful tongue. This phrase may be governed by the verb, thou
past loved all devouring
words (and or even) a deceitful tongue.
But it adds
to
the strength of the expression, and agrees better with the form of the
context,
to make it an apostrophe or direct, address to the deceitful tongue itself.
7 (5). (So)
likewise shall God destroy thee for ever; he shall take thee
away, and pluck thee out
of (thy) tent, and root thee out of the land of life.
Selah. The particle at the
beginning, also, likewise, shows the dependence
of
this verse upon the one before it, which is really conditional though not
in
form. "As thou, on thy part, lovest all devouring words, so likewise
God,
on his part, will destroy thee." No exact translation can convey the
full
force of the verbs in this verse, which suggests a variety of striking
figures
for destruction or extermination. The first denotes properly the act
of
pulling down or demolishing a house (Lev. xiv. 45), and this would also
seem
to be the primary meaning of the third (Prov. xv. 25), although some
suppose
it to denote the act of pulling up, and to be the opposite of plant, as
the
first verb is of build. The second
verb, in every other place where it
occurs,
has reference to the handling and carrying of fire or coals. See
Prov.
vi. 27, xxv. 22, Isa. xxx. 14. To a Hebrew reader, therefore, it
would
almost necessarily suggest, not the general idea of removal merely,
but
the specific one of removing or taking away like fire, i. e. as coals are
swept
out from a hearth, or otherwise extinguished. The remaining verb
adds
to these figures that of violent eradication, and is well represented by
its
English equivalent. The land of life,
or, as it is commonly translated, and
of the living, is a poetical
description of life itself, or the present state of
existence,
under the figure of a country. See above, on Ps. xxvii. 13. The
quick
recurrence of the pause implies excited feeling, and invites attention
to
the threatening which immediately precedes.
8 (6). And
the righteous shall see, and they shall fear, and at him they
shall laugh. The fear meant is that
religious awe produced by any clear
manifestation
of God's presence and his power. In Ps. lxiv. 9, 10 (8, 9),
it
is assumed to be compatible with joy, and here with laughter at the
wicked,
not a selfish exultation in his sufferings, which is explicitly con-
demned
in the Old Testament (Prov. xxiv. 17, Job xxxi. 29), but that sense
of
the absurdity of sin, which must be strongest in the purest minds, and can-
not,
therefore, be incompatible with pity, the rather as it is ascribed to God
himself
(Ps. ii. 4). The paronomasia of the verbs translated see and fear is
the
same as in Ps. xl. 4 (3). Shall see, i. e. the destruction threatened in
ver.
7 (6). At him, the person thus
destroyed, the same who is addressed
directly
in the foregoing context. The enallage
personæ; may be avoided by
exchanging
at him for at it, i. e. the
destruction itself; but this is not so
agreeable
to Hebrew usage, which always prefers personal to abstract forms
of
speech.
9 (7). Behold
the man (who) will not make God his
strength, but will
trust in the increase of
his wealth,
(and) will be strong in his wickedness.
This
may
be regarded as the language of the laughers mentioned in ver. 8 (6).
Behold the man, see to what he is
reduced. The effect of the behold is
similar
to that of the interrogation in Isa. xiv. 16. The word translated
238 PSALM LII. [VER. 8, 9
man
is not one of the usual terms, but one implying strength or power, so
that
its use here gives a kind of sarcastic import to the passage. See the
analogous
use of an opposite expression in Ps. viii. 5 (4), x. 18. The
future
expresses fixed determination and anticipated perseverance in refusing.
Make, literally place or set. See above, on Ps. xl. 5 (4). His strength, or
more
exactly, his stronghold or fortress.
See above, on Ps. xxvii. 1,
xxxvii.
39, xliii. 2. Increase, or simply
abundance, greatness. See above,
on
Ps. v. 8 (7), li. 3 (1). The word translated wickedness is the singular
of
that translated mischiefs in ver. 4
(2) above. It seems to signify parti-
cularly
an inclination fo malicious mischief.
10 (8). And
I (am) like a green olive-tree in the house of God, I have-
trusted in the mercy of
God (to) eternity and perpetuity. He expects not
only
the destruction of the wicked but his own salvation. To express the
connection
of the verses clearly, our idiom would require an adversative
particle
at the beginning, but I. See above, on Ps. ii. 6. A verdant fruit-
ful
tree is a favourite emblem of prosperity. See above, on Ps. i. 3. The
olive
is here specified, as palms and cedars are in Ps. xcii. 13, 14 (12, 13).
The
imagery of the verse before us is copied in Jer. xi. 16. The house of
God, the tabernacle,
considered as his earthly residence, in which he enter-
tains
his friends and provides for his own household. See above, on Ps.
xv.
1, xxii. 6, xxvii. 4, 5, xxxvi. 9 (8). The mixed metaphors only shew
that
the whole description is a figurative one, and should be so interpreted.
I have (already) trusted, which includes his present
trust, but also includes
more,
to wit, that it is not a new or sudden impulse, but a settled habit of
his
soul. The two nouns, eternity and perpetuity, are combined in the
adverbial
sense of for ever and ever. See
above, on Ps. x. 16, xxi. 5 (4),
xlv.
7 (6), xlviii. 15 (14). This qualifying phrase relates, not to the act,
but
to the object, of his trust. His meaning is not, "I will trust for ever
in
God's mercy," which would have required a future verb; but, "I have
already
trusted, and do still trust, in his mercy, as a mercy that will last for
ever."
11 (9). I
will thank thee to eternity because thou hast done (it), and will
hope (in) thy
name—because it is good—before thy saints. The common
version
of the first verb (praise) is not sufficiently specific, as it properly
denotes
a particular kind of praise, namely, that for benefits received. See
above,
on Ps. vi. 6 (5), vii. 18 (17), xlix. 19 (18). The object of the verb
hast
done is to be supplied from the context. See above, on Ps. xxii. 32
(31),
xxxvii. 5, xxxix. 10 (9). Thy name,
the manifestation of thy nature.
See
above, on Ps. v. 12 (11), xx. 2 (1), xxiii. 3, xlviii. 11 (10). To expect
God's
name, or wait for it, is to trust in the future exercise and exhibition
of
the same divine perfections which have been exhibited already. The
common
version, I will wait on thy name, is
not so happy as the one in the
Prayer
Book, I will hope in thy name. Here
again, as in ver. 10 (8), the
epexegetical
clause, for it is good, relates not
to the act of expectation, but
its
object. He does not mean, "because it is good to hope in thy name,"
but
"because thy name is good, and is therefore to be hoped in." This is
clear
from the analogy of Ps. liv. 8 (6), lxix. 17 (16), cix. 21, which also
shews
that the concluding words, before thy
saints, are to be construed neither
with
what follows, it is good before thy
saints, i. e. in their
estimation, nor
with
the remoter antecedent, I will thank thee,
but with the neare ante-
cedent,
I will wait for thy name before thy
saints, i. e. I will profess my
trust
in
thy mercy, not in private merely, but in the presence of thy people, of
the
church. Compare Ps. xxii. 23 (22). For it
is good must then be read
VER.
1, 2.] PSALM
LIII. 235
as
a parenthesis. Thy saints, the
merciful objects of thy mercy. See
above,
on Ps. iv. 4 (3), 1. 5. It is here used simply as a general designa-
tion
or description of God's people.
PSALM LIII.
A second
edition of the fourteenth psalm, with variations, more or less
important,
in each verse. That either of these compositions is an incorrect
copy
of the other is highly improbable, because two such copies of the same
psalm
would not have been retained in the collection, and because the varia-
tions
are too uniform, consistent, and significant, to be the work of chance
or
mere traditional corruption. That the changes were deliberately made
by
a later writer is improbable, because such a liberty would hardly have
been
taken with a psalm of David, and because the later form, in that case,
would
either have been excluded from the Psalter, or substituted for the
first
form, or immediately connected with it. The only satisfactory hypo-
thesis
is; that the original author afterwards re-wrote it, with such modifi-
cations
as were necessary to bring out certain points distinctly, but without
any
intention to supersede the use of the original composition, which there-
fore
still retains its place in the collection. This supposition is confirmed
by
the titles, which ascribe both psalms to David. Of this kind of retrac-
tatio, which is not unknown to
the practice of uninspired hyinnologists, we
have
already met with a remarkable example in the case of David. See
above,
the concluding note on Ps. xviii. p. 87. As a general fact, it may
be
stated, that the variations in the psalm before us are such as render the
expression
stronger, bolder, and in one or two cases more obscure and diffi-
cult.
To these variations the remarks which follow will be restricted. For
the
exposition of the parts which are common to both psalms, the reader
is
referred to that of Ps. xiv.
1. To
the Chief Musician—upon Methalath—Maschil—by David. Between
the
inscription to the Chief Musician and the name of David, which are
also
found at the beginning of Ps. xiv., we have here two additional expres-
sions.
The first of these is by some regarded as the name or description
of
an instrument; but as it is so used nowhere else, and as forms almost
identical
occur more than once in the sense of sickness or disease (Exod.
xv.
26, Prov. xviii. 14, 2 Chron. xxi. 15), it seems most natural to take the
phrase
as an enigmatical enunciation of the subject of the psalm, which is
in
strict accordance both with general usage and with that of David in par-
ticular.
See above, on Ps. v. 1, xxii. 1, xlv. 1. By disease we may then
understand
the spiritual malady with which mankind are all infected, and
which
is really the theme or subject of the composition. In the only other
title
where it reappears (Ps. lxxxviii. 1), it denotes corporeal disease. The
other
addition (maschil) describes the
psalm as a didactic one. See above,
on
Ps. lii. 1.
2 (1). The
fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They have done
corruptly, they have
done abominable wickedness, there is none doing good.
See
above, on Ps. xiv. 1. The only variation in this verse is the substitu-
tion
of (lvif)
iniquity for (hlylf) deed or act. Instead of
saying, they have
made (their) conduct abominable, the Psalmist uses
the stronger expression,
they have made iniquity
abominable,
or done abominably (in their) wickedness.
3 (2). God
from heaven has looked down on the sons of man, to see if there
is (any) acting wisely, seeking God. See above,
on Ps. xiv. 2. The only
240
PSALM LIII. [VER. 3-6.
difference
in the Hebrew of these verses is that the name Elohim is here
substituted
for Jehovah. The same change occurs
below, in ver. 5, 6, 7
(4,
5, 6). The name Jehovah is not used
at all in the psalm before us, but
occurs
four times in Ps. xiv., and Elohim thrice.
This difference seems to
mark
Ps. liii. as the later composition, in which the writer aimed at an ex-
ternal
uniformity, which did not occur to him at first. This is a much more
natural
supposition than that he afterwards varied what was uniform at first.
The
attempts which have been made to account, still more particularly, for
the
use of the divine names in these two psalms, have entirely failed.
4 (3). All
of it has apostatised; together they have putrefied; there is none
doing good; there is not
even one.
See above, on Ps. xiv. 3. For all of it
we
there have the whole, i. e. the whole human race. The same
thing seems
to
be intended by the more obscure phrase, all
of it, in which the pronoun
may
refer to man, in the collective sense
of mankind or the human race.
The
idea of departure from God, apostasy, is expressed in the parallel places
by
two verbs almost identical in form (rs and gs), the one of which
means
properly
to turn aside and the other to turn back.
5 (4). Do
they not know—(these) workers of
iniquity—eating my people
(as) they eat bread—(and
on) God call not?
See above, on Ps. xiv. 4. The
only
variation here, besides the change of the divine name which has been
already
mentioned, is the omission of the all before
workers of iniquity.
This
has been noted by some critics as the only case in which the language
of
the fourteenth psalm is stronger than the parallel expression of the
fifty-third.
6 (5). There
have they feared a fear, because God hath scattered the bones
of thy besieger; thou hast
put (them) to shame, because God hath rejected
them. See above, on Ps. xiv.
5, 6. The design to strengthen the ex-
pression
is particularly clear in this case, where two verses are com-
presed
into one, and the other changes all enhance the emphasis. Thus,
instead
of a general assurance of divine protection, God is in the right-
eous generation, we have here a
description of their enemies' destruc-
tion,
in the most poetical and striking terms, God
hath scattered the
bones of thy besieger, literally thy encamper, him that encampeth against
thee.
So, too, instead of the complaint, that the wicked treat the faith
of
pious sufferers with contempt—the counsel
of the sufferer ye will shame,
because Jehovah is his
refuge—we
have here the tables turned upon
the
scoffers by the scorn both of God and man—thou
host put to shame
(the
individuals included in the collective phrase thy besieger), because God
has rejected them, an act implying both
abhorrence and contempt. In this,
which
is by far the most considerable variation of the two editions, the
existence
of design is so apparent, that the supposition of an inadvertent
or
fortuitous corruption seems preposterous. So far are the two psalms
from
being contradictory. or even inconsistent, that they might be sung
together,
by alternate or responsive choirs, with the happiest effect. Nothing can be
more
natural,
therefore, than the supposition that David gave the psalm this new shape, to
express
the same essential feelings in a higher degree, and a more emphatic form.
7 (6). Who
will give out of Zion salvations (to) Israel—in God's return-
ing (to) the captivity
of his people—let Jacob exult, let Israel joy! See
above,
on Ps. xiv. 7. The only variations are the change of Jehovah to
Elohim, and of the singular salvation to its plural, denoting variety
and
fulness.
See above, on Ps. xviii. 51 (50). The exact translation is salva-
tions of Israel, and the meaning of the
next clause, "when God revisits (or
in
God's revisiting) his captive people."
VER.
1-4.]
PSALM LIV. 241
PSALM LIV.
1. To
the Chief Musician. With (or on) stringed instruments. A
didactic psalm. By David. This is the title of
Ps. iv., but with a change
of
the generic term mizmor to the specific one maschil. See above, on Ps.
liii.
1. According to some modern interpreters, the plural neginoth does
not
denote a plurality of stringed instruments, but simply that kind of
music,
with its complex variety of tones. The psalm consists of a prayer
for
deliverance from wicked enemies, ver. 3-5 (1-3), with a confident anti-
cipation
of success, and a promise of thanksgiving, ver. 6-9 (4-7). As to
the
numbering of the verses, see above, on Ps. li. 1, lii. 1.
2. In
the coming of the Ziphites, and they said to Saul, (Is) not David
hiding himself with us? The verse gives the
historical occasion of the compo-
sition,
in the same form as in the titles of Ps. li. and lii. Such an occurrence
is
twice recorded in the history, 1 Sam. xxiii. 19, xxvi. 1. The verbal coin-
cidence
is greater in the first case. The words of the Ziphites seem to have
been
remembered on account of some peculiarity in the expression, per-
haps
the use of the reflexive participle (rTeTas;mi), which remains
unchanged
in
all three places, the earliest of which is probably the one before us.
The
interrogation implies surprise that Saul should be ignorant of what
was
so notorious. Hiding himself, now
engaged in doing so, not merely
wont
to do so, or already hidden. With us, among us, or in our land, i. e.
the
wilderness or pasture ground of Ziph (1 Sam. xxiii. 14, 15), in or
near
which was a town of the same name (Josh. xv. 55, 2 Chron. xi. 8),
the
ruins of which are thought to be still visible, not far from what the
natives
call Tell Ziph, or the Hill of Ziph.
(Robinson's Palestine, II. 191.)
3 (1). O
God, by thy name save me, and by thy might thou wilt judge me.
The
insensible transition from the imperative to the future shews the con-
fidence
with which the prayer is offered. By thy
name, i. e. the exercise
of
those perfections which have been already manifested. See above, on
Ps.
lii. 11 (9). That it is not a mere periphrasis for God himself, is clear
from
the parallel expression, might or power. Judge me, do me justice,
vindicate
my innocence, by saving me from spiteful enemies and false
accusers.
See above, on Ps. vii. 9 (8), xxvi. 1.
4 (2). O
God, hear my prayer, give ear to the sayings of my mouth. See
above,
on Ps. iv. 2 (1), v. 2 (1).
5 (3). For
strangers are risen up against me, and oppressors seek my soul
(or
life); they have not set God before them. Selah. To the earnest
petitions
in the two preceding verses he now adds a particular description
of
his danger. Strangers, not
foreigners, but aliens in spirit, both to him
and
to Jehovah, with special reference to Saul. See below, on Ps. cxx. 5.
Oppressors, persecutors, tyrants.
The original expression implies the pos-
session
of power, and its lawless exercise. See above, on Ps. xxxvii. 35.
Not
to set God before them is to act as if they did not remember or believe
in
his existence and his presence. The Selah
indicates a pause of indigna-
tion
and abhorrence. See above, on Ps. lii. 5 (3).
6 (4). Behold,
God (is) a helper for me; the Lord is among the upholders
of my soul. From the party of his
enemies he looks to that of his defen-
ders,
and joyfully recognises God, not merely with, but in (the midst of)
them,
among them. The behold is expressive
of surprise, and at the same
time
of a perspicacious faith. With the form of expression in the first
clause,
compare Ps. xxx. 11 (10); with the second Ps. cxviii. 7, Judges
242
PSALM LIV.
[VER. 5-7.
xi.
35. The upholders of his soul are the defenders of his life against
those
who seek it. See above, ver. 5 (3). Adhonai,
the divine name
properly
translated Lord, because expressive
of God's sovereignty. It is
peculiarly
appropriate here, where he is claiming God as his protector.
7 (5). The
evil shall return to my enemies; in thy truth destroy them.
The
future here runs into the imperative, as the imperative does into the
future
in ver. 3 (1), above. The imperative in this case is only a stronger
form
of prediction. The evil, which they
mean to do me. Return to, or
upon
them, i. e. shall befall themselves.
See above, on Ps. vii. 17 (16),
This
is the sense required by the reading in the text (bvwy), which the
modern
critics commonly regard as the most ancient. The marginal or
masoretic
reading (bywy)
must be rendered, he will cause to return,
repay,
requite. Thy truth, the truth of thy promises
and threatenings, thy vera-
city.
See above, on Ps. xxx. 10 (9). The certain foresight of the doom
of
the wicked, which is expressed in the first clause, makes the prayer (if
such
it be considered) in the first clause a mere iteration of the previous
threatening.
A prayer that God will do what we are certain that he will do can be
little
more than an expression of that certainty. See above, on Ps. v. 11 (10).
8 (6). With
a free-will offering will I sacrifice unto thee; I will praise
thy name, Jehovah, for
it is good.
In the confident assurance of a favour-
able
answer to his prayer, he promises a suitable acknowledgment. See
above,
on Ps. v. 8 (7). A free-will or voluntary offering, as opposed to
one prescribed by law,
not to one rendered obligatory by a vow, for then a
voluntary
offering would in this case be impossible. The Hebrew word is
the
technical term applied to such an offering in the law. See Lev. vii. 16,
xxii.
23, and compare Exod. xxv. 2, xxxv. 29, Num. xv. 3. With the
last
clause compare Ps. lii. 11 (9).
9 (7). For
out of all distress he hath delivered me, and on my enemies my
eye has looked. In his confident
assurance of a favourable issue, he speaks
of
it, though future, as already past. The sudden change of person, may
be
avoided by translating the first verb, it
(i. e. thy name) has delivered me,
according
to the prayer in ver. 3 (1). My eye has
looked or gazed, with an
implication
of delight, or at least of acquiescence, which is commonly con-
veyed
by this construction. See above, on Ps. 1. 23. This kind of satis-
faction
in the execution of God's threatenings is sinful only when combined
with
selfish malignity. Apart from this corrupt admixture, it is inseparable
from
conformity of will and coincidence of judgment with God. The same
kind
and degree of acquiescence which is felt by holy angels in heaven may
surely
be expressed by saints on earth, especially in their collective capa-
city
as a church, in whose name the Psalmist is here speaking, and not
merely
in his own or that of any other individual.
PSALM LV.
1. To
the Chief Musician. With (or on) stringed instruments A
didactic psalm. By David. The psalm is
designated as a Maschil, be-
cause
it might at first sight seem to have relation merely to a case of
personal
maltreatment and distress, whereas it is a general descriptio:a of
the
sufferings of God's people, or the righteous as a class, at the hands of
false
friends and malignant enemies. Although there seem to be allusions
to
the writer's own experience, in the times both of Saul and Absalom, the
VER.
1-5.]
PSALM LV. 243
whole
description can be applied exclusively to neither. The only natural
division
of the psalm is the one suggested by the fact, that in the first part
the
sufferer complains of his enemies in general, ver. 2-12 (1-11); in the
second,
he singles out the case of one who had seemed to be his friend,
but
treacherously turned against him, ver. 13-16 (12-15); in the third,
he
confidently anticipates his own deliverance and the destruction of his
enemies,
ver. 17-26 (16-25).
2 (1.) Give
ear, O God, to my prayer, and hide not thyself from my sup-
plication. This is the general
introductory petition, which is afterwards
amplified
and rendered more specific. The last word strictly means a cry
or
prayer for mercy. See above, on Ps. 10 (9). To hide one's self is
an
expression used in the law to describe the act of wilfully withholding aid
from
one who needs it. See Deut. xxii. 1-4, and compare Isa. lviii. 7.
3 (2). Hearken
to me and answer me; I will give loose to my thought,
and I will make a noise. The first verb means
to attend, especially to one
speaking,
to listen, to hearken. See above, on Ps. v. 3 (2), x. 17, xvii. 1.
Answer or hear, in the sense of of receiving a prayer favourably. See above,
on
Ps. iii. 5 (4), xxxviii. 16 (15). The literal translation of the next words
is,
I will suffer to wander itt my thinking, i. e. I will let my mind wander,
or
my thoughts rove as they will. He is resolved not only to think freely
but
to express his thoughts aloud. The same use of the Hebrew verb
occurs
in Micah ii. 12. The thinking or meditation here meant is reflection
on
his sufferings, to which the Hebrew verb is specially applied. With the
whole
verse, and with this clause in particular, compare Job vii. 11.
4 (3). From
the voice of the enemy, from before the persecution of the wicked;
for they will shake over
me iniquity, and in wrath will oppose me. He now
declares
from what his distress arises. The preposition, in Hebrew as in
English,
has a causal meaning, or at lest suggests a relation of cause and
effect.
From the voice, i. e. because of it. From
before or from the face
conveys
the same idea still more strongly, by a kind of personification of
the
evil dreaded. Persecution of the wicked:
compare the oppression of the
enemy, in Ps. xlii. 10 (9). Shake over me, or cause to slide upon
me, a
striking
figure for the wilful infliction of evil on another. Iniquity may
here
be put, as it sometimes is, for active wickedness towards others, the
cause
of suffering rather than suffering itself. With this clause compare Ps. xli. 9
(8).
Oppose me, be my adversaries,
whether in the way of resistance or assault. The Hebrew
verb
is a cognate form to that from which comes Satan or the Adversary.
5 (4). My
heart writhes in the midst of me, and terrors of death have
fallen upon me. The future form of the
first verb implies an apprehension
that
the pain will continue and be permanent. In
the midst of me, inside
of
me, within me. He is not merely involved in outward troubles, but
pained
at heart. Terrors of death might be
strictly understood as meaning
fear
or dread of death; but it agrees better with the strong figurative lan-
guage
of the first clause, to take it in the sense of deadly, mortal terrors.
An
analogous expression is death-shade
or shadow of death. See above, on
Ps.
xxiii. 4, xliv. 20 (19). The figure of falling necessarily suggests the
idea
of infliction by a superior power.
6 (5). Fear
and trembling enter into me, and horror hath covered me. The
future
in the first clause represents the action as not yet completed, and
might
be rendered, they are entering or about to enter. The Hebrew verb
with
this preposition denotes more than come
upon; it describes the terror
as
not only on him but within him. The word translated horror is a
244
PSALM LV. [VER. 6-10.
stronger
synonyme of trembling, and might be
translated shuddering or a
shudder. Covered me, i. e. overspread or overwhelmed me.
7 (6). And
I said, who will give me a pinion like the dove? I will fly
away and be at rest. This is equivalent to
saying, if I had the pinions of a
dove,
I would fly away, &c. Who will give
is an idiomatic optative expres-
sion,
tantamount to saying, Oh that I had,
&c. See above, on Ps. xiv. 7.
The
word translated pinion properly
denotes the penna major or
flag-feather
of
a bird's wing, and is here put poetically for the wings themselves. The
two
last verbs are in the paragogic or augmented form, expressing strong
desire
or settled purpose. See above, on Ps. ii. 3. The last verb usually
means
to dwell, but has either the primary
or secondary sense of reposing,
resting.
See above, on Ps. xxxvii. 3. The first verb is immediately de-
pendent
on the last of the preceding verse, a grammatical relation which
may
be expressed thus in our idiom: "horror hath covered me so that I
say," &c.
8 (7). Lo,
I will wander far, I will lodge in the wilderness. Selah. The
lo or behold is tantamount to pointing with the finger, or to saying there!
see there! The next phrase is
highly idiomatic and literally means, "I
will
make remote to wander." To lodge
is here to take up one's abode, to
dwell,
as in Ps. xxv. 13. The wilderness,
not necessarily a barren desert,
but
an uninhabited region, the essential idea here being that of separation
from
human society, a strong though indirect mode of affirming its extreme
corruption.
The strength of the feeling which prompted this desire is in-
dicated
by a solemn pause.
9 (8). I
will hasten my escape from rushing wind, from tempest. Another
construction
of the first clause makes the verb intransitive and the noun a
local
one, as indicated by its form, I will
hasten (to) my refuge. It is
better,
however, to give the hiphil verb its proper meaning, and nouns of
the
form here used denote not only the place of action bnt the act itself.
My escape, literally an escape for me or for myself. The preposition in the
last
clause, though it properly means from,
is constantly employed in
Hebrew
to denote or indicate comparison. If thus explained in this case,
it
would make the clause descriptive of the speed with which he wishes to
escape,
more than the rushing wind and tempest.
This sense is preferred
by
some interpreters; but the other is more obvious and simple, and is also
recommended
by the frequent representation of calamity under the figure
of
a storm or tempest, which would hardly have been joined with that of
wind,
if the only idea meant to be conveyed had been that of great velocity.
10 (9). Destroy,
O Lord, divide their tongue; for I have seen violence and
strife in the city. The first word
properly means swallow up. See above,
on
Ps. xxi. 10 (9). The object to be supplied is not their tongue but them-
selves. Divide their tongue, i. e.
confound their speech or make it unintel-
ligible,
and as a necessary consequence confound their counsels. There is
obvious
reference to the confusion of tongues at Babel (Gen. xi. 7-9), as a
great
historical example of the way in which God is accustomed and deter-
mined
to defeat the purposes of wicked men and execute his own. The
word
translated cruelty denotes violent
injustice, or injustice accompanied
by
violence. See above, on Ps. vii. 17 (16). In
the city is supposed by
some
to mean nothing more than among men, in human society; but the
words
could hardly fail to suggest to any Hebrew reader the idea of the
holy
city, as the place directly meant, although the words themselves may
be
applied to any other place where the same state of things exist.
11 (10). Day and night they will surround her on her wall; and iniquity
VER.
11-13.] PSALM LV. 245
and trouble will be in
the midst of her.
The Violence and Strife of the
preceding
verse are here personified as a besieging enemy. At the same
time
the interior is occupied by Iniquity and Trouble, no less formidable
enemies.
Her walls, those of the city mentioned in the foregoing
verse.
Iniquity
and trouble are here, and often elsewhere, put together as cause
and
effect, the last denoting the distress or trouble which the wickedness of
one
man brings upon another. See above, on Ps. vii. 15 (14),
12 (11). Mischiefs (are) in the midst of her, and from her street will not
depart oppression and
deceit,
The first word in Hebrew necessarily sug-
gests
the two ideas of calamities and crimes, i. e. calamities occasioned by
the
crimes of others. See above, on Ps. v. 10 (9), xxxviii. 13 (12),
lii.
4, 9 (2, 7). The word translated street
denotes a wide place, and is
specially
applied to the square or open space surrounding the gates of
oriental
cities, and used both for markets and for courts of justice. See
Neh.
viii. 1, 3, 16. The word therefore very nearly corresponds to the
Greek
agora and the Latin forum, and may be here used to suggest
the idea both
of
legal and commercial malfeasance. Neither their markets nor their courts
are
ever free from these two forms of gross injustice, namely, fraud and violence.
13 (12). For (it is) not an enemy (that) will
revile me, else would I bear
it; (it is) not one
hating me
(that) has magnified (himself) against
me, else
would I hide myself from
him.
The Hebrew word answering to else,
is, in
both
these cases, the usual copulative particle, and the original construction
seems
to be, and (if it is) I will bear it, and (if it is) I will hide myself.
See
above, on Ps. li. 18 (16). The act of reviling here includes both
calumny
and insult. The future in the first clause suggests the idea of an
indignity
or injury about to be endured. As if he had said, "when I go
forth
among my neighbours, it is not my open enemy that will malign me."
But
that such treatment had already been experienced, is intimated by the
preterite
of the last clause. The verb to magnify
is here used reflexively
or
absolutely, as in Ps. xxxv. 26, xxxviii. 15 (16). There is no need therefore
of
supposing an ellipsis, or identifying this form of expression with the one
in
Ps. xli. 10 (9). Hide myself,
literally be hidden; but the passive
forms
in
Hebrew not unfrequently imply a reflex act, like the middle voice in
Greek.
The negation in this verse is of course not absolute but relative,
and
must be qualified by due regard to the circumstances of the case.
That
he was reproached and threatened by avowed enemies, is not only a
frequent
subject of complaint elsewhere, but sufficiently implied in ver.
4
(3) above. The true solution of this seeming contradiction is, that
he
here passes from a general description of the prevalent iniquity to a
particular
case, in which his feelings were personally interested. In this
particular
case, it was not an open enemy that slandered or insulted him.
It
is therefore as if he had said, "But it is not of this open and unblushing
wickedness
that I especially complain, but rather of the perfidy of false
friends."
Thus understood, the verse, instead of contradicting ver. 4 (3),
presupposes
what is there affirmed.
14 (13). But thou, a man mine equal, my associate, my acquaintance. It
is
a striking illustration of the difference between the Hebrew and English
idiom,
that the former uses and at the
beginning of this sentence, where in
English
but is absolutely indispensable. The
word for man is that denot-
ing
frailty and mortality. See above, on Ps. viii. 5 (4), ix. 20, 21 (19, 20),
x.
18. But it seems to be used here without any emphasis, in simple ap-
position
with what follows, or as a vocative, thou,
O man, mine equal. This
246 PSALM
LV. [VER. 14-16.
last
expression is in Hebrew, according to my
valuation, the noun being a
technical
term of the Mosaic Law, denoting the official estimation of the
priest,
in certain cases of redemption or pecuniary penalty. See Lev.
v.
15, 18, xxvii. 12. The whole phrase here employed is understood by
some
to mean one whom I value, i. e. highly, or more specifically, one whom
I value as myself. More probably, however,
it means one who is (or may
be)
estimated at the same rate with myself, which is precisely the idea
conveyed
by the common version, my equal, one
of my own rank and circle,
my
associate. This last is the sense put by the modern interpreters on the
next
word in Hebrew. The old translation (guide)
rests on a doubtful
etymology,
and the authority of the ancient versions. (LXX h[gemw<n Vulg.
dux). Acquaintance seems to be a weaker expression than the others; but
the
Hebrew word always implies very intimate association. See above, Ps.
xxxi.
12 (11), and below, Ps. lxxxviii. 9, 19 (8, 18).
15 (14). (With) whom we take sweet counsel; in the house of God we march
with noise. The future forms can
only be accounted for by supposing that
he
here anticipates a violation of the laws of friendship which had not yet
visibly
occurred. The false friend, of whom he is complaining, seems to
be
one with whom he is still intimate, but whose defection he clearly fore
saw.
As if he had said, "With this man I must still continue to be asso-
ciated,
although he is eventually to betray me." In this particular, the
case
described resembles that of our Lord and Judas Iscariot, which may
indeed
be considered as included in the general description. The form of
the
first clause is idiomatic and peculiar: who
(or as to whom) together we
will sweeten counsel, or rather confidential
intercourse. See above, on Ps.
xxv.
14. The other clause may possibly mean, we
march to the house of
God. But the strict sense
of the particle may be retained and the whole
referred
to solemn processions within the sacred enclosure or court of the
tabernacle.
With noise, i. e. with festive tumult. See above, on Ps.xlii. 5 (4).
16 (15) Desolations
(are) upon them! They shall go down to Sheol alive!
For evils are in their
dwellings, in their heart. The optative form given to
this
sentence in most versions is entirely gratuitous. All that the Hebrew
words
express is a confident anticipation. The common version of the first
words
(let death seize upon them) is
founded on the masoretic reading (xyw.iya
tv,mA); but the best critics now prefer the
older reading in the text
(tOmywiy;), which, instead of a
verb and a singular noun, exhibits one noun
in
the plural number, meaning desolations,
and agreeing with the substan-
tive
verb understood. Upon them, hovering
or impending over them.
Sheol, the grave, the state
of the dead, the wide old English sense of hell.
See
above, on Ps. vi. 6 (5). There is an obvious allusion to another great
historical
type of God's retributory judgments, the destruction of Korah
and
his company, who went down alive into the
pit, Num. xvi. 33. The
word
quick, in the common English version
of this sentence, is an adjec-
tive
synonymous with living or alive, and not an adverb meaning soon or
swiftly. Evils, i. e. evil deeds
and evil thoughts. In their heart, or
inside,
inner
part, as in Ps. v. 10 (9), xlix. 12 (11): This is a much better sense
than
in the midst of them, among them.
17 (16). I to God will call, and Jehovah will save me. The pronoun is
emphatic,
I on my part. While they are brought to desolation and to
death,
I, on the contrary, will call to God. If the use of two divine names
has
any significance beyond the requisitions of the parallelism, the meaning
VER.
17-19.] PSALM
LV.
247
may
be, "I will call to God, and as the covenant God of Israel he will
save
me." Compare Ps. xviii. 4 (3).
18 (17). Evening and morning and noon I will muse and murmur—and
he has heard my voice. The first clause is
supposed by some to prove that
the
observance of three stated hours of prayer was as old as David; others
suppose
the observance to have been suggested by the clause itself. But
the
natural and obvious division of the day here mentioned may have given
occasion
both to the clause and the observance. Muse
and murmur is a
combination
descriptive of prayer, both as mentally conceived and audibly
expressed.
Murmur is perhaps not strong enough
to convey the full sense
of
the Hebrew verb, which elsewhere means to make a loud noise. See
above,
on Ps. xlii. 6, 12 (5, 11), xlvi. 4, 7 (3, 6). The assimilation or
confusion
of the tenses in this verse by some translators is not only arbi-
trary
but injurious to the sense. What is mentioned in the first clause as
still
future is recorded in the last clause as already past. As if he had
said,
"Thus did I resolve to pray, and now my prayer has been already
made
and answered." Such transitions are among the characteristic
beauties
of the Psalter, and ought not to be gratuitously sacrificed, still less
at
the expense of violating usage and the rules of grammar.
19 (18). He redeemed in peace my soul from the war against me, for
many were with me. In peace, or with peace,
as the result of this redemp-
tion.
Against me, literally to me, the war
that was to me, that I had.
The
last clause, to an English ear, conveys the idea that his friends or
champions
were many, but the meaning of the Hebrew is directly opposite,
with me being used in such
connections to denote a relation of hostility, as we speak of
fighting,
quarrelling, contending with one. In
either case, the particle expresses really no
more
than joint or simultaneous action, the idea of enmity or opposition being
gathered
from
the context. The literal translation of the last clause is, in many were (those) with
me, i. e. consisting in many. The adverse party was composed of many
individuals. This
usage
of the in is strictly appropriate
only to numerals. See Deut. x. 22, xxviii. 62.
20 (19). God will hear and answer them, and (He) inhabiting antiquity
(will
hear and answer those) to whom there are
no changes, and (who) fear
not God. As he has heard me in
mercy, so will he hear them in wrath.
As
he has answered my prayer in the way described above, ver 19 (18), so
will
he answer them in the way described below, ver. 24 (23). In
this
case, what is heard and answered is not prayer, but the voice of the
enemy, ver. 4 (3), and his
malignant slanders, ver. 13 (12). Inhabiting
antiquity, or as the English
Bible phrases it, he that abideth of old.
The
first
Hebrew verb, however, could not fail to suggest its primary meaning,
which
is to sit, and more especially to sit enthroned, as a sovereign and a
judge.
See above, on Ps. ix. 5, 12 (4, 11). The phrase may therefore be
said
to represent God as having been a king and a judge from the remotest
antiquity.
The last clause is by some supposed to mean, that the persons
here
referred to undergo no moral change, but still persist in their refusal
to
fear God; by others, that they undergo no outward changes, no vicissi-
tudes
of fortune, and for that reason will not fear him. But as the word
translated
changes is repeatedly employed by Job
in a military sense, to
signify
either an alternate service, as, for instance, in relieving guard, or a
succession
in the service, as when one corps is disbanded and another takes
its
place, some of the best interpreters suppose this clause to mean that
those
enlisted in this evil warfare have no such reliefs or discharges to
expect,
but must continue in the unremitting service of sin, and as a neces-
248 PSALM
LV.
[VER. 20-22.
nary
consequence cannot fear God. The grammatical structure of the whole
verse
is peculiar, and can be made intelligible only by supplying the ellipsis.
21 (20). He has stretched out his hands against his allies: he has pro-
faned his covenant. This might seem at
first sight to refer to God; but
such
a reference, if not forbidden by the nature of the acts alleged, would
be
at variance with the subsequent context, where the subject is undoubtedly
the
wicked enemy. The sudden change of number is in strict accordance
with
the usage of the Psalmists in speaking of their enemies, or in this
case
may arise from the same cause as in ver. 13 (12) above. See above,
on
Ps. x. 10. The word translated allies
is the plural of one meaning
peace, but seems to be
poetically used here to denote those at peace with
him,
his friends or allies. Compare the analogous expressions in Ps. vii.
5
(4), xli. 10 (9). To profane a covenant
is to treat it as no longer sacred,
and
by implication to break it. Compare Isa. xxxiii. 8. This is a varied
repetition,
under military figures, of the description in ver. 13-15 (12-14).
22 (21) Smooth
are the butterings of his mouth, and (yet) war (is in) his
heart; soft are his
words, more than oil, and (yet even) they are
drawn
(swords). To the charge of
violence he adds that of treacherous hypocrisy,
thus
amplifying the laconic phrase oppression
and deceit, in ver. 12 (11)
above.
The English Bible, following some older versions, assimilates the
clauses
by making both comparative, smoother than
butter, softer than oil.
But
in order to sustain this construction of the first clause, it is necessary
to
change the pointing of one Hebrew word, and to supply another as the
nominative
of the plural verb, which cannot without violence agree with
mouth. The letter prefixed to
the first noun is a part of it, and not a
particle
meaning than or more than, and the whole word denotes prepara-
tions
of butter, cream, or rather curdled milk, which is the meaning of the
primitive
noun. As to the adversative use of and
in both these clauses,
see
above, on ver. 14 (13). War (is in) his heart, or still more simply,
because
not requiring the insertion of the particle, war (is) his heart, i. e.
his
cherished wish and purpose. The word translated war is a poetical
term,
the same that is employed above in ver. 19 (18). In the last clause,
even
is supplied as well as yet, in order to convey, as far as possible, the
emphasis
of the Hebrew pronoun. And they
themselves, i. e. the very oily
words
just mentioned, are drawn swords. This last expression is in
Hebrew
properly an adjective or participial form, but is specifically used in
application
to the sword, as brandished is in
English, and so comes to be employed
absolutely
or as a substantive, expressing the entire complex idea of drawn swords, as
weapons
of attack, ready for use or on the point of being used forthwith.
23 (22). Cast upon Jehovah (what) he gives thee, and he will sustain
thee; he will never
suffer the righteous to be moved. What he gives thee to
endure,
what he lays upon thee, cast thou upon him, by trusting in bim.
The
phrase he gives thee (or has given thee) may also be explained as
a noun
with
a possessive pronoun, thy gift, not
in the active sense of what thou
givest, but in the passive
sense of what is given to thee. Sustain does not
here
mean to hold up or support under the burden, but to nourish or sus
tain
life by administering food and other necessaries, to provide for. Com-
pare
the primitive use of the Hebrew verb in Gen. xlv. 11, xlvii. 12,1. 21.
The
common version of the last clause above given is a correct paraphrase
of
the original, the form of which is highly idiomatic. A literal translation
would
be, he will not give for ever moving
(or movement) to the righteous.
The
verb to give is often used in Hebrew
in the sense of allowing or per-
VER.
1.] PSALM
LVI.
249
mitting.
The word translated moving is the one
so often used to signify
the
violent disturbance of a person in the midst of his prosperity. See
above,
on PS. x. 6, xvi. 8, &c.
24 (23). And thou, God, wilt bring them down to the pit of corruption;
men of blood and fraud
shall not live out half their days. The first verb is
a
causative, and as such may be rendered, thou
wilt cause them to descend.
The
word translated pit is the common
term in Hebrew for a well, but is
here
used in a wile sense, including all such excavations. The next word is
(tHawa), a derivative of the
verb (tHawA)
to corrupt or destroy. The sense
of pit,
as if derived from the verb (HaUw) to sink, would convert the phrase
into
a weak tautology. See above, on Ps. xvi. 10. Men of bloods and
deceit, i. e. bloody (or murderous) and deceitful men, as in Ps. v. 7 (6)
above.
The literal translation of the last words is, they shall not halve their
days, a form of expression
copied in the margin of the English Bible, as
well
as in the Septuagint (h[miseu<swsi) and Vulgate
(dimidiabunt). The
meaning
of course is, that they shall not live half so long as they might
have
lived, but for their bloody and deceitful acts. This is not asserted as
a
general fact, but uttered as a threatening to the murderers and traitors
whom
the Psalmist had directly in his eye.
PSALM LVI.
After
the title, ver. 1, comes a general petition for deliverance from
persecution
and oppression, ver. 2, 3 (1, 2), followed by a strong expres-
sion
of trust in God, ver. 4, 5 (3, 4), a description of the malice of the
enemy,
ver. 6, 7 (5, 6), and a confident anticipation of his punishment,
ver.
8-10 (7-9), founded on faith in the divine promise, ver. 11, 12
(10,
11), and a vow or resolution to make due acknowledgment of the
mercy
experienced, ver. 12, 13 (11, 12).
1. To
the Chief Musician. Upon Jonath-elem-rehokim. By David.
Mich tam. When the
Philistines took him in Gath. The last clause of this
inscription
seems to refer to the incident recorded in 1 Sam. xxi. See
above,
on Ps. xxxiv. 1. An enigmatical allusion to the same event seems
to
be latent in the obscure phrase, Jonath-elem-rehokim,
in which the first
word
means a dove, a favourite emblem of
suffering innocence; the second
means
silence, dumbness, sometimes put for
uncomplaining submission;
and
the third means distant or remote, agreeing with places or persons,
probably
the latter, in which sense it is applicable to the Philistines, as
aliens
in blood and religion. Compare Ps. xxxviii. 14 (13), lvi. 2 (1),
lxv.
6 (5), lxxiv. 19. Thus understood, the whole is an enigmatical de-
scription
of David as an innocent and uncomplaining sufferer among strangers.
For
the most probable etymology and sense of Michtam,
see above, on Ps. xvi. 1.
2 (1). .Be
merciful unto me, O God, for man pants for me (or is gaping
after me); all the day, he devouring (or the
devourer) is pressing on me.
The
word for man is that denoting human
frailty and implying the unrea-
sonableness
of such rage in one so impotent. See above, on Ps. ix. 20, 21
(19,
20), x. 18. The image here presented is that of a devouring monster
or
voracious beast. Instead of pants or gapes, some suppose the second
verb
to mean snorts or snaps, as an animal expression of rage. For the
meaning
of the word translated devouring, see
above, on Ps. xxxv. 1.
Pressing on me, or pressing me. See
Num. xxii. 25.
250 PSALM LVI. [VER. 2-8.
3 (2). My
enemies have gaped upon me all the day; for (there are) many
devourers to me, O most
High.
The word translated enemies is that
sup-
posed
by some to mean spies or watchers. See above, on Ps. xxvii. 11,
liv.
7 (5). Having first spoken of his enemy in the singular number, he
now
substitutes the plural, to explain which seems to be the object of the
last
clause. "I say enemies, because my devourers are many." The last
word
in the verse strictly means a high place, and particularly heaven, but
is
sometimes applied to God himself. See below, on Ps. xcii. 9 (8).
Some
interpreters, however, understand it as an abstract noun meaning
loftiness
or pride, and then used as an adverb in the sense of arrogantly,
proudly.
Compare Ps. lxxiii. 8.
4 (3). The
day I am afraid, unto thee will I confide. The complaint is
followed,
as in many other cases, by an expression of his confidence in God.
The day I am afraid is an unusual expression,
meaning simply when I am
afraid, and probably belonging
to the dialect of poetry. Unto thee
suggests
the
act of turning and looking towards the quarter from which help is ex-
pected.
The same form of expression occurs above, Ps. iv. 6 (5), xxxi. 7 (6).
5 (4). In
God I will praise his word, in God I have trusted; I will not
fear; what can flesh do
unto me?
The meaning of the first clause seems
to
be, that in the general praise of God he will include a particular acknow-
ledgment
of his gracious word or promise upon this occasion. The con-
struction
of the last clause in the English Bible, I
will not fear what flesh
can do unto me, gives substantially
the same sense, but does not agree so
well
with the masoretic interpunction of the sentence. Flesh, humanity, as
opposed
to deity. See below, on Ps. lxv. 3 (2), and compare Isa. xxii. 3, xl. 6.
6 (5). All
the day my words they wrest; against me (are) all their thoughts
for evil. The word translated wrest means strictly vex or pain, but is here
used
in the sense of twisting or distorting language by putting false con-
structions
on it. Thoughts, purposes; designs. For evil, tending to my
injury.
7 (6). They
will gather, they will hide—they, my supplanters, will watch,
as they have (already) waited for my soul. They will gather or
combine against
me.
They will hide (themselves or their devices), they will plot, or lie in wait,
for
my destruction. The common explanation of the next phrase, they mark
my steps or my heels, does not account for the emphatic pronoun they. The
Hebrew
word has probably the same sense as in Ps. xlix. 6 (5) above.
Waited for my soul or life, i. e. waited to destroy it.
8 (7). By
iniquity (there is) escape to them;
in anger bring down nations,
O God! The first clause is
obscure, but may mean either that they have
hitherto
escaped by their iniquity, or that they now depend, rely upon it
for
deliverance. The interrogative construction commonly adopted ought
not
to be assumed, in the absence of an interrogative particle, without a
decided
exegetical necessity. The Hebrew particle at the beginning some-
times
indicates the means or instrument, with the additional idea of depend-
ence
or reliance, as in the English phrase to live on bread and water. See
Gen.
xxvii. 40.
9 (8). My
wanderings thou hast told; put thou my tears into thy bottle;
are they not in thy
book?
The Hebrew words for wanderings and tears are
both
in the singular number. See above, on Ps. vi. 7 (6), xxxix. 13 (12).
The
first of these words suggests the ideas of flight and exile, and may con-
tain
an allusion to the wanderings of Cain in a country designated by this
very
word, The Land of Nod, Gen. iv. 16,
although this phrase may really
VER.
9-13.] PSALM
LVI.
251
mean
nothing more than the land of (his)
banishment or exile. The English
word
told is here retained because the
Hebrew one is equally ambiguous.
In
this case the primary idea is to count or number. See above, Ps. xxii.
17
(16), xl. 5 (4), xlviii. 13 (12). The act of counting implies particular
attention.
The idea of recollection is expressed by the strong figure which
follows,
put my tears into thy bottle, i. e. preserve them in thy memory.
This
singular metaphor is thought by some to have been suggested by the
word
for wandering (dno or dOn), which is almost
identical with that for
bottle (dxno). The latter strictly
means a skin or leathern bottle, such as
is
still used in the East. See below, on Ps. cxix. 83. The interrogation
in
the last clause has the force of a direct assertion. Thy book, the book of thy
remembrance,
another figurative expression for the memory itself. Compare Mal. iii. 16.
10 (9). Then
shall my enemies turn back, in the day I call; this I know,
that God is for me. The particle of time
at the beginning of the verse has
reference
to what follows, in the day I call,
but as this was to be connected
closely
with the last clause, the natural order of the sentence was inverted.
Turn back, be repulsed, defeated,
disappointed. See above, on Ps. vii. 12
(11),
ix. 4 (3). in the day (that) I shall call:
the ellipsis of the relative is
equally
common in Hebrew and in English. Call
may mean simply call
for help or pray; but some connect it
with the last clause thus: in the day
that I shall call (or cry as follows)
"this I know," &c.
There is also an
ambiguity
in the phrase this I know, which may either mean, "I know that
my
enemies shall thus turn back, because God is for me," or, "my enemies
shall
turn back when they hear me cry. This much I know, to wit, that God
is
for me." The last phrase may be also rendered to me he belongs to me,
he
is my God, which of course includes the idea of his favour or his being
on
the speaker's side.
11
(10). In God I will praise (this) word; in Jehovah I will praise (this)
word. This unusual form of
speech must have the same sense as in ver. 5
(4)
above. Some understand it to mean by
God's help, others, in union with
God, I will praise (his)
word.
But on the whole, the most natural explana-
tion
still seems to be, "what I shall particularly praise in God, both as
God,
and as the tutelary God of Israel and my own, is the word of promise,
which
he has uttered and fulfilled in this case."
12 (11). In God have I trusted; I will not fear; what can man do unto
me? As the foregoing verse
is a resumption and emphatic iteration of the
first
clause of ver. 5 (4), so this seems to bear the same relation to the last
clause
of that same verse. The only variation in the form of expression is
the
substitution of the literal term man,
(or mankind) for the more obscure
term
flesh. See above, on ver. 5 (4). Here
again it is a possible construc-
tion,
although not so agreeable to the masoretic accents, to make the inter-
rogation
an oblique one. "I will not fear what man can do unto me."
13 (12). Upon me, O God, (are) thy vows; I will pay thanksgiving unto
thee. The first clause
represents his vows or voluntary obligations as incum-
bent
on himself and due to God, and he resolves to discharge them by thanksgivings,
not
merely verbal acknowledgments, but sacrificial tokens of his gratitude, such as
were
familiar to the ancient saints and recognised in the Law of Moses.
14 (13). For thou hast delivered my soul from death; (wilt thou) not
(deliver) my feet from
falling, to walk before God in the light of life? The
ellipsis
in the second clause may also be supplied as follows, hast thou not
delivered? as the only terms
expressed are those of interrogation and nega-
252 PSALM
LVII. [VER.
1.
tion.
The word translated falling is a very
strong one, and means thrusting,
casting
down. The verbal root occurs above, in Ps. xxxv. 5, xxxvi. 13 (12).
To walk before God is to live in the
enjoyment of his favour and protection.
The
light of life is opposed to the
darkness of death. It may also be and
usually
is translated, in the light of the
living, i e. the light which living
men
enjoy. See above, on Ps. xxvii. 13.
PSALM LVII.
In
the first part of this psalm a sufferer describes his own afflictions,
occasioned
by the malice of his enemies, and earnestly prays to be delivered
from
them, ver. 2-5 (1-4). In the second he anticipates a favourable.
answer
to his prayer, and praises God for it, ver. 6-12 (5-11).
1. To
the Chief Musician. Destroy not. By David. A Secret. When
he fled from before Saul
in the cave.
The enigmatical inscription, Al-tash-
heth, destroy not, reappears in the
titles of the next two psalms, and of the
seventy-fifth.
As in other cases of the same kind, some interpreters regard
it
as a musical expression, others as the first words of a well-known poem,
to
the air of which this was to be sung. The best explanation is the one
suggested
by the Chaldee Paraphrase, to wit, that the psalms which bear this
title
belong to that period of David's history, when he was under the per-
petual
necessity of saying Destroy not, and
are therefore suited to all
similar
emergencies of other saints. It is not at all impossible, that this
was
a favourite saying of David in real life, the rather as it is borrowed
from
the prayer of Moses in Deut. ix. 26, of which it may be said to be an
abbreviated
citation, not unlike the Latin designations, De Profundis,
Miserere, Venice Exsultemus,
Non Nobis Domine, Te Deum &c. The ex-
planation
above given is corroborated by the obvious allusion in these three
psalms
(lvii.—lix.) to the Sauline persecution. The very expression may be
traced
in 1 Sam. xxvi. 9, where David utters, as a command to his fol-
lowers,
what he so often had occasion to utter as a prayer in his own behalf.
This
psalm is described as a michtam, mystery,
or secret, on account of the
extraordinary
consolation and support which he experienced, enabling him
to
triumph even in the midst of enemies and dangers. See above, on Ps.
xvi.
1. In the cave of Adullam (1 Sam.
xxii. 1), or of Engedi (1 Sam.
xvi.
1-3), or more indefinitely in the cave,
equivalent to saying in caves, as
a
generic description of the mode of life which he then led (Heb. xi. 38),
not
without some reference to the subterraneous cavern, as an emblem of
solitude
and darkness. Hence the absence of any more specific allusion to
particular
incidents which occurred in caves, such as that recorded in
1
Sam. xxiv., and the obvious reference to the whole period of the Sauline
persecution,
as a time of wandering, danger, and distress. Hence, too, the
striking
similiarity, in sentiment and form, between this psalm and the one
before
it.
2 (1). Be
merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me, for in thee has
my soul sought refuge,
and in the shadow of thy wings will I seek refuge,
until (these) calamities be overpast. The repetition
of the prayer for mercy
chews
the intensity of his desire. Sought
refuge from the persecutions men-
tioned
in Ps. lvi. 2 (1). The soul is mentioned
as the object of pursuit.
See
above, on Ps. liv. 5 (4), lvi. 7 (6), and compare 1 Sam. xxiv. 12 (11).
The shadow of thy wings: the same beautiful
figure for protection is pre-
VER.
2-6.] PSALM
LVII.
253
sented
in Ps. xvii. 8, xxxvi. 8 (7). Calamities,
occasioned by the crimes
of
others. See above, on Ps. lii. 4, 9, (2, 7).
3 (2). I
will cry unto God Most High, unto the Almighty, finishing for
me, i. e. perfecting what he has begun. Compare Phil. i. 6. This verse
assigns
two reasons for his crying unto God. The first is the supremacy
and
omnipotence of God himself, the second is the previous experience of
his
faithfulness in fully performing whatever he has promised. See below,
on
Ps. cxxxviii. 8.
4 (3). He
will send from heaven and save me—(when or whom) the de-
vourer reviles, Selah!—God will send his mercy and his truth. The first verb
may
govern hand, as in Ps. cxliv. 7, or help, as in Ps. xx. 3 (2), or be used
absolutely,
as in Ps. xviii. 17 (16). The devourer,
literally the one gaping
after
me, snorting with rage against me, or panting for my destruction. See
above,
on Ps. lvi. 2, 3 (1, 2). Without supplying anything, this clause
may
be taken as a short independent proposition—the
devourer has reviled—
interposed
between the two principal members of the sentence. See above,
on
Ps. xxvii. 8, xlv. 6 (5). In the last clause, Mercy and Truth seem to
be
personified, like Integrity and Uprightness in Ps. xxv. 21, Violence and
Strife
in Ps. Iv. 10 (9). With this clause compare Ps. xliii. 3.
5 (4). My
soul (is) in the midst of lions; I will lie down (among) burn-
ing ones, sons of man,
(whose) teeth (are) spears and arrows, and their tongue
a sharp sword. By his soul he means
himself, or rather his endangered
life.
Lions, as often elsewhere, means
ferocious enemies. See above, on
Ps.
vii. 3 (2), xxii. 13, 14 (12, 13). The form of the verb which follows
is
the one denoting fixed determination. "Though surrounded by lions I
will
fearlessly lie down," &c. Among or
upon them. Burning may pos-
sibly
refer to lions and mean raging; but the indefinite application
is more
natural.
Sons of man is added to chew that
what precedes is to be figura-
tively
understood; but in the very next clause, the writer relapses into
language
still more highly metaphorical. In likening their teeth to swords
he
presents the double image of a wild beast and a warrior. The mention
of
the tongue has reference, no doubt, to the slander and abuse, which
entered
so largely into the Sauline persecutions. These had already been
referred
to in the middle clause of ver. 4 (3), of which this may be regarded
as
an amplification.
6 (5). Be
high above the heavens, O God, above all the earth thy glory!
Some,
in the last clause, read on all the earth,
and then explain on the
heavens to mean nothing more
than in heaven. The whole verse then
is
the
expression of a wish that God may be exalted both in heaven and earth.
But
this is far less natural than the usual construction, which supposes a
comparison,
and
makes the verse exalt God above all his works. Compare Ps. viii. 2 (1).
7 (6). A
net they prepared for my steps; he pressed down my soul; they
digged before me a pit;
they fell into the midst of it. Selah. This verse
assigns
the reason or occasion of the praise ascribed to God in that before
it.
The image here presented is the same as in Ps. vii. 16 (15), ix. 16
(15).
The sudden change of number is particularly common in the Psalms
when
speaking of an ideal person, representing many real individuals. See
above,
on Ps. lvi. 3 (2). The phrase pressed
down is borrowed from the
Prayer-Book
version, and is well suited to convey the idea of an animal
caught
and held down by a trap or snare. That version is also more correct
than
the English Bible in giving to the verb an active meaning; of the
neuter
or passive there is no example elsewhere. Before
me, in my path,
254
PSALM LVII. [VER. 7-11.
where
am I walking. The Selah at the close
is almost equivalent to an
Amen, as expressing
acquiescence in God's righteous retributions.
8 (7). Fixed
(is) my heart, O God, fixed (is) my heart; I will sing and
play. The repetition adds
solemnity and force to the declaration. Fixed,
i. e. firmly resolved and
proof against all fear. See above, on Ps. li. 12 (10),
and
below on Ps. cxii. 7. The two verbs in the last clause are properly
descriptive
of the two kinds of music, vocal and instrumental; but in the
usage
of the Psalms they always have reference to the praise of God.
9 (8.) Awake,
my glory! awake, lute and harp! I will awaken morning.
The
same idea is now expressed in the form of a poetical apostrophe. By
glory most interpreters
understand the soul, as the glory of the whole man,
but
some the tongue, as the glory of the
body. See above, on Ps. vii. 6 (5),
xvi.
9, xxx. 13, and below, on Ps. cviii. 2 (1). It is possible, however, that
it
here means that in which he gloried, his inspiration as a sacred poet, and
which
he personifies, as the heathen poets invoked the muse. Lute and
harp is the translation in
the Prayer Book. Any other combination, denot-
ing
two familiar instruments, such as harp
and lyre, would be here appro-
priate.
The verb in the last clause is a causative of that in the first, and
is
related to it as the English verb awaken
to awake. Strictly translated,
this
clause contains a bold but beautiful poetical conception, that of
awakening
the dawn instead of being awakened by it, in other words, pre-
venting
or anticipating it by early praises. In like manner, Ovid says the
crowing
of the cock evocat auroram. We thus
obtain the same sense, in a
far
more striking form than is expressed by the inexact and prosaic version,
I will awake early. The intransitive sense
given to the verb, and the ad-
verbial
sense given to the noun, are both without sufficient authority in
usage.
From this verse some have inferred, that the psalm was expressly
designed
to be an even-song; but he does not say, I will do thus to-
morrow.
The meaning rather is that he will do it daily. See above, on
Ps.
xvii. 15. The summons to the harp and lyre, may be understood as implying, that
they
have long slept without occasion for such praise as they are now to utter.
10 (9). I
will thank thee among the nations, Lord; I will praise thee
among the peoples. The divine
interposition to be celebrated is so great and
glorious
as to be entitled to the praises of the whole world. See above,
on
Ps. xviii. 50 (49.)
11 (10). For great unto the heavens (is) thy mercy, and unto the clouds
thy truth. By a natural and
favourite hyperbole, God's goodness is de-
scribed
as reaching from earth to heaven. See above, on Ps. xxxvi. 6 (5),
and
compare Jer. li. 9.
12 (11). Be thou high above the heavens, O God, above all the earth thy
glory! The strophe ends as it
began in ver. 6 (5) above. In the last
clause
the verb of the first may be repeated, be
thy glory high; or the sub-
stantive
verb alone may be supplied, let thy glory
be above all the earth!
PSALM LVIII.
1. To
the Chief Musician. Al-tashheth. By
David. Michtam. See
above,
on Ps. lvii. 1. The Psalmist complains of unjust, spiteful, hardened
enemies,
ver. 2-6 (1-5), and prays that their power may be broken, ver.
7-12
(6-11). The contents of the psalm agree with its title in shewing
that
it belongs to the period of Saul's persecutions, when David had to
VER.
1, 2.] PSALM
LVIII. 255
contend
with unjust rulers, who were at the same time his personal ene-
mies.
But although suggested by his own experience, the psalm was designed
for
permanent and public use, and is therefore inscribed to the Chief Musician.
2 (1). Are
ye indeed dumb (when) ye (should)
speak righteousness (and)
judge equitably, sons of
man?
The first words are exceedingly obscure.
One
of them (Ml,xe),
not expressed in English and the ancient versions,
means
dumbness, as in Ps. lvi. 1, and seems
to be here used as a strong
expression
for entirely speechless. In what
respect they were thus dumb,
is
indicated by the verb which follows, but the connection can be made
clear
in English only by a circumlocution. The interrogation, are ye in-
deed, expresses wonder, as at
something scarcely credible, Can it be so?
is
it possible? are you really silent, you whose very office is to speak for
God
and against the sins of men? See Deut. i. 16, 17. That the speak-
ing
here meant is judicial speaking, appears from the more specific parallel
expression.
The word translated equitably is a
plural noun meaning equities
or
rectitudes. See above, on Ps. xvii.
2. Strictly understood, it is not a
qualifying
term, but the object of the verb judge,
as in the other clause right-
eousness is governed directly by
the verb speak. The address to them
as
sons of man reminds them of their
own dependence and responsibility.
3 (2). Nay,
in heart, iniquities ye practise; in the land, the violence of
your hands ye weigh. The particle at the
beginning is, as usual, emphatic,
meaning
not only this but something more. See above, Ps. xviii. 49 (48),
xliv.
10 (9). Not contented with neglecting their official functions, they
were
guilty of positive injustice. The Hebrew for iniquities is the plural of
a
word. used in Ps. xxxvii. 1, xliii. 1, and denotes various acts of injustice.
The
future
forms (ye will do, ye will weigh)
implies an obstinate persistency in
evil.
To do or practise wickedness in heart may mean to plan or contrive
it,
as in Micah. ii. 1, leaving the execution to be inferred as a matter of course.
Or
the phrase may be translated with the
heart, i. e. cordially, ex anima,
con amore, or to use an idiomatic
English expression with a will. The
first
words of the last clause, in the land,
may seem, from their position, to
be
in contrast with the phrase in heart;
but the antithesis, if any, is be-
tween
the heart and hands, and in the land
suggests the aggravating circum-
stance,
that all this was practised by persons in authority under the theo-
cracy,
among the chosen people. Violence,
violent injustice. See above,
on
Ps. lv. 10 (9). The last verb in this sentence means to level or make
even, and in that sense is
repeatedly applied to paths. See Isa. xxvi. 7,
Prov.
iv. 26, v. 6, 21. But as the derivative noun (sl,P,) means a
lance
(Prov. xvi. 11, Isa. xl. 12), the verb may here denote the act of
weighing, levelling the balance,
rendering it even, which some, without neces-
sity,
ascribe to it in several of the places above cited, where its constant
combination
with a way or path seems to exclude the idea of weighing as
incongruous,
and to require that of smoothing or levelling as peculiarly
appropriate.
This last might be retained even here, and the metaphor be
understood
to mean that they facilitated or promoted violence (q. d. levelled
or
prepared its way); but the sense of weighing is equally appropriate,
and
agrees well with the favourite idea of the scales of justice, which is found
not
only in the classics but in Scripture. See Job xxxi. 6. The meaning
then
is, that. these wicked rulers, instead of weighing out justice to their
subjects,
weighed out, administered, dispensed, the most violent injustice,
and
that, too, devised and practised by themselves.
256 PSALM
LVIII. [VER
3-5;
4 (3). Estranged
are the wicked from the womb; they go astray from,
(their)
birth, speaking lies. The first verb
in Hebrew is not a passive but
a
neuter form, denoting the condition of estrangement, alienation, from God
and
from all goodness. The wicked thus
described are the whole class,
of
which his persecutors formed a part. The preterite tense is used in
the
original (were estranged, went astray)
on account of the retrospective
reference
to the beginning of life. The verb translated go astray is one
frequently
applied to moral aberrations. From their
birth, literally from
the belly. See above, Ps. xxii.
11 (10). Speaking lies, or with
closer
adherence
to the form of the original, speakers of
falsehood, i. e. habitual
liars.
The other version seems to mean that they begin to lie as soon as
they
are born, a hyperbolical expression, of which some interpreters relieve
the
sentence by making this the subject of the proposition and parallel to.
wicked in the other clause. Speakers of falsehood go astray from
(their)
birth. In this description of
the wicked there is nothing inconsistent with
the
doctrine of universal depravity, as recognised in Ps. xiv. 1, li. 7 (5) above,
and in
Gen.
viii. 21, Job xiv. 4, because the holiness of some men is a mere exception to
the
general
rule, produced by the distinguishing grace of God, which frees them from the
paramount
influence of that corruption to which others still continue subject.
5, 6 (4, 5). There is poison to them like the poison of a serpent, as a deaf
adder stops its ear,
which will not hearken to the voice of enchanters, of (one)
charming charms, (of
one) most wise.
The first words are equivalent to the
English
construction, they have poison, The
Hebrew noun originally signi-
fies
heat, and especially the heat of anger, in which sense it repeatedly occurs
above,
Ps. vi. 2 (1), xxxvii. 8, xxxviii. 2 (1). The same sense is retained
here
by the ancient versions (qumo<j, furor),
and agrees well with the popular
idea
of vindictive spite, as a natural instinct of this class of animals. But
most
interpreters explain the word, here and in Deut xxxii. 24, as meaning
venom,
animal poison, so called from its inflammatory effects upon the
person
bitten. The Hebrew phrase translated like
means strictly after (or
according to) the likeness of. Compare its use in Gen. i. 26. It may be
here
employed, instead of the simple particle of comparison, for the sake of
emphasis,
as we say like, but more emphatically just
like. As to the species
of
serpent mentioned in the second clause of ver. 5 (4), all that is necessary
to
a correct interpretation of the verse is to understand it as denoting a
variety
regarded as peculiarly malignant, and therefore resisting the incan-
tations
by which other species were subdued, especially in Egypt. See the
allusions
to this practice in Eccles. x. 11, Jer. viii. 17. This clause admits
of
a different construction, like the deaf
adder he stops his ear, which some
interpreters
prefer because an adder cannot stop its ears, and need not stop
them
if naturally deaf, whereas it is by stopping his that the wicked man
becomes
like a deaf adder. The word translated enchanters
properly means
whisperers or mutterers, in allusion to familiar practices of the ancient
wizards.
Charming charms, laying spells, or as
the Hebrew words are
commonly
supposed to signify originally, tying
knots with a magical design.
The
last word in ver. 6 (5), is a passive participle, analogous to our word
learned,
and here meaning skilful. The English
versions and the Vulgate
make
it an adverb (sapienter, never so wisely);
but the Septuagint and
Jerome
give it its proper meaning as an adjective, in which case it is pro-
bably
in apposition with the nouns preceding, and connected in like manner
with
the voice of the first clause. The
general idea of the verse, however
construed,
is that the malice of his enemies is stubborn and inexorable.
VER.
6-8.] PSALM
LVIII.
257
7 (6). O
God, crush their teeth in their mouth; the grinders of the young
lions shatter, O
Jehovah! The
complaint is now followed by a prayer, that
these
ferocious enemies may be disarmed and disabled. This idea is ex-
pressed
by the use of the same figure as in Ps. iii. S (7), that of wild beasts
rendered
harmless by the breaking of their teeth. Compare Job xxix. 17,
Hence
in the last clause they are expressly called lions. See above, Ps.
lvii.
5 (4). Young lions, not mere whelps,
from which they are distinguished
in
Ezek. xix. 2, 3, but full-grown lions, in the first maturity of their
strength,
and therefore more to be dreaded than when older or younger.
See
above, Ps. xvii. 12, xxxiv. 11 (10), xxxv. 17. The Hebrew verbs in
this
verse are peculiarly expressive, and, though wholly unconnected with
each
other, are both used elsewhere to express the ideas of violently break-
ing,
breaking down, breaking out, breaking off, and breaking through. See
Exod.
xv. 7, xix. 21, Lev. xiv. 45, Judges vi. 30, 1 Kings xviii. 30.
8 (7). Let
them melt away as waters, let them go their way; let him bend
his arrows, as if they
were cut off.
The optative meaning of these features
seems
to be determined by the imperatives in ver. 7 (6). There is nothing
ungrammatical,
however, in retaining the strict future sense, and regarding
the
verse as an expression of strong confidence as to the event. The first
verb
elsewhere has the sense of being rejected with contempt, and is so
used
in Ps. xv. 9; but as two of its radical letters coincide with those of a
verb
meaning to be melted, most interpreters prefer this sense. The other
might,
however, be retained, and the phrase explained to mean that they
should
be east aside as water, and especially as filthy water, is rejected.
Go their way, literally go to their or to themselves. Some
understand it to
mean
for themselves, i. e. for their own benefit, their destruction being repre-
sented,
by a sort of irony, as all that they have gained by their hostility.
Compare
the use of the same phrase in Ps. lxiv. 6 (5), lxvi. 7 (6). In the
next
clause, most interpreters assume a sudden change of number, such as
frequently
occurs in speaking of an ideal person representing a plurality of
real
individuals. See above, on Ps. 4, 7 (3, 6). He
(i. e. the enemy)
shall bend his arrows, literally tread them, i. e. bend by treading on them.
This
expression is applicable strictly to the bow, and it is so applied re-
peatedly
above. See Ps. vii. 13 (12), xi. 2, xxxvii. 14. Having thus
acquired
the secondary sense of fitting, making ready, it is transferred from
the
bow to the arrows, not only here but in Ps. lxiv. 4 (3), below. If the last
verb
be construed with the arrows as its subject, they would seem to be de-
scribed
as blunted or deprived of their points, and the meaning of the clause is,
that
the weapons of the enemy take no effect. The whole clause, however, will
admit
of a different construction, which refers the singular verb and pronoun
to
God himself, and the plural verb to these rebellious sinners. Let him bend his
arrows,
as
if they were cut off, i. e. so that
they may be cut off. Notwithstanding the obscurity of
this
clause, the connection is preserved unbroken by the obvious meaning of the
other.
9 (8). As
a snail melts, let him go; (like) the
untimely birth of a woman,
they have not beheld the
sun.
The idea of speedy and entire disappearance
is
still more strongly expressed here. The meaning of the word translated
snail
rests upon rabbinical tradition and a doubtful etymology. The point
of
comparison may relate to some popular belief or to some apparent idio-
syncrasy
in this class of animals, perhaps to the idea of its losing a portion
of
its body by locomotion. The. next noun primarily signifies what falls
from
the tree, unripe fruit, and is then transferred to animal abortions.
The
past tense in the last clause seems to mark it as a kind of reflection
258 PSALM
LVIII. [VER.
9-11.
introduced
into the midst of the prayer. "So far from living too long, as
I
feared, they seem scarcely to have lived at all."
10 (9). Before
your pots can feel the thorn, whether raw or done, he will
blow him away. This is one of the
obscurest and most difficult verses in
the
book, and yet the general idea is sufficiently clear. The he in the last
clause
relates to God, the him to his wicked
enemy. The verb translated
blow away means properly to storm away, or carry away with (or like)
a
tempest.
The rapidity of this movement is expressed by a familiar com-
parison.
Your pots, your vessels used in
cooking. The address seems to
be
to the sinners, afterwards referred to as a single person. Feel, perceive
the
heat. Compare Job vi. 30. The thorn,
used as fuel, kindles quickly
and
immediately burns out, so that this comparison suggests the idea of a
very
sudden change. The singular expression which follows literally means
as (well) living as heat; but as the adjective is
elsewhere used to signify raw,
not
cooked (1 Sam. ii. 15), the noun joined with it may be taken in the
opposite
sense of cooked or done. This may be a proverbial
expression,
borrowed
from the dialect of common life, to convey the idea of a sudden
change,
which waits for nothing, but carries men away in the midst of their
employments.
This, though still an unusual form of speech, will seem less
unnatural
if we suppose the process of cooking to be here used as a figure
for
the plots and devices of the enemy, a metaphor by no means far-fetched
or
unknown to other writers. The idea, then, is that while these devices,
so
to speak, are cooking, the cooks are snatched away by a superior power,
without
caring whether the operation is complete or not. "Before the
seething
pot of your contrivances begins to feel the quickly kindled heat
which
you apply to it, the tempest of divine wrath carries you away, whe-
ther
your mess be cooked or raw."
11 (10). Rejoice shall the righteous, because he has seen vengeance; his
steps he shall bathe in
the blood of the wicked. The vengeance in which he
shall
rejoice is not his own, but God's, in the vindication of whose right-
eousness
and honour all holy beings must rejoice for ever, although not in
the
suffering of those who perish. The same idea is expressed more
strongly
in the last clause by a martial figure. To bathe his feet (or rather
his
steps) in the blood of others is to walk where their blood is flowing, to
tread
the battle-field where they have fallen, to gain a sanguinary triumph
over
them, or rather it is to partake in the triumph of another. Thus one
of
the old commentators says that David washed his feet in Saul's blood,
Elijah
in Ahab's, Hezekiah in Sennacherib's, without any agency or share
in
their destruction, and without any selfish or malignant exultation in
their
ruin. Let it also be observed that in this, as in many like cases, the act is
ascribed
to an ideal person, and is therefore no example for our imitation.
12 (11). And man shall say, Yes, there is fruit to the righteous; yes,
there is a God judging
in the earth.
This shall be said, not by a man, nor
by
any particular man, but by men in general, by man as opposed to God.
The
particle translated yes really means only, and denotes that this and
nothing
else is true. See above, on Ps. xxxix. 12 (11). There is fruit to
the righteous, or, in our idiom, he has fruit, i. e. he reaps what he has sown.
Compare
Isa. iii. 10, 11. The very power that destroys his enemies is his
protector.
The idea of existence is expressed in the last clause, contrary
to
usage, and is therefore emphatic. There
is, notwithstanding all denials,
doubts,
and false appearances, there is a
God judging in the earth. An-
other
unusual circumstance in this clause is, that not only the divine name,
VER.
1-5.] PSALM
LIX.
259
but
the participle agreeing with it, is in the plural number. The same
thing
occurs in Josh. xxiv. 19, 1 Sam. xvii. 26. In this case it may pos-
sibly
be intended to suggest the idea, that although these earthly represen-
tatives
of God are so unfaithful, there are, nevertheless, gods judging in
the
earth, i. e. one God, who possesses
in himself the source of all the jus-
tice
exercised by other beings. See above, on Ps. xi. 7.
PSALM LIX.
This
psalm consists of two parallel parts, in both which the succession
of
ideas is substantially the same. A sufferer complains of treacherous
and
cruel enemies, ver. 2-5 (1-4), prays to be delivered from them, ver.
6
(5), and confidently anticipates their ruin, ver. 7-12 (6-11). In the.
second
part we have again, in the same order, the complaint, ver. 13 (12),
the
prayer, ver. 14 (13), and the anticipation, ver. 15-18 (14-17).
1. To
the Chief Musician. Al-tashheti. By David. Michtam. When
Saul sent, and they
watched the house to kill him. This remarkable inci-
dent
in David's life, which was the beginning of his long and painful wan-
derings,
is recorded, almost in the same words, 1 Sam. xix. 11. The title
or
inscription is the same as in the two preceding psalms.
2 (1). Free
me from my enemies, my God, from those rising up (against)
me thou wilt raise me, i. e. place me beyond their reach. Here, as often
elsewhere,
the tone of supplication is insensibly exchanged for that of con-
fident
anticipation. But the change is momentary, and the form of suppli-
cation
is immediately resumed. My insurgents
or assailants; see above,
on
Ps. xvii. 7. The idea and expression at the close are the same as in
Ps.
xx. 2 (1). Compare Ps. xviii. 49 (48).
3 (2). Free
me from workers of iniquity, and from men of blood save me.
The
same words and phrases have occurred repeatedly before. See above,
Ps.
v. 6 (5), vi. 9 (8), xiv. 4, xxvi. 9, xxviii. 3. This verse and the one
before
it constitute the general introductory petition, the ground and reason
of
which are afterwards assigned.
4 (8). (This I ask) because (such enemies as I have just described) have
laid wait for my soul (or life); there assemble against me strong ones, not
(for)
my transgression, and not (for) my sin, Jehovah! Or, (it is) not my
fault nor my sin,
Jehovah.
5 (4). Without
iniquity (on my part, to excuse or even to provoke them)
they run and set
themselves
(against me). Both these are military terms,
and
seem to denote strictly the scaling of a wall. See above, on Ps. xviii.
30
(29). Awake (arouse thyself from this
apparent inactivity) to meet me
(to
respond to my petition), and see (my
danger, and the malice of my
enemies).
6 (5). And
thou, Jehovah, God, (Lord of) Hosts,
God of Israel, awake to,
visit all the nations;
spare not all traitors of iniquity. Selah. The accumu-
lation
of divine names is not unmeaning, but suggestive of reasons why
the
prayer should be answered, to wit, because He to whom it was addressed
was
not only the Eternal, Self-existent God, the Sovereign of the Universe,
but
the God of Israel, and therefore bound by covenant to save his people.
All the nations, i. e. such as are the enemies of God and of his people; and if
whole
nations are thus dealt with, how much more may Jehovah be expected
to
destroy his individual enemies? Traitors
of iniquity, wicked traitors.
The
depth of the feeling here expressed is further indicated by the Selah.
260
PSALM LIX. [VER. 6-10.
7 (6). Let
them return at evening, let them howl like the dog, and go around
the city. The verbs may also be
rendered as simple futures, expressive of
a
confident anticipation: they shall return,
&c. In either case, the verse
contains
a metaphorical description of the disappointment of the enemy,
who
are here compared to the gregarious untamed dogs by which the orien-
tal
cities are infested. As these dogs prowl about the streets in search of
food,
and howl for want of it, so let (or so shall) my wicked enemies.
Others,
with equal probability, explain this verse as a description of their
present
fierceness and avidity.
8 (7). Lo,
they pour out with their mouths; swords (are) in their lips; for
who (is) hearing? He here reverts to his
description and complaint of his
enemies.
The first verb is expressive of a constant flow or gush. See
above,
on Ps. xix. 3 (2). What it is that they thus pour out, although not
expressed,
may be readily gathered from the context, namely, slanders and
reproaches.
The swords in their lips are
significant of sharp and cutting
speeches.
See above, on Ps. lv. 22 (21), and compare Ps. lii. 4 (3). The
English
version, by supplying "say they,"
makes the last clause the lan-
guage
of these wicked foes, who are then to be understood as denying God's
omniscience
or his justice. See above, on Ps. x. 11, 13, and compare
Ps.
xiv. 1, xlii. 11 (10). But a still more striking sense may be obtained
by
making this clause the complaint of the Psalmist himself, as if he had
said:
no wonder that they thus pour out their bitter words; for who is
there
to observe and punish them? The question implies that God him-
self
had ceased to notice their offences, and the participial form, that this
neglect
had now become habitual.
9 (8). And
thou, Jehovah, wilt laugh at them; thou wilt mock at all
nations. The resistance of whole
nations, or of all collectively, is but an
object
of contempt to thee; how much more that of even the most potent
individuals.
See above, on Ps. ii. 4, xxxvii. 13. The connection between
this
verse and the one before it depends upon the meaning of the question
with
which ver. 8 (7) closes. If that be regarded as the language of the
enemy,
the thought to be supplied is, "But although they thus imagine
that
thou dost not hear, thou wilt soon undeceive them by deriding them."
On
the other supposition it is this: "Although I am continually tempted
to
say, who doth hear? I am, nevertheless, persuaded that thou dost hear
and
despise their impotent malignity."
10 (9). His
strength unto thee will I keep, for God is my high place.
The
first clause is so obscure that some interpreters have thought it neces-
sary
to change the text (yz.ifu for Oz.fu), and read my strength, i. e. thou who
art
my strength, for thee will I watch or
wait. Some who retain the com-
mon
text suppose a sudden change of person, (as for) his strength, i. e.
God's, I will watch .for
thee, O
God! But this is much less natural than
the
common version (because of) his strength, i. e. the enemy's, will I wait
upon thee. According to the first
translation above given, the meaning of
the
clause is, I will reserve the strength and violence of the enemy, to be
dealt
with and disposed of by Jehovah. My high
place, beyond the reach
of
enemies and dangers. See above, on Ps. ix. 10 (9), xviii. 3 (2), xlvi. 8, 12
(7, 11).
11 (10). My God (with) his mercy will
meet me; God will make me to gaze
upon my enemies. This translation of the
first clause follows the reading
in
the text of the Hebrew Bible. The common version exhibits the mar-
ginal
or masoretic emendation, the God of my
mercy, i. e. my merciful
God,
or the God who shews me mercy, shall
prevent me, in the primrary
VER.
11-13.] PSALM
LIX. 261
and
proper sense of coming before me. The idea here is that of coming to
meet
one in a friendly manner. See above, on Ps. xxi. 4 (3), and compare
the
unfavourable meaning of the same verb in Ps. 13, xviii. 6 (5),
19
(18). To gaze, i. e. with joy and triumph. See above, on Ps. liv.
9
(7). This is equivalent to saying, he will give me the victory. The
word
for enemies is the same as in Ps. v.
9 (8).
12 (11). Slay them not, lest my people forget; make them wander by thy
power and bring them
down, our shield, O Lord! The meaning of the first
clause,
as appears from the context, is, destroy them not utterly, or once for
all.
My people, i. e. Israel, the chosen race. Make
them wander, like
Cain
and like Israel in the wilderness, to both which cases the same verb
is
applied, Gen. iv. 12, Num. xxxii. 13. These are tacitly referred to, as
familiar
examples of this kind of punishment, inflicted both on individuals and
nations.
Bring them down, cause them to descend,
from their present high
position,
humble them, and make their humiliation an example and a warn-
ing
to all others. This was signally fulfilled in the case of Saul and his
household,
as well as in that of the nations which resisted the divine will
and
oppressed the chosen people, to both which cases the expressions of
this
psalm are designedly appropriate. Our
shield, our protector; not only
mine but ours; not only David's but all Israel's.
The figure of a shield is
a
favourite one with David. See above, on Ps. iii. 4 (3), xviii. 3 (2), xxviii.
7. It is
not
only striking and expressive, but historically associated with the origin of
the
nation
in the calling of Abraham and the patriarchal promises. See Gen. xv. 1.
13 (12.) The sin of their mouth—the word of their lips—and they shall
be taken in their
pride—and from cursing and falsehood they will tell. This
is
a close translation of this very obscure verse, that is to say, obscure in
its
particular expressions, though its general sense is obvious enough.
The
construction given in the English versions, (for) the sin of their mouth
(and)
the word of their lips they shall be taken, either overlooks
the copu-
lative
particle before the verb or makes it unmeaning, they shall even be
taken. The latest
interpreters prefer to render it, the sin
of their mouth
(is) the word of their
lips, i. e.
the word of their lips is the sin of their
mouth;
whatever they speak is spoken sinfully; they cannot speak without
committing
sin. They shall be taken, caught,
surprised, as they have
sought
to surprise others. See above, Ps. ix. 16 (15), xxxv. 8. It may
also
be read as an expression of desire, may
they be taken! In their pride,
not
merely on account of it, although this is included, but in the midst of
it,
in the act of indulging it. From
cursing represents their capture as
arising (or proceeding) from their cursing, and may therefore be translated
for, as in the English
Bible. Cursing, or rather swearing in attestation of
a
falsehood. See above, on Ps. x. 7. The phrase to tell a falsehood is com-
mon
to both idioms. Most interpreters supply a relative, (which) they tell,
or
will tell. Otherwise, from must be understood as meaning of, concerning.
14 (13.) Consume in wrath, consume (them), and let them be no more,
and let them know that
God (is) ruling in Jacob, unto the ends of the earth. The
first
verb strictly means to cause to cease, to finish, to destroy so that
nothing
is left. Let them be no more, let
them cease to be. By itself, the
Hebrew
phrase would seem to mean, and they are
not, but the tense, which
is
not expressed in the original, must be determined by the prayer preced-
ing.
The last clause might at first sight seem to mean, let my enemies know
that
God rules not only in Israel, but throughout the earth. But this is
forbidden
by the prayer that they may cease to be, and would require a
262 PSALM
LIX. [VER. 14-17.
connecting
particle of some sort after Jacob. The true construction, indi-
cated
by the accents, is, and let them (i. e. men in general) know to the ends of
the earth, that God (is)
ruling
(i. e. habitually rules) in Jacob. This de-
scription
of the whole world as witnessing and interested in God's dealings
with
his chosen people, is in strict accordance with the very end for which
he
chose them, and is particularly characteristic of David. See above, on
Ps.
xviii. 50 (49), lvii. 6, 10, 12 (5, 9, 11), and compare his language to
Goliath,
1 Sam. xvii. 46: "This day will Jehovah deliver thee into my hand, and
I
will smite thee . . . that all the earth may know that there is a God in
Israel."
15 (14). Then let them return at evening, howl like the dog, and go
around the city. The first word in
Hebrew is a simple copulative, meaning
and; but the connection
seems to be, since God is my protector and these
enemies
are doomed to destruction, let them threaten as they will, I shall
not
fear them. It is equally grammatical, though not so natural, to under-
stand
the verse as a prediction or confident anticipation of the miserable
state
to which these enemies should be reduced, like a herd of oriental dogs
without
a master or a home, prowling about in search of food, and howling
with
hunger, but remaining still unsatisfied. See above, on ver. 7 (6).
16 (15). They shall wander (in quest of something) to eat, (and) if they
are not satisfied,
remain all night.
This sentence is obscure, whether it be
understood
as a defiance or a threatening, though the latter construction is
recommended
by the emphatic pronoun at the beginning. They
themselves,
the
very persons who now threaten me, shall roam about in search of food,
&c.
The most probable meaning of the last clause is: and not being
satisfied,
not finding what they seek, they must continue seeking it by night
as
well as by day. The conversive particle before the last word seems
be
here equivalent to then or still after a conditional clause—"if
they are
not
satisfied, then they shall remain all night"—or "though they be not
satisfied,
yet must they remain all night."
17 (16). And I will sing thy strength, and celebrate in the morning thy
mercy; for thou hast
been a high place to me, a refuge in my distress. The
pronoun
at the beginning is emphatic, I, on my part, as contrasted with
these
wretches. Thy strength or power, thus exerted in my behalf. In the
morning, or at break of day, which is the primary
meaning of the term.
The
phrase is in obvious antithesis to at
evening in ver. 15 (14). There
may
also be allusion to the frequent use of night and morning, as emblems
of
suffering and relief. Compare the words of David in 2 Sam. xxiii. 4.
A height, high place, or place
of safety, as in ver. 10 (9) above. In my
distress, or retaining the
original construction, in distress to me.
The form
of
expression is the same as in Ps. xviii. 7 (6).
18 (17). My
strength, unto thee will I sing; for God is my high place, the
God of my mercy. The most natural
construction of the first phrase is that
which
makes it a direct address to God, as the author of his strength. But
as
the structure of the clause is precisely similar to that at the beginning
of
ver. 10 (9), some adopt a similar construction, my strength will I sing unto
thee. I will praise my
strength to thee, because I shall thereby praise thy-
self.
This is equivalent to saying, I will celebrate thee as my strength.
High place, place of safety,
refuge, or asylum, as in ver. 10, 17 (9, 16).
God of my mercy, my merciful God, or
the God who shews me mercy. See
above,
on ver. 11 (10).
VER.
1, 2.] PSALM
LX.
263
PSALM LX.
1. To
the Chief Musician. On the Lily of Testimony. A Mystery. By
David. To be Learnt. The lily is probably, in this case, as in
Ps. xlv. 1,
an
emblem of beauty or loveliness. The testimony is a name given to the
Law,
as God's testimony against sin., See above, on Ps. xix. 8 (7), and
compare
2 Kings xi. 12, where the term is applied absolutely to the Law,
considered
as a book or writing. This enigmatical inscription, therefore,
may
be understood as representing the theme or subject of the psalm to be
the
beauty of the law, or something lovely in it, with reference most pro-
bably
to the gracious promise cited from it. At the same time, there seems
to
be an allusion to the precept in Deut. xxxi. 19, "Now therefore write
ye
this song for you, and teach it
the children of Israel; put it in their
mouths,
that this song may be a witness
for me against the children of
Israel."
To this verse there seems to be a double allusion in the one
before
us; first in the word testimony,
which is a cognate form to that
translated
witness, and then in the concluding
words, to teach, where the
verb
is the same with that in Deuteronomy. The title before us, therefore,
seems
to say, this song is like the song of Moses, which was to be taught
to
the people, as a witness or testimony against them, in case of unbelief
or
disobedience. To teach then means to be taught or to be learned by
heart,
committed to memory. Compare 2 Sam. i. 18, where the English
version
incorrectly supplies (use of) the bow,
instead of (song of) the bow,
meaning
the elegy on Saul and Jonathan which immediately follows, so
called,
according to an ancient custom, from the mention of Jonathan's
favourite
weapon in ver. 22. See above, on Ps. ix. 1. From this enig-
matical
allusion, and the disguised form under which the truth is here
revealed,
the psalm is justly represented as a Michtam,
mystery, or secret.
See
above, on the titles of the four preceding psalms. The body of the
psalm,
apart from the additional title or historical inscription in ver. 2, may
be
divided into three equal stanzas or strophes, each consisting of four
verses.
In the first, the Psalmist takes occasion from God's seeming
desertion'
of his people, to recall his former interventions in their favour,
ver.
3-6 (1-4). In the second, he pleads an express promise, as a ground
of
present hope, ver. 7-10 (5-8). In the third, he expresses his confidence
of
safety and success, in the proposed expedition against Edom, ver. 11-14
(9-12).
Throughout the psalm the ideal speaker is Israel, considered as
the
chosen people.
2. When,
he conquered Aram, Naharaim and Aram Zobah, and Joab
returned and smote Edom,
in the Valley of Salt, twelve thousand men. The
common
version of the first verb (strove with)
seems too weak, as a victory
is
clearly presupposed, and the idea of contention is conveyed by a cognate
form
of the same verb. The name Aram
corresponds to Syria in its
widest
and vaguest sense, and is joined with other names to designate
particular
parts of that large country. It even includes Mesopotamia, which is
a
term of physical rather than political geography, and denotes the space
between
the Tigris and Euphrates, corresponding to Aram-Naharaim,
or
Syria of the Two Rivers, in the verse before
us. The king of this country
was
tributary to the king of Aram Zobah, as appears from the account of
David's
second Aramean war (2 Sam. x. 16, 19). It was after the return
of
the victorious army from this war, that Joab marched against Edom and
achieved
the victory here ascribed to him, as the leader of the army, but in
264 PSALM
LX. [VER.
1- 6.
1
Chron. xviii. 12, to his brother Abishai, who probably commanded under
him,
as he did in a subsequent campaign (2 Sam. x. 10), and in 2 Sam.
viii.
13, to David himself as the sovereign whom they both represented.
The
Valley of Salt has been identified by
modern travellers with a valley
south
of the Dead Sea, on the ancient confines of Israel and Edom. See
Robinson's
Palestine, vol. ii. p. 483. The number killed on this occasion
is
stated in 2 Sam. viii. 13, and 1 Chron. xviii. 12, at eighteen thousand.
But
this diversity might easily arise from different modes of computation,
and
seems at least to shew that the writer of the verse before us did not
blindly
copy the historical books, while the smaller number which he gives
evinces
his exemption from all disposition to embellish or exaggerate.
3 (1). O
God, thou hast cast us off; thou hast broken us; thou hast been
angry; thou wilt restore
to us
(thy favour or our previous prosperity).
Clear
as the marks of thy displeasure have been, we still confidently look
for
thy returning favour. This may refer to disasters experienced in the
former
part of the campaign. Cast us off, with abhorrence and contempt,
as
in Ps. xviii. 2, xliv. 10, 24 (9, 23), Broken
us, or made a breach in us,
which
appears to be a military figure, and a favourite with David in real
life.
See 2 Sam. v. 20, vi. 8, and compare Judges xxi. 15, Job xvi. 14,
xxx.
14. The last verb means to restore, as in Ps. xix. 8 (7), xxiii. 3, but
in
application to a different object. Compare Isa. lviii. 12.
4 (2). Thou
hast made the earth quake, thou hast riven it; heal its
breaches, far it moves. The idea of social
disaster and calamity is here
expressed
by the figure of an earthquake and its natural effects, to which
God
is besought to put an end by the removal of the cause.
5 (3). Thou
hast made thy people see (what is) hard;
thou hast made us
drink wine of staggering (or reeling). The meaning of the first
clause is,
that
God had made them experience hardship. See a similar expression in
Ps.
lxxi. 20. Wine of staggering, wine
that causes men to reel or stagger,
here
used as a figure for confusion, weakness, and distress. The same image
reappears
in
Ps. lxxv. 9 (8), Isa. li. 17, 22, Jer. xxv. 15, xlix. 12. See above, on Ps. xi.
6.
6 (4). Thou
hast given to those fearing thee a banner to be lifted because
of (thy) truth. Selah. In the sight of thy discomfited and downcast
people,
thou hast set up a signal, as a rallying point, and an assurance of
the
truth of thy engagements. The word (sne) translated banner means
anything
elevated as a signal, being derived from the followin verb, which,
in
the form here used, means properly to raise
itself, in Zech. ix. 16.
The
word for truth is not the one
commonly so rendered, but has the same
meaning
in Prov. xxii. 21, and in the Aramaic dialects. See Dan. ii. 47,
iv.
34. Because of, literally from before or from the face of, an expression
indicating,
as the cause of the effect described, the truth or veracity of God
himself.
The translation of the last clause in the ancient versions and some
modern
ones, to flee from before the bow,
gives an unauthorised meaning
both
to the verb and noun.
7 (5). In
order that thy beloved ones may be
delivered, save (with) thy
right hand and hear (or answer) us. This is a prayer naturally prompted
by
the previous experience of God's favour, as recorded in the foregoing
verse.
Thy beloved, an epithet applied to
Benjamin in Deut. xxxiii. 12,
and
forming a part of Solomon's additional name Jedidiah,
2 Sam. xii. 25.
See
also Ps. xlv. 1. The common version of the last words (hear me) rests
upon
the marginal reading or Keri.
8 (6). God
hath spoken in his holiness; I will triumph; I will divide.
VER.
7, 8.] PSALM
LX. 265
Shechem, and the Valley
of Succoth I will measure. As a further ground
for
his petition, the Psalmist, speaking in the name of Israel, appeals to
the
promise of Jehovah, that his people should possess the entire land of
Canaan.
The reference is not to any insulated promise, but to that per-
vading
the whole Law. There God had spoken,
uttered his promise, in his
holiness, i. e. as a holy God, and as such incapable of failing to perform
it.
See
the similar expressions in Ps. lxxxix. 36 (35), Amos iv. 2. Some
understand
what follows as the words which God had spoken; but as ver.
11
(9) is confessedly the language of the people or their representative, and
as
no intermediate point of transition can be well assumed, it seems better
to
explain these also as the words of David or of Israel. "God hath
spoken
in his holiness (and therefore) I will triumph." Because he has
promised
me victorious possession of the land, I exult in confident antici-
pation
of it. This idea of triumphant occupation is expressed in terms
appropriate
to the times of the original conquest, when the land was mea-
sured
and distributed among the tribes. See Josh. xiii. 7, xviii. 5. The
two
great divisions of the country, east and west of Jordan, are denoted by
Shechem
and Succoth, the places where Jacob pitched his tent on his return
from
exile, as if to claim the Land of Promise as his heritage. See Gen. xxxiii. 17,
19.
9 (7 ). To
me (belongs) Gilead and to me
Manasseh, and Ephraim the
strength of my head,
Judah my lawgiver. The
idea still is that the whole
of
Canaan rightfully belongs to Israel. The form of expression is analogous
to
that in the preceding verse, but with a beautiful variation. As the two
great
divisions of the country, east and west of Jordan, are there repre-
sented
by detached points, Shechem and Succoth, so here by the names of
extensive
districts, Judah and Ephraim, the two largest territories on the
west,
Bashan and Gilead on the east, the latter called by its own name, the
former
by that of the tribe which occupied the greater part of it. See Deut
iii.
12, 13. The last clause does due honour to the military strength of
Ephraim
(Gen. xlviii. 19, Deut. xxxiii. 17), but asserts the civil supremacy
of
Judah (Gen. xlix. 10). The phrase translated strength of my head might
seem
to mean my chief strength; but that would
require the terms to be
inverted,
head of my strength. Compare Gen.
xlix. 3. It rather means
the
protection of my head, as strength of my
life in Ps. xxvii. 1 means that
which
protects my life, the head being mentioned as the vital part peculiarly
exposed.
Compare Ps. lxviii. 22 (21), cx. 6. Some suppose the figure to
be
that of a helmet, which is too specific. In the last clause there is
obvious
allusion to the prophecy in Gen. xlix. 10. Lawgiver
has its proper
sense
of ruler, sovereign. That of rod or sceptre, which some give it, rests
upon
a doubtful explanation of Num. xxi. 18.
10 (8). Moab
(is) my wash pot; at Edom will I throw my shoe; at me,
Philistia, shout aloud! The three hostile
powers, with which Israel was
most
frequently at war, are here put together, as the objects of a contemp-
tuous
address. Moab is likened to the humblest household utensil, the
vessel
in which slaves were wont to wash their master's feet. Edom is
likened
to the slave himself, to whom or at whom the master throws his
shoe
when about to bathe his feet. Compare Mat. iii. 11, Acts xiii. 25.
This
is much better suited to the context than the allusion, which some
assume,
to the practice mentioned in Ruth iv. 7, where the removal of the
shoe
is a symbol of renunciation, and could not be here used to express the
opposite
idea of seizure or triumphant occupation. Shout
aloud, or make a
noise, is by some explained
as an expression of triumph, and the whole
266 PSALM
LX.
[VER. 9-12
clause
treated as ironical. Others understand it of the acclamation or shout
of
welcome and applause by which subjects recognise and hail their sove-
reign.
See above, on Ps. ii. 11, where the exhortation to rejoice with
trembling is, by the same
interpreters, explained in the same manner. In
either
case, the clause implies superiority in him who speaks, and willing
or
compulsory subjection on the part of those whom he addresses.
11 (9). Who
will bring me (to) the fenced city? Who has led me up to
Edom? In reliance on God's
promise, and in the possession of the hope
and
courage just expressed, his people are ready to go forward, and only
waiting,
as it were, for some one to conduct them into the enemy's country,
nay,
into his very citadel. The fenced city,
literally, city of defence, or for-
tification, a phrase already used
in Ps. xxxi. 22 (21), is Petra, the famous
capital
of Idumea, hewn in the rock, and almost perfectly impregnable.
See
Robinson's Palestine, vol. ii. pp. 573-580. The past tense in the last
clause
represents the question as already answered. Up to, even to, as far
as,
implying not mere motion or direction, but actual arrival.
12 (10). (Is it) not thou, O God, (who) hast
cast us off and will not go
forth with our hosts? A simpler construction
of the first clause would be,
hast thou not cast us
off?
But it seems better to explain the verse as an
indirect
answer to the question in the one preceding. Who has brought
us
into Edom, if not he who had rejected us? The terms are borrowed
from
Ps. xliv. 10 (9), which seems to have been written in the midst of
the
distress here spoken of as past. "Wilt not thou, of whom we lately
were
compelled to say, thou hast forsaken us and wilt not go forth with our
hosts?"
Compare 2 Sam. v. 24.
13 (11). Give us help from trouble (or from
the enemy); and (the rather
because)
vain (is) the salvation of man, i. e.
the deliverance which man
affords.
The causal particle, for, because,
which seems necessary to connect
the
clauses, is implied but not expressed in Hebrew. The second noun (rc)
may
either mean distress, as in Ps. iv. 2
(1), xviii. 7 (6), or one who gives
distress,
a persecuting or oppressing enemy, as in Ps. iii. 2 (1), xiii. 5 (4),
xxvii.
2, 12, xliv. 6, 8, 11 (5, 7, 10). Either sense would be appropriate, but the
latter
is strongly recommended by its occurrence in the next verse.
14 (12). In God we will make (i. e.
gain or gather) strength, and he will
tread down (or trample on) our adversaries (persecutors or oppressors).
The
prayer is followed by the confident anticipation of the answer. In
God, i. e. in union with him, in possession of him. See above, on Ps.
xviii.
30 (29). The common version of the next phrase (shall do valiantly)
is
vague and dubious, being .inadmissible in several of the cases where the
phrase
occurs, whereas they all admit of the translation make or gather
strength, in reference to the
acquisition or recovery of force by those who
had
before been in a state of weakness. See below, on Ps. cviii. 14 (13),
cxviii.
15, 16, and compare Ezek. xxviii. 4, Ruth iv. 11, Deut. viii. 17, 18,
Num.
xxiv. 18, to the last of which places there is obvious allusion here,
as
relating to the very same enemies. Treading
or trampling, as an em-
blem
of violent subjection, occurs above in a contemporaneous passage, Ps.
xliv.
6 (5). The last eight verses reappear as a part of Ps. cviii., in the
exposition
of which the points of difference and the general relation of the
passages
will be considered.
VER.
1-5.] PSALM
LXI.
267
PSALM LXI.
1. To
the Chief Musician—on a stringed instrument
(or with an instru-
mental
accompaniment)—of David. The peculiar
form of the original
construction
(dvedAl; tnaygin;) cannot be reproduced in English, but seems to
connect
the name of David both with the Hebrew word preceding, as the
owner
or conductor of the music, and with the psalm itself as the author.
That
is to say, the words are so combined as to convey both these ideas—
a stringed instrument of
David—and
a psalm of David. The musical term
(neginath) is the same as in the titles
of Ps. iv., vi., liv., lv., but in the
singular
number and the construct form. The psalm itself consists of a prayer
with
an expression of strong confidence, ver. 2-5 (1-4), and an appeal
to
the divine promise, as the ground and object of that confidence, ver. 6-9
(5-8).
2 (1). Hear,
O God, my cry; attend unto my prayer! The psalm
opens
with an introductory petition to be heard. See above, on Ps.
v.
2, 3 (1, 2), xvii. 1, lv. 2 (1), and compare Ps. xxxix. 13 (12). The
word
translated cry, which sometimes means
a joyful shout or thankful
song—Ps.
xxx. 6 (5), xlii. 5 (4), xlvii. 2 (1)—is here determined by the
parallelism
and the context to denote a cry for help or mercy.
3 (2). From
the end of the earth unto thee will I call, in the covering of
my heart (when it is covered, i. e. overwhelmed, or covered with
darkness).
To a rock (that) is high from me (i. e. higher than I, or too high for me),
thou
wilt lead me. To the saints of the Old Testament exclusion or invo-
luntary
distance from the sanctuary seemed equivalent to exile in the
remotest
countries, sometimes called the end of
the earth (Deut. xxviii. 64),
sometimes
the end of heaven (Deut. iv. 32),
although this last phrase may
be
understood to mean the sensible horizon or boundary of vision (Isa.
xiii.
5). A rock, often mentioned as a
place of refuge. See above, on Ps.
xviii.
3 (2), xl. 3 (2). Too high for me to
reach without assistance. In
the
last clause an earnest prayer is latent under the form of a confident
.anticipation.
The feelings here expressed, and the terms used to express
them,
are peculiarly appropriate to David's situation during Absalom's re-
bellion.
See above, on Ps. iii. 1, xlii. 1.
4 (3). For
thou hast been a refuge to me, a tower of strength (or strong
tower),
from before (from the face or
presence of) the enemy. He appeals
to
former mercies as a ground for his present expectation. The verb of
existence
is here emphatic, and cannot, without a violation of usage, be
translated
as a present, which is almost invariably suppressed in Hebrew.
The
enemy is a collective term, or one
denoting an ideal person, including
many
real individuals.
5 (4). I
will sojourn (or abide) in thy tent (or tabernacle) ages (or eter-
nities, i. e. for ever); I will trust
(take refuge or find shelter) in the
shadow
of thy wings. The first verb is in
the paragogic form, expressing strong
desire
or fixed determination. See above, on Ps. ii. 3. To dwell in God's
tent
or house is to be a member of his family, to enjoy his bounty and pro-
tection,
and to live in intimate communion with him. See above, on Ps.
xv.
1, xxiii. 6, xxvii. 4, 5. David here tacitly appeals to the promise
recorded
in 2 Sam. vii. See above, on Ps. xxi. 5 (4). The beautiful
figure
for protection in the last clause is the same as in Ps. xvii. 8,
xxxvi.
8 (7).
6 (5). For
thou, O God, hast heard (or hearkened
to) my vows (and the
268 PSALM
LXII.
[VER. 1.
prayers
which they accompanied); thou hast given
me the heritage of those
fearing (or the fearers of) thy name, i. e. the
reverential worshippers of thy
revealed
perfections. See above, on Ps. liv. 3 (1). The heritage here
mentioned
is participation in the honours and privileges of the chosen
people,
with particular though tacit reference to the vicarious royalty conferred
on
David, and ensured to his posterity in answer to his prayers. See
above,
on Ps. xxi. 3-5 (2-4), and compare 2 Sam. vii. 16.
7 (6). Days
to the days of the king thou wilt add; his years (shall be, or,
thou
wilt multiply) like generation and
generation. The preposition in the
first
clause strictly means upon, and
suggests the idea not of mere addition
but
accumulation, which would also be conveyed in English by the literal
translation,
days upon days. His use of the third
person shews that he
does
not mean himself alone, but the king of Israel as an ideal or collective
person,
comprehending his posterity. The life of this ideal person would
of
course not be restricted to a single generation, but continued through
many,
which is the meaning of the idiomatic expression in the last clause.
8 (7). He
shall sit (enthroned) to eternity
before God; mercy and truth
do thou provide; let
them preserve him
(or they shall preserve him). The
first
verb suggests the two ideas of continuance or permanence and regal.
exaltation.
See above, on Ps. lv. 20 (19), and compare 2 Sam. vii. 29.
Before God, in his presence and
under his protection. See above, on Ps.
lvi.
14 (13). Provide, prepare, afford, or
have in readiness. Mercy and
Truth
are personified, as in Ps. xl. 12 (11), lvii. 4 (3). Compare Ps. xliii. 3.
They
seem to be here represented as God's messengers or agents in preserv-
ing
his Anointed.
9 (8). So
will I celebrate thy name for ever, that I may pay my vows day
(by) day. The so at the beginning may mean, on this
condition, when this
prayer
is granted; or more probably, in this assurance, in the confident
expectation
of this issue. Celebrate musically,
both with instrument and
voice.
See above, on Ps. lvii. 8 (7), and compare Ps. lix. 18 (17). That
I may pay, literally to (or for) my paying, or, as
some explain it, by my
paying, which, however, is a
rare and dubious use of the infinitive. Day
(by) day or day (and) day, i. e. one
day with or after another, implying not
only
frequency but regularity. The Vulgate version of this idiomatic phrase
is
de die in diem.
PSALM LXII.
1. To
the Chief Musician over Jeduthun. A psalm by David. Jeduthun
seems
here to mean the family or choir so called from the Chief Musician
of
that name. See above, on Ps. xxxix. 1. The psalm consists of three
equal
stanzas or strophes, each beginning with the particle (j`xa) only, and
the
first and second ending with selah.
In all these parts, the theme or burden is
the
same, to wit, a contrast between God and man, as objects of confidence.
2 (1). Only
to God (is) my soul silent; from him
(is) my salvation. The
frequent
repetition of the first word (j`xa) is characteristic of
the psalm
before
us. In all these cases it is to be taken in its strict exclusive sense
of
only. See above, on Ps. lviii. 12
(11). Only in looking towards God
as
my Saviour, is my soul silent,
literally silence. See above, on Ps.
xxii.
3
(2), xxxix. 3 (2). This trust, and this alone, can set his mind at rest, and
free
him from the natural disquietude of man when alienated from his God.
VER.
2-9.]
PSALM LXII. 269
3 (2). Only
He (is) my rock and my salvation, my height (high place,
refuge,
or asylum); I shall not be shaken
(moved from my firm position)
much (or greatly). The adverbial use of much is
the same in Hebrew and
in
English. This qualified expression seems to be intended to suggest, that
he
does not hope to escape all disaster and calamity, but only such as would
be
ruinous. See above, on Ps. xxxvii. 24. As to the figures in the first
clause,
see above, on Ps. ix. 10 (9), 3 (2). He
only, God and no
one
else, can be such a protector.
4 (3). Until
when (how long) will ye break loose
upon (or against) a man,
will ye murder (i. e. seek to murder him) all
of you (combined against a
single
person, who is consequently) like a wall
inclined (or bent by violence),
a fence (or hedge) crushed (broken down?) That the last
clause relates to
himself
and not his enemies, is clear from the continuation of the same
description
in the next verse.
5 (4). Only
from his elevation they consult to thrust (him, and as a means
to
this end) they delight in falsehood; with
his mouth, (i. e. with their
mouths)
they will bless, and in
their inside
(inwardly, or with their heart) they will
curse. Selah. The sudden change of
number in the middle of the verse,
and
indeed the whole description, are like those in Ps. v. 10 (9).
6 (5). Only
to God be still my soul, for from him (is) my hope. The
view
just taken of his fellow-men drives. him back to God, and he exhorts
himself
to cherish the same confidence which he had before expressed. Be
still, silent, trusting, and
submissive. See above, on ver. 2 (1), and com-
pare
Ps. xxxvii. 7. The meaning of the last clause is, from him proceeds
whatever
I desire or hope for.
7 (6). Only
he is my rock (the foundation of my hope) and my salvation
(i. e. its source and author)—my high place (refuge or asylum) —I shall not
be moved (or shaken). This more absolute expression,
as compared with
ver.
3 (2), seems to indicate a stronger faith, derived from the previous
comparison
of God and man as objects of trust and affection.
8 (7). Upon
God (i. e. dependent, founded on
him) is my salvation, and
my honour (both official and
personal); the rock of my strength
(my strong
rock,
or the basis upon which my own strength rests); my hiding-place (my
refuge)
is in God. It is in his presence,
favour, and protection, that I hide myself from
all
my enemies and all my dangers. See above, on Ps. vii. 11 (10), lxi: 4 (3).
9 (8). Trust
in him at every time, O people, pour out before him your
heart; God (is) a refuge
for us. Selah.
The faith which he cherishes
himself
he recommends to others also. At every
time, not merely in pros-
perity,
but even in the sorest trials and the worst extremities. People, not
merely
men or persons, but people, of God, his chosen people. To pour
out
the heart is a natural and lively figure for a full disclosure of the thoughts
and
feelings. See above, on Ps. xlii. 5 (4), and below, on Ps. cxlii. 3 (2),
and
compare 1 Sam. i. 15, Lam. ii. 19. The last clause gives the reason
of
the exhortation, and indicates its earnestness by a solemn pause.
10 (9). Only
vanity (are) sons of Adam, a
falsehood sons of man; in the
scales (they are sure) to go up; they are of vanity (or less than vanity)
together. As to the supposed
antithesis between men of high and low degree
in
the first clause, see above, on Ps. iv. 3 (2), xlix. 3 (2). Only vanity,
see
above, on Ps. xxxix. 6 (5). A falsehood,
something that deceives ex-
pectation,
a false confidence. See above, on Ps. iv. 3 (2). Of vanity,
composed
of it, containing nothing else; or giving the particle its frequent
comparative
sense, (less) than vanity, or (vainer) than vanity (itself). The
270 PSALM
LXII. [VER.
10-12.
same
doubt exists as to the meaning of the similar expressions in Isa. xl. 17, xli.
24.
11 (10). Trust not in oppression, and in robbery become not vain ; (on).
wealth, when it grows,
set not (your)
heart. The first two nouns are used.
together
in Lev. v. 23 (vi. 4) to signify that which is acquired by violence.
They
are not therefore to be taken as distinct grounds of confidence, but as
different
parts or different descriptions of the same. Become not vain, by
being
assimilated to the vain, unsatisfying objects of your love and hope.
See
2 Kings xvii. 15, and compare Jer. ii. 5, Job xxvii. 12. The word.
translated
wealth means strictly strength or power, but is applied to pecu-
niary
as well as military force. See above, on Ps. xlix. 7 (6). Grows,
literally
sprouts, or springs up of its own
accord, perhaps with an antithetical
allusion
to wealth gained by violence. Even when lawfully or accidentally
acquired,
set not your heart upon it. This phrase in Hebrew sometimes-
means
nothing more than to apply the mind or give attention, and so some
understand
it here, "when wealth increases, take no notice, think not of it;"
but
the stronger sense of fixing the affections on it, loving it, and trusting
it,
is better in itself and better suited to the context.
12, 13 (11, 12). One (thing) hath God spoken, these two (things) have I
heard, that strength (belongeth) unto God, and (that) unto thee, O Lord,
(belongeth)
mercy, (but) that thou wilt render to a man according to his deed
(or
doing). There are really three
attributes of God here mentioned, his
power,
his mercy, and his justice; but as the last is only introduced to
qualify
the second, by a kind of after-thought, they may still be reckoned as
but
two. The construction given in the English and many other versions
separates
the sentences, and makes the first refer to a repeated utterance or
revelation
of the one truth there propounded, namely, that
power belongeth
unto God. Instead of one thing, two things, we must then read
once and
twice. But this, though
favoured by the imitation of the verse before us
in
Job xxxiii. 14, xl. 5, is not the most obvious construction here. It is
evident
that one and two, when absolutely or elliptically used, may some-
times
mean one time, (i. e. once) and two times,
(i. e. twice); but it does not
follow
that the same words, in a different connection, may not :mean one
word or thing, two words or things. It is also a familiar practice
of the
sacred
writers to borrow one another's words, or to repeat their own, with
some
slight change of sense or application. The prononn (Uz) in ver. 12
(11)
may be either a demonstrative or relative, and on the latter supposi-
tion
we may read, (there are) two (things)
which I have heard; but the other
is
a simpler and more obvious construction. The apostrophe or sudden
change
of person in ver. 13 (12) is a figure of speech common in the psalms
of
David, and indicates a growing warmth of feeling, so that He who had
just
been calmly spoken of as absent, is abruptly addressed as if seen to be
personally
present.
PSALM LXIII.
1. A
Psalm by David, in his being (when he was) in the wilderness of
Judah. This is the wilderness
along the eastern frontier of the tribe of
Judah.
It is frequently mentioned in the history of Absalom's rebellion
and
of David's flight before him. See 2 Sam. xv. 23., 28, xvi. 2, 14,
xvii.
16. In that history we also meet with several of the very same ex-
pressions
that are here used, which, together with the strong internal
VER.
1-4.] PSALM
LXIII.
271
similarity
of this psalm to some others having reference to Absalom's
rebellion,
such as Ps. iii., iv., xlii., lxi., suffice to shew that it belongs to
the
same period, and not to that of Saul's persecution, which is indeed
forbidden
by the mention of the king in ver. 12 (11). The psalm consists
of
two parts, each exhibiting essentially the same succession of ideas, but
with
the variation usual in all such cases. Both begin with the expression
of
intense desire for God's presence and communion with him, and end with
a
confident anticipation of his mercy; but in the first, ver. 2-9 (1-8), this
is
supposed to be displayed in the deliverance of the Psalmist from his
sufferings;
in the second, ver. 7-12 (6-11), it is viewed as securing the
destruction
of his enemies.
2 (1). O
God, my God (art) thou; I will seek thee early; for thee thirsts
my soul; for thee longs
my flesh, in a dry land, weary without water. The
second
divine name is the one denoting power, and might be translated
here,
my Mighty (One). The very use of it
involves a direct appeal to
God's
omnipotence. The verb in the first clause is connected in its ety-
mology
with a noun meaning the dawn of day, which occurs above, Ps.
lvii.
9 (8). The modern lexicographers exclude the sense of early, and
suppose
the verb to mean nothing more than seek
in English, or at most to
seek
with eagerness. But that the notion of time is really included seems
to
follow from the antithesis in Isa. xxvi. 9. The act of seeking a thing
early
implies impatience or importunate desire. The soul and the flesh
together
mean the whole man. See above, on Ps. xvi. 9. There is evi-
dent
allusion to the actual privations experienced by David in the wilder-
ness
of Judah. See the places cited in the note upon ver. 1, to which add
2
Sam. xvii. 2. The Hebrew word for weary
is there applied to David
himself,
which requires or allows the same application in the case before
us,
especially as the form of the adjective is masculine, and land is femi-
nine.
The strict grammatical concord is perhaps with flesh, which is a
masculine
in Hebrew.
3 (2). To
see thy power and thy glory, so (as) I have beheld thee in the
sanctuary. The first clause
states the object of the strong desire expressed
in
the preceding verse. To make this connection clear, the clauses are
transposed
in the common version, which is here retained, as being, on the
whole,
the best among the many which have been proposed. One of the
latest
makes the verse an acknowledgment that he had actually found a
sanctuary
in the desert, because it is always to be found where God is
pleased
to manifest his presence. But however sound and scriptural this sentiment
may
be, it can hardly be extracted from the verse before us without violence.
4 (3). Because
thy favour is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. A
simpler
construction, and perhaps more agreeable to Hebrew usage, is that
which
makes the first clause give a reason for the strong desire expressed
in
the foregoing verses, for thy favour is
better than life, and the last clause
merely
add a pledge of thankful acknowledgment, my
lips shall praise thee.
Better than life, not merely than the
life I now live, which was scarcely
entitled
to be so considered, but better than any life I could live, destitute
of
God's favour, which is therefore more than a sufficient substitute or
compensation.
5 (4). So
will I bless thee in my life, in thy name will I raise my hands.
So,
that is, according to the gift bestowed. Bless,
i. e. praise and thank
thee.
See above, on Ps. xvi. 7, xxxiv. 2 (1). In
my life may either mean
as long as I live, which is the obvious
and usual interpretation, or when
272
PSALM LXIII. [VER. 5-10.
restored to life, from this state of
living death, which is the sense preferred
by
sonic of the best interpreters, on account of the supposed allusion to
better than life in the preceding verse;
but it is far from being the most
natural
construction. In thy name, invoking
thee as the object being my wor-
ship,
and particularly of my thankful praise. Lift
up my hands in prayer,
and
more specifically here, in thanksgiving. See above, on Ps. xxviii. 3 (2).
6 (5). As
(with) marrow and fatness shall my soul
be satisfied, and (with)
lips of rejoicing shall
my mouth praise
(thee). He continues the expression
of
his joyful confidence and hope. Marrow
and fatness are used to repre-
sent
two Hebrew words, both meaning animal fat, here put for rich food,
and
that for abundant supplies of every kind. Lips
of rejoicings may
denote
either joyful lips, or lips by which rejoicings are uttered. The un-
conditional
engagement to praise God implies, as usual, a firm belief that
he
will have occasion so to do. See above, on Ps. v. 8 (7).
7
(6). When I remember thee upon my bed, in
the watches I will meditate
upon thee. The first word in
Hebrew is the one commonly translated if;
but
the condition indicated by it is sometimes specifically that of time.
There
seems to be reference in this Verse to the old division of the night,
for
municipal and military purposes, into three watches, the first (Lam.
ii.
19), the middle (Judges vii. 19), and the morning watch (Exod. xiv. 24,
1
Sam. xi. 11). See below, on Ps. 4. I will
meditate of thee, or more
literally
in thee, implying an entire
absorption of his powers and affections
in
the object. See above, on Ps. i. 2.
8 (7). For
thou hast been a help to me, and in the shadow of thy wings
will I rejoice. The protection which
he has experienced already he is sure
of
still enjoying in the time to come. The translation of the first verb as a
present
(thou art my help) not only weakens
the antithesis but violates a
constant
usage. See above, on Ps lix. 17 (16), lxi. 4 (3). The image presented in the
last
clause is the same as that in Ps. xvii. 8, xxxvi. 8 (7), lvii. 2 (1), lxi. 5
(4).
9 (8). My
soul cleaves after thee, thy right hand holds me. This is a
strong
metaphorical description of the mutual relation between God and the
believer;
a relation of trustful dependence on the one hand, and of con-
stant
favour and protection on the other. Cleaves
after is a frequent phrase
for
follows cleaving to thee. The right
hand is the constant symbol of
strength.
See above, on Ps. xviii. 36 (35), xliv. 4 (3), lx. 6 (5).
10 (9). And they to (their) ruin are
seeking my soul; they shall go into
the depths of the earth. The phrase to ruin has precisely the same sense
as
in Ps. xxxv. 8, namely, to their own destruction. Are seeking, will
seek;
the idea suggested by the future is, that if they still persist in seek-
ing
it, they will do so to their own destruction. Some obtain the same
sense
by a different construction, they
(shall come) to ruin (who) are seeking
my soul; but this supposes two ellipses,
which are not to be assumed with-
out
necessity. Still less satisfactory is the construction which regards the
whole
verse as a single proposition: they
(who) seek my soul to ruin (or
destroy
it) shall go, &c. To seek the
soul implies a purpose of destruction,
without
any qualifying adjunct, even in prose. See 2 Sam. xvi. 11. The
depths of the earth, literally its lower or
lowest parts, which may simply
mean
the grave (as we say under ground),
or contain an allusion to the
fate
of Korah and his company (Num. xvi. 31-34). See above, on Ps. Iv. 16 (15).
11 (10). They
shall be abandoned to the power of the sword, the prey of
jackals shall they be. The literal
translation of the first clause is, they
shall
VER.
1, 2.] PSALM LXIV. 273
pour him out upon the
hands of the sword,
where the use of the plural verb
in
an indefinite or passive sense, and the sudden alternation of the singular
and
plural form in speaking of the enemy, together with the bold and
idiomatic
figures of a sword with hands and men poured on them, present,
such
a concurrence of apparent solecisms as can be made intelligible only
by
a paraphrase. The word translated prey
means properly a share or por-
tion; it occurs above, Ps.
xi. 6, xvi. 5. The other noun in this clause is
the
common Hebrew word for foxes, but is used with so much latitude as
to
include the jackal, which sense must be here preferred, as the fox does
not
prey upon dead men, unless the clause be understood to mean nothing
more
than that they shall be left lying in the desert, where these creatures
have
their home, which is a good sense, but much weaker than the one just
put
upon the words.
12 (11). And the king shall rejoice in God; (in him) shall every one boast
(or
glory) that swears by him, because the mouth of those speaking falsehood
shall be shut (or stopped). Instead
of the personal pronoun he inserts his
official
title, the king, i. e. I as king. Rejoice in
God, i. e. in union with
him
and in the experience of his favour. Boast
or praise himself, i. e. felici-
tate
himself on the possession of these glorious distinctions and advantages.
Swearing by him, i. e. as some suppose, by the king here mentioned, accord-
ing
to the old Egyptian custom (Gen. xlii. 15, 16), of which we find some
traces
even in Israel (1 Sam. xvii. 55, xxv. 26, 2 Sam. xi. 11). If this were the
true
grammatical construction we might perhaps explain the phrase to mean
swearing to him, i. e. swearing fealty or allegiance, doing homage to him as
a
rightful sovereign. But there is, in fact, no sufficient reason for depart-
ing
from the obvious construction which refers the pronoun to the nearest
antecedent,
God. The last clause assigns the
immediate occasion of the
joy
and triumph here predicted, namely, the defeat of false and treacherous
insurgents.
See above, on Ps. lxii. 5 (4), and compare 2 Sam. xviii. 7, 8.
PSALM LXIV.
1. To
the Chief Musician, A Psalm by David. The correctness of
this
title is abundantly established by the marked internal similarity be-
tween
this and other psalms of David. Its very structure is Davidic,
exhibiting
the two familiar elements of a prayer for deliverance from wicked
enemies,
ver. 2-6 (1-5), and a confident anticipation of a favourable answer,
ver.
7-11 (6-40).
2 (1). Hear,
O God, my voice in my complaint; from fear of the enemy
thou wilt preserve my
life.
Here, as in Ps. li-v. 3 (1), the expression of con-
fidence
insinuates itself into the prayer itself. Complaint,
literally musing,
meditation,
but with special reference to suffering and danger. See above, on
Ps.
lv. 3 (2). Fear of the enemy, that
which I have reason to fear from him.
3 (2). Thou
wilt hide me from the secret of evil doers, from the tumult of
the workers of iniquity. By secret we are here to understand their confi-
dential
consultations and the devices there matured. See above, on Ps.
xxv.
14. The participle doing evil, used as
a noun (evil doers) to describe
the
whole class of wicked men, is a favourite expression of David's. See
above,
Ps. xxii. 17 (16), xxvi. 5, xxvii. 2, xxxvii. 1, 9. As secrecy belongs,
to
the formation of the plot, so does noise
or tumult to its execution. The
same
figures are combined, but in a very different application, Ps. lv. 15 (14).
274 PSALM
LXIV. [VER.
3-8.
4 (3). Who
have sharpened, like the sword, their tongue, have strung their
arrow, bitter speech. The figure in the
first clause is a favourite with David.
See
above, on Ps. lii. 4 (2), lvii. 5 (4), lix. 8 (7). Strung their arrow,
literally
trod (i. e. bent) it, which must either be explained as an
ellipsis--
bent
their (bow to shoot their) arrow—or as a poetical transfer to the arrow
of
what is strictly applicable only to the bow. See above, on Ps. lviii. 8
(7).
The figure of an arrow is peculiarly appropriate to the poignant pain
produced
by insult and calumny, which is also well expressed by the epithet
bitter.
Compare Deut. xxxii. 24, 1 Sam. xv. 32.
5 (4). To
shoot in secret places (at) the perfect; suddenly they will shoot
him, and will not fear. With the first clause
compare Ps. x. 8, xi. 2. The
perfect, the sincere and
upright servant of God, who is free from all fatal
and
essential defect of character. See above, on Ps. xv. 2, xviii. 24 (23),
vii.
9 (8), xxv. 21, xxvi. 1, 11, xxxvii. 37, in the last of which places the
Hebrew
adjective has the same form as in the case before us. And will not fear,
i. e. without being deterred
by the fear of God or man. See above, on Ps. lv. 20 (19).
6 (5). They
will strengthen for themselves an evil word; they will tell about
hiding snares; they have
said, who will see to them? To strengthen is
to
make
strong, to construct so as to be strong. An evil word is an idiomatic
phrase
for a malignant plot, so called because it is the fruit of mutual dis-
course
and consultation. See above, on Ps. xli. 9 (8). Tell about, count
and
recount their various devices, past and present. See above, on Ps. lix.
13
(12). The interrogation in the last clause is an indirect one; the equi-
valent
direct form would be, who will see to us,
i. e. regard us? Compare
Ps.
x. 11, lix. 8 (7).
7 (6). They
search out iniquities; (they say) We
are ready—a consum-
mate plan! and the
inward thought and heart of (every) man (is) deep.
They
rack their invention and ransack their memory for modes of doing
mischief.
We are ready, literally finished, just as we might say in
English,
we are done. The next phrase
consists of a passive participle, derived from
the
verb at the beginning of the sentence, and a cognate noun. The parti-
ciple
here corresponds to exquisite, recherché,
something not to be had
without
laborious search, and the noun describes the product of the search
itself.
The last clause is added to enhance the danger, by representing the
device
as springing, not from shallow, superficial, but profound contrivance.
Inward thought, literally inside, an equivalent to heart, often used by David.
See
above, on Ps. v. 10 (9), xlix. 12 (11), lv. 16 (15), lxii. 5 (4).
8 (7). But
God has shot them—with an arrow—suddenly—the wounds
are theirs. By an abrupt but
beautiful transition he describes the tables as
completely
turned upon the enemy. The antithesis is rendered very strik-
ing
by the repetition of the verb, noun, and adverb used in ver. 4, 5 (3, 4).
Just
as they are about to shoot an arrow suddenly at the righteous, God
shoots
an arrow suddenly at them. The wounds which they intended to
inflict
on others have become (UyhA) their own. When they thought to
strike
others, they were struck themselves. The general idea is the same
as
in Ps. vii. 12-17 (11-16), liii. 6 (5), lvii. 7 (6). The adversative par-
ticle
at the beginning is substituted for the simple copulative of the Hebrew,
to
make the transition or antithesis more obvious in English. See above,
on
Ps. lii. 10 (8), lv. 14 (13).
9 (8). And
he has cast them down; upon them (comes) their own tongue; all
shall flee gazing at
them. Cast down, literally made to fall or
stumble. See
the
use of the same verb in historical prose, 2 Chron. xxv. 8, and compare
VER.
1, 2.] PSALM
LXV. 275
the
original of 2 Chron. xxvii. 23. The construction is indefinite, as in
Ps.
lxiii..11 (10), they have cast him down,
i. e. he is cast down, meaning
the
enemy as an ideal person, who, according to the usage of these
psalms,
is immediately afterwards referred to in the plural number. Their
tongue, i. e. the consequences of their false, malignant speeches, and
their
mischievous
deliberations. The verb in the last clause is an intensive form
of
the one used in Ps. xxxi. 12 (11), lv. 8 (7).
Gazing at them, not simply
seeing
them, but seeing with emotion, whether that of wonder, joy, or
terror.
See above, on Ps. liv. 9 (7), lix. 11 (10). The clause seems to
contain
an allusion to the flight of the people, when the earth opened to
devour
Korah and his company, Num. xvi. 34.
10 (9). And
all men fear, and pronounce (it) God's doing, and his work
they understand. The conversive futures
spew the dependence of the sen-
tence
upon that which goes before it, and describe the action, not as actu-
ally
past, but as directly consequent upon the great catastrophe described
in
the preceding context. And declared the
work of God, i. e. pronounced
it
to be such. Compare Exod. viii. 19. His
work they understand, i. e.
no
longer foolishly ascribe it to mere chance or human agency.
11 (10). Glad shall the righteous be in Jehovah, and shall trust in him;
and (in him) shall boast (or glory) all the upright in
heart. Having de-
scribed
the effect of the divine interposition on the wicked, and on men in
general,
he now shews how it will affect the righteous. In Jehovah means,
as
usual, in union with him and possession of him. The word translated
trust is that which seems
originally to denote the act of seeking shelter
under
an overshadowing object. See above, on Ps. lxiii. 8 (7). With the
last
clause compare Ps. lviii. 11 (10), lxiii. 12 (11).
PSALM LXV.
1. To
the Chief Musician. A Psalm. By David. A Song, i. e. a song
of
praise. See above, on Ps. xlviii. 1, xlii. 9 (8). God is first praised in
general,
as a God of mercy and benevolence to all men, ver. 2-9 (1-8), and
then
in particular, as the giver of fruitful seasons and abundance, ver.
10-14
(9-13).
2 (1). To
thee (belongeth) silence, praise, O
God, in Zion, and to thee
shall be paid the vow. The two words, silence-praise, form a kind of com-
pound
term, like humility-righteousness in
Ps. xlv. 5 (4), meaning, as some
suppose,
silent praise, but this is hardly
consistent with the fact that the
praise
here offered is vocal. More probably it means such praise as is
accompanied
by a cessation of all tumultuous and passionate excitement.
See
above, on Ps. lxii. 2, 6 (1, 5). In Zion,
as the appointed place of
prayer
and praise under the old economy. The last clause implies that
fresh
occasion was continually given for thankful vows and their fulfilment,
by
the constant repetition of God's providential favours.
3
(2). Hearer of prayer, up to thee shall
all flesh come. The first word
in
Hebrew is a participle, hearing, thou
who habitually hearest prayer.
This
is mentioned as one of the divine characters or attributes. Up to thee,
even
to thee, implying actual arrival, and therefore a stronger expression
than
unto thee. All flesh sometimes means all animals; all living creatures.
(Gen.
vi. 17, 19), but is here used in its narrower sense of all mankind
(Gen.
vi. 3, 12). To thee they shall come, i.
e. must come, for the supply
of
their necessities, the forgiveness of their sins, and in short, for every
276 PSALM
LXV.
[VER. 3-8.
good
and perfect gift (James i. 17), both of a temporal and spiritual nature.
4 (3). Words
of iniquities are too strong for me; (as for) our transgres-
sions, thou wilt expiate
them,
or forgive them for the sake of an atonement.
Words of iniquities is by some regarded as
a pleonastic paraphrase for ini-
quities
themselves. More probably, however, the phrase means the charge
or
accusation of iniquity. See above, on Ps. vii. 1, xli. 9 (8), and below,
on
Ps. cv. 27. Too strong for me, more
than I am able to account for or
endure.
See above, on Ps. xl. 13 (12), and below, on Ps. cxxx. 3. The
last
clause contains the encouragement suited to the alarming situation
mentioned
in the first.
5 (4). Happy
(he whom) thou wilt choose and bring
(him) near, i. e.
admit
him to thy presence and to intimate communion with thee, (so that)
he shall inhabit thy
courts; we shall be sated, satisfied or filled, with,
the
good, i. e. the pleasure, the enjoyment, of thy house, the holy (place) thy
temple, or thy holy temple, thy
sanctuary, an expression used both of the
tabernacle
and the temple properly so called. See above, on Ps. v. 8 (7).
The
privilege described is not merely that of public worship at the place of
God's
appointment, but of residence in his family and participation in the
privileges
of his household. See above, on Ps. xv.
1, xxiii. 6. The change
from
the third person singular to the first plural shows that the former was
only
an individualization of the church or chosen people.
6 (5). Fearful
things in righteousness thou wilt answer us, O God of our
salvation, the
confidence of all the ends of the land and sea—(even) the
furthest. Thou wilt give us
fearful answers to our prayers, i. e.
such as
are
suited to excite religious reverence and awe. The confidence, the object,
of
their trust. Earth (or land) and sea are put together to describe the
whole
world, and the ends of both for the
remotest countries, which idea is
then
expressed directly, by the word at the end of the sentence. The
superlative
cannot be expressed in Hebrew, but is here suggested by the
context.
The sense is not that all men actually feel this trust in God, but
that
whether they feel it or not, they are really dependent upon him alone.
Compare
Isa. xlii. 4.
7 (6). Fixing
the mountains by his strength, girded with power. This
verse
accounts for the dependence of all creatures upon God by a reference
to
his almighty power, which is not described in general terms, but by one
of
its effects or acts, the settling of the mountains, as the most solid and
immovable
portions of the earth. He is then metaphorically represented
as
girded or invested with power. See
below, on ver. 13 (12).
8 (7). Stilling
the roar of seas, the roar of their waves, the tumult of
nations. The sentence is
continued from the foregoing verse. God not
only
formed the material universe at first, but still controls it. There is
here
a beautiful transition from the literal to the figurative use of the same
language.
It is true, in the strict use, that God stills the raging of the
seas;
but it is also true that he subdues the commotion of human societies
and
states, of which the sea is a natural and common emblem. See above,
on
Ps. xlvi. 3, 4 (2, 3). Hence he adds in express terms, the tumult of
nations.
9 (8). Then
were afraid those inhabiting the ends (or most distant parts)
of thy signs; the
outgoings of morning and evening thou wilt make to shout
(or
sing). Then is not expressed in
Hebrew, but employed in the transla-
tion
to shew the dependence of the verb on that of the preceding sentence.
The
sense is, that whenever God thus stills the tumult of the nations, even
VER.
9-13.] PSALM
LXV.
277
the
remotest are affected by his signs, i. e. the sensible indications of his
presence
and immediate agency. Outgoings is a
local noun in Hebrew, and
denotes
the places where the evening and the morning come forth or begin,
i. e. the points at which the
sun sets and rises, the east and west, here put
for
eastern and western lands, and these for their inhabitants. That the
fear
mentioned in the first clause is not mere slavish dread, but an affection
perfectly
compatible with joy, is clear from the remainder of the sentence.
10 (9). Thou
hast visited the earth and drenched it; thou wilt much
enrich it; the river of
God is full of water; thou wilt prepare their corn,
for thus thou dost
prepare it,
i. e. the earth, for this very
purpose. God is
said
to visit his creatures when he
manifests his presence with them, whether
in
the way of judgment or of mercy. See above, on Ps. viii. 5 (4).
Drenched, soaked, or made to
overflow. The word translated much
is. the
3
same as in Ps. lxii. 3 (2). The river of
God, as opposed to earthly streams.
However
these may fail, the divine resources are exhaustless. Their corn,
that
required for men's subsistence. See above on Ps. iv. 8 (7). The
meaning
of the last clause seems to be that he who provides rain to fertilize
the
earth, may be expected to provide the fruit itself.
11 (10). Its furrows drench, its ridges beat down: with showers thou wilt
soften it; its
vegetation thou wilt bless. The first verb means to water
abundantly,
the second to lower or beat down, implying a great violence of
rain.
The word translated showers,
according to its etymology and usage,
denotes
frequent and abundant rains. Soften,
dissolve, or loosen it. The
Hebrew
verb is a derivative of that in Ps. xlvi. 7 (6). Vegetation, germi-
nation,
that which sprouts or springs up from the seed when sown. Some
make
the verbs in the first clause infinitives, determined by the finite tenses
which
precede and follow. But their form permits them to be taken as imperatives,
from
which the transition to the future is entirely natural and in accordance with
the
usage
of David's psalms, whenever an expression of confident anticipation is to be
immediately
subjoined to one of strong desire. See above, on Ps. liv. 3 (1).
12 (11). Thou hast crowned the year of thy goodness, and thy paths drop
fatness. The first clause may
either mean, thou hast crowned the year with
thy
goodness, or, as some prefer to construe it, thou hast crowned the year
of
thy goodness, the year distinguished by thy goodness, with particular
instances
and proofs of that goodness. The obvious meaning of the strong
but
beautiful figure in the last clause is, that wherever he appears his
movements
are attended by a rich and fertilizing influence. Fatness is as
usual
a figure for rich food, and that for general abundance
13 (12). They drop—the pastures of the wilderness, and (with) joy the
hills are girt. The word translated
pastures properly means dwellings, but
is
specially applied to folds and pastures, as the places to which flocks
resort.
See above, on Ps. xxiii. 1. The word translated wilderness,
according
to its most probable etymology, originally signifies, not a barren
desert,
but a tract of country neither tilled nor thickly peopled, though
perhaps
luxuriant and abundant as a pasture ground. The general meta-
phor
of clothing which occurs in the next verse, is here anticipated by the
specific
one of a girdle, as that which surrounds the body and confines the
dress.
See above, on Ps. xviii. 33 (32).
14 (13). The pastures are clothed with flocks, and the vales shall be robed
in grain; they shall
shout
(for joy), yea, they shall sing. Some
translate
the
first clause, the flocks are clothed with
lambs, denying that the first noun
in
Hebrew ever means pastures. But see above, on Ps. xxxvii. 20. The
278 PSALM
LXVI. [VER. 1-5.
image
presented in the first translation is certainly more natural and beau-
tiful.
It also makes the parallelism more complete, the fields being covered
by
the waving crops in the same sense that the meadows are covered by
the
grazing flocks. In the last clause the pastures and valleys, by a beau-
tiful
personification, are described as breaking forth into shouts of joy and
songs
of praise. See above, on Ps. 10
(8).
PSALM LXVI.
1. To
the Chief Musician. A Song. A Psalm. Shout unto God, all
the earth! The second clause of
the inscription represents it as a psalm of
praise.
See above, on Ps. lxv. 1. This is confirmed by the contents and
structure
of the psalm itself, in which we have, first, a general celebration
of
God's wonderful dealings with his people in all ages, ver. 1-7; then a
similar
acknowledgment of what he had done in a particular case, ver. 8-12;
and
lastly, a pledge or promise of thanksgiving, ver. 13-20. The resem-
blance
to the forty-sixth psalm has led some to suppose that this psalm
was
occasioned by the same event, or composed in imitation of the other,
for
the use of the church in similar emergencies. The verb shout is plural
in
its form, which shews that earth has a collective sense.
2. Sing
the honour of his name; give (him) honour,
(give) him praise.
The
honour or glory of his name is that due to his manifested excellence.
See
above, on Ps. xxix. 2. Give,
literally place or put, the verbs expressing
these
ideas being often interchanged in Hebrew. The same phrase that
is
here used occurs also in Josh. vii. 19, Isa. xlii. 12, and is clearly equi-
valent
to give honour in Ps. ixix. 1, 2, lxviii. 35 (34), Jer. xiii. 16. The
form
of the last clause is peculiar, give
honour (as or to) his
praise.
3. How
fearful are thy doings! In the greatness of thy strength shall
thine enemies lie to
thee.
Here begin, as some interpreters suppose, the
words
in which the required praise is to be rendered to Jehovah; an ad-
missible,
though not by any means a necessary supposition. The first
clause
may likewise be translated, how fearful
(art thou in) thy doings,
after
the analogy of ver. 5 below, the ellipsis of the pronoun being similar
to
that in Ps. lxviii. 36 (35). In the
greatness of thy strength, i. e.
because
of
it, or rather in the knowledge and belief of it. See above, on Ps. v. 8 (7).
Lie to thee, make false professions
of allegiance, yield a feigned obedience,
through
the influence of fear. See above, on Ps. xviii. 45 (44).
4. All
the earth shall worship thee and sing to thee; they shall sing thy
name. Selah. Here again the verbs
are plural, shewing that all the earth
is
to be taken in a collective sense, as meaning all lands, or all the dwellers
upon
earth. See above, on ver. 1. Worship thee,
bow or prostrate them-
selves
before thee, as an act both of civil and religious homage. See
above,
on Ps. v. 8 (7). They shall not only sing to thee, but sing thy
name,
i. e. not only celebrate thy being
but thy manifested nature, the
attributes
revealed by thy previous works. This anticipation of universal
homage
to Jehovah is in strict accordance with the whole spirit and design
of
the Mosaic dispensation.
5. Go,
see the works of God, fearful (in) action on the sons of man. The
verb
go is often used in Hebrew, as a
formula of invitation or of challenge,
where
in English we say come. See below,
ver. 16, and compare Isa.
ii.
3, 5. In this case, however, go may
be intended to express something
more
than would have been expressed by come.
The meaning may be, if
VER.
6-10.] PSALM
LXVI.
279
you
do not believe these general declarations of God's power and dominion,
go
and see for yourselves the proofs already given in the history of man-
kind,
and more especially in that of Israel: go to Egypt, to the Red Sea,
to
the Wilderness, to Jordan, and in the wonders there performed and still
repeated
in the experience of the church, see the evidence that God is
indeed
possessed of a tremendous power to control and influence mankind.
With
the first clause compare Ps. xlvi. 9 (8), the only other place where
the
word tvlfpm
occurs.
6. He
turned the sea into the dry (land ; through the river they shall pass
on foot; there will we
rejoice in him.
There is an obvious allusion to the
crossing
of the Red Sea and the Jordan, not as mere historical events, but
as
types or samples of God's extraordinary interpositions on behalf of
Israel,
such as might be realized again in their experience. Hence the pro-
miscuous
use of preterite and future forms, as if to say, the God of Israel
will
again turn the Red Sea into dry land for the passage of his people; if
need
be, they shall again cross the Jordan dry shod; there, on the scene
of
these miraculous events, shall we again rejoice in him. The combina-
tion
of sea and river seems to show that by the latter we must understand
Jordan,
and not, as some interpreters suppose, the Euphrates, which is
commonly
so called. But see Isa. xi. 15, 16, Zech. x. 11.
7. Ruling
by his might for ever; his eyes over (or among) the nations
watch; let not the
rebels exalt themselves. Selah. The participle in the
first
clause is expressive of habitual action, "he iconstantly, habitually
rules."
See above, Ps. xxii. 29 (28). By his
might, with which he
was
before described as girded. See above, Ps. lxv. 7 (6). The noun
eternity is used adverbially to
mean for ever. The divine inspection
here
described
implies that man can no more evade God's power than resist it.
The
last clause may be either a prayer to God or an admonition to his
enemies.
Exalt themselves: the Keri or
marginal reading is, be high for
them (or for themselves); the Kethib or textual
reading, lift (or raise) for themselves,
in
which case horn may be supplied from
Ps. lxxv. 5, 6 (4, 5), or head from
Ps. cx. 7.
The
rebels, i. e. against God, his
stubborn and incorrigible enemies.
8. Bless,
O ye nations, our God, cause to be heard the voice of his praise!
To
the general description of God's gracious dispensations towards his
people
there seems now to be added the commemoration of a particular
event
of this kind; not one of merely local interest, however, but of such
importance,
that the nations are invited to unite in praising God for it.
See
above, on Ps. xviii. 50 (49), xxii. 28 (27).
9. The
(one) putting, who puts, our soul in life, and has not given (up)
to removal our foot, has not allowed it to
move or slip. The unusual expres-
sion
in the first clause seems to mean restoration to life, a figure for relief
from
great distress, which is not unfrequently described as death. See
above,
on Ps. xxx. 4 (3), xlix. 16 (15). To set
in life is not unlike the
phrase
to set in safety, Ps. xii. 6 (5). The
form of expression in the last
clause
is analogous to that in Ps. lv. 23 (22) above, and identical with that
in
Ps. cxxi. 3 below. Given up to removal,
suffered to be moved from its
firm
position or its place of safety.
10. For
thou hast tried us, O God, thou hast purged (or assayed) us like
the purging of silver, as silver is purged,
with particular reference, as some
suppose,
to the long-continued and repeated process of refinement neces-
sary
in the case of silver. See above, on Ps. xii. 7 (6), xxvi. 2, and compare
Isa.
i. 25, xlviii. 10, Zech. xiii. 9, 1 Pet. i. 7.
The general idea here is
280 PSALM
LXVI. [VER.
11-14.
that
of affliction, as a means both of trial and purgation, and is carried out
in
the following verses.
11. Thou
hast caused us to come into the net; thou hast put pressure on
our loins. The first clause is
descriptive of complicated difficulties and em-
barrassments,
the second of suffering and weakness. The word translated
net occurs above in the
very different sense of a tower or
fortress, Ps.
xviii.
3 (2). But even when so used, it strictly means a hunting tower, i. e.
a
post of observation and of safety used by hunters, and from the same root
(dUc, to hunt) may be
deduced the sense of net or snare, as a customary
implement
of hunting, in which sense it is certainly employed by Ezekiel
(xii.
13). The word translated pressure
occurs only here, but its essential
meaning
is clear from its etymological affinities. Compare the cognate
form
in Ps. lv. 4 (3). Some suppose the idea to be that of a superincum-
bent
pressure, load, or burden, corresponding to the verb as used in Amos
ii.
13. Others make pressure mean
contraction, stricture, and by necessary
implication,
pain or anguish. The loins are mentioned as the seat of
strength
(Deut. xxxiii. 11), an injury to which implies both pain and weak-
ness.
See below, on Ps. lxix. 24 (23).
12. Thou
hast caused (or suffered) men to ride at our head, we came into
the fire and into the
waters, and
(now) thou hast caused us to come forth
to
abundance, overflow, i. e. of enjoyment. Man, frail or mortal man, whose
tyranny
is therefore the more insupportable. See above, on Ps. viii. 5 (4).
This
first clause is ambiguous, in Hebrew as in English. To ride at our
head, though an exact
translation, suggests only the idea of command or
guidance,
whereas some kind of suffering is required by the context. The
common
version, to ride over our heads,
presents the image of horsemen
trampling
on their conquered enemies. Some suppose the idea to be that
of
riding on us, as a man controls and
guides the horse that carries him.
The
head must then be mentioned only as
the noblest part, without imply-
ing
that the rider actually sits upon it. But this very circumstance makes
the
interpretation an unnatural and forced one. Fire
and water, as the two
great
destroying elements, are common figures for distress and danger. Compare Isa.
xxiii.
2. The last Hebrew word in the verse occurs only here and in Ps. xxiii. 5.
13. I
will come (to) thy house with burnt-offerings; I will pay to thee my
vows, i. e. the offerings thus
promised. His acknowledgments shall not be
merely
verbal or mental, but ceremonial, i. e.
expressed in the symbolical
form
required by the dispensation under which he lived. The reference is
neither
to internal feelings nor to outward rites exclusively, but to both
together.
See above, on Ps. xl. 7 (6), 1. 8, li. 18 (16). With the last clause, compare
Ps.
lxv. 2 (1). The sudden change of number, from the plural to the singular, shows
that
what follows is the words of an ideal speaker, representing the same persons
who
had
spoken in the foregoing context, if not identical with their.
14. Which
my lips uttered and my mouth spake in my distress. The first
verb
is a very strong and expressive one, in this connection not unlike our
familiar
phrases, bolted, blurted out,
implying that he spoke from some
irresistible
impulse, and thus suggesting what is afterwards explicitly affirmed,
that
the vows in question were occasioned by extreme distress. The Hebrew
verb
originally means to open or distend the lips, whether as a gesture of
mockery
(Lam. ii. 16), or menace (Ps. xxii. 14), or for the purpose of
articulate
speech (Job xxxv. 16). That its absolute use, in special refer-
ence
to vows spontaneously and hastily uttered, was familiar to the ancients,
VER.
15-20.] PSALM LXVI. 281
may
be seen from Judges xi. 35, 36. In my
distress; the original expres-
sion
is, in the distress to me. See above, on Ps. xviii. 7 (6).
15. Burnt-offerings
of fatlings will I offer to thee, with incense of rams;
I will make (an oblation of) cattle with he-goats. Selah. The word
trans-
lated
fatlings is especially applied to
lambs, Isa. v. 17. The verb is the
first
clause in the one from which the noun rendered burnt-offering is derived,
and
strictly means I will cause to ascend,
i. e. upon the altar, or in vapour
from
it. Incense may here be taken in its
etymological sense of something
burnt
sacrificially, although in usage limited to aromatic fumigations, which
is
also the case with the Hebrew word in every place but this, where it
seems
to mean the sacrificial fat that was burned upon the altar. The
verb
to make is absolutely used, as a
technical term of the Mosaic Law, to
denote
the act of sacrifice. See Exod. xxix. 36, Lev. ix. 7, and compare
Judges
vi. 19, 1 Kings xviii. 23, 26. The different species of victims are
enumerated
here, to convey the idea of a regular and perfect sacrifice, im-
plying
more than ordinary thankfulness.
16. Go
(or in our idiom, come), hear, all ye fearers of (ye that fear) God,
and I will tell you what
he hath done to
(or for) my soul. The fearers of
Jehovah
is a common description of believers or the people of God. See
Ps.
lx. 6 (4), lxi. 6 (5). The invitation is like that in Ps. xxii. 24 (23).
Tell, in the primary sense
of counting or numbering, and the secondary one
of
recounting or relating. To my soul, i. e. to me, whose life or soul was
threatened.
To me as the object of the act
alluded to, or for me, as the
person
to be benefited. This address prepares the way for the ensuing
declaration,
founded on his own experience, that it is only by sincere sub-
mission
and devotion to God that his protection is to be secured.
17. To
him (with) my mouth I called, and
high pruise (exaltation) was
under my tongue. By a slight change in
the pointing, or by supposing an
irregularity
of punctuation, the last clause may be rendered, he was extolled
under my tongue, i. e. by means of it as an instrument of praise. But as
a
corresponding plural form occurs below, Ps. cxlix. 6, the Hebrew word.
(MmaOr) is probably a noun,
meaning lofty praise, or exaltation by means
of
praise. Under my tongue may be simply
equivalent to on or with my
tongue, or it may be intended
to suggest the additional idea of a store or
deposit
of such praises still in reserve, to be employed hereafter, which some
suppose
to be the meaning of the phrase in Ps. x. 7.
18. Iniquity
if I have seen in my heart, the Lord will not hear. If I had.
any
wicked end in view, God would not hear my prayer. The same idea
is
expressed in Prov. xv. 29, Isa. i. 15, lix. 2, John ix. 31, 1 John iii. 22.
It
is here stated as the ground on which he means to argue his own inno-
cence
of any such corrupt design, and actually does so in the next verse.
19. (But) verily God hath heard; he hath attended to the voice of my
prayer. The Hebrew particle at
the beginning is strictly not adversative
but
affirmative. See above, on Ps. xxxi. 23 (22). It is equivalent in force
to
our expressions, whereas, really, in fact,
&c. The doubt subjected in the
foregoing
verse had been removed in his case by the application of the test
there
mentioned. God had already heard his prayer and thereby borne
20. Blessed
(be) God who hath not put away my prayer
(from him) and
his mercy from me. Here as elsewhere,
when applied to God, blessed can
only
mean praised or entitled to be
praised. The double application of the
verb
in the last clause cannot well be imitated in translation. The same
witness
that he was not guilty of the duplicity in question.
282
PSALM LXVII. [VER. 1-5.
word
in Hebrew may be used to express the act of rejecting
a petition, and
that
of withdrawing or withholding favour.
PSALM LXVII.
1. To
the Chief Musician. With (or on) stringed
instruments. A Psalm.
a Song, i. e. a psalm of praise. See above, on Ps. lxvi. 1. For the mean-
ing
of the second clause of this inscription, see above, on Ps. Iv. 1, and.
compare
Ps. 1. The psalm before us, like the sixty-fifth, seems to
have
special reference to the manifestation of God's goodness in the gift of
fruitful
seasons and abundant harvests. See below, on ver. 7 (6), and
above,
on Ps. lxv. 1. But from this the Psalmist, or the church, of which
he
is the spokesman, takes occasion to anticipate the extension of God's
covenanted
gifts, both temporal and spiritual, to all the nations of the earth.
This
expectation is indeed the burden of the psalm, its immediate occasion
being
only mentioned incidentally near the close, yet not so obscurely as to
make
it doubtful. Any formal division of this short and simple composi-
tion
can only tend to mar its beauty.
2 (1). God
be merciful unto us and bless us, and cause his face to shine
upon us! The form of expression
is evidently borrowed from the sacer-
dotal
benediction, Num. vi. 24, 25, but with a substitution of the first
person
plural for the second singular, so as to convert the authoritative
blessing
upon others into an expression of desire for themselves. The
optative
meaning of the sentence is determined by the form of the second
verb
in Hebrew. Upon us, literally with us, a form of speech probably
intended
to suggest the idea of the divine presence and communion. As to
the
figure in the last clause, see above, on Ps. iv. 7 (6), xxxi. 17 (16).
3 (2). That
thy way may be known in the earth, in all nations thy sal-
vation. The original
construction of the first clause is, to
know in the earth
thy way; but the sense can only
be made clear in English by a passive
form.
Thy way, i. e. thy mode of dealing with thy people, referring more
particularly
here to providential favours, the knowledge of which he hopes
to
see extended to all nations, as a means to the promotion of still higher
ends.
The pleonastic phrase, saving health,
retained in the authorised version
from
an older one, has nothing corresponding to it in the Hebrew but the
single
word which always means salvation,
and is commonly so rendered.
4
(3). The nations shall acknowledge thee, O
God, the nations shall
acknowledge thee—all of them. The common version of the verb here twice
used
(praise) is too wide. As it is
commonly applied to the acknowledg-
ment
of benefits, a nearer equivalent is thank.
See above, on Ps. lvii. 10 (9).
5 (4). Nations
shall joy and triumph, because thou shalt judge peoples (in)
rectitude, and nations
in the earth—thou shalt guide them. The divine
guidance
implies protection and control. Compare Isa. lviii. 11. The
anticipation
of universal happiness, as springing from the judicial acts of
the
Messiah, is not unusual in prophecy. See below, on Ps. lxii. 12-14,
and
compare Isa. 3. The word translated rectitude
occurs above, Ps. xlv. 7 (6).
6 (5). The
nations shall acknowledge thee, O God, the nations shall
acknowledge thee—all of
them.
This repetition spews the anticipation here
expressed
to be the principal though not the primary subject of the psalm.
The
position of the universal terms, at the close of this verse and ver. 4 (3),
is
highly emphatic, and precludes, in the most explicit manner, all restriciton
VER.
1, 2.] PSALM
LXVIII.
283
7 (6). The
earth (or land) has yielded her produce; God will bless us,
(even)
our God. The translation of the first
verb as a future is entirely
gratuitous,
and therefore ungrammatical. Correctly rendered, it affords a
hint
of the immediate occasion of the psalm itself. The mutual relation of
the
clauses is that of a thankful acknowledgment for gifts received already
to
a joyful and believing expectation of the same hereafter. God has
blessed
us, and since he is our own God, he will bless us still.
8 (7). God
will bless us, and all the ends of the earth shall fear him. The
God
who has bestowed this harvest on us will continue to afford us tokens
of
his covenant love and faithfulness; and the day is coming when the inti-
mate
relation which we now sustain to him will be extended to all nations.
Ends of the earth, even the remotest
countries, but of course without
excluding
those at hand. It is really tantamount to saying, all lands or the
whole earth. See above, on Ps. ii.
8.
PSALM
LXVIII.
1. To
the Chief Musician. By David. A Psalm of
Praise. Literally,
a psalm, a song, but see above, on Ps.
lxv. 1, lxvi. 1, lxvii. 1. This psalm,
like
the eighteenth, which it very much resembles, is a triumphal song,
occasioned
by some signal victory or success in war, perhaps that recorded
in
2 Samuel xii. 26-31, which closed the last important war of David's
reign.
The psalm opens with a general praise of God as the deliverer of
the
righteous and destroyer of the wicked, ver. 2-7 (1-6). This is then
illustrated
and confirmed by a reference to certain periods in the history of
Israel,
and first to the march through the wilderness, ver. 8-11 (7-10).
Then
comes the period of the judges, ver. 12-15 (11-14). Then the erec-
tion
of the monarchy on Zion, and its confirmation by the victory just
achieved,
ver. 16-20 (15-19). This is then represented as a part of the
general
plan of Jehovah's dealings with his people, ver. 21-24 (20-23).
The
triumphal procession is described, ver. 25-28 (24-27). All this, how-
ever,
is but a specimen or foretaste of a universal conquest yet to come,
ver.
29-32 (28-31). In anticipation of this revolution, the nations are
summoned
to unite in the praises of Jehovah, ver. 33-36 (32-35). The
resemblence
of this last part to the corresponding parts of the two preced-
ing
psalms may account for the position of the one before us.
2 (1.) God
shall arise, his enemies shall scatter; those hating him shall
flee before him. This verse propounds,
as the theme of the whole psalm, a
fact
continually verified in history. There is also an obvious allusion to
the
form of speech uttered by Moses at the removal of the ark, the symbol
of
God's presence. See Num. x. 35. The wish there expressed is here
said
to be realised. Hence the change of the imperative (hmAUq) into a
future
(MUqvA),
shewing that this verse has not an optative meaning (let God
arise), but is declaratory of
what certainly will be hereafter, as it has been
already,
in the case which gave occasion to the psalm. The present time
is
not excluded, but involved in the general proposition, that it must and
will
be so. Shall scatter is a more exact
translation of the Hebrew verb
than
be scattered, although the idea is
undoubtedly that of involuntary
violent
dispersion. Before him, from his
face, or from his presence. See
above,
on Ps. ix 4 (3), lxi. 4 (3).
3 (2). As
smoke is driven, thou wilt drive (them); as wax is melted before
284
PSALM LXIII. [VER. 3-7.
fire, the wicked shall
perish before God.
The form of expression is the same
as
in the preceding verse, from the face of
fire, from the face (or presence)
of
God. The verb in the first
clause is the same with that in Ps. i. 4, where
the
wind, implied here, is expressly mentioned, as the driving or propelling
agent.
The comparison with wax is a common one in Scripture, and occurs
above,
in Ps. xxii. 15 (14). With the last clause compare the conclusion
of
the Song of Deborah (Judges v. 31), of which there are various imitations,
or
at least reminiscences, in this psalm.
4 (3). And
the righteous shall be glad; they shall triumph before God,
and shall joy with
gladness.
This is true not only of righteous individuals
but
of righteous nations, and especially of Israel, as such considered,
although
many of its members were unrighteous. But these are not con-
sidered
as really belonging to the church or chosen people, but are classed
among
the wicked enemies of God. Before God
shall the righteous rejoice,
as
the wicked flee before him.
5 (4). Sing
unto God, celebrate his name, cast up (a highway) for the
(one)
riding through the deserts, by his name
Jah, and exult before him.
The
second clause alludes to the opening of roads for kings and armies.
See
above, on Ps. 1.23, and compare Isa. xl. 3, Mal. iii. 1. The common
version
of the verb (extol) conveys an idea
wholly foreign from the usage of
the
Hebrew word. Riding, i. e. journeying, or giving it a
military applica-
tion,
marching. The common version of the
next noun (heavens) is
entirely
unauthorised by usage. The Hebrew word is one still applied by
the
Arabs to the region over which the Israelites wandered forty years.
The
idea here suggested is more fully carried out in ver. 8-10 (7-9). By
his name Jah, i. e. in the character
denoted by this name, which is an
abbreviation
of Jehovah, peculiar to the song of Moses (Exod. xv. 2) and the
later
imitations of it. See my notes on Isa. xii. 2, xxxviii. 11. The
people
are summoned to prepare for the reception of this glorious visitor.
6 (5). Father
of orphans and judge of widows (is) God
in his abode of
holiness. One of the most
glorious divine characters is that of a protector
of
the innocent and helpless. Judge,
vindicator, patron, one who does
them
justice. His abode of holiness cannot
in this connection denote
heaven,
but must be referred to his peculiar residence among his chosen people. It
was
there that, both by the provisions of this law and the dispensations of his
providence,
he asserted his right to the exalted character here claimed for him.
7 (6). God
makes the lonely dwell in houses, makes the captives come forth
into enjoyments; only
rebels
(still) inhabit a dry land (or desert). This,
though
a general proposition, seems to have a special reference to the
change
in the condition of the Israelites, when brought out of the wilder-
ness
into possession of the promised land. The participles in the original
(sealing, bringing out) express habitual or
customary acts. In houses,
literally
in a house, or still more closely to a house, the idea of removal
being
really implied. The word might also be translated homewards or at
home. The last word in this
clause occurs nowhere else, and has been
variously
explained to mean in chains, by force,
and into pleasures or enjoy-
ments,
which last is now preferred by most interpreters.
8 (7). O
God, in thy going out before thy people, in thy marching through
the wilderness. Selah. The sentence is completed
in the next verse, being
here
divided by a pause of solemn and admiring recollection. The general
description
of the foregoing verses is now confirmed and illustrated by
a
reference to the exodus from Egypt, and the journey through the wilder-
VER.
8-12.] PSALM
LXVIII.
285
ness.
Before thy people, in the pillar of
cloud, as their guide and their
f
commander. Thy marching, literally thy stepping, treading, or more ex-
actly
still, thy step or tread. To make the allusion still more
pointed, the
word
for wilderness is not the one
commonly so rendered, but one borrowed
from
Deut. xxxii. 10.
9 (8). The
earth shook, nay, the heavens dropped, this Sinai, at the
presence of God, the God
of Israel. Dropped,
discharged drops, rained.
This
is mentioned as a natural and usual accompaniment of a thunderstorm.
This Sinai probably means, this (was at) Sinai, and should be read
as a
parenthesis.
The usual construction not only requires a verb to be re-
peated
or supplied, but yields an obscure and doubtful sense, as no reason
can
be given why Sinai should be called this
Sinai, and the version Sinai
itself is unauthorised by
usage. The first clause is descriptive of the grand
and
terrible phenomena attending the theopany at Sinai. See Exod. xix. 16-18.
10 (9). A
rain of free gifts thou pourest down, O God; thine inheritance
and (that) exhausted,
thou dost confirm
(or strengthen) it. The first clause
probably
refers to the abundant and refreshing gifts (of which rain is a
natural
and common emblem) bestowed upon the people in the wilderness,
including
manna, quails, and water. The future tense is like those in Ps.
xviii.
7 (6). Pour down, literally shake or shake out. Thine inheritance,
thy
people. The construction is that of an absolute nominative, (as to)
thine inheritance. The next clause
heightens the description by suggesting
that
the gift came precisely when it was most needed.
11 (10). Thy flock hath dwelt therein; thou wilt provide, in thy goodness,
for the wretched. The first noun
strictly means an animal, and more espe-
cially
a beast, but was probably employed as a collective to denote a herd
or
flock, in which sense it was figuratively applied in David's time to a
company
or troop of men, (2 Sam xxiii. 11, 13). Therein,
i. e. in the
land
of promise, which was present to the writer's mind, though not ex-
pressly
mentioned in the context. See below, ver. 15 (14), and compare
Isa.
viii. 21. Thou wilt provide, indefinitely,
whatsoever may be needed ];
or
more specifically, wilt prepare, i. e. prepare a home, a resting place.
The
future tense describes it as a customary method of proceeding upon
God's
part, but specially exemplified in the case of Israel, who, until his
settlement
in Canaan, might well be called a sufferer, a wretched or afflicted one.
12 (11). The Lord will give the word; the (women) publishing (it) are a
great host. As to the future, see
above, on ver. 10, 11 (9, 10). Word
here
means tidings, news, and, as the whole connection shews, good news,
which
is alsp suggested by the word translated publishing,
but in usage
constantly
applied to joyful tidings. See above, on Ps. xl. 10 (9). There
is
obvious allusion to the ancient oriental custom of women celebrating
victories
with song and dance. See Exod. xv. 20, 1 Sam. xviii. 6, 7.
The
reference is not to any one occasion, but to an ideal choir chanting all
the
victories of some great period, perhaps that of the Judges.
13 (12). Kings of armies shall flee, shall flee, and she that tarrieth at
home shall divide the
spoil.
The flight described is not that of Dings alone,
but
of kings at the head of armies. The repetition of the verb denotes the
certainty
and completeness of the rout. The dweller
in the house is by
some
literally understood to mean the woman who takes no part in the
battle.
But others regard it as a figure for the chosen people, dwelling
quietly
at home, after the disappearance of their enemies, when "the land
had
rest," Judges v. 31, viii. 28.
286 PSALM
LXVIII. [VER.
13-16.
14
(13). When, ye lie down between the
borders, (ye shall be like) the
wings of a dove covered
with silver and her pinions with yellow gold. The
general
idea seems to be that when "the land had rest," her condition was
one
of peaceful prosperity. The common version of the first clause (though
ye have lien among the
pots)
is justified neither by rabbinical tradition nor
the
ancient versions. The Hebrew noun occurs only here and in Ezekel
xl.
43, where it is equally obscure, and the cognate forms in Gen. xlix. 14,
Judges
v. 16, are scarcely less so. The only meaning, besides those already
mentioned,
which has any probability, is that of folds
or sheep-cotes, lying
among
which might be viewed as a poetical figure for rural or pastoral re-
pose,
thus amounting to the same thing with the first translation, which
describes
the people as residing quietly between
the borders, i. e. within the
boundaries
or frontiers of their territory, now once more forsaken by the
enemy.
The beautiful allusion in the last clause to the changeable colours of a
dove's
plumage seems intended to suggest the idea of a peaceful but splendid
prosperity.
15
(14). When the Almighty scatters kings
therein, it snows in Zalmon.
The
change from war to peace is likened to the dazzling whiteness of snow
in
the midst of blackness or darkness. This last idea is conveyed by Zalmon,
an
unimportant eminence near Shechem, partly perhaps in reference to the
dark
forests which covered it (Judges ix. 48), but chiefly to the meaning of
the
name itself, to wit, shade or shadow. The parallel term, snow, suggests
the
idea of the brightest light. See Ps. li. 9 (7), Isa. i. 18, Mark ix. 3,
Mat.
xxviii. 3, Rev. i. 14, and compare Mat. xvii. 2. Some, with far less
probability,
explain the verse as meaning that the land was whitened with
the
slain, as Zalmon was with snow; but this ascribes too great an altitude
to
Zalmon. The Hebrew construction in the first clause is, in the Almighty's
scattering kings, i. e. at the time of his so doing. The divine name here
used
is not the one so frequently translated Mighty
in the Psalms, but the
patriarchal
title mentioned in Exod. vi. 3. Compare Gen. xvii. 1, xxviii. 3.
It
is here introduced because the events in question were remarkable exer-
tions
and displays of God's omnipotence. Scattered
here means routed,
put
to flight. See above, ver. 13 (12), and compare the use of the same
Hebrew
verb in Zech. ii. 10 (6).
16 (15). A mount of God (is) mount Bashan, a mount of peaks (or
ridges) is mount Bashan. The first phrase means a mountain shewing
forth
the creative power of God by its vastness. See above, on Ps. xxxvi. 7
(6).
Mount Bashan, not a single eminence,
but the lofty range of Anti-
libanus,
also called Hermon, and by other
races, Sion and Sirion. See Deut.
iii.
9, iv. 48, Ps. xlii. 7 (6), Ps. lxxxix. 13 (12). The last two names
would
be apt to suggest, by a fortuitous resemblance, that of the holy hill
of
Zion. A mount of peaks or ridges, i. e.
not a detached mountain, but a
chain
with many lofty summits, forming the northern boundary of Bashan.
At
the same time, the expression of this verse would necessarily suggest
the
idea of great states or kingdoms, of which mountains are the standing
symbols.
See above, on Ps. xlvi. 3 (2), lxv. 7 (6).
17 (16). Why will ye watch, (ye) hills, (ye) ridges, the hill God hath
desired for his dwelling?
Yea, Jehovah will inhabit (it) for ever. The
interrogative
form implies disapprobation and contempt. See above, on Ps.
ii.
1. The verb occurs nowhere else in the Old Testament, but its meaning
has
been preserved in Arabic, namely, to watch as an enemy, to lie in wait,
or,
as some allege, to view with envy. Common to both is the idea of hos-
tility
or ill-will. The translation of this verb in the English Bible (leap)
VER.
17, 18.] PSALM
LXVIII. 287
and
in the Prayer-Book version (hop)
seems to rest on mere conjecture.
The
two nouns, hills and ridges, are by some supposed to form a
sort of
compound,
ridge-hills, i. e. high or rugged hills. Compare the phrase wine-
reeling, Ps. lx. 5 (3). The
plural form may denote the several peaks, or
the
whole class which this range of mountains merely represented. Zion is
here
described as an object of hostility or envy to the mountains of the
heathen
world, on account of the honour put upon it by its being chosen as
the
earthly residence of God. Having first poetically said that he desired
it,
i. e. preferred and chose it, to
preclude all doubt as to the event, the
Psalmist
adds, not only so, but he does and will dwell there for ever. The
verbs
of the second and third clause, although synonymous, are not identical
in
Hebrew. There is evident significance in the choice of the divine names
here
employed. Not only did he choose it, as Elohim, for his dwelling, but
he
actually dwells there as Jehovah, as the God of revelation and the cove-
nanted
God of Israel.
18 (17). The chariots of God (are) two myriads, multiplied thousands ;
the Lord is among them,
Sinai in the sanctuary. As David's most formi-
dable
foes were particularly strong in chariots of war (2 Sam. viii. 4, x. 18),
so
here God's power of protection is expressed by an innumerable multitude
of
chariots. The same mode of representation occurs in the history of
Elisha,
2 Kings vi. 17. Two myriads is a
closer version than twenty thou-
sand, because the Hebrew
word is the dual of one used both in the vague
sense
of a multitude, and in the precise sense of a myriad. See above, on
Ps.
iii. 7 (6), where the plural of the same word occurs. The next phrase
strictly
means thousands of repetition or reduplication, i. e. thousands upon
thousands.
Compare Dan. vii. 10. There is no mention of angels in the
text,
although interpreters in every age have supposed their presence to be
necessarily
implied, as the conductors of God's chariots, if not as the
chariots
themselves, which is the sense put upon the Hebrew phrase by
both
the English versions (even thousands of
angels). There is also an
obvious
allusion to the giving of the law at Sinai, as described in Deut.
xxxiii.
2, 3, the presence of angels at which appears to be assumed in the
New
Testament, Gal. iii. 19, Heb. ii. 2. It is not, however, the mere
number,
even of these heavenly hosts, that constitutes the safety of the holy
place,
but the personal presence of the Lord (Adhonai)
among them, which
is
therefore asserted in the next clause. The last words of the verse are
obscure,
but seem most probably to mean that the same glorious theophany
which
once took place on Sinai is now renewed on Zion, with particular
reference,
as some imagine, to the presence of the ark and the tables of
stone
in the one case, as a perpetual memorial, and even a perpetual renewal,
of
the legislation, in the other. This fine poetical identification of the two
mountains
hallowed by God's presence may have been in the mind of the apostle
when
he drew that sublime contrast or parallel between them, Heb. xii. 18-24.
Under
the law Sinai was renewed in Zion. Under the gospel Zion superseded Sinai.
19 (18). Thou hast gone up to the high-place; thou hast captured a cap-
tivity; thou hast taken
gifts among mankind, and (even among) rebels,
(so
as)
to dwell (here), Lord, God! In order to carry out his choice and re-
solution,
as recorded in ver. 17 (16) above, i. e.
in order to establish Zion
as
his earthly dwelling-place, God has encountered all opposing powers,
vanquished
them, and forced them to pay tribute, even the stoutest and
most
stubborn. The sign of the conquest being finished is the conqueror's
return
to his throne, whether upon earth or in heaven. See above, on Ps.
288 PSALM
LXVIII. [VER.
19-22.
vii.
8 (7), and compare Ps. xviii. 17 (16), xciii. 4, cii. 20 (19). Captured
a captivity, i. e. taken captive a multitude of enemies. The gifts meant are
the
forced gifts of the conquered. Among men,
i. e. while present among
them
as their conqueror, and by implication from
them. Even rebels, even
the
most rebellious, are compelled to submit. In other words, the conquest
is
complete. According to the military figures here used, it would seem to
be
implied that the gifts thus extorted by the conqueror are distributed
among
his followers. To receive gifts on
the one hand, and bestow gifts on
the
other, are correlative ideas and expressions, so that Paul, in applying
this
description of a theocratic triumph to the conquests of our Saviour,
substitutes
one of these expressions for the other (Eph. iv. 9). He also,
in
his comment on the passage, justly represents the ascension there de-
scribed
as necessarily implying a previous descent. In other words, victory
presupposes
conflict. The last clause obviously refers back to the corresponding clause
of
ver. 17 (16). Lord God, literally Jah, God! See above, on ver. 5 (4).
20 (19). Blessed be the Lord, day (by) day;
(whoever) lays a load upon
us, the Mighty (God is) our salvation. Selah. The second clause,
which
is
obscure from brevity, also admits of this translation: (man) may lay a load
upon
us, (but) God is our salvation. Lay a
load upon us, literally load
to us, or as to us. According to both these
constructions, loading means
oppression.
It is possible, however, to attach to it the sense of benefits or
favours,
put upon it in the English versions, but with a very different con-
struction
of the whole clause. The Mighty (God)
will heap upon us our
salvation, or, will load us with salvation. The depth
of feeling and the
strength
of faith, on which this anticil ation rests, are indicated or be-
trayed
by the meditative pause which follows.
21 (20). God is for us a God of salvation, and to Jehovah the Lord
(belong)
issues from death. A more exact
translation of the verse, retain-
ing
the peculiar idioms, would be this: the
Almighty (is) for us an
Almighty for salvation, and to Jehovah the Lord
(belong), as to death,
outgoings or escapes. This is only an amplification of the last clause of the
verse
preceding, God is our salvation, or
according to the other construc-
tion,
God loads us with salvation.
22 (21). Surely God will crush the head of his enemies, the hairy scalp,
going on in his
trespasses.
The first word properly means only,
and is here
used
to denote that this and not the contrary is true, a purpose which in
our
idiom may be answered by a particle of strong asseveration, such as
certainly or surely. See above, ver. 7 (6), and compare Ps. xxxix. 12 (11),
lviii.
12 (11). Crush the head, a stroll
figure for violent and complete
destruction.
See below, on ver. 24 (23), and compare Gen. iii. 15, Ps.
ex.
6, Num. xxiv. 8, 17. The hairy scalp,
or crown of hair, is merely a
poetical
equivalent or parallel to head. he
words that follow seem to be
applied
to it by a kind of personification. Compare Prov. xvi. 31. But
this
figure, if too bold, may be avoided by supplying of one or of the man
before
going. This last word does not
necessarily mean going on, but
according
to its usage elsewhere may be endered going
about, i. e. habitu-
ally
acting, in a sinful manner. See alove, on Ps. 9
(8), xx. 7 (6),
xxvi.
3, xxxv. 14, xxxix. 7 (6), xliii. 2 (1 .
23 (22). The Lord hath said, From Bashan I will bring (them) back, I
will bring (them) back from the depths of the sea. Some
suppose the object
of
the verbs in this verse to be Israel
or my people, as in Isa. xlix. 12
(compare
Gen. xiv. 14). But as the enemy is still the subject of the fol-
VER.
23-27.] PSALM
LXVIII. 289
lowing
verses, it is better to understand the one before us as threatening
to
bring them back for punishment and destruction, even when they seemed
to
have withdrawn in triumph. Here, as in verse 15 (14), Bashan is
mentioned
as a frontier province of the Holy Land. In the last clause
there
is an obvious climax. I will bring them bak, not from Basilan
merely,
but if need be, from the bottom of the o ean. Compare Ps.
cxxxix.
9, and especially Amos ix. 2, 3.
24 (23). In order that thou mayest crush (them)—thy foot in blood—
(and)
the tongue of thy dogs (in blood) from the enemies (even) from him.
The
general import of tins verse is clear, but its construction doubtful
and
obscure. The first verb cannot mean to dip
or wash without an arbi-
trary
chancre of text by reading CHrt as in Ps. lviii. 11
(10). The original
verb
(CHmt)
must have the same sense as in ver. 22 (21), and may have
the
same object, namely, the enemies of God and of his people. The next
words
may then be taken as a parenthetical and qualifying clause, like
sword in hand, and other such forms
in English. Thy foot in blood, i. e.
with
thy foot in their blood, or so that thy foot shall tread in their blood.
The
last word in Hebrew (Uhne.mi) is by some understood as a noun with a
suffix
meaning its portion, i. e. the share of the tongue; but for
this there
is
no, authority in usage. Others translate the phrase, of it, i. e. of the
blood,
and the whole clause, the tongue of thy
dogs (shall receive) of it from
the enemies. According to the first
version given above, the last phrase is
a
mere specification of the one before it; from
the enemies, (even) from
him, referring to some real
or ideal representative of the entire class.
25 (24). They saw thy goings, O God, the goings of my God, my king,
in the holy place. The subject of the
first verb may be either men in gene-
ral,
or the spectators, those who took no part in the triumphal pageant here
described.
The holy place, not in the restricted
sense, but in that of the
Greek
i[ero<n, meaning the whole of the sacred enclosure, as
distinguished
from
nao<j, the sacred edifice. Into this enclosure the procession
seems to
be
described as entering, for the purpose of bringing back the ark.
26 (25). Before went singers, behind players, in the midst of damsels
drumming, playing upon timbrels,
which is still an oriental custom. Some
suppose
the order mentioned in the first clause to denote the precedence
or
priority of vocal above instrumental music, as a rational or reasonable
service.
The English version of the last clause, among
(them were) the
damsels, inverts the true sense
by needlessly supplying two words, a con-
struction
forbidden by the masoretic pointing. The true sense is, that the singers
and
performers were themselves surrounded by these players upon timbrels.
27 (26). In assemblies bless ye God, the Lord, from the fountain of
Israel. Not only individually,
or in triumphal marches, but in the stated
convocations
of the people at the sanctuary. See above, on Ps. xxvi. 12, the
only
other place where the Hebrew word occurs, except as a proper name
(Num.
xxxiii. 25), and where it evidently has the same sense. The only satis-
factory
explanation of the last words, from the
fountain of Israel, is that
afforded
by supplying ye who are before it,
and applying the whole clause as a
description
of the chosen people, under the figure of a stream derived or flowing from
a
fountain. Compare the similar ideas and expression in Isa. xlviii. 1, li. 1.
28 (27.) There is little Benjamin, subduing them; the chiefs of Judah,
stoning them; the chiefs
of Zebulon; the chiefs of Naphtali. These are
named
as representatives of all the tribes supposed to be there, i. e. in the
290 PSALM
LXVIII. [VER.
28-30.
triumphal
march. They seem to be selected, partly with reference to their
local
habitation, as the northern and southern extremities of Israel; partly
because
the most remarkable exploits, from the time of Moses to the time of
David,
were performed by these tribes. See Judges v. 18, 1 Sam. xviii. 7.
Little Benjamin, so called in allusion
to Jacob's partial fondness for his
youngest
son. See Gen. xliii. 33, and compare 1 Sam. ix. 21. Their
conqueror, or subduing them as Saul did the
surrounding nations. See
1
Sam. xiv. 47, 48. Stoning them,
literally their stoning, from a verb
which
invariably
means to stone. The allusion may be
to their skill as slingers,
or
more specifically to the means by which David killed Goliath (1 Sam.
xvii.
49, 50). The suffix refers to the enemy, as in the clause preceding.
Some
interpreters have noted, as an observable coincidence, that our Lord
and
several of his apostles were of Judah, Paul was of Benjamin (Phil.
iii.
5), and the remaining apostles of Galilee, in which lay the domain of
Zebulon
and Naphtali (Mat. iv. 13).
29 (28). Thy God (O Israel) hath
ordained thy strength; be thou strong,
O God, who hast wrought (it) for us. Ordained, provided and secured
by
his
omnipotence. Be strong, i. e. shew thy strength by exerting it
in our
behalf,
hereafter as thou hast done heretofore. Wrought
for us, indefinitely
and
in general, or wrought (it, for us, i. e. this deliverance which we have
been
celebrating. See above, on Ps. xxii. 32 (31), and compare Isa. xxvi. 12.
30 (29). Because of thy temple above Jerusalem, to thee shall kings bring
tribute. The first word
properly means from; but as the local
sense would
here
be inadmissible, from may be
understood as in the phrase arising from,
proceeding from, in which the idea is
that of an effect or consequence. As
the
word translated temple originally
means a palace, it is applicable both
to
the Mosaic sanctuary and to Solomon's temple which succeeded it. See
above,
on Ps. v. 8 (7), xlviii. 10 (9), lxv. 5 (4). Above Jerusalem, both in
a
physical and moral sense, as Zion and Moriah overhung the city, and as
the
presence of the sanctuary was at once its protection and its crowning
glory.
The last word in Hebrew occurs only here and in passages founded
upon
this. See below, Ps. lxxvi. 12 (11), and compare Isa. xviii. 7.
31 (30). Rebuke thou the beasts of the reeds, the crowd of strong (bulls)
with the calves of the
nations, crouching with pieces of silver; he has scattered
nations (that) in wars delight. What he confidently
anticipates is prayed
for
in the first clause, and in the last described as already realized, both
common
modes of indirect prediction. The word for beasts
is that trans-
lated
flock in ver. 11 (10) above; but here
both senses seem to be suggested,
as
they may be by the use of the plural in English. The beast of the reeds
has
been variously explained to be the lion (Jer. xlix. 19, 1. 44, Zech. xi. 3),
the
crocodile (Ezek. xxix. 3, xxxii. 2), and the hippopotamus, the Hebrew
name
of which is plural in its form (Behemoth)
and therefore analogous to
the
collective term here used. This animal is also represented elsewhere
as
lying in the covert of the reed (Job
xl. 21). Either the crocodile or hip-
popotamus
would necessarily suggest the idea of Egypt, here referred to as
the
most powerful of heathen states, and therefore a fit emblem of the
heathen
world. The adjective strong is a
poetical description of wild bulls,
as
in Ps. xxii. 13 (12). These may represent the leaders of the nations,
and
the calves their subjects. The
participle crouching is a singular in
Hebrew,
prostrating himself, the many being
suddenly transformed into an
ideal
individual. See above, on Ps. x, 10. With
pieces of silver, silver
coins,
offered as tribute to their conquerors. See above, on ver. 19 (18),
VER.
31-35.] PSALM
LXVIII.
291
and
compare Isa. lx. 9. In the close of the verse he sees the warlike
enemies
of Israel already scattered by the hand of God.
32 (31). Princes shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall soon stretch out
her hands unto God. Egypt is again named as
the representative of the
Gentile
world, but in conjunction with the neighbouring state of Cush or
Ethiopia,
often referred to by the prophets as a powerful and splendid
empire.
See Isa. xviii. 7, xlv. 14, Zeph. iii. 10. The word translated
princes means originally fat ones, elsewhere put for prosperous
and potent
men.
See above, on Ps. xxii. 30 (29). From this word is supposed to be
derived
the name Hasmonean, which was given
to the Maccabees or Jewish
princes
in the interval between the Old and New Testaments. Soon stretch
out is not a version but a
paraphrase of the original expression, which means
strictly,
make its hands to run, and may
perhaps denote the eagerness with
which
the action is performed.
33 (32). Kingdoms of the earth, sing unto God; praise (or celebrate) the
Lord! Selah. In view of the
conquests here foreseen, the whole world is
summoned
to acknowledge the God of Israel as the universal sovereign.
Compare
Rev. xi. 15.
34 (33). (Sing) to the (one) riding in the
heavens of heavens of old ; lo,
he utters his voice, a
voice of strength.
This verse is designed to magnify
the
object of the praise enjoined. Riding,
as a conqueror in triumph. See
above,
on ver. 5 (4). The heavens of heavens
are the highest heavens, the
heaven
of that which is heaven to us. See 1 Kings viii. 27, and compare
Deut.
x. 14, xxxiii. 26. Of old does not
qualify riding, as it may seem to
do
in English, but the nouns immediately preceding, the heavens of antiquity
or
ancient heavens. See above, on Ps.
lv. 20 (19). In the last clause, he
seems
to hear an audible response from heaven itself. The lo, as usual,
implies
that something suddenly assails the senses. Utters
his voice, lite-
rally
gives (forth a sound) with his voice, as in Ps. lxvi. 7 (6).
35 (34). Give strength to God! Over Israel (is) his majesty, and his
strength in the clouds. To give, in such connections, is of course
to ascribe.
See
above, on Ps. xxix. 1, 2. The remainder of the verse contains the
ground
of this injunction. God is entitled to the praise of power, because
his
greatness is displayed in the protection which he extends over Israel.
As
the sanctuary was above Jerusalem, so God was above the chosen people,
their
chief and their protector. See above, on ver. 30 (29). At the same
time
his power is displayed throughout the universe, especially those extra-
ordinary
dispensations, in which he appears to speak from heaven or the
clouds.
See above, on Ps. xxvi. 6 (5).
36 (35). Terrible (art thou), O God, out of thy holy places; the Mighty
(God) of Israel—he is (a God) giving strength and forces to the people.
Blessed (be) God! The winding up is like
that of the twenty-ninth psalm.
Out of thy sanctuaries, as displayed thence,
in blessings bestowed upon thy
people.
He is not only mighty in himself, but the giver of might to others.
Compare
Isa. xl. 29, 31.
PSALM LXIX.
A sufferer
describes his own condition, ver. 2-5 (1-4). He represents
himself
as suffering for God's sake, ver. 6-13 (5-12). He therefore prays
to
be delivered, ver. 14-19 (13-18). He again describes his suffering, but
with
more explicit reference to its cause, the malice of his enemies, ver.
292 PSALM
LXIX. [VER.
1-6.
20-22
(19-21). He therefore prays that they may be destroyed, ver.
23-29
(22-28). He anticipates a favourable answer to his prayers and the
happiest
effect upon his brethren, ver. 30-34 (29-33). Nay, he expects to
see
the same mercy exercised towards the church or chosen people, ver. 35-37
(34-36).
1. To
the Chief Musician. Upon lilies. By David. The lilies pro-
bably
refers to the delightful consolations and deliverances experienced or
hoped
for. See above, on Ps. xlv. 1, lx. 1. The subject of the psalm is
an
ideal person, representing the whole class of righteous sufferers. The
only
individual in whom the various traits meet in Christ. That he is not,
however,
the exclusive or even the immediate subject, is clear from the
confession
in ver. 6 (5). There is no psalm, except the twenty-second,
more
distinctly applied to him in the New Testament.
2 (1). Save
me, O God, for the waters are come in, even to my soul, i. e.
so
as to endanger my life. See. Jer. iv. 10, Jonah ii. 6. The figure for
extreme
distress is the same as in Ps. xl. 3 (2).
3 (2). I
have sunk in the mire of the.depth (or deep
place) (where) there
is no standing; I have
come into depths of water, and the flood has over-
whelmed me. The image is that of
one sunk in the bottom, of a sea or
river.
Mire of depth is not merely deep
mire, but the mire found in a deep
place.
4 (3). I
am weary of my crying ; parched is my throat; my eyes fail,
waiting for my God. The literal meaning of
the first clause is, I am weary
in my crying, i. e. have grown weary in the act of calling upon God for
help.
See above, on Ps. vi. 7 (6). Parched,
dried, by excessive exertion
of
the voice, or giving the Hebrew verb the stronger sense which properly
belongs
to it, inflamed. His eyes are
represented as exhausted, worn out,
by
continued looking for God. See below, Ps. cxix. 82, and compare Lam.
iv.
17. The participle waiting does not
agree with eyes, as it might seem
to
do in English, but with the person to whom they belong, and may be
construed
absolutely, I waiting (me expectante),
i. e. while I wait.
5 (4). More
than the hairs of my head (are) those hating me without cause ;
strong are my
destroyers, my false enemies; what I did not rob, then must
I restore. With the first clause
compare Ps. xl. 13 (12); with the second,
Ps.
xxxv. 9, xxxviii. 20 (19) ; with the third, Ps. xxxv. 11, 2 Sam. xvi. 8.
False enemies, literally enemies of falsehood, which may either
mean in
general
perfidious, treacherous, or more specifically, using calumny and
falsehood
as a means for the attainment of their wicked ends. Then or
afterwards,
in reference to the previous innocence which he asserts. Though
he
took nothing at first, yet afterwards he must restore.
6 (5). O
God, thou knowest of (or as to) my foolishness, and my trespasses
from thee have not been
hid. He
does not deny his own demerit in the
sight
of God, but nevertheless prays to be delivered from destruction. See
above,
on Ps. vi. 2 (1), xxxviii. 4-6 (3-5), xl. 13 (12), xli. 15 (14). As
if
he had said, "True, I am a sinner; it is vain to deny it; thou, God,
knowest
it; but nevertheless," &c.
7 (6). Let not them be ashamed in me that wait
for thee, Lord, Jehovah, of
Hosts; let not them be
disgraced in me that seek thee, God of Israel! He
prays
that the principle laid down in Ps. xxv. 3 may not be falsified. In
me, not merely by me, or because of me, but in me,
as the representative of
the
whole class. Ashamed, disappointed
and defeated in their hopes.
Wait for thee, for thine appearance
and the fulfilment of thy promises.
Seek thee, i. e. seek to know thee, and enjoy thy favour.
VER.
7-15.] PSALM
LXIX.
293
8 (7). Because
for thee (or thy sake) I have borne reproach, disgrace hash
covered my face. In his disgrace all
God's servants must participate, be-
cause
he is one of them, and as such suffers. With the first clause com-
pare
Ps. xliv. 23 (22), Jer. xv. 15, with the last, Ps. xliv. 16 (15).
9 (8). I
am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto the
sons of my mother. The literal meaning of
the first clause is, I have been
estranged to (or as to) my brothers. There may be an allusion to the
envious
treatment of David by the other sons of Jesse. See 1 Sam. xvii.
28.
The loss or alienation of the nearest friends is spoken of as one of
the
severest trials in Ps. xxvii. 10.
10 (9). For
the zeal of thine house, jealous regard for the honour of the
sanctuary,
as the visible centre of the true religion, has
consumed me, im-
plying
an extreme intensity of feeling ; and in consequence of this zeal, the
revilings of thy
revilers have fallen upon me. That such revilers did exist
in
David's time, we learn from 2 Sam. xii. 14. The first clause of the
verse
before us is applied to Christ in John ii. 17, and the second in Rom. xv. 3.
11 (10). And I wept (away) my soul, or wept myself away, in fasting,
and (even that) was for revilings to me, even that
became a subject of malig-
nant
mockery against me. That weeping and fasting, as natural concomi-
tants,
were not unknown to David's experience in real life, appears from
2
Sam. xii. 16, 21, 22. The first clause likewise admits of this construc-
tion:
and I wept, my soul (was) in fasting, i. e. fasted. But this, though
it
agrees well with the Hebrew usage which represents fasting as a morti-
fication
of the soul (see above, on Ps. xxxv. 13), is neither so natural nor
so
striking as the first construction above given, which is found in an
anonymous
translation of the Psalms, published by Bagster, London, 1830.
12 (11). And I gave, put on (as) my clothing,
sackcloth, and was to them,
in consequence, for a
comparison,
a proverb, by-word, or became a by-word
to them. See above, on Ps.
xxxv. 13, and xliv. 15 (14). The context
makes
it probable that the mourning described in this and the preceding
verse
was not in reference to his own sufferings merely, but to the sins of
the
whole people.
13 (12). They think of me, imagine things against me, they who sit in
the gate; (they imagine) songs, lampoons or satires, they who drink strong
drink. The gate meant is that of the city, where
the oriental courts and
markets
were held. Hence some suppose the sense to be, that even in the
place
of serious business, they indulged their spiteful mirth at my expense.
But
it seems more natural to make the sitters in the gate mean simply
those
frequenting public places. See above, on Ps. iv. 12 (11, and com-
pare
Josh. xx. 4, Ruth iv. 1, 2, Lam. v. 14.
14 (13). And I, but as for me, in contradistinction from these mockers,
my prayer (is) to thee, I pray to thee in spite of
their derision, O Jehovah;
(let
there come or let there be) a time of
acceptance, in the abundance of thy
mercy; answer me, grant my petition, in the truth of thy salvation, or thy
truth
of salvation, in the exercise of that fidelity which secures the salva-
tion
of all who trust it. Compare Isa. xlix. 8, lxi. 2.
15 (14). Deliver me from the mire, and let me not sink; let me be de-
livered from my haters,
from the depths of water. He here returns to the
figures
in ver. 2 (1), where profound suffering is described as submersion
under
water and in mire. The meaning of the figure is explained in the
last
clause of the verse before us by the addition of a literal expression.
16 (15). Let not the flood overwhelm me, and let not the deep swallow
294
PSALM LXIX.
[VER. 16-22.
me, and let not the well (or pit) shut its mouth upon me. In the earnest-
ness
of his entreaty, he passes from the figure of a sea or stream to that of
a
well or cistern, the idea common to both being that of deep water.
17 (16) Answer
me, grant my prayer, Jehovah; for
good (or as we
should
say, great) is thy mercy; according to
the multitude of thy compas-
sions, turn to me, or towards me, implying
that his looks were before
averted.
See above, on Ps. iv. 7 (6), xiii. 2 (1).
18 (17.) And hide not thy face from thy servant, for (there is) distress to me, I
am
distressed, make haste, answer me, i. e. grant me what I ask without delay,
19 (18). Draw nigh unto my soul, to me whose soul or life is threatened,
ransom it, rescue it from ruin; because (or for the sake) of my enemies,
redeem me, so that they may not
triumph in my fall. See above, on Ps.
xiii.
5 (4), and with the first clause compare Ps. xxii. 2 (1).
20 (19). Thou knowest, literally hast
known, as a thing of long standing,
my reproach, the contempt of which I
am the object, and my shame and
my disgrace; before
thee,
in thy sight and known to thee, (are) all
my
adversaries, persecutors or
oppressors, not their persons merely, or their
conduct
in general, but their treatment of me. The conviction that God
knows
all involves a persuasion that he will do justice to both parties. See
above,
on Ps. i. 6.
21 (20). Reproach, including calumny and insult, hath broken my heart,
a
common figure for extreme distress, and I
am sick, sick at heart or sick
in
spirit, but without excluding the idea of corporeal suffering, as the effect,
or
as a part, of his distress; and I have
waited for pity, literally mourning.
i. e. sympathy, condolence,
on the part of my cruel enemies, and it
is not,
or
there is none, and for comforters,
(those) comforting, and have not found
(them).
With the phrase, I am sick, compare Ps. vi. 3 (2).
22 (21). And, so far from pitying me they have aggravated my distress,
for
they have given in my food, or as my food, gall, here put for the
extreme
of
bitterness, and for my thirst, i. e. to slake it, or at (the time of)
my
thirst,
in my thirst, when I thirst, they give me
vinegar to drink. Gall
and
vinegar are here put together to denote the most unpalatable forms of
food
and drink. The passion of our Lord was providentially so ordered
as
to furnish a remarkable coincidence with this verse. The Romans were
accustomed
to give sour wine with an infusion of myrrh to convicts on the
cross,
for the :purpose of deadening the pain. This practice was adhered
to
in our Saviour's case (Mark xv. 23). Though in itself not cruel, but the
contrary,
it formed part of the great process of murderous persecution,
On
the part of the Roman soldiery it may have been an act of kindness;
but
considered as an act of the unbelieving Jews, it was giving gall and
vinegar to one already
overwhelmed with anguish. And so Matthew, in
accordance
with his general method, represents it as a verification of this
passage
(Mat. xxvii. 34). He does not contradict Mark's account before
referred
to, but merely intimates, that the wine and myrrh thus offered were
to
be regarded as identical with the gall and vinegar of this prediction.
And
in order to prevent the coincidence from being overlooked, our Lord,
before
he died, complained of thirst and vinegar was administered. (Mat.
xxvii.
48, John xix. 28). The word translated food
in the first clause
occurs
only here, and its verbal root only in the history of David (2 Sam.
xii.
17, xiii. 6, 10).
23 (22). Let their table before them, at which they eat and where they
are
accustomed to enjoy themselves, be for
(or become) a snare, an occasion
VER.
23-26.] PSALM
LXIX.
295
of
unexpected danger, and to those secure,
thinking themselves safe, (let it
be
for, or become) a trap. The first
word in the last clause is the plural
of
one meaning peace, but seems to be
here used, as in Ps. lv. 21 (20), for
those
who are at peace, at ease, tranquil and secure. Compare 1 Thess,
v.
3. The ancient versions give it the equally appropriate sense of for re-
quitals, i. e. in recompence of their
transgressions. But although this
sense
may be deduced from the verbal root (MlawA), and belongs to
several
collateral
derivatives (Mlu.wi, Ml,w,, Ml.ewi), it has no existence
in the usage of
the
one before us (MymiOlw;). The circuitous construction in the
English
version
is not only forced, but wholly unnecessary. The imprecations in
this
verse and those following it are revolting only when considered as the
expression
of malignant selfishness. If uttered by God, they shock no
reader's
sensibilities, nor should they, when considered as the language of
an
ideal person, representing the whole class of righteous sufferers, and
particularly
Him who, though he prayed for his murderers while dying
(Luke
xxiii. 34), had before applied the words of this very passage to the
unbelieving
Jews (Mat. xxiii. 38), as Paul did afterwards (Rom. xi. 9, 10). The general
doctrine
of providential retribution, far from being confined to tke Old Testament,
is
distinctly taught in many of our Saviour's parables. See Mat. xxi. 41, xxii. 7,
xxiv. 51.
24 (23). Let their eyes darken, i. e.
be or grow dark, from seeing, so as
not
to see, and their loins do thou cause to
bend, give way, or swerve, i. e.
paralyse
their strength. See above, on Ps. lxvi. 10 (9). The first clause
probably
does not refer to blindness, but either to the dimness of the eyes
in
death, or to darkness as a figure for calamity in general.
25 (24). Pour upon them thine anger, and let the heat of thy wrath, thy
hot
wrath, overtake them, reach them
after they have long seemed to escape
it
and expected to escape it still.
26 (25). Let their home be desolated, in their tents may there be no one
dwelling, or let no one dwell. The word translated home seems properly to
mean
an enclosure, with special reference,
perhaps, to an encampment or
collection
of tents (Gen. xxv. 16, Num. xxi. 10). The translation castle in
the
English version of the places just referred to, and that of palace in the
margin
of the one before us, seem entirely conjectural. The Septuagint
here
has a Greek word (e@paulij), meaning a place to pass the night in,
especially
for flocks and herds, and thence transferred to farm or country
houses.
This expression is retained in Acts i. 20, where the verse before
us
is quoted, in connection with Ps. cix. 8, and applied to Judas Iscariot, not
as
an individual merely, but as a type and representative of the Jewish
people,
in their malignant and perfidious enmity to Christ. This does not
prove
our Lord to be the exclusive subject of the whole psalm, a conclusion
forbidden
by the confession of sin in ver. 6 (5) above; but it does shew
that
He is not only one, but the chief member, nay the great type and re-
presentative,
of the whole class of innocent sufferers at the hands of wicked
enemies.
See also Mat. xxiii. 38.
27 (26). For (those) whom thou hast smitten they persecute, have perse-
cuted
heretofore and do so still ; and as to
the grief of thy wounded, they
tell or talk. The pronoun in
the first clause is emphatic, "thou and not
man,
or man only as thy blind unconscious instrument." Compare 2 Sam.
xvi.
11, 12, Job xix. 21, 22. The same persons are described as thy
wounded, the original
expression having commonly the sense of mortally
wounded,
and being therefore often rendered slain. See Isa. lxvi. 16, Jer.
296 PSALM
LXIX.
[VER. 27-32.
xxv.
33. The preposition before grief
denotes the theme or subject, as it
does
with the same verb in Ps. ii. 7. To tell about it or talk of it is to
make
it the subject of unfeeling or derisive comment. See above, on Ps.
xli.
9 (8).
28 (27). Give (or place) iniquity upon iniquity, and let them not
come
into thy righteousness. Luther and others
understand the first clause as a
prayer
that sin may be made the punishment of sin (Rom. i. 28). But
there
seems to be rather an allusion to the double sense of the equivocal term
(NOfA), which properly
denotes sin as such or in itself considered, but some-
times
seems to mean sin considered in its consequences or effects. Thus
understood,
it is a prayer that sin may be followed by the natural effects of
sin.
The righteousness of God is that which
he bestows by the judicial act
of
justification, including pardon. To come into it is to come into posses-
sion
or enjoyment of it, to become a sharer in it.
29 (28). Let them be blotted from the book of life (or of the living), and
with the righteous let
them not be written,
registered, enrolled. The book
is
not here a figure for the memory, as in Ps. lvi. 9 (8), but for the divine
decree.
The primary idea is that of a register containing the names of
those
who are to live or be preserved alive. The figure is Mosaic, being
evidently
borrowed from Exod. xxxii. 32. The translation living, which
is
given in the ancient versions, is favoured by the parallel expression
righteous (men), if not by the analogy
of Ps. xxvii. 13, lii. 7 (5). But the
abstract
version life is equally appropriate,
and is recommended by the
use
of the phrase book of life in the New
Testament with reference to the
future
state. See Philip. iv. 3, Rev. xx. 15.
30 (29). And I (am) afflicted and suffering; let thy salvation, 0 God,
set me on high, beyond the reach of
danger, which is tantamount to saying,
in
a place of safety. See above, on Ps. xx. 2 (1), lix. 2 (1). The verb
might
also be translated as a future proper, expressive of a confident anti-
cipation, thy salvation will secure me. But it
seems more natural to under-
stand
it as a prayer for himself, subjoined to the foregoing series of prayers
for
the destruction of his enemies. As if he had said, "Remember, Lord,
that
I am suffering, and interpose for my deliverance, as well as for their
punishment."
31 (30). I will praise the name of God with song, or in a song, and will
magnify him with
thanksgiving.
Here, as in many other cases, the certainty
of
the event is indicated by an expressed determination to thank God for it.
See
above, on Ps. v. 8 (7).
32 (31). And it shall be better to Jehovah, this shall please him more,
than ox (or) bullock horned (and)
hoofed. The contrast is not between
material
and spiritual offerings, but between a legitimate offering of both
kinds
and the mere oblation of a beast, as an opus
operation of intrinsic
virtue,
or as if God could take delight in hoofs and horns, which are there-
fore
contemptuously specified. See above, on Ps. xl. 7 (6),1. 8, li. 18 (16).
The
last words are highly idiomatic, and scarcely susceptible of close trans-
lation,
the original forms being those of active participles, horning, hoofing,
i.
e. having or producing horns and hoofs.
33 (32). The humble see and rejoice, literally have seen and will rejoice,
in
my deliverance (even ye) that seek God, seekers of God, and may your
heart live! May you be revived and
cheered by witnessing this exhibition
of
God's power and goodness! The wish that it may be so includes a
promise
that it shall be, as in Ps. xxii. 27 (26), where the form of expres-
sion
is the same.
VER.
1.] PSALM LXX. 297
34 (33). For hearkening, habitually listening, (is) Jehovah to the poor,
i.e.
the poor among his people; the righteous, pious, or believing poor;
and his prisoners, those imprisoned in
affliction by himself, or by human
oppressors
for his sake, he hath not despised,
and therefore never will. The
general
inference here drawn from the speaker's own experience is the same
as
in Ps. xxii. 25 (24) above.
35 (34). Let heaven and earth praise him, seas and everything creeping
in them, i. e. moving with an
animal or vital motion. In the particular
mercy
experienced by himself he sees a pledge of gifts deserving and de-
manding
universal praise.
36 (35). For God will save
they shall dwell in them
and possess them.
He who is thus faithful to the
the
individual believer must be faithful to the whole church. It is charac-
teristic
of the ancient saints to regard every personal mercy as a pledge of
greater
favours to the body of God's people. This is peculiarly appropriate
in
such a case as this, where the words are those of an ideal person repre-
senting
a whole class, and that a class including, as its most conspicuous
member,
the Messiah himself. There is no need of supposing an allusion,
either
prophetical or historical, to the restoration of the Jews from
the
rather as the temple is referred to in ver. 10 (9), as still standing. They
in
the last clause are the poor of ver.
34 (33), i. e. the righteous or God's people.
37 (36). And the seed of his servants shall inherit it, i.e.
land
of promise, and the lovers of his name,
of his revealed perfections, shall
dwell
(quietly and safely) in it. The foregoing promises are not restricted
to
a single generation, but extend to the remotest posterity. Inherit it,
possess
it by hereditary right from generation to generation. As temporal
and
spiritual blessings were inseparably blended in the old dispensation,
the
promise of perpetual possession and abode in
costume
in which that of everlasting favour to the church is clothed in the
Old
Testament.
PSALM
LXX.
THE Fortieth Psalm, as we have seen
(p. 177), consists of a thanksgiving
for
deliverances experienced already, ver. 2-14 (1-13), and of a prayer for
fresh
occasion of thanksgiving, ver. 15-18 (14-17). The latter portion is
here
repeated by itself, as a kind of appendix to the sixty-ninth and preface
to
the seventy-first, with both which it has several points of contrast and
resemblance.
The mutual relation of the two editions is the same as that
between
the fourteenth and the fifty-third. The supposition of an erroneous
copy
or an accidental repetition is forbidden by the fact that both are left on
record,
and by the appearance of an uniform design in the variations. In
this
case, as in that of the fifty-third Psalm, no comments will be made
upon
those expressions which are common to both forms and have therefore
been
explained already.
1. To the Chief Musician. By
David. To remind, i. e. to remind God
of
the Psalmist's necessities. The same inscription is prefixed to Ps. xxxviii.
The
phrase by David represents him as the
author, not of the fortieth
Psalm
merely, but of this abridgment. See above, on Ps. liii. 1, and com-
pare
p. 87.
2 (1). 0 God, to deliver me, 0 Lord, to help me, hasten! The first word
298 PSALM LXXI. [VER. 1, 2.
of
Ps. xl. 14 (13), be pleased, is here
omitted, for the purpose, as some sup-
pose,
of making the commencement more abrupt, and thereby marking the
whole
composition as a fragment. Another variation, which interpreters
have
laboured to account for as significant, is the sustitution of Elohim in
the
first clause for Jehovah, the only
Divine name which appears in the
fortieth
psalm at all. It is quite as probable, to say the least, that the
names
were interchanged as God and Lord are often by ourselves, without
special
reason or design.
3 (2). Ashamed and confounded shall be (those) seeking my soul; turned
back and disgraced shall
be (those) desiring (or delighting in) my hurt. See
above.
on Ps. xl. 15 (14). The only variation consists in the omission of
the
words together and to destroy it, in accordance with the
obvious design
of
condensation and abridgment.
4 (3). They shall turn back on account of their shame, i. e. retreat from
their
assault on me confounded and ashamed—those
saying, Aha, aha!
See
above, on Ps. xl. 16 (15). For the strong expression, they shall be
desolate, we have a milder one
borrowed from Ps. vi. 11 (10). The only
other
variation consists in the omission of the unimportant phrase to me.
5 (4). They shall rejoice and be glad in thee—all (those) seeking thee; and
they shall say always,
great be Jehovah—(those) loving thy salvation. See
above,
on Ps. xl. 17 (16). The only variation here is the insertion of the
copulative
and at the beginning of the second clause.
6 (5). And I am afflicted and poor--0
God, hasten unto me! My help
and my deliverer (art)
thou-0 Jehovah, linger not, do not delay! See
above,
on Ps. xl. 18 (17). Instead of God, the parallel passage has Jehovah,
and
instead of Jehovah, in the second clause, my
God. Another variation
is
that the significant expression, he will
think of me (or for me), is
exchanged
for the petition hasten to me, thus
bringing back the prayer to
the
point from which it started.
PSALM LXXI.
A SUFFERER from the spite of wicked
enemies prays for deliverance, ver.
1-3.
He acknowledges God's goodness to him in early life, ver. 4-8, and
prays
that it may be continued in old age, ver. 9-13. He confidently
anticipates
an answer to his prayers, ver. 14-21, and promises a suitable
return
of praise, ver. 22-24.
This psalm bears a strong
resemblance to the others in which the suffer-
ings
of the righteous are the great theme, such as the twenty-second, thirty-
fifth,
thirty-eighth, and fortieth, a portion of which last seems to have been
prefixed
to it, as a kind of text or theme, or for the purpose of connecting
it
with the whole class of compositions just referred to. This explains the
absence
of a title or inscription in the psalm before us, as in the case of the
second,
tenth, forty-third, and others.
1. In thee, 0 Jehovah, have I trusted, taken refuge; let me not be
shamed, disappointed and
confounded, to eternity, for ever.
This verse and
the
next two are borrowed, with slight variations, from the beginning of
Ps.
xxxi.
2. In thy righteousness thou wilt deliver me and cause me to escape;
incline
to me thine ear and save
me. See
above, on Ps. xxxi. 2, 3 (1, 2), where
the
imperative form of the preceding clause is still retained, instead of being
changed,
as here, into the future. The verb deliver
me there occurs in what
VER.
3-11.] PSALM LXXI. 299
is
here the second clause; and the qualifying term, haste or quickly, is
omitted
in the case before us. The division of the sentences is also differ-
ent,
so that the verses do not exactly correspond.
3. Be thou to me for a rock of habitation, a rock where I may safely
dwell
and
make my home, (whither I may be able) to
come always, i.e. whenever
it
is necessary; thou hast commanded to save
me, my deliverance is decreed
already;
for my rock, my hiding place, and my fortress art thou. The
images
presented and the terms used are similar to those in Ps. xviii. 3 (2).
Commanded to save me; see above, on Ps.
xliv. 5 (4), 29 (28). The
imitation
of Ps. xxx. here insensibly merges into a new and independent
composition.
4. My God, free me, cause me to escape, from the hand of the wicked,
from the palm, a poetical equivalent
to hand, of the perverse and corrupt
doer. The last word in Hebrew
occurs only here, but from its form
appears
to be the particle of a verb that means to be (or become) sour, to
ferment,
to putrefy. The infinitive of the same verb is applied to moral
evil
in Isa. i. 17.
5. For thou (art) my hope, 0 Lord, Jehovah, my confidence, the object
of
my trust, from my youth. Compare the
combination Lord Jehovah with
those
in Ps. lxviii. 21 (20), lxix. 7 (6), and the phrase my confidence with
Ps.
xl. 5 (4).
6. Upon thee I leaned, or by thee was held up, sustained, from the womb;
from the bowels of my
mother,
a synonymous expression, thou (art) my
bring-
ing out, the one that brought me
out, a different expression of the same
idea
as in Ps. xxii. 11 (10). The meaning of the verb here used, both in
its
transitive and intransitive forms, may be gathered from Ps. xc. 10,
Num.
xi. 31. In thee is my praise always;
it originates, revolves, and ends
in
thee. Compare the analogous expression in Ps. xxii. 26 (25).
7. As a prodigy, or wonder, an object of contemptuous astonishment,
was I, or have I been to many, on account of my
extraordinary sufferings;
but thou art my refuge
of strength,
my strong refuge, at once my protector and
my
hiding place. With the first clause compare Deut. xxviii. 46, Isa.
liii.
14, 1 Cor. iv. 9.
8. Filled shall my mouth be (with) thy praise, and all the day (with) thy
beauty, or glory, as the
subject of that praise. The sight of thine excel-
lency
now excites, and will excite for ever, my admiration and my praise.
9. Cast me not off, at the time of old age; as my strength fails,
literally
according
to the failure of my strength, leave me not, de thou not abandon
or
forsake me. He here prays that the grace which he experienced in
youth,
and which he has already acknowledged in the foregoing context,
may
be continued and extended to his old age. Compare Isa. xlvi. 3, 4.
10. For my enemies have said (so) to me, i. e. have told me that God
would
forsake or had forsaken me, and as a proof that hey believe it, the
watchers of my soul, those who watch and
lie in wait for its destruction,
have consulted together, i. e. against me,
which they would not have done
if
they had really believed me to be under the Divine protection. Instead
of to me in the first clause, we may read of (i. e. concerning) me, without
any
violation of usage or material change of meaning. See above, on Ps. iii. 3 (2).
11. Saying, God hath forsaken him, pursue and seize him, for there is no
deliverer, literally none
delivering. This verse is an amplification of the
phrase
they say (so) in the verse preceding.
It gives the very words in
which
they say so. With the first clause compare Ps. iii. 3 (2), xli. 6 (5),
300 PSALM LXXI. [VER. 12-19.
and
the words of Ahithophel in 2 Sam. xvii. 1, 2, to which there may be
a
direct allusion, as an actual instance of the thing ideally described in
David's
own experience. With the last clause compare Ps. vii. 3 (2).
12. 0 God, be not far from me; 0 my God, to (or for) my help hasten.
Compare
the similar expressions of Ps. xxii. 20 (19), xxxv. 22, xxxviii. 22,
23,
(21, 22), xl. 14 (13), lxx. 2 (1). The stronger expression my God, in
the
second clause, urges his covenant relation to God, as a reason for ex-
pecting
to be heard.
13. They shall be shamed, they shall cease (or be consumed)—the adver-
saries of my soul; they
shall put on (or be clothed with) reproach or disgrace
—the seekers of my hurt. The verbs may also be
translated as optatives,
let
them be shamed, &c. But this is really included in the strict sense of
the
future. Compare the parallel passages, Ps. xxxv. 4, 26, xl. 15 (14), lxx. 3
(2).
14. And I will always hope, and add to (literally add upon, accumulate,
increase)
all thy praise. To all thy praise
which I have uttered hitherto, I
will
continue still to add.
15. My mouth shall recount thy righteousness, all the day (long) thy
salva-
tion, for I know not
numbers
(to express them), I cannot number them, they
are
innumerable. The righteousnesss or
rectitude of God, including his
veracity
or faithfulness, is here referred to as the cause of his salvation, the
salvation
of which he is the source and author.
16. I will come with the mighty deeds of the Lord Jehovah; I will men-
tion (or commemorate) thy righteousness, thine only. The first phrase may
also
be translated, I will enter into the
mighty deeds, &e., as we speak of
entering
into the particulars of a subject. But this is rather an English
than
a Hebrew idiom. The common version, I
will go in the strength of
the Lord God, is at variance with the
usage both of the verb and noun, as
the
former does not mean to go absolutely, but either to enter or to come to
a
particular place, expressed or understood. The ellipsis here may be sup-
plied
from Ps. v. 8 (7) and lxvi. 13, in both which places the same verb
denotes
the act of coming to God's house for the purpose of solemn praise,
and
in the second passage cited is followed by the same preposition, I will
come into thy house with
burnt-offerings, i.
e. I will bring them thither. This
sense
agrees well with the vow to praise God in the two preceding verses,
and
with the promise of commemoration in the other clause of this verse.
See
above, on Ps. xx. 8 (7). It also enables us to give the noun (tvrvbg)
its
usual sense of God's exploits or mighty deeds. See below, Ps. cvi. 2,
and
compare Deut. iii. 24. Thine only,
not my own or that of any crea-
ture.
See above, on Ps. xliv. 4, 7 (3, 6).
17. 0 God, thou hast taught me (to praise thee) from my youth, by thy
providential
dealings with me, i. e. given me occasion to celebrate thy praise,
and until now I will
declare,
i. e. I am still declaring, still have reason to
declare,
thy wondrous works. See above, on Ps.
ix. 2 (1), xxvi. 7, xl. 6 (5).
18. And also (or even) unto old age and hoary hairs, 0 God, forsake me
not, till I declare
thine arm,
i. e. the exertion of thy power, to the (next)
generation,
(and) to every one that is to come thy
power. The last clause
determines
the sense of the indefinite expression, a
generation. See above,
on
Ps. xxii. 31 (30). With the phrase thy
arm, compare Ps. xliv. 4 (3).
19. And thy righteousness, 0 God, (reaches) even to the height (or high
place), i. e. heaven, (thou) who hast done great things, 0 God, who is
like
thee? With the first clause compare Ps. xxxvi. 6
(5), lvii. 11 (10); with
the
last, Exod. xv. 11, Deut. iii. 24, 2 Sam. vii. 22.
VER.
20-24.] PSALM LXXI.
301
20. (Thou) who hast shewed us, made us see, i. e. caused us to experience,
distresses many and
severe (or many distresses and evils) wilt return
(and)
make us live, revive or quicken us, and from the depths of the earth wilt
return (and) bring us up, make or cause us to ascend.
The sudden change
from
the singular to the plural form, in reference to the same subject, led
the
authors of the masoretic punctuation to restore the singular in this
verse
also; but the reading in the text is no doubt the original and true
one.
As the word translated depths is
elsewhere invariably applied to water,
some
suppose an allusion to the deluge, as in Ps. xxix. 10, xxxii. 6, xxxvi.
7
(6). Compare Isa. viii. 7, 8. The verb return,
twice used here, may,
agreeably
to Hebrew usage, merely qualify the verbs to which it is prefixed,
thou wilt quicken us
again, thou wilt bring us again. But the similar expres-
sion
in the next verse makes it probable that the verb was meant to have an
independent
meaning, and to point out the dependence of the quickening
and
the restoration here expected on Jehovah's return to his forsaken
people.
See above, on Ps. xiv. 7.
21. Thou wilt increase my greatness, and wilt turn (and) comfort me.
As
the word translated greatness is
elsewhere applied to the great things
done
by God for the protection and deliverance of his people (Ps. cxlv. 3,
2
Sam. vii. 23) my greatness may have
here the objective sense of great things
done
to or for me. See above, on ver. 19, and compare Ps. xl. 6 (5).
22. Also I will thank thee with a harp-instrument, i.e. with a harp or
lyre
as the instrument of praise, (for) thy
truth, or as to thy truth,
veracity
and
faithfulness; I will play to thee,
make music to thee, praise or celebrate
thee,
with a lyre, (thou) Holy (One) of
sessed
of all divine perfections. See above, on Ps. xxii. 4 (3). From this
place
the title has been borrowed by the prophets, and by none so frequently
as
by Isaiah.
23. My lips shall sing when I play to thee, and my soul which thou hast
redeemed. The first clause, as
above translated, seems to promise the
combination
of vocal and instrumental praise. But as the first verb usually
means
to shout or sing for joy, and sometimes simply to rejoice, and the
second
commonly conveys the idea, not of music merely, but of praise, the
clause
may be explained, my lips shall rejoice,
for I will sing to thee (or
praise thee), and my
soul (shall
also rejoice). With the last clause compare
Ps.
xxxiv. 23 (22).
24. Also my tongue all the day shall muse of thy righteousness, because
they are ashamed, they
blush--the seekers of my hurt. The verb in the
first
clause means to think aloud, to talk to one's self, and therefore suggests
the
idea both of thought and sound. It is here applied to the tongue, as
the
instrument by which one's thoughts are thus expressed, not to others
but
himself. See above, on Ps. i. 2, ii. 1, xxxv. 28, xxxvii. 30, xxxviii. 13
(12),
lxiii. 7 (6), and below, on Ps. xc. 9. The position of the subject at
the
end of the last clause is emphatic, as in ver. 13 above. The preterite
form
of the verbs represents the effect as one already past, though really
still
future.
PSALM
LXXII.
A GLOWING description of the reign
of the Messiah, as righteous, ver.
1-7,
universal, ver. 8-11, beneficent, ver. 12-14, perpetual, ver. 15-17, to
which
are added a doxology, ver, 18, 19, and a postscript, ver. 20.
302 PSALM LXXII. [VER. 1-5.
1. By Solomon. 0 God, thy judgments to the king give, and thy right-
eousness to the king's
son.
The form of expression in the first clause or title
is
precisely the same as in the phrase so often rendered, by David. That
it
designates the author, may be argued, not only from this usage, but from
the
fact, that the imagery of the psalm is as evidently borrowed from the
peaceful
and brilliant reign of Solomon, as that of the second from the
martial
and triumphant reign of David. The prayer in this verse is virtu-
ally
a prediction, as the Psalmist only asks what he knows that God will
give.
The judicial power, under the theocracy, was exercised in God's
name
and by his representatives. See Deut. i. 17, Exod. xxi. 6, xxii. 7, 8,
Prov.
viii. 15, 2 Chron. xix. 6. The Messiah was therefore expected to ex-
hibit
this peculiar character in its perfection. See Isa. xi. 2, 3. By the
king and the king's son we are not to
understand the descendants and suc-
cessors
of David indefinitely, but the last and greatest of them in particular.
2. He shall judge thy people with righteousness, and thy afflicted (ones)
with judgment. This is stated as the
necessary consequence of the granting
of
the prayer in the preceding verse. "Give him thy righteousness, and
then
he shall judge," &c. There is no need, therefore, of putting an
optative
sense upon the future, "Let them judge," &c., especially as it
would
then be necessary to extend the same construction to the verses fol-
lowing,
and so long a series of optative expressions is without example.
3. (Then) shall the mountains bear peace for the people, and the hills, by
righteousness. The effect of the
divine gift asked at the beginning of the
psalm
is still described in this verse, under the figure of a general growth
or
harvest of peace, to spring up in the whole land. Bear, in the sense of
bringing
forth, producing. Mountains and hills are mentioned as the salient
points
or prominent features of the country. This was the more natural, as
the
hills of
the
terraces still visible. See above, Ps. lxv. 13 (12), and below, Ps.
cxlvii.
8, and compare Deut. xxxiii. 15. Pence, as opposed to war and its
accompanying
evils. This is often mentioned as a characteristic trait of the
Messiah's
reign. See Isa. ii. 4, ix. 6, 7 (5, 6), xi. 9, lxv. 25, Micah iv. 3,
Zech.
ix. 10. It was typified by the peaceful reign of Solomon (1 Kings
v.
4), whose very name suggests it. The
hills, i. e. the hills shall bear
peace
or produce it. The words by righteousness
belong to both clauses,
and
denote that the peace here promised was to be the fruit of righteous
government.
4. He shall judge the afflicted of the people; he shall save (or bring
salva-
tion) to the sons of the
needy, and shall crush (or break in pieces)
the oppressor.
To
judge them is to do them justice, to redress their wrongs and vindicate
their
rights. The afflicted of the people,
those who suffer among the chosen
people.
The needy or the poor man is an ideal
person, representing the
whole
class, whose individual members are described as his sons or children.
5. They shall fear thee with the sun, and before the moon, generation of
generations. The first verb may be
construed with the sons of the needy,
or
taken
indefinitely, men shall fear thee,
which is nearly equivalent to saying,
thou shalt be feared. The verb itself denotes
religious reverence or awe,
and
is here put for worship. The object of address, here and throughout
the
psalm, is God, whose worship is described as one fruit of the righteous
reign
predicted. With the sun, as long as
they have the sun with them, i. e.
possess
or enjoy him. Before the moon, in her
presence, as long as she
continues
to be visible, or to afford them light. This is one of the scrip-
tural
expressions for perpetual duration, an idea which is also expressed by
VER.
6-10.] PSALM LXXII. 303
the
idiomatic phrase, generation of
generations, i. e. through all generations,
or
from one generation to another.
6. He shall come down like rain upon mown (grass), like showers, the
water-
ing of the earth (or land). This beautiful comparison suggests the idea of a
gentle
yet refreshing and fertilising influence, to be exerted by the king,
whose
reign is here foretold. The word translated showers,
by its etymolo-
gical
affinities, suggests the idea of abundance or copiousness. The noun
which
follows occurs only here, but may be traced to verbal roots which
mean
to drop or to flow.
7. In his days shall the righteous sprout, spring up, or shoot forth, and
abundance of peace, till
the failure (or cessation) of the moon. The idea is
the
same as in ver. 3, 5, with a slight change in the form of the expression.
By
a lively figure, the righteous man is substituted for righteousness in the
abstract,
as the fruit of the earth and the productive cause of peace. The
idea
of perpetuity is again conveyed by repeating one of the comparisons in ver. 5.
8. And he shall rule from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of
the
earth. There is here an
obvious allusion to the limits of the land of pro-
mise,
as defined in Exod. xxiii. 31; but that these are not directly intended
in
the case before us, is clear from the mention of foreign kings and nations
in
the following verses. The meaning rather is, that as the realm of the
theocratic
kings was bounded by the Mediterranean and the
of
the Messiah, whom they represented, should extend from sea to sea, i. e.
from
any sea to any other, even the most distant, or from any sea around
to
the same point again, and from the river (
river,
as a terminus a quo, to the ends of
the earth. In other words, it
should
be universal. The same mode of describing the extent of Christ's
dominion
is adopted by the prophets. See Zech. ix. 10, and compare
Amos
viii. 12, Micah vii. 12.
9. Before him shall crouch wild (men), and his enemies the dust shall
lick. The first noun denotes
dwellers in the wilderness, and is applied both
to
brutes (Isa. xiii. 21, xxxiv. 14, Jer. 1. 39) and men (Ps. lxxiv. 14). The
common
version of the first verb (bow) is
too weak in itself and in com-
parison
with the parallel expression, lick the
dust, implying the most uncon-
ditional
and abject submission.
10. The kings of Tarshish and the
the kings of
the
first clause, and the verb in the second, are technical terms of the
Mosaic
law, the first denoting specially a vegetable offering, and the other
the
solemn act of presentation in God's presence. The use of these expres-
sions
implies that what is here described is not the mere payment of tribute
or
the presentation of friendly gifts, but a religious offering. It is also
worthy
of remark, that the verb in the first clause, and the last noun in the
second,
both suggest the idea, not of a simple gift, but of a recompence or
requital,
perhaps in allusion to the benefits which Christ was to bestow upon
the
nations, and of which these gifts would be a thankful acknowledgment.
The
verb return, however, is used
elsewhere to denote the simple act of
paying
tribute. See 2 Kings iii. 4, xvii. 3. The proper names in this
verse
are mere specimens or samples of the nations generally. Tarshish is
mentioned,
both as a well-known mart or source of wealth, and as a repre-
sentative
of the extreme west. The Islands,
agreeably to Hebrew usage,
include
all distant sea-coasts, but particularly those of the
The
distant south is represented, in like manner, by
304 PSALM LXXII. [VER. 11-16.
Arabia
Felix, and Seba, now commonly
supposed to be
ancient
ous
allusion to the Queen of Sheba's visit to
stroke
in this prophetic picture evidently borrowed from the times of Solomon.
11. And to him shall all kings bow (or prostrate themselves), all nations
shall serve him. That the preceding verse
contains only a sample of the
nations
over whom the Messiah was to reign, is distinctly intimated by the
universal
and unqualified expressions of the verse before us. The act de-
scribed
in the first clause is one expressive both of civil homage and religious
worship.
The same thing is true of the verb in the last clause, which may
be
applied either to the civil service of a sovereign by his subjects, or to
the
religious service of a deity by his worshippers. In this case, as in ver.
10,
both were meant to be included.
12. For he will deliver the needy crying (to him for help), and the
sufferer, and him that hath
no helper.
The literal translation of the last clause
is,
and there is no one helping him, or, and there is no helper to him. By
referring
the pronoun to the sufferer mentioned
just before, we may take
this,
not as the description of a. third class, but as a further description of
the
second, the sufferer to whom there is no
helper. The whole verse repre-
sents
the king in question as the protector, not the oppressor, of his sub-
jects,
and assigns a reason for their tribute being represented as a requital
of
benefits received. See above, on ver. 10.
13. He will have pity on (or spare) the poor and needy, and the souls (or
lives) of the needy he
will save.
In the first clause the adjectives are of the
singular
number, and properly denote the poor
(man) and the needy (man).
The
change to the plural in the second clause, needy
(ones) or needy (people),
shews
that the singular was not meant to denote a real individual, but
rather
an ideal person, representing a whole
class, which is then directly
designated
by the plural.
14. From oppression and from violence he will redeem their soul, and
precious shall their
blood be in his eyes
(or sight). This last is an idiomatic
expression
of the idea, that a person sets such a value on the life of
another
that he will not suffer it to be destroyed. See below, on Ps.
cxvi.
15, and compare 1. Sam. xxvi. 21, 2 Kings i. 14.
15. And he, the poor man thus delivered, shall live, shall be preserved
alive,
and, in token of his gratitude and
willing subjection to such a sove-
reign,
he shall give to him, as tribute, of the gold of
regions
mentioned in ver. 10, and famous for its gold; and he, meaning
still
the grateful tributary, shall pray for
him continually, i. e. for the pro-
gress
and extension of Messiah's kingdom; all-the
day (long) shall he bless
him. i. e. praise him, as
well for what he is in himself, as for the gifts
which
he bestows. By some interpreters the meaning is reversed, and the
sentence
made to signify that the Messiah shall live again, or live for ever,
and
give precious gifts to the believer, and by his constant intercession
secure
to him the blessing of Jehovah. This is a good sense in itself, and
appropriate
to the context; but the dubious question of construction seems
to
be determined by the mention of the gold of
nection,
far more probably denotes the tribute of the subject than the
favour
of the sovereign. See above, on ver. 10.
16. Let there be (but) a handful
of corn in the land, in the top of the
mountains; its fruit
shall wave (or shake) like
flourish from the city
like grass of the earth. The first noun in Hebrew
VER.
17-19.] PSALM LXXII. 305
occurs
only here, and has been taken in senses directly opposite. The
rabbinical
tradition makes it mean a handful,
the modern lexicographers a
plenty, each relying on a
doubtful etymology. According to the second
explanation,
the clause is a direct prediction of abundance, and should be
translated,
there shall be plenty of corn in the land.
According to the other
and
more ancient view, the verse contains a beautiful antithesis between the
small
beginnings and the vast results of the Messiah's kingdom, not unlike
that
suggested by our Saviour's parable of the grain of mustard seed.
This
exegetical analogy, together with the striking character imparted to
the
verse by this interpretation, are sufficient to entitle it to the preference,
even
without regard to its antiquity and traditional authority. The apoco-
pated
future (yHiy;)
may then be taken in its proper sense, as a concession
or
a wish, equivalent to saying, though
there be but a handful of corn in the
land, and that in the least
favourable situation, on the top of a
mountain,
which
though cultivated (see above, on ver. 3), must of course be colder and
less
fertile than the plains below. Neither wave nor shake conveys the
full
force of the Hebrew verb, which suggests the additional idea of a
rushing
noise, like that of the wind among the cedars of Lebanon. This
comparison
is certainly more natural and obvious than that which some
interpreters
assume with the grain-crops or harvest-fields of
This
would be merely likening one harvest to another, nor is any such
allusion
ever made elsewhere to the mountain, though its circumjacent
plains
and valleys were productive. See Hos. xiv. 5-7. The word trans-
lated
flourish means originally to shine or glitter (Ps. cxxxii. 18), but is
specially
applied to the brilliancy of vegetation, and might therefore be
translated
bloom or blossom. See Num. xvii. 23 (8), and compare Ps. xc. 6,
xcii.
8 (7), ciii. 15. From the city seems
to mean from
which
this productive influence was to go forth. Compare the form of ex-
pression
in this clause with Num. xxiv. 19, Job v. 25.
17. His name shall be for ever; in the presence of the sun., i.e. as
long
as
the sun shines, his name shall propagate
(itself); and by him shall they
(i.
e. men in general) bless themselves; all
nations shall felicitate him (or
pronounce
him happy). The form of expression in the second clause is
borrowed
from the patriarchal promises (Gen. xii. 3, xviii. 18, xxviii. 14),
and
is intended to suggest the idea there expressed, that the Messiah
should
be not only blessed himself, but a source of blessing to all nations.
As
the happiness of the parent is bound up in that of the children, and the
prosperity
of the sovereign inseparable from that of the subjects, the one
part
of this prediction necessarily implies the other. If the head is blessed,
so
must be the members, the whole body. If all nations are to call Mes-
siah
blessed, it must be because he is the author and the giver of their
own
prosperity, nay more, of their salvation.
18, 19. Blessed (be) Jehovah, God, the God of
alone, and blessed (be)
his glorious name to eternity, and filled with his glory
be the whole earth. Amen
and Amen.
This is commonly explained as a
doxology
belonging, not to this psalm, but to the second book, of which it
marks
the close belonging, above, on Ps. xli, 14 (13). But as the psalm would
end
somewhat abruptly with the foregoing verse, and as this addition car-
ries
out the idea there expressed, by giving, as it were, the very words in
which
the nations shall pronounce him blessed, we have reason to believe
that
the doxology was added by the author, and that this conclusion of the
306 PSALM LXXIII. [VER.
1.
psalm
was not the effect but the occasion of its being placed at the close of
one
of the traditional divisions of the psalter. The wish in the second
clause
of ver. 19 is borrowed from the promise in Num. xiv. 21, of which
this
whole psalm is in fact a prolonged echo.
20. Ended are the prayers of David, son of Jesse. The position of this
sentence
after the doxology, and its prosaic form, shew that it forms no
part
of the psalm, but relates to the whole series preceding. It does not
therefore
prove, as some suppose, that Solomon was not the author of the
seventy-second
psalm, since this exception and a very few others could not
prevent
the collection being called the prayers of David. A potiori fit
denominatio. In like manner, the
whole Psalter is still called the Psalm of
David
by many who believe it to contain some psalms by other writers.
That
this is the conclusion of an original and separate collection is by no
means
probable, as there is no historical proof that such collections ever
existed,
and it would not be easy to account for the omission of so many
psalms
undoubtedly composed by David. On the whole, it is most pro-
bable
that these words were added to the first great subdivision of the
whole
collection, as entirely composed of Psalms by David and his contem-
poraries,
with a few added to them on account of some marked similarity
in
form or substance. The only remaining supposition is that these words
are
part of the original composition, and were added by Solomon to show
that
what he here predicts would be the fulfilment of his father's wishes
and
the answer to his prayers. The objection to this, besides the form and
position
of the verse itself, is, that the verb is never used to denote fulfil-
ment
or accomplishment, except in the Hebrew of the later books. See
Ezra
i. 1, Dan. xii. 7.
PSALM
LXXIII.
1. A Psalm. By Asaph. Only good to
heart. This last expression is
added to limit or explain the application of
the
national name
such
considered, but the true
the
ancient church. To these God is good, and only
good, i. e. never other-
wise,
never unmerciful, or even indifferent. This is the theme of the whole
psalm,
and the peculiar form in which it is propounded has reference to the
previous
conflicts and misgivings of the Psalmist, through which he had
passed
in reaching the conviction here expressed. As if he had said, "I
once
thought otherwise, but now I know that God is only good, and always
good,
to the true
conflicts
thus tacitly referred to, first, by a statement of the facts out of
which
they sprang, ver. 2-11, then of the effect which these produced upon
his
mind, ver. 12-16, and then of the means by which he had been dis-
abused,
ver. 17-20, and under the influence of which he now condemns
his
own irrationality, ver. 21, 22, adores the grace by which he had been
rescued
from the consequences of his error, ver. 23, 24, and concludes with
an
expression of his hearty reliance upon that grace for his safety and hap-
piness
hereafter, ver. 25-28. There is not the slightest ground for doubting
the
correctness of the title, which ascribes the psalm to Asaph, the con-
temporary
of David and his chief musician, and himself moreover an inspired
psalmist.
This last fact, which is matter of recorded history (see above,
on
Ps. 1. 1), together with the fact that where only one name is mentioned
VER.
2-8.] PSALM LXXIII. 307
in
the title of a psalm it is uniformly that of the writer, may suffice to set
aside
the supposition that Asaph is only named as the performer.
2. And I (or as for me), my feet
were almost gone, my steps had well
nigh slipped. The pronoun in the
first clause is emphatic. I, who so
confidently
make this profession of my faith in God's unchanging goodness,
am
one whose feet were almost gone, literally inclined
or bent, either from
the
straight course or from an erect position. See above, on Ps. lxii. 3
(2),
where the same verb is applied to a wall inclined or bent by violence.
The
phrases rendered almost and well nigh strictly mean like little and like
nothing, and imply that it
wanted little or nothing of a fearful fall on his
part,
in other words, that he had narrowly escaped it. Slipped, literally
poured out, which seems to be a
figure both for weakness and divergence.
Instead
of pursuing a direct course, or remaining in a firm position, his
steps
were scattered and without effect, like water poured upon the ground.
See
above, on Ps. xxii. 15 (14).
3. For I was envious at the proud; the peace of wicked (men) I see (and
must
see). He now proceeds to state more distinctly the nature of the fall
from
which he had so narrowly escaped. It was the sin and folly of deny-
ing
the justice and fidelity of God because of providential inequalities and
mysteries.
The proud or insolent, a general description of the wicked, as
in
Ps. v. 5 (4). The common version in both places (foolish) is less pro-
bable,
but does not materially change the sense. In the last clause, he
reverts
to his experience at an earlier date, and expresses himself as he
might
have done at that time. This relation of the clauses may be ren-
dered
clearer by supplying a word or phrase between them. "I was envious
at
the proud (and said), the peace," &c. Peace, as the negation and the
opposite
of all disturbing causes, really suggests the idea of prosperity in
general.
The future form of the verb has respect, not to the date of com-
position,
but to that of the events recorded, when the Psalmist not only
saw,
but expected long to see, the undisturbed prosperity of sinners.
4. For there are no bands at their death; and fat, i. e. healthy or
robust,
(is) their strength. Some understand the
first clause to mean that they are
not
bound or forced to die like other men. The more obvious sense is,
that
when they do die, they are not in bonds or chains like other men, but
free,
common figures for distress or suffering and its opposite.
5. In the labour of man they are not, they are not partakers in the
com-
mon
troubles of humanity, and with mankind
they are not smitten (or
afflicted). The use of the future
is precisely the same as in ver. 3. They are not,
and
to all appearance never will be, sharers in the common calamities of life.
6. Therefore pride has enchained them, the garb of violence (injustice
or
cruelty)
covers them. The first verb strictly
means to encircle or adorn the
neck,
perhaps with allusion to the carriage of that member as indicative of
pride.
See Isa. iii. 16, Job xv. 26.
7. Their eyes stand out with fatness; the imaginations of the heart pass
(out,
come forth, or are disclosed). The common version of the last clause,
they have more than
heart could wish,
assumes as the literal meaning of the
words,
they surpass the desires of their heart.
According to the other con-
struction
above given, the meaning is that as their eyes stand out with fat-
ness,
so their hearts overflow with evil thoughts. Compare Mat. xii. 35,
xv.
19, Mark vii. 21, Luke ii. 35, vi. 45.
8. They mock and speak in wickedness (or malice); oppression from on
high they speak: To speak oppression is
to speak words tending to the
308 PSALM LXXIII. [VER. 9-14.
injury
of others. From on high, proudly,
with arrogant contempt of others.
They
speak as if from a superior position.
9. They set their mouth in heaven, and their tongue goes on earth. The
idea
in the first clause is the same as in the last clause of the foregoing
verse.
They speak as if they thought themselves superior beings, their
mouth
in heaven and their tongue on earth. Goes,
runs, is actively employed.
10. Therefore he brings back his people hither, and waters of fulness are
wrung out to them (or drained by them). This obscure verse admits of
several
interpretations, the most natural of which understands the sense to
be,
that God still suffers or requires his people to survey the painful spec-
tacle
and drain the bitter draught presented by the undisturbed prosperity
of
wicked men. According to the masoretic reading in the margin of the
Hebrew
Bible, the first verb is intransitive, his people
shall (or must) return
thither. See above, on Ps. xiv.
7, liii. 7 (6).
11. And they say, how should God know, and (how) can there be know-
ledge in the Highest? Some interpreters
regard these as the words of the
prosperous
sinners whom he has been describing. But according to the
sense
just put upon the tenth verse, the eleventh must express the misgiv-
ings
of God's people, with respect to the providential inequalities in ques-
tion.
When still brought back to the sight of these, they are constrained
to
ask how they can possibly be reconciled with the hypothesis of God's
omniscience.
This is much more natural than to suppose that the sinners
themselves
admit the being of a God, and yet gratuitously question his
omniscience.
in the latter case the how would be
unmeaning; in the
former,
it is the most natural expression of the doubt supposed. An atheist,
whether
theoretical or practical, would hardly ask, how can God know?
Even
a wicked theist would be rather apt to say, he does not know. But
nothing
can be more appropriate in the mouth of a perplexed and tempted
believer
than the question, how can God know this and yet suffer it?
12. Lo, these are wicked (men), and (yet they are) secure for ever, they
increase strength (or substance). These are, still the words of the perplexed
believer,
expressing his surprise at the prosperity of sinners. See, these
are
wicked men, and yet instead of being wretched, or prospering only for
a
little while, they are prosperers of
eternity, perpetually prospered and at
ease,
secure from change. See above, on Ps. xxx. 7. Instead of losing
what
they have, they still gain more, and go on adding to their wealth, and
to
the power which it gives them. See above, on Ps. lx. 14 (12).
13. Only (in) vain have I cleansed my heart, and in innocence have
washed my hands. These may be taken
either indefinitely as the words of
any
person in the painful situation just described, or more specifically as
the
words of the Psalmist, by whom the whole class was, in fact, repre-
sented.
They contain the inference which would be naturally drawn in such
a
situation, even by a true believer, but one tempted to repine and doubt
by
the sight of providential enigmas. "Since, then, it is the wicked who
enjoy
God's favour, all my efforts to avoid sin and to do his will have been
gratuitous
and fruitless." With the first words of the verse compare Ps.
xxxix.
6, 12 (5, 11).
14. And I hare been smitten all the day, and my chastisement (has been
inflicted) every
morning,
literally at (or in) the mornings. A
similar form
of
expression occurs twice in Job vii. 18. Smitten,
literally touched, i. e. by
the
hand of God, a common expression for affliction, and especially for bodily
disease
considered as a divine judgment. The same idea was meant to be
VER.
15-20.] PSALM
LXXIII.
309
conveyed
by the common version (plagued.) The
psalmist here contrasts
his
own afflictions with the undisturbed enjoyments of his wicked neigh-
bours.
"While they, though wicked, still increase in wealth and seem
secure
for ever, I, who have faithfully endeavoured to avoid sin and to do
the
will of God, am subjected every day, and all day, to privation and distress."
15. If I have said, I will declare thus, behold, the generation of thy sons
I have perfidiously
treated.
This is equivalent to saying, if I did say so, I
should
be acting falsely towards thy children. It is indeed the only He-
brew
form in which such a hypothetical proposition could well be clothed.
Said,
i.e. to myself, proposed it, formed the purpose. Thus declare, i. e.
publicly
express my doubts and sceptical misgivings. This, as it has been
well
observed, the true believer never does, until he is able to announce his
conflict
and his victory together. Behold, or lo, is here equivalent to our
idiomatic
why then, meaning in that case, or on that supposition,
and express-
ing
at the same time some surprise at his own suggestion as a strange one.
The generation of thy
sons,
the contemporary race of true believers, called
the
sons of God, not only as the objects of his love, but as partakers
of
his nature (2 Pet. i. 4). Treated
perfidiously, proved false to them, by
weakening
the foundation of their hope, instead of strengthening their faith
and
allaying their misgivings. See above, on Ps. xxv. 3.
16. And I meditated to know this; a trouble (was) it in my eyes. Al-
though
he abstained from openly expressing what he thought, he still did
think,
he pondered the whole matter, with a view to understand it, to dis-
cover
some solution of the mystery, which not only puzzled but distressed
him.
The apparent inequality of God's providential dealings was a toil, a
trouble,
an unhappiness in his esteem.
17. Until I come to the sanctuaries of God, I will consider (or observe)
their end. The futures have
reference, as in ver. 3, 5, to the date of the
anterior
experience here recorded. "But I said to myself, I will wait till
I
come into God's presence and inquire of him, and then, or in the mean
time,
I will look at or attend to the end as well as the beginning and the
progress
of their lives." The plural form holy
places, is the same as in Ps.
lxviii.
36 (35). It denotes the sanctuary in its whole extent, as the earthly
residence
of God, and the place where he communed with his people. See
above,
on Ps. xxviii. 2.
18. Only in slippery places thou wilt set them, or art setting them,
(and
now)
thou hast let (or made) them fall into destruction. However
honour-
able
and happy their position may appear to themselves, the Psalmist can
see
nothing but its danger, as implied in his use of the word only. Smooth-
nesses, smooth or slippery
places, where their foothold is precarious and
fall
inevitable. He sees God, by his providential favours, placing them in
this
desired but fearful situation, and then allowing them to drop into de-
struction.
The last word in Hebrew occurs only here and in the next
psalm,
where it means ruins. If this sense
be adopted here, we must sup-
pose
a change of figure and an allusion to the fall, not of a man from a
slippery
precipice, but of a building crumbled by decay or violence.
19. How are they (brought) to
desolation as (in) a moment! They
have
ceased, they are
consumed with terrors! He here expresses his surprise at
the
abruptness and completeness of their ruin. The meaning of the last
clause
seems to be, that their very apprehensions were sufficient to destroy
them,
much more the actual experience of what they apprehended.
20. As a dream on waking, Lord, in waking, their image thou wilt
310 PSALM LXXIII. [VER. 21-24.
scorn. The word translated image means an appearance, as opposed to
the
substance or reality. See above, on Ps. xxxix. 7 (6). The present
prosperity
of wicked men will seem hereafter, and to God's eye now seems, like
an
empty dream, worthy only of contemptuous oblivion. The only dubious
expression
in the verse is that translated waking in the second clause, which
is
entirely different from the one so rendered in the first clause. The He-
brew
phrase (ryfiBA)
is used in more than fifty other places, and in all
of
them means in the city. See, for
example, Ps. Iv. 10 (9). This mean-
ing
is retained by some interpreters in the case before us. The reference
will
then be either to the holy city, as in Ps. lxxii. 16, or to the city where
the
previous scene is supposed to have been laid, as in Ps. xxxi. 22 (21).
The
old interpretation takes the word as an infinitive, from a verb which,
however,
is always transitive, and means to awaken,
except, perhaps, in Job viii. 6,
and
in Ps. xxxv. 23 above. To this interpretation it is furthermore objected, that
it
supposes
an unusual contraction (ryfiBA for ryfihAB;), and that the sense
which it
conveys
is an incongruous one. But that God should despise them in the act of waking
is,
to say the least, as intelligible as that he should despise them in the city. In either
case,
the general meaning of the sentence is too clear to be mistaken.
21. For my heart is soured, and (in
or as to) my reins I am pierced. The
Hebrew
verbs are of the future form, although really relating to past time,
which
the psalmist's memory recalls as a state of things then likely to con-
tinue.
See above on ver 3, 5. The verbs are also properly reflexives, my
heart exacerbates
itself, I pierce myself, and are perhaps intended to describe
his
sufferings as the fruit of his own sin and folly.
22. And I (am) brutish and know
not (the true state of the case); a
beast have I been with
thee.
The last noun is in the plural number (beasts),
as
if to signify a beast by way of eminence, in which sense it is literally
applied
to one of the wonders of the animal kingdom (Job xl. 15). With
the
first clause compare Prov. xxx. 2, and see above, on Ps. xlix. 11 (10).
These
strong expressions contain an acknowledgment of his own irration-
ality
in questioning God's faithfulness and kindness. In this verse there
is
an insensible transition from the present to the past, from the ideal to
the
real time of the events in question. With
thee suggests an aggravat-
ing
circumstance, to wit, that this folly was committed in the presence of
God,
and as it were in his society. See above, on Ps. xviii. 26, 27 (25, 26).
23. And (yet) I (am) still with
thee; thou hast held (me) by my right
hand. Notwithstanding his
ungrateful and irrational conduct in God's
presence,
he had not been driven from it, as he justly might have been.
The
word translated still properly means always, and denotes that there
had
been no change or interruption in the previous relation of the parties.
There
is a perfectly analogous usage of the French toujours. In the last
clause
he seems to return to the metaphor with which he set out. As the
fatal
error which he had escaped is in ver. 2 represented as a fall, so here
his
preservation from it is ascribed to God's having held him up by his
right
hand. See above, on Ps. xvii. 5, xli. 13 (12), lxiii. 9 (8).
24. In (or by) thy counsel thou wilt guide me, and after
glory thou wilt
take me. The form of the
original is such that it may either express con-
sent
or confident expectation; but the latter in this case really includes the
former.
By thy counsel, thy instruction and
advice, considered as a means
of
safety; or in thy counsel, i. e. in
the execution of thy plan or purpose,
as
the end to be "accomplished. The last clause is obscure. To the com-
VER.
25-28.] PSALM LXXIII. 311
mon
version (and afterward receive me to
glory) it has been objected, that
it
takes the preposition after as an
adverb, and assumes an unusual sense
and
construction of the verb, and also that it makes the guidance and the
glory
too distinct and successive. The construction which it is proposed
to
substitute is, thou wilt take me after
glory, i. e. make me overtake it,
cause
me to attain it, bring me to it. The same construction may be made
to
yield another sense, to wit, after honouring me here thou wilt receive me
to
thyself, after honour thou wilt take me.
This, it is true, is liable to some
of
the objections brought against the usual construction. But the choice
at
best is one of difficulties, and some of the objections spring entirely from
the
wish to exclude a reference to a future state, which, however, is as
evident
in this verse as it is in ver. 16, 19, if interpreted in any natural and
reasonable
manner.
25. Whom have I in heaven? And with thee I have not desired (any)
upon earth. The literal
translation of the first clause is, who
(is) to me in
heaven, i. e. what protector or
provider? The idea of another besides God
may
be supplied in this clause from the next, where with thee can denote
either
combination or comparison. I have desired none in addition or in
preference
to thee; thou art alone and all sufficient.
26. Spent is my flesh and my heart; the rock of my heart and my por-
tion (is) God to
eternity.
The first clause is by some understood as mean-
ing
even if or even when my flesh, &c. But the Psalmist rather assumes
the
actual occurrence of the extreme case here described, or places himself
in
it as an ideal situation. Flesh and
heart, body and soul, the whole man,
or
the whole life, outward and inward, bodily and mental. The rock of my
heart, the support of my
life, that on which it rests as on a solid basis.
The
idea is not simply that of strength but of a strong foundation. See above,
on
Ps. xviii. 3 (2). My portion, the
source of my subsistence and my happiness.
See
above, on Ps. xvi. 5, and with the whole verse compare Job xix. 25-27.
27. For lo, those far from thee shall perish; thou hast destroyed all (or
every one) whoring from
thee.
This verse assigns his reason for relying
upon
God and making him his portion. Those far
from thee, literally, thy
far (ones). They certainly will
perish, for all such have perished heretofore.
The
union between God and his people being often represented by the
figure
of a conjugal relation, their violation of the covenant is spoken of as
spiritual
whoredom or adultery. See above on Ps. xiv. 1, and compare
Lev.
xx. 6, Num. xiv. 33. In the same sense our Saviour calls the unfaithful
xvi.
4, Mark viii. 38. The persons threatened with destruction here are
not
merely sinners in general, but the wicked members of the ancient church
or
chosen people in particular.
28. And I, or as for me—the approach of God to me (is) good; I have
placed in the Lord
Jehovah my trust, to declare all thy doings. The absolute
nominative
at the beginning puts himself in strong contrast with the apos-
tates
of the foregoing verse. Compare the beginning of ver. 2, 23, above.
The
nearness or approach of God is an ambiguous expression, as in Isa.
lviii.
2, where it may either mean God's drawing near to the people or their
drawing
near to him. In the case before us both may be implied, as in
James
iv. 8, both are expressed, Draw nigh to
God and he will draw nigh
to you. To me may be connected either with approach, as in Ps. xxyii. 2,
or
with good, as in ver. 1 above. Good is here to be taken in the absolute
sense
of the sum num bonum or chief good.
The meaning is not merely
312 PSALM LXXIV. [VER.
1.
that
nearness to God is a good thing in itself, or a useful thing to man, but
that
it comprehends whatever he can wish or hope for. "Let apostates
wander
far from God and perish; I am resolved to seek my highest happi-
ness
in being near him." The Lord Jehovah
is a combination expressive
of
God's sovereignty, self-existence, and covenant relation to his people.
My trust, my hiding-place or
refuge. See above, on Ps. xi. 1. The
last
clause
shews that he wishes to be something more than a mere passive
beneficiary.
He desires not only to enjoy but to celebrate God's goodness.
The
word translated doings is applied
both to acts and to affairs or business.
PSALM LXXIV.
THE church prays for deliverance
from extreme distress, enforcing the
petition,
first by a description of the actual state of things, ver. 1-12, and
then
by an appeal to former mercies, ver. 13-23. The historical occasion
is
not given, but the terms of the description seem peculiarly appropriate
to
the state of
by
the Babylonians, as described in Jer. lii. 12-34.
1. Maschil. By Asaph. Why, 0 God, hast thou cast off for ever, smokes
thy wrath at the flock
of thy pasture?
The description of the psalm as a
didactic
one shows that it was not meant to be used in reference to its
original
occasion merely, but in every emergency resembling it. For this
reason
the question, what that occasion was, is of little exegetical import-
ance,
although not without interest in connection with the critical inquiry
as
to the date of composition. The state of things assumed, and indeed
described,
is so unlike that which existed in the time of David, that we must
either
make the psalm prophetical, which is arbitrary and without analogy,
or
no less arbitrarily reject the title as a spurious addition to the text, or
understand
by Asaph the descendants of David's Chief Musician, among
whom
the gift and office of their ancestors were hereditary. See above, on
Ps.
1. 1, and compare 2 Chron. xxxv. 15, Ezra ii. 41, iii. 10, Neh. vii. 44,
xi.
22. That this title indicates the author, and not merely the performer,
can
only be inferred from the general fact, that where a single name is
given
it is usually that of the writer. See above, on Ps. xlii. 1, lxxii. 1.
The
interrogation in this verse does not involve a disavowal of guilt or ill-
desert,
but is rather a passionate expostulation and indirect petition for
deliverance.
Cast off, a verb implying abhorrence
and disgust. See above,
on
Ps. xliii. 2, xliv. 10, 24 (9, 23), lx. 3, 12 (1, 10). As the object is
easily
supplied, namely, us or thy people, its omission adds to the
strength
of
the expression. Cast off for ever, as
it seems to us and others. Why
past
thou cast us off with what appears to be a final and perpetual rejection?
See
above, on Ps. xiii. 2 (1). The interrogation is continued throughout
the
sentence. (Why) smokes or will smoke? The
future form suggests the
same
idea as the for ever in the other
clause. "Why is thy wrath to con-
tinue
smoking?" The presence of smoke presupposes that of fire; but
the
former is particularly mentioned, perhaps for the purpose of adding to
the
primary idea of distress or destruction the secondary one of gloom and
terror.
At or against thy people, literally
in, among them. See below, on
Ps.
lxxx. 5 (4), and compare Deut. xxix. 19 (20). The sheep (or flock) of
thy pasture, those who feed upon
thy pasture, or are fed by thee, a favourite
designation
of the chosen people, as the occupants of the
The
figurative form of the description was originally furnished by the pas-
VER.
2-4.] PSALM
LXXIV. 313
toral
experience of David, but from him was borrowed by other sacred
writers.
See below, Ps. lxxix. 13, c. 3.
2. Remember thy congregation thou hast purchased of old, (and) redeem the
rod of thine
inheritance, this
the
relative in both the clauses of this verse is common to the Hebrew and
the
English idiom. The word translated congregation is one of those applied
in
the Old Testament to
Jehovah.
See above, on Ps. i. 5. Purchased,
acquired, made thine own.
The
word translated of old is an noun
meaning antiquity, but here used as
an
adverb of time. The full phrase occurs below in ver. 12. The next
verb
contains a specification of the first, to wit, that he purchased by re-
deeming them from bondage, with
particular reference to the exodus from
reader,
would suggest the twofold idea of a chieftain's staff, the badge of
authority
in the several tribes, and that of a measuring rod, here put for
the
portion of land measured. The whole sense conveyed by these associa-
tions
is that of a definite province, with its population, of which God is the
possessor
and the sovereign. The last clause applies what had been said
of
the people and the land still more specifically to the central point of the
theocracy.
of
with
which the speakers were familiar, and at or near which they are sup-
posed
to be speaking. The explanation of this
as a relative is gratuitous,
nor
could the idea (this
form
of Hebrew words. The grand distinction of
sense
just explained, was the inhabitation of Jehovah, which is therefore
here
expressly mentioned in the closing words.
3. Lift thy steps to the perpetual ruins, all the enemy has ill done in
the
holy place. The first phrase is a
poetical expression meaning simply ad-
vance, draw near, for the purpose of
inspection. The word translated ruins
occurs
only here and in Ps. lxxiii. 18. The whole phrase strictly means
ruins of perpetuity, i.e. such as appears
likely to continue for ever, and will
certainly
do so, unless God comply with this request to draw near. The
construction
of the second clause adopted by some writers, the enemy has
destroyed all (or every thing) in the holy place, is scarcely grammatical. To
express
that
idea, the word all would have the article, as in Ps. xiv. 3, or a suffix, as in
Ps.
xxix.
9, whereas its intimate connection here with the following verb in Hebrew
is
equivalent to a relative construction.
4. Thine adversaries have roared in the midst of thine assembly; they
have set their signs (as) signs. The tumultuous violence of the destroyers
is
described in the first clause by a figure borrowed from the habits of wild
beasts,
and elsewhere used as an expression of extreme distress. See above,
on
Ps. xxii. 2 (1), xxxii. 3, xxxviii. 9 (8). The word translated assembly
is
not the same that is rendered congregation
in ver. 2, but one that
strictly
means a meeting by mutual agreement or appointment, and is
specially
applied to the meeting between God and his people at the sanc-
tuary,
which was therefore designated in the law as the tent of meeting (lh,xo,
dfeOm), not merely the tent where the people
assembled, but the place where
they
met with God by previous appointment. See Exod. xxv. 8, xxix. 42,
43.,
45, 46, Num. xvii. 19 (4). The ideas suggested by the etymology and
usage
of the Hebrew noun are those of previous appointment, the act of
314 PSALM LXXIV. [VER. 5-8.
meeting
consequent upon it, the persons met, and the place where they
assemble.
The full sense, therefore, of the phrase here used is, "In the
midst
of thy people assembled at the appointed time and place to meet
thee."
The exclusive local meaning put by some upon the words is quite
gratuitous.
The plural form which some assume (thine
assemblies) varies
the
meaning only by suggesting the idea of repeated convocations, "In the
midst
of thy people, whenever (or as often as) they meet thee thus," but
without
at all conveying the idea of numerous or even different places. Set,
fixed,
established; or set up, exhibited,
exposed to view. See above, on
Ps.
xviii. 44 (43), xxxix. 9 (8), xliv. 14, 15 (13, 14). The common ver-
sion
of the last words, ensigns for signs,
conveys a false impression of the
form
of the original, in which the two nouns are identical. The word signs
does
not necessarily denote either military or religious ensigns, but rather
signifies
in general the insignia of sovereignty. For all that once marked
the
presence and authority of God the impious enemy had substituted the
signs
or tokens of their own ascendancy. In other words, they had usurped
God's
place in his very sanctuary, the spot which he had chosen for his
earthly
residence.
5. He is known (or shall be
known) as (one) raising on high, in
the thicket
of the wood, axes. The most probable sense of this obscure verse
is as
follows:
the ruthless enemy is known or recognised as dealing with the
sanctuary
no more tenderly than a woodman with the forest which he fells.
On high seems to be added to
suggest the force of the blow, and the sweep
of
the arm which deals it. The thicket may
be mentioned for the purpose
of
contrasting the delicate and complicated wood-work of the temple with
the
worthless undergrowth which the woodman cuts away without scruple or
discrimination.
The word translated wood is often used as a collective, meaning trees.
6. And now the carvings thereof together (or at once) with sledge and ham-
mers they beat (down). This completes the
comparison begun in the preced-
ing
verse, with which the one before us is connected by the phrase and now,
i.
e. in this case. As in the case supposed the woodman deals with trees
and
thickets, so in the real ease the spoiler deals with the costly fruits of
art
and skill. The word translated carvings
is expressly used in the descrip-
tion
of the temple. See 1 Kings vi. 29, and compare Exod. xxviii. 11,
xxxix.
6. The suffix (thereof) has no
grammatical antecedent in the sen-
tence;
the form was probably determined by a word not expressed, though
present
to the writer's mind. At once does
not mean quickly, suddenly,
without
delay, but all together, indiscriminately, in confusion.
7. They have set on fire thy holy place; to the earth they have profaned
the dwelling of thy name. The literal
translation of the first clause is, they
have sent (or cast) into the fire thy holy place. The construction in the last
clause
is a pregnant one, profaned to the earth, i. e. profaned by casting to
the
ground a sacred edifice. This form of expression would be inappro-
priate
to mere profanation by defilement, without actual prostration of the
edifice
itself.
8. They have said in their heart, let us destroy them together (or at once);
they have burned all the
assemblies of God in, the land, by burning the only
place
where such assemblies could be held (Deut. xii. 5, 11). Others,
with
less probability, suppose that the Hebrew word itself denotes the place
of
assembly, and that all such places
means the only such place. The
translation
synagogues has no authority from
Hebrew usage, or the ancient
versions
(LXX. e[orta<j; Vulg. dies festos.
Jer. solennitates), and has been
VER.
9-13.] PSALM LXXIV. 315
abused
to prove that the psalm was written after the Babylonish exile,
before
which synagogues are commonly supposed to have had no existence.
9. Our signs we see not; there is no more (any) prophet, and (there is)
not with us (any one) knowing until what time, or how long,
these things
are
to last. By signs we are here to
understand the tokens of God's pre-
sence,
and of
fied,
to wit, the gift of prophecy, which seemed to cease at the time of the
Babylonian
conquest, although afterwards renewed. Even Jeremiah's
ministry
may be considered as then closing. The complaint of this, as of a recent
loss,
shews that the period meant is not that of the persecutions under Antiochus
Epiphanes,
when the gift of prophecy had been withdrawn for many generations.
10. Till when, 0 God, shall the foe revile, the enemy contemn thy name
for ever? By making the last
clause a distinct interrogation (shall
the
enemy despise thy name
for ever?)
we avoid the solecism of combining how
long and for ever; but this can occasion no more difficulty here than in
ver.
1, and in Ps. xiii. 2 (1). The verb in the last clause means to treat
contemptuously,
to shew contempt by word or deed. Blaspheme
expresses
only
one mode of doing this, and that too strongly.
11. Why wilt thou withdraw thy hand and thy right hand From the
midst of thy bosom (draw it and) consume (them). The future here includes
the
present (why dolt thou withdraw thy hand?)
with the additional idea of
continuance
or perseverance in so doing. The hand, and especially the
right
hand, is the seat and symbol of strength. The and between them is
equivalent
to the English even. To make the hand
return, or draw it back,
is
to cease from action, the continuance of which cessation is described as
hiding
it in the bosom.
12. And God (is) my king of old, working salvations in the midst of the
land. Having pleaded the
greatness of the danger and distress as a reason
for
imploring the divine interposition, the church now pleads her covenant
relation
to him as her Sovereign and her Saviour in former emergencies,
with
particular reference to the plagues of
that
land, and not earth, is the true translation of the last word. The very
form
of expression is borrowed from the narrative of Moses. See Exod.
viii.
18 (22). Doing, working, as opposed
to a mere promise or prediction.
The
participle signifies continued action, and extends the description be-
yond
the particular occasion specially, referred to. God is described as He
who,
then and ever, works salvations or deliverances, the plural form imply-
ing
fulness and variety. See above, on Ps. xviii. 51 (50), xxviii. 8, xlii.
6,
12 (5, 11), xliii. 5, liii. 7.
13. Thou hast burst, with thy strength, the sea; thou hast broken the heads
of dragons on the water. The word translated dragons is applied to the
largest
class of aquatic animals. Some suppose these to be here emble-
matic
of
10.
Others, with more probability, explain the verse as a description of
God's
power over nature, and particularly over the sea, as specially mani-
fested
in the passage of the
then
added merely to complete the picture. As if he had said, "Thou
hast
subdued and crushed the sea, and its most terrible inhabitants."
This
is described as taking place, not in
or under the waters, the abode of
the
sea-monsters, but on the surface, where the contest becomes visible.
The
pronoun at the beginning is emphatic: "it is thou that hast done all
this,
and not another."
316 PSALM LXXIV. [VER. 14-19.
14. (It is) thou (that) hast crushed the
heads of Leviathan, (that) wilt
give him (as) food to the people, to the wild men, or
the dwellers in the
desert.
See above, on Ps. lxxii. 9. Leviathan, according to its etymology,
denotes
a coiled or crooked serpent, but like dragon
in ver. 13, is used as
a
generic term for huge aquatic animals. Having no plural form, it is here
used
in a collective sense, as appears from the expression heads, unless we
understand
this as denoting a many-headed monster, to which, however,
there
is no analogy in Scripture. In the last clause, people seems to mean
men in general, and is then
rendered definite by the use of the specific
term
which follows. By the people of the desert some understand the
savage
beasts, by whom the Egyptians were devoured after the overthrow
of
Pharaoh; others, with more probability, the wild men living on the
shores
of the
Greeks
the Ichthyophagi. The transition from the past tense to the future
seems
to represent the scene as actually passing, or the act as one that may
be
frequently repeated. "It is thou that hast done all this, and wilt do it
again."
15. (It is) thou (that) didst cleave
fount and flood, (that) didst dry up
rivers ever flowing. Fountain and flood is
a kind of proverbial expression
for
smaller and greater bodies of water. The primary historical allusion
here
is to the passage of the
phrase
is streams of perpetuity, perennial
or unfailing streams, as distill-
guished
from the winter torrents of the
summer.
The common version, rivers of strength or mighty rivers, is not
sustained
by etymology or usage.
16. To thee (belongs) day, yea,
to thee night; THOU hast prepared
light
and sun. From the mention of
God's actual control over the elements, as
exercised
in certain memorable cases, the Psalmist here proceeds to assert
his
sovereignty by right of creation. Not only day but night, which seems
to
sense beyond the reach of government or regulation, is subject to God's
power.
Thou, and no other, as in the three
preceding verses. Prepared for
the
place which they now fill and the work which they perform. Light
and
sun are related as the genus and the
species, like hand and right hand
in
ver. 11, signs and prophet in ver. 9. Light, in the local
sense of lumi-
nary,
which the same Hebrew word has in Gen. i. 14-16.
17. THOU hast set (or established)
all the bounds of earth; summer
and winter—thou hast
formed them.
This is the seventh emphatic repeti-
tion
of the pronoun thou. The bounds of
earth are supposed by some to
be
the limits of the land, by which it is separated from the sea. See
above,
on Ps. xxiv. 2. The description of God's power over nature is com-
pleted
by referring to it the revolution of the seasons as not only appointed
but
created by him. He is not only the ordainer of the change itself, but
the
author of the causes which produce it.
18. Remember this; an enemy has reviled Jehovah, and a foolish people
have contemned thy name. For the meaning of the
verbs see above on ver.
10,
where the same facts are alleged, but are here recalled to God's remem-
brance
as a reason for his interposition. Jehovah
may also be construed
as
a vocative, which makes the parallelism more exact. Foolish, in the
strong
sense of that word, as used in Scripture, to denote the irrationality
of
sin. See above, on Ps. xiv. 1, and compare Deut. xxxii. 6, from which
place
the whole phrase is borrowed.
19. Give not to the greedy herd thy turtle-dove: the herd of thy afflicted
(ones) forget not for
ever!
The general import of this prayer is obvious,
VER.
20-23.] PSALM LXXIV. 317
and
the only doubtful point is the precise sense of the word (ty.aHa), twice
translated
herd above. It usually means an animal or living thing, and
more
especially a wild beast, as distinguished from domesticated cattle.
This
would yield a good sense in the first clause (greedy beast), but is
inadmissible
in the other. The same objection lies against the explanation
of
the first as meaning life, and the
last as meaning flock. The only mean-
ing
equally admissible in both parts of the sentence is the one just men-
tioned,
that of animal collectively, and then
a flock or herd of animals,
from
which it is sometimes transferred to human subjects. See above, on
Ps.
lxviii. 11 (10). Greedy herd, literally
herd of appetite. See above, on
Ps.
xxvii. 12, xli. 3 (2). The turtle-dove
is here used as an emblem of
innocence
and helplessness, as well as an expression of affectionate endearment.
20. Look to the covenant; for filled are the darknesses of earth with homes
of violence (or cruelty). The prayer in the first clause is equivalent to
saying,
Remember thy promise, fulfil thy covenant engagements. The
reason
assigned is, that the existing state of things is such as to require
this
fulfilment. The word translated darknesses
has the form of a local
noun,
and may therefore mean dark places,
not in the sense of hiding
places,
but in that of gloomy, dismal places. The same idea, of distress
and
gloom, which is always included in the sense of the word elsewhere,
may
be obtained by making it an obstract, darkness,
or supposing the
plural
form to be emphatic, profound darkness,
not as an attribute of cer-
tain
places, but of the whole earth. As if he had said, the darkness of the
earth,
or this dark world, is filled with homes of cruelty. This word (smAHA,
here
as elsewhere, comprehends the two ideas of injustice and violence.
See
above, on Ps. vii. 17 (16), xviii. 49 (48). The use of the word homes (or
habitations) indicates that
violence or cruelty is there domesticated, per-
manently
resident. See above, on Ps. xxv. 13. The meaning of the
whole
verse thus explained is, that the permanent establishment and pre-
valence
of "wrong and outrage" in the darkness of the world may be
urged
as a reason for the fulfilment of God's promise, nay, his solemn oath,
that
the whole earth shall be filled with his glory (Num. xiv. 21).
21. Let not the oppressed turn back confounded; let the sufferer and the
poor (man) praise thy
name.
The word translated oppressed means
strictly
broken,
bruised, or crushed. See above, on Ps. ix. 10 (9), x. 18. Turn
back,
abandon his pursuit, retire in despair. Confounded,
disappointed,
put
to shame, by the frustration of his hopes and wishes. See above, on
Ps.
xxxv. 4, xl. 15 (14), lxix. 7 (6), lxx. 3 (2).
22. Arise, 0 God! Plead thine own cause! Remember thy reviling by
the fool all day! The first prayer is the
common one, that God would put
an
end to his apparent inaction and indifference to the sufferings of his
servants.
See above, on Ps. iii. 8 (7), vii. 7 (6), ix. 20 (19), x. 12,
xvii.
13, xxxv. 2, xliv. 27 (26). Plead thine
own cause, literally strive thy
strife. See above, on Ps.
xliii. 1. "Remember how thou art reviled by
the
irrational transgressor, and arouse thyself to silence his reproaches."
23. Forget not the voice of thy foes, the noise of thy assailants,
ascending
always. The voice and noise
here meant are the clamorous revilings and
blasphemies
of wicked men, continually going up into the ears of God, and
calling
down his wrath upon them. This striking figure, representing
gross
sin as a vocal and audible witness against him who commits it, is a
common
one in Scripture, from the earliest books downwards. See Gen.
318 PSALM LXXV. [VER. 1-3.
iv.
10, xviii. 21, xix. 13, and compare Jonah i. 2. Thy assailants, or
more
literally thy insurgents, those who
rise up against thee, in the way
not
only of attack but of rebellion. See above, on Ps. iii. 2 (1), xviii. 40.
49
(39, 48), xliv. 6 (5), and compare Exod. xv. 7, Dent. xxxiii. 11, 2 Sam.
xxii.
49. All this the Psalmist, or rather the Church, in whose behalf he
speaks,
recalls to the divine remembrance, as a ground or reason for imme-
diate
interference.
PSALM
LXXV.
1. To the Chief Musician. Al-tashheth. A Psalm by Asaph. A song
(of
praise). See above, on Ps. lxviii. 1. In this psalm the ancient church
expresses
a confident anticipation of divine assistance and deliverance from
the
domination of some great hostile power, the catastrophe of which is here
foretold.
The immediate historical occasion we have no direct means of
determining;
but the one to which the psalm itself seems most appropriate
is
the destruction of the Assyrian host in the reign of Hezekiah. See
above,
on Ps. xlvi. 1, and below, on Ps. lxxvi. 1, and compare Isa. xxxvi.
and
xxxvii. That the psalm has reference to a period of imminent and
extraordinary
danger, is moreover indicated by the phrase al-tashheth,
or
destroy not. See above, on Ps.
lvii. 1.
2 (1). We give thanks to thee, 0 God, we give thanks; and (near) is thy
name; they recount thy
wonders.
The thanksgiving is in anticipation of
some
great event, and implies a strong faith in the certainty of its occur-
rence.
Thy name is near, a signal
manifestation of thine attributes is just
at
hand, so that men begin already to recount thy wondrous works, as if
actually
past. Or this may mean that they recount God's former dealings
with
them, as a reason for expecting like or greater things to come. Another
construction
of the last clause, perhaps still more natural, is that adopted
in
the English Bible: thy name is near, thy
wondrous works declare. For
the
sense and usage of the last word in Hebrew, see above, on Ps. ix. 2 (1),
xxvi.
7, xl. 6 (5), lxxi. 17.
3 (2). For I will take a set time; I will equitably judge. The best in-
terpreters
are now in favour of explaining these as the words of God him-
self,
containing the promise upon which was built the hope expressed in the
preceding
verse. Take then includes the two ideas of choosing and using
for
the end proposed. The word translated set
time is the same that means
assembly
in Ps. lxxiv. 4, 8. The idea of constituted time, which is included
even
there, is here predominant. The same use of the word occurs in Ps.
cii.
14 (13), Hab. ii. 3, Dan. viii. 19, xi. 27, 35. There is here an obvious
allusion
to the stated times at which justice is publicly administered. Com-
pare
Acts xix. 38. As if he had said, I will appoint a time, and when it
comes,
I will ascend the judgment-seat. The parties to be tried are the
foes
and oppressors of God's people. The pronoun is emphatic; I, and no
other,
will be judge. See above, on Ps. 1. 6. Equitably,
literally equities
or
rectitudes. See above, on Ps. xvii.
2, lviii. 2 (1). The use of the plural,
as
an abstract, and that of the noun in an adverbial sense, are both familiar
Hebrew
idioms. The judging of the wicked at God's bar implies their con-
demnation,
and, as a necessary consequence, the deliverance of those whom
they
oppress or injure.
4 (3). Melted (are) the earth and all dwelling on it; I have weighed the
pillars of it. Selah. Dissolved with fear,
enfeebled, or reduced to nothing.
VER.
4-6.] PSALM LXXV. 319
See
above, on Ps. xlvi. 7 (6). The figure in the last clause is obscure.
The
act of weighing may be intended to suggest that of raising, bearing up.
Compare
Isa. xl. 12, 13, 15. Some suppose, however, that it means to
measure,
estimate, or value, and implies not only perfect knowledge but
creative
power. As a part of the promise or encouraging assurance begun
in
the preceding verse, the one before us must mean that God himself will
prevent
or rectify the evils caused or threatened by his enemies.
5 (4). I said to the boasters, Boast not, and to the wicked, Lift not up the
horn! Some regard these as
the words of the psalmist, speaking again in
the
person of the church. The sense will then be that, encouraged by God's
promise
of protection and deliverance, his people warn their adversaries not
to
triumph. It seems more natural, however, to explain them as a continua-
tion
of the words of God himself, whose very assurance of protection to his
people
was in fact a warning of destruction to his enemies. The objection,
that
what follows must then be referred to the same speaker, is of little
weight,
as the transition from one person to another, in the psalms of a
dramatic
structure, is not commonly a marked one, and is often quite insen-
sible.
The concluding metaphor is borrowed from the habits of horned animals,
and
nearly equivalent to the act of holding the head high, as a sign of human
pride.
For a different application of the figure, see above, on Ps. xviii. 3 (2).
6 (5). Do not raise on high your horn (and) speak with a proud neck, or
speak with (outstretched) neck proudly. The last word is an
adjective
meaning
insolent or arrogant. See above, on Ps. xxxi. 19 (18). It may
either
agree with neck, and signify a position and carriage of the neck indi-
cative
of pride (Ps. lxxiii. 6), or constitute the object of the verb, in which
case
with the neck may mean with
outstretched or prolonged neck, not pro-
jecting
forwards but inclining backwards. See Isa. iii. 16, and compare Job
xv.
26 in Hebrew. For a similar ellipsis, see below, Ps. lxxvii. 16 (15).
7 (6). For not from east, and (not)
from west, and not from the wilderness
of mountains, is the judgment on
these sinners to proceed, but from a very
different
quarter. The word translated east
means properly the sunrise, or
rather
the place of his coming forth; the parallel term the sunset, or the
place
of evening. A third point of the compass is denoted by the wilder-
ness, the great Arabian
desert lying to the south of
word
in Hebrew (MyrihA) admits of two entirely different
explanations. One
of
these, given in the English Bible, makes it the infinitive of the verb
translated
raise in ver. 5, 6 (4, 5), and
supposes it to mean the act of
raising,
or a state of exaltation. The sense will then be that promotion
cometh
not from any quarter upon earth, but from God and God alone.
Others
object that the question here is not one of promotion but of judg-
ment,
as appears from the foregoing and the following context. They
accordingly
adhere to the ancient versions in making (MyrihA) the plural of
the
common Hebrew word for hill or mountain, and explain the whole
phrase
to mean a hilly desert or a wilderness of mountains, a description
eminently
applicable to Idumcea and Arabia Petraea. The essential idea is
still
that of the south, here added to the east and west, as a general descrip-
tion
of the countries contiguous to
perhaps
for the sake of an emphatic reference to
power,
on which the Jews were supposed by the Assyrians to rely with
special
confidence. Compare Isa. xxxvi. 4-6. The omission of the north
may
either be fortuitous or (as some suppose) intended to suggest that this
320 PSALM LXXV. [VER.
7-10.
was
the quarter from which the hostile incursion had proceeded, as it was
in
fact, invaders even from the furthest east commonly entering the country
from
that side. The meaning of the whole verse then is, that the danger
which
impended from one quarter could not be averted by mere human aid
from
any other, but only by the means referred to in the next verse.
8 (7). For God (is) judge (or
actually judging); this (one) he will humble,
and this (one) will
exalt.
The for at the beginning introduces
the reason
of
the negative statement in the verse preceding. It is not man, for it is
God,
who can perform this. The same relation of the sentences is com-
monly
expressed in our idiom by but. The
act of judging, or the office of
a
judge, here implies absolute sovereignty. This
and this is the idiomatic
Hebrew
phrase answering to one and another
in English. See above, on Ps. xx, 8 (7).
9 (8). For a cup (is) in the hand of Jehovah, and the wine ferments, and it
is full of mixture, and
he pours out from this (cup); only its dregs shall they
wring (or suck) out,
shall they drink—all the wicked of the
earth (or land).
This
is a common figure in the Scriptures for the wrath of God. See
above,
on Ps. xi. 6. The cup contains the prescribed or allotted portion of
the
sinner to whom it is administered. Ferments
or has fermented, implying
that
it is real wine and strong wine. The translation it is red is now sup-
posed
to rest upon a doubtful etymology. Some interpreters explain the
phrase,
it foams with wine; but this
construction is not only in itself less
simple,
but puts a sense upon the verb not entirely authorised by usage,
and
requires the noun (sOK) cup,
which is elsewhere feminine, to be con-
strued
as a masculine. It (the wine) is full of mixture, i. e. mixed with
spices
to increase its strength and stimulating power. Only its dregs is an
idiomatic
Hebrew phrase, which does not mean, as it may seem to do in
English,
that they shall drink nothing but the dregs. The meaning rather is,
that
they shall have nothing left for it, no resource, or no alternative, except
to
drain the cup to the very dregs, i. e. to suffer God's wrath to the utter-
most
(1 Thess. ii. 16). The position given to the subject of the sentence
at
its close makes it more emphatic. See above on Ps. xi. 15 (14).
10 (9.) And I will declare for ever, I will sing praise to the God of Jacob.
The
emphatic pronoun puts him in opposition to the
wicked of the earth or
land. "While they are
thus destroyed, I will declare," &c. The object
of
the verb in the first clause is determined by the second. Sing praise,
make
music, as a means of celebrating the divine praise. See above, on
Ps.
ix. 12 (11), xxx. 5 (4), xlvii. 7 (6), lxvi. 4. To the God of Jacob, to him who has
proved
himself to be such, by fulfilling the promise made of old to
name
of the patriarch is poetically substituted for the one which properly belonged
to
him as founder of the nation. See above, on Ps. xxiv. 6.
11 (10). And all horns of wicked ones will I cut of; lifted up shall be
the horns of the
righteous.
The same noun and verb, that were used in ver.
5,
6 (4, 5), to denote the self-exaltation of the wicked, are here used in a
good
sense to denote God's gracious exaltation of the righteous. Compare
Mat.
xxiii. 12, Luke xiv. 11, xxiii. 14. In the first clause, to the simple cor-
relative
idea of humiliation is superadded that of violent destruction. While
the
horns of the righteous are to be exalted, those of the wicked are not
only
to be lowered but cut off. The change from the plural (wicked men)
to
the singular (a righteous man), if meant to be significant at all, may have
reference
to the speaker as an ideal individual. The construction of these
words
as those of God himself is a gratuitous and harsh one. They are
VER.
1-4.] PSALM LXXVI.
321
rather
uttered by the Church, as representing him, or acting in his strength
and
under his authority.
PSALM
LXXVI.
1. To the Chief Musician. With (or on)
stringed instruments. A Psalm
by Asaph. A song (of praise). The
resemblance of this title to that of the
preceding
psalm, their juxtaposition in the Psalter, and their internal
similarity,
all favour the opinion that they had respect originally to the
same
historical occasion, with this difference, that the first is rather an
anticipation
of the great deliverance as certain but still future, and the other
a
commemoration of the same as actually past or really experienced. In
this,
as in the other case, the event is ascribed to a wonderful divine inter-
position,
and described as one affecting the whole world or the nations
generally,
which was emphatically true of the great stroke, by which the
power
of
2 (1). Known in
as
God, and as the God of Israel, his chosen people, which, after the great
schism
in the time of Rehoboam, continued to exist in the kingdom of
his
perfection clearly manifested.
3 (2). And in
explanatory
of the first verse. He was best known there because it was his
chosen
earthly residence.
The
former name means peaceful and secure, and some suppose it to be
one
of the elements of which the other name is composed, so as to signify
a
peaceful or secure possession. The same interpreters identify the
of
Gen. xiv. 18 with
means
a booth or shed composed of leaves and branches, in allusion to the
moveable
and temporary form of the first sanctuary.
4 (3). Thither he shattered the bolts of the bow—buckler and sword and
battle. Selah. Some translate the
first word there, but there is no clear
instance
of the Hebrew adverb being so used, and the best interpreters
suppose
the sense to be that he destroyed them on their way there, while
in
motion towards the
an
intensive species of the common verb (rbawA) to break. Both forms
occur
together in Ps. xxix. 5. See also Ps. iii. (7). The ambiguous
word
bolts is used to represent a Hebrew
one, which properly means
thunderbolts
or flashes of lightning, but is here applied to the flight of
arrows,
with or without allusion to the practice of igniting them (Eph.
vi.
16). To the shield and sword, as the most important pieces of offensive
and
defensive armour, he adds, by a bold and striking figure, war itself,
perhaps
as a residuary aggregate of all other arms and weapons.
5 (4). Bright (art) thou, glorious, more than the mountains of prey.
The
object of address is God, who had been previously spoken of, in the
third
person. The first word in Hebrew is a participle, meaning illumi-
nated,
made to shine, and therefore bearing some affinity to our word
illustrious.
The other epithet means grand, glorious, sublime. See above,
on
Ps. viii. 1. The common version (excellent)
seems to restrict the
praise
to moral qualities. As mountains are standing symbols of states
and
kingdoms, mountains of prey, i. e.
mountains occupied by robbers, may
322 PSALM LXXVI. [VER.
5-9.
denote
oppressive powers, such as that of
apply
similar descriptions. See Nah. ii. 11, 12, iii. 1. To all such
hostile
powers God is here represented as superior.
6 (5). Spoiled are the stout of heart; they have slept their sleep; and all
the men of might have
not found their hands. The meaning of the first clause
seems
to be, that the spoilers are themselves spoiled, by a signal providen-
tial
retribution. Some, however, explain the first word to mean snatched
away,
caused to disappear, or vanish. They have slept their own sleep,
i.
e. they, like others, in their turn, sleep the sleep of death. See above,
on
Ps. xiii. 4 (3), and compare Nah. iii. 18, 2 Kings xix. 35. Stout of
heart suggests the two
distinct ideas, courageous and hard-hearted. The
same
expression is used, in an unfavourable sense, by Isaiah (xlvi. 12). All
have not found does not imply that
some have found, but on the contrary,
that
none have found, or in other words that the negative proposition is
true
of all without exception. Found their
hands is understood by some to
mean
regained their strength. But the
direct sense of the word is, that they have
not
found the use of their hands, or been able to employ them with advantage.
7 (6). At thy rebuke, 0 God of Jacob, put to sleep (is) both chariot and
horse. The particle at the
beginning is both temporal and causal,
post hoc
et propter hoc. After and because of
thy rebuke. This noun denotes not
merely
a verbal but a real or practical expression of the divine displeasure.
See
above, on Ps. ix. 6 (5), lxviii. 31 (30). God
of Jacob, see above, on
ver.
10 (9). Put to sleep is here used to
translate a passive participle,
denoting
not a mere state or condition, but the violence by which it is pro-
duced.
The sleep meant is of course the sleep of death. The application
of
this figure to the chariot as well as to the horse, is less paradoxical in
Hebrew,
where the noun used is sometimes a collective meaning cavalry.
See
my note on Isaiah xxi. 7. At the same time there is beauty in the
figure,
as suggesting that the noisy rattle of the wheels is hushed in death-
like
silence.
8 (7). Thou (art) to be feared, (even) thou, and who shall stand before
thee, when once thou art
angry?
The Hebrew passive participle often has
the
force of the future passive or gerundive in Latin. See above, on Ps.
xviii.
4 (3). The repetition of the pronoun wades it highly emphatic and
even
exclusive, thou and no other, thou and only thou. Who shall stand?
includes
the kindred question, who may or can
stand? To stand before
God
means, in this connection, to stand one's ground in opposition to him,
or
in independence of him. See above, on Ps. i. 5. The common version
of
the last words, which is retained above, conveys correctly the idea, but
without
the peculiar form of the original, which is highly idiomatic, and
not
susceptible of literal translation. The last word strictly means thy
anger
and the one before it from then or from that time. The nearest
approach
to it in English would be since thy anger,
a construction which is
actually
given in the latest German versions.
9 (8). From, heaven thou halt caused judgment to be heard; the earth
feared and rested, or,
the earth was afraid and was still. From his throne
in
heaven God had pronounced judgment on his wicked enemies, the sound
of
which had struck the dwellers upon earth with awe and calmed their
tumult.
The last Hebrew verb is especially applied to repose after the
noise
and agitation of war. See Josh. xiv. 15, Judges v. 31, Isa. xiv. 7.
10 (9). In God's arising for the judgment, to save all the humble of the
earth. This completes the
sentence begun in the preceding verse, by assign-
VER.
10-12.] PSALM LXXVI. 323
ing
the date, and at the same time the cause, of the effect there recorded.
The
earth was awe-struck and reduced to silence when God arose to judg-
ment,
i. e. to act as judge or sovereign arbiter. In the last clause, as in
many
other places, the judgments of God upon his enemies are represented
as
occasions of deliverance to his people, here described by one of their
characteristic
qualities, not merely as the meek in
temper, but as the lowly
in
spirit, the humble in the strong religious
sense. See above, on Ps. ix.
13
(12), x. 12, 17, xxii. 27 (26), xxv. 9, xxxiv. 3 (2), xxxvii. 11, lxix.
33
(32). The last word in the verse has here a kind of double sense, since
the
promise made directly to the humble of
the land, i. e. the spiritual
was
really intended to include all the humble
of the earth, i. e. all the truly
pious,
whether Jews or Gentiles.
11 (10). For the wrath of man shall praise thee (or acknowledge thee); the
remainder of wraths thou
shalt gird
(about thee). The very passions which
excite
men to rebel against God shall be used as instruments and means of
coercion.
See above, on Ps. xxxii. 9. And so complete shall be this pro-
cess,
that even the remnant of such passionate excitement, which might be
expected
to escape attention, will be nevertheless an instrument or weapon
in
the hands of God. This last idea is expressed by the figure of a girdle,
here
considered as a sword-belt. So too in other cases the verb to gird is
absolutely
used in the sense of girding on a sword, or the still more general
one
of arming one's self. See above, on Ps. xlv. 4 (3), and compare
Judges
xviii. 11, 1 Kings xx. 11, 2 Kings iii. 21. Others, with less proba-
bility,
suppose the figure to denote the act of attaching to one's self, as in
Ps.
cix. 19, Isa. xi. 5, Jer. xiii. 11, and apply it to the future conversion of
all remaining
enemies.
The plural in the last clause (wraths or
angers) seems to be an emphatic
designation
of abundance or success. See above, on Ps. xviii. 51 (50).
12 (11). Vow and pay unto Jehovah your God, all (ye that are) round
about him; let them.
bring tribute to the Dread (One). The first clause may be
understood
to mean, pay now what you have vowed before, i. e. before the
great
deliverance and during the impending danger. The addition of your
God shews that the object
of address is
22
(21). According to the masoretic interpunction, all that are round
about him belongs to the first
clause, and denotes the host of
midst
of whom Jehovah's tent was pitched (Num. ii. 2). The English
Bible,
following the ancient versions, throws these words into the last
clause,
as the subject of the verb that follows, let
all that are round about
him bring presents, or
they shall bring presents. This last word in Hebrew
denotes
tribute from the conquered or dependent to the conqueror or
sovereign.
See above, on Ps. lxviii. 30 (29), and compare Isa. xviii. 7.
This
was literally verified in the case of Hezekiah's rescue from the power
of
Sennacherib. See 2 Chron. xxxii. 23. God is here called Fear or
Terror,
as an object to be reverenced or dreaded. Compare the similar
expressions
in Isaiah viii. 12, 13.
13 (12). He cuts off the spirit of princes; he is feared (or to be feared) by
the kings of earth. The first verb is
specially applied to the pruning or
cutting
of vines. See Jer. vi. 9, xxv. 30, xlix. 9, and compare Rev. xiv.
18,
19. Its future form includes a potential sense. He can do it when
he
will, and he will do it when he sees occasion. Spirit or breath is here
put
for the life or vital principle, to cut which is to kill. He who pos-
sesses
this alarming power is or ought to be an object of religious fear, not
only
to ordinary men, or to certain great men in particular, but to all the kings
324 PSALM LXXVII. [VER. 1-5.
of
the earth. Compare Mat. x. 28, Luke xii. 5. These expressions shew
that
the historical occasion of the psalm was not an event of merely local
interest,
but a great historical and national catastrophe, such as the blow inflicted
on
the power of
PSALM
LXXVII.
1. To the Chief Musician over (the choir or family of) Jeduthun. By
Asaph. A Psalm. For the meaning of
this title, see above, on Ps.
lxii.
1. The psalm before us contains a complaint and prayer of the ancient
church
in times of deep distress. It consists of two parts. In the first,
the
church describes her sad condition, and complains of God's desertion,
ver.
2-10 (1-9). In the second, she encourages herself by the remem-
brance
of former deliverances, and especially of that from
(10-20).
The particular historical occasion is not specified; but if, as
some
suppose, it be the crisis of affairs in the reign of Josiah, the name
Asaph
must be understood as a description of the family, and not of its pro-
genitor.
See above, on Ps. 1. 1. There are several obvious imitations of
this
psalm in the third chapter of Habakkuk.
2 (1). My voice unto God (I will raise) and will cry; my voice unto God
(I
will raise), and he will give ear to me.
Some make the last verb an im-
perative,
and (when I raise my voice) do thou give
ear. But besides the
sudden
change of person, which, though common, is not to be assumed
without
necessity, the form of the Hebrew verb is that of an infinitive, to
be
determined by assimilation to the one before it. The last clause then
really
assigns a reason for the purpose expressed in the first. He would
not
pray if he despaired of being heard.
3 (2). In the day of my distress the Lord I sought; my hand by night
was spread, and grew not
numb ; my soul refused to be comforted. Day is
here
put for time, but not without allusion to the mention of the night in
the
clause following, so as to express the idea that he prayed day and night.
The
verb translated spread means strictly
spilt, poured out, scattered, but
seems
to be here poetically applied to the spreading of the hands as a customary
gesture
of entreaty. See above, on Ps. xliv. 21 (20). The common ver-
sion,
my sore ran, has no foundation in
etymology or usage. For the
meaning
of the next verb, see above, on Ps. xxxviii. 9 (8). Its form is
future,
but the copulative particle, though separated from it by the nega-
tive,
may be considered as exerting a conversive force.
4 (3). I remember God and murmur; I muse, and overwhelmed is my
spirit. Selah. The recollection of
God's former kindness, as contrasted with
what
seems to be his present desertion, extorts from the sufferer an expression
of
disquietude. The second verb in Hebrew is the same with that in Ps.
xxxix.
7 (6), xlii. 6, 12 (5, 11), lv. 18 (17). My
spirit is not simply
equivalent
to myself, but suggests the
additional idea of profound internal
agitation.
5 (4). Thou hast held fast my eyes; I am smitten and cannot speak.
The
word here rendered fast is properly a
passive participle, meaning
watched, kept, and here, from the connection,
kept awake or open. This
circumstance
is added to enhance the description of his miserable state.
6 (5). I thought on days of old, years of antiquities (or perpetuities.)
The
contrast of the present with the past is again urged as an aggravating
circumstance
in his condition.
VER.
6-13.] PSALM
LXXVII. 325
7 (6). I will remember my song in the night, with my heart will I muse,
and my spirit inquires. The futures of the
first clause have reference to
the
time of actual suffering. The word translated song means strictly a
stringed instrument, or that kind of music,
but is here used more generally
to
denote the musical expression of thanksgiving. In the night qualifies
the
words immediately preceding (my song), not the remoter antecedent (I
remember). With my heart, i.e. in communion with it, with myself. My
spirit inquires, i. e. I, from the
bottom of my heart, ask the questions
recorded
in the following verses.
8 (7). For ever will the Lord reject, and will he no more favour? It
was
thus that the spirit of the sufferer made inquiry. For ever, literally
to eternities or ages. Reject, with
abhorrence and contempt. See above,
on
Ps. xliii. 2, xliv. 10, 24 (9, 23), lx. 3, 12 (2, 11), lxxiv. 1. The idio-
matic
form of the last clause is, will he not
add to favour again (or any
longer)?
9 (8). Ceased for ever has his mercy, failed (his) word to generation and
generation? The general term word
here denotes specifically a word of
promise.
See above on Ps. xviii. 31 (30). Generation and generation, i.e.
all
generations in succession, are not mentioned as the objects of the pro-,
mise,
to whom God's word was pledged, but as the period of its failure.
10 (9). Has the
Mighty (One) forgotten to be gracious, or closed in wrath.
his mercies? Selah. The use of the divine
name El is here significant,
as
if it had been asked, does the goodness of God no longer bear proportion
to
his greatness? The verb translated closed is one found only in poetical
style.
The original expression for his mercies suggests the idea of his bowels,
according
to the idiom which represents the viscera as the seat of the ten-
derest
affections.
11 (10). And I said, This is my affliction, the years of the right hand of
the Highest. This may be regarded as
the turning point of the entire compo-
sition.
After all the repinings and misgivings just described, I said, at length,
what
I might and should have said before. My
affliction, literally my sick-
ness, that specific form of
suffering beina put for suffering in general, as
inflicted
by the hand of God. The use of the word years
seems to imply
that
the trial was one of long continuance. The divine name or description (Most
High) suggests the duty and
necessity of yielding to his sovereign pleasure.
12 (11). I will commemorate the deeds of Jah; for I will remember thy
wonders of old. The forms of the verb
in the two clauses are different,
though
needlessly assimilated by the masoretic critics and the versions.
The
second is the primitive verb remember;
the first its derivative, cause
to
be remembered, commemorate, celebrate. The literal meaning of the
last
words is from antiquity thy wonder, a
collective and abstract expression
for thy wondrous works. For the origin and
use of the divine name JAH,
see
above, on Ps. lxviii. 5 (4).
13 (12). And I will meditate of all thy work, and of thy doings will I
muse. The original expression
is not of but in them, as if implying a com-
plete
absorption of the thoughts and feeling in the object.
14 (13). 0 God, in holiness is thy way. What Mighty (One) is great
like God? The common version, in the sanctuary, yields a good sense;
but
the other is entitled to the preference on account of Exod. xv. 11, to
which
place there is evident allusion. Holiness
here means the divine per-
fection,
all that distinguishes the Maker from his creatures. See above,
on
Ps. xxii. 4 (3). Thy way, i. e. thy
mode of dealing with thy creatures,
326 PSALM LXXVII. [VER. 14-19.
and
particularly with thy people. The use of the name El is again significant.
Who
is there like God, even among the mightiest and most exalted beings?
15 (14). Thou (art) the Almighty doing wonders; thou hast made known
in the nations thy
strength.
Thou art the true Almighty as distinguished
from
all counterfeits. Doing, i. e.
habitually, characteristically, doing won-
ders.
The next word has the singular form but a collective meaning, as in
ver.
12 (11) above. In the nations, not
only to them, but among them, in
the
midst of them, and in their own experience. The display of God's
omnipotence
had not been confined to his own people, but extended to sur-
rounding
nations, This is particularly mentioned in the history of the
exodus
from
16 (15). Thou hast redeemed with the arm thy people, the sons of Jacob
and Joseph. Selah. The particular display
of the divine strength just
referred
to is now specified. Redeemed,
recovered from captivity or bond-
age.
With the arm, i. e. by the exercise
of power. See above, on Ps.
xliv.
4 (3). Joseph is named as well as Jacob, in order to include the ten
tribes
in the statement, which might otherwise have been applied to
only,
as the legitimate successor of the ancient
interpreters
see a distinct allusion to the downfall of the kingdom of the
ten
tribes, as an event which had already taken place when the psalm was written.
17 (16). The waters saw thee, God, the waters saw thee; they shake, yea,
the depths quake. The historical
reference is of course to the passage of
the
seas
in Scripture. See above, on Ps. xlvi. 3 (2). The transition from the
past
tense to the future or present shews that the writer suddenly transports
himself
into the midst of the events which he commemorates. The yea or
nay (Jxa) in the last clause is
emphatic. Not merely the surface of the water
moves;
its very depths are agitated and convulsed.
18 (17). The clouds poured water; the skies gave a sound: yea, thine
arrows fly. These are natural
phenomena of storms, here noted as betoken-
ing
God's presence. See above, on Ps. xviii. 12-15 (11-14). The skies,
the
vapours constituting the visible heavens. See above, on Ps. lxviii.
35
(34). Gave a sound, uttered their
voice, a beautifiul description of the
thunder.
The yea indicates a climax. There was
not only rain and thunder
but
lightning, the flashes of which are poetically spoken of as arrows. See
above,
on Ps. xviii. 15 (14). The word translated fly
is an intensive form
of
the verb to go, implying swiftness
and perhaps diversity of direction,
hither
and thither, to and fro. See above, on Ps. xxvi. 3, xxxv. 14. With
this
verse compare Hab. iii. 11.
19 (18). The voice of thy thunder (was) in the whirlwind; lightnings
made the world shine;
(then) shook and quaked the earth. The word trans-
lated
whirlwind usually means a wheel, but
is sometimes applied to anything
whirled
or driven round before the wind. See below, on Ps. lxxxiii. 14 (13),
and
compare Isa. xvii. 13. Hence it may naturally be employed to desig-
nate
the whirlwind itself as the cause of this rotary motion. This is surely
more
agreeable to usage than to make it descriptive of mere swiftness or
velocity.
The common version, in the heaven, if
not entirely arbitrary, must
rest
upon a supposed allusion to the convex appearance of the heavens.
Made to shine, illuminated, lighted up.
There is, however, no affinity be-
tween
the Hebrew word and that for lightnings.
The whole description is
remarkably
like that of the theophany in Ps. xviii. See also Hab. iii. 14.
20 (19). In the sea (was) thy way and thy paths in great (or many) waters,
VER.
1, 2.] PSALM
LXXVIII.
327
and thy footsteps were
not known.
This may be understood as a general
description
of the divine operations as inscrutable, in which case the verbs
supplied
should have the present form, is thy way,
are not known. It is
more
agreeable, however, to the context, and in far better keeping with the
vivid
graphic character of this part of the psalm, to understand the verse,
at
least in the first instance, as referring to the exodus from
it
might indeed be said that the way of Jehovah, as the deliverer and con-
ductor
of his people, was in the sea, and
that his footsteps and theirs could
not
be traced, because the waters instantly rolled over them. With this
verse
compare Hab. iii. 15.
21 (20). Thou didst guide like a flock thy people, by the hand of Moses and
Aaron. Like a flock in perfect
safety and with perfect ease. The com-
parison
of Moses, at this juncture, to a shepherd, reappears in Isa. lxiii.
11-14.
The conclusion of the psalm appears abrupt, but any devout
Israelite
could draw the inference for himself, that he who had so gloriously
saved
his people could deliver them again.
PSALM
LXXVIII.
THIS psalm appears to have been
written after David's elevation to the
throne,
and perhaps before he was acknowledged by the whole race of
(2
Sam. v. 5). Its design is to impress upon the public mind the true
grounds
of the transfer which had taken place, of the pre-eminence in
from
the tribe of Ephraim to that of
purpose
long before disclosed, and at the same time a just judgment on the
sins
committed by the people under the predominant influence of Ephraim,
from
the time of Joshua to that of Eli. The internal character of the psalm
determines
its external form, which is simple, and admits of no minute
division,
beyond that afforded by the historical succession of events and the
logical
design of the composition, to prove that the Israelites under the
ascendancy
of Ephraim were similar in character to the elder generation
which
came out of
1. Maschil. By Asaph. Listen, my people, to my law; incline your
ear to the sayings of my
mouth.
This is eminently a didactic psalm, because
it
teaches the true meaning of events in the history of
otherwise
seem to be mere matters of curiosity. For the same reason it
was
necessary that it should be so designated in the title or inscription.
See
above, on Ps. xxxii. 1, xlii.1, lii. 1, &c. The Asaph meant, as we have
seen,
is
probably the contemporary and chief musician of David, but also an
inspired
psalmist. See above, on Ps. 1. 1. In this verse he invites atten-
tion,
as if to something strange and unexpected. My
people, fellow-mem-
bers
of the ancient church, not as individuals, however, but as an organised
body.
My law, my inspired instructions
which, as such, have a binding
authority
and force.
2. I will open, in a parable, my mouth; I will utter riddles from an-
tiquity. By a parable we are here to understand an
analogical illustration
of
divine truth. An exposition of the true design and meaning of the his-
tory
of
not
the events themselves, but their latent import, which escaped a merely
superficial
observation. See above, on Ps. xlix. 5 (4). Of
old, or from an-
tiquity,
i. e. belonging to the early period of our national existence. Utter,
literally
pour forth, cause to flow or gush. See above, on Ps. xix. 3 (2).
328 PSALM LXXVIII. [VER.
3-13
3. Which we have heard, and have known them, and our fathers recounted
to us. Here, as often
elsewhere, the knowledge of God's ancient dealings
with
his people is ascribed to that national tradition, which they were not
only
suffered but required to cherish and perpetuate (Exod. xii. 14, Deut.
vi.
20), but which was not at all exclusive of a written and authoritative record.
4. We will not hide (them) from their sons, to an after generation
recount-
ing the praises of
Jehovah, and his strength, and his wonders which he did.
The
psalmist here recognises the obligation resting on the individual parent,
but
above all on the church as such, to continue the transmission of this
knowledge
to the latest generations.
5. And set up a testimony in Jacob, and a law established in
which he commanded our
fathers, to make them known unto their sons.
The
essential idea here conveyed still is, that the traditional transmission
of
God's mighty deeds entered into the very end or purpose for which
6. In order that the after generation might know, sons be born, arise, and
tell (it) to their own
sons.
This prolonged reiteration of the same thing
seems
intended to preclude the thought or feeling, that the things about to
be
recounted were mere relics of antiquity, without interest or use to the
contemporary
race.
7. And might place in God their hope, and not forget the deeds of the
Almighty, and his
commandments might observe (or keep).
The construction
is
continued from the verse preceding. The recollection thus enjoined was
not
a mere historical or speculative exercise, but designed to have a prac-
tical
effect, to wit, that of securing obedience.
8. And might not be as their fathers, a generation stubborn and
rebellious,
a generation that did
not prepare its heart, and whose spirit was not true to
God. A still more specific
purpose is here mentioned, to wit, that of
warning
by means of bad examples. The fathers
here meant are the elder
race
that came out of
borrowed
from Deut. xxi. 18. To prepare the heart
is to dispose or devote
it
to God's service. Compare 1 Sam. vii. 3, 2 Chron. xx. 33.
9. The sons of Ephraim, armed bowmen, turned (back) in the day of
battle. The people, during the
ascendancy of Ephraim, proved false to
their
great mission of subduing
neglect
is represented, in the history itself, as the source of all the national
calamities
that followed. As the bow among the ancients was one of the
chief
weapons of war, the description armed
bowmen is equivalent to well
armed
soldiers, and is added to enhance the guilt and shame of those who
thus
betrayed their trust, in spite of every external advantage.
10. They kept not the covenant of God, and in his law refused to walk.
They
violated the condition of their national vocation, and refused to do the
very
thing for which they were brought out of
11. And forgot his deeds and his wonders which he shewed them. The
second
generation forgot the proofs of God's presence and power, which, in
the
person of their fathers, they had seen when they came out of
12. Before their fathers he did a wonder, in the
field of Zoan. Wonder has here the same
collective sense as in Ps.
lxxvii.
12, 15 (11, 14). Zoan, called by the
Greeks
cient
capital of
the
country immediately adjacent to it.
13. He slave the sea, and let them pass, and made the waters stand as a
VER.
14-21.] PSALM LXXVIII. 329
heap. This last expression
is derived from Exod. xv. 8. See above, on Ps. xxxiii. 7.
14. And led them by the cloud by day, and all the night by light of fire.
See
Exod. xiii. 21, 22. The original expression, in the cloud, may denote
something
more than instrumental agency, to wit, the personal presence of
the
Divine Angel in the cloud itself.
15. He cleaves rocks in the wilderness, and gives them drink as a great
deep. This last is a
hyperbolical description of an abundant flow of water
in
the desert. Some account for it by supposing an allusion to the flood,
from
the account of which (Gen. vii. 11) some of the expressions are bor-
rowed.
The verse has reference to both miraculous supplies of this kind,
one
in the first, and one in the last year of the error in the wilderness.
See
Exod. xvii. 6, Num. xx. 8.
16. And brings out torrents from a rock, and brings down waters like the
rivers. This verse relates to
the later miracle, recorded in the twentieth
of
Numbers.
17. And they continued still to sin against him, to rebel against the
Highest in the desert. What ought to have
been the effect of these divine
interpositions,
is clearly implied in this description of the actual effect.
The
very means which should have made them more obedient made them
more
rebellious. The last word in Hebrew means a desert, properly so
called,
a dry land, and may here be used to suggest the idea, that they
foolishly
and wickedly provoked God in the very situation where they were
most
dependent on him for protection and supplies. The extent of this
dependence
is implied in the use of a divine name signifying sovereignty,
supremacy.
18. And tempted God in their heart, to ask food for their soul. To
tempt
God
is to require unnecessary proof of what should be believed without it.
Instead
of trusting in his bounty to supply them, they anxiously demanded
what
they looked upon as necessary for their sustenance. In their heart
describes
the first conception of the sin, as distinguished from its outward
commission
in the next verse. To ask, by asking,
or rather, so as to ask.
Such
was their impious distrust of God, that they actually asked, &c. For
their soul, for themselves; or,
for their appetite, to gratify their inordinate
desire
of bodily indulgence; or, for their life, as absolutely necessary to
preserve
it.
19. And spake of God (and) said, Will the Almighty be able to set a table
in the wilderness? This they not only
said, but said it speaking of or
against
God. The unreasonableness of the doubt is aggravated by the use
of
a divine name which implies omnipotence. As if they had said, Can he
do
this who can do everything?
20. Lo, he smote the rock, and waters flow, and streams gush out; (but)
can he also give bread
or provide flesh for his people? The same
thing is
now
proved by an appeal to what he had done. The question is reduced
to
an absurdity by introducing as a kind of preamble, what ought to have
prevented
its being asked at all. The doubters are described in these two
verses
as virtually reasoning thus: God is almighty; but is he able to
supply
our wants? He has given us water; but can he give us bread or
meat?
21. Therefore Jehovah heard and was wroth, and fire was kindled in Jacob,
and also anger came up
in (or against)
a
common Hebrew idiom, equivalent to saying, therefore when he heard he
was
angry. Heard, not the rumour or
report of their offence, but the
330 PSALM LXXVIII. [VER. 22 27.
offence
itself, which consisted externally in speaking against God. The
second
verb is a reflexive form of one that means to pass out or over, and
properly
denotes the act of letting one's self out or giving vent to the emo-
tions.
Fire seems to be a figure for this
same wrath, with or without
allusion
to material fire as a destroying agent. Compare Num. xi. 1.
Came up, in the mind. See 2
Sam. xi. 20. Or there may be an allusion
to
the visible ascent of smoke and flame, as in Ps. xviii. 9 (8).
22. Because they believed not in God, and trusted not in his salvation.
Compare
the terms of the history in Exod. xiv. 13, Num. xiv. 11.
23. And he commanded the cloud above, and the doors of heaven he opened.
The
connection of the sentences is correctly although freely given in the
common
version, though he had commanded,
&c. Above, literally from above,
but
see on Ps. 1. 4. The whole verse expresses the idea of a copious supply
from
heaven. In the last clause there seems to be a reference to the open-
ing
of the windows of heaven at the deluge. Compare Gen. vii. 11, and
see
above on ver. 15.
24. And rained upon them manna to eat, and corn of heaven gave to them.
The
expression rained is borrowed from
the history, Exod. xvi. 4. The
addition
of the words to eat may have reference to the primary import of
the
word (NmA)
manna as an interrogative or indefinite
pronoun, meaning what
or
somewhat, so that the words here
might also bear the sense of something
to eat. See Exod. xvi. 15, 31.
It is called corn of heaven as a
miraculous substitute
for
bread, and also in allusion to its granular form and appearance, Exod. xvi.
25. Bread of the mighty (ones) did (each) man eat; victual he sent them
go the full. The first Hebrew word,
as appears from the preceding verse,
is
used in its specific sense of bread, and not in the generic one of food,
which
is otherwise expressed in ver. 20. Some explain bread of the mighty to
mean
delicate or costly bread, like that used by the rich and noble. But
to
these the epithet is nowhere else applied, as a similar one is to the angels
in
Ps. ciii. 20, a circumstance which favours the old explanation given in
the
Targum and the Septuagint, according to which manna is called angels'
bread, not as being their food,
but as coming from the place where they re-
side.
Man is not used generically in
antithesis to angels, which would have
required
another Hebrew word (MdAxA), but distributively in the sense of
every one, as it is in the history
of this very miracle, Exod. xvi. 16. The
idea
then is that enough was sent for all without exception. The word
translated
victual denotes specially provision
for a march or journey. See
Exod.
xii. 39. To the full, or to satiety, enough and more than enough
to
satisfy
the appetite of every individual; another expression borrowed from
the
history. See Exod. xvi. 3.
26. He rouses an east-wind in the heavens, and guides by his power a
south-wind. The first verb is a
causative of that used in Num. xi. 31, which
strictly
means to strike a tent or break up an encampment, and then to set
out
upon a march or journey, but is there applied to the sudden rise of a
particular
wind. The east and south are here named as the points from
which
the strongest winds were known to blow in that part of the world.
The
history itself contains no such specification. Guides, directs it in the
course
required for this purpose.
27. And he rained upon them, like dust, flesh, and like the sand of seas,
winged fowl (or birds of
wing).
Here, as in the miracle of water, two
miraculous
supplies of flesh are brought together. See Exod. xvi. 13, Num.
VER.
28-36.] PSALM
LXXVIII. 331
xi.
31, 32. To these two is transferred the figure of rain, which, in the
history,
is applied only to the manna.
28. And let it fall in the midst of his camp, round about his dwellings.
The
pronoun his refers to
the
use of the plural their. Several of
the terms here used are borrowed
from
the Mosaic narrative. See Exod. xvi. 13, Num. xi. 31.
29. And they ate and were sated exceedingly, and (thus) their desire he
brings
to them. The first clause is an
amplification of the phrase to the full
in
ver.
25 above. Compare the history in Num. xi. 18-20. Their desire,
i.
e. the object of it, that which they had longed for.
30. They were not (yet) estranged from their desire; still (was) their food
in their mouth. This is merely the
protasis or conditional clause of the
sentence
completed in the next verse. The first clause does not mean that
the
food had not begun to pall upon their appetite, but, as the other clause
explains
it, that it was still in their possession, in their very mouths, when
God
smote them. Compare Num. xi. 33.
31. And the wrath of God came up among them (or against them), and
slew among their fat
ones, and the chosen, (youths) of
form
of expression in the first clause is the same as in ver. 21 above.
Among their fat ones, i.e. killed some or
many of them. The parallel
term,
according to its etymology, means picked or chosen men, but its usage
is
applied to young men in their full strength and the flower of their age, and
therefore
fit for military service. Thus the youngest and strongest are de-
scribed
as unable to resist the exhibition of God's wrath against his people.
32. For all this they sinned still, and believed not for his wonders.
Not-
withstanding
all these favours and extraordinary interpositions, the genera-
tion
that came out of
clause
does not charge them with denying the reality of the wonders which
they
witnessed, but with refusing to trust God on the strength of them. This
appears
from the history itself, Num. xiv. 11, to which there is obvious allusion.
33. And (therefore) he wasted in
vanity their days and their years in
terror. As the preceding verse
relates to the refusal of the people to go
up
against the Canaanites in the first year of the exodus, so this relates to
the
forty years of error in the wilderness, by which that refusal was at once
indulged
and punished. The fruitless monotony of their existence during
this
long period, and their constant apprehension of some outbreak of
divine
wrath, are expressed here by the words translated vanity and terror.
The
meaning of the verb is that he suffered or caused their years to be thus
unprofitably
and miserably spent. Compare Ps. lxxiii. 19.
34. If he slew them, then they sought him, and returned and inquired
early after God. Whenever, during this long interval, he
punished them
with
more than usual severity, a temporary and apparent reformation was
the
immediate consequence. The verb in the last clause denotes eager and
importunate
solicitation. See above, on Ps. xliii. 2 (1).
35. And remembered that God (was) their Rock, and the Mighty, the
Most High, their
Redeemer.
It was only at these times of peculiar suffering
that
the people, as a body, called to mind their national relation to Jeho-
vah,
as their founder, their protector, and their refuge. See above, on Ps.
xviii.
3 (2), and compare Deut. xxxii. 4, 15, 18, 31.
36. And (yet) they deceived him
with their mouth, and with their tongue
they lie to him. Even these apparent
reformations only led to hypocritical
professions.
The verb in the first clause does not describe the effect but
332 PSALM LXXVIII. [VER. 37-42.
the
intention. It may therefore be translated flattered,
although this is not
the
strict sense of the Hebrew word.
37. And their heart was not fixed (or constant) with him, and they were
not true to (or faithful
in) his covenant.
Their obedience was capricious
and
imperfect, and proceeded from no settled principle or genuine devotion
to
his service. They were false to the very end for which they existed as
a
nation. For the meaning of a fixed or
settled heart, see above, on Ps.
li.
12 (10), and compare Ps. lvii. 8 (7).
38. And he, the Merciful, forgives iniquity, and does not (utterly) de-
stroy; and he often
withdrew his anger, and would not arouse all his wrath.
The
first clause relates rather to God's attributes, or to his method of pro-
ceeding
in the general, than to his proceeding in this particular case, which
is
not brought forward till the last clause. There is obvious allusion to the
description
of God's mercy in Ex. xxxiv. 6, 7. Forgives
is a very inade-
quate
translation of the Hebrew word, which necessarily suggests the idea of
expiation
as the ground of pardon. Often withdrew,
literally multiplied to
withdraw
his wrath, or cause it to return without accomplishing its object.
39. And he remembered that they (were but) flesh, a breath departing and
returning not. Here, as elsewhere, the frailty
and infirmity of man is
assigned
as a ground of the divine forbearance. Compare Ps. ciii. 14-16.
Flesh,
a common scriptural expression for humanity or human nature, as
distinguished
from superior beings, and especially from God. See above,
on
Ps. lvi. 5 (4), and compare Gen. vi. 3, Isa. xxxi. 3. The idea of fragi-
lity
and brief duration is expressed still more strongly by the exquisite.
figure
in the last clause. The melancholy thought with which it closes is
rendered
still more emphatic in Hebrew by the position of the verb and the
irregular
construction of the sentence, a breath going and it shall not return.
40. How oft do they resist him in the wilderness (and) grieve him in the
desert! Many particular
occurrences are summed up in this pregnant ex-
clamation.
The future form of the verbs seems to have reference to the
ideal
situation of the writer, looking forward in imagination to the error as
still
future, and saying as Moses might have said, if gifted with prophetic
foresight
of the sins of
high
professions, how oft will they resist his authority and rouse his wrath !
41. And they turned and tempted God, and (on) the Holy One of
set a mark. Having described the
conduct of the first generation in
the
wilderness, the Psalmist now proceeds to shew that the younger gene-
ration,
after the death of Joshua (Josh. xxiv. 31), were like their fathers
(ver.
57 below). The first verb may either have the independent meaning
turned away, or turned back from his service, or qualify the next verb by
denoting
repetition of the action; and they
tempted again, or still tempted.
They
tempted God by doubting his supremacy, and practically challenging
him
to the proof of it. See above, on ver. 19. The last word in Hebrew
is
of doubtful meaning. Some explain it, by a Syriac analogy, and on the
authority
of the ancient versions, to mean provoked
or grieved. In the only
other
place where the Hebrew word occurs (Ezek. ix. 4) it means to set a
mark
upon a person, which some apply here, in the figurative sense of
stigmatising
or insulting. A cognate verb is used by Moses (Num. xxxiv.
7,
8) to denote the act of laying off or marking out a boundary, which is probably
the
origin of the common version, limited,
i. e. prescribed bounds to the power
of
Jehovah in their unbelief, Holy One of
Israel, see above, on Ps. lxxi. 22)
42. They remembered not his hand, the day that he redeemed them from
VER.
43-48.] PSALM LXXVII. 333
distress (or from the enemy). The psalmist still
confounds or identifies the
several
generations as one aggregate or national person. The younger
race
remembered not the miraculous favours experienced by their prede-
cessors.
His hand, the exertion of his power,
a favourite Mosaic figure.
See
particularly Exod. vii. 5, xiii. 9, Deut. vii. 8. The last clause admits of
two
constructions. The day may be in
apposition with his hand, and a
collateral
object to the verb, as in the common version; or it may be an
adverbial
expression qualifying what precedes. "They remembered not
how
his power was exerted in the day that he redeemed them from the
enemy."
The essential meaning is the same in either case.
43. (He) who set in
The
miraculous interpositions at the exodus were signs of God's presence
and
immediate agency. To set these was to hold them up to view. See
above,
on Ps. lxxiv. 4. The description of
repeated
from ver. 12 above.
44. And turned to blood their rivers, and their streams they cannot
drink. The general statement
of the preceding verse is rendered more
specific
by the mention of several of the plagues in detail, beginning with
the
first. See Exod. vii. 18-20. The word translated rivers is the plural
of
one commonly applied to the
It
may here be understood as denoting either the natural branches of the
gation
of the country. In the last clause, by a very common trope, the
writer
speaks as he might have spoken at the time of the event.
45. He sends among them (or against them) flies and they devour them,
and frogs and they
destroy them.
Two of the other plagues are here added,
from
the narrative in Exod. viii. The first noun in Hebrew was explained
by
the ancient writers as denoting a mixture
of noxious animals; but the
best
interpreters are now agreed that it means the Egyptian dog-fly, which
Philo
represents as feeding upon flesh and blood.
46. And he gave (up) to the caterpillar their produce, and their labour to
the locust. Both the animal names
in this verse are really designations of the locust,
one
meaning the devourer, and the other
denoting the vast numbers of that insect.
Their labour, i. e. its effect or
fruit. Compare the narrative in Exod. x. 12-19.
47. He kills with hail their vine and their sycamores with frost. The
destruction
of the vines is not mentioned in the history (Exod. ix. 23-32),
though
it is in Ps. cv. 33. It has even been denied that the culture of the
vine
was known in ancient
by
modern investigation and discovery. The last word of the sentence
occurs
nowhere else. Some of the moderns explain it, from an Arabic
analogy,
to mean an ant; but the parallelism
favours the usual interpreta-
tion
which is derived from the ancient versions.
48. And delivered their cattle to the hail and their herds to the flames.
The
Hebrew verb strictly means shut up, and occurs, elsewhere in the com-
bination
to shut up in the hand, i. e. abandon
to the power, of another.
See
above, on Ps. xxxi. 9 (8), and compare 1 Sam. xxiii. 11. Here, as in
Deut.
xxxii. 30, the verb is used absolutely in the sense of the whole phrase.
The
word translated flames occurs above
in Ps. lxxvi. 4 (3), and is here a
poetical
description of the lightning. The common version (hot thunder-
bolts) is striking and
poetical, but perhaps too strong. This verse does not
relate
to a distinct plague, but to the effects of the hail-storm upon animals,
as
its effect upon plants was described in the preceding verse.
334 PSALM LXXVIII. [VER. 49-50.
49. He sends upon them the heat of his anger, wrath and indignation and
anguish, a mission of
angels of evil.
Before mentioning the last and greatest
plague
of all, he accumulates expressions to describe it as the effect of the
divine
displeasure. The slaughter of the first-born is ascribed in the his-
tory
itself to a destroyer or destroying
angel (Exod. xii. 23, Heb. xi. 28),
which
may be a collective as it seems to be in 1 Sam. xiii. 17, or denote
the
commander of a destroying host (Josh. v. 15), here called a mission or
commission of angels. The destroying angel
reappears in the history of
David
(2 Sam. xxiv. 16) and of Hezekiah (2 Kings xix. 35). The original
construction
in the case before us is peculiar, angels
of evil (ones). This
cannot
mean evil angels, in the sense of
fallen spirits, who are not described
in
the Old Testament as the executioners of God's decrees. The best
explanation
is perhaps to take the plural evils
in an abstract sense, angels
of evil, not moral but
physical, i. e. authors of suffering or destruction.
50. He levels a path for his anger; and he did not withhold from death
their soul, and their
life to the plague gave up. For the meaning of the
first
verb, see above, on Ps. lviii. 3 (2). The meaning of the figure seems
to
be, that he removes all hindrance to his anger and allows it free scope.
Not
content with having smitten their possessions and their persons, he
now
extends his stroke to their lives. The word translated life more usually
means
an animal or animals collectively. See above, on Ps. lxviii. 11, 31
(10,
30), lxxiv. 19. If we retain this meaning here, the verse may be
referred
to the death of the Egyptian cattle by the murrain (Exod. ix. 1-7).
But
the parallelism and the context rather favour the translation life, and
the
reference of the passage to the death of the first-born, which was pro-
bably
occasioned by a pestilence (Exod. ix. 15) and is expressly mentioned
in
the next verse.
51. And smote all the first-born in
tents of Ham. Compare the narrative
in Exod. xii. 29, 30. The poetical
description
of the first-born in the last clause is derived from Gen. xlix. 3
(compare
Deut. xxi. 17), and that of
52. And brought out, like sheep, his people, and led them, like a flock in
the wilderness. For the precise meaning
of the first verb, see above, on
ver.
26, and compare Exod. xii. 37, xv. 22. The guidance in the wilder-
ness
includes ithat on both sides of the
53. And guided them in safety, and they did not fear, and their enemies
the sea covered. They did not fear,
because he removed all ground of appre-
hension.
This was especially the case at the passage of the
xv.
19, to which there is clearly a particular allusion.
54. And brought them to his holy border, this mountain (which) his right
hand won. The bound or border of
his holiness, the frontier of the land
which
he had set apart as holy. This mountain may, agreeably to Hebrew
usage,
mean this hilly country, as it does in Deut. iii. 25. But there is
no
doubt a particular reference to mount
central
point of the theocracy, designated as such long before the conquest
of
hand, the exertion of his
strength. Won, purchased, not in the restricted
modern
sense of buying, but in the old and wide sense of acquiring.
55. And drove out before them nations, and assigned them by measure (as)
a heritage, and caused
to dwell in their tents the tribes of
literally
from their face or presence. Nations,
whole nations, not mere
armies,
much less individuals. Assigned them,
literally made them fall, by
VER.
56-59.] PSALM
LXXVIII.
335
lot
or otherwise, a common expression for the distribution and allotment of
the
land. See Num. xxxiv. 2. The pronoun (them)
refers to the nations,
put
for their possessions, and especially their territory. The word trans-
lated
measure means primarily a measuring
line, but then the portion of
land
measured. Hence we may also read, assigned
them as (or for) a here-
ditary portion. In the last clause,
their tents means of course those of the Canaanites,
not
of the Israelites themselves, which would make the clause unmeaning.
56. And they tempted and resisted God, Most High, and his testimonies
did not keep. Having brought down
the narrative of God's dealings with
the
older race to the conquest of
charge
(against the following generations) of being no better than their
fathers.
To tempt God and resist him, or rebel
against him, has the same
sense
as in ver. 18, 40. The divine title NOyl;f, suggests that their
rebel-
lion
was against the highest and the most legitimate of all authority. His
testimonies against sin, contained
in his commandments; hence the use of
the
verb keep. The form of expression, in both clauses of this verse, is
borrowed
from Deut. vi. 16, 17.
57. And revolted and dealt falsely like their fathers; they were turned
like
a deceitful bow. He here resumes the
thread dropped at ver. 8, for the
purpose
of relating what their fathers did
and were, i. e. the older genera-
tion
who came out of
reiterates
the charge that their descendants, after the days of Joshua, were
no
better, and proceeds to prove it. The first clause describes them both
as
rebels and traitors. They were turned,
i. e. as some suppose, turned
aside,
swerved or twisted in the archer's hand, so as to give a wrong direc-
tion
to the arrow. Others understand it to mean,
they were converted (or
became) like a deceitful bow, i. e. one which deceives the expectation, and
fails
to accomplish the design for which it is employed. By a similar trope,
falsehood
or lying is ascribed to waters which are not perennial, but fail
precisely
when most needed. See Isa. lviii. 11, Job vi. 15. The figure of
a deceitful bow is borrowed from this
passage by Hosea (vii. 16).
58. And made him angry with their heights, and with their idols made him
jealous. Here, for the first
time, idolatry is mentioned as the great national
sin
of Israel after the death of Joshua and the contemporary elders. This
sin
is intimately connected with the one described in ver. 9, since the failure
to
exterminate the Canaanites and gain complete possession of the country,
with
its necessary consequence, the continued residence of gross idolaters
in
the midst of Israel, could not fail to expose the chosen people to perpetual
temptation,
and afford occasion to their worst defections. In the last clause,
graven images are put for the whole
class of idols or created gods, of whom
the
true God must be jealous as his rivals, as well as indignant at the heights
or
high places, the hill-tops where these false gods were most usually wor-
shipped.
The whole form of expression is Mosaic. See Deut. xxxii. 16, 21,
and
compare Exod. xx. 5.
59. God heard and wets indignant, and rejected Israel exceedingly. The
same
sin is followed by the same retribution as in ver. 21. Abhorred is an
inadequate
translation of the last verb, which denotes not merely an internal
feeling,
but the outward exhibition of it. It means not merely to abhor,
but
to reject with abhorrence. See above, on Ps. xv. 4. The addition of
the
intensive adverb, very or exceedingly, serves at the same time to
enhance
and
to restrict the meaning of the verb which it qualifies. He abhorred
them,
not a little but exceedingly, and as a token of his doing so, rejected
336 PSALM
LXXVIII. [VER. 60-64.
them
exceedingly, yet not utterly or altogether. As there is nothing to
restrict
the application of this statement, we must understand it in its widest
sense,
as meaning that the whole people was regarded with displeasure, and
punished
on account of its transgressions during the ascendancy of Ephraim.
60. And forsook the dwelling-place of Shilo, the tent (which) he caused to
dwell among men. The punishment of
Ephraim, not as the sole offender,
but
as the unfaithful leader of the chosen people, consisted in the transfer
of
the sanctuary, and the manifested presence of God in it, to the tribe
which
was intended from the first to have that honour (Gen. xlix. 10), but
whose
rights had been held in abeyance during the experimental chieftainship
of
Ephraim. The ark, after it was taken by the Philistines (1 Sam. iv. 17),
never
returned to
xxi,
2) and at
it
on
dwell
is an expression used in the very same connection in the history. See
Josh.
xviii. 1, and compare Deut. xii. 11, where the sanctuary is described
as
the place in which God caused his name to dwell. Among men implies
that
this was his only earthly residence, and hints at the true meaning of
the
sanctuary, as propounded in the law (Exod. xxv. 8).
61. And gave up to captivity his strength, and his beauty into the foeman's
hand. This is a still more
distinct allusion to the capture of the ark by the
Philistines
(1 Sam. iv. 17). The pronouns admit of two constructions, as
they
may be referred either to God or
is
called his strength, because it was the symbol of his saving presence and
a
pledge for the exertion of his power to protect and save his people. It is
called
his beauty or honour, as it marked the place where God was pleased
to
manifest his glory. At the same time it was
it
was considered as ensuring the divine protection (1 Sam. iv. 3), and his
glory,
because the possession of this symbol was his highest honour (1 Sam.
iv.
21). Both these senses are so perfectly appropriate, that it is not easy
to
choose either, to the entire exclusion of the other.
62. And abandoned to the sword his people, and at his heritage was wroth.
For
the meaning of the first verb, see above on ver. 48, and for that of the
second,
on ver. 21. To the sword, to defeat
and destruction in war, with
particular
reference to 1 Sam. iv. 10. The severity of these judgments is
enhanced
by their having been inflicted on his
people and his heritage.
63. His youths (or chosen ones)
the fire devoured, and his maidens were
not praised. This may either mean
that they attracted no attention on
account
of public troubles, or that they were not praised in nuptial songs,
implying
what is expressed in the text of the English Bible, to wit, that they
were not given to
marriage.
The fire may be a figure for
destructive war, as in Num.
xxi.
28. The pronoun (his) refers to
64. His priests by the sword fell, and his widows weep not. The priests
are
particularly mentioned because, at the time specially referred to, the
chief
magistracy was vested in a sacerdotal family, and because Hophni
and
Phinehas, the sons of Eli, were among the first victims of the great
calamity
in question. See 1 Sam. iv. 11, 17. In the last clause there
seems
to be allusion to the death of Phinehas's wife, whose sorrow for her
husband
and herself was lost in sorrow for the departing glory of
(1
Sam. iv. 21). In a wider sense, the words may represent the whole
class
of Israelitish widows as not weeping for their husbands, either because
they
were engrossed by their own perils and personal sufferings, or, as
VER.
65-71.] PSALM
LXXVIII. 337
some
interpreters suppose, because the bodies of the slain were absent, and
there
could not therefore be a formal mourning in accordance with the oriental
usage.
The last words of this verse are copied in Job xxvii. 15.
65. Then awoke, as a sleeper, the Lord, as a hero rejoicing from wine.
His
apparent connivance or indifference to what was passing was abruptly
exchanged
for new and terrible activity. The Lord,
the sole and rightful
sovereign,
both of men in general and of
mighty
man, or warrior. See above on Ps. xiv. 8. From
wine is not to
be
construed with awoke or awakes understood, but with rejoicing, exhilar-
ated,
cheered by wine.
66. And he struck his foes back (and)
disgrace of eternity gave them.
The
idea of driving his assailants back, repelling or repulsing them, is
worthier
in itself, and better suited to the context than the one expressed
in
the English Bible. Perpetual dishonour
was in fact the doom of the
Philistines
from the time of the events in question. The successes particularly
meant
are those of Saul and David. Gave them,
or to them, as their portion.
67. And rejected the tent of Joseph, and the tribe of Ephraim did not
choose. This is the completion
and specification of the statement in ver.
60.
Even after the punishment of
though
still a member of the chosen people, was deprived of the ascend-
ancy,
of which he had proved himself unworthy, and by means of which he
had
betrayed the whole race into grievous sin. The tent or house of
Joseph
(the progenitor of Ephraim) is particularly mentioned, because the
honour
taken from that family was the honour of God's dwelling in the
midst
of them. The last clause might be rendered, and
the tribe of Eph-
raim no (longer) chose. But the original contains a
simple negative without
qualification;
and according to the scriptural account, Ephraim never was
the
chosen tribe, but only allowed to act as such, for a particular purpose,
just
as the experimental reign of Saul afterwards preceded the commence-
ment
of the true theocratical monarchy in David.
68. And chose the tribe of
now
assigned the visible pre-eminence to Judah, who had long enjoyed it
in
the divine purpose (Gen. xlix. 10).
The
name, as usual in this book, does not signify the single eminence so
called,
but the entire height on which
69. And built like high (places) his sanctuary, like the earth (which) he
founded for ever. Some give the
adjective in the first clause the abstract
sense
of heights, which it never has in usage. Others supply heavens, but
the
construction most agreeable to usage is that which supplies hills or
mountains. The sanctuary is then
described as being, not externally but
spiritually,
lofty as mountains and enduring as the earth.
70. And chose David (as) his servant, and took him from the sheep-folds.
Having
spoken of the tribe and the particular locality preferred to Ephraim
and
whom
it pleased God that the theocratic kingdom should be founded. He
did
not choose David because he was his servant, i. e. a good man, but to
be
his servant, in the same pregnant and emphatic sense in which the title
is
applied to him in Ps. xviii. 1. The sovereignty of the choice is indi-
cated
by the humble occupation and condition from which he was promoted.
71. From behind the suckling (ewes) he brought him, to feed Jacob his
people and
338 PSALM.
LXXIX. [VER
1-6.
watching
them with tender care, one of the chief duties of a shepherd. The
next
word in Hebrew is a participle, and means nursing, giving suck. The
sense
is incorrectly given in the common version of this place, and ambigu-
ously
in that of Isa. xl. 11. To feed
expresses only one part of the mean-
ing
of the Hebrew verb, which signifies to do the work or exercise the
office
of a shepherd. See above, on Ps. xlix. 14 (13). The contrast pre-
sented
is, that he who had spent his youth in tending sheep was now to be
the
shepherd of a nation, nay, of the chosen people, of the church, the heri-
tage
of God himself. To this passage, and those portions of the history on
which
it is founded (2 Sam. vii. 8, 1 Chron. xi. 2), may be traced the con-
stant
use of pastoral images, in the later Scriptures, to express the relation
which
subsists between the Church and Christ, as its Chief Shepherd, and
his
faithful ministers as his representatives and deputies.
72. And he has fed them after his integrity of heart, and in the skill (or
prudence) of his hands
will lead them (still). This is no sudden interruption
of
the psalm, but the conclusion to which all was tending from the first.
At
the same time it implies that when the psalm was written, David was
still
reigning and expected to reign longer. Besides the divine attestation
here
afforded to his theocratical fidelity, the verse may be regarded as a
beautiful
tribute to the good and great King from his chief musician and
fellow-seer.
To lead, in the last clause, is to
lead or tend a flock, and,
with
the parallel term feed, makes up the full description of a shepherd.
PSALM LXXIX.
THIS psalm belongs to the same
period with Ps. lxxiv., perhaps that of the
Babylonish
conquest, and contains a description of the sufferings of the
chosen
people, ver. 1-4, a prayer for deliverance, ver. 5-12, and a promise
of
thanksgiving, ver. 13.
1. A Psalm. By Asaph. 0 God, gentiles have come into thy heritage;
they have defiled thy
holy temple; they have turned
The
intrusion of heathen into the sanctuary was its worst dishonour, They
have
placed
destruction
of the temple. Compare Ps. lxxiv. 4.
2. They have given the corpse of thy servants (as) food to the bird of the
heavens, the flesh of
thy saints to the (wild) beast of the earth. A common
description
of extensive and promiscuous carnage. The words translated
corpse, bird, beast, are all collectives.
The last has here its most specific
and
distinctive sense as denoting beasts of prey. See above, on Ps.
lxviii.
11 (10), lxxiv. 19.
3. They have shed their blood like water round about
there is none burying, or none to bury them.
There is no period in the
history
of ancient
vagance,
except that of the Babylonian conquest.
4. We have been (or become) a
contempt to our neighbours, a scorn and deri-
sion to those round
about us.
See above, on Ps. xliv. 14 (13), where the
very
same expressions are employed.
5. Unto what (point), until when, how long, Jehovah, wilt thou be angry
for ever, will burn like
fire thy zeal (or jealousy)? With the first clause
compare
Ps. xiii. 2 (1), lxxiv. 1, 10; with the second, Ex. xx. 5, Deut.
xxix.
19 (20), Ps. lxxviii. 58.
6. Pour out thy wrath against the nations which have not known thee,
VER.
7-10.] PSALM
LXXIX.
339
and upon kingdoms which
thy name have not invoked. This is commonly
explained
as a prayer for divine judgments on the nations which combined
for
the destruction of
and
complaint that God had made no difference between his own people and the
heathen.
As if he had said, If thou must pour out thy wrath, let it rather be on those
who
neither know nor worship thee than on thine own peculiar people.
7. For he hath devoured Jacob, and his dwelling (or his pasture-ground)
they have laid waste. The singular verb in
the first cause relates to the
chief
enemy, the plural in the last to his confederates. The wide sense of
dwelling and the narrower one of
pasture are both authorised by usage.
See
above, on Ps. xxiii. 2, lxv. 13 (12), lxxiv. 20.
8. Remember not against us the iniquities of former (generations); make
haste, let thy
compassions meet us, for we are reduced exceedingly. Against
us,
literally, as to us, respecting us, which, in this connection, must mean
to
our disadvantage or our condemnation. Former
iniquities is scarcely a
grammatical
construction of the Hebrew words usually so translated. The
adjective,
when absolutely used, always refers to persons, and means ances-
tors
or ancients. Personal and hereditary guilt are not exclusive but
augmentative
of one another. The sons merely fill up the iniquities of
their
fathers. The verb hasten (rhema) may be either
imperative or infinitive.
If
the latter, it qualifies the following verb, as in the English version, let
thy tender mercies
speedily prevent us.
For the meaning of this last verb,
see
above, on Ps. xxi. 4 (3). Reduced, weakened, brought low, both in
strength
and condition. See above, on Ps. xl. 2 (1), where the cognate
adjective
is used. It was probably the verse before us that determined the
position
of this psalm, in close connection with Ps. lxxviii., the great theme
of
which is the iniquity of former generations.
9. Help us, 0 God of our salvation, on account of the glory of thy name;
and set us free and
pardon our sins for the sake of thy (own) name. The
title,
God of our salvation, is expressive
of a covenant obligation to protect
his
people, as well as of protection and deliverance experienced already. On,
account, literally for the word, or as we say in English, for the sake, which
is
used above, however, to translate a different Hebrew word. The glory of
thy name, to maintain and
vindicate the honour of thy attributes as hereto-
fore
revealed in act. See above, on Ps. v. 12 (11), xxiii. 3. Set us free,
deliver
us, from our present sufferings and the power of our enemies. Par-
don our sins, literally make
atonement for them, i. e. forgive them for the
sake
of the expiation which thou hast thyself provided. See above, on Ps.
lxxviii.
38. It is characteristic of the ancient saints to ask God's favour,
not
for their own sake merely, but for the promotion of his glory.
10. Wherefore should the nations say, Where (is) their God ? Known
among the nations, in
our sight, be the avenging of the blood of thy servants,
the (blood) poured out,
(or shed), as was described above, in ver.
3. This
argument
in favour of God's interposition, founded on the false conclusions
which
his enemies would draw from his refusal, is of frequent occurrence in
the
Pentateuch. See Exod. xxxii. 12, Num. xiv. 13-16, Deut. ix. 28, and
compare
Joel ii. 17, from which the words before us are directly borrowed.
Where is their God, the invisible,
spiritual being whom they worship, but
who
cannot save them from external dangers? Or the meaning may be,
Where
is the proof of that almighty power, and that love for his own people,
of
which they have so often and so loudly boasted? The English Bible
makes
the verb in the second clause agree with God (let him be known), and
340 PSALM
LXXIX. [VER.
11-13.
supplies
a preposition before vengeance (by the
revenging). But the ancient
versions,
followed by the Prayer Book and the best modern interpreters,
construe
the verb and noun together (known be the
avenging). The diversity
of
gender may be easily reduced to the general law of Hebrew syntax, that
when
the verb precedes its subject, and especially when separated from it,
the
former may assume the masculine form, not as such, but as the primi-
tive
and simplest form. In our sight,
literally to our eyes, just as we say
in
English, to our faces. This
aggravating circumstance is borrowed from
Deut.
vi. 22, and the idea of avenging blood from Deut. xxxii. 43.
11. Let the sighing of the prisoner come before thee, according to the
great-
ness of thine arm,
suffer to survive the sons of death (or of
mortality). The
nation
is here viewed as an individual captive, not without reference to the
literal
captivity and exile occasioned by the Babylonian conquest, and with
evident
historical allusion to the bondage of
of
which (Exod. 23-25) some of the expressions here are borrowed. Come
before
thee, reach thee, and attract thy notice. Compare the opposite ex-
pression
in Isa. i. 23. The arm, as usual, is
the symbol of exerted strength.
See
above, on Ps. x. 15, xxxvii. 17, xliv. 4 (3). The whole phrase is a
Mosaic
one. See Exod. xv. 16, and compare Num. xiv. 19, Deut. iii. 24.
The
last verb in the sentence means to leave
behind or over, to cause or
suffer
to
remain. See Exod. x. 15, xii. 10, Isa. i. 9. The last noun in Hebrew
occurs
only here, but is an obvious derivative from (tUm) death, bearing
perhaps
the same relation to it that mortalitas
sustains to mors. According
to
a well-known oriental idiom, the whole phrase denotes dying men, or
those
about to die, or more specifically, those condemned or doomed to death.
12. And render to our neighbours sevenfold into their bosom their contempt
(with) which they have
contemned thee, Lord!
The first verb is a causative,
and
means to bring back or cause to return. See above, on Ps. lxxii. 10.
The
neighbours are those mentioned in ver. 4, and the allusion here at least
includes
the expression of contemptuous incredulity in ver. 10. Sevenfold,
a
common idiomatic term denoting frequent repetition or abundance. See
above,
on Ps. xii. 7 (6). Into the bosom, an
expression which originally
seems
to have had reference to the practice of carrying and holding things
in
the lap or the front fold of the flowing oriental dress, has in usage the
accessory
sense of retribution or retaliation. See my note on Isa. lxv. 6,7,
and
compare Jer. xxxii. 18, Luke vi. 38. The cognate noun and verb,
translated
contempt and contemned, denote not the mere internal feeling, but
the
oral expression of it by revilings, scoffs, and insults. See above, on Ps.
xlii.
11 (10), lxix. 10 (9). The Lord at
the conclusion is by no means a
mere
expletive, but aggravates the sin of these despisers by describing it as
committed
against their rightful sovereign.
13. And we, thy people and flock of thy pasture, will give thanks to thee
for ever, to generation
and generation will we recount thy praise. Some inter-
preters
needlessly make two distinct propositions, we (are) thy people (and.
therefore) will give thanks, &c. The flock of thy pasture, that which
thou
feedest,
that of which thou art the shepherd. See above, on Ps. lxxiv. 1,
lxxviii.
70-72. For ever, literally to eternity. The following words,
though
thrown
into the first clause by the masoretic interpunction, belong to the
second,
as appears from the parallel structure of the sentence.
VER.
1, 2.] PSALM
LXXX.
341
PSALM
LXXX.
THIS psalm was probably occasioned
by the overthrow and deportation of
the
ten tribes, and expresses the feelings of the ancient church in view of
that
event. Besides a title or inscription, ver. 1, it contains a lamentation
or
complaint, in reference to the strokes which had befallen
(1-7);
an exquisite picture of the vocation and original condition of the
chosen
race, under the image of a transplanted
vine, ver. 9-14 (8-13); and
an
earnest prayer that God would again have mercy on his afflicted people,
ver.
15-20 (14-19). The structure of the psalm is very regular, deriving
a
strophical character from the recurrence of a burden or refrain in ver.
4
(3), 8 (7), 20 (19). The disputed questions, as to the occasion and design
of
the composition, will be considered in the exposition of the several verses.
1. To the Chief Musician. As to lilies. A Testimony. By Asaph. A
Psalm. The first and last of
these inscriptions show that the composition
was
intended to be used in public worship. The preposition before lilies
indicates
the theme or subject, as in Ps. v. 1. Lilies,
as in Ps. xlv. 1, lx. 1,
lxix.
1, probably means loveliness, delightfulness, as an attribute of the
divine
favour which is here implored. Testimony
is a term commonly applied
to
the divine law, as a testimony against sin, and in such cases as the pre-
sent
indicates the divine authority under which the Psalmist writes. See
above,
on Ps. lx. 1.
2 (1). Shepherd of
the cherubim, shine
forth! The
description of Jehovah as the Shepherd of
Jacob's
blessing upon Joseph, Gen. xlviii. 15, xlix. 24. According to some
interpreters,
Joseph is simply a poetical
equivalent to
put
upon a level with the father in the usage of the language, on account of
his
historical pre-eminence and his being the progenitor of two of the twelve
tribes.
According to another view, Joseph
denotes the ten tribes as dis-
tinguished
from the
the
specification of certain tribes in the next verse. On this hypothesis, the
verse
before us is an invocation of Jehovah, as the patron and protector,
not
of
the
tribes politically allied to them. Dwelling
(between) the Cherubim, or
sitting (enthroned upon) the Cherubim, a token of superiority to
all his crea-
tures.
See above, on Ps. xviii. 11 (10).
3 (2). Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh arouse thy strength
and come to save us. The first clause
alludes to the encampment and march
through
the wilderness, in which these three tribes always went together,
as
the descendants of one mother (Gen. xliv. 20, Num. ii. 18-24, x. 22-24).
It
has commonly been inferred from 1 Kings xii. 21, that the tribe of Ben-
jamin
adhered to the
highly
probable, at least, that those words relate only to the dwellers in
was
reckoned one of the ten tribes, among which Simeon was not included,
because,
in fulfilment of Jacob's prophecy (Gen. xlix. 7), they had no dis-
tinct
or. compact territory of their own, but certain towns within the bound-
ary
of
that
in the great schism after the death of Solomon, but one tribe remained
faithful
to the house of David (1 Kings xi. 13, 32, 36, xii. 20), i. e. one
342 PSALM
LXXX.
[VER. 8-5.
complete
tribe, having a definite and independent share in the allotment of
the
land. That Benjamin should take part with Ephraim and Manasseh
rather
than with
and
mutual affection of the sons of Rachel, and from the jealousy which
must
have been excited by the transfer of the crown from Saul, a Benjamite,
to
David, a Jew. The same thing incidentally appears from such passages
as
2 Sam. xix. 21 (20), where Shimei, a Benjamite, speaks of himself as
representing
the whole house of Joseph. If this be admitted or assumed,
the
mention of Benjamin with Ephraim and Manasseh, in the verse before
us,
far from invalidating, seems to confirm the application of the passage
to
the kingdom of the Ten Tribes, and that of the whole psalm to their
overthrow
and deportation by the Assyrians. Thus understood, the verse
before
us is a prayer, that God would again march at the head of the
"Camp
of Ephraim," as he did of old. Arouse
thy strength, awake from
thy
present state of seeming inaction and indifference. See above, on Ps.
xliv.
24 (23), lxxviii. 65. Come, literally
go, which may mean go forth, march;
but
see above, on (Ps. xlvi. 9 (8). To save us, literally for salvation to us.
4 (3). 0 God, restore us, and let thy face shine; and let us be saved!
The
verb in the first clause would suggest two ideas to a Hebrew reader,
both
of which are here appropriate. The first is that of a literal bringing
back
from exile or captivity; the other that of restoration to a former state,
without
regard to change of place or other local circumstances. In the
case
before us, the general and figurative sense of restoration includes that
of
literal return. The church prays to be restored to her integrity and
normal
state, by the redemption of the part which had gone into captivity.
This
prayer was substantially fulfilled in the return of many members of the
ten
tribes with
as
organised bodies, and the apostate kingdom which they constituted, ceased
to
exist. The petition, cause thy face to
shine, i. e. look upon us with a
favourable
countenance, is borrowed from the sacerdotal blessing, Num.
vi.
25. See above, on Ps. iv. 7 (6), xxxi. 17 (16). The last verb in the
verse
may also be explained as an expression of strong confidence, we shall
be saved, which really involves
the subjunctive sense preferred by some in-
terpreters, that we may be saved. This sentence,
which is solemnly repeated
at
the close of ver. 4, 20 (3, 19), is thereby marked as the theme or key-
note
of the whole composition.
5 (4). Jehovah, God, (God of) Hosts,
how long lost thou smoke against
the prayer of thy
people? The
accumulation of divine names involves an
appeal
to the perfections which they indicate, as so many arguments or
reasons
why the prayer should be favourably heard and answered. See
above,
on Ps. 1. 1, and for the meaning of the third title, on Ps. xxiv. 10.
How long, literally until when? The verb is preterite in
form (hast thou
smoked), implying that the
state of things complained of had already long
existed.
Smoke is here (as in Ps. lxxiv. 1)
put for fire, the common emblem
of
divine wrath, for the sake of an allusion to the smoke from the altar of
incense,
the appointed symbol of the prayers of God's people. See Lev.
xvi.
13, and compare Ps. cxli. 2, Isa. vi. 4, Rev. v. 8, viii. 3, 4. There is
then
a tacit antithesis between the two significations of the symbol. The
smoke
of God's wrath, and that of his people's prayers, are presented in a
kind
of conflict.
6 (5). Thou hast made them eat tear-bread, and made them drink of tears
a tierce (or measure). The noun tear in
Hebrew is commonly collective,
VER.
6-10.] PSALM LXXX. 343
but
the singular and plural forms are here combined. See above, on Ps.
vi.
7 (6), xxxix. 13 (12), lvi. 9 (8). The same strong figure of tears as
nourishment
occurs above, Ps. xlii. 4 (3). The last word in Hebrew means
a
measure which is the third of another measure, thus corresponding to the
old
and wide sense of the English tierce.
See my note on Isa. xl. 12.
Measure
here denotes abundance.
7 (6). Thou makest us a strife unto our neighbours, and our enemies
amuse themselves (at our expense). The
future verbs imply a probable con-
tinuance
of this humiliating treatment unless God interpose to put an end
to
it, and thus suggest a reason for his doing so. Makest us, literally put-
test,
settest up. See above, on Ps. xliv. 14 (13).
A strife, a subject of
contention,
perhaps in reference to the emulous desire of their neighbours
to
insult and aggravate their sufferings. Here, as in Ps. xliv. 14 (13),
lxxix.
4, these neighbours are the circumjacent nations, who always
triumphed
in the time of
literal
translation of the last words is will mock
(or scoff) for them, i. e. for
themselves,
for their own gratification, and at their own discretion, as they will.
8 (7). 0 God, (God of) Hosts,
restore us, and let thy face shine, and let
us be saved! See above, on ver. 4
(3). The only variation in the case be-
fore
us is the addition of a second divine title, implying God's supremacy
above
the hosts of heaven, both material and spiritual, and thus indirectly
urging
a new argument for being heard and answered. See above, on ver. 5 (4).
9 (8). A vine out of
and plantest it. There is a twofold
usage of the first verb in Hebrew, which
imparts
peculiar force and beauty to the sentence. Its primary meaning,
to
pluck up, is strictly appropriate to the act of transplanting, while its
secondary
but more usual sense of moving an encampment, marching, is
equally
appropriate to the removal of the nation which the vine here repre-
sents,
and is actually so applied in Ps. lxxviii. 52 above, as well as in the
history
itself, Exod. xii. 37, xv. 22. The next verb is also used in Ps.
lxxviii.
55 and Exod. xxiii. 28, xx.xiii. 2, xxxiv. 11. The figure of planting
occurs
above, in Ps. xliv. 3 (2), that of a vine in Isa. v. 1-7. The points
of
comparison are probably assiduous culture, luxuriant growth, and fruit-
fulness.
The argument involved is that by forsaking Israel God would be
undoing
his own work. Compare Jer. xlv. 4.
10 (9). Thou didst clear (the way) before
it, and it took root and filled
the land. The first word means to
clear by the removal of obstructions.
See
Gen. xxiv. 31, Lev. xiv. 36, and compare my notes on Isa. xl. 3,
lvii.
14, lxii. 10. The sense may here be, thou
didst clear (the ground),
i.
e. from weeds and stones (compare Isa. v. 2) before it, i. e. to make room
for
it or prepare a place for it. Took root,
literally rooted its roots, the
cognate
verb and noun being combined by a common Hebrew idiom. See
my
note on Isa. xxvii. 6.
11 (10). Covered were the mountains (with) its shadow, and with its
branches the cedars of
God.
This is an amplification and poetical exaggera-
tion
of the last words of ver. 10 (9). So completely did it fill the land
that
its shadow was cast upon the highest hill-tops, and its tendrils overran
the
loftiest trees. Cedars of God, i. e.
in their kind the noblest products
of
his power, the attribute suggested by (lxe) the divine name here
used.
See
above, on Ps. xxxvi. 7 (6). Some interpreters suppose the southern
range
of mountains west of
344 PSALM LXXX. [VER. 11-16.
Highlands
of Judah, to be here specifically meant and contrasted with the
cedars
of
though
not expressly mentioned, is referred to, appears probable from the
analogy
of Ps. xxix 5, xcii. 13, civ. 16. The literal fact conveyed by all these
figures
is the one prophetically stated in Gen. xxviii. 14, Deut. xi. 24, Joshua i. 4.
12 (11). It sends forth its boughs to the sea, and to the river its shoots (or
suckers). Compare the
description in Isa. xvi. 8. If the north and south
are
indicated in the preceding verse, the other cardinal points may here be
represented
by the Mediterranean and the
13 (12). Why hast thou broken down, its walls (or hedges), and all pluck
it that pass by the way? See below, on Ps. lxxxix. 41, 42 (40, 41), and
compare
Isa. v. 5. The last words are descriptive of the hostile powers of
the
heathen world, with particular reference to the neighbours of ver 6 (5).
14 (13). The boar out of the wood doth waste it, and the beast of the field
feeds upon it. For the precise sense
of the word translated beast, see above,
on
Ps. 1. 11, the only other place where it occurs in such an application,
being
thus peculiar to the psalms which bear the name of Asaph. The
essential
idea conveyed by the figures of this verse is that of fierce and
greedy
enemies. If any more specific explanation be admissible, the wild
boar
may denote the Assyrian power, and the parallel term its allies and
dependents.
Feeds upon it, as a sheep upon its
pasture. See above, on
Ps.
xxxvii. 3.
15 (14). 0 God, (God of) Hosts, pray
return, look from heaven and see
and visit this vine. The expostulation and
complaint are followed by an
earnest
prayer. Pray return is used to
represent (xnA) the Hebrew particle
of
entreaty, expressed in the English Bible by a circumlocution (we beseech
thee). The prayer that God
will return, implies that the evils just com-
plained
of were occasioned by his absence. Visit,
manifest thy presence
and
thy favourable disposition. See above, on Ps. viii. 5 (4). This vine,
luxuriant
branches, still lives and is yet to bear abundant fruit.
16 (15). And sustain, what thy right hand has planted, and over the child
thou hast roared for
thyself
(do thou watch, or extend thy protection). The
common
version of the first words (and the
vineyard) is countenanced neither
by
the ancient versions nor by Hebrew etymology and usage. By giving it,
as
a verbal form, the sense of covering, protecting (which belongs to some
kindred
roots), the over in the last clause
may depend upon it, and no verb
need
in that case be supplied. Thy right hand
implies an exertion of
strength,
and at the same time involves an allusion to the name of Benjamin
(Son
of the Right Hand), here perhaps representing the whole race, on
account
of the connection of that tribe with both the rival kingdoms, its
central
position, its possession of the sanctuary, and its historical relation to
the
infant monarchy under Saul the Benjamite. To complete the allusion,
the
other element in the name (NBe, a son) is then
introduced and metaphori-
cally
applied to the vine, which is still the Psalmist's theme, by an assimi-
lation
of animal and vegetable life common in all languages. Reared, literally
strengthened,
made strong, i. e. raised, brought up. See my note on Isa.
xliv.
14. For thyself, not for its own
sake, but as a means of promoting
the
divine praise and glory.
17 (16). (It is) burnt with fire, cut (down or up); at the rebuke of thy
VER.
1.] PSALM
LXXXI.
345
countenance they perish. The prayer is
interrupted for a moment by a new
description
of the evils which occasioned it. The first clause alludes to the
destruction
of vineyards by fire and steel in ancient warfare, here recognised,
however,
as a divine judgment. At the rebuke,
i. e. at the time, and also as
a
consequence of it. Any expression of disapprobation and displeasure,
whether
by word or deed, is a rebuke. See above, on Ps. lxxvi. 7 (6). The
rebuke
is here supposed to be expressed in the countenance, a much more
natural
interpretation than that which makes thy
face mean thy presence.
They
perish, those who had before been represented by the vine transplanted
out
of
utters
his rebuke.
18 (17). Let thy hand be on the man of thy right hand, on the son of Man
thou halt reared (or made strong) for thyself. Here again the component
parts
of the name Benjamin are introduced
as parallels, precisely as in ver.
16
(15). The man of thy right hand may
either be the man whom thy
power
has raised up, or the man who occupies the post of honour at thy
right
hand. That the words were intended to suggest both ideas, is a sup-
position
perfectly agreeable to Hebrew usage. A more doubtful question
is
that in reference to the first words of the sentence, let thy hand be upon
him,
whether this means in favour or in wrath. The only way in which
both
senses can be reconciled is by applying the words to the Messiah, as
the
ground of the faith and hope expressed. Let thy hand fall not on us but on
our
substitute. Compare the remarkably similar expressions in Acts v. 31.
19 (18). And (then) we will not backslide
from thee; thou wilt quicken
us, and on thy name will
we call.
Forgiveness founded on atonement is
the
best security against relapses into sin. The first verb is the one used
to
describe the general apostasy in Ps. liii. 4 (3). Quicken, restore to life,
or
save alive, or simply make alive. Compare Ps. lxxi. 20. The meaning
of
the last clause is, thee (alone) will we
invoke, as the object of our trust
and
worship, a profession involving the repudiation of all other gods.
20 (19). Jehovah, God, (God of) Hosts,
restore us, let thy face shine, and
let us be saved! While the prayer in this
verse is identical with that in
ver.
4 (3) and 8 (7), there is a kind of climax in the form of the address.
In
the first of the three places it is simply God,
in the second God of Hosts,
in
the third and last Jehovah God of Hosts,
as if to add to the general ideas
of
divinity and sovereignty those of self-existence, eternity, and covenant
relation
to his chosen people, as additional warrants for the hope and prayer,
that
he would turn them, smile upon them, save them.
PSALM
LXXXI.
1. To the Chief Musician. On (or
according to) the Gittith. By Asaph.
For
the probable meaning of the Gittith, see above on Ps. viii. 1. In the
absence
of any proof to the contrary, the Asaph of this title must be assumed
to
be the contemporary of David. See above, on Ps. 1. 1. The psalm
before
us was probably intended to be sung at the Passover, as it consists
of
an exhortation to praise God for the deliverance of
ver.
2-8 (1-7), a complaint of their ingratitude, ver. 9-13 (8-12), and a
glowing
picture of the happy effects to be expected from obedience and
fidelity,
ver. 14-18 (13-17).
2 (1). Sing aloud unto God our strength, make a joyful noise unto the God
346 PSALM LXXXI. [VER. 2-5.
of Jacob! The first verb is
properly a causative meaning make or let
rejoice. See above, on Ps. lxv.
9 (8), and compare Deut. xxiii. 43, in
which
place, and in this, it is commonly supposed to be intransitive. The
parallel
verb is a generic term, applied both to shouting and the sound of a
trumpet.
See above, on Ps. xli. 12 (11), xlvii. 2 (1). God our strength,
our
strong protector and deliverer, in which character he specially revealed
himself
in the deliverance of
of
this psalm, and thereby proved himself to be indeed the covenant or
tutelary
God of Jacob.
3 (2). Raise the song, and beat the drum, the sweet harp with the lute (or
lyre). Beat, literally give, i. e. give forth its sound, or
sound it. See
above,
on Ps. xlvi. 7 (6), lxviii. 34 (33), lxxvii. 18 (17). This is to be
understood
as a mutual exhortation of the musicians to each other during
the
actual performance.
4 (3). Blow, in the month, the trumpet, at the full moon, on the dayof our
feast. The month, by way of
eminence, was the first month, in which the
passover
was celebrated (Exod. xii. 1, 2). Here, as in the Hebrew of Lev.
xxiii.
5, the month is first named, then the particular part of it. That this
last
was no unessential circumstance, appears from the fact, that when an
extraordinary
passover was kept, it was on the same day of another month
(Num.
ix. 9-14), and that when Jeroboam changed the feast of tabernacles,
he
transferred it to the same day of the eighth month (1 Kings xii. 32).
The
time thus selected for religious observance seems to have been that of
the
full moon. Compare the original and marginal translation of Prov. vii. 20. The
day of our festival or feast, i. e. the
great day of the Passover. Our feast,
if emphatic,
is
intended to describe it as a distinctive national solemnity. The continued use
of
instrumental music at this festival appears from 2 Chron, xxx. 21.
5 (4), For a law to
Jacob. The observance of this
festival was not a mere matter of usage or
conventional
arrangement, but binding on the people and due to Jehovah
as
their God. The personal pronoun (it)
at the end of the first clause is
emphatic,
and may be better expressed in English by a demonstrative. A
right, jus, that to which he is
rightfully entitled.
6 (5). (As) a testimony in Joseph he set it, in his coming out over the
use
of testimony in the sense of law, Ps.
xix. 8 (7), lx. 1, lxxviii. 5, lxxx. 1,
the
word is appropriate, in its strict sense, to the Passover, as a perpetual
memento
or memorial of the exodus from
xlix.
26, Exod. i. 8). He set it, i. e. God
instituted or ordained the festi-
val.
In his coming, at the time, or in the
very act, of his departure. Over
the
xxxiv.
18), but suggests the additional ideas of publicity and triumph.
ritory,
and at the same time, as it were, over the heads of the humbled and
terrified
Egyptians. Compare Exod. xiv. 8, Num. xxxiii. 3. Speech,
literally
lip, a common idiomatic expression for dialect or language. Accord-
ing
to the version of this last clause above given, it refers to the words of
God
that follow, and describes the people as having then heard what they
never
heard before. Some interpreters, however, understand it as describ-
ing
the condition of the people while in
and
painful circumstances, namely, that they there resided in the midst of
VER.
6-10.] PSALM
LXXXI.
347
a
foreign and by implication heathen race. This agrees better with the
figurative
usage of lip elsewhere, and is
strongly favoured by the analogy
of
Deut. xxviii. 49, Jer. v. 15, Ps. cxiv. 1. Compare my note on Isa.
xxxiii.
19. Thus understood, the clause may be translated, (where) I heard a
tongue I did not
understand.
The future form of the first verb has reference
to
the actual time of the events, into which the speaker here transports himself.
7 (6). I removed from the burden his shoulder; his hands from the basket
escape. The first verb strictly
means I caused (or suffered) to depart. The
idea
is borrowed from Exod. vi. 6, 7. The specific reference is no doubt
to
the carrying of bricks and mortar, and the pot or basket of the next
clause
is the vessel used for that purpose, the form of which has been found
delineated
in a burial-vault at
8 (7). In distress thou hast called and I have delivered thee; I will (yet)
answer thee in the
secret place of thunder; I will try thee at the waters of
Strife. The secret or hiding
place of thunder is the dark cloud charged
with
tempest which overhung mount Sinai at the giving of the law (Exod.
xx.
18). This is here anticipated or predicted, as well as the murmuring of
the
people at Meribah (Exod. xvii., Num. xx.) as a signal instance of their
unbelief
and disobedience. Thus understood, the verse continues the words
of
God himself, at the crisis of the exodus. According to the other exegeti-
cal
hypothesis already mentioned, there is here a sudden change of speaker,
and
the future verbs in this verse are to be explained as historical presents.
9 (8). Hear, my people, and I will testify against thee,
wilt hearken to me. There is a strong
resemblance between this verse and
Ps.
1. 7. The conditional particle (if)
in the last clause is by some taken
optatively,
Oh that thou wouldst hearken, or, as we
might say in English, if
thou wouldst but
hearken. As
examples of this usage, Ps. xcv. 7, cxxxix. 19,
Prov.
xxiv. 11, are cited. Other interpreters deny its existence and regard
this
as an instance of aposiopesis, if thou
wilt hearken to me (thou shalt do
well),
like those in Exod. xxxii. 32, Luke xis. 42. See above, on Ps.
xxvii.
13. A simpler and more natural construction than either is to make
this
the condition of the statement in the first clause. "I will speak, if
thou
wilt hear me."
10 (9). There shall not be in thee a strange god, and thou shalt not worship
a foreign god. The divine name here
used is the one denoting power.
"Thou
shalt acknowledge no Almighty but the true one." The prohibi-
tory
futures have a stronger sense than that expressed in some translations,
let
there be no strange god in thee, i. e. in the midst of thee, among you.
A strange god, a god who is an alien
to Jehovah and to
literally
bow down or prostrate thyself. A foreign
god, a god of strange-
ness,
or belonging to foreign parts, in other words, a heathen deity. See
above,
on Ps. xviii. 45, 46 (44, 45). The specific reason here implied is
that
expressed in Deut. xxxii. 12. The general principle is the same that
is
propounded in the first commandment (Exod. xx. 3, Dent. v. 7).
11 (10). I am Jehovah, thy God, who brought thee up out of the land of
Egypt; open thy mouth
wide, and I will fill it. The reason of the precept
in
the foregoing verse is now explicitly declared. The (one) making thee
ascend, or cousing thee to
come up. Open thy mouth wide,
literally widen
it. The supply of food is
here put for that of all necessities. The reason
here
suggested for adhering to Jehovah is, that He not only had delivered
them
from
and
the wilderness.
348 PSALM LXXXI. [VER. 11-16.
12 (11). And my people did not hearken to my voice, and
consent unto me. God having once been
introduced as speaking, the de-
scription
of the subsequent events is still ascribed to him. The phrase my
people is designed to
aggravate the guilt of their rebellion. My
voice has
special
reference to the warning in ver. 7-11 (6-10), supposed to be uttered
at
the exodus from
verse
a general description. Consent unto me,
acquiesce in my requirements, and,
agree
to do my will. The form of expression is like that in Deut. xiii. 9 (8).
13 (12). And I gave them up to the corruption of their own heart; they
go on in their own
counsels.
The first verb strictly means I sent them forth,
i.
e. to walk in the corruption of their own heart. The word translated
corruption
occurs elsewhere only in Deut. xxix. 18, and in Jeremiah's imi-
tations
of it (Jer. iii. 17, vii. 24, ix. 13, xi. 8). According to a Syriac
analogy,
and the most probable Hebrew etymology, it properly means hard-
ness,
corresponding to the pw<rwsij of the New Testament
(Mark vii. 5, Rom.
xi.
25, Eph. iv. 18). In their own counsels,
in the execution of their own
evil
purposes and unwise plans. The verb in the last clause may be read
as
a concession or permission, by referring the words to an anterior point
of
time. "I gave them up, &c., (saying) let them go on in their own
counsels." As to the fearful kind of retribution here
denounced, see
Prov.
i. 30, 31, Rom. i. 24, 2 Thess. ii. 10, 11.
14 (13). If my people would (but) hearken to me (and)
would walk. The conditional
particle at the beginning, although not the
same
with that in ver. 9 (8), is construed in the same way, but with a
stronger
optative meaning. To listen to God's teaching and commands
implies
a docile and obedient spirit. To walk in his ways is to act as he
approves
and has required.
15 (14). Soon would I bow clown their enemies, and on their foes bring
back my hand. The first Hebrew phrase
strictly means like a little, but is
used
like the English yet a little, i. e.
in a little while. See above, on Ps.
ii.
12, and compare Ps. lxxiii. 2. To draw
back the hand, in Ps. lxxiv. 11,
means
to withdraw or withhold it from action; but in this connection it
conveys
the opposite idea of bringing it again into action, with specific
reference,
as some suppose, to its use in former exigencies, ver. 8 (7).
The
phrase itself denotes mere action; the idea of hostile or destructive
action
is suggested by the context. See my note on Isa. i. 25.
16 (15). The haters of Jehovah should lie to him, and their time should be
for ever. The first phrase is
intended to suggest the consolatory thought
that
the foes of God's people are the foes of God himself. There is no
need,
therefore, of referring him to
xxxiii.
29, from which the clause is borrowed. The plurals before and after
render
this less natural, and as the interests of God and his people are
identical,
the meaning is the same in either case. To lie
is here to yield a
feigned
obedience to a conqueror or superior enemy. See above, on Ps.
xviii.
45 (44), lxvi. 3. Their time, i. e.
the continued existence of
as
the chosen people. Compare 2 Sam. vii. 24.
17 (16). And he would feed him with the fat of wheat, and from the rock
with honey sate him. The first verb is a
causative, and means would let (or
make) him eat. The fat of wheat, its
richest part or finest quality, another
transfer
of animal attributes to vegetable objects. See above, on Ps.
lxxx.
16 (15). Honey from the rock, some suppose to mean wild honey;
others,
with more probability, honey supplied by miracle, like the water from
VER
1.] PSALM
LXXXII.
349
the
rock in the desert. All these strong expressions are borrowed from
Deut.
xxxii. 13, 14, and are imitated likewise in Ps. cxlvii. 14, Isa. xxxiv. 16.
Wheat
and honey, by a natural and primitive association, are here put for
the
necessaries and the luxuries of human sustenance, and these again for
the
highest enjoyment and prosperity. The English version refers these
four
verses all to past time, had hearkened,
had walked, should have sub-
dued, should have
submitted, should have endured, should have fed, should
have satisfied. This is in fact the
true construction of the similar passage
in
Isa. xlviii. 18; but there the conditional or optative particle is construed
with
the preterite, and not with the future tense as here, which makes an
essential
difference of syntax. See Nordheimer's Hebrew Grammar, § 1078.
PSALM
LXXXII.
A BRIEF but pregnant statement of
the responsibilities attached to the
judicial
office under the Mosaic dispensation. After declaring the relation
which
the judges bore to God, ver. 1, he rebukes their malversation, ver. 2,
and
exhorts them to a better practice, ver. 3, 4, and in case of their per-
sistency
in evil, ver. 5, notwithstanding their acknowledged dignity, ver. 6,
threatens
them with condign punishment, ver. 7, to which the church responds
by
praying God himself to appear as the universal judge and sovereign, ver. 8.
1. A Psalm. By Asaph. God stands in the assembly of the Mighty;
in the midst of the gods
he judges.
There is no reason for doubting that
the
Asaph mentioned in this title was the Asaph of the reign of David, in
whose
times the necessity for such a warning must already have existed, if
not
in the person of the king, who, perhaps on that account, is not particu-
larly
mentioned, yet in his chiefs or nobles, the exalted though inferior
magistrates
who executed justice under him. The judicial appearance of
Jehovah
here presented is like that in Ps. 1. 1. Stands,
or, as the participle
strictly
means, (is) standing, stationing himself, assuming his position.
The
word translated assembly is one
commonly applied to the congregation
of
Lev.
iv. 15, Num. xxvii. 17. Mighty is
singular, not plural, in Hebrew,
being
one of the divine names (lxe), and qualifies the congregation or assem-
bly
as belonging to God himself, i. e. instituted by him, and held under his
authority.
The parallel expression, in the midst of
the gods, superadds to
this
idea an allusion to a singular usage of the Pentateuch, according to which
the
theocratical magistrates, as mere representatives of God's judicial sove-
reignty,
are expressly called Elohim, the
plural form of which is peculiarly
well
suited to this double sense or application. See Exod. xxi. 6, xxii. 7, 8
(8,
9), and compare Deut. i. 17, xix. 17, 2 Chron. xix. 6. Even reverence
to
old age seems to be required on this principle (Lev. xix. 32), and obe-
dience
to parents in the fifth commandment (Exiod. xx. 12), which really
applies
to all the offices and powers of the patriarchal system, a system
founded
upon natural relations, and originating in a simple extension of
domestic
or parental government, in which the human head represents the
original
and universal parent or progenitor. The remarkable use of the
name
God in Exodus, above referred to, is concealed from the reader of the
English
Bible, by the arbitrary use of the word judges,
as a translation of
the
Hebrew, which of course it cannot be. He
judges, will judge, is about
to
judge, The idea is, that as the judges were gods to other men, so he
350 PSALM LXXXII. [VER. 2-6.
would
be a judge to them. Compare Isa. iii. 13-15, Micah iii. 1-4, Jer. xxii. 1-4.
2. How long will ye judge wrong, and the faces of wicked men accept?
Selah. The question implies
that they had done so long enough, nay, too
long,
since it was wrong from the beginning. Wrong,
in the strongest
moral
sense, injustice, wickedness. Wrong,
in Hebrew as in English, may
be
construed either as an adverb or a noun, or both, i. e. as a noun adverbi-
ally
used to qualify the verb. See the similar construction of its counter-
part
or converse, Ps. lviii. 2 (1). The last clause exemplies one of the
most
peculiar Hebrew idioms. The combination usually rendered respect
persons in the English Bible,
and applied to judicial partiality, means lite-
rally
to take (or take up) faces. Some
suppose this to mean the raising of
the
countenance, or causing to look up from deep dejection. But the highest
philological
authorities are now agreed, that the primary idea is that of
accepting
one man's face or person rather than another's, the, precise form
of
expression, though obscure, being probably derived from the practice of
admitting
suitors to confer with governors or rulers face to face, a privilege
which
can sometimes only be obtained by bribes, especially though not ex-
clusively
in oriental courts. The Selah commends the implied charge of
official
malversation to the serious reflection of the accused parties.
3. Judge the weak and fatherless, (to) the sufferer and the poor do
justice.
The
indirect censure of their evil deeds is followed by a direct exhortation
to
do well. Compare Isa. i. 16,17. The verb of the first clause is ex-
plained
by that of the second, which is a technical forensic term, meaning
to
make innocent or righteous, i. e. to recognise or declare as such by a
judicial
act. See Exod. xxiii. 7, Deut. xxv. 1, and compare 2 Sam. xv. 4,
Isa.
v. 23,1.8. The word translated weak is applied to the defect of bodily
strength
and of property or substance. See above, on Ps. xli. 2 (1). It
is
used by Moses in the same connection, Exod. xxiii. 3. The fatherless
or
orphans are continually spoken of, as proper objects both of mercy and of
justice.
See above, on Ps. x. 14, lxviii. 6 (5), and compare Exod. xxii.
21
(22). The word translated poor seems
strictly to denote one who has
grown
poor or become impoverished. See the verbal root in Ps. xxxiv. 11 (10).
4. Deliver the weak and the needy (man), front the hand of wicked (men)
free (him). The first verb
means originally to suffer or cause to escape;
the
second to extricate or disembarrass. From
the hand of the wicked im-
plies
from their power, as actually exercised for coercion. The structure
of
the sentence may be made more regular by disregarding the pause-accent
and
attaching the needy to the last
clause, and the poor from the hand of the
wicked set free.
5. They know not and they will not understand; in darkness they will
(still) walk; shaken are all the foundations of
earth. This is the Lord's
complaint
of their incorrigible ignorance and indocility, which rendered even
his
divine instructions unavailing. The object of the first verbs is sug-
gested
by the context, as in Ps. xiv. 4. What they did not know and would
not
understand was their judicial duty and responsibility, the end for which
they
were invested with authority. Darkness
is a figure both for ignorance
and
wickedness. See Prov. ii. 13. The denial or perversion of justice is
described
as disorganising society. Compare the figures in Ps. xi. 3,
lxxv.
4 (3).
6. I have said, Gods (are) ye, and sons of the Highest all of you.
Their
sin
did not consist in arrogating to themselves too high a dignity, but in
VER.
7, 8.] PSALM
LXXXII. 351
abusing
it by malversation, and imagining that it relieved them from respon-
sibility,
whereas it really enhanced it. They were God's representatives,
but
for that very reason they were bound to be pre-eminently just and
faithful.
I have said, not merely to myself or
in secret, but in my law;
referring
to the passages in Exodus already cited. See above, on ver 1.
Ye are gods, or God, i. e. ye occupy his place and are
entrusted with his
honour
as a just and holy God. The pregnant significancy of the plural
form
is here the same as in ver. 1 above. The parallel expression, sons of
the Most High, denotes the closest
and most intimate relation to Jehovah,
as
the Supreme or Sovereign God. See above, on Ps. ii. 7. This verse is
cited
by our Lord (John x. 34, 35), to shew that if the divine name had
been
applied by God to mere men, there could be neither blasphemy nor
folly
in its application to the incarnate Son of God himself.
7. (Yet) verily like mankind shall ye die, and like one of the princes shall
ye fall. Our idiom requires an
adversative particle at the beginning, to
bring
out the antithetical relation of the sentences. But the first word in
Hebrew
is properly a particle of strong asseveration, certainly, assuredly.
See
above, on Ps. xxxi. 23 (22), and compare my note on Isa. liii. 4. Like
mankind, or men collectively, or like a man
indefinitely, i. e. any other man.
So
in the other clause, like one of the
princes, i. e. any other prince, or
person
holding an exalted station. The clauses constitute a climax. The
first
merely describes them as sharers in the general mortality of man. The
second
threatens them with death, i. e. violent or untimely death, as a
special
punishment. Ye shall fall, by the
sword (Jer. xxxix. 18), or in
some
analogous manner. The verb is often absolutely used in this way to
denote
a violent and penal loss of life. See above, Ps. xx. 9 (8), and
below,
Ps. xci. 7, and compare Exod. xix. 21, Jer. viii. 12. The general
.meaning
of this verse, when taken in connection with the one before it, is
that
notwithstanding their exalted dignity, bestowed and recognised by God
himself,
they were not thereby exempted from the common mortality of
men,
nor even from those signal and destructive strokes, with which God
often
visits men as highly favoured and exalted as themselves.
8. Arise, 0 God, judge the earth; for thou art to possess all nations.
This
is not, as some interpreters suppose, a mere wish that God would do
what
he had just threatened; for this would make the psalm end with a
feeble
anti-climax. It is rather a petition that, since the representative or
delegated
judges had proved so unfaithful, God would appear in person and
reclaim
the powers which had been so wickedly abused. And this he is
besought
to do, not only in
prayer
was furnished, but throughout the earth, over all whose nations he
possessed,
and was one day to make good, the same hereditary right, i. e.
a
right continuing unchanged through all successive generations.
PSALM
LXXXIII.
1. A Song. A Psalm. By Asaph. To the general description (mizmor),
there
is here prefixed a more specific one (shir),
which designates the com-
position
as a song of praise or triumph. The same combination occurs
above,
in the title of Ps. xlviii., a composition which, as we have there seen,
was
probably occasioned by the victory of Jehoshaphat over the Moabites,
Ammonites,
and their confederates, as described in 2 Chron. xx. This
agrees
well with the hypothesis, conclusively maintained by Hengstenberg,
352 PSALM LXXXIII. [VER. 1-4.
that
the psalm before us has relation to the same event, and that as the
forty-seventh
was probably sung upon the field of battle, and the forty-
eighth
after the triumphant return to
posed
in confident anticipation of the victory. The points of agreement
with
the history will be indicated in the exposition of the several verses.
After
a general petition for divine help, ver. 2 (1), follows a description of
the
violence, craft, destructive purpose, and extensive combination of the
enemies
of Judah, ver. 3-9 (2-8), and then an earnest prayer for the re-
newal
of God's ancient deeds in similar emergencies, ver. 10-15 (9-14),
with
a view to the promotion of his glory in the destruction of his irrecon-
cilable
enemies, ver. 16-19 (15-18). According to the view of the his-
torical
occasion above given, the Asaph of
the title must denote some
descendant
of the ancient seer, as it seems to do in several of the preceding
psalms.
Now it happens, by a singular coincidence, that in the history
(2
Chron. xx. 14), such a descendant is particularly mentioned, Jahaziel,
upon
whom the Spirit of the Lord came in the midst of the assembly, and
prompted
him to take a leading part in the preliminary movements which
resulted
in the triumph of
in
reference to the Sons of Korah, as the authors of Ps. xxviii. p. 213.
2 (1). 0 God, be not silent, hold not thy peace, and be not still, 0 Mighty
(One)! This is a general
introductory petition, that God would not remain
inactive
and indifferent to the dangers which environed his own people.
The
peculiar form of expression in the first clause, let there not (be) silence
to thee, is copied by Isaiah
(lxii. 6, 7). The next phrase is one that has
occurred
repeatedly before. See Ps. xxviii. 1, xxxv. 22, xxxix. 13 (12).
The
third petition, be not still or quiet,
rest not, has the same relation to act
that
the others have to word or speech. The use of this divine name (lxe)
involves
an appeal to God's omnipotence, as furnishing a reason for his in-
terference.
Why should He who is Almighty remain silent and inactive,
when
his people are in danger and his enemies apparently triumphant
3 (2). For lo, thine enemies roar, and thy haters raise the head. The
general
prayer in the preceding verse is now enforced by a description of the
danger,
beginning with the violence and confidence of the assailants. The
lo is equivalent to see there, and converts the passage into
a description of a
present
scene. The enemies of
of
God, as a reason why he should appear for their destruction. The first
verb
means to make a noise, and is applied to the roar of the sea in Ps.
xlvi.
4 (3), as it is to the howl of dogs in Ps. lix. 7 (6), and to internal
commotions
in Ps. xxxix. 7 (6), xlii. 6,12 (5, 11). Lift
up the head, as a
natural
indication of confidence and triumph. Compare the description of
a
conquered people, Judges viii. 28.
4 (3). Against thy people they take crafty counsel, and consult against
thy hidden ones. To the qualities of
violence and arrogance, the descrip-
tion
now adds that of treacherous cunning. The construction in the first
clause
is, they make (their) consultation crafty.
For the meaning of the
Hebrew
noun see above, on Ps. xxv. 14, lv. 15 (14), lxiv. 3 (2). Thy
hidden ones, those whom thou hast
hidden for safe-keeping, the objects of
thy
merciful protection. See above, on Ps. xxvii. 5, xxxi. 21 (20).
5 (4). They have said, Come and let us destroy them from (being) a nation,
and let not the name of
turbulent
and confident and crafty, but malignant and determined to de-
stroy.
The past tense of the first verb represents the combination as already
VER.
5-11.] PSALM
LXXXIII.
353
formed.
The idiomatic phrase, from, a nation,
is used more than once by
Isaiah
(vii. 8, xxiii. 1). The expression for complete extirpation in the last
clause
is borrowed from the curse on Amalek, Exod. xvii. 14.
the
name of the chosen people, was rightfully claimed by
great
schism, even while the rival kingdom still existed.
6 (5). For they have consulted heartily together; against thee a covenant
they ratify. The word translated heartily is really a noun meaning heart,
but
here used to qualify the verb by adding the idea, with, the heart, ex
animo, cordially, heartily.
The phrase rendered one heart in 1 Chron.
xii.
38, is altogether different. For the meaning of the last verb, see above,
on
Ps. 1. 5. The preterite and future tense represent the combination as
already
formed and still continued.
7 (6). The tents of
The
use of the word tents does not
necessarily imply a wandering mode of
life,
as it may mean military tents, or be a figure for dwellings. See above,
on
Ps. lxxviii. 67, and compare Judges vii. 8, 1 Kings xii. 16. The Ish-
maelites
inhabited a part of Desert Arabia (Gen. xxv. 18), as did also the
Hagarenes
or Hagarites, a people driven from their lands by the tribe of
Simeon
in, the reign of Saul. See 1 Chron. v. 10, 19-22, and compare
1
Chron. xi. 38, xxvii. 31.
8 (7). Gebal and Ammon and Amalek,
joined
in the same manner, Judges iii. 13, as Philistia and
xxxviii.
13, and Philistia,
9 (8). Also
Sons of
in
this combination against
Babylonia
as the dominant power of
not
merely to
except
the Sons of Lot, i. e.
here
referred to, as the authors and conductors of the expedition.
10 (9). Do to them as (thou didst) to
Midian, as (to) Sisera, as (to) Jabin,
in the valley of the
Kishon.
This is a prayer for such deliverances as
experienced
of old. The examples here selected are the victory of Gideon
over
the Midianites (Judges vii. viii.), and that of Deborah and Barak over
Jabin
and Sisera (Judges iv. v.) Between the first of these and the event
which
the psalm before us was designed to celebrate, there was this remark-
able
resemblance, that the enemies of
destroy
each other (Judges vii. 22, 2 Chron. xx. 23). Compare the allu-
sions
to the same event in Isa. ix. 4 (3), Hab. 7. The Kishon is repeatedly mentioned
in
the history of Deborah and Barak's triumph (Judges iv. 7, 13, v. 21).
11 (10). They were destroyed at Endor, they were dung to the earth.
This
refers to the second of the battles mentioned in the preceding verse.
Endor
is not expressly named in the history, but is known to have been in
the
vicinity of Tabor, which is repeatedly there mentioned (Judges iv. 6,
12,
14). The last clause derives illustration from the extraordinary fruit-
fulness
of certain battle-fields in modern times, particularly that of Water-
loo.
Compare 2 Kings ix. 37, Jer. ix. 21 (22).
12 (11). Make them, (even) their
nobles, like Oreb and like Zeeb ; and
like Zebah and like
Zalmunnah all their princes. He asks not only that the
masses
of the enemy may fare like those of Midian, but that their chief
men
may be utterly destroyed as the kings and chiefs of Midian were by
354 PSALM LXXXIII. [VER. 12-18.
Gideon.
See Judges vii. 25, viii. 5-21. The appeal to the historical
associations
of the people is greatly strengthened by this recital of familiar
names.
The first word properly means set or place them, i. e. put them in
the
same condition.
13 (12). Who have said, let us inherit for ourselves the dwellings (or pasture-
grounds) of God. This relates not to the
former but to the present enemies
of
with
their predecessors. The double meaning of the word translated dwell-
ings makes it peculiarly
descriptive of the
with
his people, and where he fed them as a shepherd. See above, on Ps.
xxiii.
3, lxv. 13 (12), lxxiv. 20.
14 (13). My God, make them like the whirling chaff before the wind.
Make
them, literally place them, as in ver. 11. Like
the whirling chaff,
literally like the whirl (or whirlwind), like the chaff. See above, on Ps.
lxxvii.
19 (18), and compare Isa. xvii. 13.
15 (14). As fire consumes a forest, and as a flame kindles mountains.
The
original construction is like a fire
(which) consumes, like a flame
(which)
kindles. By mountains we are here to understand what
covers them or
grows
upon them.
16 (15). So wilt thou pursue them with thy storm, and with thy tempest
scare them. There is no need of
translating these futures as imperatives.
It
is one of those cases, so frequent in Hebrew, and especially in this book,
where
the form of direct petition alternates with that of confident anticipation.
17 (16). Fill their face with shame, and (men) will seek thy name, Jeho-
vah! With the first clause
compare Ps. lxix. 8 (7), lxxxix. 46 (45). Some
refer
the last clause also to the enemies; but their destruction is still anti-
cipated
in the next verse, and to seek the name
of God can hardly be
expressive
of a compulsory humiliation. The word translated shame is very
strong,
and means contempt, disgrace, or ignominy.
18 (17). They shall be shamed and terror-stricken to eternity, and blush and
perish. This no doubt includes
a prayer or the expression of a wish, but
it
also includes a strong and confident anticipation. To discard the future
form
is therefore at the same time weakening to the sense and destructive
of
a characteristic feature of the language. With the first clause compare
Ps.
vi. 11 (10). The word translated terror-stricken
is the same that was
rendered
scared in ver. 16 (15). See above, on
Ps. ii. 5, vi. 4 (3), xlviii. 6 (5).
19 (18). And (men) shall know that
thou, whose name (is) Jehovah, (art)
alone Most High over all
the earth.
The reference here, as in ver. 17 (16),
is
not to the impression made upon the minds of those destroyed, but upon
men
in general considered as spectators of their fate. See above, on Ps.
lix.
14 (13), and compare 1 Sam. xvii. 46, 2 Kings xix. 19, Isa. xxxvii.
16,
20. The original construction is peculiar: "they shall know that thou
—thy
name Jehovah—thou alone—art Most High over all the earth." The
simple
pronoun thou is explained and
amplified by the addition of the words,
thy name Jehovah, i. e. thou who hast
revealed thyself already as the self-
existent
and eternal God, and as the covenant God of Israel.
PSALM
LXXXIV.
1. To the Chief Musician. On (or
according to) the Gittith. By (or
for)
the Sons of Korah. The Psalmist
celebrates the blessedness of intimate
VER.
1-3.] PSALM
LXXXIV.
355
communion
with God, ver 2-8 (1-7), and prays that he may himself enjoy
it,
ver. 9-13 (8-12). The resemblance of this psalm, in subject, tone, and
spirit,
to Ps. xlii., is the more remarkable because each stands at the be-
ginning
of a series inscribed to the Sons of
Korah. The experience here
recorded
is so evidently David's, that we must either understand the Sons
of
Korah to be mentioned merely as the musical performers, or suppose
that
they composed it to express the feelings of the king himself, a hypo-
thesis
which Hengstenberg illustrates by the case of David playing and
singing
before Saul, in order to alleviate his paroxysms of madness. For
the
arguments on both sides of the question, see above, on Ps. xlii. 1, and
for
the meaning of the Gittith, on Ps.
viii. 1, lxxxi. 1.
2 (1). How dear (to me are) thy
dwellings, 0 Jehovah, (God of) Hosts!
The
adjective is rendered by the English versions amiable, in the sense of
the
French aimable, lovely. But the usage
of the Hebrew word requires it
to
be understood as meaning dear, beloved,
which is exactly the idea here
required
by the context. See above, on Ps. xlv. 1. The plural dwellings
has
reference to the subdivisions and appurtenances of the sanctuary, and is
applied
to the tabernacle in Ps. xliii. 3. Compare Ps. lxviii. 36 (35). The
divine
titles are as usual significant. While one suggests the covenant
relation
between God and the petitioner, the other makes his sovereignty
the
ground of a prayer for his protection. The force of this impassioned
exclamation
is enhanced by the structure of the sentence, which consists of
a
single clause, like Ps. xviii. 2 (1). With the whole verse compare Ps. xxvii.
1-5.
3 (2.) Longs and also faints my soul for the courts of Jehovah, my heart
and my flesh; they sing (with joy) unto the living God. The first verb is
expressive
of intense desire, as in Ps. xvii. 12. Compare Gen. xxxi. 30.
Instead
of and also the English Bible has yea
even, which is perhaps too
strong,
and indicates a climax not intended by the writer. Faints, fails,
or
is consumed with strong desire. The plural courts,
i. e. enclosures, is to
be
explained like dwellings in ver. 2
(1). Solomon's temple had two courts;
but
one was appropriated to the priests, 2 Chron. iv. 9. The courts of
the
tabernacle are mentioned as the place where God statedly communed
with
They
are here mentioned merely as a sign of the communion itself, which
might
be enjoyed in any place whatever. See above, on Ps. xxvii. 4, xxxvi. 9.
Soul,
heart, and flesh, denote the whole man. See above, on Ps. lxiii. 2 (1).
The
Hebrew accents connect heart and flesh
with the preceding words. A
much
more natural division is the common one, which construes them
directly
with the verb of the last clause. That verb elsewhere always denotes
a
joyful shout or song; but the derivative noun (hn.Ari) is used to signify a
cry
for help or earnest prayer, which meaning some attach to the verb itself
in
this place, so as to make the clauses strictly parallel. If the usual mean-
ing
of the verb be here retained, the clause shews that the speaker had
already
experienced that for which he prays. The living
God, really exist-
ing,
and the giver of life to others. See above, on Ps. xlii. 3 (2).
4 (3). Yes, the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest, (in)
which she lays her
young, even thine altars, Jehovah, (God) of
hosts, my
King and my God. The first word
properly means also, as in the
preced-
ing
verse, and is by some translated even, as if he had said, "the very
birds
have nests in the sanctuary of God, while I am excluded from it."
Compare
Mat. viii. 20. But the fact thus alleged is highly improbable
and
nowhere recorded. A more natural interpretation is to make the spar-
356 PSALM
LXXXIV. [VER.
4-6.
row
and the swallow (put for small and helpless birds in general) emblems of
the
worshipper himself. As if he had said, yes, this wandering bird has at
last
found a resting-place, or home, both for itself and for its young. That
this
is perfectly in keeping with Davidic usage, is plain from 1 Sam. xxvi. 20,
Ps.
xi. 1, lv. 7 (6), lvi. 1. The translation
even thine altars supposes the
Hebrew
particle (tx)
to indicate the object of the verb, as it does before
the
same noun in 1 Kings xix. 10, 14. It may, however, be a proposition
meaning
at or near, and this sense is preferred by those interpreters who
suppose
a literal nestling of the birds in the sanctuary to be here alluded
to.
The altars meant are those of
burnt-offering and of incense, as in
Num.
iii. 31. They are particularly mentioned, because it was by means
of
sacrifice and prayer that communion between God and man was possible.
Compare
Ps. xxvi. 6. The young birds are introduced, not only to com-
plete
the picture, but to shew that the communion and divine protection,
which
the Psalmist so highly valued, were not merely personal but domestic
and
social privileges, which he desired both for himself and those dependent
on
him. The address, Jehovah, (God) of Hosts, has the same sense as in
ver.
2 (1). The same essential notions of supremacy and covenant relation
are
conveyed by the parallel expression, my
King and my God, a combina-
tion
which occurs only here and in Ps. v. 3 (2).
5 (4). Happy the dwellers in thy house, (for) still they praise thee (or
will
praise thee). The first phrase is
the idiomatic one with which the book
begins,
for the peculiar form and sense of which, see above on Ps. i. 1,
ii.
12, xxxii. 1, 2, xxxiii. 12, xli. 2 (1). Dwellers
in, inhabitants of, thy
house,
i. e. members of thy family, as the same words literally mean in
Jer.
xx. 5. For the spiritual or figurative meaning, see above, on Ps.
xv.
1, xxiii. 6, xxiv. 3, xxvii. 4, lxi. 5 (4), lxv. 5 (4). The privilege thus
described
might be enjoyed in any local situation; but the outward sign of
it,
under the old economy, was the frequenting of the sanctuary. As in-
mates,
not mere visitors, they will still have occasion and opportunity of
doing
what they do when first admitted into God's household. They will
still praise, because they will have
renewed cause so to do. See above, on
Ps.
v. 8 (7), 1. 15, 23, lxxix. 13.
6 (5). Happy the man who (has) strength in thee, (who have) highways in
their heart. The original consists
of several exclamations or ejaculations—
happy man!—(there is) strength to him in thee!—(there are) highways in
their heart? This last unusual and
obscure expression is supposed by
some
to mean, in whose thoughts, (or affections) are the highways to
explanation,
which agrees far better, both with the immediate context and
with
usage and analogy, supposes the figure to be identical with that in Ps.
1.
23, Prov. xvi. 17, Isa. xl. 3, 4, where the removal of all moral or
spiritual
hindrances to God's revisiting his people and communing with
them,
is poetically represented as the opening, levelling, and raising of a
causeway
through a pathless wilderness or otherwise impracticable ground.
The
word translated highways is determined,
both by etymology and usage,
to
denote not a mere beaten track or footpath, but a road artificially
constructed, and
raised
above the level of the ground through which it passes. The sudden change of
number
in the last clause shews that man is
a generic or collective term.
7 (6). Passing through the Vale of Tears, a spring they make it; also
with blessings is the
teacher clothed.
This is one of the obscurest verses in
the
book. Interpreters, however, are now commonly agreed as to the first
VER.
7-10.] PSALM
LXXXIV. 357
clause.
The explanation of Baca, as meaning
the
Baca-trees
(2 Sam. v. 23, 24, 1 Chron. xiv. 13, 14), is now very commonly
abandoned
for the one given in the ancient versions, the Vale of Weeping
or
of Sorrow, a beautiful poetical description of the present life as one of
suffering.
To the fons lacryrnarum is opposed
the fountain of salvation or
of
joy, a figure so familiar in the Scriptures, as to be readily suggested by
the
one word spring or fountain. See above, on Ps. xxxvi. 10
(9),
xlvi.
5 (4), and compare Isa. xii. 3. The meaning of the clause, as thus
explained,
is, that the persons pronounced happy in the foregoing verse are
a
source of happiness, and convert the very Vale of Tears into a fountain of
delight.
The meaning of the other clause is still disputed. As the first
noun,
by varying a single vowel-point, may mean either pools or blessings,
and
the next, though it commonly means teacher (2 Kings xvii. 28, Prov.
v.
13, Isa. xxx. 20), has in one other place (Joel ii. 23) the sense of rain, or
rather
of the early rain in
ferent
explanations. 1. The rain also covers the pools. 2. The teacher
is
clothed in blessings. 3. The rain covers it with blessings. In favour
of
the second is its close adherence to the usage of the three leading words.
It
is also found substantially in the ancient versions. The meaning then
is,
that this strange transforming power is exerted by the good man as
a
teacher of righteousness, in which sense one of the disputed words (hr,
occurs
in Joel ii. 23, which accounts for its being there repeated in the
very
same sentence, by a kind of paronomasia, in the sense of early rain,
elsewhere
denoted by a cognate form (hr,Oy). Compare the sentiment
with
that
in Ps. li. 15 (13). For the neuter or intransitive meaning of the last
verb,
see Lev. xiii. 45, Mic. iii. 7, Jer. xliii. 12.
8 (7). They shall go from strength to strength; he shall appear to God
in
to
be explained on the same principle. Or the singular verb in the last
clause
may refer to the Teacher in ver. 7 (6). The strength
is that
bestowed
by God, in the experience of which they make continual advances.
The
form of expression in the last clause is one used in the Law to denote
the
stated appearance of the Israelites at the sanctuary. The meaning of
the
whole verse is, that they who answer to the previous description shall finally
attain
to the full fruition of that union with God in which their happiness resides.
9 (8). Jehovah, God, (Lord of) Hosts, hear my prayer; give ear, 0 God
of Jacob! Selah. Here begins the second
part of the psalm, containing
the
petition founded on the preceding view of the happiness arising from
communion
with God. The names applied to him suggest, as usual, the
grounds
of the petition, namely, his eternity, self-existence, sovereignty,
and
covenant relation to his people.
10 (9). (Oh) our shield, see, (0) God, and behold the face of thine
Anointed. Some make the first
noun the object of the verb that follows,
see our shield; but in ver. 12 (11)
God himself is so described, as well as
in
Ps. iii. 4 (3), Gen. xv. 1. Its position, as a vocative, is certainly
unusual,
but seems to be emphatic. Behold the
face, i. e. behold it favour-
ably,
look upon it graciously. Thine Anointed
(One), i. e. David, by whom,
or
in whose name, the psalm was written.
11 (10). For better (is) a day in thy courts than a thousand; I have
chosen to occupy the
threshold in the house of my God, rather than dwell in
tents of wickedness. The comparison in both
clauses is expressed, as usual
358 PSALM LXXXV. [VER. 1, 2.
in
Hebrew, by the preposition from, away
from. "Good from, i. e. in
comparison
with, a thousand." "I choose from dwelling, i. e. rather than
to
dwell." The first clause of course means that one day in God's courts
is
better than a thousand elsewhere. I have
chosen, and do still choose, a
stronger
expression than I would choose or would
rather. The next verb
occurs
only here, and is evidently formed from the noun (Jsa) sill or threshold.
To be a door-keeper (guard the threshold),
and to lie on the threshold, are
too
specific, and appear to add something to the sense of the original. The
idea
perhaps is, that he would rather stand at the door of God's house and
look
in (which was all that the worshippers could do at the Mosaic sanc-
tuary),
than dwell in the interior of tents or houses where iniquity prevailed.
The
use of the word tents in this clause makes it still more probable that
the
tabernacle, not the temple, is meant by the parallel expression, house of God.
12 (11). For a sun and a shield is Jehovah, God; grace and glory will
Jehovah give; he will
not refuse (anything) good to those walking in a per-
fect (way). The for shows that
this verse gives a reason for the preference
expressed
in that before it. God is here called a sun, as he is called a light
in
Ps. xxxii. 1. Both these figures represent him as a source of happiness;
that
of a shield describes him as a source of safety, or a strong protector.
Grace and glory (or honour) are related as the cause and the effect. The
latter
includes all the sensible fruits and manifestations of the divine favour.
See
above, on Ps. xlix. 17 (16). In a perfect
is by some understood to
mean
as a perfect person, i. e. perfectly,
uprightly. See above, on Ps.
xv.
2, xviii. 24 (23), and compare Gen. xvii. 1.
13 (12). Jehovah (Lord of) Hosts,
happy the man trusting in thee. The
participle
is expressive of habitual reliance. Trusting
in thee, as I do.
PSALM LXXXV.
1. To the Chief Musician. To (or
by) the Sons of Korah. A Psalm.
On
the ground of former benefits, the Church prays for deliverance from
present
evils, ver. 2-8 (1-7), and joyfully anticipates a favourable answer,
ver.
9-14 (8-13). There is nothing in the title, or the psalm itself, to
determine
its date or confine its application to any particular historical
occasion.
It seems to be appropriate to every case in which the fulfilment
of
the promise (Lev. xxvi. 3-13) was suspended or withheld.
2 (1). Thou wast gracious, 0 Jehovah, to thy land; thou didst return
(to) the captivity of
Jacob.
Some interpreters refer these words to favours
recently
experienced; thou hast (now) been
gracious, &c. But it is clear
from
ver. 5-8 (4-7), that the people were actually suffering, and that the
acknowledgments
in ver. 2-4 (1-3) must relate to former instances of God's
compassion.
The idea, that the benefit acknowledged was deliverance from
the
Babylonish exile, has arisen from a false interpretation of the last clause,
for
the true sense of which see above, on Ps. xiv. 7. Captivity is a com-
mon
figure for distress, and God's revisiting the captives for relief from it.
It
is also worthy of remark, that the favour shewn was to the land, i. e. to
the
people while in possession and actual occupation of it.
3 (2). Thou didst take away the guilt of thy people; thou didst cover all
their sin. Selah. The same form of
expression occurs above, in Ps.
xxxii.
1, 5. Both verbs suggest the idea of atonement as well as pardon.
VER.
3-9.] PSALM
LXXXV.
359
4 (3). Thou didst withdraw all thy wrath; thou didst turn from the heat
of thine anger. There is probably an
allusion here to the prayer of Moses
in
Exod. xxxii. 12. The Hebrew verb of the second clause corresponds
strictly
to the English verb in its transitive or causative sense. It is used,
however,
in the same way by Ezekiel (xviii. 30, 32), who, in one place (xiv. 6),
has
the phrase to turn away the face, of
which the other may be an abbreviation.
5 (4.) Return to us, 0 God of our salvation, and cease thine anger
towards us. The recollection of
former mercies is here followed by a prayer
for
their renewal. "As thou hast had pity on thy people heretofore, so
have
pity on them now." Return to us,
revisit us again in mercy. See
above,
on ver. 2 (1), and on Ps. xiv. 7. The verb in the last clause means
to
annul or nullify, put an end to, cause to cease. It occurs above, Ps.
xxxiii.
10. The word translated anger is one
which properly expresses a
mixed
feeling of grief and indignation. See above, on Ps. vi. 7 (6).
6 (5). For ever wilt thou be angry at us? Wilt thou draw out thine
anger to generation and
generation!
The first Hebrew word strictly means
to ages or eternities. The verb to draw
out, protract, continue, is used in a
favourable
sense, Ps. xxxvi. 11 (10). The idea here expressed is the oppo-
site
of that in Ps. xxx. 6 (5).
7 (6). Wilt thou not return (and) quicken us, (and) shall (not) thy people
rejoice in thee? With the first clause
compare Ps. lxxi. 20, lxxx. 19 (18),
Deut.
xxxii. 39, Hos. vi. 2. With the second compare Ps. v. 12 (11),
ix.
3 (2), xl. 17 (16). "Wilt thou not revisit us in mercy, raise us from
the
dead or dying state in which we now are, and give us, as thy people,
fresh
occasion to rejoice in our relation to thee, and in our union and com-
munion
with thee?" The construction which continues the interrogation
through
the sentence is much simpler and more natural than that which
makes
the second clause contingent and dependent on the first, that thy
people may rejoice in
thee.
At the same time, the interrogative form
expresses
a more confident anticipation than a bare petition.
8 (7). Let us see, 0 Lord, thy mercy; and thy salvation thou wilt give
unto us. The first petition is,
that God would cause them to experience
his
mercy. In the last clause, as in many other places, the form of peti-
tion
is insensibly exchanged for that of anticipation. As if he had said,
"We
can confidently ask thee to shew us thy mercy, for we know that thou
wilt
grant us thy salvation."
9 (8). I will hear what the Mighty (God),
Jehovah, will speak; for he
will speak peace to his
people and to his saints; and let them not return to
folly. The first clause
expresses the people's willingness to hear and to
abide
by God's decision. The second gives the reason of this willingness,
to
wit, because they know that the response will be auspicious. The third
assigns
the necessary limitation to this confidence, by stating the condition
of
God's favourable answer. The failure to comply with this condition
accounts
for the partial fulfilment of the promise, both in the case of indi-
viduals
and of the church at large. See above, on Ps. lxxx. 19 (18), and
compare
the promise in Lev. xxvi. 3-13. His
saints, the objects of his
mercy
and subjects of his grace. See above, on Ps. iv. 4 (3). And let
them not turn is equivalent to
saying, so (or therefore) let them not turn.
The
real connection of the clauses might be brought out still more clearly
in
our idiom by the paraphrase, "provided they do not return to folly."
10 (9). Only nigh to his fearers (is) his salvation, for glory to dwell in
our land. As the limitation of
the promise to those fearing God is an
360 PSALM LXXXVI. [VER. 10-13.
essential
stroke in this description, there is no need of departing from the
strict
sense of (j`xa)
the particle with which the sentence opens. See above,
On
Ps. lxii. 10 (9), lxviii. 7 (6), and compare Ps. lviii. 12 (11), lxxiii. 1.
The
meaning then is, that salvation is provided by God's mercy for none
but
those who fear him. The last clause, which is literally rendered above,
is
equivalent to saying in our idiom, that
glory may dwell in our land.
Glory
has the same sense as in Ps. lxxxiv. 12 (11). Dwell, reside perma-
nently,
long continue.
11 (10). Mercy and truth have met (together); righteousness and peace
have kissed (each other). By truth, we are to
understand the truth of God's
promises,
the divine veracity. See above, on Ps. xxv. 5. The same com-
bination
with grace or mercy occurs above, in Ps. xxv. 10, xl. 11 (10),
lvii.
4 (3), lxi. 8 (7), and below, Ps. lxxxix. 15 (14). Righteousness, con-
sidered
as the gift of God, justification, whether judicial or providential.
Peace, immunity from all
disturbing causes, which implies prosperity of
every
kind. See above, on Ps. lxxii. 3. Have
met, in a peaceable and friendly
manner,
an idea still more strongly expressed by the kiss of reconciliation
or
affection in the last clause. A still more pointed and emphatic mean-
ing
may be put upon the sentence by supposing it to mean, that God's
mercy
or free favour to the undeserving is now seen to be consistent with
his
truth, which was pledged for their destruction, and their peace or
safety
with his righteousness or justice, which might otherwise have seemed
to
be wholly incompatible.
12 (11). Truth from the earth is springing, and righteousness from heaven
looks down. The truth of God's
promise may be seen, as it were, springing
from
the earth in its abundant fruits, and its rectitude, or faithfulness to
his
engagements, looking down from heaven in the rain and sunshine. By
this
bold and beautiful conception, the certainty of God's providential care
is
expressed more strongly than it could be by any mere didactic state-
ment.
The beauty of the image in the last clause is heightened by the use
of
a verb which originally means to lean or bend over, for the purpose of
gazing
down upon a lower object. See above, on Ps. xiv. 2, and compare
Judges
v. 28, 2 Sam. vi. 16.
13 (12). Jehovah also will give the (material or earthly) good, and our
land will give its
produce (or increase). In other words, the promise
shall
be
verified that stands recorded in the Law (Lev. xxvi. 4), from which the
form
of the expression is borrowed, as it is in Ps. lxvii. 7 (6).
14 (13). Righteousness before him shall march, and set (us) in the way of
his steps. The verb in the first
clause is a poetical intensive form of one
which
means to walk or go. The idea here expressed seems to be that of
public
and solemn manifestation. The last clause is obscure, and of dubious
construction.
The latest interpreters understand it as meaning, and set its
steps for a way, i. e. mark out by its
own steps the way in which we are to
walk.
This yields, in the end, the same sense as the common version
above
given.
PSALM LXXXVI.
1. A Prayer. By David. Incline, 0 Jehovah, thine ear (and) answer
me, for wretched and
needy
(am) I. The whole psalm is called a
prayer,
because
entirely made up, either of direct petitions, or of arguments in-
tended
to enforce them. The tone and substance of the composition are
VER
2-5.] PSALM
LXXXVI.
361
well
suited to David's situation in his days of suffering at the hands of Saul
or
Absalom, more probably the latter, on account of the repeated allusions
to
deliverance from former trials of the same kind. Some account for the
position
of this psalm in the midst of a series inscribed to the Sons of Korah,
by
supposing that the latter composed it in the person or the spirit of David.
See
above, on Ps. lxxxiv. 1. The same hypothesis is used by these interpreters
to
explain the many forms of expression borrowed from other psalms of
David,
as, if the Sons of Korah meant to
comfort him by the repetition of
his
own consolatory words in other cases. Compare 2 Cor. i. 4. The
psalm
admits of no minute or artificial subdivision. The only marked
diversity
of the parts is, that in ver. 1-10, petition is combined with argu-
ment,
whereas in ver. 11-17, it is more unmixed. The first ground or
reason
is derived, in this verse, from the urgency of the necessity. At the
same
time, there is a tacit claim to God's protection, on the ground that
he
who asks it is one of his own people. According to the usage of the
psalms,
the afflicted and the needy denote sufferers among God's people.
See
above, on Ps. x. 2.
2. Keep my soul, for a gracious one (am) I; save thy servant, even. thou,
my God, the (servant)
trusting in thee.
He prays for the safe keeping of
his
soul or life, because it was this that the enemy threatened. See below,
ver.
14. The grounds assigned are two, or rather one exhibited in two
forms.
The first is, that he is a (dysiHA) saint or gracious one,
a merciful
object
of God's mercy. See above, on Ps. lxxxv. 8 (7). The other is that,
as
a servant of Jehovah, he believes and trusts in him alone. The origi-
nal
expression is not in but to or towards thee, as if implying that the be-
liever
turns or looks away from every other ground of confidence to God
alone.
The same construction occurs twice above, in Ps. iv. 6 (5), xxxi. 7 (6).
3. Be gracious unto me, 0 Lord, for unto thee will I cry all the day.
The
prayer is still substantially the same, but enforced by two additional
reasons:
one implied in the divine name used, to wit, that God is his sove-
reign,
and as such bound to protect his subject; the other expressed,
namely,
that his subject never ceases to invoke his aid. The future mean-
ing
of the verb includes the present, but suggests the additional idea of
determination
to pursue the same, course till the blessing is obtained. Com-
pare
Gen. xxxii. 27 (26), Luke xviii. 1. All
the day is a common idiomatic
phrase
equivalent to all the time in
English, and may therefore be consi-
dered
as including, though it does not formally express, the idea of every
day or daily. See above, on Ps. xlii. 4, 11 (3, 10).
4. Gladden the soul of thy servant, for unto thee, Lord, my soul do I
raise. The first clause is not
a mere periphrasis for "make me glad," or
"cause
me to rejoice." It means "make me heartily rejoice, because I
am
thy servant," thus suggesting a new ground of his petition, different in
form
although substantially identical with that in the preceding verse. A
similar
analogy exists between the second clause of that verse and the
second
clause of this, the form of which, however, is borrowed from Ps.
xxv.
1. Here, as there, to raise the soul to God is to regard him with
affection
and strong confidence. See above, on Ps. xxiv. 4. At the same
time,
there is an allusion to the strict sense of the Hebrew verb, as if he had
said,
"make my soul rejoice, since I bring it up or raise it to thee for this
very
purpose." The force of the future is the same as in ver. 4.
5. For thou, Lord, art good and forgiving, and rich in mercy to all
(those) invoking thee. God is not only the
sovereign of his people, and as
362 PSALM LXXXVI. [VER. 6-11.
such
bound by covenant to protect them, but benevolent or good in his own
nature;
and that not merely in the general, or in reference to all his crea-
tures,
but especially in reference to the undeserving and the ill-deserving; that
is,
to such of them as really desire his favour, and evince their willingness
to
have it by the act of asking for it. Rich
(in) mercy, literally great (or
much,
abundant, plenteous, as to) mercy.
This expression, and indeed
the
whole description, is borrowed from Exod. xxxiv. 6.
6. Give ear, Jehovah, to my prayer, and attend (or hearken) to the voice
of my supplications. The same verbs are
used in a similar connection, Ps.
v.
2, 3 (1, 2). The last word in Hebrew, according to its etymology,
denotes
specifically prayers for favour, grace, or mercy. See above, on
Ps.
xxviii. 6, xxxi. 23 (22). There is no new ground or argument sug-
gested
here, beyond what is implied in the use of the word just explained,
and
of the divine name in the first clause.
7. In the day of my distress I will invoke thee, for thou wilt answer me.
The
future includes the present, I do and will invoke thee, call thee to my
aid,
or call upon thee for assistance. The second clause assigns the
reason,
namely, his conviction that he shall not call in vain. The implied
ground
of this conviction is, that he never does and never did call, in the
exercise
of faith, without being favourably heard or answered.
8. There is none like thee among the gods, 0 Lord, and nothing like thy
works (among their works).
This last, which might seem to be needed to
complete
the sense and the parallelism, was suppressed perhaps in order to
suggest
the idea, that the gods have no works, even the Gentiles who wor-
ship
them being creatures of Jehovah, as is expressly stated in the next
verse.
Even the full comparison, however, in the first clause, does not
necessarily
concede the personal existence of the gods themselves, but only
that
of their material images, or at most the belief of their besotted wor-
shippers.
Compare with this verse its Mosaic models, Exod. xv. 11,
Deut.
iii. 24, and the Davidic imitations of them, 2 Sam. vii. 22, Ps.
xviii
32 (31). The exclusive Godhead of Jehovah is here urged as a dis-
tinct
ground or reason of importunate petition to him.
9. All nations which thou hast made shall come and worship before thee,
0 Lord, and give honour
to thy name.
The common relation of Jehovah
to
all men as their Maker, although now denied by most nations, shall be one
day
universally acknowledged, not in word merely, but in act, the most
expressive
act of worship, involving a believing recognition of the previous
display
of God's perfections, in the language of the Scriptures called his
name. This prospective view
of the conversion of the world to the belief
and
service of its Maker shews how far the Old Testament writers were
from
a cherishing or countenancing, the contracted nationality of the later and
the
less enlightened Jews. See above, on Ps. xxii. 28, 29 (27, 28), xlv.
13-17
(12-16), xlvii. 10 (9), and compare Jer. xvi. 19, Zeph. ii. 11,
Zech.
xiv. 9, 16.
10. For great (art) thou and doing wonders, thou (art) God alone. The
only
new idea here is the evidence afforded of Jehovah's sole divinity by
his
miraculous performances. The for, at
the beginning of the verse,
implies
that these proofs of divinity must sooner or later have their full effect.
11. Guide me, Jehovah, (in) thy way; I will walk in thy truth ; unite
my heart to fear thy
name.
The common version of the first verb (teach
me) is too vague, as it
fails to bring out the peculiar
suitableness of the
term
to express the kind of teaching here specifically meant. The original
VER.
12-17.] PSALM
LXXXVI.
363
meaning
of the Hebrew word is to point out or mark the way. According
to
the usage of the Psalms, the way of
God is here the course of his pro-
vidential
dealings, and his truth the truth of
his promises, to walk in which
is
to assent to them, or acquiesce in them and trust them. See above, on
Ps.
xxv. 4, 5, xxvi. 3. That he may be enabled to do this without distrac-
tion
or reserve, is the prayer of the last clause. The idea of a united
heart
is the opposite of a double heart. See above, on Ps. xii. 3 (2),
and
compare James iv. 8.
12. I will thank thee, 0 Lord my God, with all my heart, and I will
honour thy name for ever. The first verb means
not merely to praise in
general,
but to praise for benefits received. See above, on Ps. vi. 6 (5).
This
verse describes the effect that is to follow from the granting of the
prayer
at the close of the preceding verse. When his heart is once united to fear
God,
cordial and perpetual thanksgiving will follow as a necessary consequence.
13. For thy mercy (has been) great towards me, and thou hast freed my
soul from the lowest
hell.
The most natural explanation of these words is
that
which makes them an appeal to former mercies as a reason for expect-
ing
new ones. If the psalm belongs to the period of Absalom's rebellion
(see
above, on ver. 1), the reference here may be to David's dangers and
deliverances
from Saul. Towards me, literally on me, with an implication
of
descent from above. Hell, in the wide
sense of death or the state of the
dead.
See above, on Ps. vi. 6 (5). Lowest,
or lower, lying under, subter-
raneous.
The expression is derived from Deut. xxxii. 22. With this
verse
compare Ps. xviii. 6 (5), lvi. 14 (13).
14. 0 God, proud (men) have arisen against me, and an assembly of
violent (men) have
sought my soul, and have not set thee before them. Nearly
the
same words had been used by David in reference to the Sauline perse-
cution,
Ps. liv. 5 (3). But instead of aliens,
he here speaks of proud ones,
and
before the parallel term violent,
oppressive, or tyrannical (Ps. xxxvii. 35),
inserts
congregation or assembly, as if to imply organization, both which
variations
agree well with the hypothesis that this psalm relates to the re-
volt
of Absalom.
15. And thou, Lord, (art) a God
merciful and gracious, long-suffering,
and plenteous in mercy
and truth.
He here appeals to God's description of
himself
as warranting his prayer for mercy. See Exod. xxxiv. 6, and the
imitations
or quotations of it by Joel (ii. 13) and Jonah (iv. 2). See also
Ps.
lxxxv. 11 (10).
16. Turn towards me and be gracious to me; give thy strength to thy ser-
vant, and grant
salvation to the son of thy handmaid. The first prayer implies
that
God's face had previously been averted. Give
thy strength, exercise it
for
his protection. The son of thy handmaid
or female slave, i. e. a home-
born
and hereditary servant, and as such entitled to defence and sustenance.
The
expression is borrowed from Exod. xviii. 12, and reappears in Ps.
cxvi.
16. The last verb is the common one meaning to save, but here con-
nected
with its object by the preposition to.
17. Shew me a token for good, and (then) my haters shall see and be
shamed, because thou,
Jehovah, hast helped me and comforted me. The
phrase
translated shew me strictly means do with me, and is here used be-
cause
the sign or token asked is neither a verbal declaration nor a miracle,
but
a practical or providential indication of God's favour, furnished by his
dealings
with him. The word translated good is the one used in Ps. xvi. 2,
where,
as here, it has the sense of physical good, welfare, happiness. A
364 PSALM LXXXVII. [VER. 1-4.
token for good is a pledge of its
possession and enjoyment. The oblique
construction,
that my haters may see, is really
included in the direct future.
Shamed, surprised,
disappointed, and confounded. The preterites in the
last
clause have reference to the time when this effect shall be produced
upon
the enemy, and when the divine help and consolation shall have been
already
granted.
PSALM LXXXVII.
1. To (or by) the Sons of Korah.
A Psalm. A Song. His foundation
(is) in the hills of
holiness.
The first title decides nothing as to the date of
composition.
See above, on Ps. xlii. 1, xlvi. 1, xlviii. 1, xlviii. 1. It is not
only
a psalm, a religious lyric, but a song, i. e. a song of praise or triumph.
See
above, on Ps. lxxxiii. 1. This agrees well with the tone of the com-
position,
which seems to indicate some great deliverance as its historical
occasion.
The only one that can be fixed upon with any great degree of
probability
is that of Hezekiah from the power of
Ps.
xlvi. 1, lxxv. 1, lxxvi. 1. In view of some such signal intervention in
behalf
of
and
anticipates its future honours as the spiritual birth-place of the nations,
ver.
4-7. His foundation, that which he
has founded, meaning his sanc-
tuary
and his theocratical kingdom. The plural expression, hills of holiness,
means
was
built. It was peculiarly appropriate in this case, if the psalm was
written
in the reign of Hezekiah, because at that time
sense,
was no longer the exclusive residence of God on earth. At the same
time,
there is particular reference to
strength
of the royal city was concentrated.
2. Jehovah loves the gates of
This
description of Jehovah's choice of
to
that in Ps. lxxviii. 68. The gates of a walled city give access to it and
power
over it, and are therefore naturally here put for the whole. The
Hebrew
participle (loving) implies constant and habitual attachment.
3. Glorious things (have been)
spoken in thee, 0 City of God. Selah.
Glorious
or honourable things, in the way of prophecy and promise, the ful-
filment
of which is here implied. As if he had said, the promises respect-
ing
thee are great, but they are or shall be fully verified. So too in the
other
clause the meaning is, thou art well called the city of
in
thee, to protect and honour thee. See above, on Ps. xlvi. 5 (4), xlviii. 2,
9
(1, 8). Instead of in thee some read of thee, but the former is entitled to
the
preference: first, because it is the strict sense, and therefore not to be
rejected
without reason; then, because it really includes the other, but is
not
included in it; lastly, because it suggests the additional idea of the holy
city
as the scene, no less than the theme, of the prophetic visions.
4. I will mention Rahab aad
monly
agreed, that these are the words of God himself, though not ex-
pressly
so announced. The first verb in Hebrew is a causative, I will make
to
be remembered, celebrate, commemorate. See above, Ps. xx. 8 (7),
xlv.
18 (17), lxxi. 16 (15), lxxvii. 12 (11). It here means to announce or
proclaim.
To know God is to love him and to be his servant. See above,
on
Ps. xxxvi. 11 (10), and compare Isa. xix. 21. Those knowing him in
VER.
5, 6.] PSALM
LXXXVII.
365
this
sense are his people. As knowing me,
literally to those knowing me,
i.
e. belonging to their number. Or the sense may be, for knowers of me,
I
will recognise and reckon them for such. Compare the Hebrew of Exod.
xxi.
2, he shall go out free, literally for free, i.e. as free. The nations
thus
announced
as belonging to God's people are mere samples of the whole
gentile
world, those being chosen for the purpose, who were or had been
most
connected with the history of
powers
of antiquity. Rahab is an enigmatical
name given to
Prophet
Isaiah. See below, on Ps. lxxxix. 11 (10), and compare my notes
on
Isa. xxx. 7, li. 9.
cause
in Hezekiah's reign the former began to supersede the latter as the
dominant
power of
pare
the prophecy respecting
Philistia
and
latter,
see above, on Ps. xlv. 13 (12), and compare Isa. xxiii. 18. The
conversion
of Cush or
lxviii.
32 (31), and by Solomon, Ps. lxxii. 10. The last words are obscure
but
may be rendered clearer by supplying before them, as to each of these it
shall be said. The pronoun (this) is then to be referred not to
individual
men,
but to the nations as ideal persons. The idea of regeneration or
spiritual
birth, applied in the New Testament to individuals, is here applied
to
nations, who are represented as born again, when received into commu-
nion
with the church or chosen people.
5. And of
her, and He will
establish her, the Highest. The strict translation of the
first
words is to
shews
that the act described is that of speaking of a person in his presence,
yet
not directly to him, or, as we sometimes say in English, talking at him.
See
above, on Ps. iii. 3 (2), lxxi. 10. The idiomatic phrase man and man
means
every one or each one severally. See the Hebrew of Esther i. 8,
and
compare that of Lev. xvii. 10, 13. The clause may then be understood
as
asserting of individuals what had just been said of whole communities,
or
as repeating the latter, in a more emphatic form, for the purpose of con-
necting
it with an additional promise, namely, that the church thus en-
larged
by the accession of the Gentiles, shall be permanently established
and
secured. The pronoun is emphatic, and is rendered more so by the
epithet
attached to it. He the Highest, or the Highest himself. The pro-
tector
of the church is neither man nor angel, but the supreme and sove-
reign
God. See above, on Ps. xlvii. 3 (2), xlviii. 9 (8).
6. Jehovah shall count, in enrolling the nations: This (one) was born
there. Selah. The theme or idea of
the whole psalm, that
yet
be the birth-place of all nations, is again repeated, under a new figure,
that
of registration. Compare Ezek. xiii. 9. The meaning is that, as he
counts
the nations, he shall say of each, in turn or one by one, this one
was
also born there. In enrolling,
literally writing, i. e. inscribing
in a list
or
register. The common version (when he
writeth up the people) not only
fails
to reproduce the plural form of the last word, or to shew in any way
that
more than a single nation is referred to, but ascribes the act of writing
to
the Lord himself, which, though not so inadmissible in a figurative passage as
some
writers
think it, is not necessarily implied in the original, where the form of
expression
is in the writing, i.e. at the time or in
the act of doing so, whether the act be that
of
God himself or merely done by his authority and under his direction.
366 PSALM LXXXVIII. [VER. 1.
7. And singers as well as well as players (shall be heard saying), All my
springs are in thee. The construction in the
first clause is peculiar, singers
as players. See above, on Ps.
xlviii. 6 (5). The image present to the
Psalmist's
mind seems to be that of a procession or triumphal march, com-
posed
of the nations on their way to
are
the minstrels, who, as the spokesmen of the rest, acknowledge that the
source
of their happiness is henceforth to be sought in
locality,
but as the place where God was pleased to manifest his gracious
presence.
It matters little, therefore, whether the closing words (in thee)
be
referred to God directly, or to
imparted
spiritual blessings to the gentiles. Compare the figure of a spring
or
stream in Joel iv. 18 (iii. 18), Zech. xiii. 1, xiv. 8, Ezek. xlvii. 1, and
see
above, on Ps. lxxxiv. 7 (6). The word joined with singers admits of a
twofold
derivation, and may either mean players
upon instruments, or still
more
definitely, pipers, as the players on
stringed instruments are named in
the
same connection, Ps. lxviii. 26 (25); or as some of the latest interpre-
ters
prefer, it may mean dancers, as this
indication of joy was commonly
practised,
in connection with singing, not only by women but by men. See
above,
on Ps. xxx. 12 (11), and below, on Ps. cl. 4. and compare Exod.
xv.
20, 2 Sam. vi. 16. The Selah at the
end of the preceding verse shews
that
the variations of the main theme are concluded, and separates the body
of
the psalm from this verse, which contains the words neither of the Psalmist
nor
the Church nor God himself, but of the converted Gentiles.
PSALM
LXXXVIII.
1. A Song. A Psalm. To (or by) the Sons of Korah. To the Chief
Musician. Concerning
afflictive sickness. A didactic Psalm. By Heman
the Ezrahite. The first word of this
title elsewhere denotes a song of praise
or
triumph. See above, on Ps. xlii. 9 (8), lxxxiii. 1. It is here prefixed,
however,
to the most despondent psalm in the collection, in which the
complaints
and lamentations are relieved by no joyful anticipations or ex-
pressions
of strong confidence. The only satisfactory explanation of these
facts
is afforded by the supposition, that Ps. lxxxviii. and lxxxix were in-
tended
to constitute a pair or double psalm, like the first and second, third
and
fourth, ninth and tenth, forty-second and forty-third, &c. The de-
sponding
lamentations of Ps. lxxxviii. are then merely introductory to the
cheering
expectations of Ps. lxxxix. This supposition also explains the
unusual
length of the inscription now before us, the first part of which may
then
be considered as belonging to both psalms, while the last clause cor-
responds
to the title of Ps. lxxxix. Afflictive
sickness, literally sickness to
afflict or humble. For the figurative use of sickness, and the sense of this
inscription,
see above, on Ps. liii. 1. Heman the Ezrahite is mentioned,
with
Asaph and Ethan, as chief musicians in the reign of David, 1 Chron.
vi.
18 (33), xv. 17, xvi. 41, 42. The Heman and Ethan, spoken of in
1
Chron. ii. 6 as Ezrahites (i. e. sons of Zerah), and in 1 Kings v. 11, as
eminent
for wisdom, are supposed by some to be different persons, because
they
were of the tribe of
adopted
into that tribe. The Psalm before us neither requires nor admits
of
any minute or artificial subdivision.
2 (1). Jehovah, God of my salvation, (by) day have I cried, and by night,
before thee. God of my salvation,
the God in whom I trust to save me,
VER.
2-8.] PSALM LXXXVIII. 367
because
he is a saving God, or God my Saviour. See above, on Ps. lxxxv.
5
(4). Day and by night are related to each other here, as night and by day
are
in Ps. lxxvii. 3 (2). Before thee
implies that his cries were not mere in-
stinctive
expressions of distress, but prayers addressed to God. With the
whole
verse compare Ps. xxii. 3 (2).
3 (2). Let my prayer come before thee; incline thine ear unto my cry.
The
first petition is that his prayer may attract the divine attention, which
is
varied in the last clause by the figure of one bending down to catch a
faint
or distant cry. See above, on Ps. xvii. 6, xxxi. 3 (2), lxxi. 2.
4 (3). For sated with evils is my soul, and my life to the grave draws near.
Evils, sufferings,
distresses. As life is plural in
Hebrew, it can be construed
regularly
with the plural verb; but as this is properly a causative, it may
also
be construed with evils, or with men
indefinitely, they have brought my
life near to the grave. The first construction
is favoured by the analogy of
Ps.
cvii. 18. The grave, sheol, the state
of the dead. See above, on Ps.vi. 6 (5).
5 (4). I am reckoned with those going down to the pit; I am (or am be-
come) as a man with no
strength.
With the first clause compare Ps.
xxviii.
1, cxliii. 7. With no strength,
literally (to whom) there is no strength.
The
last word in Hebrew occurs only here, but a cognate form in Ps. xxii.
20
(19). There is in the original an antithesis, which cannot be conveyed
by
mere translation, arising from the fact that the first word for man is one
implying
strength.
6 (5). With (or among) the dead, free, like the slain, lying in the
grave,
whom thou rememberest no
more, and they by (or from) thy hand are cut off.
As
to be God's servant is the highest privilege and honour (Ps. lxxxvi. 16),
so
to be free from his service (Job iii. 19) is to be miserable. The refer-
ence
is not to death in general, but to death by violence and as a punishment.
The slain, literally the (mortally) wounded. See above on Ps. lxix. 27 (26).
The
latter half of the verse contains a strong poetical description of the
wicked,
as no longer the objects of God's protecting care. Of the two
translations,
from and by thy hand, the first conveys the same idea with the
foregoing
words, while the second represents the destruction of God's
enemies
as the work of his own hands.
7 (6). Thou hast placed me in a deep pit, in dark places, in abysses. A
deep
pit, literally a pit of low or under places. See above, on Ps. lxiii.
10
(9), lxxxvi. 13, and compare Ezek. xxvi. 20. The dark places are those
of
the invisible and lower world. Abysses, deeps, or depths of water. See
above,
on Ps. lxix. 3 (2).
8 (7). Upon me weighs thy wrath, and (with) all thy waves thou dost
oppress me. Selah. The word translated
waves corresponds etymologically
to
breakers. See above, on Ps. xlii. 8 (7). With the first clause compare
Ps.
xxxviii. 3 (2). The verb to oppress
or afflict is applied in historical
prose
to the oppression of
infinitive
of the same verb occurs in the title of the psalm before us. The
Selah indicates the depth of
his distress, and the necessity of a pause before
resuming
the description.
9 (8). Thou hast put far my acquaintances from me; thou hast made me
an abomination to them;
(I am) shut up and cannot come forth The cir-
cumstance
complained of in the first clause, is one often mentioned as an
aggravation
of distress. See above, on Ps. xxxi. 12 (11), xxxviii. 12 (11),
lxix.
9 (8), and compare Ps. xxvii. 10. The next clause shews that he com-
plains
of something more than mere neglect. Made
me, literally put or
368 PSALM LXXXVIII. [VER. 9-16
placed me. See above, on Ps.
xxxix. 9 (8). There may be an allusion to
the
statement in the history, that the Israelites were an abomination, an
object
of religious detestation and abhorrence, to their Egyptian masters.
See
Gen. xliii. 32, xlvi. 34. The last clause is by some understood to mean,
I
am encompassed by inextricable difficulties. Compare Lam. iii. 7, Job
iii.
23. Others, with more probability, connect it with what goes before,
and
understand the sense to be, that he is not willing to expose himself to
this
unmerited hatred and contempt. See Job xxxi. 34, and compare Ps.
xliv.
14 (13), lxxx. 7 (6).
10 (9). My eye decays by reason of affliction; I invoke thee, 0 Jehovah,
every day; I spread out
unto thee my hands.
With the first clause compare
Ps.
vi. 8 (7), xxxi. 10 (9), xxxviii. 11 (10), lxix. 4 (3). With the last com-
pare
Ps. xliv. 21 (20). The first Hebrew verb is one of rare occurrence;
a
derivative noun is used by Moses, Deut. xxviii. 65. The preterites repre-
sent
the suffering as no new thing, but one of long continuance.
11 (10). Wilt thou to the dead do wonders, or shall ghosts arise (and) thank
thee? Selah. The argument implied is
that the present life is the appro-
priate
time for those favours which belong to it. See above, on Ps. vi. 6 (5).
The
word Rephaim, in the last clause, is
the name of a Canaanitish race of
giants,
but is applied poetically to the gigantic shades or spectres of the
dead.
See my note on Isa. xiv. 9. Do wonders,
literally wonder, as in Ps. lxxvii.
12 (11).
12 (11). Shall thy mercy be recounted in the grave, thy faithfulness in
destruction? The last word (Abaddon)
appears elsewhere in conjunction
with
the grave and death, as a poetical equivalent. See Prov. xv. 11, Job
xxvi.
6, xxviii. 22.
13 (12). Shall thy wonders be known in the dark, and thy righteousness in
the land of
forgetfulness?
These are varied metaphorical descriptions of the
state
of death, considered negatively as the privation or the opposite of life.
Darkness is here opposed to the light of life or of the living, Ps. lvi. 14 (13).
The
land of forgetfulness, where men forget, Eccles. ix. 5, 6, 10, and are
forgotten,
Ps. xxxi. 13 (12).
14 (13). And I unto thee, 0 Jehovah, have cried, and in the morning
shall my prayer come before
thee.
What he has done he is still resolved to
do,
as the only means of safety. Hence the alternation of the preterite and
future.
The first verb means to cry for help. See above, on Ps. xviii.
42
(41). With the last clause compare Ps. v. 4 (3), lvii. 9 (8), lix. 17 (16).
The
verb has its proper sense of coming before one or into his presence.
See
above, on Ps. xvii. 13, xviii. 6 (5), xxi. 4 (3).
15 (14). Why, 0 Jehovah, wilt thou reject my soul, wilt thou hide thy face
from me? The first verb means to
reject with abhorrence. See above, on
Ps.
xliii. 2, xliv. 10, 24 (9, 23), lx. 3, 12 (1, 10), lxxiv. 1, lxxvii. 8 (7).
The
question implies that such rejection would be inconsistent with God's
faithfulness,
and is therefore not expressive of entire despondence.
16 (15). Wretched (am) I and expiring from childhood; I have borne thy
terrors; I despair. Expiring, ready to
perish, at the point of death, a strong
description
of extreme distress. The childhood
may be that of the individual
sufferer,
or of
been
intended.
17 (16). Over me hare passed thine indignation; thy terrors have
destroyed me. The image in the first
clause is the same as in Ps. xlii. 8 (7).
Indignations, literally heats or inflamations,
but always applied to anger.
The
plural occurs only here. The unusual form of the last verb is supposed
VER.
1, 2.] PSALM
LXXXIX.
369
by
some to have been coined by the writer, for the sake of an allusion to Lev.
xxv. 23.
18 (17). They have surrounded me like waters all the day; they have en-
compassed me at once (or all together). The figure of overwhelming waves
is
still continued. The subject of the verbs can only be the indignations
and
the terrors of ver. 17 (16).
19 (18). Thou halt put far from me lover and friend; my acquaintances
(are)
darkness (or a dark place). The flyst
clause is a repetition of ver. 9 (8).
The
other is obscure, and is supposed by some to mean, my acquaintances
vanish,
disappear in darkness; by others, my acquaintances give way to
darkness,
are succeeded by it; my only friend is now the dark place, i. e.
the
grave or death. Thus understood, the sentiment is not unlike that in
Job
xvii. 14.
PSALM
LXXXIX.
1. Maschil. By Ethan the Ezrahite. From the fact that Ethan and
Jeduthun
are both named with Asaph and Heman, but never named together,
it
has been inferred that they are two names of the same person, or rather
that
Ethan is the personal name, and Jeduthun (derived from a verb which
means
to praise) the official title. Heman
and Ethan are both described as
Ezrahites,
i. e. adopted sons of Zerah, 1 Chron.vi. 5, but by birth were no
doubt
both Sons of Korah, 1 Chron. vi. 18,
22 (33, 37). To the lamenta-
tions
and complaints of Heman in the first part of this double psalm (Ps.
lxxxviii.)
is now added an appeal to the divine promise by Ethan in the
psalm
before us. The particular promise here insisted on is that in 2 Sam.
vii.,
which constitutes the basis of all the Messianic psalms. The hypothesis
of
Hengstenberg and others, that the psalm was composed in the interval
between
the death of Josiah and the Babylonish exile, by the Korhites of
that
period, who merely assumed the name and breathed the spirit of their
great
progenitors, could be justified only by extreme exegetical necessity,
which
does not here exist, since nothing is more natural than to assume,
that
these psalms were nearly contemporaneous with the promise itself, and
intended
to anticipate misgivings and repinings, which, although they existed
even
then in germ, were not developed till the period of decline began, or
rather
till it was approaching its catastrophe. By far the larger part of this
psalm
is occupied in amplifying and expounding the great Messianic promise,
ver.
2-38 (1-37), while the remainder, like Ps. lxxxviii., teaches the chosen
people
how to apply it, in their times of suffering and despondency, ver.
39-53
(38-52), a feature of the composition which fully warrants its descrip-
tion
in the title as a maschil or didactic
psalm.
2 (1). The mercies of Jehovah for ever will I sing; to generation and
generation will I make
known thy faithfulness with my mouth. The mercies
particularly
meant are the favours promised to David as the progenitor and
type
of the Messiah. The faithfulness
mentioned in the other clause is that
of
God in the fulfilment of these promises. Compare my note on Isa. lv. 3,
where
the same idea is expressed by the sure
mercies of David. For ever,
literally
eternity, the noun being used
adverbially, as its plural is in Ps. lxi.
5
(4). The promise of perpetual commemoration shews that the Psalmist
speaks
not only for himself, but for the church of which he is the mouth or
spokesman.
3 (2). For I have said, For ever shall mercy be built up. The heavens--
370 PSALM LXXXIX. [VER. 3-6.
thou wilt fix thy
faithfulness in them.
The church will celebrate God's
mercy
and faithfulness for ever, because they will endure for ever. I have
said, i. e. this is the view
of the matter I have taken and expressed already.
The
scheme of God's gracious dispensations is conceived of as a building,
already
founded and hereafter to be carried up to its completion. The emphatic
construction
of the heavens as an absolute
nominative (as to the heavens, thou wilt
fix, &c.) is
inadequately represented in the common version (shalt thou establish in
the very heavens). For the proverbial
use of the heavens and the heavenly bodies as
a
standard of permanence and immutability, see above, on Ps. lxxii. 5. The idea
here
is,
thou shalt make thy faithfulness as fixed and stable as the frame of nature.
4 (3). I have ratified a covenant with my chosen (one); I have sworn unto
David my servant. These are the words of
God himself, though not ex-
pressly
so described, as in ver. 20 (19) below. We have here a summary
statement
of the substance of the promise in 2 Sam. vii., upon which this
and
the other Messianic psalms are founded. Ratified
a covenant, see
above,
on Ps. 1. 5. With my chosen,
literally to my chosen, as in the
parallel
expression, because what is here called a covenant was really a
conditional
promise or engagement upon God's part. My
servant, i. e. my
chosen
and appointed instrument in executing my designs. See above, on
Ps.
xviii. 1, and compare Ps. lxxxvi. 16.
5 (4). Unto eternity will I confirm thy seed, and build, to generation and
generation, thy throne.
Selah. Confirm thy seed, establish thy descendants
in
the permanent possession of the royal dignity. The same two verbs
which,
in the foregoing verse, are applied to the divine grace and fidelity,
are
here applied directly to their objects, the throne and family of David.
6 (5). And the heavens acknowledge thy wonders, Jehovah, likewise thy
faithfulness (is acknowledged) in the assembly of holy (ones). The
promise
just
cited is entitled to men's confidence, because the omnipotence and
faithfulness
of Him who uttered it are thankfully acknowledged by superior
beings.
The parallelism of heavens and holy ones shews that the former
are
here put for their inhabitants. For the true meaning of the first verb,
see
above, on Ps. vi. 6 (5), and for that of the following noun, on Ps.
lxxvii.
12 (11), lxxxviii. 11 (10.) Wonders
or miracles are here referred
to,
as proofs of a mighty power. The and,
also, at the beginning of the
clauses,
have the force of even, yea, in our
idiom. The word translated
holy ones is entirely different
from that usually rendered saints.
The latter
is
always applied to men, the former usually to superior beings, i. e. angels.
See
Deut. xxxiii. 2, 3, Dan. viii. 13, Zech. xiv. 5, Job. iv. 18, xv. 15.
7 (6). For who, in the sky, can compare to Jehovah? (Who) is like and
Jehovah among the Sons
of the Mighty?
The question involves a strong
negation,
or an affirmation that there is none like him, even in the orders of
existence
superior to man. This is given as a reason for the adoring re-
cognition
of his power and veracity in ver. 6 (5). The word translated sky
is
elsewhere used in the plural to denote the clouds
collectively. See above,
on
Ps. lxviii. 35 (34), lxxvii. 18 (17), lxxviii. 23. The singular form, in
this
sense, is peculiar to the psalm before us. See below, ver. 38 (37).
The
twofold usage of the English verb compare,
as active and neuter, cor-
responds
exactly to that of the original expression, for the primary and
proper
sense of which, see above on Ps. v. 4 (3), xl. 6 (5), 1. 21. The
Sons of the Mighty or
Almighty
are the angels. As to the peculiar form
of
the description, see above, on Ps. xxix. 1, from which it seems to be
directly
borrowed in the case before us.
Ver.
7-9.] PSALM LXXXIX. 371
8 (7). A God to be dreaded in the secret council of (his) holy (ones)
greatly, and to be
feared above all (those) about him. This is not a distinct
proposition,
but a further description of the Being pronounced in the fore-
going
verse to be incomparable. The divine name (lxe) here used implies
that
what makes him so terrible is his infinite power. The angels are
again
called holy ones, but furthermore
described as the privy council, the
confidential
intimates, of God himself. See above, on Ps. xxv. 14. lv. 15
(14),
lxxxiii. 4 (3). Yet even to these, as being endlessly superior, he is
and
ought to be an object of adoring fear. The intensive adverb greatly is
the
same with that in Ps. lxii. 3, and like it is placed emphatically at the
end
of the clause. Compare Ps. xlviii. 2 (1), lxv. 10 (9). Above may
either
mean more than, or by, with an implication of his vast
superiority as
the
cause or reason. Those about him, i.
e. those immediately surrounding
him,
his heavenly attendants, the angels. See the same expression, in a
somewhat
different application, Ps. lxxvi. 12 (11).
9 (8.) Jehovah, God of Hosts, who (is) like thee, mighty, Jah, and thy
faithfulness (is) round
about thee.
The infinite superiority of God to men
and
angels is here expressed, or rather indicated, by an accumulation of
descriptive
titles. We have here the full phrase, Jehovah
God of Hosts,
which
occurs so frequently in an abbreviated form. See above, on Ps.
xxiv.
10. The word translated mighty is
used only here; but its sense is
clear
from the analogy of cognate forms, confirmed by the testimony of the
ancient
versions. As to Jah, the pregnant
abbreviation or concentration of
Jehovah, see above, on Ps.
lxviii. 5 (4). It may here be in apposition either
with
Jehovah, as a vocative, or with Jah,
as a descriptive title. " Who is
like
thee, a mighty one, 0 Jah?" Or, "who like thee is mighty, who
like
thee is Jah?" Faithfulness, as
elsewhere, is veracity or truth in the
fulfilment
of a promise. The word translated round
about is the feminine
or
neuter form of that used in the preceding verse, and there applied to
persons.
The meaning of the whole clause is that God's fidelity is never
absent
from him, but appears wherever he does, the proofs of its existence
being
visible on all hands. The English Bible supplies a preposition and
assumes
a second question, "who is like thy faithfulness round about thee?"
But
the other construction, which is that adopted in the ancient versions,
is
much simpler and more natural, the ellipsis of the preposition in such
cases
being rare, whereas that of the substantive verb is the general rule of
Hebrew
syntax, to which its insertion is a mere exception.
10 (9). Thou rulest the swell of the sea; in the rise of its waves thou
stillest them. The general declaration
of God's power is now rendered more
distinct
by specifying one of the most striking forms in which it manifests
itself.
At the same time, there is no doubt an allusion to the scriptural
usage
of the sea as an emblem of the world and its conflicting powers. See
above,
on Ps. xlvi. 3, 4 (2, 3), lxv. 8 (7). The appropriateness of the
words
both to physical and moral changes affords an easy and beautiful
transition
to the latter in the next verse. The verbal form at the beginning
is
a participle, thou (art) ruling, i.
e. habitually, constantly. The connec-
tive
particle may be retained by rendering it rulest
over. The first noun is
applied
elsewhere (Ps. xvii. 10) to the swelling or elation of the heart with
pride;
but that this is only a derived and secondary meaning may be
gathered
from the use of the same word to denote the loftiness or majesty
of
God (Ps. xciii. 1), and also from the application of the verbal root to the
rise
of water in an inundation (Ezek. xlvii. 5). The parallel term is an
372 PSALM LXXXIX. [VER. 10-14.
abbreviated
infinitive used as a noun, and therefore well represented by the
English
rise, which is also both noun and
verb.
11 (10). Thou didst crush, like the slain, Rahab; with thine arm of
strength thou didst
scatter thy foes.
This relates wholly to the sea of nations,
in
which
also
perhaps because the power of Pharaoh, at the exodus, was literally
broken
in the sea. The first verb means to shatter, crush, or break in
pieces.
See above, Ps. lxxii. 4. The pronoun is emphatic; (it was) thou
(and
none other that) didst crush, &c.
The significant name Rahab, mean-
ing
pride or insolence, corresponds to the swelling of the sea, in the foregoing
verse.
See above, on Ps. lxxxvii. 4. Like the
slain, like one mortally
wounded,
especially in battle. See above, on Ps. lxxxviii. 6 (5). The
point
of comparison is the sudden change from overbearing arrogance to
helplessness
and weakness. Thine arm of strength,
or strong arm, the active
exertion
of thy power. See above, on Ps. x. 15, xxxvii. 17, xliv. 4 .(3),
lxxxiii.
9 (8). The last verb belongs to the dialect of poetry, and occurs
above,
in Ps. liii. 6 (5). See below, Ps. cxii. 9, all. 7. This verse relates
only
indirectly to the enemies of God in general. Even the last clause has
specific
reference to the enemies who perished in the
12 (11). To thee (belongs) heaven,
also to thee earth, the world and its
fulness, thou didst
found them.
The power of God is now described as
universal
and creative. Heaven and earth is the
usual comprehensive phrase
for
the whole frame of nature or material universe. The last clause is evi-
dently
borrowed from Ps. xxiv. 1. Its fulness,
that which occupies and
fills
it, its contents and its inhabitants. The verb to found suggests the
two
ideas of creation and sustentation. He not only called them into being,
but
made them permanent or lasting. See above, on Ps. lxxxiii. 69, and
below,
on Ps. civ. 5. The world, the
cultivated and productive earth, as
opposed
to the desolate and barren sea. The English Bible, following the
masoretic
accents, construes the world and its
fulness as absolute nomina-
tives.
A simpler construction is to put them in apposition with heaven and
earth, and refer the pronoun
at the end to all these antecedents.
13 (12). North, and south, thou didst create them; Tabor and Hermon in
thy name rejoice. The pronoun at the end
of the first clause is superfluous
in
English; the original construction requires north and south to be taken
absolutely,
(as for) the north and south, thou bast
created them. The word
for
north originally means concealment; that for south the right hand. The
east
and west are represented by two mountains on either side of
As
to Hermon, see above, on Ps. xlii. 7 (6). The points of the compass
are
here put, like heaven and earth in the preceding context, for the whole
world,
and described as rejoicing in God's name, i. e. praising his perfections
by
their very existence.
14 (13). To thee (is) an arm with strength; strong is thy hand, high is
thy right hand. This is simply another
declaration of the divine omnipo-
tence,
under the usual emblems, arms, hand, and right hand. See above, on ver. 11
(10).
15 (14). Justice and judgment (are)
the place of thy throne; mercy and
truth shall go before thy
face.
The word translated place may also
have the
more
specific sense of dwelling-place. The meaning is that God reigns in the
midst
of perfect righteousness. See above, on ver. 9 (8). The verb in the
last
clause always means to go or come before, sometimes in the sense of
coming
into
one's presence, sometimes in that of meeting or encountering, sometimes
(as
here) in that of being a forerunner. See above, on Ps. lxxxv. 14 (13).
VER.
15-22.] PSALM
LXXXIX. 373
16 (15). Happy the people knowing joyful noise; Jehovah, in the light of
thy face they shall walk. The unusual expression
in the first clause seems
to
mean those who know how and have occasion to rejoice in the experience
of
God's favour. The last noun in Hebrew denotes any loud expression of
exultation,
either by voice or instrument. See above, on Ps. xxvii. 6. The
light
of God's face is the cheering expression of his countenance as indicating
favour
or benignity. See above, on Ps. iv. 7 (6), xliii. 3, xliv. 4 (3). To
walk
in this light is to live in the habitual enjoyment of it. This last clause
gives
the reason for their being pronounced happy in the first.
17 (16). In thy name they shall rejoice all the day, and in thy righteous-
ness shall be exalted. In thy name, in the
display of thy perfections. In thy
righteousness,
i. e. in the exercise of that essential rectitude which secures
the
performance of God's promise and thereby the salvation of his people.
18 (17). For the beauty of their strength (art) thou, and in thy favour thou
wilt lift up our horn. God is at once their
mighty ornament and their
glorious
protection. See above, on Ps. lxxviii. 61. In
thy favour, at the
time,
and by the means, of thy experienced favour. Lift our horn, enable us to
triumph
in security. See above, on Ps. lxxv. 11 (10), and below, on Ps. xcii. 11 (10).
19 (18). For unto Jehovah (belongs) our
shield, and to the Holy One of
This
construction is much simpler and more natural than that adopted in
the
English versions, which entirely overlooks the preposition in both clauses,
or
arbitrarily regards it as a sign of the nominative case. A better con-
struction,
although not precisely the true sense, is given in the margin of
the
English Bible.
20 (19). Then thou spakest in vision to thy gracious one and saidst, I have
laid help on a Mighty
(Man); I have raised one chosen from (among) the
people. The Psalmist here returns
to the vocation by David and the pro-
mise
made to him. See 2 Sam. vii. 17 (compare 1 Chron. xvii. 9), where
the
divine communication made through Nathan to David is called a vision.
Thy saint or gracious one may signify either of these persons. The ancient
versions,
followed by the Prayer-Book and some eminent interpreters, have
the
plural form instead of the singular, thy
saints, meaning
to
whom the promise was truly addressed. See 2 Sam. vii. 10, 1 Chron.
xvii.
9. To lay help upon one is to impart
it to him, with a strong impli-
cation
of descent from above. See above, on Ps. xxi. 6 (5). The gift in
this
case was not merely for himself, but for others through his agency.
God
helped him to help the people. Chosen
has here its strict sense, but
not
without allusion to its specific use as signifying a young warrior. See
above,
on Ps. lxxviii. 31, 63.
21 (20). I have found David my servant; with my holy oil have I
anointed him. This verse removes all
doubt as to the person primarily
intended
in the following verse, but without excluding his successors, and
especially
the last and greatest of them, to whom the royal dignity was
given
in the unction of David. See 1 Sam. xvi. 13. This act denoted not
only
consecration to the divine service, but the spiritual gifts required in
order
to its right performance. See above, on Ps. ii. 2.
22 (21). With whom my hand shall be ever present; also my arm shall
strengthen him. Ever
present,
literally established, permanently fixed.
See
below, ver. 38 (37), and above, Ps. lxxviii. 37. The hand and arm,
as
usual, are emblems of strength. See above, on ver. 11, 14 (10, 13).
23 (22). The enemy shall not vex him, and the son of iniquity shall not
374 PSALM LXXXIX. [VER. 23-33.
afflict him. The verb in the first
clause means specifically to annoy or per-
secute
as a creditor his debtor. The second clause is copied almost word
for
word, from 2 Sam. vii. 10. Compare 1 Chron. xvii. 9.
24 (23). And I will crush before him his foes, and his haters I will smite.
The
last verb is especially applied to strokes inflicted by the hand of God.
25 (24). And my faithfulness and my mercy (shall be) with him, and in
my name shall his horn
be high.
See above, on ver. 17, 18 (16, 17). Faith-
fulness
and mercy are combined, as in Ps. lxxxviii. 12 (11).
26 (25). And I will set in the sea his hand, and in the floods his right
hand. I will cause him to lay
hands upon them, and exercise authority
over
them, as his own possession and domain. Hand
and right hand, as
in
ver. 14 (13). Sea and floods,
streams, or rivers, as in Ps. xxiv. 2. The
watery
parts of the earth are here put for the whole. Compare 1 Chron. xiv. 17.
27 (26). He shall call me (or cry unto
me), Thou art my Father, my God,
and the rock of my
salvation.
The emphatic pronouns in the original bring
out
more clearly the mutual relation and reciprocal action of the parties.
With
the first clause compare 2 Sam. vii. 14, 1 Chron. xxii. 10, Job.
xvii.
14. With the second compare Ps. xviii. 3 (2), xxxi. 3 (2). The rock
of my salvation, the rock that saves
me, the hiding-place and stronghold
where
my safety lies.
28 (27). Also I (as my) first-born
will give him, higher than kings of the
earth. He shall be treated
not only as the son but as the eldest son of God
himself.
The same description is applied elsewhere to
to
Ephraim (Jer. xxxi. 9), and to Christ (Heb. i. 6). The last clause is
borrowed,
both in form and substance, from Deut. xxviii. 1 (compare
xxix.
16); but instead of high above, we
have here high as to, in reference
to
(or in comparison with) the kings of the earth.
29 (28). For ever will I keep for him my mercy, and my covenant is sure
to him. For ever, literally to eternity.
Keep, i. e. keep it in reserve for
him.
My covenant, or conditional promise.
See above, on ver. 4 (3).
Sure,
or more exactly, made sure, ratified, confirmed. Compare Isa. lv. 3.
30
(29). And I will establish for ever his seed,
and his throne as the days
of heaven. See 2 Sam. vii. 12. The
promise is now extended from David
to
his posterity. Establish, literally
set or place. The pronoun in the
second
clause may refer either to David or his seed. In the latter case, it
might
be rendered its or their throne. The question, however, is
purely
grammatical,
since the throne of David and the throne of his descendants
are
identical. In the last clause the idea of duration is again expressed by
a
reference to the stability of nature. See above, on Ps. lxxii. 5, 7, 17,
and
compare Deut. xi. 21.
31-33 (30-32). If his sons forsake my law, and in my judgments will
not walk; if my statutes
they profane, and my commandments will not keep;
then will I visit with a
rod their transgressions, and with stripes their guilt.
The
promise of perpetual favour to the house of David was not intended to
insure
impunity to its unfaithful members. To profane
God's statutes is
to
deny in theory or practice their sacred obligation and divine authority.
The
and at the commencement of the last
verse is equivalent to then in
English
after
a conditional clause. The whole passage is an amplification of 2 Sam. vii. 14.
34 (33). And my mercy I will not withdraw from him, and will not
prove false (or deal falsely) in my faith. Our idiom
requires a but to render
clear
the relation of this sentence to the foregoing context. The verb in
the
first clause means to break or violate, but construed, as it here is, with
VER.
34-38.] PSALM LXXXIX. 375
the
preposition from, suggests the idea
of breaking an engagement by with-
drawing
what was stipulated to be given and secured. Faith in the last
clause
means fidelity or truth, as in the phrases, good
faith, keep faith, &c.
See
above, on Ps. xliv. 18 (17). The promise in this verse is not to them
but
him, not to the sinning individuals
mentioned just before, but to the
family
or race as such, to David as still living in his natural descendants.
Compare
1 Kings xi. 36, 2 Kings viii. 19, 2 Chron. vi. 42, Isa. xxxvii. 35.
35 (34). I will not profane my covenant, and the utterance of my lips I
will not change. In the first clause
there is obvious allusion to ver.
32
(31). What God requires of them he renders to them. The engage-
ment
is reciprocal. As they are not to profane his covenant by breaking
it,
neither will He. The obligation is a sacred one on both sides. See
below,
on the next verse, and above, on Ps. lv. 21 (20). The utterance or
outgoing of the lips is a
technical expression of the Law, in reference to
oral
vows and other engagements. See Num. xxx. 13 (12), Deut. xxiii.
24
(23). It is a. stronger expression than
that which I have said or pro-
mised, although this is really
the meaning here. I will not change, evade
the
execution of my promise by altering its terms or its conditions. Com-
pare
the form of expression in Ps. xv. 4.
36 (35). One (thing) have I sworn in my holiness, I will not lie unto
David. The first word in Hebrew
is not an adverb of time (a!pac, semel,
once),
but a numeral adjective in the feminine form, used as the neuter is
in
Greek and Latin. See above, on Ps. xxvii. 4. "Whatever else may fail,
there
is one thing that cannot, for I have sworn that it shall come to pass."
In my holiness, as a holy God,
including all divine perfection, but with
special
reference to moral rectitude. See above, on Ps. lx. 8 (6). The
last
verb might be rendered, I cannot lie. See Num. xxiii. 19, 1 Sam.
xv.
29, and compare Heb. vi. 18, vii. 20, 21. The form of the original is
highly
idiomatic, if I lie unto David.
Compare the Hebrew of 1 Sam.
xxiv.
7 (6), 2 Sam. iii. 35.
37 (36). His seed to eternity shall be; and his throne as the sun before
me. See above, on ver. 30
(29), and compare Ps. xlv. 7 (6). Shall
be, shall continue
to
exist. Or the whole phrase may mean, shall
be eternal. As the sun, see above, on
Ps.
lxxii. 5, 17. Before me, in my sight
and under my protection.
38 (37.) As the moon is fixed eternally, and the witness in the sky is sure.
The
verse thus translated, does not repeat the promise in the one before
it,
but merely confirms it by a further reference to the course of nature, as
the
customary standard of duration. It is equally grammatical, however,
to
translate, as the moon it (the
throne) shall be fixed for ever, and (as)
the
witness in heaven is
sure.
In either case the witness is the moon. See
above,
on ver. 7 (6), 29 (28), and compare Ps. lxxii. 5.
39 (38). And (yet) thou hast cast off
and rejected; thou art wroth with
thine Anointed. Having fully recited
and expounded the great promise to
the
house of David, the psalm now contrasts it with the present reality,
and
seems to complain that it had not been verified. For a similar transi-
tion,
see above, Ps. xliv. 10 (9). There is no need of confining this de-
scription
to the last days of the
period
of its history exclusively. If the psalm was really composed by
Ethan,
as we have no sufficient ground for doubting that it was, he
may
have designedly so framed it as to suit any season of distress and
danger,
in which the theocratic sovereign seemed to be forsaken of Jeho-
vah.
Both verbs in the first clause signify abhorrent and contemptuous
376 PSALM LXXXIX. [VER. 89-44.
rejection.
See above, on Ps. xv. 4, xliii. 2, xliv. 10 (9), lxxviii. 59, 67,
lxxxviii.
15 (14).
40 (39.) Thou hast broken the covenant of thy servant; thou hast pro-
faned to the earth his
crown.
The first verb in Hebrew occurs only here
and
Lam. ii. 7. The usual explanation is conjectural, or founded on the
ancient
versions. A cognate verb in Arabic means to abhor, which would
be
appropriate in this place. The covenant
of thy servant, i.e. thy covenant
with
thy servant. See above, on ver. 29, 35 (28, 34). The pregnant
construction,
profaned to the ground, i.e. profaned
by casting to the ground,
occurs
above, Ps. lxxiv. 7. The theocratical crown was a sacred or reli-
gious
dignity, any contempt of which might therefore well be called a pro-
fanation.
Compare what is said of the priestly diadem. Exod. xxviii. 36, xxix. 6.
41 (40.) Thou hast broken down all his walls; thou hast wide his de-
fences a ruin. As the word translated walls is commonly used to denote
the
enclosures of vineyards, whether walls or hedges, this may be the
figure
here intended, which is then exchanged, in the last clause, for that
of
a walled town, with its defences or
defensive works, its fortifications.
See
above, on Ps. lxxx. 13 (12). Some interpreters allege that the last
word
always has the sense of terror; but
it may be doubted whether it ever
has,
whereas that of ruin often occurs,
particularly in the Book of Proverbs.
42 (41). All spoil him that pass by the way; he has become a contempt to
his neighbours. With the first clause
compare Ps. lxxx. 13 (12); with the
last,
Ps, lxxx. 7 (6). These resemblances prove nothing as to the rela-
tive
antiquity of the two psalms, or the date of either. The figure is more
fully
carried out in Ps. lxxx, but this no more proves that to be the original
than
it proves it to be the copy. If any such conclusion were legitimate,
it
would. be easier to account for the amplification of the hint here thrown
out
by a later writer, than for the omission, in the case before us, of so
many
fine strokes in that admirable apologue. A contempt,
an object of
supercilious
pity and disdainful wonder.
43 (42). Thou hast lifted the right hand of his foes, hast caused to triumph
all his enemies. As the hand, and
especially the right hand, is the symbol
of
exerted strength, and a high hand that of triumphant superiority, espe-
cially
in war, so to raise the right hand in the first clause of the verse be-
fore
us, really means nothing more than the literal expression (caused to
triumph) in the other. This
seemed to be in direct contradiction to the
promise
in ver. 23, 24 (22, 23), as well as to the prayer in Ps. xxv. 2.
44 (43). Also thou turnest the edge of his sword, and dost not allow him
to stand in the battle. The particle (Jx) at the beginning
indicates a
climax.
Not only was his enemy superior, but himself delinquent and dis-
graced.
Edge, literally rock, of his sword. The idea suggested may be that
of
hardness, as a hard edge is essential to a serviceable weapon. See my
note
on Isa. xxvii. 1. Some interpreters, however, think it best to adhere
to
the ordinary usage of rock in Hebrew
as an emblem of strength, and to un-
derstand
the whole phrase as meaning the strength
of his sword, either in
the
strict sense or in that of strong sword,
both of which are here appro-
priate.
See above, on ver. 27 (26). The construction in the last clause is
ambiguous,
as the pronoun may refer to sword or rock, no less grammatically
than
to its possessor. The general sense remains the same, however, as
in
the similar case above, ver. 30 (29).
45 (44). Thou hast made (him) to cease from his brightness, and his
throne to the earth cast
down. Brightness
is in various languages a figure
VER.
45-50.] PSALM
LXXXIX.
377
for
distinction, eminence, celebrity, or glory. Compare with the last clause
what
is said of the crown in ver. 40 (39), and of the throne itself in ver. 5 (4).
46 (45). Thou hast shortened the days of his youth; thou hast covered him
with shame. Selah. His
youth, his
youthful energy and vigour. See Job
xxxiii.
25. Thou hast made him an object of contempt by cutting short
his
vigorous career and rendering him prematurely old. This may be said
of
certain individual kings, as well as of the kingdom when approaching its
catastrophe.
Covered him with shame, literally covered shame upon him,
i.
e. heaped it on him so as to cover him.
47 (46). How long, Jehovah, wilt thou hide thyself for ever? (How long)
shall burn, like fire,
thy wrath? On
the doubtful construction of the first
clause,
and the meaning of the combination, how
long for ever, see above,
on
Ps. xiii. 2 (1), lxxix. 5. How long,
literally until what, i. e. until
what
point
(how far), or until what time (how long)"?
48 (47). Remember what duration I have; why (for) nought hast thou
created all the sons of
Man (or Adam)?
The construction in the first
clause
is obscure and broken, as if it consisted of incoherent exclamations.
0
remember—I—what—duration. For the meaning of the last word, see
above,
on Ps. xvii. 14, xxxix. 6 (5), and with the whole clause compare Ps.
lxxviii.
39, cxix. 84, Job vii. 6, xiv. 1. The last clause is to be hypotheti-
cally
understood. "Why hast thou made all men in vain, as must be the
case
if their short life is entirely filled with suffering?" Or, "why dost
thou
give colour and occasion to the charge of having made men to no pur-
pose?
Why, literally on what (account) or for what
reason? The next
word
in Hebrew (xv;wA) is a noun meaning vanity, nonentity, or
nothing,
here,
and in Ps. cxxvii. 1, 2, used adverbially in the sense of vainly, to no
purpose,
or for nought.
49 (48). What man shall live and not see death (but) rescue his soul
from the hand of Sheol?
Selah.
An indirect assertion of the melancholy
fact
that all must die, rendered still more pointed by the use of a word for
man
implying strength. See above, on Ps. lxxxviii. 5 (4). As if he had
said,
what man is so strong as to live for ever and escape the common
destiny
of mortals? This allusion cannot be preserved in any mere trans-
lation.
Rescue, literally cause to escape. His soul, considered as his life
or
vital principle. Hand may be here, as
often elsewhere, a figure for
power;
or it may have its proper sense and denote the hand of Sheol, the
Grave, Mortality or Death, as an ideal person. The Selah
has the same
force
as in Ps. xxxix. 6, 12 (5, 11).
50 (49). Where are thy former mercies, Lord, thou didst swear unto
David in thy truth or ( faithfulness). The first or former mercies of
the
Lord
are those which he promised of old, especially to David, as expressly
mentioned
in the other clause. See above, on ver. 4, 36 (3, 35). The
inquiry
where they are implies that they have vanished, or that the fulfil-
ment
has not become visible. The last clause may be closely united with
the
first by supplying a relative between them, as in the common version,
which thou swearest unto
David.
A simpler and more emphatic syntax is
to
make it a distinct proposition: thou
didst swear unto David, and thy oath
cannot
be broken. See above, on ver. 36 (35). This last idea is involved
in
the concluding words, in thy veracity or
faithfulness. What God, as a
God
of truth, has sworn, not only will but must be executed.
51 (50). Remember, Lord, the reproach of thy servants, my bearing in my
bosom all the many
nations.
The form of address is the same as in ver. 48
378 PSALM LXXXIX. [VER. 51, 52.
(47).
The reproach of thy servants, the
contempt and disgrace to which
they
are subjected. Thy servants, of whom
I am one. Or the sudden
transition
to the first person singular may shew that the petitioner, in this
whole
context, is not an individual believer, but the Church at large. In
my bosom may denote good measure
or abundance. See above, on Ps.
lxxix.
12. Or bearing in my bosom may mean feeling in my heart, i. e.
intensely,
exquisitely, in which case nations must be put for the contempt
of
nations. More probable than either is the figure of gestation, according
to
which
to
be their spiritual mother or their spiritual birth-place. See above, on
Ps.
lxxxvii. 4, 6. The Hebrew adjective (byBira) may mean either great or
many; but the latter sense
is more agreeable to usage and the collocation
of
the words in this case. The idiomatic phrase, all many nations, is equi-
valent
to saying, all the nations who are many in number. The word all
might
be used, however small the number of the nations. To express the
whole
idea, therefore, both words were required.
52 (51). Wherewith thine enemies have reproached, Jehovah, wherewith they
have reproached the
footsteps of thine Anointed. The connection indicated
by
the relative at the beginning is by no means clear. The common ver-
sion,
above given, makes reproach in ver.
51 (50) the antecedent. Some
interpreters
connect the relative with the verb at the beginning of that
verse,
and give it the force of a conjunction, "remember that (or how)
thine
enemies have reproached." Its proper meaning as a relative pro-
noun
may be retained by referring it to different antecedents. "(I) whom
thine
enemies have reproached, (thine enemies) who have reproached the
steps
of thine Anointed." This last expression seems to mean that they
had
tracked or followed him, wherever he went, with calumny and insult.
53 (52). Blessed (be) Jehovah to eternity. Amen, and Amen. This is
commonly
regarded as no part of the psalm, but a doxology, marking the
conclusion
of the third book. See above, on Ps. xli. 14 (13), lxxii. 18-20,
and
compare the Preface, p. 5.
PSALM
XC.
THE Fourth Book, according to the
ancient traditional division of the
Psalter,
opens with the oldest Psalm in the collection. Or rather the author
of
the present arrangement, who was probably no other than Ezra, placed
this
sublime composition by itself, between the two great divisions of the
book,
containing respectively the Earlier and Later Psalms. See the
Preface,
p. 6. It may therefore be regarded as the heart or centre of
the
whole collection, and indeed as the model upon which even David, "the
sweet
psalmist of
psalmodic
literature or hymnology, which, with its later but inspired and
authoritative
imitations, constitutes the present Book of Psalms. The date
of
the composition, though uncertain because not recorded, may with most
probability
be fixed near the close of the Error in the Wilderness, when
the
dying out of the older generation on account of their transgressions, and
the
threatened exclusion of Moses himself from the Promised Land, were
exactly
suited to produce such views of man's mortality and sinfulness as are
here
presented, but without destroying the anticipation of a bright futurity,
such
as really ensued upon the death of Moses, and is prospectively dis-
closed
in the conclusion of this psalm. Its great theme is the frailty and
VER.
1, 2.] PSALM
XC.
379
brevity
of human life, considered as the consequence of sin, and as a motive
to
repentance and obedience. He first contrasts the eternity of God with
the
mortality of man, ver. 1-6, which is then described as the effect of the
divine
wrath on account of sin, ver. 7-11, and made the ground of a prayer,
with
which the psalm concludes, for the speedy restoration of the divine
favour,
ver. 12-17.
1. A Prayer. By Moses, the Man of God. Lord, a home hast thou
been to us, in
generation and generation. The psalm is called a
prayer,
because
the petition at the close (ver. 12-17) contains the essence of the
composition,
to which the rest is merely preparatory. For another case
precisely
similar, see above, on Ps. lxxxvi. 1. The correctness of the title,
which
ascribes the psalm to Moses, is confirmed by its unique simplicity
and
grandeur; its appropriateness to his times and circumstances, as
already
stated; its resemblance to the law in urging the connection between
sin
and death; its similarity of diction to the poetical portions of the Pen-
tateuch,
without the slightest trace of imitation or quotation; its marked
unlikeness
to the psalms of David, and still more to those of later date;
and
finally, the proved impossibility of plausibly assigning it to any other
age
or author. The arguments against its authenticity have com-
monly
been framed by a preposterous inversion of the evidence, con-
verting
into proofs of later date the very points of similarity which prove
that
this was the original and model psalm, the primeval basis upon which
even
David reared a noble superstructure of his own. The title Man of
God is given to Moses, in
Deut. xxxiii. 1, Josh. xiv. 6, Ezra iii. 2. and is
often
applied to later prophets, especially Elijah and Elisha. See 1 Sam.
ii.
27, 1 Kings xvii. 18, 24, xx. 28, 2 Kings i. 13, iv. 9, 21, 27, 42. It
is
here significant, implying that Moses wrote the psalm in this capacity.
See
above, on Ps. xviii. 1, xxxvi. 1, where David is in like manner called
the
Servant of Jehovah, a title given to
Moses himself in the account of his
death,
Deut. xxxiv. 5, as David, on the other hand, is called the Man of
God, 2 Chron. viii. 14.
Instead of hast been some read art;
but though
the
preterite of other verbs may be used to express general truths, the pre-
sent
of the substantive verb is so commonly suppressed, that its form, when
inserted,
must have some significance. The truth seems to be, that the
verse
expresses only what God had been, but implies what he still was
and
still would be. A home, a fixed or
settled dwelling, even while they wandered in
the
desert. The same noun is used by Moses, Deut. xxvi. 15, and a kindred form,
Deut.
xxxiii. 27. In generation and generation,
in all successive generations. See
above,
on Ps. x. 6, xxxiii. 11, xlv. 18 (17), xlix. 12 (11), lxi. 7 (6).
2. Before mountains were born, and (before) thou hadst brought forth
earth and land, and (indeed) from eternity to eternity, thou (art) God.
The
mountains
are first mentioned, according to a scriptural usage which de-
scribes
them as the oldest portions of the earth. See Gen. xlix. 26, Num.
xxiii.
7, Deut. xxxiii. 15, Hab. iii. 6. By a strong but common and intel-
ligible
figure, creation is here described as generation. This is true not
only
of the first verb but of the second, which is too vaguely rendered in
the
common version (thou hadst formed). Earth, as opposed to heaven ;
land, as opposed to sea.
These are separately mentioned, as in the account
of
the creation. See Gen. i. 1, 9. The last clause may also be translated,
thou art, 0 God! It then simply asserts his existence from
eternity. Ac-
cording
to the other and more usual construction, it likewise asserts his
omnipotence,
the attribute denoted by the divine name here employed.
380 PSALM XC. [VER.
3-6.
This
is the fuller and more comprehensive sense; but in favour of the other
may
be urged, that it is simpler and agrees best with the proximate design
of
the Psalmist to contrast the eternal God with short-lived man.
3. Thou turnest man even to dust, and sayest, Return, sons of Man (or
Adam)! The evident allusion to
Gen. iii. 19, which is also found in Job
x.9,
xxxiv. 15, and reappears in Ps. civ. 29 (compare Ps. ciii. 14), may
serve
to determine the meaning of the word translated dust in the first
clause,
but which is properly an adjective signifying crushed, broken to
pieces,
ground to powder, and is figuratively applied, in Ps. xxxiv. 19 (18),
to
brokenness of heart. Compare Isa. lvii. 15. The Hebrew preposition
(dfa) is stronger than our to, and means as far as, even to. The
full sense
of
the whole phrase is, even to the state of one completely crushed or
ground
to powder, even to a pulverised condition. The shortness and
fragility
of human life is thus brought into the strongest contrast with the
eternity
of God.
4. For a thousand years in thine eyes (are) as yesterday when it is past
and a watch in the
night.
However long human life may appear to man
himself,
it is in God's sight evanescent and contemptible. Even the patri-
archal
measure, which so often approximated to a thousand years, was in
God's
sight like a single day in man's, or rather like a mere subdivision of
it,
a third part of the night, which was divided by the ancient Hebrews into
three
watches. See above, on Ps. lxiii. 7 (6). That this division was as
old
as Moses, may be seen from Exod. xiv. 24. When
it is past, or passing.
It
might also be translated, for it passes,
i. e. no less hastily and swiftly. This
verse
is quoted and amplified, but without any change of meaning, 2 Pet. iii. 8.
5. Thou sweepest them away—a sleep are they—in the morning, like the
grass, they pass away. The first Hebrew verb
has no equivalent in Eng-
lish;
it means to sweep away or carry off, as by a driving rain. The sup-
position
of a reference to the flood is not necessary, though admissible. A
derivative
form of the same verb occurs above, Ps. lxxvii. 18 (17). The
comparison
of human life to a sleep or dream is common in all languages.
The
morning is mentioned as the time of waking, the time when we are
most
impressed with the unsubstantial nature of our dreams. See above,
Ps.
lxxiii. 20, and compare Ps. xxxix. 7 (6). The grass is an additional
but
obvious emblem of caducity. The last verb is not a plural form in
Hebrew,
but agrees with sleep, or rather with
man, in the generic sense,
whose
life is here compared to sleep.
6. In the morning it blooms and (then) passes away, (for) at evening he
mows and it withers. The mention of the
morning, in ver. 5, as following
the
night, suggests the mention of the morning here, as followed by the
evening.
The first verb means not merely to flourish in the wide sense,
but
to bloom, as plants do. See above, on Ps. lxxii. 16, and compare
Num.
xvii. 23 (8), which proves it to be a Mosaic expression. The verbs
may
agree with grass, or with man, whom the grass represents, more
pro-
bably
the latter. The idea conveyed by supplying then
is really involved
in
the grammatical relation of the Hebrew verbs, the second of which never
means
to grow or sprout, but always to pass or undergo a change. The
third
verb is active, but may be construed with an indefinite subject, and is
then
equivalent in meaning to a passive, he is
mown and withers. The
withering
is not here referred to as the effect of natural decay but of
violent
excision. With the whole verse compare Ps. xxxvii. 2, ciii. 15,
Job
xiv. 2.
VER.
7-10.] PSALM
XC. 381
7. For we fail in thine anger, and in thy wrath are we affrighted. The
natural
decay or violent interruption of man's life is the effect of God's
displeasure.
The first verb means to waste away, decay, wear out, cease
to
exist. Compare its use in Ps. lxxi. 9, lxxiii. 26. The other verb is
very
inadequately represented by the English troubled.
It means shocked,
confounded,
agitated, terror-stricken. See above, on Ps. ii. 5, vi. 3, 4
(2,
3), xlviii. 6 (5), lxxviii. 33, lxxxiii. 16 (15), and below, on Ps. civ. 29,
and
compare my note on Isa. lxv. 23. It here denotes the natural instinc-
tive
dread of death. There is here a very sensible progression in the
thought.
Thus far the Psalmist had insisted merely on the frailty and bre-
vity
of human life; but now he proceeds further and propounds the fearful
doctrine,
that this sorrowful mortality is not an accident but an infliction,
the
direct effect of the divine wrath. Whatever instrumental agencies may
be
employed to kill us, our real destroyer is the anger of our Maker.
8. Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our secret (sins) in, the
light
of thy countenance. As man's mortality is
the effect of God's wrath, so
this
wrath itself is the effect of sin. And this sin becomes the cause of
death.
See Gen. ii. 17, and compare
represents
God in the act of shortening man's life, and gives the necessary
explanation
of what might otherwise have seemed at variance with his in-
finite
benevolence. The Bible, as an eminent interpreter has well said
throws
the blame of death entirely on man himself. When God slays man,
he
puts his sins before him, looks directly at them; not only those which
are
notorious, but those which are concealed from every eye but that of
omniscience.
See Jer. xvi. 17, Heb. iv. 14, and compare Ps. xix. 15 (14),
1
Cor. iv. 4, 5. Another reading in the last clause, and most probably the
true
one, makes secret or concealed a singular and not a plural
form, our
secret; but the reference is
still to sin. The word translated light
does not
properly
denote the element itself, but that from which it is derived, a
luminary, just as we call a
candle or a lamp a light. See above,
on Ps.
lxxiv.
16. The precise sense seems to be, that God holds our sins to the
light
of his own countenance, and therefore cannot fail to see them.
9. For all our days are gone in thine anger; we spend our years like a
thought. The all in the first clause is emphatic.
What he says is true of
our
whole life. Are gone, literally turned away, as an act preparatory to
departure.
The word translated anger, though
synonymous, is not identi-
cal
with either of those used above in ver. 7. It occurs, however, in Ps.
vii.
7 (6), and according to its derivation properly denotes an outbreak of
angry
feeling. Spend, not as a mere
synonyme of pass, but in the strong
sense
of consuming, wasting, as in Job xxxvi. 11 (compare xxi. 13). The
Hebrew
verb is the causative of that translated fail
in ver. 7. The use of
years as a parallel to days gives the sentence a climacteric
effect. The word
translated
thought is elsewhere applied to
audible sound (Ezek. ii. 10, Job
xxxvii.
2), but only as the natural spontaneous expression of the thoughts
and
feelings, not to others but one's self. See above, on Ps. lxiii. 7 (6), lxxvii.
13 (12).
By
some strange misapprehension the Septuagint and Vulgate make it mean a spider,
and
the English versions have the singular periphrasis, a tale that is told.
10. The days of our years! In them (are contained) seventy years, and
if with strength eighty
years, and their pride (is) trouble and mischief, for
he drives (us) fast and we fly away. The parallelism of days and years in
the
preceding verse suggests their combination here, a combination used by
Moses
elsewhere in describing the long lives of the patriarchal history. See
382 PSALM XC. [VER. 11-13.
Gen.
xxv. 7, xlvii. 8 (9). The words may here be taken simply as an
absolute
nominative, (as for) the days of our years, in them, &c.
See
above,
on Ps. lxxxix. 3 (2). But it adds to their significance, as well as to
the
beauty of the sentence, to explain them as a kind of wondering excla-
mation,
as if such a term scarcely deserved to be computed. In them are
seventy years, this is what they comprise
or comprehend, it is to this that
they
amount. The life of Moses was much longer (Deut. xxxiv. 7), but
even
in the history appears to be recorded as a signal exception to the
general
rule. If with strength, if
accompanied with strength, or, as some
prefer
to construe it, if (the person be endued) with (more than usual)
strength.
The plural (strengths) may be an
idiomatic form of speech,
simply
equivalent to the singular, or an intensive term denoting extraordi-
nary
strength. See above on Ps. xviii. 51 (50). Their
pride, the best
part
of our days or years, the part in which we are most confident
or
most contented. The words translated trouble
and mischief are in
usage
both applied to suffering at the hands or through the fault of others.
The
common version of the next verb (it is
cut of) rests upon a doubtful
etymology.
In the only other place where the Hebrew verb certainly
occurs
(Num. xi. 31), it is applied to the driving of the quails by a strong
wind
over the camp of
a
subject undefined, one drives (us),
which is tantamount to saying, we are
driven. Fast, literally (in) haste
or hastily. And, as a necessary conse-
quence
we fly before the propellent power.
11. Who knows the power of thine anger and, according to thy fear, thy
wrath? The separation of the
clauses as distinct propositions makes the
last
unmeaning. The whole is one interrogation, implying strong negation,
as
if he had said, no one knows the power of thine anger. See above, on
Ps.
xiv. 4, liii. 5 (4). The sense is not that no one can, but that no one
will
know it, as he might and ought. Knows,
literally knowing, i. e. habi-
tually.
See above, on Ps. i. 6. The power of
thine anger, its degree and the extent to
which
it operates. According to thy fear, as true piety or reverence for God
demands.
Thy wrath, the same word that is used
in the first clause of ver. 9 above.
12. To number our days thus make us know, and we will bring a heart
of wisdom. The verb translated make us know is the causative of that in
the
preceding verse, to which there is an obvious allusion. It is therefore
probable
that they were meant to govern the same object. "Who knows the
power
of thine anger?" "So make us know (the power of thine anger)."
The
first words of the verse before us are then not immediately dependent
on
the phrase make (us) know, but merely
indicate the end for which the
knowledge
was desired. "In order that we may number our days, i. e.
know
and feel how few they are, thus make us know, i. e. give us this know-
ledge
of the connection between God's wrath and our own mortality." The
common
version of the last clause (that we may
apply our hearts unto wisdom)
is
forced and ungrammatical, without an arbitrary change of pointing. The
only
admissible construction of the masoretic text is that first given, which
may
either mean, as some of the rabbinical interpreters suppose, "we will
bring
into ourselves (i. e. acquire) a heart of wisdom," or "we will bring
(as
an offering to thee) a heart of wisdom," with allusion to Gen. iv. 3, 4,
where
the same verb is absolutely used of Cain and Abel's offerings.
13. Return, Jehovah! How long (wilt thou forsake us)?—And repent
as to thy servants. To the prayer that the
people may understand the
causes
of God's wrath is now added a prayer for its removal. The loss of
VER.
14-17.] PSALM
XC.
383
God's
favour is, as usual, represented as his absence. The aposiopesis in
the
question (how long?) is like that in
Ps. vi. 4 (3), xiii. 2 (1). This
clause
being parenthetical, what follows is connected by the copulative
particle
with the imperative at the beginning. The meaning of the last
clause
is, so change thy dealing with thy servants as if thou hadst repented
of
afflicting them. The same bold form of speech is used by Moses else-
where.
See Exod. xxxii. 12, Deut. xxxii. 36, and compare the imitations
in
Judges ii. 18, Jer. xv. 6, Joel ii. 13, Jonah iv. 2, Ps. cxxxv. 14.
14. Satisfy us, in the morning, with thy mercy, and (then) we shall
rejoice and be glad
through all our days.
God's grace is here presented as
the
food required for the sustenance of his people. Satisfy or sate us, i. e.
fill
us, abundantly supply us. In the morning,
early, speedily, perhaps
with
an allusion to the night as a common figure for affliction. See above,
on
Ps. v. 4 (3), xlvi. 6 (5), xlix. 15 (14), lix. 17 (16), lxxxviii. 14 (13).
The
oblique construction of the last clause, that
we may rejoice, &c., is
really
involved in the direct one, which is much more pointed and emphatic.
In or through all our
days,
i. e. throughout the remainder of our lives. The English
idiom
allows the suppression of the particle, as in the common version.
15. Make us glad according to the days thou hast afflicted us, the years we
have seen evil.
According to,
literally as or like. The meaning is, com-
pensate
all our sufferings by proportionate enjoyments. The ellipsis of the
relative
is common in both idioms. The English Bible, by supplying it,
enfeebles
the expression without making the sense clearer. Days and
years,
as in ver. 9. The plural forms in the Hebrew are unusual and bor-
rowed
from Deut. xxxii. 7, a Mosaic feature of the psalm which cannot
possibly
be reproduced in any version.
16. Let appear unto thy servants thy doing, and thy glory on their sons
(or
children). He prays that even to the
elder generation there may be
vouchsafed
a token for good (Ps. lxxxvi. 17), i.
e. some assurance of the
favours
to be actually bestowed upon their children. Thus understood, the
use
of the two prepositions, to and on, is not unmeaning or fortuitous.
God's
work or doing is the course of his providential dealings, as in Ps.
xcii.
5 (4) below; his glory, the manifestation
of his divine perfections in
external
act. See above, on Ps. viii. 6 (5) xlv. 4 (3). This was to appear
not
only to but on the younger race, i. e. in their own experience.
17. And let the beauty of Jehovah our God be upon us, and the work of
our hands establish upon
us, and the work of our hands, establish thou it.
While
the glory of Jehovah is expected to be fully revealed only in his deal-
ings
with the next generation, he is still besought to grant their fathers the
experimental
knowledge of his beauty, loveliness,
or all that renders him an
object
of affection. See above, on Ps. xxxii. 4. The work of our hands is
a
favourite Mosaic phrase for all that we do or undertake, all our affairs
and
interests. See Deut. xiv. 29, xvi. 15, xxiv. 19, xxviii. 12, xxx. 9.
To establish or confirm it is to prosper and succeed it, to bring it to a
favourable
issue. The expression on us, as
before, suggests the idea of an
influence
exerted and a favour granted from above. The yea of the com-
mon
version is substituted for the idiomatic repetition of the copulative and
in
the original.
384 PSALM XCI. [VER. 1-4.
PSALM
XCI.
AN amplification of the theme, that
God is the dwelling-place and refuge
of
his people. This and other points of contact with the Prayer of Moses
seem
to mark it as an imitation of that psalm, and thereby account for its
position
in the Psalter. The most remarkable peculiarity of form in the
psalm
before us is the frequent change and alternation of the persons. The
only
division which can well be made is that into two stanzas or strophes, supposed
to
be marked by the recurrence in ver. 9 to the theme propounded in ver. 1.
1. Sitting (or dwelling) in the secret place of the Most High, in the
shadow
of the Almighty he is
lodged.
The common version seems to make this an
identical
proposition, amounting really to this, that he whom God protects
is
protected by him. To avoid this, some make the whole verse a mere
description
of the person speaking in the next verse, and as this seems to
be
forbidden by the use of the first person there, they either make an arbi-
trary
change of pointing (rmaxA) for (rmaxo), or suppose a sudden
change of
person,
as in other parts of this same psalm. Better than either of these
constructions
is a third, which makes the parallel clauses of this first verse
descriptive
of an ideal person, with whom the speaker is then tacitly iden-
tified.
As if he had said, "happy the man who dwells," &c., and then
added,
"such is my condition; I can say," &c. For the figure of a secret
place
or covert, see above, on Ps. xxvii. 5, xxxi. 21 (20), xxxii. 7; for that
of
a shadow, on Ps. xvii. 8, xxxvi. 8 (7), lvii. 2 (1). The divine titles,
Highest and Almighty, suggest the reason of this
perfect safety. The latter
is
the patriarchal title mentioned in Exod. vi. 3, where it is combined with
(lxe) a more familiar name
denoting the same attribute. The last verb is
strictly
a reflective, and as such means to take up one's lodgings, to domes-
ticate
one's self, implying a voluntary choice more clearly than the primitive
verb,
as used above, in Ps. xxv. 13, xxx. 6 (5), xlix. 13 (12).
2. I will say to Jehovah, My refuge and my fortress, my God, I will trust
in him. The first verb, while
it expresses purpose or determination, includes
both
a present and potential meaning. I can
say, I have reason and a
right
to say; and I do (habitually) say. In order to avoid another change
of
person, the common version and some others read of the Lord, which is
admissible
but needless. See above, on Ps. iii. 3 (2). Compare the other
figures
here used to denote divine protection with those in Ps. xviii. 3 (2),
lxxi.
7. In the last clause, I will trust in
him, there may seem to be
another
sudden change of person; but these words are really equivalent to
a
relative construction, in whom I trust,
and may therefore be used even in
a
direct address.
3. For lo, he will free thee from the .fowler's snare, from the plague of
mis-
chiefs. The confiding soul is
now addressed directly in the tone of promise.
The
supposition of responsive choirs is a gratuitous refinement. The
fowler's snare is a figure for
insidious and complicated dangers. See above,
on
Ps. xviii. 6 (5), and below, on Ps. cxxiv. 7, and compare 2 Tim. ii. 26.
The
parallelism requires plague or pestilence to be taken as a metaphor, no
less
than snare. Both probably denote dangers arising from the craft of
wicked
enemies, to which the word translated mischiefs is peculiarly appro-
priate.
See above, on Ps. v. 10 (9), lii. 4, 9 (2, 7), lvii. 2 (1).
4. With his pinion he will cover thee, and under his wings thou shalt find
VER.
5-11.] PSALM XCI. 385
shelter; shield and
buckler (is) his truth. Compare the figure of an eagle,
Deut.
xxxii. 11. For the meaning of the first noun, see above, on Ps. lxviii.
14
(13). Cover thee, literally cover (or provide a covering) for thee.
Find
shelter or take refuge, see above on Ps. ii. 12. The word translated buckler
is
properly a participle, and means surrounding.
See above, on Ps. xxxv. 2.
5. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night, for the arrow (that)
flies by day. Shalt not fear, i. e.
shalt have no reason for alarm. Terror
by night, literally of night, i. e. nightly or nocturnal
tenor. There is no
need
of restricting this expression to any particular form of danger or distress,
since
all are usually aggravated by their occurrence in the night. Should
any
specific sense be put upon the figure of an arrow, from analogy and
usage,
it would be that of human enmity. See above, on Ps. lviii. 8 (7).
The
Hebrew preposition, in both clauses, properly means from, i. e. arising
or
proceeding from, occasioned by, in consequence of, something else.
6. For the plague (that) in darkness walks, for the pestilence (that) wastes at
noon. Here the words are to be
taken in their proper sense, and not as in
ver.
3, where they are figures for a different kind of danger, or for danger
in
the general.
7. There shall fall at thy side a thousand, and a myriad at thy right
hand;
to thee it shall not
come nigh.
This is equivalent to saying in our idiom,
though a thousand fall, &c., which,
however, would not be an exact transla-
tion,
as it substitutes a hypothetical for an affirmative proposition, For
the
double sense and usage of the word translated myriad, see above, on
Ps.
iii. 7 (6), and compare the cognate form, Ps. lxviii. 18 (17). Myriad
represents
the original term better than ten
thousand, because it is wholly
different,
in form and etymology, from that translated thousand.
8. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold, and the recompence of wicked
(men) see. The only puts mere sight in opposition to
experience or partici-
pation.
Compare Deut. xxxii. 35, 41. As usual in such cases, it is implied
that
the destruction of the wicked and deliverance of the righteous, will be
coincident
and simultaneous. See below, on Ps. xcii. 12 (11).
9. For thou, Jehovah, (art) my refuge. The Most High hast thou made
thy home (or habitation). The construction adopted in the English Bible is
a
forced one, only assumed in order to avoid the enallage or sudden change
of
person, which, however, is characteristic of this psalm. Equally needless
and
objectionable is the supposition of responsive choirs.
10. There shall not happen to thee (any) evil, and a stroke shall not
approach into thy tent. The first verb is a
causative passive, and strictly
means,
shall not be suffered or allowed to happen. Evil,
i. e. natural evil,
suffering
or distress. The word translated stroke
is very commonly applied
to
God's strokes or afflictive judgments. See above, on Ps. xxxviii. 12 (11),
xxxix.
11 (10). Into thy tent is an
expression apparently intended to qualify
the
promise, which might otherwise have seemed too absolute and inconsistent with
the
context, from which we learn that danger was to draw nigh, even to the
righteous,
but
not so as actually to enter his tent, and take up its abode with him.
11. For his angels he will charge concerning thee, to keep thee in all thy
ways. The plural angels shews
that there is no allusion to a guardian spirit
attending
the individual believer, but merely to the angels collectively, as
ministering
spirits, the instrumental agents of God's providential care over
his
people. See Heb. i. 14. The promise here given does not extend to
dangers
rashly incurred or presumptuously sought, and was therefore no
justification
of the act to which our Lord was tempted by the devil, Mat.
386 PSALM XCI. [VER. 12-16.
iv.
6. That the mere omission of the phrase
in all thy ways was a part of
the
temptation, seems to be a gratuitous refinement, as our Lord himself
makes
no such charge; as the first words of the sentence would of course
suggest
the rest; and as ways, in the usage
of the Psalms, does not mean
ways
of duty, but the ways in which a man is led by providence. Neither
the
tempter's argument nor our Lord's reply to it would be at all affected
by
the introduction of the words suppressed.
12. Upon (their) hands shall they
bear thee, lest thou strike against the stone
thy foot. The dual form, denoting
both hands, might be regarded as emphatic
and
suggestive of peculiar care; but the Hebrew noun has no other plural
form
in common use. A smooth path and unimpeded walk is a common
figure
for prosperity and safety. Compare Prov. iii. 23.
13. On lion and adder thou shalt tread; thou shalt trample young lion and
dragon. These are commonly
supposed to be strong figures for the two
kinds
of danger from which men need protection, open violence and secret
treachery.
The last word denotes a serpent, as in Exod. vii. 9. The
specific
meaning of the parallel term is unimportant. The young lion
(not
the lion's whelp) is mentioned as peculiarly fierce and greedy. See
above,
on Ps. xvii. 12, xxxiv. 11, xxxv. 17. From this verse our Lord derived the
terms
in which he promised protection to his followers, Luke x. 19.
14. For he has set his love upon me, and I will rescue him; I will set him
on high because he knows
my name. The
first verb is a very strong expres-
sion
for the warmest and most violent attachment, corresponding in part
with
our idiomatic phrase to fall in love,
and followed by a kindred preposi-
tion.
It seems to be here used to describe God as an object of supreme
devotion
to the true believer. Rescue him,
cause him to escape. Set him
on
high, i. e. beyond the reach of danger. See above, on Ps. xviii. 3 (2),
49
(48), xx. 2 (1), lix. 2 (1), lxix. 30 (29). Knows
my name, has already
experienced
my goodness and seen the evidence of my perfections. See
above,
on Ps. v. 12 (11), ix. 11 (10).
15. He shall call me and I will answer him. With him (am) I in trouble.
I will deliver him and
honour him.
The meaning of the first clause is
tially
the same as if he had said, when he calls
1 will answer, but with much
more
directness and force in the expression. Calls
me to his aid, invokes
me,
prays to me. Answer him by granting
his request, the idea commonly
conveyed
by the Hebrew verb here used. See above, on Ps. iii. 5 (4). The
futures
have their proper sense, as this is a direct and formal promise. I
will be with him would have been
expressed in the same manner; but I am
with him is still stronger, for
it describes God as already present for the
protection
and deliverance of his people. Deliver
him, extricate him from
his
embarrassments and dangers; and lest the promise should be thought
to
ensure mere safety, it is added, I will
honour him, procure for him the
respect
of others by shelving that I favour him myself.
16. (With) length of days will I satisfy him, and will shew him my salva-
tion. With the first clause compare Exod. xx. 12, Deut.
v. 16, Ps. xxiii. 6.
Satisfy or satiate, i. e. abundantly supply and fully gratify his largest
wishes.
With
the last clause compare Ps. 1. 23, where we have the same idiomatic
construction
of the verb to see with the preposition in, meaning to behold
with
strong emotion, and especially, emotion of a pleasurable kind. For a
different
application of the same phrase, see above, on Ps. xxxvii. 34. In
the
last three verses, God is himself the speaker, although not expressly so
announced.
See above, on Ps. xlvi. 11 (10), lxxv. 3, 4 (2, 3), lxxxvii. 4.
VER.
1-8.] PSALM
XCII.
387
PSALM
XCII.
1. A Psalm. A Song. For the Sabbath-Day. The second title desig-
nates
the psalm as one of praise, in strict conformity to its contents. The
immediate
subject of the praise is the exhibition of God's power and wisdom
in
his providential dealings, both with the wicked and the righteous. As
one
main design of the Sabbath was to afford an opportunity for the admiring
contemplation
of God's works or doings, the psalm before us was peculiarly appropriate
at
such a time, and the third clause of the inscription is evidently correct.
2 (1). Good (is it) to give thanks
unto Jehovah, and to make music to thy
name, Most High! The duty about to be
performed is here described as
not
only right but pleasant. For the meaning of the two verbs, see above,
on
Ps. vii. 18 (17).
3 (2). To declare in the morning thy mercy, and thy faithfulness in the
nights. The sentence is
continued from the preceding verse, the infinitive
with
which this opens being governed by the phrase it is good. In, the
morning, taken by itself,
implies eagerness and promptness, and with the
parallel
phrase (in the nights) unremitting
diligence and constancy. See
above,
on Ps. xvi. 7, xlii. 9 (8), lxxvii. 7 (6), lxxxviii. 14 (13), xc. 14 (13).
Faithfulness in the fulfilment of
promises. Faithfulness and mercy are
here
combined like truth and mercy in Ps. lxxxix. 15 (14).
4 (3). On decachord and on lyre, on meditation with a harp. The first
word
in Hebrew means a decade, a group or set of ten, and then an instru-
ment
of ten strings. See above, on Ps. xxxiii. 2. In the last clause, by a
bold
but intelligible figure, meditation
is referred to as an instrument, pre-
cisely
as the lyre and harp are, the latter being joined with it as a mere
accompaniment.
5 (4). For thou hast gladdened me, Jehovah, with thy work; in the doings
of thy hands I will
rejoice.
This verse introduces the theme or subject of
the
praise proposed, to wit, the work and doings of the Lord, i. e. his pro-
vidential
dealings. See above, on Ps. xc. 16, 17. The last verb denotes
properly
the vocal expression of an inward joy.
6 (5). How great are thy doings, Jehovah, (how) exceedingly deep thy
thoughts! Thoughts and doings are
correlative expressions, signifying plan
and
execution. Deep, not mysterious, but
vast, immense, and inexhaus-
tible,
corresponding to great in the otlhr
clause. With this verse, compare
Ps.
xl. 6 (5), Isa. lv. 9, Rom. xi. 23.
7 (6). A man-brute will not know, and a fool will not understand this.
The
compound term at the beginning means a man who is no better than
a
brute, i. e. equally irrational. See above, on Ps. xl. 21 (20), lxxiii. 22,
and
below, on Ps. xciv. 8. Will not,
cannot, or does not know. This,
i.
e. what has just been said as to the depth of God's providential plans and
purposes.
8 (7). In the springing up of wicked (men) like grass, and (when) all the
doers of iniquity bloom,
(it is) that they may be destroyed for ever. The infi-
nitive,
as well as the future, indicates the time of action. The literal
translation
of the last words is, for them to be
destroyed until eternity.
9 (8). And thou (art) Most High to eternity, Jehovah! This brief but
pregnant
proposition is the centre of the psalm, and at the same time a
summary
of its contents. The superlative expression Most
High is here
used
to translate a single Hebrew word which strictly means a height or
388 PSALM XCII. [VER. 9-15.
high
place, but here denotes that which holds the highest place in the scale
of
being. For other applications of the same word, see above, on Ps. vii.
8
(7), x. 5, xviii. 17 (16).
10 (9). For lo, thine enemies, Jehovah—for lo, thine enemies shall perish;
dispersed shall be all
the doers of iniquity.
Jehovah must be the Most High,
because
his enemies not only yield to him, but perish in his presence. Here,
as
in Ps. lxxxix. 11, 52 (10, 51), the enemies of God and of his people are
identified.
The last verb is properly a reflective, and may be translated,
they shall scatter (or
disperse) themselves,
implying more activity and eager-
ness
than the simple passive, shall be
scattered. Compare Job iv. 11.
11 (10). And thou hast raised, like the unicorn's, my horn; I am anointed
with fresh oil. He now contrasts his
own experience with that of his ene-
mies
and God's. With the figure of the first clause compare Ps. xviii.
3
(2), lxxv. 5, 6, 11 (4, 5, 10), lxxxix. 18, 25 (17, 24). I am anointed
or
I anoint (my head), the Hebrew verb
being elsewhere always active.
The
figure is borrowed from the ancient custom of anointing the head on
festive
occasions. See above, on Ps. xxiii. 5.
Fresh oil, literally green,
i.
e. verdant, a quality properly belonging to the tree being here transferred
to
its most valuable product.
12 (11). And my eye has looked upon my enemies; of those rising up
against me, evil-doers,
my ears shall hear.
The sense is that he sees and
hears
what is become of them. Their destruction is implied, though not
expressed.
The word translated enemies occurs
only here. According to
the
most probable etymology it means watchers,
liers in wait or ambush.
See
above, on Ps. xxvii. 11, liv. 7 (5), lvi. 3 (2), lix. 11 (10), where a cog-
nate
form occurs. My insurgents, or those
rising up against me, expresses
the
accessory idea of rebellion against rightful authority. See above, on
Ps.
iii. 2 (1), liv. 5 (3), lxxxvi. 14. The addition of malefactors, evil-doers,
shews
that it is not merely as his enemies, but on account of their trans-
gressions
against God, that he expects his foes to perish.
13 (12). A righteous (man) like a palm-tree shall sprout, like a cedar in
thrive
even in the most unfavourable situations. All that it is necessary to
assume,
however, is that as trees in general are natural and common em-
blems
of a prosperous existence, so the same idea is conveyed with still
more
emphasis by the noblest species. The supposition of a reference to
the
decorations of the temple is gratuitous and far-fetched.
14 (13). Planted in the house of Jehovah, in the courts of our God they
shall bloom (or flourish). See above, on Ps. 10 (8), where the same
image
is presented, in a still more specific form, the olive-tree being there
particularly
mentioned.
15 (14.) Still shall they bear fruit in old age; fat and green shall they be.
In old age, literally in grey or
hoary hair. Of the epithets in the last clause
one
properly denotes an animal, the other a vegetable quality. The
tial
idea is that of the foregoing verse carried out into detail.
16 (15). To declare that Jehovah is just—my Rock--and no unrighteous-
ness in Him. See above on Ps.
xviii. 3 (2), and compare Deut. xxxii. 4.
The
epithet just denotes the essential rectitude of God, including his vera-
city
and faithfulness to his engagements. See above, on Ps. xxv. 8. My
Rock may be simply in
apposition with Jehovah, Jehovah my Rock
is just,
or
a second predicate, Jehovah is just (and) my Rock.
VER.
1-5.] PSALM XCIII. 389
PSALM
XCIII.
THE theme of this psalm is God's
superiority to all opposing powers, and
the
consequent safety of his church and people. There are strong reasons
for
believing that it was designed, with the one before it, to form a pair or
double
psalm. Besides those drawn from the number of verses and of the
divine
names, this whole psalm may be described as an amplification of the
laconic
dictum in Ps. xcii. 9 (8). There is nothing to determine its precise
date;
but there seem to be expressions in it, which imply the existence of
imminent
danger to the theocracy from some great hostile power.
1. Jehovah reigns; (with) majesty he clothes himself; Jehovah clothes
himself with strength
(and) girds himself; also established is the world, it
shall not be moved. The first clause does
not simply affirm Jehovah's sove-
reignty
as a general truth, but announces the fact that he has just become
king
or begun to reign, i. e. manifested himself anew in his regal character.
The
same form of the verb is used in reference to the accession of earthly
monarchs,
2 Sam. xv. 10, 1 Kings i. 11, 13, 2 Kings ix. 13. The word
translated
majesty is the one applied in Ps.
lxxxix. 11 (10) to the swelling
of
the sea. Its use here may be intended to suggest the superiority of God
to
the powers of this world. Clothes himself
with, literally puts on, wears.
The
other verb is reflective in form. The also
introduces the consequence
of
this exaltation. See below, Ps. xcvi. 10, xcvii. 1, xcix. 1, and com-
pare
Isa. xxiv. 23, Obad. 21, Zech. xiv. 9, Rev. xi. 17, xix. 6.
2. Fixed (is) thy throne of old; from eternity (art) thou. Fixed,
firmly
established,
permanently settled. Compare 2 Sam. vii. 13, 16, 1 Kings
ii.
45. Of old, literally from then, as in the margin of the
English Bible.
Compare
Prov. viii. 22, Isa. xlviii. 3, v. 7. With the last clause compare
Ps.
xc. 2, and with the whole verse Rev. i. 17.
3. The floods have raised, Jehovah, the floods have raised their voice;
the
floods will raise their
crash,
or crashing noise. The last Hebrew word
occurs
only here, but its etymology is obvious and perfectly analogous to
that
of waves or breakers in the next verse. The idea here conveyed is that
of
the noise made by the dashing of waves against each other or upon the
shore.
The preterite and future forms include the present, but suggest the
additional
idea of what has been heretofore and may be expected to continue
hereafter.
The emphatic repetition of the verb is like that in ver. 1, and
reappears
in this whole series (Ps. xci.—c.) as a characteristic feature.
4. More than the voices of waters—many—mighty—sea-billows—mighty
in the high-place (is)
Jehovah. More than, literally from, away from, the
particle
by which comparison is commonly expressed in Hebrew. The
common
version of the next clause, mighty waves
of the sea, is scarcely
grammatical,
as the adjective, according to analogy and usage, cannot agree
with
the noun following, but must be in apposition with the adjective before
it,
and agree with the same object. The word translated mighty corres-
ponds,
in part, to our epithets, sublime and
grand. See above, on Ps.
viii.
1. Sea-billows, literally breakers of the sea. Compare Ps. xlii. 8
(7),
lxxxviii.
8 (7), Jonah ii. 4 (3). That the comparison was meant to be be-
tween
the noise of the sea and that of thunder considered as the voice of
God,
is an admissible but not a necessary supposition. See above, on
Ps.
xxix. 5.
5. Thy testimonies are sure, very (sure); to thy house suits (or is becom-
ing) holiness, Jehovah,
unto length of days.
The testimonies of God are all
390 PSALM XCIV. [VER. 1-3.
the
provisions of his Law, as in Ps. xix. 8 (7), xxv. 10, but with special
reference,
in this as in several other cases, to its promises. See above, on
Ps.
lx. 1, lxxx. 1. The verb here used is a passive, meaning strictly to be
founded,
settled, or secured. From this clause is borrowed the form of
expression
in Rev. xix. 9, xxi. 5, xxii. 6. The intensive adverb very or
exceedingly has the same effect as
when in English we use an epithet and
add
extremely so or very much so. The verb translated suits (or is becom-
ing)
is the root of the adjective used in Ps. xxxiii. 1. Compare my
note
on Isa. lii. 7. Holiness is by some understood to mean sacredness,
immunity
from profanation, and of course from violent intrusion. See
above,
on Ps. lxxiv. 3. The house of God is here referred to, as the place
where
he dwelt with his people, and they with him. To length of days, see
Ps.
xxiii. 6.
PSALM
XCIV.
THIS psalm may be divided into two
parts, in the first of which the
ancient
church complains of Jehovah's absence and apparent desertion, and
of
the consequent triumph of his enemies, ver. 1-11, while in the second
she
asks and confidently looks for his return and their destruction, ver.
12-23.
There is nothing to determine the precise date of the composition,
much
less to restrict it to any particular historical occasion. Though some
things
in it seem peculiarly appropriate to the state of
the
Babylonish conquest, it is so constructed as to be a vehicle of pious
feeling
to the church in various emergencies.
1. God of revenges, Jehovah, God of revenges, shine forth! Some inter-
preters,
following the ancient versions, make the last Hebrew word a finite
verb,
as it certainly is in Deut. xxxiii. 2, Ps. 1. 2, lxxx. 2 (1). The mean-
ing
then is, he has shined or shines, and the psalm opens with a
confident
anticipation
of God's intervention, as in Ps. xciii. 1, xcvii. 1, xcix. 1. In
this
case, however, the tone of confidence does not reappear until ver. 12,
and
the imperatives in ver 2 make the similar construction of the verb in
this
case much more natural, though less agreeable to usage, than the other.
The
terms of this verse are borrowed from Deut. xxxii. 35, xxxiii. 2. See
above,
on Ps. 1. 2. The plural form (revenges)
denotes fulness and variety.
See
above, on Ps. xviii. 51 (50). This expression, with the two divine
names
(El and Jehovah) recognise God as almighty, eternal, self-existent,
bound
by covenant to his people, and alone entitled to take vengeance.
2. Raise thyself, Judge of the Earth, return a recompence upon the proud.
The
first verb is equivalent in meaning to the more familiar term, arise, i. e.
arouse
thyself from inactivity, address thyself to action. See above, on Ps.
iii.
8 (7). The specific sense, which some interpreters assume, "Ascend
the
judgment-seat," is not expressed by this verb, but suggested by the
context.
The word translated recompence
strictly means the treatment of
one
person by another, to return which is to retaliate or recompense it.
See
above, on Ps. vii. 5 (4), and compare Ps. lxxix. 12. The use of the
particle
upon implies the inequality of the
parties or the superiority of the
avenger,
from whom the recompence, as it were, comes down upon the guilty.
3. How long shall wicked (men), Jehovah, how long shall wicked (men)
triumph? The question, as usual
in such cases, implies that they have
already
triumphed long enough or too long, and therefore really involves a
prayer
that they may triumph no longer. The interruption and resumption
of
the sentence is like that in ver. 1, and in Ps. xcii. 9 (8), xciii. 1, 3.
VER.
4-10.] PSALM
XCIV.
391
4. (How long) shall they pour forth, utter insolence, talk of themselves—
all the workers of
iniquity?
This is usually taken as an independent pro-
position,
they pour forth, &c. But it seems
a more natural construction to
continue
the interrogation from the other sentence. Pour
forth is a figure
for
excessive and unadvised speech. See above, on Ps. lix. 8 (7), and com-
pare
Ps. xix. 3 (2). Utter in words,
speak, talk. Insolence, arrogance, as
in
Ps. lxxv. 6 (5). The last verb is a reflexive form of the verb (rmx) to
say,
occurring only here. According to the general analogy of those forms,
it
may mean to talk to one's self, or of one's self, or with each other. The
second
agrees
best with what is said just before of their insolent or arrogant discourse.
5. Thy people, Jehovah, they grind (or crush), and thy inheritance they
humble (or afflict). The first verb means to bruise, break in pieces, or re-
duce
to powder. The people and heritage of God are synonymous expres-
sions,
the people being so called because they belonged to him, and were
possessed
by him, from generation to generation. The terms of this verse
seem
to point out foreign persecutors or oppressors as the subject of
complaint.
6. Widow and stranger they kill, and orphans they murder. The strong-
est
description of injustice and violence is given by saying, that they not
only
wrong but murder the very classes of sufferers, who in the Law are
constantly
exhibited as objects of compassion. See Ex. xxii. 20-23 (21-24),
Deut.
x. 18.
7. And they say, Jah will not see, and the God of Jacob will not attend.
The
same impious presumption is expressed in Ps. x. 11,13, xiv. 1, lix. 8
(7).
The divine names are, as usual, significant. That the self-existent
and.
eternal God should not see, is a palpable absurdity; and scarcely less
so,
that the God of Israel should suffer his own people to be slaughtered
without
even observing it. The last verb means to mark, note, notice.
8. Attend, ye brutish among the people; and ye fools, when will ye act
wisely? See above, on Ps. lxxiii.
22, xcii. 7 (6). The first verb is the
same
with that at the end of the preceding verse. It is stronger than the
English
word attend, implying in all cases an
intelligent attention, so that
it
may be rendered, as it is by many, understand.
The word translated
brutish is a participle,
denoting habitual conduct or a permanent condition.
The
question in the last clause is a virtual exhortation to being at once.
The
verb in this clause has its usual active meaning. See above, on
Ps.
ii. 10. xiv. 2, xli. 2 (1). In (or among) the people no doubt means
in
same.
9. Shall the planter of the ear—shall he not hear? Or the former of the
eye, shall he not see? The words translated planter and former are active
participles,
and denote something continually going on. The figure of
planting
suggests the two ideas of formation and insertion. By a similar
figure
we might speak in English of implanting
the faculty or sense of
hearing.
The act denoted by the parallel Hebrew word is that of shaping,
moulding.
The participle here used, when employed as a noun, means a
potter. See above, Ps. ii. 9.
The peculiar form of the translation of the
first
clause is intended to represent that of the original, in which the inter-
but
not the negative particle is repeated. This may be reckoned
as
another instance of the reduplicated forms by which this series of psalms
is
characterised.
10. Shall the reprover of nations—shall he not chastise—he that teaches
392 PSALM XCIII. [VER. 11-16.
mankind knowledge? The antithesis is not
between
tiles,
but between whole nations or all mankind and individual offenders.
Reprover, the one reproving or
accustomed to reprove, warn, or admonish.
See
above, on Ps. ii. 10, xvi. 7. The parallel term is nearly synonymous,
and
means to correct by word or deed. The structure of the first clause is
the
same as in the verse preceding. In the last clause, by an aposiopesis
not
uncommon in the Hebrew idiom, the parallelism is left to be completed
by
the reader. The full sense seems to be, is he who teaches all mankind not
competent
to teach men individually? He that
teaches, literally the (one)
teaching.
11. Jehovah knows the thoughts of mankind, that they (are) vanity. The
verbal
form is still that of a participle, knowing, habitually knowing, what
they
are and what they deserve. Such knowledge carries with it, as a
necessary
consequence, condemnation and punishment. See above, on Ps.
i.
6. Thoughts, purposes, designs. See
above, on Ps. xl. 5 (4). Instead
of
that, some give the particle its
usual sense of for, because, without
a mate-
rial
change of meaning. The pronoun they
seems in English to relate
necessarily
to thoughts; but in Hebrew the more
natural antecedent is man
as
a generic or collective term, because the pronoun is masculine and
thoughts feminine; because the
same thing is predicated, in the same form,
of
men themselves, Ps. xxxix, 6, 12 (5, 11); and because this idea is better
suited
to the context here.
12. Happy the man whom thou warnest, Jah, and from thy law teachest
him. This is the turning
point, at which the tone of the composition be-
comes
more encouraging. The word for man is
the one implying
strength,
and here suggesting the idea, that he is truly fortunate whose
strength
arises from the divine counsel and control. Warnest
and wilt
warn,
or admonish, the same verb that occurs in the first clause of ver. 10.
From thy law may be partitively
understood, as meaning something of thy
law,
a part or portion of it. But it more probably means out of, from, thy law,
as
the source of consolation and instruction. See above, on Ps. xxii. 26 (25).
13. To give him rest from days of evil, until a pit be digged for the
wicked.
Compare
Ps. xlix. 6 (5), cxii. 8. The first verb is a causative, to make
him rest. From days of
evil
does not mean merely after them, but so as to
escape
them. The last clause ensures the safety of the righteous even
during
the prosperity and triumph of the wicked.
14. For Jehovah will not forsake his people, and his inheritance he will
not leave. The reason why they are
happy who confide in and obey the
divine
instructions is that God can never utterly forsake those who thus
trust
him, although he may leave them for a time when they leave him.
See
Deut. xxxii. 15, Judges vi. 13, Isa. ii. 6.
15. For unto righteousness shall judgment turn, and after it (shall go) all
the upright in heart. The apparent
disturbance of the divine administration
is
to cease, and justice to return to its accustomed channels. In the last
clause
the righteous are described as following in its train or attending its
triumphal
march.
16. Who will arise for me with evil doers? Who will stand up for me
with workers of
iniquity?
Arise, address himself to action. See above, on
Ps.
iii. 8 (7). For me, for my support in
my defence. With, in conflict
or
contention with. Stand up, take a
stand, assume a position. See
above,
on Ps. ii. 2. Evil-doers, as in Ps.
xcii. 12 (11). Workers of Ini-
quity, as in ver. 4 above. The
interrogation in this verse prepares the way
for
the expression of confidence in that which follows.
VER.
17-23.] PSALM XCIV. 393
17. Unless Jehovah were a help for me, soon would my soul inhabit silence.
The
phrase a help for me occurs above,
Ps. lxiii. 8 (7), and a similar one,
Ps.
xliv. 27 (26). For the meaning of the phrase translated soon, see
above,
on Ps. ii. 12, lxxxi. 15 (14). To dwell
in (or inhabit) silence is to
be
constantly surrounded by the silence of the grave or of death. See
above,
Ps. xxxi. 18 (17), and below, Ps. cxv. 17.
18. If I say, My foot slips, thy mercy, 0 Jehovah, holds me up. If at
any
time my hope of safety from the Lord's protection yields to fear, his
grace
sustains and reinvigorates it. The preterites in the Hebrew of the
first
clause imply that such lapses or temptations have occurred in his ex-
perience,
when his foot seemed to have swerved or slipped already; while
the
future at the close represents the act of sustentation as one which he
expects
to be continued or renewed hereafter.
19. In the multitude of my cares within me, thy comforts cheer my soul.
The
second noun, which is of rare occurrence, does not mean thoughts in
general,
but uneasy, anxious thoughts, solicitudes, or cares. The addition
of
within me renders still more
prominent the idea that it was not mere
external
troubles that disturbed his peace. Thy
comforts, the consolations
of
thy word. See above, on ver. 13. Cheer or
shall cheer, gladden, or
exhilarate.
My soul not only completes the
parallelism, but suggests the
idea
of a cordial genuine exhilaration. See above, on Ps. iii. 3 (2).
20. Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee, which frameth
mischief by a law. This, which is the
version in the English Bible, yields
a
good cense, and the one preferred by some of the best interpreters.
Others
explain the last clause, framing mischief
against law. In either
case,
framing means contriving, plotting.
The first verb in Hebrew is
supposed
by some to be a passive form, shall it be
associated or allied (with)
thee, the connective
particle being omitted by a common poetic licence, for
another
instance of which see above, Ps. v. 5 (4). Others explain it as an
active
verb corresponding with the dubious English verb to fellowship a
person.
Iniquity, or more exactly, crimes. See above, on Ps. v. 10 (9),
xxxviii.
13 (12), lii. 4, 9 (2, 7), lv. 12 (11), lvii. 2 (1), xci. 3. Both this
word
and its parallel translated mischief
are applied in usage to the suffer-
ings
brought upon one person by the misconduct of another. With respect
to
the second term (lmAfA), see above, on Ps. vii. 17 (16).
21. They crowd upon the soul of the righteous, and innocent blood they
condemn. The first verb means
to rush in crowds or troops, and may
therefore
be expressed in English by the verbs, to
crowd, to troop. Con-
demn, literally make guilty,
i. e. recognise and treat as such. The futures,
as
usual, suggest the probable continuance of the evil in question.
22. And (yet) Jehovah has been to
me for a high place, and my God for
the rock of my refuge. Our idiom would require
but at the beginning of
this
sentence. The verb to be followed by for, is sometimes used in He-
brew
to express the meaning of our verb become,
which may here be consi-
dered
as at least included. A high place,
beyond the reach of danger.
My rock of refuge, the rock where I take
refuge from my enemies. See
above,
on Ps. ix. 10 (9), xviii. 3 (2), xlvi. 8, 12 (7, 11), xlviii. 4 (3),
lix.
10, 18 (9, 17).
23. And he returns upon them their iniquity, and in their wickedness he
mill destroy them, (yes) destroy them will Jehovah our God. The first verb
denotes
retaliation or requital. The preposition upon suggests the idea of
infliction
by a superior power. Iniquity
expresses their misconduct towards
394 PSALM XCV. [VER. 1-5.
others,
wickedness the general depravity
which prompted it. In their
wickedness, i. e. in the midst of
it, and by implication on account of it.
The
verb destroy is the one used in Ps.
liv. 7 (5), lxix. 5 (4), ci. 5. The
repetition
of the last verb with its object is like that in Ps. xc. 17. Com-
pare
Ps. xcii. 8 (7), xciii. 4, xciv. 1. The force of this emphatic repe-
tition
may be partially secured in English by a particle of affirmation,
yea or yes.
PSALM XCV.
THIS psalm contains, first, an
exhortation from the Psalmist to praise
God
as the creator and the sovereign of the earth, ver. 1-8, and then, a
warning
from God himself to his people not to imitate the obstinate unbe-
lief
of their fathers in the wilderness, ver. 9-11. The psalm is quoted in
the
New Testament (Heb. iv. 7) as what God said in
David, which may
either
mean the Book of Psalms, so called from its chief author, or this
particular
psalm, as actually written by him. The latter supposition,
although
not necessary, is entirely admissible, because, however suitable
the
psalm may seem to particular junctures long posterior to David, the
very
generality of its expressions makes it probable that it was not com-
posed
in the midst of the events, but long beforehand.
1. Come, let us sing unto Jehovah, let us shout unto the rock of our
salva-
tion. The first verb
properly means go, but is constantly used like come in
other
languages, as a formula of invitation, in summoning others to partici-
pate
in some act of the speaker. The two verbs in this verse are those
commonly
applied to the vocal expression of joy and triumph. The rock of
our salvation, the strong ground of
our confidence, the basis upon which
our
hope of safety rests. See above, on Ps. xviii. 3 (2), and compare Ps.
lxii.
8 (7), xcii. 16 (15), xciv. 22.
2. Let us come before his face with thanksgiving, and in songs let us
shout
unto him. The first verb is here
used in its primary and proper sense.
See
above, on Ps. xvii. 13. That of surprising, or taking by surprise,
upon
which some interpreters insist, is neither intelligible in itself, nor
suited
to the context, nor justified by usage. To shout
in songs is to sing
aloud
and with a voice of triumph.
3. For a great God (is) Jehovah, and a great King above all gods. This
is
not inconsistent with the doctrine elsewhere taught, that other gods have
no
real existence. See below; Ps. xcvi. 4, 5, where both truths are asserted
together.
The very name of God used in the first clause is expressive of
omnipotence.
4. In whose hand are the depths of the earth, and the strength of the
hills
(belongs) to him. God's possession of the whole
earth is so asserted as to
leave
no room for other gods. The word translated depths
means, accord-
ing
to its etymology, places to be searched into, i. e. requiring search to find
them,
inmost recesses. The word translated strength
is plural in Hebrew,
and
seems properly to mean fatiguing exertions, from which some derive the
idea
of strength, others that of extreme height, which can only be reached
by
exhausting effort.
5. To whom (belongs) the sea,
and he made it, and the dry land his hands
did form. The land and water are
here put together, as the depths and
heights
are in ver. 4, to describe the earth in its whole extent as subject to
Jehovah,
by virtue of his right as its creator.
VER.
6-10.] PSALM XCV. 395
6. Come, let us bow down and bend, let us kneel before Jehovah our Maker.
The
come at the beginning of this verse
is not a mere particle of exhortation,
as
in ver. 1, but an invitation to God's presence. The Hebrew verb is one
that
strictly means to come, and sometimes
to enter. See above, on Ps.
lxxi.
16. This verse requires the external indication of devout emotion,
and
not the mere internal feeling, although the latter is the most essential,
as
appears from what follows.
7. For He (is) our God, and we (are) the people of his pasture, and the
sheep of his hand,
to-day, if to his voice ye will hearken. The people of his
pasture
are those fed and nurtured by him. The sheep of his hand are
those
led and guarded by him. See above, on Ps. xxiii. 3, 4, lxxiv. 1,
lxxx.
13 (12). We not only have been so, but are so now, to-day, provided
we
obey him. The last clause contains the condition of the first, precisely
as
in Ps. lxxxi. 9 (8). In both cases this construction is more natural and
satisfactory
than either of the others among which interpreters have been
divided;
some making if an optative particle, "if ye would only hear!"—
some
supplying an apodosis, as in Exod. xxiii. 21, 22, to which there
seems
to be an obvious allusion;—some continuing the sentence into the
next
verse, which is forbidden by the change of person there. This last
a
construction is adopted in the Septuagint, as quoted in Heb. iii. 9; but
this
decides nothing as to the Hebrew syntax. To hear (or hearken to)
God's
voice is a common Hebrew phrase for obeying his commands.
8. Harden not your heart like Meribah, like the day of Massah in the
wilderness. Be not wilfully and
obstinately insensible. Your heart,
in the
singlar
number, because the people are addressed as an ideal person. Like
Meribah, i. e. as your fathers
did at Meribah. Like the day of Massah,
as
they
did at that period of your national history associated with the name
of
Massah. The reference is to Exod. xvii. 7. The incident there recorded
is
here specified, for the sake of the significant names given to the place,
Meribah (strife) and Massah (temptation). God himself is here
abruptly introduced
as
speaking. See above, on Ps. xlvi. 11 (10), lxxv. 3, 4 (2, 3), lxxxvii. 4, xci.
14.
9. When (or where) your fathers
tempted me; they proved me (and) also
saw my work. The first word in
Hebrew is the relative pronoun, which for
in
which, as in Ps. lxxxiv. 4 (3). This may either mean in which place
(where),
or at which time (when), more probably the former, as the pre-
ceding
verse is full of local nouns. Tempted me,
see above, on Ps. lxxviii.
18,
41. Proved me, put me to the proof of
my existence, presence, and
power,
by requiring me to work, i. e. to act in an extraordinary manner.
And
this desire, unreasonable as it was, I gratified. They not only de-
manded
but they likewise (MGa) saw my
work, i. e. what I could do. Some
restrict
these last words to the previous displays of God's almighty power,
especially
the plagues of
proof,
although they had seen my work." But neither the sense thus put
upon
the likewise, nor the pluperfect
meaning of the verb, should be as-
sumed
without a greater necessity than here exists.
10. Forty years I am vexed with a (wicked) generation, and say, A people
of wanderers in heart (are) they, and they do not know my ways. The first
verb
strictly means to be sick of, or disgusted with, a thing or person.
The
future form expresses more distinctly the idea of protracted trial and
annoyance.
A generation, or contemporary race,
as distinguished from
mere
individuals. This expression is the more appropriate because the
threatening
was fulfilled, with scarcely an exception, in the whole genera-
396 PSALM XCVI. [VER. 1, 2.
tion
that came out of
lation
is derived from Deut i.35 (compare Deut. ii. 14). I say or said,
i.e.
I had occasion or good cause to say, I could have said with truth, or
I
was compelled to say. The next clause contains an allusion to their
twofold
wandering or error. They were not only wanderers in body but in
heart,
i. e. they erred from the path of duty, truth, and safety. This
allusion
seems to be continued in the last clause. They were not more
bewildered
in the mazes of the trackless waste, than ignorant of God's ways,
i.
e. of the meaning and design of his providential dealings with them.
Compare
Deut. xxix. 3.
11. Unto whom I sware in my wrath, If they shall come into my rest (or
resting-place). Here again the first
word is a relative pronoun, and may
either
be a dative, as in the common version of the first clause above given;
or
an adverb of time or place (when or where), as in ver. 9 above; or a con-
junction
(so that), as the latest interpreters
prefer. The conditional clause,
with
which the sentence closes, is the strongest form of negation, being
that
employed in the most solemn oaths. See above, on Ps. lxxxix. 36 (35).
It
is here equivalent to saying, they shall
not come, &c. The form of speech
is
that actually used in the original threatening, as recorded by Moses,
Num.
xiv. 23, 30, Deut. i. 35. The word for rest
is not an abstract but a
local
term, as indicated by its form. It is here applied to the Promised
Land,
as in Deut. xii. 9. There is something unusual and abrupt in the
conclusion
of this psalm, without any cheering prospect to relieve the
threatening.
This may be best explained by assuming, that it was not
meant
to stand alone, but to form one of a series.
PSALM XCVI.
A JOYOUS celebration of the
universal spread of the true religion and
conversion
of the Gentiles. The structure of the psalm is perfectly simple,
and
all attempts at artificial subdivision and arrangement are either wholly
arbitrary
or founded upon dubious hypotheses. The marked resemblance
of
the diction to that of Isaiah in his later prophecies, has been thought to fix
the
date of the composition as posterior to that prophet. This seems in-
deed
to be forbidden by the fact that in 1 Chron. xvi., as commonly inter-
preted,
this psalm, with portions of others, is said to have been sung at the
dedication
of the tabernacle on
according
to Hengstenberg, the true sense of that passage is, that David
instituted
the musical service of the sanctuary, of which samples are then
given,
taken not from the most ancient psalms, but from those most fami-
liar
to the people when the history was written. See below, the prefatory
note
to Ps. cv. and cvi. The psalm before us seem to form a pair or double
psalm
with that preceding, the Jews and Gentiles being then successively
addressed,
as in Isa. ii. 3-5, but in an inverted order.
1. Sing unto Jehovah a new song; sing unto Jehovah all the earth. A
new
song implies fresh occasion to praise God, not for the mere repetition
of
his former favours, but for some new dispensation of his grace. See
above,
on Ps. xxxiii. 3, xl. 3 (2). The one here meant is the extension of
his
favour to the nations, who are therefore summoned in the last clause to
celebrate
his praise themselves. Compare Isa. xlii. 10, Rev. v. 9, 10.
2. Sing unto Jehovah, bless his name, proclaim from day to day his sal-
vation. To bless his name is to
praise him for the manifestation of his
VER.
3-9.] PSALM
XCVI.
397
attributes.
The verb translated proclaim is
constantly applied to joyful
tidings.
See above, on Ps. xl. 10 (9), lxviii. 12 (11), and compare Isa.
lx.
9, lii. 7, lx. 6. The phrase from day
to day implies that the occasion
of
the praise required is not a transient one but permanent and perpetual.
His salvation, that which he hast
wrought, provided and revealed, not for
the
Jews only but for the Gentiles also. With this and the preceding verse
compare
1 Chron. xvi. 23.
3. Recount among the nations his glory, among all the peoples his wonders.
The
use of glory, to denote the special
manifestation of God's attributes, is
a
characteristic feature of Isaiah's later prophecies. To preclude all doubt
as
to the extent of the invitation, the ambiguous expression all the earth, in
ver.
1, is here explained to mean the nations,
and then still more absolutely
all the peoples. The only variation of
the parallel passage (1 Chron. xvi. 24)
is
the insertion of the objective particle (tx) in the first clause.
4. For great (is) Jehovah, and to be praised exceedingly; to be feared
(is)
He above all gods. He is not a mere local
deity, as the heathen were disposed to
imagine,
even in reference to their own divinities. With this verse compare Ps. xlvii. 3
(2),
xlviii. 2 (1), lxxvii. 14 (13), lxxxvi. 8, xcv. 3, xcvii. 8, xcix. 2.
5. For all the gods of the nations are nothings, and Jehovah the heavens
did make. Nothings, nonentities, a
favourite description of idols in Isaiah's
later
prophecies. See e. g. Isa. xli. 24, and compare Lev. xix. 4, xxvi. 1,
1
Cor. viii. 4-6, x. 19. A less probable etymology of the Hebrew word
makes
it a diminutive of (lxe) El,
analogous to godlings, as an
expression
of
contempt. The contrast intended is extreme and absolute. He called
the
world into existence; they do not even exist themselves. See above, Ps. xcv. 4.
6. Honour and majesty (are) before him, strength and beauty in his holy
place. The first combination
occurs above, Ps. xlv. 4 (3). Before him,
as
his constant attendants or forerunners. Beauty,
all that is lovely and
admirable.
See above, on Ps. lxxi. 8. His holy
place, his earthly resi-
dence,
regarded as a radiating centre even to the Gentiles; or the place
where
God reveals himself, whatever it may be.
7. Give to Jehovah, ye families of nations, give to Jehovah glory and
strength. Compare Ps. xxix. 1.
Here, as there, to give is to ascribe
or
recognise
as belonging to him. The expression families
of nations is
saic.
See Gen. xii. 3. The parallel passage (1 Chron. xvi. 27) has,
strength and joy (are)
in his place.
8. Give unto Jehovah the glory of his name; take an offering and come
to his courts. With the first clause compare
Ps. xxix. 2. The verb trans-
lated
take includes the ideas of taking up and carrying. See above, on
Ps.
lxviii. 30 (29), lxxii. 10, lxxvi. 12, and compare 2 Sam. viii. 2. The
word
offering is the one used to denote
the bloodless or vegetable oblation
of
the Mosaic ritual. His courts, see
above, on Ps. lxv. 5 (4), lxxxiv. 3 (2),
xcii.
14 (13). The parallel passage (1 Chron. xvi. 29) has before him.
9. Bow down to Jehovah in beauty of holiness; tremble before him, all the
earth? The first verb denotes
the act of bowing to the ground, as prac-
tised
in the East. For the meaning of the next phrase, beauty of holiness,
see
above, on Ps. xxix. 2, from which place it is borrowed here. The last
clause
enjoins the reverential awe due to the exhibition of the divine ma-
jesty.
Compare Ps. ii.. 11. The plural form of the verb (tremble ye) shews
that the earth is put for its inhabitants. Before him, literally from his face.
The
parallel passage (1 Chron. xvi. 30) has a double preposition, a He-
398 PSALM XCVI. [VER. 10-13.
brew
idiom which cannot be reproduced in English, and which does not in
the
least affect the sense. We also find there added to the verse before us
the
middle clause or member of the next verse.
10. Say ye among the nations, Jehovah reigns; likewise fixed is the
world, it shall not be
moved; He will judge the peoples in rectitude.
The
object
of address can only be the nations themselves, as in the foregoing
context.
They are therefore summoned to announce the joyful news to one
another.
Jehovah reigns, has begun to reign, i.
e. visibly. See above, on
Ps.
xciii. 1, and compare Isa. xxiv. 23, lii. 7. As in Ps. xciii. 1, the con-
servation
of the world is ascribed to God's power, so here to his justice.
Compare
Ps. lxxv. 4 (3). He will judge the
nations; see above, on Ps.
vii.
9 (8), lxxii. 2, 4, and compare Isa. xi. 4. In
equities, see above, on
Ps.
lxxv. 3 (2). It may here mean impartiality,
without distinction be-
tween
Jew and Gentile. This last clause is omitted in the parallel passage
(1
Chron. xvi. 31) which also has instead of say
ye, they shall say, and
joins
it to what is here the next verse.
11. Let the heavens rejoice and the earth exult; let the sea roar and its
fulness. The optative form of
the second verb determines the meaning of
the
other futures, which, however, really include a prediction, or what here
amounts
to the same thing, a confident anticipation. Its fulness, that which
fills
it, its contents. This verse does not necessarily imply a participation
of
inferior creatures in God's favour to his people (Rom. viii. 21), but may
be
understood as a strong poetical description of events so joyous that even
the
inanimate creation breaks forth into singing. Compare Isa. xliv. 23,
lv.
12. The verb translated roar is a cognate form of that which means to
thunder, Ps. xxix. 3.
12. Let the field exult, and all that (is) in it ; then shall sing for joy
all
trees of the wood (or forest). The strict sense of the future, which was
latent
in the preceding verse, here, by a beautiful transition, reasserts
itself.
See below, on Ps. cxxvi. 2, and compare Isa. xxiv. 5, 6. The
field is the cultivated and
productive portion of the earth. All that is in it,
with
particular reference to its productions.
Sing for joy is the transla-
tion
of a single verb in Hebrew. See above, on Ps. xcv. 1. The parallel
passage
(1 Chron. xvi. 32, 33) has precisely the same sense, but with two
slight
variations in the words, a less familiar form being substituted in one
case,
and a more familiar form in the other.
13. Before Jehovah, for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth; he
shall
judge the world in
righteousness, and nations in his truth (or
faithfulness).
The
rejoicing described in the preceding verse is to take place in the pre-
sence
(literally to the face) of God when he assumes his universal sove-
reignty,
the judicial function of which is here made prominent, in order to
suggest
the moral perfection of his reign. In
righteousness, not merely in
a
righteous manner, but in the exercise of his inherent and essential justice.
The
use of the word people, in the common
version of the last clause, ob-
scures
the sense, by seeming to apply the verse to
expressly
applied in the original to the nations generally. Even the truth
or
faithfulness of God, which commonly
denotes his veracity in fulfilling
his
promises to the chosen people, has here a wider sense, as opposed to
the
dishonesty or partiality of human judges. In the parallel passage
(1
Chron. xvi. 33) the emphatic repetition in the first clause, and the whole of
the
last
clause, are omitted, perhaps because so striking and sonorous a conclusion
would
not have been appropriate, when another psalm was to be added.
VER.
1-6.] PSALM XCVII. 399
PSALM
XCVII.
ANOTHER exhibition of Jehovah's
universal sovereignty, in which his
judicial
functions are again made prominent, but with special reference to
the
condemnation and destruction of the unbelieving nations. The struc-
ture
of the psalm is remarkably like that of the second, consisting of four
stanzas
of three verses each. The first describes the Lord's appearing
as
the Judge of the Nations, ver. 1-3. The second, its effects upon inani-
mate
creation, ver. 4-6. The third, its effects upon idolaters and
respectively,
ver. 7-9. The fourth applies it as a present warning and
encouragement
to true believers, ver. 10-12. The characteristic feature
of
the psalm is its frequent citation of older scriptures, all anterior to the
Babylonish
exile, from which Hengstenberg infers, not only the date of this
composition,
but the fact that all the sacred writings of the ancient He-
brews
are now extant in the Bible.
1. Jehovah reigneth, let the earth exult; glad be the many islands!
For
the
meaning of the first clause, see above, on Ps. xciii. 1, xcvi. 10 ; for
that
of the second, on Ps. xcvi. 11. The manifestation of the divine
royalty
is often represented as a cause for universal joy, even when attended
by
direct advantage only to the chosen people, and by fearful judgments to
mankind
at large. See above, on Ps. xviii. 50 (49), xlvii. 2 (1), and com-
pare
Deut. xxxii. 43. The last clause bears a strong resemblance to Isa.
xlii.
10, 12, the use of the word isles in both, to designate the Gentiles,
being
founded upon Gen. x. 5. See also Ps. lxxii. 10. The many islands,
see
above, on Ps. lxxxix. 51 (50).
2. Vapour and gloom (are) round him; righteousness and judgment (are)
the place of his throne. The images and terms
in the first clause are bor-
rowed
from Deut. v. 22. Compare Exod. xix. 16, 18, and see above, on
Ps.
xviii. 10, 12 (9, 11). With the last clause compare Ps. lxxxix. 15 (14).
Righteousness
and judgment seem to be here related as the attribute and
act.
The word translated place has, from
its very derivation, the specific
sense
of a permanent or fixed place, and especially a dwelling-place. Com-
pare
1 Kings viii. 13. The figures in the first clause are expressive of
concealment
or mystery, but only as a source of solemn awe, as in the
great
theophany on Sinai.
3. Fire before him goes, and burns up around (him) his foes. With the
first
clause compare Ps. 1. 3; with the last, Isa. xlii. 25. See also Ps.
lxxxiii.
15 (14). The future form is used because the verb describes not
what
the wrath of God is doing or has actually done, but what it will do
when
provoked by obstinate resistance.
4. His lightnings made the world shine; (then) saw and trembled the earth.
Compare
Ps. lxxvii. 17, 19 (16, 18). Here begins the second stanza, in
which,
as in most cases of the same sort, inanimate creation is described as
sharing
in the powerful effects of the divine epiphany. See above, on Ps.
xviii.
8 (7), xcvi.. 11, 12, and compare Judges v. 4, Nahum i. 5, Hab. iii. 6.
Isa.
lxiv. 1.
5. Mountains like wax are melted from before Jehovah, from before the
Lord of all the earth. Compare Micah i. 4,
iv. 13. As in all such cases,
are
while mountains are mentioned as the salient points of the earth, they sug-
gest,
at the same time, the idea of great states and kingdoms, of which they
are
a standing symbol. See above, on Ps. xxx. 8 (7), xlvi. 3 (2).
6. The heavens declare his righteousness, and all the nations see his
glory.
400 PSALM XCVII. [VER.
7-12.
With
the first clause compare Ps. 1. 6, and with the last Isa. xl. 5, lxvi. 18.
See
also Isa. xxxv. 2, lix. 19. The manifestation of Jehovah's glory to the
Gentiles
is a favourite conception of Isaiah, and particularly frequent in his
later
prophecies.
7. Shamed shall be all serving a graven image and boasting themselves of
idols. Bow down to him,
all ye gods! The
first word means not merely
ashamed,
but disappointed, defeated, and confounded. All
serving or all
servers (i. e. worshippers) of a graven image. Boasting themselves,
exulting
in
the knowledge and possession and imagined favour of material images.
Idols, nothings or
nonentities, as in Ps. xcvi. 5. The use of this word shews
that
in the following clause the false gods are invested with existence only
to
be treated with the more contempt. Compare Exod. xii. 12, Num.
xxxiii.
4, Isa. xix. 1, xlii. 17, xliv. 9. The verb in this clause might be
taken
as a preterite, worship or have worshipped; but the imperative
construc-
tion
seems to be required by the analogy of Ps. xcvi. 9. These words are
not
applied to Christ directly in Heb. i. 6. It is merely said that when
God
sends his Son into the world, he may be understood as saying again
(pa<lin) of him, what is here
said of himself, to wit, that even the false gods
are
required to worship him, much more the angels who have real existence.
The
passage was no doubt suggested to the mind of the New Testament
writer
by the fact that the Septuagint renders gods
by angels, though he
does
not copy this erroneous version.
8.
of thy judgments,
Jehovah!
While the heathen are confounded, the people
of
God rejoice. The terms of the verse are borrowed from Ps. xlviii.
12
(11), in the note upon which the ambiguous phrase, daughters of
is
explained. The judgments here particularly meant are those inflicted on
the
unbelieving Gentiles.
9. For thou, Jehovah, (art) Most High above all the eavth; greatly art
thou exalted above all
gods.
Jehovah's infinite superiority to idols and their
worshippers
is once more solemnly asserted. With the first clause compare
Ps.
lxxxiii. 19 (18); with the second, Ps. xlvii. 10 (9). It is remarkable
that
two psalms are here put together in quotation, which there is strong
internal
reason for supposing to have been occasioned by a victory of Jehoshaphat.
10. Lovers of Jehovah, hate evil! He keeps the souls of his gracious ones;
from the hand of wicked
(men) he will set them free. The people of God are
now
exhorted not to do evil in the hope of thereby being safer. Evil, in
the
moral sense of wickedness, and more especially injustice. See above,
on
Ps. vii. 10 (9), xxxiv. 14, 15. With the first words of the verse com-
pare
Ps. v. 12 (11). He keeps, or rather, he (is) keeping, i. e. habitually,
constantly
preserving. The danger, against which they particularly need
protection,
is distinctly mentioned in the last clause, namely, that arising
from
the enmity of wicked men. Gracious ones,
objects of God's mercy,
subjects
of his grace, a favourite description of the righteous or true believers,
as
a class. See above, on Ps. iv. 4 (3).
11. Light (is) sown for the just (man), and for right-hearted (men) joy.
The
figurative term light is explained by
the literal one joy or gladness. Its
being
sown suggests the two ideas of
diffusion and productiveness. Com-
pare
the similar and parallel expression, Ps. cxii. 4. The alternation of
the
singular and plural number shews that the just man of the first clause
is
an ideal person, representing a whole class.
12. Rejoice, ye righteous, in Jehovah, and give thanks to the memory of his
VER.
1-4.] PSALM XCVIII. 401
holiness. Since joy is the
portion of the righteous, let them accept it and
make
use of it, but only in the Lord, i. e. in reference to the possession and
enjoyment
of his favour, as the reason and the warrant for rejoicing. At
the
same time let them testify their gratitude to that divine perfection which
is
treasured in their memory and suggested by the name of God. See
above,
on Ps. xxx. 5 (4), xxxii. 11, from which the language of this verse
is
borrowed.
PSALM
XCVIII.
THIS psalm is similar, in tone and
structure, to the one before it, con-
taining
three stanzas of three verses each. The first propounds the subject
of
the praise to which the whole world is exhorted, vet. 1-3. The second
prescribes
the form in which it shall be rendered, ver. 4-6. The third de-
termines
its extent, or in other words, requires it to be universal, ver. 7-9.
1. A Psalm Sing ye to Jehovah a new song, for wonders he has done;
his right hand has
wrought salvation for him, and his holy arm. This is
the
only case in which the word psalm (rOmz;mi) stands by itself as a com-
plete
inscription. This fact has been ingeniously explained by supposing
that
the word was intended to distinguish this, as a purely lyrical composi-
tion,
from the one before it, which has more of the prophetic character and
style.
The first clause after this inscription is like Ps. xcvi. 1, where the
words
have been explained already. Wonders,
or wondrous deeds, things
wonderfully
done, as in Ps. xcvi. 3. Wrought
salvation, literally saved for
him, i. e. enabled him to
save his people. The idea and expression are both
found
in Isa. lix. 16, lxiii. 5, as the expression arm of holiness (or holy arm)
is
in Isa. lii. 10. This is one of the cases in which holiness has the wide
sense
of divine perfection, as opposed to what is finite or belongs to the
creature.
See above, on Ps. xxii. 4 (3). With the whole verse compare
Judges
vii. 2. The allusion to Isaiah, or quotations from him, show that
the
wonders to be celebrated are like
those which constitute the theme of
his
later prophecies, namely, Jehovah's interpositions for the deliverance
and
protection of his people.
2. Jehovah hath made known his salvation, to the eyes of the nations he
hath
revealed his
righteousness.
He hath shewn the world his power and his
willingness
to save his own people according to his promise, with respect to
which his righteousness and his salvation are related to each other
as cause
and
effect. With this verse compare Isa. lii. 10.
3. He hath remembered his mercy and his truth for the house of
all the ends of the
earth have seen the salvation of our God. The common
version
connects to the house of
mercy
and truth which he formerly exercised towards the house of
But
according to the Hebrew idiom and the usage of the psalms, the pre-
position
is dependent on the leading verb: "He has called to mind his
mercy
and truth for the present benefit of the house of
fidelity
to his engagements. See the same combination in Ps. xcii. 8. The
last
clause is another citation from Isa. lii. 10, which shews that the salva-
tion
primarily meant is that of
in
prophecy with that of the Gentiles.
4. Shout to Jehovah, all the earth! Burst forth, and sing, and play!
The
second stanza prescribes the form or manner of the praise. This verse
402 PSALM XCVIII. [VER.
5-9.
accumulates
the verbs denoting joyful noise, whether inarticulate, or instru-
mental.
The first clause differs from Ps. xcvi. 1, only by substituting one
divine
name for another. See also Ps. xlvii. 2 (1). The verb (HcP) to
burst
forth (into praise or singing) is almost peculiar to Isaiah (xi.v. 7,
xliv.
23, xlix. 12, liv. 1). This very combination with the verb to sing
occurs
in Isa. lii. 9.
5. Make music to Jehovah with a harp, with a harp and a musical voice!
The
first verb is the one translated play
in the preceding verse. Its repeti-
tion
is like that in Ps. xlvii. 2 (1). It is strictly applied to instrumental
music,
but often extended to any musical expression, especially of praise to
God.
A musical voice, or a voice of
singing, as distinguished from the voice
of
speech. The phrase occurs in Isa. li. 3. The repeated introduction of
the
verb rmz or its derivatives is
supposed by some to be the reason of the
title
rvmzm. See above, on ver. 1.
6. With trumpets and sound of cornet, shout before the King, Jehovah!
The
first noun is supposed to denote the long straight trumpet, the other
the
cornet or curved horn of ancient music. These are named as the ac-
companiments
of the act described in the other clause, where the verb may
therefore
have the sense of shouting, which it has most generally in these
psalms.
The act described is the joyful acclamation at the accession or
public
recognition of a sovereign. King Jehovah is
a combination found in
Isa.
vi. 5. Compare Ps. xcv. 3, xcvi. 10, xcvii. 1. The whole is equiva-
lent
to saying, hail him who has now become your king
7. Let the sea thunder and what fills it—the land and those dwelling on it.
The
last stanza represents the praise as universal. For the meaning of the
first
clause see above, on Ps. xcvi. 11; for that of the second, on Ps.
xxiv.
1. The word there translated world is here used in opposition to sea,
and
therefore rendered land. See above,
on Ps. xc. 2.
8. Let rivers clap the hand; together let mountains sing (or shout for
joy)!
This
bold but beautiful personification is also found in Isa. lv. 12, the only
other
place where the clapping of the hands is ascribed to lifeless objects.
This
was a customary sign of joy, especially when joined with acclamation
in
honour of a sovereign, as it is not only here, and in Ps. xlvii. 2 (1), in
highly
figurative poetry, but also in historical prose, e. g. the account of the
coronation
of Joash, 2 Kings xi. 12. Together,
not merely with each other,
but
at the same time and in concert with the applauses of the floods or
rivers.
9. Before Jehovah, for he cometh to judge the earth; he will judge the
world in righteousness
and nations in equity. The acclamations must be
uttered
to Jehovah, not only as a sovereign king, but as a righteous judge.
The
first clause is like Ps. xcvi. 13, except that it omits the emphatic re-
petition,
which is also the case in 1 Chron. xvi. 33. The first verb might,
in
all these cases, be more exactly and emphatically rendered, he is come.
In equity, literally equities or rectitudes, the plural form denoting fulness and
perfection.
See above, on Ps. xcvi. 10.
PSALM XCIX.
THE theme of this psalm, as of those
immediately preceding, is the kingship
of
Jehovah, ver. 1. The remainder falls into two stanzas of four verses each.
In
the first, Jehovah's goodness to his people is propounded as a subject of
applause
to all mankind, ver. 2-5. In the second, the same duty is en-
VER.
1-5.] PSALM
XCIX.
403
forced
by an appeal to historical examples, ver. 6-9. The strophical
arrangement
is marked by the resemblance of ver. 5 and 9. The psalm is
related
in the closest manner to those before and after it, as forming one
connected
series. See below, on Ps. c.
1. Jehovah reigns, the nations tremble; sitting on (or dwelling between)
the
cherubim (he reigns), the earth quakes. The second member of
each clause
describes
the effect produced by the disclosure of the fact that God has be-
gun
to reign, is actually reigning. For the meaning of the phrase sitting
on (or dwelling between) the cherubim, see above, on Ps. lxxx. 2 (1). As
used
in history, it always presupposes the presence of the ark as symbolis-
ing
that of God himself. See 1 Sam. iv. 4, 2 Sam. vi. 2, 2 Kings xix. 15.
Its
use here, therefore, shews that the psalm before us, and by necessary
consequence,
the series to which it belongs (Ps. xci.-c.), and by parity of
reasoning,
the later prophecies of Isaiah, were all composed before the
Babylonian
conquest, when the temple was destroyed and the ark lost sight
of.
The futures have their strict sense, as this is a prediction. If they were
optative
(let the nations tremble, &c.) one of
the verbs at least would have that form.
2. Jehovah in
pare
Ps. xlviii. 2 (1), xcv. 3, xcvi. 4, xcvii. 9. The addition of the quali-
fying
phrase in
essential
greatness, but to some signal manifestation of his greatness to his
people.
The word translated high is
originally a participle, and may be
likened
to our English towering.
3. They shall acknowledge thy name, great and terrible: Holy (is) He!
The
subject of the first verb is the nations
mentioned in ver. 2. See above,
Ps.
xcvi. 9, xcvii. 7, xcviii. 1, 4. The verb itself means to acknowledge
thankfully,
to thank, to praise for benefits received. See above, on Ps.
vi.
5 (4). Thy name, the evidence already
furnished of thine infinite per-
fection.
Great and feared, or to be feared,
epithets derived from Deut.
x.
17, xxviii. 58. In the last clause some would read, Holy (is) it, i. e. thy
name.
But the sense is determined by the analogy of ver. 5, 9, and the
obvious
allusion to Isa. vi. 3. This allusion is by some supposed to be the
reason
of the sudden change of person, He
instead of Thou. But this may
be
still more readily accounted for, by making these the very words in which
God
is acknowledged by the nations: (saying) Holy
is he! Holy, in the
wide
sense which it has in the Old Testament, and more particularly in the
Psalms.
See above, on Ps. xxii. 4 (3).
4. And the king's strength loves judgment; thou hast established equity:
judgment and justice in,
Jacob thou hast done.
Some continue the construc-
tion
from the preceding sentence; they shall
acknowledge thy name and the
king's strength loving
judgment.
But as sentences of this length are unusual
in
Hebrew, and as bhexA is not elsewhere a
participle or verbal adjective,
the
best construction is the old one, which makes this an independent pro-
position.
The meaning of the first clause seems to be, that God's power is
controlled
in its exercise by his love of justice. To establish
equity is to
give
it permanence by a habitually pure administration of justice. The
terms
of the last clause are the same by which the history describes the
judicial
fidelity of David, 2 Sam. viii. 15, as if to indicate that it was a mere
type
of God's more perfect and infallible administration of impartial justice.
5. Exalt ye Jehovah our God, and prostrate yourselves to his footstool.
Holy (is) He! With the first clause
compare Ps. xxx. 2 (1), xxxiv. 4 (3);
with
the second, Ps. xcvi. 9, xcvii. 7. As in those cases, the address is to-
404 PSALM XCIX. [VER. 6-9.
the
nations. Bow down (or prostrate)
yourselves, as an act of worship.
Not
at his footstool, as the mere place
of worship, but to it, as the object,
this
name being constantly given to the ark, 1 Chron. xxviii. 2, Lam. ii. 1,
Ps.
cxxxii. 7, Isa. lx. 13. Even in Isa. lxvi. 1, there is allusion to the
ordinary
usage of the terms. The ark is here represented as the object of
worship,
just as
was
present in them.
6. Moses and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel among those calling
on his name—calling to
Jehovah, and he answers them. The structure of
the
sentence is elliptical, and may be completed either by supplying are or
were
before among, or by making the
participle calling mean are calling,
call.
In explaining the sentence due regard must be had to its parallel
structure.
As Moses and Aaron are evidently meant to be included among
those
who called upon the name of the Lord, so Samuel must be compre-
hended
among his priests. Moses and Samuel
are so described because
they
were theocratic mediators between God and the people, and as such
performed
occasionally what were strictly sacerdotal functions. See Lev.
viii.
15-30, 1 Sam. ix. 13. The prayers here referred to are their inter-
cessions
for the people. See Exod. xviii. 19, xxxii. 11-30, Num. xi. 2,
xiv.
9, xxi. 7, Dent. v. 5, ix. 18, 19, 1 Sam. vii. 9, xii. 23., Ps. cvi. 23.
The
connection of this verse with the foregoing context is obscure, but the
idea
seems to be, that as even the chiefs of the theocracy were under the
necessity
of seeking the divine favour, such prayer must, to say the least,
be
equally necessary in the case of others.
7. In a pillar of cloud he speaks to them. They kept his testimonies and
the statute he gave unto
them.
The first clause may be figuratively under-
stood
as denoting any special divine communication, or what was literally
true
of Moses and Aaron (Exod. xxxiii. 9, Num. xii. 5, Deut. xxxi. 15)
may
be here applied to all three indiscriminately. The verse contains a
second
lesson drawn from the history of the theocracy, to wit, the necessity
of
obedience no less than of prayer. It was true, God spoke to these men
in
an extraordinary manner; but it was for the purpose of making known
his
will, and that will they obeyed. For the meaning of testimonies, see
above,
on Ps. xciii. 5. The last clause may be construed as an independent
proposition,
and he gave a statute to them, i. e.
he rewarded their obedience
by
revealing to them new laws. But the sense thus obtained is not so clear
or
natural as that afforded by the relative construction, and the statute
(which) he gave them.
8. Jehovah our God, thou didst answer them; a forgiving God wast thou
to them, and (a God)
taking vengeance on their crimes. The apostrophe to
God
himself adds solemnity and tenderness to the discourse. The pronoun
is
emphatic, they called and thou didst hear or answer. The following
description
is borrowed from Exod. xxxiv. 7. The divine name (lxe),
implies
that he had infinite power to destroy, and yet forgave them. The
last
Hebrew word in the verse is used of God in a good sense, and of man
always
in a bad one. See above, on Ps. ix. 12 (11), xiv. 1, lxxvii. 13 (12).
There
is here a beautiful transition from the representatives of the people
to
the people themselves. The pronoun in the first clause (them) can refer
only
to Moses, Aaron, and Samuel; in the second, it is applicable both to
them
and to the people; in the third, it relates to the latter exclusively.
9. Exalt ye Jehovah our God, and bow down to his holy hill; for holy
(is) Jehovah our God. See above, on ver. 5,
from which this differs only
VER.
1-4.] PSALM
C. 405
in
the substitution of the holy hill for the equivalent expression footstool,
and
in the more distinct assertion of God's holiness as a reason for the
worship
thus required.
PSALM C.
THIS psalm is related to the
ninety-ninth as the ninety-eighth is to the
ninety-seventh.
The prophecy there latent is here clothed in a genuine
lyrical
form. There is also the same likeness as to structure and arrange-
ment.
The theme, propounded in ver. 1, is amplified in two short stanzas,
of
two verses each. In both these an exhortation to praise God is followed
by
a reason for so doing. Men ought to praise him as their creator and
preserver,
ver. 2, 3. They ought also to praise him for his infinite good-
ness,
constancy, and faithfulness, ver. 4, 5. Besides completing the fore-
going
psalm, it closes the whole series or cycle of harmonious addresses to
the
nations or the world at large.
1. A Psalm. For thanksgiving. Shout
unto Jehovah, all the earth!
The
title resembles that of Ps. xcvii., but is rendered more specific by the
addition
for thanksgiving. The version praise
is too restricted. See
above,
on Ps. xcix. 3. The rest of the verse is identical with Ps. xcviii. 4.
See
also Ps. ii. 11, lxvi. 1.
2. Serve Jehovah with joy, come before him with singing! Since he is
the
king of the nations, they are his subjects, and as such bound to serve
him.
What they are required to do in Ps. ii. 11 with fear and trembling,
as
repentant rebels, they are here invited to do with joy and gladness, as
his
willing subjects.
3. Know ye that Jehovah is God; (it is) He (that) made and not we
(ourselves), his people,
and the sheep of his pasture. This is the first reason
given
for acknowledging Jehovah's sovereignty, to wit, that he has made his
people
what they are. With the first clause compare Ps. xlvi. 11 (10).
Instead
of and not we ourselves, the keri or
masoretic reading in the margin
of
the Hebrew Bible has, and his we are.
These phrases, though so unlike
in
English, differ only in a single letter, and
not (xl) we, and to him (vl)
we. The first is adopted
by the Septuagint and Vulgate, the second by the
Targum
and Jerome. In favour of the latter is the similar construction of
the
pronoun (vnHnx) we with (vmf) his people in Ps. lxxix. 13. xcv. 7. In
favour
of the other is its antiquity, and its greater significancy and appro-
priateness
to the context. Some who adopt it read, it
is he that has made
us (to be) his people the sheep, &c. But
besides the violence of this con-
struction,
he made us has no doubt the same
sense as in Ps. xcv. 6, and his
people must mean us who are his people. Sheep (or flock) of his pasture, as
in
Ps. lxxiv. 1, lxxix. 13, xcv. 7.
4. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give
thanks unto him, bless
his name!
Compare Ps. lxxxiv. 3 (2), xcii. 14 (13),
xcv.
2, xcvi. 2, 8, xcvii. 12. The substance of the exhortation is, join in
the
worship of his people. That the reference to the sanctuary at Jerusa-
lem
is merely typical or metaphorical, is clear from the analogy of Isa.
lxvi.
23, where all mankind are required to come up every sabbath, a
command
which, if literally understood, is perfectly impracticable. The
combination
of the verb to thank (UdOh) with its derivative
noun (hdAOT)
may
throw some light upon the title, a psalm
for thanksgiving (hdAOtl;).
406 PSALM CI. [VER. 1.
5. For good (is) Jehovah, to eternity his mercy, and even to generation
and generation his
faithfulness (or
truth). This verse assigns a second
reason
for the invitation to praise Jehovah, namely, the goodness, truth,
and
constancy of the divine nature. With the first clause compare Ps. xxv.
8,
xxxiv. 9 (8), 1 xxxvi. 5; with the second, Isa. liv. 8, 10; with the third,
Ps.
lxxxix. 2 (1), xcii. 3 (2).
Here ends what Hengstenberg
describes as a decalogue of Psalms
(xci.–c.),
all intended to exhibit the relation between
at
large; all of a cheering and triumphant character, without the slightest
intermixture
of complaint or lamentation; all crowded with citations from
the
older Scriptures, or allusions to them; almost all pointing to a glorious
theophany
still future; and almost all distinguished by emphatic repetitions,
and
the frequent use of musical terms, especially the names of instruments.
That
these psalms are not thrown together at random, is apparent from the
fact
that the series begins with a general assurance of divine protection
(Ps.
xci.), and of God's power both to save the righteous and destroy the
wicked
(Ps. xcii.), followed by variations on the grand theme that THE
LORD
REIGNETH (Ps. xciii.–xcix.), and closing with an earnest exhortation to
the
whole world to receive him as their sovereign (Ps. c). The mutual
relation
of the several psalms has been already indicated in the exposition.
According
to Hengstenberg, these ten psalms are in Psalmody what the
later
chapters of Isaiah (x1.–lxvi.) are in Prophecy; and as the former are
undoubtedly
anterior to the exile, they confirm the genuineness of the latter.
PSALM
CI.
AFTER propounding as his theme the
mercy and justice of the Lord,
vet,
1, the Psalmist announces his determination to be blameless in his
own
walk, ver. 2-4, and so to exercise his power over others as to favour
the
godly and drive out the wicked, ver. 5-8.
1. By David. A Psalm. Mercy and judgment will I sing; to thee,
Jehovah, will I play (or
make music).
As such a declaration of a present
purpose
in the Psalms is always followed by its execution, the older inter-
preters
suppose mercy and judgment to be
those which David meant to
practise,
as he states more fully in the remainder of the psalm. But be-
sides
that, he says nothing in what follows of his mercy, there is no usage
of
the Psalms more settled than that mercy
and justice are combined to
denote
divine not human attributes, and that to
sing and make music to
Jehovah never means to praise
something else in an address to him, but
always
to sing praises to himself. See above, Ps. ix. 12 (11), xiii. 6 (5),
xviii.
50 (49), xxx. 5 (4), 13 (12), xxxiii. 2, lxviii. 5 (4), lxxi. 22, 23, in
all
which cases the form of expression seems to be derived from Judges v. 3.
But
the psalm before us contains no such celebration of God's mercy and
justice
beyond this first verse. The best solution of this fact appears to
be
the one proposed by Hengstenberg, according to which the execution of
the
purpose here avowed is contained in Ps. ciii., which then, together with
the
one before us, and of course the intervening one, compose a trilogy or
series
of three psalms, all by David, each complete in itself, and yet de-
signed
to be connected with the others and interpreted by them. Suppos-
ing
this to be the case, we must regard them all as psalms of David, whose
name
is prefixed to the third and the one before us, in which he lays down
VER.
2-5.] PSALM
CI. 407
a
rule, as it were, for his own government, and that of his successors in
the
regal office. The impression made by these inspired instructions on
the
first of those successors may account for the remarkable coincidences of
expression
between this psalm and the Book of Proverbs.
2. I will act wisely in a perfect way. When wilt thou come to me? I
will walk in the
integrity of my heart within my house. As to the first
verb,
see above, on Ps. ii. 10, xiv. 2. Its form here is one expressing
fixed
determination. A perfect way, as in
Ps. xviii. 31, 33 (30, 32). This
and
other figurative expressions of the same kind, Ps. xviii. 24, 26 (23, 25),
xv.
2, are founded upon Gen. xvii. 1. When
wilt thou come to me, and
bless
me, in fulfilment of thy promise? Exod. xx. 21. This interrogative
ejaculation
implies a sense of his dependence on divine aid for the execution
of
his purpose. Integrity (integritas, completeness) of my heart is an expression borrowed
from.
Gen. xx. 5, 6. See above, on Ps. lxxviii. 72, and compare 1 Kings iii. 14,
Prov. xx.
7.
Way and walk are familiar figures for habitual conduct. Within, literally in the midst
(or
inside) of my house, i. e. at home, in private life, as distinguished from
the house of
God
and his official conduct there, to which he afterwards adverts.
3. I will not set before my eyes a word of Belial; the doing of
apostasies
I hate, it shall not
cleave to me.
The positive terms of the preceding verse
are
now exchanged for negatives. Having said what he will do, he now
says
what he will not do. See a similar transition, but in the inverse
order,
Ps. i. 1, 2. Set before my eyes, as a
model to be copied, or as an
object
of approving contemplation. A word of
Belial, as in Ps. xli. 9 (8),
except
that word, which there most probably relates to slander or false ac-
cusation,
may here denote a proposition, and the whole phrase a worthless
(i.
e. wicked) plan or purpose. Apostasies,
departures, deviations from the
right
course. See the verbal root as used in Ps. xl. 5 (4), and a cognate
verb
in Num. v. 12, 19. Some make the word here used a participle or
verbal
noun, as in the English Bible, the work
of them that turn aside.
But
its form and the analogy of Hos. v. 2, entitle the other construction to
the
preference. It shall not cleave to me,
I will not be concerned or impli-
cated
in it; or more emphatically still, it shall not cleave to me as a re-
proach
or stigma. In favour of the former sense is the analogy of Deut.
xiii.
18 (17), from which the expression seems to have been borrowed.
4. A crooked heart shall depart from me; evil I will not know. Crooked,
froward,
or perverse, as in Ps. xviii. 27 (26). Compare Prov. xi. 20,
xvii.
20. The whole phrase might be understood to mean a person having
such
a heart, and the whole clause that the Psalmist would have no inter-
course
with such. The parallel term evil
would then mean a wicked
person, as translated in the
English Bible. On the ground, however, that
the
person of the sinner seems to be reserved for the latter part of the
psalm,
the best interpreters take evil in
the abstract sense of moral evil,
wickedness,
as in Ps. xxxiv. 17, lii. 5 (3). The first clause will then natur-
ally
mean, my own heart shall not be perverse or froward.
5. (One) slandering in secret his fellow—him I will destroy; (one) lofty
of eyes and wide of
heart—him I will not bear. Having declared
what
his
own course of life should be, he now describes the conduct which he
should
require in his confidential servants. Here again the statement is
both
negative and positive, but in this case beginning with the former.
See
above, on ver. 3. It is not an improbable conjecture that in specify-
ing
slander, David had reference to his sufferings from that cause in the
days
of Saul. See above, on Ps. xviii. 1, lii. 4-7 (2-5), and compare Ps.
408 PSALM
CI. [V ER.
6-8.
xv.
3. The verb translared slandering
occurs, in any of its forms, only
here
and Prov. xxx. 10. Wide of heart
means neither magnanimous nor
greedy,
but proud, self-confident, as appears from Prov. xxviii. 25. Both
figurative
phrases here used are combined again in Prov. xxi. 4. The last verb
in
the sentence usually means to be able,
but is here used absolutely, as in Isa. i. 13.
6. My eyes (are) on the faithful of the land, to dwell with me. (One)
walking in a perfect
way—he shall serve me. On the faithful, literally in
or
with them. See above, on Ps. xxxiv.
16, 17 (15, 16)), and compare Ps.
xxxii.
8 (7). My eyes are on them is
equivalent to saying, I will seek them
out
to dwell with me and serve me. The word translated faithful is pro-
perly
a passive participle meaning trusted,
relied upon, confided in. Another
passive
participle from the same root is commonly supposed to be used in
the
same sense, Ps. xii. 2 (1), xxxi. 24 (23). In the first words of the last
clause
there is manifest allusion to the, form of expression in ver. 2 above.
This
clause is to be understood exclusively, such a person and no other.
Shall serve one, be employed by me, clothed
with responsible and honour-
able
offices.
7. Not in the inside of my house shat dwell (one) practising fraud, telling
lies; not settled shall
he be before my eyes.
Here again the form of expres-
sion
corresponds to that in the first part of the psalm. Compare in the
midst of my house with ver. 2, and before my eyes with ver. 3. Shall not
dwell, or still more
strongly, shall not (even) sit, which is the primary
meaning
of the Hebrew verb. The corresponding verb in the last clause
means
to be established, permanently settled, as opposed to a mere tempo-
rary,
transient presence. As if he had said, though they should even gain
admission
to my house, they shall not take up their abode there.
8. In the morning will I destroy all he wicked of the land, (so as) to cut
off from the city of
means
at the mornings, and may be int nded to suggest the twofold idea of
early
and constantly, in the morning and every morning. See above, on
Ps.
lxxiii. 14, and compare Jer. xxi. 12. The last clause serves to skew,
or
to remind the reader, that this rigou was not simply prudential or poli-
tical,
but religious. It had reference not merely to
as
the city of Jehovah, his earthly residence, the centre of the theocracy,
the
temporary seat of the true religion. See above, on Ps. xlvi. 5 (4), xlviii.
2
(1), lxxxvii. 3. Under the peculiar institutions of the old economy, the
safety
of the theocratic state required peculiar vigilance and rigour, in exer-
cising
even those powers which are common to all governments.
PSALM
CII.
1. A Prayer. By a Sufferer, when he is troubled, and before Jehovah pours
out his complaint. The psalm is called a
prayer, because petition constitutes
its
substance. See above, on Ps. xc. 1. The translation for the sufferer
(or
afflicted) would also be grammatical,
and perfectly consistent with the
real
design of the composition. But phrases of this kind, in the titles of
the
psalms, so constantly indicate the author or performer, and when only
one
occurs, the former, that a departure from this usage here is highly im-
probable,
and the assumption of it altogether arbitrary. At the same time,
the
indefinite expression, a sufferer, or a a
afflicted person, seems to be inten-
tionally
used for the purpose of giving the psalm an unrestricted application,
VER.
1-6.] PSALM CII.
409
though
the primary reference is no doubt to the suffering kings of
whom
the sufferings of the people were concentrated and represented. The
other
terms of the inscription all occur in psalms of David: troubled (or
overwhelmed) in Ps. lxi. 3 (2); complaint (or moaning) in Ps. lv. 3 (2), lxiv.
2
(1); and pouring out the soul in Ps.
lxii. 9 (8). This agrees with the
general
Davidic character of the composition, and favours Hengstenberg's
hypothesis,
not otherwise demonstrable, nor even very probable, that this
psalm
forms the connecting link between the pious resolutions of Ps. ci. and
the
joyful acknowledgments of Ps. ciii., and was composed in prophetic
foresight
of the straits to which the theocratical state should be reduced,
and
in which the sufferings of David, here immediately described, should,
as
it were, be realised anew. The psalm may be divided into two parts, in
the
first of which the tone of lamentation or complaint predominates, ver.
2-12
(1-11), while in the second it is tempered and controlled by the contemplation
of
God's attributes, and confident anticipation of his favour, ver. 13-29 (12-28).
2 (1). Jehovah, hear my prayer, and let my cry (for help) unto thee come.
With
this verse compare Ps. iv. 2 (1), xvii. 1, xviii. 7 (6), liv. 4 (2). There
is
no more reason for regarding these resemblances as imitations by a later
writer
in the case before us than in any of the others. And if not such,
they
may serve to shew, that David only asks, for the future or for others,
that
favour which he has himself sought and experienced already.
3 (2). Hide not thy face from me; in the day (there is) distress to me,
incline to me thine ear;
in the day I call, make haste (and)
answer me. Com-
pare
Ps. x. 1, xiii. 1, xvii. 6, xviii. 7 (6), xxvii. 9, xxxi. 8 (2), lvi. 10 (9),
lxvi.
14 (13), lxxi. 2. We find here accumulated nearly all the phrases
used
by David to express the same ideas elsewhere. This is not unnatural
if
we suppose him to have been preparing a form of complaint and suppli-
cation
for the use of his successors in their worst distresses.
4 (3). For wasted in smoke are my days, and my bones like a burning are
kindled. With the first clause compare
Ps. xxxvii. 20. The bones are
mentioned
as the seat of strength. See above, on Ps. vi. 3 (2), xxxi. 11
(10),
xxxv. 10, xlii. 11 (10). This description, although strictly applicable
to
the case of individual sufferers, may also be applied to the decline of the
theocratic
monarchy and the approach of its catastrophe.
5 (4). Smitten like grass and withered is my heart, for I have forgotten
to eat my bread. The first verb is used
to describe the effect of the sun on
plants,
Ps. cxxi. 6, Isa. xlix. 10. (Compare Jonah iv. 7.) The heart is
mentioned
as the seat of life. The common version of the last clause (so
that I forget) is ungrammatical. The
failure of the strength is rather de-
scribed
as immediately occasioned by the want of food (1 Sam. xxviii. 20),
and
this by loss of appetite from extreme distress. See below, on Ps. cvii. 18,
and
compare 1 Sam. i. 7, xx. 34, 1 Kings xxi. 4.
Forgotten to eat, literally
forgotten from eating, so as not to eat, a
common idiomatic use of the pre-
position
from in Hebrew.
6 (5). From the voice of my groaning, my hone cleaves to my flesh. The
word
voice implies an audible and loud
expression of distress. The first
clause
means, in consequence of the agony which makes me groan. My
bone may signify each of my
bones, or be used collectively for the whole
skeleton
or framework of the body. The only natural explanation of this
clause
is that it describes emaciation, as a consequence and symptom of
extreme
distress. See above, on Ps. xxii. 15, 18 (14, 17).
7 (6). I resemble a pelican of the wilderness; I am become like an owl
410 PSALM CII. [VER. 7-12.
(haunting)
ruins. The simple idea conveyed by
these figures is that of
extreme
loneliness and desolation. Beyond the fact that they inhabit solitudes,
the
natural history of the birds mentioned is of no exegetical importance.
8 (7). I have watched, and have been like a sparrow dwelling alone upon
a house-top. The first words
suggest the idea of a solitary vigil. As to
the
word translated sparrow, see above,
on Ps. lxxxiv. 4 (3). The word
dwelling
is supplied in the translation of the last clause, in order to retain
the
form of the original expression, which is that of an active participle.
Some
suppose the idea to be that of a bird, deprived of its mate or of its
young.
9 (8). All the day my enemies have taunted me, my infuriated (foes)
swear by me. The verb in the first
clause suggests the ideas of contempt
and
hatred, calumny and insult. See above, on Ps. xlii. 11 (10). The
first
word of the last clause is a passive participle, my enraged (or maddened)
ones, those who are mad (i.
e. insane with enmity) against me. The last
phrase
does not mean swear at me, i. e. vent
their rage by oaths and curses,
nor
are sworn against me, neither of
which is justified by Hebrew usage;
but
swear by me. i. e. use me as a
formula of execration, imprecating upon
others
misery like mine. Compare Isa. lxv. 15, Jer. xxix. 22. The pre-
terite
forms imply a long previous continuance of this furious persecution,
as
all the day does its constant,
unremitted raging.
10 (9). For ashes like bread have I eaten, and my drink with weeping
have mixed. The ashes, in which he
sat, or with which he was covered, as
a
sign of mourning, became mingled with his food, and his tears fell into
his
drink. This last word is, in Hebrew,
of the plural number, drinks or
beverages,
analogous to victuals as a simple synonyme of food. As an
opposite
example of the same idiomatic difference, the word translated ashes
is
a singular in Hebrew. The whole verse is a strong poetical description
of
constant and extreme distress.
11 (10). Because of thine indignation and thy wrath; for thou hast taken
me up and cast me away. The first clause
describes his suffering as the
fruit
of God's displeasure. See above, on Ps. xc. 7. The antithesis pre-
sented
in the common version of the last clause (lifted
me up and cast me
down) does not seem to be
the sense of the original, in which there is pro-
bably
allusion to the figure of a storm or whirlwind catching things up and
blowing
them away. The Prayer Book version of the first verb (taken me
up) is more exact.
12 (11). My days (are) like a shadow inclined, and I (myself) like the
grass wither. An inclined shadow is an unusual and obscure expression,
but
seems to mean a shadow verging towards its disappearance, ready to
vanish
away. The double or reflexive pronoun (I
myself) in the translation
of
the last clause is necessary to convey the full force of the Hebrew pro-
noun,
which is seldom expressed, except when it is meant to be emphatic,
I wither, am withering, or about
to wither.
13 (12). And thou Jehovah, to eternity shall sit, and thy memory (shall
endure)
to generation and generation. Here again the pronoun is emphatic,
and
exhibits a strong contrast between God's eternity and human frailty.
While
I wither like the grass, thou endurest for ever, and not only so, but
reignest,
sittest on the throne. See above, on Ps. ix. 8 (7), xxix. 10,
lv.
20 (19). The word memory seems here
to be employed for the sake of
the
antithesis which it implies. While I perish and am utterly forgotten,
thy
existence and thy memory shall last for ever. It may, however, have
VER.
13-18.] PSALM CII.
411
the
same sense as in Ps. xxx. 5 (4), namely, the divine perfection, associated
in
our memory with the name of God. Thou shalt not only reign for ever,
but
be worthy, as an infinitely perfect being, so to do.
14 (13). Thou wilt arise, wilt have mercy upon
favour her, when the set
time is come. The
pronoun is again emphatic.
Thou,
the God, thus glorious and immutable, wilt certainly arise from this
apparent
inaction, and have mercy or compassion on thy people, when the
time
fixed in thy eternal purpose is arrived. The sense of when, thus given
to
the Hebrew particle (yKi), although less usual,
is sometimes absolutely
necessary,
and is therefore admissible in this case, where it suits the sense
much
better than the ordinary sense of for.
Or the one may be resolved
into
the other, by explaining the whole thus: thou wilt certainly arise and
have
compassion upon
at
which thou dost design to favour her. For the meaning of the word
translated
set time, see above on Ps. lxxv. 3
(2).
15 (14). When thy servants love her stones, and her dust regard with favour.
Both
verbs in Hebrew mean to favour, or more strongly to delight in, to
take
pleasure in. See above, Ps. lxii. 5 (4), lxxxv. 2 (1). Stones and dust
are
here put for ruins or rubbish, as in Neh. 34 (iv. 2), iv. 4 (10). The
verse
may be understood as a condition or a premonition of her restoration,
that
before it takes place, God will fill his servants with affectionate concern
for
her desolate condition. The same sense may be obtained without de-
parting
from the usual sense of the particle. Thou wilt have mercy upon
ruins,
a sure sign of the approaching restoration.
16 (15). And nations shall fear the name of Jehovah, and all kings of
the earth thy glory. The impression of awe,
unavoidably produced by
these
exhibitions of Jehovah's attributes, shall not be limited to
extend
to other nations, and even kings shall vie with each other in their reverential
admiration
of his regal honours. Compare the similar expressions of Isiah (lix. 19).
17 (16). Because Jehovah has built Zion; he has been seen in his glory.
These
are not praeterita prophetica,
describing future events as past; nor
are
they to be taken as mere presents, but as denoting a relative past, de-
pendent
on the futures of the verse preceding. The nations and their
kings
are to fear because Jehovah has built (i. e. will then have built)
Still
another construction may seem possible, viz. "when Jehovah has
built
would
require the last verb, if not both, to have the future form.
18 (17). He has turned unto the prayer of the destitute, and has not
despised their prayer. This verse continues to
assign the reason why the
nations
and their kings will be struck with awe, viz., because this great and
glorious
God has turned round, as it were, and listened to the prayer of the
destitute
and granted their petition. The word translated destitute occurs
only
here and in Jer. xvii. 6 ; but from its etymological affinities and its
intensive
form, appears to mean stark naked, and then figuratively, stripped
of
everything, impoverished, entirely destitute.
19 (18). This shall be written for an after generation, and a people (yet
to be) created shell
praise Jah.
This fulfilment of God's promise and
lustration
of his attributes is left on record for the learning or instruction
of
posterity. Compare 1 Cor. x. 11. An after
generation, as in Ps.
xlviii.
14 (13), 4. Equivalent in meaning, but abridged in form, is
the
expression in the passage upon which these are founded, Ps. xxii. 31
412 PSALM CII. [VER.
19-23.
(30).
See also Ps. lxxi. 18. Created may have the force of a gerundive,
as
the passive particle often has in Hebrew; or it may mean (then) created
(but not now). See above, on Ps. xxii. 32
(31). As the verb (xrb)
create is applied only to
divine acts, its use here seems to indicate that what
is
meant is not merely a future generation, a race yet to come into existence,
but
a people in the strict sense, an
organised body to be formed hereafter
by
sovereign authority and almighty power. Shall
praise Jah, recognise
Jehovah
as possessing and as being all that is denoted by his name.
20 (19). For he has leaned from the high, place of his holiness! Jehovah,
from heaven to earth has
looked.
The first word may also be translated
that, and the verse be
understood as an amplification of the pronoun this
at
the beginning of ver. 19 (18). This is what shall be written for a future
generation;
this is what they shall praise Jah for; viz. that he has looked,
&c.
To avoid the repetition of the English verb, as well as to add life to
the
description, the Hebrew verb is here represented by what seems to be
its
primary meaning. See above, on Ps. xiv. 2, lxxxv. 12 (11), and corn-
pare
Deut. xxvi. 15.
21 (20). To hear the groaning of the prisoner, to loose the sons of mor-
tality. The construction is
continued from the foregoing verse, and the
design
of God's thus looking down is stated. The word translated groan-
ing
is almost peculiar to the Psalms of David, and according to its etymo-
logy
properly denotes suffocation. To loose,
literally to open, sometimes
applied
to the opening of a dress for the purpose of removing it, as in Ps.,
xxx.
12 (11); then to the loosening of chains, as in Ps. cxvi. 16; then to
the
deliverance of the prisoner himself. Sons
of mortality or death, i. e.,
those
doomed to die. See above, on Ps. lxxix. 11.
22 (21). To recount in
sarily
denote an act of God himself, as the similar construction in the pre-
ceding
verse does, but may have a vaguer sense equivalent to saying that
his name may be declared
in
the
mighty deeds which constitute it, and the celebration of which consti-
tutes
his praise.
triumphs,
not, however, as the capital of
radiating
centre of religious light and influence to all the earth.
23 (22). In the gathering of peoples together, and kingdoms to serve Jeho-
vah. This verse is
necessary to complete and qualify the sense of that
before
it. God has looked down from heaven to deliver his people and
receive
their praise, not in their secluded, insulated state, but in their
glorious
reunion with the converted nations. The first verb is a passive
infinitive
in Hebrew, in their being gathered.
The preposition in relates both
to
the time and to the act of convocation. To
serve Jehovah, not only as a
King,
but as a God, to be both his subject and his worshipper. Compare Ps. ii. 11.
24 (23). He has humbled in the way his strength; he has, shortened my
days. The Psalmist here
resumes the tone of complaint, but only for a
moment,
and as an introduction to what follows. Humbled,
weakened, or
afflicted.
In or by the way of his providential guidance, as distinguished
from
the glorious end to which it led. His
strength and my days seem
clearly
to refer to the same person. To avoid this harsh enallage, the
masoretic
critics changed a single letter, and for (OHKo) his strength
read
(yHiKo) my strength, which, though adopted in most versions, is an obvious
VER.
24-28.] PSALM
CII. 413
evasion
of a supposed difficulty. With the last clause compare Ps. lxxxix.
46
(45). See also Ps. lv. 24 (23).
25 (24). I will say, 0 my God, take me not up in the half of my days;
through generation of
generations (are) thy years. Take up, cause to ascend,
i.
e. as some suppose, like smoke, which is very forced and far-fetched.
Others
make it simply mean to take away, which gives a good sense, but is
not
sufficiently sustained by usage. Better than either is the supposition
that
death or removal out of life is here described by a figure corresponding
to
the actual departure of Enoch and Elijah. See Gen. v. 24, 2 Kings
ii.
1, 3, 5, 10, 11. In the half (or midst) of my days; see above, on Ps.
lv.
24 (23), and compare Isa. xxxviii. 10. Generation of generations, i. e. all
generations,
as
in Ps. lxxii. 5, Isa. li. 8. He prays that God, whose years are endless, would
not,
as
it were, grudge the few days granted to his creatures. See above, on Ps. xxxix.
6 (5).
26 (25). At first thou the earth didst found, and the work of thy hands
(are) the heavens. The phrase at the beginning means originally to the
face,
and
then before, as an adverb both of
time and place; but this would be
ambiguous
here, since it might be understood as a conjunction, before thou
didst found the earth, expressing the same
idea as in Ps. xc. 2. It here
means
long ago, of old, in the beginning. With
the last clause compare
Ps.
viii. 4 (3), xix. 2 (1), xxxiii. 6. God's creative power is here added to
his
eternity, in order to enhance the contrast between his infinity and man's
littleness,
as a reason for compassion to the latter.
27 (26). They shall perish and thou shalt stand, and all of them like a
garment shall wear out,
like a dress shalt thou change them and they shall
change. The contrast is
brought out as pointedly as possible in Hebrew,
in
by the insertion of the pronouns they
and thou, neither of which is gram-
matically
necessary to the expression of the meaning. Stand,
stand fast,
endure,
remain, continue. All of them,
without exception, even the noblest
of
God's works, shall at least lose their present form, and in that sense
perish,
a sense which may be still more readily put upon the parallel verb
pass away or change. The twofold usage of
the English verb, as active and
neuter,
or transitive and intransitive, makes it an appropriate representative
of
the primitive and derivative forms of the Hebrew verb (JlH). The cor-
responding
verb, in the second member of the sentence, means not only to
wax old, but, as the necessary
consequence, to wear out. See above,
on
Ps.
xxxii. 3, and compare Ps. xlix. 15 (14).
28 (27). And Thou (art) He—and thy years shall not be finished. The
construction
of the first clause is disputed. Some read it, Thou thyself and
thy years shall not end. Others, Thou art the same, giving xUh the same
sense
with the Greek o[ au]to<j, which is actually used
here to translate it in
the
Septuagint. In favour of the version first above given, is its agreement
with
the usage of the Hebrew words, with the analogy of Deut. xxxii.. 39,
and
Isa. xliii. 10, and with the context here. The meaning then is, Thou
art
the Unchangeable One just described. Or, it is Thou, and nothing
else,
that shall thus endure. Be finished,
spent, consumed, as the Hebrew
word
invariably means. What is elsewhere literally said of the violent
destruction
of human life is here transferred to the lapse of time.
29 (28). The sons of thy servants shall abide, and their seed before thee shall
be established. This might also be
translated as a prayer, let the sons of
thy
servants continue, which is really
included even in the prediction. Before
thee, as in Gen. xvii. 1,
Ps. lxxxix. 37 (36). Be established,
as in Ps.
414 PSALM CIII. [VER. 1, 2.
lxxxix.
38 (37), ci. 7. With this conclusion of the whole psalm compare
Ps.
lxix. 36, 37 (35, 36), xc. 16, 17.
PSALM
CIII.
THE Psalmist calls upon himself to
praise God for personal favours
already
experienced, ver. 1-5. From these he rises, in the body of the
psalm,
to the contemplation of God's attributes, in themselves considered
and
as manifested in his dealings with his people, ver. 6-19. He concludes
as
he began, with an exhortation to bless God, no longer addressed merely
to
himself, but to all creatures, ver. 20-22. According to the exegetical
hypothesis
already mentioned, this is the song of mercy
and judgment pro-
mised
in Ps. ci. 1. The arguments in favour of this theory have been
already
stated. The principal objection to it, and that by no means a con-
clusive
one, is the want of unison and even concord, as to tone and spirit,
between
the psalm before us and the two preceding it. Be this as it may,
the
psalm before us is a complete and finished composition, being one of
the
most simple and yet regular in structure that the book contains. This
has
contributed, with other obvious peculiarities, to make it a favourite
vehicle
of thankful praise among the pious of all ages.
1. By David. Bless, 0 my soul, Jehovah, and all within me (bless) his
holy name! The attempts which have
been made by modern critics to
discredit
the inscription in the first clause chiefly consist in representing
the
many imitations and allusions to this noble composition in the later
scriptures
as a cento of citations from those scriptures by the writer of the
psalm
itself, a preposterous inversion of the laws of evidence to which the
neological
critics are especially addicted, and by which anything and every-
thing
can be disproved or proved at pleasure. Bless,
when applied to God,
means
to praise, but with a strong implication of devout affection. By
calling
on his soul to do this, he acknowledges his own obligation, not only
to
praise God, but to praise him cordially, with
all the heart, according to
the
solemn requisition of the law (Deut. vi. 5), to which there is perhaps a
reference
in all such cases. See above on Ps. iii. 3 (2). The parallel
expression,
all within me, is the plural form of
one repeatedly used else-
where,
and denoting the inside of anything,
and more especially of man,
his
mind or heart, as distinguished from his mere professions or external
acts.
See above, on Ps. v. 10 (9), xlix. 12 (11). The literal translation
of
the form here used is my insides or inner parts, the strong and compre-
hensive
meaning of the plural being further enhanced by the addition of all,
as
if to preclude exception and reserve, and comprehend within the scope
of
the address all the powers and affections. His
name of holiness (or holy
name), i. e. the revelation
of his infinite perfections. See above, on Ps.
v.
12 (11), xxii. 4 (3).
2. Bless, 0 my soul, Jehovah, and forget not all his dealings. The
positive
exhortation is repeated as a kind of foil to the negative one follow-
ing,
in which there seems to be allusion to the frequent admonition in the
Law
to
us
is the passive participle of a verb which means to treat, and commonly to
treat well. See above, on Ps. vii.
5 (4). The idea here conveyed is that
of
treatment, determined by the context
to be kind and gracious treatment.
The
latitude of meaning and the plural form are both represented in the
VER.
3-5.] PSALM
CIII. 415
English
word dealings, which, though
susceptible of either application can,
in
this connection, only have a good one.
3. Forgiving all thy guilt, healing all thy sicknesses. The
participles are to
be
grammatically construed with Jehovah
as the object of the praise re-
quired,
and assign a reason for the requisition, furnished by the personal
experience
of the soul itself. The original expression is still more definite,
each
participle having the article prefixed, the
(one) forgiving, the (one)
healing. See a similar
construction carried out still further in Ps. xviii. 33-
35
(32-34), 48-51 (47-50). The last word in the verse is an unusual one
borrowed
from Deut. xxix. 21, where sicknesses
are joined with plagues or
strokes,
to signify calamities considered as penal inflictions. The same idea
is
expressed in other words, Exod. xvi. 26. The relation of the clauses, in
the
verse before us, may be that of cause and effect. Forgiving all thy
guilt
and thereby removing all the misery occasioned by it.
4. Redeeming from the grave thy life, crowning thee (with) mercy and
compassions. The combination of the
article and participle is the same as
in
ver. 3, the (one) redeeming, the (one)
crowning. The continuation of the
sentence
in this form keeps the attention fixed upon the reasons for which,
or
the characters in which, the Lord is to be praised. As if he had said,
Bless
him as the one forgiving thee and healing thee, redeeming thee and
crowning
thee. Redeeming means delivering, but
with a strong implication
of
cost and risk. For the twofold sense of (tHawa) the word translated grave,
see
above, on Ps. xvi. 10, and compare Ps. xxx. 10 (9). The peculiar
form
of the possessive pronoun, in this verse and the one before it, has been
represented
as a proof of later date, but really belongs to the dialect of
poetry,
from which, in all languages, certain expressions are continually
passing
into that of common life, so that what in one age is poetical is in
the
next colloquial, and seems therefore to belong to the later period and to
shew
the recent date of any composition in which it occurs. The familiar
use
of such words as oftentimes, perchance,
&c., in our own day may thus
be
used hereafter to prove the writings of our older poets spurious. The
figure
of crowning, which occurs above in
Ps. lxv. 12 (11), suggests the idea
of
dignity and beauty, while the absence of merit in the object, and the
sovereign
freeness of the gift, are indicated by making the crown itself a crown of mercy
and compassion. The last word in
Hebrew is expressive of the warmest and tenderest
affections.
See above, on Ps. xviii. 2 (1), xxv. 6, xl. 12 (11).
5. Filling with good thy soul—(then) is renewed, like the eagle, thy
youth.
The
peculiar construction of the two preceding verses is continued through
the
first clause of the one before us, and then suddenly abandoned. Fill-
ing, the (one) filling, in the sense of
satisfying or abundantly supplying,
but
without the accessory notion of satiety. See above, on Ps. lxxxi. 17
(16),
xci. 16. With good, literally the good, by way, of eminence, the chief
good
or the real good. Thy soul is not a
literal translation of the Hebrew
term,
which, in every other case where it occurs, means ornament or decora-
tion. See, for example, Ps.
xxxii. 9 (8). The translations mouth,
life, &c.,
are
gratuitous conjectures from the context. The best explanations is that
furnished
by the analogous word (dObKA) honour, glory, which is sometimes
applied
to the soul as the nobler part of man. See above, on Ps. xvi. 9.
This
explanation is confirmed by the frequent combination of the noun
soul and the verb to satisfy. See above, Ps. lxiii. 6 (5),
and below, Ps.
cvii.
9, and compare Isa. lviii. 11. It is also sanctioned by the ancient
416 PSALM CIII. [VER. 6-8.
versions;
for although the Targum makes it mean old
age, a palpable con-
jecture,
the Septuagint and Vulgate have desire (e]piqumi<an, desiderium), a
frequent
sense of (wp,n,) soul in Hebrew, and Jerome translates it literally,
ornamentum. The word then is introduced into the translation
of the second
clause,
in order to retain the Hebrew collocation, which is not without its
emphasis.
Is renewed, or retaining the
reflective form of the original,
renews itself. The supposed allusion
in this clause to a fabulous or real
renovation
of the eagle in its old age, rests upon a misconception of the
language,
as the only point of comparison with the eagle is its strength and
vigour,
as in 2 Sam. i. 23, Isa. xl. 31, and the whole verse may be para-
phrased
as follows: "So completely does his
bounty feed thy strength, that
even
in old age thou growest young again, and soarest like an eagle."
6. Doing righteousnesses (is)
Jehovah, and judgments for all oppressed.
Thus
far the reasons urged for praising God were personal, i. e. derived
from
individual experience. With these, from the very constitution of our
nature,
all our grateful exercises must begin. But if genuine they do not
stop
there, as the Psalmist, at this point, ascends from private causes of
thanksgiving
to more general views of God's administration, as a basis for
the
universal call with which the psalm concludes. The connection here
may
thus be stated: "Such have been the
Lord's compassions to myself,
but
these are only samples of his goodness. He is not only merciful to me,
but
to all who are oppressed, and to deliver whom he executes his judg-
ments."
There is no contrast here intended between mercy and justice,
with
respect to different objects of the Lord's compassion. The meaning
is,
that man's injustice is redressed by God's mercy. The redemption of
his
people is often represented as coincident with the condign punishment
of
their oppressors. Compare my note on Isa. i. 27. Doing, i. e. practis-
ing in general, and executing in particular cases. The
participle (doing)
signifies
habitual and constant action; the plural form (righteousnesses) com-
pleteness
and variety, adapted to all possible emergencies. Judgments, as
usual,
denotes judicial acts, as distinguished from mere attributes or principles.
7. He makes known his ways to illose.c, to the children of
deeds. The general statement
of the fact in the preceding verse is now fol-
lowed
by the great historical example furnished in Jehovah's dealings with
his
people. This serves, not only to illustrate what was said before, but to
shew
that it was not a mere vague declaration of what God will do to all
men,
but a definite assertion of his purpose and his practice with respect
to
his own people. All the oppressed, to
whom he grants or promises de-
liverance,
are not mankind in general, without distinction or exception, but
his
own people when in that condition. The first clause contains an obvi-
ous
allusion to the prayer of Moses, as recorded by himself, Exod. xxxiii.
13,
from which passage it appears that the ways of God, which he desired
to
know, were his modes of dealing with his people, or the course of his
dispensations
towards them. See above, on Ps. xxv. 4, lxvii. 3 (2). The
knowledge
thus imparted was experimental or afforded by experience. The
parallelism
between Moses and the Children of Israel shews that the latter
were
represented
by the former. The last Hebrew word is one constantly applied to God's
exploits
or mighty deeds in behalf of
8. Compassionate and gracious (is) Jehovah, slow to anger, and rich in
mercy. See above, on Ps.
lxxvii. 10 (9), lxxviii. 38, lxxxvi. 15, in all
which
cases, as in this, the terms of the description are borrowed from
VER.
9-13.] PSALM CIII. 417
Exod.
xxxiv. 6. There is here an evident progression in the thought.
Not
only is God good to me, but to all his people in distress; not only did
he
prove this to Moses and to
other
enemies, but by bearing with their own offences. The previous con-
text
might have seemed to concede innocence, if not merit, to God's people,
as
the object of his kind regard; but they are here exhibited as sinners,
needing
his forbearance and forgiveness.
9. Not to perpetuity will he strive, and not to eternity retain (his
anger).
This,
of course, implies that he is sometimes angry, even with his people,
and
sometimes strives in opposition to their strivings against him. But
as
he is always in the right, and they are always in the wrong, it is a signal
proof
of the divine compassion, that he does not strive and is not wroth
for
ever. The first clause is closely copied by Isaiah (lvii. 16). The
second
is itself derived from Lev. xix. 18, where we find a verb meaning
to
retain or reserve used absolutely in the sense of harbouring a grudge or
cherishing
a secret spite. This remarkable form of expression is copied,
in
the case before us, and in Nah. i. 2, Jer. 5, 12. The original
passage
is a prohibition, in obeying which the Lord, as it were, here sets
his
people an example. Compare Mat. v. 48, 1 Cor. xi. 1, Eph. v. 1.
10. Not according to our sins has he done to us, and not according to our
iniquities has he dealt
with us.
That the people stood in need of the
divine
forbearance, is now still more distinctly intimated. The last verb
is
the one of which the participle occurs in ver. 2, and might here be ren-
dered,
with still closer adherence to the strict sense of the Hebrew preposi-
tion,
has he bestowed upon us. See the same
construction in the Hebrew of
Ps.
xiii. 6, cxvi. 7, cxlii. 8 (7). The past tense has reference to the previ-
ous
history of
truth.
At the end of the verse, we may suppose it to be tacitly added: as
he
might have done, not only in strict justice, but in execution of his ex-
press
threatening, Lev. xxvi. 21.
11. For as the heavens are high above the earth, mighty is his mercy above
those that fear him. The Hebrew preposition
is the same in both clauses,
and
cannot be varied in translation without weakening the sentence. In
the
last clause it suggests the ideas of descent from above, superior power,
and
protection, in addition to that of mere relation or direction, which is
all
that is conveyed by the translation to
or towards. The force of the
original
is likewise impaired by substituting great
for strong or mighty. The
idea
meant to be conveyed is not that of mere extent but of efficiency.
The
literal meaning of the first words is, like
the height of the heavens, or
like their being high.
His fearers,
or those fearing him, is a common
description of
the
righteous, or God's people, who are more particularly characterised in ver. 18.
12. As far as the east is from the west, he hath put far from us our
trangressions. The form of expression
at the beginning is the same as in
ver.
11, like the distance of the east, or
like its being far. The Hebrew
words
for east and west, according to their etymology, denote the place of
sunrise
and the place of evening. Put far from us,
as no longer having
anything
to do with us, a figure which suggests the idea both of pardon and
renewal,
justification and sanctification.
13. As a father has compassion, on (his) children, Jehovah has compassion
on his fearers. The compound phrase, has compassion, is here substituted
for
the simple verb pity, in order to
retain the preposition on, which fol-
lows
it in Hebrew, and also because the plural form, compassions, was neces-
418 PSALM CIII. [VER. 14-18.
sarily
employed in ver. 4 to translate the cognate noun. The Hebrew verb
is
peculiarly appropriate in speaking of parental love. See above, on Ps.
xviii.
2 (1). The preterite forms represent the fact alleged as one already
known
and well attested by experience.
14. For he knows our frame, mindful that dust (are) we. The fragility
of
man is here again assigned as a ground of the divine compassion. See
above,
on Ps. lxxviii. 39, lxxxix. 48 (47). Frame,
formation, constitution,
or
as we say familiarly in English, our
make, our build. The Hebrew
noun
is derived from the verb used in Ps. xciv. 9, and may therefore be
intended
to suggest the same idea that is there expressed. He who formed
us
knows of course how we are formed. The same noun is applied to the
moral
constitution, Gen. vi. 5, viii. 21, Deut. xxxi. 21. The word trans-
lated
mindful is, in form, a passive
participle, (rUkzA) meaning remem-
bered, but equivalent in use
to the active, remembering, or the verbal
adjective
mindful, just as the like form (HaFuBA) trusted is equivalent to
trusting, Ps. cxii. 7, the
English rejoiced to rejoicing, &c. We are dust,
i.
e. made of it, and tending to it. Compare Gen. ii. 7, iii. 19, Ps. xc. 3.
15. (As for) man, his days (are) like the grass; like the blossom of the
field, so he blossoms. As the preceding verse
expresses the fragility of man
by
referring to his origin and end, so this verse does the same by a familiar
but
beautiful comparison, borrowed from Ps. xc. 6, and repeated in Isa.
xl.
6-8, Job xiv. 2. The very name here given to the race is one denot-
ing
frailty and infirmity. See above, on Ps. viii. 5 (4).
16. For a breath passes over him and he is not, and no more shall his
place know him. The pronouns may with
equal grammatical correctness, be
referred
to the grass and rendered it, its.
The primary meaning of the first
noun
(breath) is, in this connection,
stronger than the secondary (wind).
The
wind may be a whirlwind; but to say that a mere breath is sufficient
to
destroy one is the strongest possible expression of fragility. That the
wind
is called the breath of God, as the thunder is his voice, is a striking
and
poetical but needless supposition. He is
not or no more, there is none
of
him, no such thing or person. See above, on Ps. xxxvii. 10. With the
first
clause compare Isa. x1.7; with the second, Job vii. 10. The last verb means to
recognise or know again, as in
Ps. cxlii. 5 (4), and the whole clause, that death makes
men
strangers to the objects with which they have been most familiar.
17. And the mercy of Jehovah (is) from eternity even to eternity upon
those fearing him, and
his righteousness to children's children. Having
carried
the description of man's frailty to the furthest point, the Psalmist
suddenly
contrasts with it God's everlasting mercy. The use of the simple
copulative
and, in such a marked antithesis,
where but might to us seem
indispensable,
is one of the most striking and familiar Hebrew idioms.
Upon those fearing him suggests the idea of a
gift from above. To chil-
dren's children simply means given (or
belonging) to them. Unless we make
the
last clause a threatening of hereditary vengeance to the wicked his right-
eousness can only mean his
rectitude, including his veracity and faithfulness
in
exercising covenanted mercy. Children's
children, literally sons of sons.
18. To the keepers of his covenant, and to the rememberers of his laws, to
do them. This is the necessary
qualification of a promise which might
otherwise
have seemed too absolute. Even to the descendants of those
fearing
him the promise availed nothing, unless they themselves were faith-
ful
to his covenant and obedient to his law. The last words (to do them)
VER.
19-22.] PSALM CIII. 419
shew
that the remembrance of the law required was not merely intellectual
but
practical and tending to obedience.
19. Jehovah in the heavens has fixed his throne, and his kingdom over
all rules. Not only is he
infinitely merciful and faithful, but a universal
and
almighty sovereign, no less able than willing to fulfil his promises and
execute
his purposes of mercy. The word translated fixed,
like its English
representative,
suggests the two ideas of preparing and establishing. The
same
combination with throne occurs above,
Ps. ix. 8 (7). See also Ps.
xi.
4, xlvii. 9 (8). Over all; the
original expression is still stronger, over
the whole, the universe, to>
pa?n. The
same phrase is applied to the entire
human
race, Ps. xiv. 3. The past tense of the last verb represents this
unlimited
dominion as already established or revealed.
The future would
have
made its ulterior continuance the prominent idea.
20. Bless Jehovah, ye his angels, mighty in strength, doing his word, (so
as) to listen to the voice of his word.
Having finished his assertion of God's
claims
to universal praise, the Psalmist resumes the tone of exhortation
with
which he began. His appeal, however, is no longer to his own soul,
but
to the hosts of heaven, the noblest of God's creatures, the highest
order
of finite intelligences. Mighty in
strength, more exactly mighty
(ones) of strength, or, as the first word
is applied as a substantive to
warriors
or conquerors, heroes of strength or
mighty heroes. See above, on
Ps.
xxiv. 8, lxxviii. 25. The construction in the last clause is obscure.
The
infinitive may here have the force of a gerund, audiendo, auscultando,
by
listening to the voice of his word, or, as in Ps. lxxviii. 18, it may denote
the
extent or the effect of their obedience,
so as to hearken, or so that they
hearken, i. e. listen for the
faintest intimation of his will. The expression hearken
to his voice, as thus applied, is a
Mosaic one. See Deut. xxvi. 17, xxx. 20.
21. Bless Jehovah, ye his hosts, his ministers, the doers of his will.
As
the
word hosts is applied both to the angels and the heavenly bodies (see
above,
on Ps. xxiv. 10), some interpreters, in order to relieve this verse of
a
tautology, suppose it to relate to the heavenly hosts in one sense, as the
preceding
verse does in another. In the same way they account for the
change
of expression in the last clause. Only intelligent creatures can be
literally
said to listen for God's word and to obey it; but even the inani-
mate
creation may be said, without a metaphor, to execute his will. This
last
phrase occurs also in Ps. xl. 9 (8).
22. Bless ye Jehovah, all his works, in all places of his realm; bless
thou, 0 my soul,
Jehovah!
The angels and heavenly bodies, with men
and
every other creature, are now summed up in the comprehensive phrase,
all his works, i. e. all that he has
made, all creatures, and invited to bless
God,
which invitation the Psalmist then addresses once more to himself,
and
thus, by a beautiful transition, brings us back to the point from which
we
started.
PSALM
CIV.
WE have here another of those
psalms, in which the hopes of God's
people
are excited and their faith strengthened by a view of the authority
and
providential care which he exercises over the creation. The sum of
the
whole psalm is contained in the first verse, and its application indicated
in
the last. Here, as in Ps. viii., xis., xxix., lxv., the description of God's
420 PSALM CIV. [VER.
1-3.
glory,
as exhibited in nature, is entirely subservient to a moral and religious
purpose,
and the psalm is therefore fully entitled to a place in the collec-
tion,
and adapted to the permanent use of the church. The arrangement
of
the psalm is founded on the history of the creation, but with such varia-
tions
as were suited to the writer's purpose. After a general statement of
this
purpose, ver. 1, the Psalmist traces the creative and providential agency
of
God in the works of the first and second day, ver. 2-5, then in that of
the
third, ver. 6-18, then in that of the fourth, ver. 19-23, then in that of
the
fifth, ver. 24-26, with an allusion to the rest of the seventh day in ver.
31.
The psalm closes with a summary statement of the dependence of all
living
creatures upon God's care and bounty, ver. 27-32, a resolution to
glorify
him accordingly, ver. 33, 34, and a pregnant inference, that they
who
are under such protection have nothing to fear from human enemies,
ver.
35. According to Hengstenberg, this and the two next psalms com-
pose
a trilogy added to the Davidic one immediately preceding (Ps. ci.–ciii.)
about
the time of the Babylonish exile. This hypothesis, he thinks, accounts for the
occurrence
of Davidic psalms in this part of the Psalter, which would otherwise
have
found their place among the Psalms of David in the first division of the book.
But
having been made the basis or the nucleus of later compositions, they were
naturally
placed with these in their proper chronological position.
1. Bless, 0 my soul, Jehovah! 0 Jehovah, my God, thou art great
exceedingly; honour and
majesty hast thou put on. The resemblance of the
first
clause to Ps. ciii. 1 shews the designed connection of the two psalms.
The
remainder of the verse is a kind of response to this invocation, and
contains,
as it were, the words in which his soul does actually bless God.
At
the same time it exhibits in advance the sum and substance of the whole
composition,
the design of which is to describe the glories of creation and
providence
as the royal robe of the divine sovereign. Compare Ps. xlv.
4
(3), xciii. 1, xcvi. 6, Job xl. 10, Isa. 9.
2. Wearing light like a robe, spreading heaven like a curtain. In
carrying
out
the idea summarily stated in the first verse, he begins where the cos-
mogony
in Genesis begins, with the light and the firmament, not the act of
their
creation, but their use, as the Creator's robe and curtain. It follows
of
course that light and heaven must be taken in their popular
and ordinary
sense,
and not as denoting the heaven of heavens and the light inaccessible
in
which he is elsewhere represented as dwelling. The definite forms of the
original,
the robe, the curtain, as contrasted
with the vaguer forms, light,
heaven, may be intended to
suggest the idea of the robe and curtain known
and
used in common life, which man puts on and stretches out with perfect
ease,
but not more easily than God puts on the light and stretches out the
sky.
Compare Gen. i. 6, Isa. xl. 22, Job ix. 8.
3. Framing with water his halls; making clouds his conveyance; moving
on wings of the wind. The first word means
laying beams or rafters. The
next
phrase may either mean in or with water. The first is more obvious,
the
last more striking; as it represents a solid building, made of a liquid or
fluid
material. In the other case the waters meant are those above the
firmament.
See Gen. i. 6, 7, Ps. xviii. 12 (11), where the clouds and the
wings
of the wind are also mentioned in the same connection. The word
translated
halls denotes the highest room of an
oriental house, which is
frequently
the largest. Hence the frequent mention, in the New Testament,
of
the u[per&?on as a place of assembly. Making, literally setting, placing.
Chariot is too specific a
translation of the Hebrew word, which means any-
VER
. 4-6.] PSALM
CIV.
421
thing
on which a person rides. The preposterous figure of walking on wings
belongs
entirely to the versions, ancient and modern. The Hebrew word,
though
often so applied, is a generic one, denoting all progressive move-
ment,
and nearly equivalent to our word going,
which is not so agreeable,
however,
in this place, to English usage, as the more general and poetical
term
moving. See above on Ps. xviii. 11
(10).
4. Making his angels winds, his ministers flaming fire. According to
the
simplest and most obvious construction of this verse, it can only mean
that
God makes his angels or ministering spirits swift and ardent in his
service.
But such a statement would be wholly out of place in a psalm,
the
rest of which relates exclusively to the material creation. The best
interpreters
are therefore of opinion that angels
and ministers are predicates,
not
subjects, or in other words, that the idea meant to be conveyed is, that
he
makes the winds his messengers or angels, and the flaming fire his
minister
or servant. This agrees exactly with the previous declaration that
he
makes the clouds his chariot or conveyance, and moves upon the wings
of
the wind. It may seem, however, to be inconsistent with the use made
of
the passage in Heb. i. 7, as a proof that , the angels are inferior to the
Son
of God. But how could this inferiority be proved by the fact that the
angels
are spirits, or even wind and fire? The latter cannot be literally
true,
and if metaphorical, can only mean that they are swift and ardent in
God's
service, which they might be and yet equal to the Son in nature,
who,
considered as a messenger or agent of the Father, exhibits precisely
the
same qualities, The truth is, that the passage, as thus understood, is
perfectly
irrelevant and useless to the argument, and therefore that this
mode
of explaining it is not entitled to the preference, whatever difficulties
may
attend the other. Let it be observed, too, that the Septuagint version,
which
is quoted in Heb. i. 7, is an exact transcript of the Hebrew, both as
to
the sense and collocation of the words, so that if the original admits of a
different
construction, it may be extended to the version likewise. The
most
satisfactory conclusion is, that the words are not quoted as an argu-
ment
or proof of the inferiority of angels, but merely as a striking yet
familiar
form of words in which to clothe the writer's own idea, which is
this,
that angels are mere messengers and ministers, and as such may be
classed
with the material agencies which God employs in execution of his
purpose.
The wind and the lightning are God's angels and his ministers,
and
are expressly so described in the Old Testament; but they are never
called
his sons, much less addressed directly as the sovereign, eternal,
righteous,
ever-blessed God. Nor are the ministering spirits, who share
with
these material agencies the character of messengers and servants, ever
so
described or so addressed. By thus supplying the suppressed links of
the
chain of argument, the verse before us, in the only sense of which the con-
text
really admits, will be found not only as appropriate as the other to the pur-
pose
for which it is quoted in the New Testament, but incomparably more so.
5. He founded the earth on its bases; it shall not be moved for ever and
ever. The idea of bases is rather suggested by the
context, and especially the verb
founded, than expressed by the
Hebrew noun itself, which properly means places,
or
more
specifically, fixed and settled places. See above, on Ps. lxxxix. 15 (14),
xcvii. 2, and
with
the whole verse compare Ps. lxxviii. 69, lxxxix. 12 (11), cii. 26 (25).
6. (With) the deep, like a garment, thou didst cover it; above the moun-
tains stand the waters. Next in importance to
the separation of the land
and
water in the beginning (Gen. i. 9, 10), was the temporary confounding.
422 PSALM
CIV. [VER.
7-10.
of
the two in the universal deluge (Gen. vii. 19, 20), which the Psalmist
therefore
here connects with the creation, as equally demonstrative of
almighty
power, and also for the purpose of founding on this seeming vio-
lation
of the promise in the last clause of ver. 5, a still more solemn
repetition
of it. The grammatical objection that the pronoun in the phrase
didst cover it is masculine, and
cannot therefore refer to earth which
is
feminine,
is easily removed by a reference to the general licence of the
Hebrew
syntax with respect to genders, and the idiomatic tendency to use
the
masculine,not as a distinctive but as a generic form, in cases where the
subject
is sufficiently indicated by the context. There are, moreover, several
clear
examples of the masculine construction of this very noun (Cr,x,)
besides
those in which earth or land is put for its inhabitants. See e.
g.
Gen.
xiii. 6, Isa. ix. 18. The allusion in the last clause to Gen. vii. 19,
20,
is too plain to be mistaken.
7. At thy rebuke they flee, at the voice of thy thunder they hasten away.
The
same power that produced the deluge put an end to it. The verbs
agree
with waters in ver. 6. The divine
command that they should cease
or
disappear is poetically spoken of as a rebuke.
See above, on Ps. xviii.
16
(15), lxxvi. 7 (6), and compare Isa. 1. 2. The Hebrew particle means
from,
denoting both the time and cause of the effect described. The last
verb
is a passive meaning strictly to be panic-struck, or to flee in conse-
quence
of being panic-struck. See above, on Ps. xxxi. 23 (22), xlviii.
6
(5). The voice of thy thunder may be
literally understood to mean the
sound
of thunder, or according to a well-known Hebrew idiom, thy voice of
thunder,
or thy thundering voice.
8. They go up mountains, they go down valleys, to this place thou past
founded for them. The first clause is a
beautiful description of the fluctua-
tions
which attend the subsidence of swollen waters, not only in the case of
Noah's
flood (Gen. viii. 4, 5) to which the words relate in the first instance,
but
in all other cases, where the same rule still holds good, so that the
verse,
by an insensible transition, founds the statement of a general truth
on
that of a particular event. The use of the demonstrative (this) is highly
idiomatic.
The original construction is, to a place,
this (which) thou host
founded for them. This form of expression
is equivalent to pointing with the hand,
and
therefore adds not a little to the graphic vividness of the description.
9. A bound thou didst set, they shall not pass over, they shall not return
to cover the earth. This grand exception
to the law which governs the rela-
tions
between land and water is the only one to be permitted or expected.
The
limits broken were renewed with an assurance that henceforth they
should
be inviolable. See Gen. ix. 15. Besides the immediate reference
to
the flood, the verse contains the statement of a general fact in the eco-
nomy
of nature, and thus furnishes a natural transition to the similar state-
ments
of the next verse.
10. Sending springs into the valleys; between hills they go. The
partici-
pial
construction, interrupted by the parenthetical account of the flood, is
here
resumed, the participle, like the others, agreeing directly with Jehovah
understood,
as the (one) sending, which is the
precise form of the original.
See
above, on Ps. ciii. 3-6. Springs or fountains, not in the restricted
sense,
but comprehending both the source and stream, as in Joel iv. 18
(iii.
18). The word translated valleys is
restricted in usage to such as have
streams
flowing through them. The last word is the one translated walketh
by
the English Bible in ver. 3 above, but here run,
although walk is given
VER.
11-15.] PSALM
CIV. 423
in
the margin, as a more precise and literal translation, while Jerome
inserts
it in his text, ut inter medios montes
ambulent.
11. They water every beast of the field; (at them) wild asses quench their
thirst. The subject of the
first verb is still the waters. The
verb itself
means
to water, in the sense of giving drink
to animals, though sometimes
metaphorically
applied to irrigation. See Gen. ii. 10. The form of the
parallelism
in this verse is peculiar, although not uncommon in Hebrew
poetry,
the last clause containing a specification of the general statement
in
the first. What is first said of animals, or wild ones in the general, is
then
said of the wild ass in particular. Quench,
literally break, i. e. sub-
due,
assuage. A derivative noun is applied in Hebrew to corn or grain, as that
which
breaks or assuages hunger, although
most interpreters and lexicographers
suppose
a reference to the literal breaking or grinding of the corn itself.
12. Above them the birds of heaven dwell, from between the branches they
give voice. The poetical character
of the composition is in nothing more
obvious
than in these minute strokes of exquisite painting, superadded to
the
more essential parts of the description. At the same time these are
not
to be regarded as mere lavish or gratuitous embellishments, since the
Psalmist's
purpose is to celebrate God's wonderful and bountiful provision
for
his living creatures, and the running brooks would fail to answer one
of
their most valuable ends, if there were no birds to give voice or sing among
the
branches of the overhanging trees. The word translated birds is a col-
lective
answering to the old English fowl, not as used in the version of this
psalm,
where it is plural, but in that of Gen. i. 20, 22, 26, 28. That pas-
sage
furnishes an explanation of the phrase fowl
(or birds) of heaven, in the
fuller
description (Gen. i. 20), fowl that may
fly above the earth in the open
firmament of heaven, i. e. through the air,
across the face of the expanse or
visible
heaven.
13. Watering mountains from his upper rooms—from the fruit of thy
works is the earth
filled.
He still returns to God as the author of these
merciful
provisions, and represents him by a beautiful figure, as pouring
this
abundant supply of water from his upper
rooms, the same word that
was
rendered halls in ver. 3; but here the connection seems to require that
its
precise etymological import should be prominent. The fruit of thy
works, the result or product
of thy creative energy. Filled, not
in the
sense
of being occupied, which would require a different Hebrew verb, but
in
that of being abundantly supplied or saturated. See above, on Ps.
viii.
5. The sudden apostrophe to God himself enhances the poetical effect.
14. Causing grass to grow for the cattle and herb for the culture of man,
(so as) to bring forth
bread from the earth.
In this verse there is a transi-
tion
from God's care of the inferior animals to his care of man. The word
translated
herb denotes any green plant or
vegetable, and is here applied to
such
as constitute or furnish human food. The common version of the
next
words, for the service of man, can
only mean for his benefit or use, a
sense
not belonging to the Hebrew word, which, as well as its verbal root,
is
applied to man's servitude or bondage as a tiller of the ground (Gen.
iii.
17-19), and has here the sense of husbandry or cultivation, as in Exod.
i.
14, Lev. xxv. 39, it has that of compulsory or servile labour. The in-
finitive
in the last clause indicates the object for which labour is imposed
on
man.
15. And wine gladdens the heart of man—(so as) to make his face shine
424 PSALM CIV. [VER.
16-18.
more than oil—and bread
the heart of man sustains. The general expres-
sion
at the end of ver. 14 is now rendered more specific by distinctly men-
tioning
the great staples of production and subsistence in the
The
only doubt is whether two or three are mentioned. The text of the
English
Bible makes oil a distinct item in
the catalogue, and oil to make
his face to shine. But this is an
impossible construction of the Hebrew, in
which
the infinitive (to make shine) bears
the same relation to what goes
before
as the infinitive (to bring forth) in
the verse preceding, and is there-
fore
expressive, not of a distinct cause and effect, but of a consequence
resulting
from the one just mentioned. The true construction is given in
the
margin of the English Bible, to make his
face shine with oil or more
than oil. To the first of these
alternative translations it may be objected
that
wine cannot make men's faces shine with oil, unless there is allusion
to
the festive unctions of the ancients, which, however, were restricted to
the
head. The other, therefore, seems to be the true sense, in which oil
is
merely mentioned as a shining Substance. The description of food as
sustaining
the heart is very ancient. See Gen. xviii. 5, Judges xix. 8.
16. Full are the trees of Jehovah; the cedars of Lebanon which he planted.
Full,
i. e. abundantly supplied, saturated, as in ver. 13. The English ver-
sions
supply sap; but the idea suggested by
the context is the more gene-
ral
one of moisture, irrigation. The mutual relation of the clauses is the
same
as in ver. 11. What is first said of trees, or of the noblest trees in
general,
is then said of the cedars in particular. The trees of Jehovah, like
the
cedars of God in Ps. lxxx. 11 (10),
are those which he has planted (Num. xxiv. 6),
those
which, by their loftiness or fruitfulness or beauty, bear the strongest impress
of
their Maker's hand. The cedars of Lebanon
are often mentioned as the noblest
and
most famous of their kind. See above, on Ps. xxix. 5, xcii. 13 (12).
17. Where the (small) birds nestle; (as to) the stork, the cypresses (are)
her house. He again recurs to the provision made for birds
which is here
connected
with the trees, as it is in ver. 12. The word translated birds is
not
the one there used, but the same with that in Ps. lxxxiv. 4 (3), cii. 7,
where
it is commonly translated sparrow,
though supposed to be a general
term
for small birds, so called from their chirping, twittering noise. Here
it
may represent the smaller, and the stork the larger class of birds. The
Hebrew
name of the stork means merciful or pious, and is supposed to have
reference
to the natural kindness of that bird, both to its parents and its
young.
Nestle or build their nests. The choice between the old transla-
tion,
fir-trees, and the new one,
cypresses, is exegetically unimportant.
for the conies. The idea seems to be,
that even the wildest situations, and
the
most inaccessible to man, afford shelter and subsistence to some form
of
life, and are therefore proofs of the divine benevolence and wisdom. Of
the
names of animals here mentioned, the first occurs also in the book of
Job
(xxxix. 1); the second in the list of unclean beasts, Lev. xi. 5, Deut.
xiv.
7; and both in the writings of Solomon, Prov. v. 19, xxx. 26. Of
the
second, various explanations have been given, but none of them more
probable
than that derived from the rabbinical tradition. Nor is the ques-
tion
of the slightest exegetical importance, since the only peculiarities in-
volved
are those suggested by the text itself, to wit, that the animals
intended
must be such as inhabit rocks and mountains. Some supply a
refuge in the first clause
from the second; but a better sense is yielded by
the
simpler construction, they belong to (or
are intended for) the wild goats,
VER.
19-23.] PSALM
CIV.
425
which
agrees exactly with the drift of the whole psalm, to shew that all
parts
of the inanimate creation contribute something to, the comfort of the
living
sentient creature.
19. He made the moon for seasons; the sun knows his setting. Even the
heavenly
bodies have a reference to man's advantage. The moon is a mea-
sure
of time, and the sun defines the period of active labour. The word
translated
seasons is the plural of the one
translated set time in Ps. lxxv.
3
(2), cii. 14, and the same that means assemblies
in Ps. lxxiv. 4, 8. It
is
here put for all divisions of time, including the succession of day and
night,
to which there is perhaps a special reference, as lin the other clause,
where
the meaning seems to be, that the sun knows when and where to
set,
and does not make the day, with its attendant toils, perpetual. This
is
a strong poetical description of an obvious and familiar fact, and no more
presupposes
a particular theory or system of astronomy than the similar
language
of uninspired poets among ourselves.
20. Thou makest darkness and it is night; in it begins to move every beast
of the forest. The first verb in
Hebrew means to set or place, but is used
precisely
as a word of the same meaning is in ver. 3. Its abbreviated form
does
not indicate an optative meaning, but is substituted for the full form
by
poetic licence. It is night, or night
is, night begins to be. The same
inceptive
meaning is expressed in the translation of the third verb which
denotes
animal motion, but is specially applied to that of reptiles. The
idea
of a secret, stealthy motion, as suggested by the common version
(do creep forth), can hardly be intended,
as the context shews the main
idea
of the passage to be this, that as the day affords a time for active motion to
mankind
and to domestic animals, the night affords a like time for the wilder
beasts,
or beasts of the forest, an
expression which occurs above, in Ps. 1. 10.
21. The young lions roaring for the prey, and to seek from God their food.
By
translating the participle and infinitive both as presents, the common
version
makes this a distinct proposition. But in Hebrew it forms part
of
the preceding sentence, and contains a specification of the general state-
ment
there made. When night comes on, all the beasts of the forest are
aroused,
and among the rest the lion, roaring for his prey, (is roused) to
seek
his food from God. This last expression implies no such purpose on
the
lion's part, but merely that he seeks what can only be bestowed by an
almighty
being, which idea is suggested by the name of God here used.
22. The sun rises—they are gathered—and in their dens lie down. The
first
clause may also be translated, let the
sun rise, they are gathered, or
paraphrased
in more accordance with our idiom, when
the sun rises they are
gathered; but neither of these
constructions is so striking and poetical as
the
exact version, first above given. Gathered,
i. e. called in from their
wanderings
and dispersions. The word translated dens
means abodes or
homes,
and is a cognate form to that in Ps. xc. 1; but the form here used
is
specially applied to the lairs or resting-places of wild beasts, not only
here
but in Amos iii. 4. The last verb is also one appropriated to the
lying
down of animals. See above, on Ps. xxiii. 2. The construction
is
a pregnant one: they lie down to (or) into their dens, i. e. go into them
and
lie down.
23. Forth goes man to his work, and to his labour until evening. This
verse
presents the day-scene corresponding to the night-scene of the two
preceding
verses. When night comes on, the beasts of the forest are in
motion;
when the sun appears, they gather to their lairs, and man comes
426 PSALM CIV. [VER. 24-27.
forth
to labour until evening, when the
scene is shifted as before. Leav-
ing
out of view all higher claims to admiration and respect, the poetical
merit
of this whole description is of the highest order. The word trans-
lated
labour is the same that was
translated culture in ver. 14.
24. How manifold are thy works, Jehovah; all of them in wisdom hast
thou wrought; full is
the earth of thy riches. The first verb in Hebrew
strictly
means are many, but as the context
has respect to the variety,
and
not to the mere number, of God's works, the sense is well conveyed by
the
term used in the English version (manifold).
Works and wrought re-
present
a cognate verb and noun in Hebrew, a combination which adds
point
and animation to the sentence. The last word in the verse is
derived
from a verb which means to acquire, either by creation or by
purchase.
While the noun, therefore, strictly denotes acquisitions or possessions,
its
etymological affinities would instantly suggest to every Hebrew reader
the
idea of creation, as, the ultimate source of these possessions, a modification
of
the thought which cannot be conveyed by any mere translation.
25. Here is the sea, great and wide, on all hands; there are moving
things and without
number, small animals with great. The exclamation
or
reflection in the preceding verse affords a transition to the survey of
other
parts of the creation, not included in the catalogue before recited,
yet
no less striking in themselvess, and as proofs or illustrations of the
Maker's
wisdom. Such is the sea, or here, for instance, is the sea, are the
phrases
which would probably be used in our idiom, to introduce the first
example.
The same thing was probably intended by the Hebrew phrase,
this (is) the sea, as if the speaker at
the same time pointed to it. See
above,
on ver. 8. Wide of both hands is
another idiomatic phrase used
also
by Moses (Gen. xxxiv. 21), and Isaiah (xxxiii. 21). It obviously means
stretching
out in all directions. The sense of hand as thus used, is the
same
as in the English phrase on all hands,
and is probably derived from
the
use of the right and left hand to distinguish position or direction.
Moving things is here used to
translate a single Hebrew word (wm,r,) the
cognate
noun of the verb employed in vet. 20 to denote animal motion. It
is
applied to marine animals, as here in Gen. i. 9, Ps. lxix. 35 (34). The
use
of the word beasts, in the common version of the last clause, is not con-
sistent
with its modern usage, which restricts it to terrestrial quadrupeds.
26. There the ships go—Leviathan—this (that) thou hast formed to play
therein. While the ships connect
the sea with man's activity and interests,
Leviathan,
the standing representative of aquatic monsters, may be here put
for
the population of the sea itself. To play
therein, as in his native element.
Compare
Job xl. 20. The idiomatic use of this
is like that in ver. 25. The
word
translated go, in the common version
of the first clause, is the same
that
was rendered walk in ver. 3, and run in ver. 10.
27. All of them on thee rely, to give their food in its season. The all of
them obviously relates to all
the living creatures previously mentioned, and
not
to any one or more exclusively, the proposition being no less true of
men
than brutes, or of brutes than men. On
thee rely is not an exact
translation
of the Hebrew, which indeed does not admit of one, because it
combines
a verb and preposition which cannot be combined in English.
The
form of the original is, to thee wait,
expect, or hope, the verb
expressing
confidence,
the particle the act of looking towards the object thus confided
in.
The description of the animals as thus expecting their supplies from
God,
is merely the poetical costume in which the Psalmist clothes the fact
VER.
28-31.] PSALM
CIV. 427
that
they are really, although unconsciously, dependent on him. In pre-
cisely
the same manner, other poets represent the earth, in time of drought,
as
parched with thirst and longing for the rain, which ekpressions no sane
man
would either charge with falsehood, or consider as implying a belief in
the
conscious personality of Earth. Compare my note on Isa. xlii. 4. In
its season, i. e. when they need
it.
28. Thou givest to them, they gather; thou openest thy hand, they are
filled (with) food. The point of the
significant antithesis is this, that God
as
easily bestows as they receive. He has only to give, they have only to
gather.
He has but to open his hand, and they are instantly provided,
even
to satiety. Filled, satisfied,
abundantly supplied, as in ver. 13. The
verb
rendered gather means to pick up or
collect from the ground. It is
used
in the history of the manna (Exod. xvi. 1, 5, 16), to which there is
obvious
allusion. The act of gathering from the ground seems to pre-
suppose
a previous throwing down from heaven. The common version,
that (meaning what) thou givest them they gather, weakens the sentence, if
it
does not render it unmeaning.
29. Thou hidest thy face, they are confounded; thou withdrawest their
breath, they expire, and
to their dust return.
The hiding of God's face is
the
opposite of looking with a favourable aspect. See above, on Ps. xiii.
2
(1). It here means the suspension or withdrawing of the various benefits
before
described. They are troubled is, in
every case, a feeble version of
one
of the strongest words in the language, which has been already more
than
once explained. Even confounded,
though much stronger, does not
perfectly
convey the idea, which is that of being agitated, terror-stricken,
or
convulsed. See above, on Ps. ii. 5, lxxviii. ac. 7. Their breath,
the
vital principle imparted by the Spirit of God (Gen. ii. 7), who is the
God
of the spirits of all flesh, i. e. the author of all life whatever. See
Num.
xvi. 22, xxvii. 16, and compare Heb. xii. 9. The verb expire is used
in
the account of the destruction of all living creatures by the flood, Gen.
vii.
21, 22, to which there is no doubt allusion, as there is in the next clause
to
Gen. iii. 19. Compare Ps. xc. 3, ciii. 14, Eccles. xii. 7. Their dust, their own,
their
native dust, to which they belong, and from which they sprang.
30. Thou sendest thy breath, they are created, and thou renewest the face
of the earth. The absolute power of
God over the life of his creatures is
expressed
by representing him as annihilating and creating the whole race
at
pleasure, by a breath. With equal correctness we might read thy spirit,
but
thy breath is more poetical, and
therefore better suited to the context
as
the primary meaning, though the spirit be really intended. They are
created refers the effect more
directly to God's power than they live
or they
revive would do. In the last
clause there is evident allusion to the renova-
tion
of the earth desolated by the flood, and the joyous change of its face
or
aspect when re-peopled.
31. Let the glory of Jehovah be for ever; let Jehovah rejoice in his
works.
The
optative form of the first verb here determines the meaning of the
other.
It would also be grammatical, though much, less natural in this
connection,
to regard the abbreviated form of the first verb as a mere poetic
licence,
and explain both as futures proper. The
glory of Jehovah shall be
to eternity; Jehovah
shall rejoice in his works. The grammatical question
is
of less importance, because one of these senses really implies the other.
The
wish is not for Something doubtful but infallibly certain, and the pre-
diction
is in strict accordance with the wish of him who utters it. In this
428 PSALM CIV. [Ver. 32-35.
verse
some interpreters suppose an allusion to God's satisfaction in his own
work
of creation when he rested from it on the seventh day. See Gen. ii. 1, 2.
32. He that looks at the earth and it quakes, touches the hills and they
smoke. There is something in
the form of this verse similar to that of ver.
28.
God has only to look at the earth to make it quake. He has only to
touch
the mountains and they smoke. His controlling and terrifying acts
are
as prompt and easy as his acts of grace. There seems to be a reference
to
the words of Moses in describing the effects of the theophany at Sinai,
when
its summit smoked, and its very roots or bases were on fire. See
Exod.
xix. 18, Deut. xxxii. 22. To those familiar with the constant use
of
mountains as a symbol of great monarchies, this verse would necessarily
suggest
the thought, that God's power over states is no less absolute than
that
which he exercises over individuals, or over the inanimate creation.
33. I will sing to Jehovah while I live, I will make music to my God
while I still (exist). This is the Psalmist's
conclusion from the view which
he
has taken, with respect to his own interest and duty. If the Lord be
such
a God to all his creatures, then I can do no better than expend the
remainder
of my life in praising him. The two verbs are those continually
joined
to denote vocal and instrumental praise. The closing words of each
clause,
and especially the second, have a highly idiomatic character. The
phrase
translated while I live means
literally in my life or lives. The
corresponding
one can scarcely be translated, as it is composed of the pre-
position
in, the adverb yet or still, and the pronoun of the first
person, in
my yet, i. e. in my
(being)
yet, while I still am, or continue to
exist.
34. Sweet shall be of him my meditation; I will rejoice in Jehovah. The
ancient
versions and the Prayer Book, with some of the best interpreters,
put
an optative sense upon the first clause, may
my thought (or speech) be
acceptable to him. In favour of this
interpretation is the fact that a
synonymous
verb, followed by the same preposition (lfa), means to be
pleasing
to a person, in Ps. xvi. 6. In favour of the other is want of any-
thing
to indicate a wish, and the parallelism of the second clause, which
relates
to the expression of his own feelings towards Jehovah, not to the dis-
positions
of Jehovah towards himself. Thus understood, the whole verse
completes
the Psalmist's practical conclusion from the view which he
has
taken of God's power, wisdom, and goodness, namely, that the know-
ledge
and possession of this God is happiness.
35. Consumed are sinners from the earth, and (as for) wicked men, they
are no more. Bless, 0 my
soul, Jehovah. Hallelujah! This verse has
no
perceptible connection, either with the verse immediately before it, or
with
the general drift of the whole psalm, except upon the supposition, that
the
whole psalm was intended to derive, from the view of God's authori-
tative
care over his works, an encouraging assurance that his people must
be
safe; that he who feeds and shelters the inferior animals, and makes
provision
for the physical necessities of men in general, cannot fail to pro-
vide
for the security and happiness of those whom he has set apart for
himself,
or to free them from the malice of those sinners who are equally
the
enemies of God and of his people. The psalm, like the one before it,
closes
with the same words which began it. The last word, Hallelujah
(praise ye Jah), occurs here for the
first time, and is supposed by some to
form
no part of the original composition, but to have been added for the
purpose
of adapting it to some public service at a later date.
VER.
1-5.] PSALM
CV.
429
PSALM CV.
THIS, like the Seventy-Eighth, is a
historical psalm, recounting God's
ancient
dealings with his people, especially in
of
the commemoration is not to bring the people to repentance, as in the
case
referred to, but to excite their hopes of an analogous deliverance.
According
to a theory already mentioned, this is the second member of a
trilogy,
added to one of older date (Ps. ci.–ciii.) during the time of the
captivity.
It differs from the psalm before it in deriving from history the
same
consolation which is there derived from nature. After the intro-
duction,
ver. 1-7, the arrangement is simply chronological, beginning with
the
promise to Abraham, and ending with the conquest of
The
first fifteen verses of this psalm are found in 1 Chron. xvi., combined
with
Ps. xcvi. and ,three verses of Ps. cvi. See above, on Ps. xcvi. 1.
1. Give thanks unto Jehovah, call upon his name, make known among the
nations his exploits. The original meaning
of the second phrase is, call
(him) by his name, i. e. give him the
descriptive title most expressive of his
divine
perfections; or more specifically, call him by his name Jehovah, i. e.
ascribe
to him the attributes which it denotes, to wit, eternity and self-
existence,
together with that covenant relation to his people, which, though
not
denoted by the name, was constantly associated with it, and therefore
necessarily
suggested by it. The meaning of the next phrase is obscured,
if
not entirely concealed, in the common version, among the people. The
plural
form and sense of the original expression are essential to the writer's
purpose,
which is to glorify the God of Israel among all nations. See above,
on
Ps. xviii. 50 (49), lvii. 10 (9). For the meaning of the last word, see
above
on Ps. ciii. 7.
2. Sing to him, play to him, muse on all his wondrous deeds. The
exhor-
tation
seems to be addressed to the Gentiles, who are called upon to join in
the
praises and to share the blessings of the chosen people. For the mean-
ing
of the last verb, see above, on Ps. civ. 34.
3. Glory in his holy name ! Glad shall be the heart of those who seek
Jehovah. Congratulate yourselves
that you possess a right and interest in
the
favour of so glorious a Being. The last clause presents as an induce-
ment,
that to seek the favour of this God is a source, and by implication the only
source,
of joy and happiness. Compare Ps. xxxiv. 3 (2), xl. 17 (16), lxix. 7 (6).
4. Seek Jehovah and his strength, seek his face evermore. The Hebrew
verbs,
although synonymous, are not identical. And
his strength, the pro-
tection
secured by his almighty power. Seek him, not as a finite being,
but
as the omnipotent Jehovah, the source, as well as the possessor, of all
strength.
Seek his face, not merely his
presence, but his countenance, his
favourable
look or aspect. With the several expressions of this verse com-
pare
Ps. ix. 11 (10), x. 4, xiv. 2, xxiv. 6, xxxiv. 5 (4), lxi. 4 (3), lxii. 8 (7),
lxiii.
3 (2), lxviii. 35 (34), xcvi. 7.
5. Remember his wondrous deeds which he did, his miracles and the judg-
ments of his mouth. They are exhorted not
to forget them, as
charged
with doing, Ps. lxxviii. 11. Miracles,
prodigies or wonders, proofs
of
divine power. There is no need of identifying these with the judgments
of his mouth, which include his laws
and the sentences pronounced upon
his
enemies. The latter is probably the prominent idea, as best suited to
this
context.
430 PSALM CV. [VER. 6-42.
6. Ye seed of Abraham his servant, ye sons of Jacob, his chosen (ones).
Descendants
of the patriarchs, and therefore heirs of the patriarchal pro-
mises.
The common version of the last phrase (his
chosen), though exact,
conveys
a wrong idea, as it seems to make chosen
an epithet of Jacob, which
would
also seem to be required by the parallelism; but the Hebrew word is
plural,
and describes the object of address as the church or chosen people.
Compare
Isa. lxv. 9. Abraham is called the servant of God, in an emphatic
sense,
as being his chosen instrument and confidential agent. See above,
on
Ps. xviii. 1, and compare Ps. xc. 1. The parallel passage (1 Chron.
xvi.
13) has Israel his servant.
7. He is Jehovah our God; in all the earth (are) his judgments. His
covenant
relations are with us the seed of Abraham; but the proofs of his
existence
and vindicatory justice are common to all nations. This whole introduction
seems
intended to dispose both Jews and Gentiles to the praise of God.
8. He remembered for ever his covenant, the word he commanded for a
thousand generations. There is here a kind
of antithetical allusion to the
exhortation
in ver. 5. They should remember what he did, since he remem-
bers
what he promised. What he has done involves a pledge of what he
will
do. He has remembered (and will remember) his covenant to eternity.
The
word is the word of promise. He is said to have commanded it, partly
because
his promise is conditional and annexed to his commandment, and
for
that reason called a covenant; partly because all that God says must of
necessity
be said with authority, so that even his promises partake of the
nature
of commands. The last phrase, a thousand
generations, is Mosaic.
See
Deut. vii. 9, and compare Exod. xx. 6.
9. Which he ratified with Abraham, and his oath to Isaac. The sentence
is
continued from the foregoing verse. Ratified,
literally cut; see above,
on
Ps. 1. 5. His oath (which he sware) to Isaac, or, his oath for (the benefit
of)
Isaac. The distinction, if any be
intended, is that the covenant was
formally
made only with Abraham, and merely sanctioned or confirmed by
oath
to his successors. See Gen. xv. 18, xxvi. 3, xxviii. 13. His oath is
governed
by remembered in ver. 8. Compare Ps.
lxxxix. 28, 34 (27, 33).
10. And confirmed it to Jacob for a statute, to
nant. Confirmed it, literally
made (or let) it stand, instead of suffering it
to
expire with the person to whom it was originally given. A statute, in
the
wide sense of a permanent arrangement, a perpetual constitution, or as
it
is called in the last clause, a compact
of eternity, an everlasting covenant.
See
Gen. xxviii. 13, xxxv. 12.
11. Saying, To thee will I give the
heritage. The subject or
substance of the promise is now more distinctly
stated.
The word translated portion primarily
means a line, especially a
measuring line, and then what is
measured by it, to wit, a piece of land, a
lot
of ground. This was not to be given to the patriarchs in person, but to
their
descendants, as the portion of their heritage or their hereditary por-
tion.
The plural your may refer, however,
to the patriarchs themselves, as
the
promise was repeated to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
12. When as yet they could be numbered—very few, and strangers in it.
The
first clause involves an antithetical allusion to the promise, afterwards
fulfilled,
that they should be innumerable as the stars, or as the sand upon
the
shore, Gen. xxii. 17. The form of the original is highly idiomatic, in
their being men of
number, like a little,
or like littleness itself. See above,
on
Ps. lxviii. 2, and compare Isa. i. 9. Strangers,
sojourners, living on the
VER.
13-16.] PSALM CV. 431
lands
of others, at their will, or by their sufferance. See above, on Ps.
xxxix.
13 (12). In it, the land of
verse.
The whole verse qualifies the previous account of the patriarchal
covenant,
which was not made with
with
their ancestors when few in number and without a settled home. The
parallel
passage (1 Chron. xvi. 19) has when ye
were. See Gen. xxxiv. 30,
and
compare Deut. xxxiii. 6, Isa. x. 19.
13. And they went about from nation to nation, from kingdom to another
people. This may be regarded as
in contrast with ver. 12, and (yet) they
went about, notwithstanding their
small number and their being strangers.
Or
ver. 12, 13, may be the protasis of the sentence, and ver. 14 its apo-
dosis.
"When they were few and strangers, and went from nation to nation,
he
let no man," &c. This verse describes the characteristic feature in
the
condition
of the chosen people, during the patriarchal period of their his-
tory,
namely, their migratory intercourse with various nations. These are
mentioned
in the first clause as distinct races, in the last as distinct states
or
bodies politic. Where we might have expected
from kingdom to kingdom,
the
ear is somewhat disappointed by the phrase from
kingdom, to another
people, which may have been
intended to distinguish the Egyptian and
other
monarchies from the more democratical or patriarchal institutions of the
Arabians
and
other nations. They went about seems
to be the force of the reflexive or frequentative
verb,
as distinguished from that of the primitive, they went. See above, on Ps, xxvi. 3,
xxxv.
14, ci. 2, and compare Gen. v. 22, xvii. 1, xxiv. 6, 9, 40, xlviii. 15.
14. He suffered no man to oppress them, and reproved, for their sake,
kings. The precise sense of
the first clause is, he suffered not man (or
men
in general) to oppress them. The protection of the patriarchs is cer-
tainly
one of the most striking facts in sacred history. The kings men-
tioned
in the last clause are the kings of
xx.
3), not without reference perhaps to those mentioned in Gen. xiv. 1.
15. Touch not mine anointed ones, and to my prophets do no harm. These
are
the words of God himself, and are designated as such in the English
Bible,
by supplying the word saying, which is expressed in the analogous
case,
ver. 11. Touch not, as in Gen. xxvi.
11, 29. In the Old Testament,
unction
is the symbol of spiritual gifts, and especially of those imparted to
the
great theocratical offices. See above, on Ps. ii. 2. From the case of
Elisha
(1 Kings xix. 16) it would seem that prophets were anointed when
inducted
into office. The patriarchs are here called prophets
in the proper
sense
of the term, as denoting men inspired of God, and admitted to confi-
dential
intercourse with him. The allusion here is to Gen. xx. 7, where
God
says to Abimelech of Abraham, "Restore the man his wife, for he is
a
prophet, and he will pray for thee, and thou shalt live."
16. And he called (for) a famine on the land; every staff of bread he
brake.
The
Psalmist now passes from the Patriarchal to the Egyptian period of
the
history, by stating the occasion of
meaning
of the first clause seems to be, that he summoned famine, as his
instrument
or servant, to come down upon the land, as sent from above,
that
is to say, from himself. The meaning of the last clause is, that the
people
were deprived of every customary means and source of subsistence.
The
figure of a staff or stay is a Mosaic one. See Lev. xxvi. 26, and com-
pare
Isa. iii. 1. It is near akin to the description of food as staying or
sustaining
the heart. See above, on Ps. civ. 15. The historical reference
in
the verse before us is to Gen. xli. 54.
432 PSALM CV. [VER. 17-22.
17. He sent before them a man; sold for a slave was Joseph. The same
providential
purpose is assigned to Joseph's bondage by himself, Gen. xlv. 5.
With
the last clause compare Gen. xxxvii. 36. Some interpreters, assum-
ing,
as we have already seen, that this psalm was composed in the time of
the
captivity, suppose a parallel, in this verse, between Joseph and Daniel,
both
of whom, in addition to their personal qualities, were sent into cap-
tivity
before the body of their brethren; both gained the royal favour, and
were
exalted to high station in the land of their captivity; and both
employed
the influence thus gained for the advantage of their countrymen.
To
the Jews in exile such a parallel must have been not only interesting, in
a
historical or poetical point of view, but consolatory and encouraging as a
token for good, a sign that God was
about to renew the exodus from
in
an exodus from
18. They hurt, with the fetter, his feet; into iron came his soul. That
Joseph
was actually chained or fettered is included in the true sense of the
word
bound, applied to him in the history.
See Gen. xl. 3, and compare
Gen.
xxxix. 20, 22. They, the Egyptians,
or his gaolers; or the verb may
be
indefinitely construed, as if it had been said, his feet were hurt. The
verb
means elsewhere to humble or mortify, but is here used in its strict
sense
of afflicting, causing to suffer. The Prayer Book version of the last
clause, the iron entered into his soul, is
ungrammatical, the word for iron
being
masculine, while that for soul is,
like the verb, feminine. The
general
sense is given in the text of the English Bible, and the exact form
in
the margin. The mention of the soul, as in many other cases, is of
course
not meant to be exclusive of the body, but to suggest the idea or
intimate
and heartfelt suffering. See above, on Ps. iii. 3 (2), xi. 1, &c.
19. Until the time that his word came (to pass), the saying of Jehovah
tried him. The last verb properly
denotes the assaying of metals, but is
figuratively
applied to moral trial and purgation. See above, on Ps.
xii.
7 (6), xvii. 3. xviii. 31 (30), xxvi. 2. The most probable meaning of
the
verse is, that during the two years which intervened between his expla-
nation
of the prisoners' dreams, and the favourable issue to which it ulti-
mately
led, his faith in the divine promise both to himself and to his people,
was
severely but favourably tried. Compare the history in Gen. xl. xli.
20. The King sent and loosed him—the ruler of nations, and set him free.
Both
verbs strictly apply to the removal of his fetters, the first meaning
properly
to knock off (Isa. lviii. 6), the other to open for the purpose of
removing.
See above, on Ps. xxx. 12 (11). The king of
a ruler of peoples, either in reference to
the tribes or nomes of
or
because there were other nations tributary to him.
21. He made him Lord of his house and ruler of all his wealth. The
literal
meaning of the first clause is, he placed
him lord to his house. See
Gen.
xli. 40, 41, 43, xlv. 8. For the meaning of the last word in the
sentence,
see above, on Ps. civ. 24 It is one of the points of resemblance
which
are thought to identify the two psalms as the work of the same
author.
22. To bind his chiefs at his pleasure, and his elders to make wise.
The
words
translated chiefs and elders are those commonly applied to the
heads
of
tribes and families, the hereditary magistrates under the patriarchal sys-
tem.
The application of the second word to
history,
Gen. 1. 7. At his pleasure, literally
with his soul, which some
explain
as a bold metaphor, describing Joseph's mind or soul as the cord
VER.
23-28.] PSALM
CV.
433
or
chain with which he bound the Egyptians, i. e. forced them to perform
his
will. But see Ps. xvii. 9, xxvii. 12, xli. 3 (2).
23. And (so)
Ham. This was the main
event, to which those just recited were prepara-
tory.
of
his descendants as a nation. In this case both the applications are ad-
missible,
or rather requisite, in order to exhaust the writer's meaning. The
patriarch
himself came into
and
all his descendants figuratively in him. The
land of Ham, from whom
Mizraim was descended. See
above, on Ps. lxxviii. 51.
24. And he increased his people greatly, and made them stronger than
their enemies. Increased, literally rendered
fruitful. The same verb is used in the
promise
to Abraham and Jacob (Gm. xvii. 6, xxviii. 2), and in the history of
oppression.
The singular pronouns in the Hebrew, made
him stronger than his enemies,
are
in strict grammatical agreement with the collective noun people.
25. He turned their heart to hate his people, to deal craftily with his
servants. The first clause
asserts God's sovereign control even of the free acts
of
his sinful creatures, a truth repeatedly affirmed in the history which this
psalm
recapitulates. See Exod. iv. 21, vii. 3, and compare 1 Sam. xxvi. 9,
2
Sam xvi. 10, xxiv. 1. The last verb occurs only in the history of Joseph,
Gen.
xxxvii. 18. The corresponding term in Exodus (i. 10) is let us deal
wisely, or more exactly, let us make ourselves wise, as the verb
in this case
may
be rendered, let us make ourselves subtle
or crafty, both being reflexive
forms.
The historical allusion is of course to the murderous policy, which
preceded
the violent oppression of the Hebrews.
26. He sent Moses his servant (and) Aaron whom he chose. The meaning
is
not Moses (who was) his servant, or (because he was) his servant, but (to
be)
his servant, his instrument in the
great work of delivering his people.
See
above, on ver. 6, and on Ps. xviii. 1, xxxvi. 1, lxxviii. 70.
27. They placed among them the words of his signs and wonders in the
them, or exhibited to them. Words of
signs is by some understood to mean
matters
(or affairs) of signs, and to be either a pleonastic phrase for signs
alone,
or an emphatic phrase denoting all the
signs. See above, on Ps.
lxv.
4 (3). The first is a gratuitous assumption, the last a forced interpre-
tation.
Better than either is the explanation which gives to words its
proper
meaning, and supposes stress to be intentionally laid on the divine
word
of Jehovah, and the prophetic word of Moses and Aaron, in the way of
threatening
and command, as well as on the physical effects which followed
these
denunciations. Compare the use of words
in Ps. vii. 1, and the expla-
nation
there given. Signs, i. e. tokens of
God's presence and activity, and
indications
of his will. Wonders, prodigies,
miracles, the same word that
occurs
above in ver. 5.
28. He sent darkness and made it dark, and they did not resist his words,
or
according to the marginal reading, his
word. This is by some under-
stood
to mean the plague of darkness, which immediately preceded the
slaughter
of the first-born, Exod. x. 22. But to this explanation there are
two
objections first, that it entirely disturbs the order of the plagues,
which
is otherwise observed with great exactness, the only deviation being
very
trivial compared with this; secondly, because it would then be necessary
to
apply the last clause to Moses and Aaron, or to
434 PSALM CV. [VER. 29-37
by
making it unmeaning, or else to admit a contradiction of the history,
which
expressly says that the Egyptians did resist the word of God even
after
the plague of darkness, Exod. x. 27. The only remaining explanation
is,
that darkness, in the verse before us, as in many other cases, is a figure
for
calamity in general, and applied not to one plague in particular, but to
the
whole series, of which a more detailed account is then subjoined.
29. He turned their waters to blood and killed their fish. Here begins
the more
particular
enumeration of the plagues of
inconvenience
specified is that they could not drink the water, whereas here it is the loss
of
their accustomed food. This last word is used as a collective in both
langnages.
30. Their land teemed with frogs—in the chambers of their kings. That
even
these were not safe from the hateful intruders, is an aggravating cir-
cumstance,
particularly mentioned in the original threatening, and implied
in
the narrative of its execution. See Exod. viii. 3, 9. The first verb
means
to bring forth in abundance, and is so used in the history of the
creation,
with particular reference to the genesis of animals, Gen. i. 20.
31. He said, and the fly came and gnats (or lice) in all their border.
See
above, on Ps. lxxviii. 45, where the gnats or lice are omitted, and the
flies
precede the frogs. So here, the flies, precede the lice, a.slight departure
from
the order of the history. See Exod. viii. 5, 16. He said, i. e. he
said
so, which is tantamount to saying, he
commanded. In all their border,
i.
e. every where within it, throughout the land. This expression. is bor-
rowed
from the history. See Exod. viii. 2 (vii. 27).
32. He gave them hail for rain (and)
flaming fire in their land. This,
which
is the common version, represents the sense correctly, but with a
deviation
from the form of the original, which is highly idiomatic. A bald
translation
is, he gave their rains hail, fire of
flames in their land. The
terms
are chosen for the sake of an allusion to the promise in Lev. xxvi. 4,
I will give your rains
in their season.
Instead of these he gave the
Egyptians
a destructive hail-storm. Compare Ps. lxxviii. 48.
33. And smote their vine and their fig-tree, and shattered the trees of
their border. Compare Ps. lxxviii. 47,
where sycamores are particularly
mentioned.
The history says nothing of the vines, but speaks of the break-
ing
of the trees, using the same intensive verb as here. See Exod. ix. 25.
Their border, as before, means their
land or territory in its whole extent,
just
as the ends of the earth is put for
all its parts. See above, on Ps. ii. 8.
34. He said, and the arbeh came, and the yelek, and (that) without num-
ber. The two Hebrew words,
here retained, denote varieties of the locust,
and
have no equivalents in English. See above, on Ps. lxxviii. 46, where
the
first word here stands second, and the place of the other is supplied by
hasil, another distinctive
term of the same kind. Without number,
literally
there is no number. See the same
expression, Ps. civ. 25.
35. And devoured every herb in their land, and devoured the fruit of
their ground. The verb, though varied
in the common version, is the same
in
both clauses of the Hebrew. See above, on Ps. xlviii. 46, and compare
the
original narrative, Exod. x. 5, 15.
36. And he smote all the first-born in their land, the first fruits of all
their strength. For the meaning the
last clause, see above, on Ps. lxxviii.
51,
and compare Exod. xii. 29, 30.
37. And he brought them out with silver and with gold, and there was not
in his tribes a totterer
(or stumbler). The first clause relates to
the spoiling
VER.
38-45.] PSALM CV. 435
of
the Egyptians, Exod. xii. 35, 36. The last word denotes a person unfit
for
military service. Compare Isa. v. 27.
38. Glad was
them. This panic terror,
which followed the last plague and facilitated the
escape
of
which
the Egyptians gave whatever was demanded, and completely vindicates
the
children of
to
pay. The terms used in the history denote the acts, of asking and
giving,
not those of borrowing and lending. The terms of the last clause
are
derived from Exod. xv..16, Deut. xi. 25.
39. He spread a cloud for a covering, and fire to give, light by night.
See
above, on Ps. lxxviii. 14. The poetical description of the cloud as
covering
the host is derived from the statement that "the cloud of Jehovah
was
over (or above) them by day," Num. x. 34. Compare Num. ix. 16,
Neh.
ix. 12, Isa. iv. 5, 6.
40. (The people) asked and he made quails come—and bread of
heaven
satisfied them. See above, on Ps.
lxxviii. 25-27, and compare Exod. xvi.
4-13,
Num. xi. 31. As to the alternation of the singular and plural forms,
see
above, on ver. 24. Bread may be
either the subject of the verb, as
given
above, or a qualifying term, (with)
bread.
41. He opened a rock and forth gushed waters; they ran in the wastes, a
river. See above, on Ps.
lxxviii. 16, 20. The word translated wastes
means,
according to its etymology, dry places.
42. Because he remembered his holy word with Abraham his servant. This
brings
us back to the statement in ver. 8, 9, in proof of which this long
array
of facts has been presented. Nothing of all this would have taken
place
if God had been forgetful of his covenant. This covenant is here
meant
by his holy word, which is therefore followed by the preposition with,
as
in Exod. ix. 24, where the covenant is expressly mentioned.
43. And brought out his people in, joy, in triumph his chosen (ones).
He
remembered
his promise, and in execution of it brought out his people, &c.
The
parallelism of people and chosen throws light upon the latter
term, as
used
in ver. 6.
44. And gave to them nations' lands, and peoples' labour they inherit.
The
prominent
idea is not that of gentiles or heathen, in the religious sense, but
that
of other nations, and whole nations, to whose place and possessions
they
succeeded. Labour is put for its
result or product, as a synonymous
Hebrew
word is in Ps. lxxviii. 46.
45. To the end that they might keep his statutes and his laws observe.
Hallelujah! The emphatic phrase at
the beginning, corresponding to our
phrases,
to the end, for the purpose, or in order that, points this out as the
qualification
or condition of the promise which had been so gloriously
verified.
The same condition is expressed or implied elsewhere. See
above,
on Ps. lxxviii. 7, and compare Gen. xviii. 19, Deut. iv. 40, xxvi. 17.
Hallelujah (praise ye
Jah),
as above, in Ps. civ. 35.
PSALM
CVI.
AFTER an introduction, praising the
divine goodness, and expressing the
hope
of a participation in it, ver. 1-5, this psalm contains a solemn con-
fession
of the sins of
436 PSALM
CVI.
[VER. 1-5.
and
a prayer, founded on encouraging tokens of the Lord's compassion, that
he
will save his people from the punishment incurred by their unfaithfulness,
ver.
44-48. According to Hengstenberg's hypothesis already mentioned,
this
is the third psalm of the trilogy added to Ps. ci.—ciii., in the times of
the
captivity, and a direct continuation of the series, since the moral con-
dition
of God's covenant, propounded at the close of Ps. cv., is here acknow-
ledged
to have been violated by his people, who are also represented as
actually
suffering the punishment of this violation, but encouraged by
returning
tokens of a favourable change, to hope and pray for the forgiveness
of
their sins and the removal of the judgments which they have so well
deserved.
The first verse and the two last form a part of the mixed com-
position
in First Chronicles, which has been already mentioned. See
above,
on Ps. xcvi. 1. But a still more interesting parallel to this psalm
is
the prayer or confession in the ninth chapter of Daniel, which resembles
it
so much in subject, tone, and diction, that although not otherwise
demonstrable,
it would not be absurd to regard the psalm before us as a
lyrical
paraphrase of that confession, prepared for permanent and public use
by
Daniel himself or some contemporary writer.
1. Hallelujah! Give thanks unto Jehovah, for (he is) good, for unto
eternity (is) his mercy.
The Hallelujah (praise ye Jah!) which concludes
the
two preceding psalms, stands both at the beginning and the close of
this.
The exhortation to give thanks unto
Jehovah is also found at the
beginning
of Ps. cv. The reason here assigned, that
he is good, and his
mercy endures for ever, is expressed in the
same words, Ps. c. 5.
2. Who shall tell the mighty deeds of Jehovah? (Who) shall utter all his
praise? The potential meaning (who
can tell?) is here included in the
simple
future. Mighty deeds answers to a
single word in Hebrew meaning
strengths or powers. The expression is borrowed from Deut. iii. 24, where the
English
Bible
has the singular form might. The verb
translated utter is a causative, who
shall
cause
to hear or to be heard? See above, on Ps. xxvi. 7. The interrogation involves a
negative
assertion, namely, that they cannot be fully expressed or duly celebrated.
3. Happy the keepers of judgment, the doer of righteousness at every time.
The
form of expression at the beginning is the same as in Ps. 1. 1. The
keepers of judgment are those who observe
justice as the rule of their con-
duct,
the same idea that is afterwards expressed in other words, the doer
(or practicer) of righteousness, not occasionally merely but at all
times. The
change
from the plural to the singular is common, where the latter denotes
an
ideal individual, the representative of a whole class. The condition
here
propounded is identical with that in Ps. cv. 45, ciii. 18, Dan. ix. 4.
4. Remember me, Jehovah, with the favour of thy people; visit me with
thy salvation. The speaker is the
Church or chosen people, and therefore
prays
to be remembered with the kindness due to her as such. Visit me,
manifest
thy favourable presence. See above, on Ps. viii. 5 (4). Such a
prayer,
uttered by the church itself, implies that the tokens of God's
favourable
presence had been interrupted or withdrawn.
5. To witness the welfare of thy chosen (ones), to rejoice in the joy of
thy
nation, to glory with
thy heritage.
Our idiom requires the subject of the
verb
to be more distinctly indicated. The meaning evidently is, that I may
witness, that I may
rejoice, that I may glory. The phrase translated witness
the welfare literally means to see in the good, i. e. to look on, to
be a spec-
tator,
when thy chosen ones are in possession or enjoyment of good. Thy
nation is here used instead of
the customary phrase thy people,
perhaps
VER.
6-9.] PSALM CVI. 437
because
the meaning is, the nation which is thy chosen people. The general
meaning
of the whole verse is, that I may once more be recognised and
treated
as thy people.
6. We have sinned with our fathers, we have done perversely, we have
done wickedly. The connection with
the foregoing context may be made
clear
by supplying a few intermediate thoughts. "True, we have no right
to
expect this, much less to demand it. We have not performed the con-
dition
of thy covenant; we have not kept thy statutes or observed thy laws;
we
have not kept judgment or done righteousness." The national confes-
sion
here begun is nearly co-extensive with the psalm itself. The terms of
this
verse are borrowed, here as well as in Dan ix. 5, from that great model
of
ecclesiastical and national devotion furnished by Solomon, in his prayer
at
the dedication of the temple, 1 Kings viii. 47. Compare Isa. lix. 12.
With our fathers, not merely like them,
but as sharing their responsibility
and
guilt. Of the three verbs used in this confession, the first denotes
failure
to discharge one's obligations, the second wilful perversion or distor-
tion,
the third disorderly or turbulent transgression. See above, on Ps. i. 1.
7. Our fathers in
not remember the
abundance of thy mercies, and rebelled upon the sea, at the
tailed
acknowledgment, beginning with the exodus from
wondrous works of God, the things done
wonderfully by him, then and there,
for
the deliverance of his people, the great body of them did not understand.
Even
those who referred them to their true source and author, did not fully
appreciate
the end for which they were performed, or enter into the majestic
plan,
in executing which they were permitted to be God's co-workers. The
truth
of this charge is abundantly established by the narrow, grovelling,
selfish
views and feelings so repeatedly betrayed by the generation which
came
out of
God's
dealings with them. This is probably the idea meant to be conveyed
by
the Hebrew verb, which usually means to act
wisely, but is here modified
by
governing a noun directly. See above, on Ps. ii. 10, xiv. 2. The twofold
local
designation, on the sea, at the
parallelism
in Exod. xv. 4. The variation of the particle seems merely a
poetical
embellishment; the difference in meaning is no greater than in our
on and at. The Sea of Sea-weed was the name given by the Hebrews and
Egyptians
to that bay or gulf of the
8. And he saved them for his name's sake, to make known his might.
This
is
an answer to a tacit objection, namely, that their conduct had been sanc-
tioned
by God's saving them. True, he did save them, because they were
necessary
to his purpose. He saved them not for their sake but his own,
to
accomplish his own ends, and exhibit his own power.
9. And he rebuked the
through the deeps like
the desert.
This is merely a specification of the
general
statement in the preceding verse. The divine intervention here
commemorated
was the more remarkable because it took place on the very
spot
where they first rebelled, as mentioned in ver. 7. Though they disobeyed him
at
the Red Sea, he nevertheless dried the
to
furnish them a passage. Rebuked, as
in Ps. civ. 7. Like the desert, as in
the desert,
i.
e. in a level and extensive plain, without obstruction or unevenness. See my
note on
Isa.
lxiii. 13, where the same comparison is used.
438 PSALM C
VI.
[VER. 10-19.
10. And he saved them from the hand of the hater, and redeemed them
from the hand of the
enemy.
Both epithets are intended to apply to Pharaoh,
not
only as a personal oppressor of the Israelites, but as the representative
of
and
aggravated sufferings.
11. And the waters covered their adversaries; not one of them was left.
The
Psalmist dwells upon the completeness of the overthrow and destruc-
tion
experienced by Pharaoh and his host, in order to aggravate the previous
and
subsequent ingratitude of
Jehovah,
and the fidelity with which he executed his engagements, even to
the
faithless.
12. And they believe his words, they sing his praise. Then (and not
till
then)
do they believe. This is not an encomium on their faith, but a con-
fession
of their unbelief. It was not till the promise was fulfilled that they
believed
it. With the first clause compare Exod. xiv. 31; with the second,
Exod.
xv. 1.
13. They made haste, they forgot his deeds, they did not wait for his
counsel. Their propensity to
evil was so strong that they are said to have
hastened
to forget what God had done for them, which means much more
than
that they soon forgot it. They did not even wait for the promise to be
verified
by the event. The expression in the first clause is borrowed from
Exod.
xxxii. 8. The works or deeds of God are not in this case, as in Ps.
ciii.
22, civ. 24, the works of nature, but the plagues of
xi.
3, and compare Dan. ix. 4.
14. And they lusted a lust in the wilderness and tempted God in the desert.
The
confession now passes from their sins in
wilderness.
The strong expression in the first clause relates to their wanton
craving
of animal food. See Num. xi. 4, 34. With the last clause compare
Ps.
lxxviii. 18. The two words for wilderness and desert are the same as those
in
Ps. lxxviii. 40. See also Ps. lxviii. 8 (7).
15. And he gave them their request and sent (them) leanness in their soul.
The
last phrase is by some translated against,
by others into their soul; but
it
is really a qualifying phrase, designed to shew that the emaciation or
decay
which was sent upon them was not bodily but spiritual. See Num.
xi.
18, and compare Ps. lxxviii. 10, 18.
16. And they were envious at Moses in the camp, at Aaron, the Holy One
of Jehovah. This is another of
their wilderness sins. See Num. chap. xvi.
Aaron
is not called the Saint of the Lord in
reference to his personal holi-
ness,
which does not seem to have been eminent, but his Holy (or Conse-
crated) One, in reference to his
sacerdotal dignity.
17. (Then) opens the earth and swallows Dathan, and corers over the com-
pany of Abiram. This relates to the
destruction of those followers of Korah
who
were not Levites. See Num. xvi. 82, 33, and compare Deut. xi. 6.
From
the first of these passages some interpreters supply her mouth after
opens; but the absolute use
of the verb is perfectly consistent with our idiom.
18. And a fire devours their company, a flame consumes (those) wicked
(men).
This relates to the destruction of Korah himself and his Levitical
followers.
See Num. xvi. 35, xxvi. 10.
19. They make a calf in Horeb, and bow down to a molten image. This
was
a third sin committed in the wilderness. See Exod. xxxii. 1-6, and
compare
Exod. xxxiv. 4. The golden calf appears to have been an imper-
fect
and diminutive copy of the bull Apis worshipped in Egypt.
VER.
20-28.] PSALM
CVI. 439
20. And exchange their glory for the likeness of an ox eating grass.
This
must
be read in the closest connection with ver. 19, in Order to complete
it.
Their folly consisted in exchanging the true God, whose worship and
whose
favour was their highest honour, for the mere likeness of an irra-
tional
brute. Eating grass, not in the act,
but in the habit, of so doing.
Although
the golden calf at Horeb, and the golden calves at Dan and Beer-
sheba,
were all regarded as representatives of Jehovah himself, their worship
was
uniformly treated as idolatry, and as a virtual though not a formal or
avowed
renunciation of his service. Compare Jer. ii. 10-13.
21. They forgot God that saved them, that did great (things) in Egypt.
That saved, that did, literally saving,
doing.
22. Wonderful (things) in the
land of Ham, terrible (things) on the Red
Sea. Wonderful, literally (things)
made wonderful or strangely done.
Terrible, literally to be
dreaded. Compare Ps. cv. 23, 27.
23. And he said he would destroy them—unless Moses his elect had stood
in the breach before him,
to turn back his wrath from destroying. The first
and
last verbs are different in Hebrew, but have only one exact equivalent
in
English. The second clause is not a part of what God said, but a his-
torical
statement of what really prevented the execution of his threatening.
He
said he would destroy them, and he would have done so, had not Moses,
&c.
Moses is called the Elect or Chosen of Jehovah, as having been
selected
and set apart to be God's instrument in the great work of deliver-
ance
and legislation. The plural is elsewhere applied to the whole nation
as
the chosen people. See above, ver. 5, and Ps. cv. 43. Stood in the
breach is a military figure,
drawn from the desperate defence of a besieged
town
or fortress. Compare Jer. xv. 1, Ezek. xiii. 5, xxii. 30. The histo-
rical
reference is to Exod. xxxii. 11-14, Deut. ix. 18, 19. To turn back
his wrath is to prevent its
accomplishing its object. See above, on Ps.
lxxviii.
38, and compare Num. xxv. 11.
24. And they rejected the pleasant land, they did not believe his word.
This
refers to the refusal of the people to invade the land of Canaan in the
first
year of their exodus from Egypt, and to their believing the report of
the
ten spies in preference to God himself. See above; on Ps. lxxviii. 22,
32,
and compare Num. xiv. 31. The land of
desire, the desired or desir-
able
land, is a name also found in Jer. iii. 19.
25. And they murmured in their tents; they did not hearken to the voice
of Jehovah. Tho form of expression
in the first clause is borrowed from
Deut.
i. 27; in the second from Num. xiv. 22.
26. And he lifted his hand to them, to make them fall in the wilderness.
The
first phrase does not mean, he raised his hand; against them, or to strike
them,
but
as the ancient gesture of swearing. See
Num. xiv. 28, 30, Deut. i. 34, ii. 14. The
last
clause contains the oath itself, or what he swore, to wit, that he would make
them
fall, slay them, in the wilderness. See Num. xiv. 29, 32.
27. And to make their seed fall in the nations, and to scatter them in the
lands. As the appointed
punishment of the older generation was to die in
the
wilderness, so that of their descendants was to die in dispersion and
captivity
among the Gentiles. See Lev. xxvi. 33, 38; and compare Deut.
xxviii.
32, 36, 64, 68. The recollection of this threatening must have been
peculiarly
affecting to the Jews in
28. And they joined themselves to Baal Peor, and ate the sacrifices of the
dead. He now adds a sin
committed near the end of the long error, and
on
the very borders of the Promised Land. The first verb is properly pas-
440 PSALM
CVI. [VER.
29-35.
sive, they were joined, but this of course
does not mean by others but
themselves,
and thus the simple passive comes to have a reflexive meaning.
Baal
Peor is the name given to Baal, or the supreme god of the Tyrians
and
Moabites, as he was worshipped, with licentious rites, at Peor,
mountain
in the
men,
in allusion to necromantic superstitions, but the dumb or lifeless gods
whom
they worshipped. See below, on Ps. cxv. 4-7, and compare 1 Cor. xii. 2.
29. And they provoked him by their crimes, and the plague broke out
among them. The first verb means to
excite both grief and indignation.
Compare
the use of the cognate noun in Ps. vi. 8 (7), and of the verb itself
in
Ps. lxxviii. 58. The word translated plague, like its English equivalent,
has
both a generic and specific meaning; that of a divine stroke or inflic-
tion
in general, and that of a pestilential disease in particular. See Num.
xxv.
18, 19.
30. Then stood up Phinehas ands judged, and (so) was stayed the plague.
He stood (or rose) up from among the rest,
presented himself before the
people.
He judged, i. e. assumed the office
and discharged the duty, from
which
the regular official judges seemed to shrink. The verb includes the
act
both of pronouncing and of executing judgment. See the narrative in
Num.
xxv. The form of expression in the last clause is borrowed from
Num.
xvii. 13 (xvi. 48).
31. And it was reckoned to him for righteousness, to generation and gene-
ration, even to eternity. The form of expression
is borrowed from Gen.
xv.
6; but what is here meant is evidently not a justifying act by which
Phinehas
was saved, but a praiseworthy act for which he, a justified or
righteous
man already, received the divine commendation and a perpetual
memorial
of his faithfulness. Compare Deut. vi. 25, xxiv. 13. The par-
ticular
reward promised (Num. xxv. 13), that of a perpetual priesthood, is
not
here mentioned, but was familiar to the mind of every Hebrew reader.
32. And they angered (him) at the
waters of Strife, and it went ill with
Moses, on their account. See above, on Ps.
lxxxi. 8 (7), xcv. 8, xcix. 8.
The
Hebrew word for strife is the name given to the place, Meribah. The
object
of the first verb is Jehovah, as in ver. 29. It went ill with Moses,
or,
more literally, it was bad for Moses.
33. For they resisted his spirit, and he spoke unadvisedly with his lips.
His spirit may grammatically
signify either that of God or that of Moses.
The
latest writers are in favour of the first construction, which is not with-
out
analogies in other parts of Scripture (Isa. lxiii. 10, Eph. iv. 30), but
the
other seems entitled to the preference in this connection, because the
first
clause then contains the ground or reason of the other. It was because
the
mind of Moses was excited by their opposition, that he spake unad-
visedly
with his lips. The last verb is one used in the law to denote a
precipitate
inconsiderate engagement, Lev. v. 4.
34. They did not destroy the nations which the Lord said to them. The
confession
now passes from the sins of the wilderness to those of
The
neglect to destroy the Canaanites completely was not only a direct
violation
of God's precept, but the source of nearly all the public evils that
ensued.
There is no need of giving to the last verb a rare and dubious
sense
(commanded). The meaning of the
clause is, which Jehovah said to
them (must be destroyed).
35. And they mixed themselves with the nations and learned their doings.
The
reflexive verb at the beginning indicates an active and deliberate amal-
VER.
36-42.] PSALM CVI. 441
gamation,
as distinguished from a passive and involuntary one. The nations
of
the Canaanites, and those which inhabited surrounding countries. The
primary
idea is not that of gentiles or heathen, in the religious sense.
Learned their doings or
practices,
learned to do as they did. With the
first
clause compare Josh. xxiii. 12, 13, Judges iii. 6; with the second,
Deut.
xviii. 9, xx. 18.
36. And served their idols, and they were to them for a snare. The word
translated
idols, by its etymological affinities, suggests the idea of vexations,
pains.
See above, on Ps. xvi. 4. A snare, i.
e. a temptation to idolatry.
Compare
Deut. vii. 16.
37. And they sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons.
This
last is the Septuagint version, and, if not directly sanctioned, is at least
referred
to in the New Testament (1 Cor. x. 20). That the worship of
idols
was connected with that of fallen spirits, is neither improbable in
itself
nor contradictory to Scripture. According to the modern etymologists,
the
Hebrew word means lords or masters, and is a poetical equivalent to
Baalim,
which means the same thing. Compare Deut. xxxii. 17, and the ku<rioi of
1
Cor. viii. 5. The word translated devils
in Lev. xvii. 7 is entirely different.
38. And they shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters,
which they sacrificed to
the idols of Canaan; and defiled was the land with
bloods. The first verb means to
pour out, and here implies a copious or
abundant
bloodshed, corresponding to the next verb, which is an intensive
form
of that used in ver. 37. Blood, in
the singular, is used in a physical
sense;
the plural bloods, in a moral one,
always implying guilt, and especi-
ally
the guilt of murder. See above, on Ps. v. 7 (6), xxvi. 9, li. 16 (14),
lv.
24 (23). The first three members of the sentence have respect to the
prohibitions
in Deut. xii. 31, xviii. 10, xix. 10. With the last clause com-
pare
Num. xxxv. 33.
39. And they were polluted by their own doings, and went a whoring by
their own crimes. They defiled not only
the land of promise but them-
selves.
Or rather, this verse is explanatory of the last clause of ver. 38,
and
shews that the.pollution of the land was nothing more nor less than that
of
its inhabitants. The figure of spiritual whoredom or adultery is often
used
to signify the violation, by' the chosen people, of their covenant with
God,
which is constantly described as a conjugal relation. See above, on
Ps.
xlv., and compare Ps. lxxiii. 27. This is not stated as an additional
offence,
but as an aggravating circumstance attending the iniquities already
mentioned.
40. And the anger of Jehovah was enkindled at his people, and he
abhorred his heritage. This is the strongest
form in which his detestation
of
their sins could be expressed, but does not necessarily imply the abroga-
tion
of his covenant with them. The feeling described is like that of a
parent
towards his wicked children, or of husbands and wives, who do not
cease
to love each other, though grieved and indignant at each other's sins.
The
word heritage adds great point to the
sentence. He abhorred the very
people
whom he had chosen to be his, not merely for a single generation,
but
for many. See above, on Ps. lxxviii. 59, 62.
41. And he gave them into the hand of nations, and over them ruled their
haters. The same nations whom
they had rebelliously spared, with others
of
like spirit,—the same nations who had led them into sin,—were used as
instruments
of punishment. Compare Lev. xxvi. 17, Judges ii. 14.
42. And their enemies oppressed them, and they were bowed down under
442 PSALM CVI. [VER.
43-48.
their hand. They not only governed
them, but governed them tyrannically,
so
that they were not only under coercion and constraint, but humbled and
degraded
from the rank of an independent state to that of tributaries and bondsmen.
With
the terms of this verse compare Judges i. 34, iii. 30, iv. 3, viii. 28.
43. Many times he frees them, and they resist (him) by their counsel, and
are brought low by their
guilt.
Having given in the preceding verses a
brief
but lively summary of the Book of Judges, the Psalmist now passes,
by
an almost insensible transition, to the later periods of the history, and
indeed
to its catastrophe; for the meaning of the last clause seems to be,
that
after all their fluctuations, they at length sink or fall into a ruinous
condition,
as the ultimate fruit of their rebellions. The meaning of the first
clause
is, that by their self-willed plans and projects they continually come
into
collision with the will of God, and with that great providential purpose,
in
promoting which it was their duty, and would have been their happiness,
to
co-operate. With the last clause compare Lev. xxvi. 39, Ezek. xxxii. 10.
44. And he has looked at their distress when he heard them cry. The
idiomatic
form of the original may thus be represented by a bald translation,
and he saw in the
distress to them in his hearing their cry. As this follows
the
brief statement of their downfall, there is much probability in the
opinion,
that it relates to the "tokens for good," which were granted to the
exiled
Jews in
clause
compare Exod. ii. 25, iv. 31, Deut. iv. 30, Ps. xviii. 7, cii. 3.
45. And he has remembered for them his covenant, and repented accord-
ing to the abundance of
his mercy.
For them, i. e. in their favour, for their
benefit.
It does not qualify covenant, but remembered. With the first
clause
compare Lev. xxvi. 42, 45, Ps. cv. 8, 42; with the second, Num.
xiv.
19, Ps. v. 8 (7), lxix. 14 (13), Neh. xiii. 22. The common version
of
the last word (mercies) rests upon
the marginal or masoretic reading;
the
more ancient text is mercy.
46. And has given them favour before all their captors. The literal
translation
of the first clause is, and has given
them for mercies or compas-
sions. This remarkable
expression is borrowed from 1 Kings viii. 50
(compare
2 Chron. xxx. 9), not only here but in the history of Daniel and his
fellow-captives
(Dan. i. 9), which makes it not at all improbable, that what
is
there recorded is among the indications of returning divine favour here
referred
to by the Psalmist.
47. Save us, Jehovah, our God, and gather us from the nations, to give
thanks unto thy holy
name, to glory in thy praise. Encouraged by these
tokens
of returning favour, the church prays that the hopes thus
raised
may not be disappointed, but abundantly fulfilled in the restoration
of
the exiles to their own land, in return for which she indirectly engages
to
render praise and thanksgiving to Jehovah as her liberator. We are
thus
brought back to the beginning of the psalm, and the voice of confes-
sion
is again lost in that of anticipated praise. Instead of our God, the
parallel
passage (1 Chron. xvi. 36) has God of our
Salvation. The word
translated
glory occurs only in that passage and
the one before us. It is
synonymous,
however, with the one used in Ps. cv. 3, and often elsewhere,
both
meaning properly to praise one's self. With the second clause com-
pare
Ps. xxx. 5 (4).
48. Blessed (be) Jehovah, God of
all the people says
Amen. Hallelujah!
Some interpreters regard the
psalm
as closing with the preceding verse, and the one before us as a doxo-
VER.
1-3.] PSALM
CVII. 443
logy
added to mark the conclusion of the Fourth Book. But here, as in
Ps.
lxxii. 19, it is far more probable that this doxology was the occasion of
the
psalm's being reckoned as the last of a Book, notwithstanding its inti-
mate
connection with the one that follows. This probability is strengthened,
in
the case before us, by the addition of the words, and all the people says
Amen, which would be
unmeaning, unless the doxology formed part of the
psalm
itself. The additional words are borrowed from Deut. xxvii. 15-26.
The
parallel passage (1 Chron. xvi. 36) has, And
all the people said Amen
and give praise (or gave praise) to Jehovah, which last words are represented,
in
the verse before us, by the Hallelujah
(Praise ye Jah!)
PSALM CVII.
AFTER propounding as his theme the
goodness of God in delivering his
people,
and especially in bringing them back from their dispersions, ver.
1-3,
the Psalmist celebrates this great event, under the various figures of
safe
conduct through a desert and arrival in a populous city, ver. 4-9;
emancipation
from imprisonment, ver. 10-16; recovery from deadly sick-
ness,
ver. 17-22; deliverance from the dangers of the sea, ver, 23-32;
then
describes, in more direct terms, the fall of the oppressor, the restora-
tion
of
with
an earnest exhortation to remember and commemorate Jehovah's good-
ness,
ver. 43. The psalm is so constructed as to admit of being readily
applied,
either literally or figuratively, to various emergencies: but its
primary
reference to the return from exile seems to be determined by ver.
2,
3. According to Hengstenberg's hypothesis, this psalm was added to
the
double trilogy by which it is preceded (Ps. ci.- cvi.), immediately after
the
return from exile, when the holy city was re-peopled, and the first
harvest
had been gathered, but the rebuilding of the temple had not yet
begun.
The whole seven then compose one series or system, intended to
be
used together in the public worship of the ancient church.
1. Give thanks unto Jehovah, for he (is) good, for unto eternity (is) his
mercy. The repetition of the
first words of the foregoing psalm, as the
beginning
of the one before us, strongly favours the opinion, that the latter
was
designed to be a kind of supplement or appendix to the former.
2. (So) say the Redeemed of Jehovah, whom he has redeemed from the
hand of distress (or of the enemy). What they are to say is not the exhorta-
tion
in the first clause, but the reason for it in the last clause, of the fore-
going
verse. Let them acknowledge his unceasing mercy, who have just
experienced
so remarkable a proof of it. The ambiguous word (rc) should
probably
be taken in the same sense which it elsewhere has throughout
this
psalm. See below, ver. 6, 13, 19, 28, and compare Ps. cvi. 44.
Indeed,
the two senses may be reconciled by simply supposing the distress
to
be personified. Compare the unambiguous expression in Ps. cvi. 10.
The
Redeemed of the Lord is a favourite
expression of Isaiah (xxxv. 9, 10,
lxii.
12, lxiii. 3).
3. And from the lands has gathered them, from the east and from the
west, from the north and
from the sea. The
Babylonish exile is continually
spoken
of as a dispersion, either because it is considered as including other
minor
deportations, or because the migration of the great mass of the peo-
ple
into
a
less extensive and more scattering migration of many individuals and
444 PSALM
CVII. [VER.
4-7.
families
to other quarters. On the false assumption of a perfect parallelism
as
indispensable, some have supposed that sea
is here put for the south.
But
this is not the only case in which the enumeration of the cardinal
points
is complete only in number. See Isa. xlix. 12, and compare Isa.
xliii.
5, 6, lvi. 8. The mention of the sea instead of the south may perhaps
have
reference to the prophecy in Deut. xxviii. 68. The verse before us
records
the answer to the prayer in Ps. cvi. 47, and thus affords another
indication,
that the writer of the later composition had the earlier in his
eye,
and wrote with some intention to illustrate or complete it.
4. They wandered in the wilderness, in a desert way; a city of habitation
found they not. Here begins the first
metaphorical account of the Captivity
and
Restoration, in which the exiles are described as wanderers in a desert
way, i. e. as some suppose
a pathless desert, which sense, however, can
scarcely
be extracted from the Hebrew words. Others understand the
phrase
to mean a way, i. e. a course, a region to be traversed, which is
desert;
but this supposes way to be the subject
and desert the qualifying
term,
as they would be in English, but in Hebrew the precise sense is a
desert of way, or a way-desert, which some interpreters
explain to mean a
desert
in reference to its ways or paths, thus arriving, by a different course,
at
the meaning first suggested, namely that of a pathless wilderness. City
of habitation may mean a habitable or
inhabited city in general, or a city
for
them to inhabit in particular. The latter is more probable, because the
word
translated habitation is not an
abstract but a local noun, meaning the
place
where men sit or dwell, according to the primary and secondary
meaning
of the verbal root. See above, on Ps. i. 1. It may here be either
governed
by city, as above, or in apposition
with it, a city, a dwelling-place,
i.
e. a city in which they might dwell. There is obvious allusion to Jeru-
the
city and the desert suggests the idea of suffering and relief, by a natural
as
well as a historical association. See Ezek. xxix. 5, and compare Job xii. 24,
5. Hungry--also thirsty—their soul in them shrouds itself. This verse
continues
the description of the wanderers in the desert. To avoid the
ambiguity
of an exact version, in which hungry
and thirsty might seem to
agree
with soul, the substantive verb may be supplied in the first clause,
(they are) hungry, also
thirsty.
The primary sense of the reflexive verb at
the
end of the sentence seems to be that of covering one's self with dark-
ness,
or sinking overwhelmed beneath some great calamity. See above,
on
Ps. lxxvii. 4 (3), and compare the cognate forms in Ps. lxi. 3 (2), lxv.
14
(13), cii. 1, Isa. lvii. 16.
6. And they cried to Jehovah in their distress; from their straits he
frees
them. Both the nouns,
according to their etymology, convey the idea of
pressure,
compression, painful restraint. In their
distress, literally in the
distress to them, that which they had or
suffered. See above, on Ps. cvi. 44,
and
compare Deut. iv. 30. The change from the past tense to the future
seems
intended merely to describe the 'act denoted by the second or more
recent.
7. And he led them in a straight course, to go to a city of habitation.
No
exact
version can preserve or imitate the paronomasia arising from the
etymological
affinity of the first verb and noun, analogous to that between
the
English walk and to walk, though the Hebrew forms are only similar and not
identical.
The idea of physical rectitude or straightness necessarily suggests that
of
moral rectitude or honesty, commonly denoted by the Hebrew word.
VER.
8-12.] PSALM
CVII.
445
8. Let (such) give thanks to
Jehovah (for) his mercy, and his wonderful
works to the sons of man. Some interpreters make
this the close of a long
sentence,
beginning with ver. 4, and adopt, in all the intervening verses, a
relative
construction, as if he had said, let such as wandered in the wilder-
ness,
whose soul fainted in them, who cried unto the Lord, whom he led,
&c.,
let such give thanks unto his name. But although this is certainly
the
logical connection of the passage, its involution and complexity of form
are
as far as possible removed from the simplicity of Hebrew syntax, which
prefers
a distinct enunciation of particulars to all such artificial combina-
tions.
This verse constitutes the burden or chorus of the psalm.
9. For he has satisfied the craving soul, and the hungry soul has filled
with good. This is merely the
conclusion of the first scene or picture, with
a
change of figure but a very slight one, as the want of food is one of the
most
painful and familiar hardships of a journey through a desert, and as
such
would necessarily occur to every Israelite who knew the story of the
error
in the wilderness. The first verb has the same sense as in Ps. civ. 18;
the
last noun the same sense as in Ps. ciii. 4, civ. 28. The unusual word
translated
craving is borrowed from Isa. xxix.
8.
10. Dwelling in, darknees and death-shade, bound in, affliction and iron.
Here
begins the second picture, which exhibits the same sufferers, no longer
as
wanderers in the desert, but as closely confined prisoners. The darkness
primarily
meant is that of the dungeon, but not without reference to the
frequent
use of darkness in general as an emblem of misery. See above,
on
Ps. lxviii. 7 (6). The idea of darkness is then expressed in a still
stronger
form by the striking compound death-shade
or shadow of death, a,
bold
but beautiful description of the most profound obscurity. See above,
on
Ps. xxiii. 4. The leading words of the two clauses might, in one respect,
be
more exactly rendered, inhabitants of
darkness, prisoners of affliction.
See
above, on Ps. lxxviii. 61. There is no mixture of literal and figurative
terms
in the last clause, but only the addition of a specific to a general term.
The
affliction particularly meant is that
produced by iron, i. e. chains or
fetters.
See above, on Ps. cv. 18, and with the verse before us compare
Isa.
xlii. 7, xlix. 9, Job xxxvi. 8, Luke xiii. 16.
11. Because they resisted the words of the Mightiest, and the counsel of
the
Highest contemned. This verse introduces
what was wanting in the first
scene,
the fact that these were not innocent sufferers. However cruel or
unjust
their sufferings at the hands of men, they were but condign punish-
merits
as sent by God. This is a point of contact and resemblance with
the
preceding psalm, which is not without importance. Resisted, rebelled
against,
a favourite expression in these psalms. See above, on Ps. cv. 28,
cvi.
7, 33, 43. Words or sayings, commonly applied to promises,
and even
here
combining that idea with the sense of command, because the command
which
they resisted or rebelled against had reference to the plan or counsel
of
the Lord for the deliverance of his people. The word translated mightiest
is
(lxe)
one of the divine names, here represented by an English superlative,
in
order to preserve the antithesis with Most
High in the other clause.
12. And he brought down, with trouble, their heart; they stumbled and
there was no helper. The remedial design
and effect of their punishment
are
beautifully set forth in the first clause. The word translated trouble
means
originally work or labour, then the pain attending it or flowing from
it.
Stumbled may here be put for fell, or have the milder sense of
tottering
or
stumbling, as distinguished from a total fall. No helper, or none helping,
446 PSALM CVII. [VER. 13-20.
except
God, as intimated in the next verse; or against God, when he chose
to
punish them.
13. And they cried to Jehovah in their distress; out of their straits he
saves
them. An exact repetition of
ver. 6, except that the first verb is exchanged
for
a cognate one, differing only in a single letter, and the last verb for a
synonyme
still more familiar. As to the consecution of the tenses, see
above,
on ver. 6.
14. He brings them out from darkness and deathshade, and their bonds he
severs. The terms used in
describing the deliverance are studiously made
to
correspond with the account of the captivity in ver. 10. It is more
remarkable,
though possibly fortuitous, that the words of the second clause
are
the same which David puts into the mouth of the revolted nations, Ps.
ii.
3. The English word severs is here used instead of breaks, in order to
represent
the more uncommon and poetical term used in Hebrew.
15, 16. Let (such) give thanks unto
Jehovah (for) his mercy, and his
wonderfal works to the
sons of man, because he has broken doors of brass, and
bars of iron has cut
asunder.
The burden in ver. 15 is in all respects identical
with
ver. 8, but the supplementary verse differs, according to the prominent
figures
in the two scenes or pictures. As the idea of famine was selected,
in
ver. 9, from among the hardships of the wilderness, so here the fasten-
ings
of the prison are presented in precisely the same manner. In this
striking
regularity of form, combined with vividness and beauty of concep-
tion,
there is evidence of art and skill as well as genius. The verb in the
first
clause of ver. 16 is an intensive form of the verb to break, and might
here
be rendered shattered, shivered, or the like. The corresponding
verb
in
the last clause is a similar intensive of the verb to cut. The whole verse
is
copied from Isa,. xlv. 2, where we find the promise, of which this is the fulfilment.
17. Fools by their course of transgression, and by their crimes, afflict them-
selves. Here begins the third
scene or picture, at the very opening of which
the
charge of folly is added to the previous one of guilt. The reflexive
meaning
of the verb is essential, and cannot be diluted into a mere passive
without
weakening the whole sentence, the very point of which consists in
making
them the guilty authors of their own distresses. The word for
transgression
is the one that originally means revolt from God, apostasy.
See
above on Ps. xxxvi. 2 (1). Course,
literally way or path. By, literally
from, as when we speak of an
effect as arising or proceeding from a cause.
18. All food their soul abhors, and they draw near to the very gates of
death. This verse abruptly
brings before us the same persons whom we
lately
beheld wandering in the desert, and then chained in a dark dungeon,
now
suffering from disease, such as not only mars their pleasures, but
threatens
to abbreviate their lives. Compare Ps. cii. 3, Job xxxiii. 20.
The
expression very gates, in the translation of the last clause, is intended
to
convey the full force of the Hebrew preposition (dfa) which is stronger
than
(lx,)
to. See above, on Ps. lvii. 11 (10). With the last clause com-
pare
Ps. ix. 14, lxxxviii. 4 (3), Job xxxiii. 22, Isa. xxxviii. 9.
19. And they cry to Jehovah in their distress; out of their straits he
saves
them. See above on ver. 6,
13, with the last of which this agrees exactly.
20. He sends his word and heals them, and makes them escape from their
destructions, i. e. those which
threatened them, and from which escape
appeared
impossible. He sends his word, he
issues his command, exerts
his
sovereign power and authority. The last word in the Hebrew occurs
VER.
21-25.] PSALM CVII. 447
only
here and once in Lamentations (iv. 20). The modern interpreters
have
pits or graves; but such a derivation from the verbal root is without
example
or analogy. See above, on Ps. xvi. 10. With the first clause
compare
Ps. xxx. 3 (2), xxxiii. 9, Isa. lvii. 18; with the last Ps. ciii. 4.
21, 22. Let (such) give thanks unto
Jehovah, (for) his mercy and his won-
derful works to tke sons
of man; and let them sacrifice sacrifices of thanks-
giving, and recount his
deeds with (joyful) singing. The freedom from
technical
and artificial rules of rhetoric or versification, even in those parts
of
the composition which exhibit most of art and skill, is peculiarly observ-
able
in this verse, where, instead of adding to the uniform chorus or refrain
some
particular image from the scene just closing, as in ver. 9, 16, the
Psalmist
continues and completes the sentence by repeating the exhortation
to
give thanks, in another but still figurative form, derived from the musical
and
sacrificial customs of the temple worship. They must not only utter
thanks
but offer them in sacrifice. They must not only offer them in sacri-
fice,
but sing them. With the first clause compare Ps. 1. 14.
23. Going down the sea in ships, doing business in the many waters.
Here
again
the scene is shifted, and the exiles pass before us, not as wanderers
in
the desert, or as captives in the dungeon, or as suffering from sickness,
but
as mariners engaged in an adventurous voyage. Descending, going
down, seems to be an
idiomatic phrase, borrowed from Isa. xlii. 10, and
equivalent
to going out to sea in English. The
expression may have refer-
ence
to the general elevation of the land above the water (see above, on Ps.
xxiv.
2), but is directly opposite to our phrase,
the high seas, and to the
classical
usage of ascending ships, i. e.
embarking, and descending, i. e.
land-
ing.
Doing business has its ordinary
sense, as applied to trade or traffic.
The
last words may also be translated great
or mighty waters; but the
usage
of the Psalms is in favour of the version many
waters, which, more-
over,
forms a beautiful poetical equivalent to sea
or ocean. This image
could
not fail to suggest, however, indirectly, the idea of the world with its
commotions,
of which the constant emblem is the sea. See above, on Ps.
xlvi.
4 (3), lxv. 8 (7), lxxxix. 10 (9), xciii. 3, 4, and compare Mat. viii. 23-
26,
Mark iv. 36-41, Luke viii. 22-25.
24. THEY saw the works of Jehovah, and his wonders in the deep. The
pronoun
at the beginning is emphatic, (it is) they
(that) see (or saw) the
works of the Lord, as if others could lay
claim to no such privilege or
honour.
Both the senses of the phrase God's works
are appropriate in this
connection,
his works of creation and his works of providence. The last word
is
another poetical equivalent to sea or
ocean. See above, on Ps. lxix. 3 (2).
25. And he said—and there arose a stormy wind, and it lifted up his
waves. He now parenthetically
specifies some of the divine works
which
he
had just mentioned in the general. The form of expression at the be-
ginning,
as in all like cases, involves an allusion to the history of the
creation,
where each creative act is preceded by God's saying, let it be. So
here
the full sense is, and God said (let
a stormy wind arise) and a stormy
wind arose. See above, on Ps.
xxxiii. 9. Arose, literally stood,
stood up,
as
in Ps. cvi. 30. A stormy wind,
literally a wind of storm or tempest.
Instead
of his waves we may read its waves, and refer the pronoun to the
remoter
antecedent (sea) in ver. 23. Deep, in ver. 24, is of a different
gender.
It is equally correct, however, and more natural, to refer it to
Jehovah,
as the maker of the sea and the ruler of its waves. Compare the
expression
thy waves and thy billows in Ps.
xlii. 8. See also Isa. li. 15, Jer. xxxi. 35.
448 PSALM CVII. [VER. 26-32.
26. They rise (to) the heavens; they sink (to) the depths; their soul with
evil dissolves itself. That the verbs in the first
clause relate not to the waves
but
to the mariners, is evident from the last clause. The words rise and
sink
are used instead of ascend, descend,
or go up, go down, because the
Hebrew
verbs have no etymological affinity, nor even a single letter common
to
their roots. The ellipsis of the preposition to is frequent, or rather verbs
of
motion in Hebrew may be construed directly with a noun, where our
idiom
requires the intervention of a particle. Evil
in the last clause may
denote
their evil state or painful situation, with all the circumstances com-
prehended
in it; or, more specifically, their distress and painful feelings.
Compare
Gen. xli. 29. The reflexive form of the last verb is not essential
to
the meaning of the sentence, as in ver. 17, and may therefore be ex-
plained
as an intensive or emphatic passage, it
is melted. See above, on
Ps.
xxii. 15 (14). With the whole verse compare Ps. civ. 8.
27. They reel and stagger like a drunken (man), and all their wisdom is
confounded. By wisdom we are here
to understand reason, common sense,
that
which makes men rational and raises them above the brutes. This is
plain
from the comparison with drunkenness, the only point of which must
be
the loss of reason. The reeling and staggering may relate to the irre-
gular
and violent motion of a vessel in a storm, or, as the last clause does,
to
the mariners themselves. The last verb literally means is swallowed up,
or
retaining the reflexive form, still more strongly, swallows itself up. But
see
above, on the last word of ver. 26,
28. And they cried to Jehovah in their distress, and out of their straits
he brings them forth. The consecution of the
tenses corresponds to the
relation
of the acts which they denote, as viewed by a spectator. "Now
they
have cried to the Lord, and now he is bringing them forth." The verse
differs
from ver. 13, 19, in the first verb, which agrees with ver. 6, and in
the
last verb, which is unlike both.
29. He stills the storm, to a calm, and silent are their waves. This is
an
amplification
of the last phrase in ver. 28, and shews how it is that he
brings them forth. The first verb
strictly means he makes it stand, but
in
a
sense directly opposite to that of a synonymous though different verb in
ver.
25. Calm, literally silence,
stillness. Their waves, the waves
from
which
they suffer, by which they are buffeted. Compare his waves, in ver, 25.
30. And they are glad that they are quiet, and he guides them to their
desired haven. The connection might be
rendered clearer by translating
with
the English Bible, then are they glad,
&c. The last word in the verse
occurs
only here, and is by some translated shore,
by others goal: but it is
safer
to retain the old interpretation, Which affords a perfectly good sense,
and
rests upon the joint authority of the Rabbinical tradition and the Sep-
tuagint
version.
31, 32. Let (such) give thanks to
Jehovah (for) his mercy, and his won-
derful works to the sons
of man ; and let them exalt him in the congregation
of the people, and in
the session of the elders praise him. Here again we
have
a striking instance of variety combined with uniformity. The burden
or
chorus, as in ver. 22, is followed by a solemn exhortation to connect the
required
thanksgiving with the forms of public worship. But instead of
the
temple with its sacrifices and its chants, the reference in this case, it
should
seem, is to the spiritual worship of the synagogue. The word
translated
congregation is one constantly
applied to
gathered
at the place of worship. See above, on Ps. xxii. 23 (22). The
VER.
33-68] PSALM
CVII.
449
word
session is employed in the
translation of the last clause, not for the
sake
of a verbal coincidence with Presbyterian institutions, a coincidence,
however,
which is not to be denied, but because it adequately represents the
Hebrew
(bwaOm)
in its double acceptation, as denoting both the act and the
place
cf sitting, and especially of sitting together. See above, on ver. 4.
The
elders, here as elsewhere, are the
heads of tribes and families, the
hereditary
chiefs and representatives of
33. He turns streams into a wilderness, and springs of water to a thirsty
place. As the shifting of the
scene is not renewed in the remainder of the
psalm,
which, on the other hand, if viewed as a distinct and independent
portion
of the poem, mars its symmetry of structure, it seems best to regard
these
verses as an episode belonging to the last scene and containing the
praises
of the people and their elders. The figures in this verse are often
used,
particularly by Isaiah, to denote an entire revolution, whether physical
or
moral, social or political. Compare Isa. xliv. 26, 27, 1. 2, Jer. 1. 38,
li.
36. It thus prepares the way for the subsequent rejoicings in the down-
fall
of
34. A fruitful land to saltness, for the wickedness of those dwelling in
it.
The
sentence is continued from the foregoing verse, the nouns being
governed
by the verb he turns. The first
phrase literally means a land of fruit.
The
next noun may be taken either in the abstract sense of saltness or the
concrete
one of a saline soil or region, and by implication barren. For,
literally
from, as in ver. 17 above. Compare
the threatening in Isa. xiii. 19,
and
the great historical type of all such judgments, the destruction of
and
35. He turns a desert to a pool of water, and a dry land into springs of
water. This is the reverse of
the description in ver. 33, to which the terms
are
studiously conformed. In both cases the first verb literally means he
sets or puts, and the noun translated springs
means issues or places where
the
waters issue. Compare Isa. xxxv. 7, xli. 18, xliii. 20.
36. And has settled there famished (men), and they have established a city
to dwell in. There is no need of
assuming, that the desert thus transformed
is
figures,
which is change for the better. Settled,
literally caused to dwell.
The
primary meaning of the last clause is that those once homeless have a
home;
but there is of course a reference to the repossession and rebuilding
of
city of habitation in ver. 4.
37. And have sowed fields, and panted vineyards, and made fruits of
increase. The form of all these
verbs requires them to be understood, like
those
of ver. 36, as referring to time actually past, from which some have
inferred
that the date of the psalm itself lay between the first ingathering of
the
fruits by the returned Jews and the founding of the temple, to which
there
is here no allusion. The word translated increase
is applied elsewhere
to
the annual productions of the earth. See Lev. xxv. 16. To make these
is
to gain or acquire them by cultivation, as we speak of making money, but
of
raising corn. See above, on Ps. lx.
14 (12).
38. And he has blessed them, and they have increased greatly, and (even)
their cattle he does not
diminish.
Increased, not in numbers merely, but
in
wealth,
strength and prosperity. See Deut. xxx. 16. The verb to diminish
is
borrowed from Lev. xxvi. 22. The negation may be understood as a
meiosis, meaning to increase or
multiply. The whole of this description
450 PSALM CVIII. [VER.
1, 2.
agrees
well with the encouraging appearances, by which the Restoration
was
attended and immediately followed, before the colony experienced
reverses
or had lost the fresh impression of their recent sufferings and priva-
tions,
which are mentioned in the next verse.
39. And they were diminished and brought low, from oppression, suffering,
and grief. The only grammatical
construction of the verbs is that which
refers
them to a former time, i. e. to the condition of the people under
Babylonian
oppression. The sense is therefore quite mistaken in the
English,
though correctly given in the ancient versions. The contrast is
intended
to enhance the joy and thankfulness of the restored exiles. These,
now
so prosperous, are the very men who lately were in abject misery.
40. Pouring contempt on princes—and he has made them wander in a
waste (where there is) no way. From the exiles he reverts to
their Deliverer,
and
describes him as spurning the most lordly of their persecutors—nay,
as
making them take the place of those whom they oppressed, which idea
is
conveyed by the figure before used of wanderers in a pathless desert.
See
above, on ver. 4, and compare Job xii. 21,24. The word for waste or
void is one of those used in
Gen. i. 2, to describe the original condition of
the
earth.
41. And has raised the poor from affliction, and made like a flock
families.
The
first verb suggests the twofold idea of elevation from a wretched state,
and
security from future danger. For its ordinary sense, see above, on
Ps.
xx. 2 (1), xci. 14. The last clause simply means, he has increased
the
people who were so reduced in strength and numbers.
42. The righteous shall see and rejoice, and all iniquity stop her mouth.
The
righteous are the true
xi.
17. With the last clause compare Job v. 16, Isa. lii. 15.
43. Who (is) wise and will observe these things, and attentively consider
the mercies of Jehovah? The change of number in
the Hebrew does not
affect
the meaning. Whoever is wise will
observe these things, and all who
are
wise will consider them. With this conclusion compare Hosea xiv. 10,
Isa.
xlii. 23, Jer. ix. 11.
PSALM
CVIII.
1. A Song. A Psalm. By Darid . This is not an original or inde-
pendent
composition, but a compilation from two other psalms, which have
already
been explained. The introduction, ver. 2-6 (1-5), is substantially
identical
with Ps. lvii. 8-12 (7-11) ; the body of the psalm, ver. 7-13
(6-12),
with Ps. lx. 7-14 (5-12). The supposition of erroneous copies,
or
of later corruptions, is still more improbable in this case than in those
of
Ps. xviii., lxx. The best solution which has been proposed is, that
David
himself combined these passages to be the basis of a trilogy (Ps.
cviii.–ex.),
adapted to the use of the church at a period posterior to the
date
of Ps. lvii. and lx. The comments here will be confined to the varia-
tions,
as in Ps. liii. and lxx.
2 (1). Fixed is my heart, 0 God, fixed is my heart; I will sing and play
—also my glory. See above, on Ps. lvii.
8 (7). The words here added,
also
my glory, correspond to the first clause of the next verse in that psalm,
awake my glory!
3 (2). Awake lute and harp! I will awaken the dawn (or morning). See
above,
on Ps. lvii. 9 (8). The only variation is the one already mentioned,
VER.
3-13.] PSALM CVIII. 451
the
omission here of the words awake my glory,
for which the last clause of
ver.
2 (1) is a substitute.
4 (3). I will thank thee among the nations, 0 Jehovah, I will praise thee
among the peoples. See above, on Ps.
lvii. 10 (9). The only variation is
the
substitution of the name Jehovah for Adhonai, a change scarcely per-
ceptible
in the English versions.
5 (4). For great from above the heavens (is) thy mercy, and unto the clouds
thy truth. See above, on Ps. lvii.
11 (10). The only variation is the
change
of (dfa)
unto into (lfame) from above, apparently intended to suggest
the
idea of God's mercy as descending upon man.
6 (5). Be thou high above the heavens, 0 God, and above all the earth thy
glory. See above, on Ps.
lvii. 12 (11). The only variation is the intro-
duction
of the copulative and at the
beginning of the second clause.
7 (6). In order that thy beloved (ones) may be delivered, save with thy right
hand, and hear (or answer) us. See above, on Ps. lx. 7 (5), with which
this
verse agrees in all points, not excepting the keri or various reading in
the
last word. (me for us).
8 (7). God hath spoken in his holiness (and therefore) I will triumph, I
will divide Shechem, and
the
on
Ps. lx. 8 (6), with which this verse agrees exactly.
9 (8). To me (belongs)
strength of my head,
Judah my lawgiver.
See above, on Ps. lx. 9 (7).
The
only variation is the omission, in the verse before us, of the and after
Gilead.
10 (9).
of
this verse is the most material variation in the whole psalm, which,
however,
is evidently not fortuitous or by a later hand, but intentional and
made
by the original writer. I will shout
aloud, as an expression of triumph
over
a conquered enemy.
11 (10). Who will bring me (to) the fortified city! Who leads (or has
led) me up to
is
the change of one synonymous word for another, to express the idea of
a
fortified city..
12 (11). (Is it) not God who has cast us off, and wilt not go forth with
our hosts? See above, on Ps. lx.
12 (10). The only variation consists in
the
omission of the emphatic pronoun thou, which is expressed in the paral-
lel
passage, and only implied in the one before us. Some interpreters sup-
pose
a sudden change of construction from the third to the second person.
Is it not God--(even thou who) didst cast us off &c.
13 (12). Give us help from the enemy (or from distress); and (the rather
because)
vain is the salvation of man, meaning
that which he affords. See
above,
on Ps. lx. 13 (11), which agrees with this exactly.
14 (13). In God we will make (i. e. gain or gather) strength, and he will
tread down (or trample on) our adversaries
(persecutors or oppressors).
See
above, on Ps. lx. 14 (12), between which and the verse before us there
is
not the slightest difference.
PSALM
CIX.
THIS psalm consists of three parts;
a complaint of slanderous and malig-
nant
enemies, ver. 1-5; a prayer for the punishment of such, ver. 6-20;
452 PSALM
C.IX. [VER.
1-13.
and
a prayer for the sufferer's own deliverance, with a promise of thanks-
giving,
ver. 21-31. According to the theory repeatedly referred to, this is
the
second psalm of a Davidic trilogy. See above, on Ps. cviii. This
psalm
is remarkable on two accounts: first, as containing the most striking
instances
of what are called the imprecations of the psalms; and then, as
having
been applied in the most explicit manner to the sufferings of our
Saviour
from the treachery of Judas, and to the miserable fate of the latter.
These
two peculiarities are perhaps more closely connected than they may
at
first sight seem. Perhaps the best solution of the first is that afforded
by
the second, or at least by the hypothesis, that the Psalmist, under the
direction
of the Spirit, viewed the sufferings of
occasion
of the psalm, as a historical type of the Messiah's sufferings from
the
treachery of Judas, representing that of
he
expresses his abhorrence of the crime, and acquiesces in the justice of
its
punishment, in stronger terms than would have been, or are elsewhere,
employed
in reference to ordinary criminals.
1. To the Chief Musician. Py David. A Psalm. God of my praise,
be not silent. The first inscription
was particularly necessary here, because
the
psalm might otherwise have seemed to be a mere expression of strong
personal
feeling. See above, on Ps. li. 1. God of
my praise, i. e. the
object
of it, whom I delight, or am accustomed, or have cause, to praise.
Be not silent means not merely do not refuse to answer, but amidst the
threats
and railings of my enemies, let thy voice be heard also. See above,
on
Ps. xxviii. 1, xxxv. 22, xxxix. 13 (12).
2. For a wicked mouth and a mouth of deceit they have opened; they
have spoken against me
with a tongue of falsehood. Compare Ps. xxxv. 11,
lv.
4 (3). The subject of the first verb is his enemies, and not the nouns
preceding,
as the verb translated open is
elsewhere always active. Against
me, literally with me, implying that they charged him
falsely to his face, a
circumstance
remarkably fulfilled in Christ. See Mat. xxvi. 59.
3. And with, words of hatred they have compassed me, and have fought
against me without cause. See above, on Ps.
xxxv. 20, xxxvi. 4 (3.)
4. In return for my love they are my adversaries—and I (am) prayer.
The
first word in Hebrew strictly means instead
or in lieu of. The unusual
expression
at the end can only mean, I am all
prayer, I do nothing but
pray,
which some understand to signify, I bear their persecution meekly
and
continue my devotions undisturbed by their calumnies and insults.
But
as the whole context is descriptive, not of the sufferer's behaviour but
of
his enemies, a more probable sense is, I am forced to be continually
praying
for protection against them and deliverance from them.
5. They lay upon me evil instead of good, and hatred instead of lose.
The
first verb literally means they set
or place. Instead of the good and the
love which
they
owed me, or in return for my kindness
and love to them, as in ver. 4.
6. Appoint thou over him a wicked one, and let an adversary stand upon
his right hand. The first verb in Hebrew
means to place one in authority
or
charge over another. See Gen. xxxix. 5, xli. 84, Num. i. 50, and com-
pare
Lev. xxvi. 16, Jer. xv. 3. Wicked one
and adversary (Satan), although
here
used as appellatives or common nouns, are the very terms applied, in
the
later scripture to the Evil Spirit, or the Devil. See Job i. 6, ii. 1,
1
Chron. xxi. 1, Zech. iii. 1, 2. In the place last cited he stands too at
the
right hand of the sinner to accuse him. The change of number in the
verse
before us might, in conformity with usage, be explained as a mere
VER.
7-14.] PSALM
CIX.
453
difference
of form, the ideal person denoted by the singular being really the
type
and representative of the whole class denoted by the plural. But the
constancy
with which the change, in this case, is adhered to, rather favours
the
conclusion, that a real individual is meant, to whom the Psalmist turns
from
the promiscuous crowd of his oppressors. For a similar transition,
see
above, on Ps. lv. 13 (12).
7. When, he is tried he shall go forth guilty; and his prayer shall be for
sin. The future meaning of
the second verb is determined by the form of
the
third, which is not apocopated, as in ver. 12, 13. When he is tried,
literally,
in his being tried. The next phrase simply means that he shall
be
condemned; the last clause, that his very prayer for mercy shall be
reckoned
as a new offence, a strong description of extreme judicial rigour
and
inexorable justice.
8. Let his days be few—his office let another take. The word
translated
office is a collateral
derivative of the verb at the beginning of ver. 6, and
means
commission, charge. This expression makes it still more probable
that
a real individual is referred to, as the possession of a charge or office
could
not be common to the whole class of malignant enemies. The Sep-
tuagint
version is e]piskoph<n, oversight or supervision, corresponding exactly
to
the meaning of the Hebrew verb in ver. 6. This translation is retained
in
Acts i. 20, where the verse before us is expressly quoted by Peter as
"written
in the book of Psalms," and applied to the case of Judas Iscariot.
9. Let his sons be orphans and his wife a widow. He here passes from
the
person of the criminal to the sufferings of those dependent on him, See Exod.
xx. 5.
10. And wander—wander—let his sons and beg, and seek (their food) from
(among) their ruins. The emphatic repetition
of the first verb is expressed
in
the English Bible, by a paraphrase, let
his children be continually vaga-
bonds. The last clause is
extremely graphic, representing them as creep-
ing
forth in search of food from amidst the ruins of their habitations.
11. Let a creditor entrap all he has, and strangers plunder (the fruit of)
his labour. The first noun
originally means a lender, but in usage has the
accessory
sense of a hard creditor, an extortioner. The verb means to
lay
a snare for, as in Ps. xxxviii. 13 (12.) Strangers,
not his natural heirs,
not
members of his family. See Deut. xxv. 5.
12. Let there be no one to him, extending mercy, and let there be no one
sheaving favour to his
orphans.
The verb translated extend literally
means
draw out, prolong, and is applied to the
continued indulgence both of
hostile
and amicable feelings. See above, on Ps. xxviii. 3, xxxvi. 11 (10),
lxxxv.
6 (5). Shewing favour, exercising
mercy, as in Ps xxxvii. 21.
13. Let his posterity be cut off; in the next generation, blotted out be
their
name. The word for posterity
strictly means futurity, after part, or latter
end.
See above, Ps. xxxvii. 37, 38. Cut off,
literally for cutting off.
The next or ufter
generation,
as in Ps. xlviii. 14 (13). The plural pronoun
their refers to the
collective noun posterity.
14. Let the guilt of his fathers be remembered by Jehovah, and his mother's
sin not blotted out. This is perhaps the
most fearful imprecation in the
psalm,
as it extends the consequences of transgression, not merely to the
children,
who might naturally be expected to partake of them, but to the
parents.
It is not to be forgotten, however, that in all such cases, the
personal
guilt of the implicated parties is presupposed, and not inferred
from
their connection with the principals. Remembered
by (literally to)
454 PSALM
CI.X. [VER. 14-21.
Jehovah, which may possibly
mean brought to his remembrance, recalled
to
mind by another, perhaps by the accuser before mentioned.
15. Let them be before Jehovah always, and let him cut off from the earth
their memory. The subject of the
first clause is the guilt and sin men-
tioned
in the verse preceding. Before Jehovah,
in his sight, an object of
attention
to him. See above, Ps. xc. 8. With the last clause compare
Ps.
ix. 7, (6), xxxiv. 17 (16).
16. Because that he did not remember to do mercy, and persecuted an
afficted and poor man,
and one smitten in heart, to kill (him). There is an
antithesis
between the remember of this verse and the remembered
of ver.
14.
Though he did not remember mercy, God remembers guilt. The
last
phrase, to kill, denotes both the
design and the extent of the malignant
persecution
which was deadly or to death. The object of the persecution
is
the psalmist himself, or the ideal person whom he represents. See ver. 22.
17. And he loved a curse, and it has come (upon) him; and he delighted
not in blessing, and it
has removed far from him. This verse contemplates
the
event as actually past. The optative meaning, given to the verbs in
the
English Bible, is as inconsistent with the form of the original as the
future
meaning given in the Prayer Book and the ancient versions.
18. And he has put on cursing as his garment, and it has come like water
into his inside, and
like oil into his bones. There is an obvious climax in
this
verse. That which is first described as the man's exterior covering, is
then
said to be within him, first as water, then as oil or fat, first in the
vessels
of his body, then in his very bones. The general idea is that the
curse,
which he denounced and endeavoured to inflict on others, has taken
possession
of himself, both within and without. Compare Num. v. 22,
24,
27. The first clause admits of a different construction, which would
make
it descriptive of the crime and not the punishment. He put on curs-
ing
as his garment, and (now) it has come, &c. This construction intro-
duces
an antithesis, and thereby adds to the point of the sentence, and is
also
recommended by the analogy of ver. 17.
19. Let it be to him as a garment (that) he wears, and for a belt let hiim
always gird it. This is not a mere
reiteration of the figure in the first
clause
of ver. 18, but conveys the additional idea of a habitual and constant
presence.
The word belt is used in the
translation of the last clause, be-
cause
the Hebrew word to which it corresponds is not the usual derivative
of
the verb that follows, but etymologically unconnected with it.
20. (Be) this the wages of my adversaries from Jehovah, and of those
speaking evil against my
soul.
The pronoun this in the first clause refers
to
the whole preceding series of denunciations. The word translated wages
means
originally work, and secondarily the
price or recompence of work or
labour,
and is so used in the law of Moses. See Lev. xix. 13. It is here
peculiarly
appropriate, because it represents the misfortunes of his ene-
mies
as the direct fruit of their own misconduct. No single word in Eng-
lish
can express this double meaning of the Hebrew. Such is their work
and
such their wages. The word translated
adversaries is a cognate form
to
that used in ver. 6, and might suggest the idea of my Satans; but this
would
probably convey too much. From Jehovah,
their reward or recom-
pence
to be expected from him, or already bestowed by him. The descrip-
tion
in the last clause includes insult, slander, and malicious plotting.
21. And thou, Jehovah, Lord, do with me for thy name's sake, because
good is thy mercy set me
free.
The emphatic thou at the beginning
indi-
VER.
22-29.] PSALM CIX. 455
cates
a contrast between God and his oppressors. Do
with me is a com-
mon
English phrase meaning deal with me,
dispose of me; but no such
diom
exists in Hebrew, and the best authorities regard the construction as
elliptical,
and make it mean, do kindness (or skew mercy) to me. With the
last
clause compare Ps. lxiii. 4 (3), lxix. 17 (16).
22. For afflicted and poor (am) I, and my heart is wounded within me.
This,
though indefinite in form, is equivalent to saying, I am the afflicted and
poor
man whom the malignant adversary persecuted, as was said, in ver. 16.
The
word translated wounded strictly means pierced or perforated, a stronger
expression
than the one in ver. 16. With the first clause compare Ps.
xi.
18 (17), lxix. 30 (29).
23. Like a shadow at its turning I am gone; I am driven away like the
locust. The first comparison is
the same with that in Ps. cii. 12. Our
idiom
enables us to imitate the phrase I am
gone, a passive which in He-
brew
occurs only here. The other verb is rare, but its meaning is suffi-
ciently
determined by usage. The allusion here is to the violence with
which
a cloud of locusts in the east is scattered by the wind. Compare
Exod.
x. 19, Joel ii. 20, Nah. iii. 17.
24. My knees totter from fasting, and my flesh fails from fatness. The
last
phrase is obscure, but seems to mean from
being fat, so that it is not
fat;
the privative usage of the preposition being very common. The sense
thus
put upon the verb is justified by the analogy of Isa. lviii. 11, where an
equivalent
expression is applied to failing waters. Some interpreters, how-
ever,
insist upon retaining the strict sense both of verb and noun, and
understand
the clause to mean, my flesh lies or deceives the eye, by no
longer
appearing as it once did, or by seeming to exist when it is gone,
from
oil, i. e. from want of oil, because no longer taken care of and anointed.
But
no construction could well be more forced and far-fetched. It may
also
be objected that the external use of oil was to anoint the head on festive
occasions,
not to fatten the person or preserve the flesh.
25. And I have been a reproach to them, they see me, they shake their
head. A reproach, an object of contempt,
as in Ps. xxii. 7 (6), xxxi. 12 (11). As to the
meaning
of the gesture mentioned in the last clause, see above, on Ps. xxii. 8 (7).
26. Help me, Jehovah, my God, save me, according to thy mercy. The
renewed
description of his sufferings, in ver. 22-25, is followed by a re-
newed
petition for deliverance, corresponding to that in ver. 21. Accord-
ing to thy mercy, i.e. in proportion to
its greatness and the freeness with
which
it is exercised.
27. And they shall know that this (is) thy hand; thou, Jehovah, hast
done it. The optative
construction, let them know, and the
subjunctive
one,
that they may know, are really involved in the more exact translation,
they shall know. The subject of the
verb may be men in general, or the
persecuting
adversaries in particular, more probably the latter, because they
are
referred to both before and after. This
is thy hand, i. e. this deliver-
ance
is the product of thy power. Compare Ps. lix. 14 (13).
28. They will curse, and thou wilt bless; they have risen up, and shall be
shamed, and thy servant
shall be glad.
The first clause, expressed in our
idiom,
would be, they may curse, but thou wilt
bless. Risen up, i. e. against
me,
a favourite expression in the Psalms. Shamed,
in the pregnant sense
of
being disappointed, defeated, confounded. Thy
servant, i. e. I, as such,
in
that capacity or character.
29. Clothed shall my adversaries be with confusion, and dressed, as a robe,
456 PSALM CX. [VER.
1.
in their shame. This is not the mere
expression of a wish, like that in
ver.
18, which would here be out of place, but a confident anticipation, with
which
he concludes the psalm. Compare Ps. lxxi. 13. The word tran-
slated
robe denotes a garment reaching to
the feet, and expresses therefore
still
more strongly the idea that his foes shall be completely covered with
confusion.
30. I will thank Jehovah greatly with my mouth, and in the midst of
many will I praise him. He vows that his thanksgiving shall not
be
merely
mental or domestic, but audible and public. With the last clause
compare
Ps. xxii. 23 (22).
31. For he will stand at the right hand of a poor (man), to save (him)
from the judges of his
soul.
This assigns the special reason of his promised
praise.
The verse is in strong contrast to ver. 6 above, especially if
Satan
be there taken as a proper name. The right hand here is not the
place
of honour but of protection. A poor man,
as in ver. 16, means this
poor man, i. e. me a poor man.
Compare Ps. xxxiv. 7 (6). The last
clause
is correctly paraphrased in the common version, those that condemn
his soul.
PSALM
CX.
THIS is the counterpart of the
Second Psalm, completing the prophetic
picture
of the conquering Messiah. The progressive development of the
Messianic
doctrine lies in this, that the Kingship of Messiah, there alleged
and
confirmed by a divine decree, is here assumed at the beginning, and
then
shewn to be connected with his Priesthood, which is also solemnly
proclaimed,
and its perpetuity ensured by a divine oath. This constitutes
the
centre of the psalm, ver. 4, to which all the rest is either introductory,
ver.
1-3, or supplementary, ver. 5-7. The repeated, explicit, and
emphatic
application of this psalm, in the New Testament, to Jesus Christ,
is
so far from being arbitrary or at variance with the obvious import of the
psalm
itself, that any other application is ridiculous. The chief peculiarity
of
form is a frequent change of person, not unlike that in Ps. xci.
1. By David. A Psalm. Thus saith Jehovah to my Lord, Sit thou at
my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. The ascription of
the
psalm to David is not only uncontradicted by external evidence, but
corroborated
by the internal character of the composition, its laconic
energy,
its martial tone, its triumphant confidence, and its resemblance to
other
undisputed psalms of David. In addition to all this, we have the
authority
of Christ himself, who not only speaks of it as David's, but
founds
an argument upon it, the whole force of which depends upon its
having
been composed by him. See Mat. xxii. 43, Mark xii. 36, Luke xx.
42,
and compare Acts ii. 34. As a further confirmation of the truth of
this
inscription, some allege the obvious relation of this psalm to those
before
it, as forming with them a Davidic trilogy. See above, on Ps. cviii. 1.
Thus saith Jehovah, or more exactly, a dictum (or saying) of Jehovah.
For
the origin and usage of this formula, used only in prophetic declara-
tions,
see above on Ps. xxxvi. 2 (1). My Lord,
i. e. David's, as our
Saviour
explicitly declares in the passages already cited, yet not of David
merely
as a private person, nor even as an individual king, but as repre-
senting
his own royal race and the house of
The
person thus described as the superior and sovereign of David and his
VER.
2.] PSALM CX. 457
house,
and of all
sons
and successors except one, who, by virtue of his twofold nature, was
at
once his sovereign and his son. See Rom. i. 3, 4. That the Lord here
meant
was universally identified with the Messiah by the ancient Jews, is
clear,
not only from their own traditions, but from Christ's assuming this
interpretation
as the basis of his argument to prove the Messiah's super-
human
nature, and from the fact that his opponents, far from questioning
this
fact, were unable to answer him a word, and afraid to interrogate him
further
(Mat. xxii. 46). The original form of expression, in the phrase Sit
at my right hand, is the same as in Ps.
cix. 31. A seat at the right hand
of
a king is mentioned in the Scriptures as a place of honour, not arbitra-
rily,
but as implying a participation in his power, of which the right hand
is
a constant symbol. See above, on Ps. xlv. 10 (9), and compare Mat.
xix.
28. The sitting posture is appropriate to kings, who are frequently
described
as sitting on their thrones. See above, on Ps. xxix. 10. In
this
case, however, the posture is of less moment than the position. Hence in
Stephen
sees Christ standing at the right
hand of God (Acts vii. 55, 56),
and
Paul simply says he is there (Rom. viii. 34). The participation in the
divine
power, thus ascribed to the Messiah, is a special and extraordinary
one,
having reference to the total subjugation of his enemies. This idea is ex-
pressed
by the figure of their being made his footstool, perhaps with allusion
to
the ancient practice spoken of in Josh. x. 24. This figure itself, how-
ever,
presupposes the act of sitting on a throne. It does not imply
inactivity,
as some suppose, or mean that Jehovah would conquer his foes
for
him, without any intervention of his own. The idea running through
the
whole psalm is, that it is in and through him that Jehovah acts for the
destruction
of his enemies, and that for this very end he is invested with
almighty
power, as denoted by his session at the right hand of God. This
session
is to last until the total subjugation of his enemies, that is to say,
this
special and extraordinary power of the Messiah is then to terminate, a
representation
which agrees exactly with that of Paul in 1 Cor. xv. 24-28,
where
the verse before us is distinctly referred to, although not expressly
quoted.
It is therefore needless, though grammatical, to give the until an
inclusive
meaning, namely, until then and afterwards, as in Ps. cxii. 8
below.
This verse, it has been said, is more frequently quoted or referred
to,
in the New Testament, than any other in the Hebrew Bible. Besides the passages
already
cited, it lies at the foundation of all those which represent Christ as sitting
at
the
right hand of the Father. See Mat. xxvi. 64, 1 Cor. xv. 25, Eph. i. 20-22,
Phil. ii. 9-11,
Heb.
i. 3, 14, viii. 1, x. 12, 13, 1 Pet. iii. 22, and compare Rev. iii. 21.
2. The rod of thy strength will Jehovah send forth from Zion; rule
thou in the midst of
thine enemies.
The Psalmist now addresses the Messiah
directly.
The idea latent in the figures of the first verb, namely that of
power,
is here expressed. The word (hF.,ma) translated rod never means a
sceptre, as the synonymous term
(Fb,we)
sometimes does, from which it is
distinguished
by Ezekiel (xix. 11), but a rod of correction and of chastise-
ment.
See Jer. xlviii. 12, and compare Isa. ix. 3 (4), x. 5, 15, xiv. 4, 5,
Ezek.
vii. 10, 11. It is here named as the instrument with which the
foes
are to be subdued. Compare Ps. ii. 9. There may be an allusion to
the
rod of Moses. See Exod. xiv. 16, 21, and compare Isa. x. 24, 26.
The rod of thy strength, or thy rod of
strength, thy strong rod, or
rather
the rod by means of which thine own strength is to be exerted. As
458 PSALM
CX.
[VER. 3.
this
strength is not human but divine, it is said to be sent forth by Jehovah
out
of
See
above, on Ps. xx. 3 (2). The verb translated rule is not applied in
usage
to a peaceful reign, but to coercive or compulsory dominion over
conquered
enemies. See above, on Ps. xlix. 15 (14), and compare Num.
xxiv.
19. The imperative here involves prediction in its strongest form. As if he had
said,
All is ready for the conquest; there is no resistance; there can be no doubt of
the
result; rule, therefore, in the midst thine enemies, i. e. over the very
enemies
by
whom thou art surrounded, and who threatened to dethrone thee.
3. Thy people (are) free-will-offerings in the day of thy power, in holy
decorations, from the
womb of the dawn, to thee (is) the dew of thy youth.
Every
member of this very obscure verse has been a subject of dispute and
of
conflicting explanations. The common version of the first words (thy
people shall be willing) is entirely
inadmissible as an exact translation, since
the
word translated willing is a plural
substantive of the feminine gender,
and
not an adjective agreeing with the masculine singular noun people.
The
idea, however, is the same, but expressed with far more strength and
beauty.
The plural noun just mentioned is the one used to denote spon-
taneous
gifts, or free-will-offerings, under the law of Moses. See above. on
Ps.
liv. 8 (7), and compare Exod. xxv. 2, xxxv. 29, xxxvi. 3, Lev. xxii. 23.
By
supplying the correlative verb, which may be considered as latent in
the
noun, we obtain the sense, thy people
(offer) voluntary gifts. But by
supplying
the substantive verb, which is far more natural and common, we
obtain
the still more striking sense, thy people are themselves such gifts,
i.
e. they freely consecrate themselves to God. In this sense of voluntary
self-dedication,
the reflexive form of the verbal root is used even in historical
prose
(1 Chron. xxix. 14, 17), especially in reference to military service
(Judges
v. 2, 9, 2 Chron. xvii. 16). The day of
thy power, the day in
which
it is exerted and displayed in the subjugation of thine enemies. The
next
phrase literally means, in beauties
(or ornaments) of holiness, which
may
either have its obvious spiritual sense, as in Ps. xxix. 2, or that of holy
decorations, with allusion to the
sacerdotal dress, which is expressly called
garments of holiness, Lev. xvi. 4. The last
is the sense put by the modern
interpreters
upon the phrase, which then means that the people, when they
make
this solemn offering of themselves to God, appear clothed in sacerdotal
vestments,
as the servants of a priestly king (ver. 4 below), and themselves
a
"kingdom of priests" (Exod. xix. 6). The womb of the dawn (or day-
break) is a very strong
poetical description of the origin or source of the
dew which immediately
follows, and the sense of which must determine that
of
the whole clause. The most probable opinions as to this point are the
following.
Some suppose the clause to be descriptive of the multitude of
warriors
who devote themselves to the Messiah, and who are then described
as
no less numerous than the drops of dew born from the womb of morning.
The
objection to this is, that it lays too much stress upon mere members,
and
expresess that idea by a figure neither common nor altogether natural.
Another
explanation makes the point of the comparison with dew, not
numbers,
but beauty, brilliancy thus corresponding to the holy decorations
of
the other clause. Here again the comparison selected is by no means
obvious,
much less familiar. Lovely or beautiful as dew is not a combina-
tion
likely to occur to the mind of any writer. In the two interpretations
which
have now been given, youth must be
taken in the sense of young men,
like
the Latin pubes and juventus, when applied to a youthful
soldiery, or
VER.
4.] PSALM
CX.
459
made
to qualify the noun before it youthful
dew, still meaning the young
warriors.
But of such a figure there is not a trace in Hebrew usage, and
in
the only other place where the word (tUdl;ya) occurs, it evidently
means
youth, as a period of human
life (Eccles. xi. 9, 10). Free from all these objections is the
supposition,
that the clause relates not to the numbers or the beauty of Messiah's people,
but
to their perpetual succession, expressed by a fine poetical comparison with
dew,
engendered
afresh daily from the womb of the morning. Youth
will then have its proper
sense,
as denoting the perpetual youth of the Messiah, whose body is thus constantly
renewed
by the successive generations of his people. This construction also enables
us
to divine the clause more equally than in the masoretic interpunction,
which,
at all events, is either incorrect or rather musical than logical.
4. Swurn hath Jehovah, and will not repent, Thou (shalt be) a priest for
ever, after the order of
Melchizedek.
The declaration in the last clause of
ver.
3 is here repeated in another form, and with a statement of the ground
or
reason upon which it rests. What was there poetically represented as
the
perpetual youth of the Messiah is here more solemnly described as a
perpetual
priesthood, indissolubly blended with a perpetual kingship, both
secured
by the oath of God himself. He will not
repent, there is no fear or
even
possibility of his breaking or retracting this engagement, for such it is,
and
not a mere declaratory attestation of the present fact or general truth,
as
it might seem to be from the common version, not only here but in Heb.
v.
6, vii. 17, 21, in every one of which places the Greek conforms exactly
to
the Septuagint version and the Hebrew text, the art being constantly
supplied
by the translators. That the clause is a promise, and as such
relates
directly to the future, is clear from the whole tenor of the psalm as
a
prophetic one, as well as from the oath, which is not used in Scripture to
attest
mere matters of fact, but to confirm the divine promise and threaten-
ings.
The indefinite expression, a priest,
is intended to describe the office
in
itself considered, without reference to temporary distinctions and grada-
tions.
It therefore comprehends whatever appertained to the office of the
High
Priest, as the head and representative of all the rest. After the order,
i.
e. according to the manner, character, or institution. It is remarkable
that
this phrase (like tUdl;ya in ver. 3) is almost peculiar to this
psalm and
the
book of Ecclesiastes, being found besides in only one place (Job v. 8).
In
all the direct quotations of the verse in Hebrews, the Septuagint version
of
this word (ta<cin) is retained. But in one of the more indirect citations
(Heb.
vii. 15) another word (o[moio<thta) is substituted,
shewing that the
essential
idea is that of likeness or resemblance. This likeness consists
primarily
in the union of the regal and sacerdotal offices. See Gen. xiv. 18.
The
meaning of the verse in its original connection is, that this royal con-
queror
is also a priest, who makes atonement for the sins of his people, and
thus
enables and disposes them to make the dedication of themselves
described
in the preceding verse. The perpetuity of this relation, and its
confirmation
by the oath of God, are attendant circumstances but essential,
and
as such insisted on by the apostle, Heb. vii. 20-24. The coincidences
founded
on the meaning of the names Melchizedek and
and
on the want of hierarchical succession in both cases (Heb. vii. 3), are
perfectly
legitimate, but not essential to the understanding of the verse
in
its original connection. The inspired commentary on this sentence,
which
occupies the whole seventh chapter of Hebrews, is not intended
merely
to explain its meaning, but also to make use of its terms, and the
460 PSALM CX. [VER.
5-7
associations
coupled with them, as a vehicle of other kindred truths, belong-
ing
to the Christian revelation, and not necessarily suggested by the psalm
to
its original readers.
5. The Lord on thy right hand has smitten, in the day of his anger, kings.
Some
suppose this to be addressed to Jehovah, and
the Lord to mean
Messiah,
on the ground that they could not each be on the right hand of
the
other. See above, ver. 1. That they could be so, however, only shows
that
the whole description is a figurative one, and that the principal figure
has
a twofold meaning. On the right hand
has precisely the same meaning
here
as in Ps. cix. 31, where it denotes the place of protection or assistance,
the
figure being probably derived from the usages of war, in which one who
succours
or protects another may be said to strengthen his right hand as
the
member which he uses in his own defence. In one sense, therefore,
the
Lord is at the right hand of Jehovah; in another sense, Jehovah is at
his.
This assistance, far from excluding, presupposes his own action, or
rather,
what Jehovah is described as doing for him he does through him.
See
above, on ver. 1. The word translated smite
is very strong and has
repeatedly
occurred before. See above, on Ps. xviii. 39 (38), lxviii. 22,
24
(21, 23). The day of Jehovah's wrath is coincident with that of the
Lord's
strength in ver. 3. The strength of the Messiah, as a conqueror, is
to
be exerted in giving effect to Jehovah's wrath against his enemies. The
position
of the word kings at the end of the
sentence, although harsh and
almost
ungrammatical in English, is retained in the translation for the sake
of
its effect upon the emphasis and point of the description. The objects
of
Jehovah's wrath and the Messiah's strokes are not to be mere ordinary
men,
but kings, if they continue to oppose themselves. See above, on Ps.
ii.
2, 10. The tense of the verb may be regarded as an instance of praete-
ritum, phropheticam, describing what is
certainly to happen as already past.
6. He will judge among the nations—he has filled (them) with corpses—
he has smitten the head
over much, land
(or over the wide earth). By another
sudden
change of form, the Messiah is again spoken of as a third person.
The
judgment here ascribed to him is only another name and figure for the
conquest
just described. The form of expression in the last clause is
unusual
and obscure. The common version makes both head
and land
collectives,
the heads over many countries. Some
interpreters explain the
second
word in this way, but the first more strictly, as. denoting a single
ruler
over many countries. Others invert the torms, and understand by
head
the various chiefs of nations, but by earth
the whole earth with its qualifying
epithet
of great or wide. Amidst these questions of construction or minute
interpretation,
the
general idea is clear enough, to wit, that of universal conquest on the part of
the
Messiah,
and extending to all earthly principalities and powers.
7. From the brook in the way he will drink, therefore will he raise the
head. According to the
masoretic interpunction, in the way
does not qualify
the brook but he will drink, a distinction of little
exegetical importance.
Unlike
the foregoing verse, the one before us is perfectly clear in its parti-
cular
expressions, but obscure in its general import and relation to the
context.
The most probable meaning of thr first clause is, that he shall
not
be exhausted like those wandering in the desert (Ps. cii. 24, cvii. 4, 5)
but
refreshed and strengthened, with a reference, as some suppose, to the
relief
experienced by Samson (Judges xv. 18, 19). The raising of the
head,
in the last clause, is an obvious and intelligible figure for exhilaration,
or
relief from dejection and depression, which is naturally indicated by the
VER.
1-3.] PSALM CXI. 461
hanging
of the head. The only question is whether this effect is here sup-
posed
to be produced in the conqueror himself or in others. In favour of
the
former explanation is the parallel clause, which represents him as
assuaging
his own thirst. In favour of the other is the analogy of Ps. iii.
4
(3), xxvii. 6, where God is said to raise the head of man. As in other
doubtful
cases, where the senses are not incompatible or exclusive of each
other,
it is safe, if not entirely satisfactory, to leave them side by side, the
rather
as the words could probably not fail to suggest both ideas to the
Hebrew
reader.
PSALM
CXI.
THIS is an alphabetical psalm, in
which the Hebrew letters mark the be-
ginning
not of verses but of clauses. The first eight verses contain each
two
clauses; the last two consists of three. The psalm begins with an in-
vitation
to the public praise of God, ver. 1, then assigns, as the ground and
object
of this praise, his dealings with his people, ver. 2-9, and ends with the
conclusion,
that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, ver. 10.
There
is nothing in the psalm itself to determine its date or its historical
occasion.
According to Hengstenberg, it is the first psalm of a trilogy,
added
to the ancient one preceding (Ps. cviii.–cx.) after the return from
exile.
1. Hallelujah! I will thank Jehovah with a whole heart, in the company
of the upright and in
the congregation.
The Hallelujah (praise ye Jah)
marks
the designation of the latter psalms for permanent use in public wor-
ship,
as the inscription to the chief musician
does that of the older ones.
With a whole heart, or with all (my) heart, as it is fully expressed in Ps.
lxxxvi.
12. Compare Ps. cxix. 2. The word translated company means
properly
a circle of confidential friends. See above, on Ps. xxv. 14, lv. 15
(14),
lxiv. 3 (2), lxxxiii. 4 (3). It is here applied to the church or chosen
people,
as constituting such a company or circle, in opposition to the world
without.
It is not, therefore, really distinct from the congregation men-
tioned
in the last clause, but another name for it. The upright (or straight-
forward) is a title given to
the true
downwards.
See Num. xxiv. 10.
2. Great are the works of Jehovah, sought (according) to all their desires.
The
common version of the last phrase, all
them that have pleasure therein,
supposes
the text to be differently pointed, as in Ps. xl. 15 (14), lxx. 3 (2).
The
received text can only mean to (for or
according to) all their wishes.
The
antecedent of the pronoun (their)
seems to be the upright in ver. 1.
For
a similar construction of the same pronoun, see below, on ver. 10. The
clause,
thus construed, is obscure, but may be understood to mean, that
when
the works of God are sought out,
investigated, or explored, their great-
ness
fully satisfies the hopes and wishes of his people. Another possible
sense
is, that they are sought for, i. e.
the experience or knowledge of them
eagerly
desired, with (literally as to) all
their wishes, i. e. with avidity, or,
as
it is expressed in the preceding verse, with
all the heart.
3. Honour and majesty (is) his work—and his righteousness standing for
ever. In the first clause, work is the subject of the proposition, honour and
majesty the predicate. His work is honour and majesty, i. e.
all that he
does
is noble and majestic, worthy of the great King, to whom these epithets
are
often applied elsewhere. See above, on Ps. civ. 1. His work means
462 PSALM CXI. [VER.
4-9.
specifically
here what he does for the protection and deliverance of his
people.
In the last clause, as in many other places, this work is referred
to
his righteousness, not his justice, in the technical and strict
sense, but his
rectitude, including his fidelity
to his engagements, and securing the exercise
of
his covenanted mercy. This seems more natural than to explain it as
meaning
the practical justification of his people by his providential care of
them.
Standing to eternity (or perpetuity), not fitful or capricious,
not
confined
or temporary, but perpetual and constant.
4. A memory has he made for his wonderful works; gracious and compas-
sionate (is) Jehovah. The first clause,
though not exactly rendered, is
correctly
paraphrased in the English Bible, he hath
made his wonderful works
to be remembered, and still more freely
in the Prayer-Book version. The last clause
shews
that the wonderful works of the first
are not the wonders of creation, nor those
of
providence in general, but those wrought for the benefit of
this
clause are borrowed from Exod. xxxiv. 6. See above, on Ps. ciii. 8.
5. Prey hath he given to those fearing him; he will remember to eternity
his covenant. The first word properly
denotes the food of wild beasts, and
may
here be either a poetical equivalent to food,
provision, as in Prov.
xxxi.
15, Mal. iii. 10, or intended to suggest the additional idea of food ob-
tained
at the expense of enemies. In either case there seems to be no reason
for
restricting the clause to the supply of
would
necessarily occur to every reader, as the great historical example of
the
general fact alleged, and in the last clause represented as a proof of
God's
fidelity to covenant engagements.
6. The power of his works he has declared to his people, (so as) to give
to
them a heritage of
nations.
He has shewn them what powerful things he
can
do, by favouring them so far as to drive out nations from their seats,
and
make his people their successors and, as it were, their heirs. This re-
fers
to the conquest of
sessions,
including all the territories gained in war from the surrounding
nations,
till the death of David. The construction of to give as a gerund
(by giving) is not a Hebrew idiom, and
restricts the meaning of the clause
unduly.
See above, on Ps. lxxviii. 18.
7. The works of his hands are truth and judgment; sure (are) all his
precepts. The second clause is
not an iteration of the first, but an inference
from
it. If what God does himself is always done in faithfulness and justice
to
his people, then what he requires them to do must certainly be right and
best,
and his requisitions therefore may be trusted and confided in, the true
sense
of the adjective or participle here employed.
8. Settled for ever and ever, done in truth and right. The subjects
are
the
same as in ver. 7, but presented in an inverse order, the first clause re-
lating
to the precepts, the last to the works, of God. The former are settled,
firmly
supported, founded, or established, not capricious and precarious.
The
latter, by which they are recommended and attested (see above, on
ver.
9), and works of faithfulness and rectitude. The last word in Hebrew
is
an adjective used as a neuter or abstract noun, in which respect the
English
right resembles it.
9. Redemption he has sent to his people; he has ordained to eternity his,
covenant; holy and
fearful is his name.
That this verse was intended to
consist
of three clauses, is clear from the fact that it contains three letters
of
the alphabet in regular succession. The same thing is true of the re-
maining
verse. The first clause relates mainly, not exclusively, to the
VER.
1-3.] PSALM
CXII.
463
deliverance
from
truth,
attested and exemplified by the particular fact mentioned in the first.
Fearful, not merely to his foes
but to his people, who can never cease to
worship
him with holy awe.
10. The beginning of wisdom is the fear of Jehovah; a good understanding
(is) to all (those)
doing them; his praise endureth for ever. This is the
conclusion
drawn from all that goes before. Since all God's dealings with
his
people are in faithfulness and truth, and his commands not only are but
must
be right, then the first step in wisdom, its first principle or element, is
reverence
for such a Being, proved by obedience to his will. The same
sentiment
occurs in Prov. i. 7, ix. 10, Job xxviii. 28. The intimate con-
nection
of the verse, notwithstanding its proverbial or aphoristic form, with
the
foregoing context, is apparent from the reference of the pronoun them to
the
plural nouns of the preceding verses. Endureth
for ever, literally (is)
standing to eternity. This is equivalent to
saying that he will and must be
praised
for ever, corresponding to the Halleujah
at the beginning of the
psalm.
PSALM
CXII.
ANOTHER alphabetical psalm of
precisely the same character, coinciding
with
the one before it, even in the number of verses, and the number of
clauses
in each verse. This formal agreement shews the intimate connec-
tion
of the two compositions, and makes it highly probable that they belong
not
only to the same age but to the same author, and were meant to form
parts
of one continued series or system. This psalm begins precisely where
the
one before it ends, i. e. with the happiness arising from the fear of Gods
ver.
1, the blessed effects of which are then recounted under several parti-
culars,
ver. 2-9, and finally contrasted with the fate of the ungodly, ver. 10.
1 . Happy the man fearing Jehovah, in his commandments delighting greatly,
There
is here not only an obvious connection with the close of the preceding
psalm,
but an obvious advance upon it or progression of ideas. As the fear
of
the Lord is there declared to be the principle of all true wisdom, so here
it
is declared to be the source of all true happiness. The second clause
defines
the meaning of the first, by showing that the fear there mentioned
is
a fear consistent with, or rather necessarily involving, a complacent
acquiescence
in God's will, thus entirely excluding a mere slavish dread,
which
is incompatible with such a disposition.
2. Mighty in the earth shall be his seed; the race of the upright shall be
blessed. The first phrase is
borrowed from Gen. x. 8, and would at once
suggest
to every Hebrew reader the idea of a mighty man like Nimrod and
the
other ancient heroes. Now a promise of personal heroism is perhaps
without
analogy, especially as given to the son, to the exclusion of the
father.
This anomaly can be avoided only by assuming, what is probable
enough
in itself, that the ideal person here described represents the chosen
people,
the upright of the other clause, each successive generation of whom.
might
be expected to excel its predecessors in heroic eminence.
3. Wealth and riches (are) in his house, and his righteousness endureth
for
ever. Not only in his
dwelling but in his family, so that his wealth or
prosperity
might have been said to endure for ever as well as his righteous-
ness,
i. e. his recognition and reception as a righteous person, his justifica-
tion.
Endureth, literally (is) standing, the same expression that
is used in
464 PSALM CXII. [VER. 4-7.
Ps.
cxi. 3 of God himself. There is also an analogy, at least in form, be-
tween
the majesty and honour of the
righteous God and the wealth and
riches of the righteous man.
4. There arises in the darkness light to the upright—kind, and compas-
sionate, and righteous. The figure in the first
clause is a natural and com-
mon
one, denoting relief from deep distress. See above, on Ps. xcviiT. 11.
In
the last clause we have another instance of the singular way in which
terms
applied to God in the preceding psalm are copied and applied to man
in
this. The first two epithets in this clause are employed above in Ps.
cxi.
4. The principle involved may be the same as in Luke vi. 36. "Be ye
therefore
merciful, as your Father also is merciful." Compare Matt. v. 48.
To
these two epithets is added that of righteous,
in the wide sense including
both
the others. The construction of the sentence is unusual and doubtful;
but
most probably the second clause sustains the same relation to the other,
as
in ver. 1; that is to say, it limits and defines the general description
upright, by confining it to
such as have the qualities expressed by the three
adjectives
that follow. The alternation of the numbers is familiar where the
singular
denotes an ideal individual including many real ones.
5. Happy the man shelving favour and lending; he shall sustain his affairs
by justice. The first word in
Hebrew, which means good, is here
descrip-
tive
not of character but of condition, and denotes good fortune. It is used
in
the same sense by Isaiah (iii. 10) and Jeremiah (xliv. 17). The com-
mon
version (a good man) is forbidden by
the Hebrew collocation. Lending,
not
as a financial or commercial operation, but as an act of charity, lending
to
the poor. The verb in the last clause strictly means to provide for or
sustain,
especially with food. See above, on Ps. lv. 23 (22). It is here
applied
to the control and management of all one's interests. Affairs,
literally
words, but in the wider sense of that
which words denote, namely
things,
affairs, in which sense it is sometimes applied to causes or suits at
law.
The last word is commonly translated judgment,
not in the sense of
discretion, given in the English
versions, but in that of practical justice,
righteous
conduct. He shall best secure his own interests by treating those
of
others justly and generously.
6. For to eternity he shall not lie moved ; to the memory of eternity he
shall
be righteous. The for assigns the reason for his being
pronounced happy.
Moved, i. e. from his
prosperous condition, or from his position as a righteous
man.
The construction of the last clause in the English versions (the
righteous shall be in
everlasting remembrance) is grammatical, and yields a
good
sense; but the latest interpreters prefer another, which makes to ever-
lasting remembrance mean the same as to eternity. As long as he shall be
remembered,
he shall be remembered as a righteous man. This construction
has
the advantage of making the parallelism more exact.
7. From evil tidings he shall not fear; fixed is his heart, trusting in
Jehovah. The first Hebrew noun
is in the singular number, and is properly
a
participle passive meaning heard, used absolutely as a noun denoting what
is
heard, a rumour or report, news or tidings. The common version (he
shall not be afraid of
evil tidings)
seems to confine the negation to the mere
apprehension
or anticipation of bad news, whereas the original expression comprehends,
and
indeed more properly denotes, being frightened when the evil tidings are heard.
A
fixed heart is the negation both of
fickleness and cowardice. See above, on Ps. li. 12 (10),
lvii.
8 (7), cviii. 1. Instead of the active participle trusting, the Hebrew has the passive
trusted, analogous to that in
Ps. ciii. 14.
VER.
1-3] PSALM
CXIII.
465
8. Settled (is) his heart, he shall not fear, until he look upon his foes
(with
triumph).
The first word is another expression borrowed from the foregoing
psalm,
but applied in a manner altogether different. See Ps. cxi. 8, where
the
plural of the same participle is applied to God's commandments. The
construction
in the last clause is the idiomatic one of the verb see with the
preposition
in, which usually means to see with
strong emotion, and espe-
cially
with joy or triumph. See above, on Ps. 1. 23, liv. 9 (7). Until does
not
imply that he shall then fear, but that there will then be no occasion so
to
do. See above, on Ps. cx. 1.
9. He has scattered, he has given to the poor, his righteousness endureth
for ever, his horn shall
be high with honour.
The first verb denotes profuse
munificence,
as in Prov. xi. 34. This is alleged not as the cause but the
effect,
and therefore as the evidence of his being righteous. The next clause
is
the same as the last of ver. 3. With the last clause compare Ps. lxxv.
5
(4), lxxxix. 18 (17).
10. The wicked shall see and fret; his teeth he shall gnash, and shall melt
away; the desire of the
wicked shall perish.
He shall see, but not with triumph
or
delight, like the righteous in ver. 8. The word translated fret means
both
to grieve and be angry, and has no exact equivalent in English. See
above,
on Ps. vi. 8 (7), x. 14, xxxi. 10 (9). Gnash
with his teeth, a strong
expression
of impotent malignity. See above, on Ps. xxxv. 16, xxxvii. 12.
Melt away, literally be melted,
i.e. waste or decay. See above, on Ps. xxii.
15
(14), lxviii. 3 (2). The desire of the
wicked is his wish to see the righteous
perish.
Compare Prov. x. 24, 28, Job viii. 13, and the contrary promise
to
the humble, Ps. ix. 19 (18).
PSALM
CXIII.
THE Psalmist celebrates the majesty
of God, ver. 1-5, in contrast with
his
gracious condescension to his suffering creatures, ver. 6-9. According
to
a Jewish usage, which appears to have existed even in the time of Christ,
the
six psalms beginning with this one constitute the Greater Hallel, sung
at
the annual festivals, especially the Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles.
According
to Hengstenberg's arrangement, this psalm closes a second trilogy,
added
to the Davidic one (Ps. cviii.—ex.) after the return from
1. Hallelujah! Praise, 0 ye servants of Jehovah, praise the name of
Jehovah! As the title, Servant of Jehovah, is applied to eminent leaders
of
the chosen people (Ps. xviii. 1, xxxvi. 1, xc. 1, cv. 6), so the plural,
Servants of Jehovah, designates his chosen
people itself. See above, Ps.
xxxiv.
23 (22), lxix. 37 (36), and below, Ps. cxxxvi. 22, and compare Ezra
v.
11, Neh. i. 10, from which last places it appears, that this was a familiar
form
of speech with the returned exiles.
2. Be the name of Jehovah blessed, from now and even to eternity. In
this
as well as the preceding verse, the name
of Jehovah involves the usual
allusion
to the manifestation of his nature in his former acts. See above,
on
Ps. v. 12 (11). The wish expressed in this verse implies a perpetual
continuation
or renewal of the evidence already furnished.
3. From the rising of the sun even to its setting, (to be) praised (is
the)
name of Jehovah. With the first clause
compare Ps. 1. 1. The last clause
might
be grammatically construed as a wish, like that in the preceding
verse,
praised (be the) name of Jehovah. It
is more probable, however,
466 PSALM CXIII. [VER. 4-.9.
that
the passive participle (laudatus) was
meant to have the force of a
gerundive
(laudandus). See above, on Ps. xviii.
4 (3).
4. High above all nations (is) Jehovah; above the heavens (is) his
(glory).
The
two clauses are declaratory of his infinite superiority, both to the
animate
and inanimate creation, each being represented by its noblest part;
the
former by mankind, and that considered not as individuals but nations;
the
latter by the heavens. This is certainly more natural, and yields a
better
sense, than to give the preposition (lfa) a different meaning in
the two
clauses,
in the first that of above, in the
second that of on, in which case it
is
necessary to explain on heaven as
meaning in heaven, just as on the earth
and
in the earth are convertible
expressions. See above, on Ps. lvii. 6 (5).
5. "Who is like Jehovah, our God, the (one) dwelling high? The
verb
denotes
not merely dwelling, but sitting
enthroned, sitting as a king. The original
construction
of the last clause is peculiar, the (one)
making high to sit (or dwell).
6. The one seeing deep—in heaven and in earth. The construction of
the
first clause is precisely the same with that of the last clause in ver. 5,
and
must be explained in the same manner. As
making high to dwell
means
dwelling high, so making low (or deep) to see must mean seeing deep,
i.
e. far below. It also follows from the exact correspondence of these
clauses,
that the remaining words of ver. 6 are to be connected with the
first
words of ver. 5. Who is like Jehovah, our
God . . . in heaven, and
in earth? The rest will then be
read as a parenthesis. This construction
is
confirmed by the analogy of Deut. iii. 24.
7. Raising from the dust the poor—from the dunghill he will lift the
needy.
The
mention of God's seeing far below him suggests the idea of his conde-
scension
to the humblest objects which he thus beholds. The word trans-
lated
poor is one of wide signification,
meaning sometimes poor in flesh and
sometimes
poor in purse. See above, on Ps. xli. 2 (1). The parallel term
means
poor in the strict sense, i. e.
needy, destitute. Dust and dunghill,
common
figures in all languages for a degraded social state. The terms
are
borrowed from the prayer of Hannah, 1 Sam. ii. 8. Compare Ps.
xliv.
26 (25).
8. To make him sit with nobles, with the nobles of his people. Not
merely
to dwell, which is too vague,
but to sit with them, as their equal and asso-
ciate.
There is also a climax in the last clause. He not only raises the
poor
to an equality with nobles in general, but with the nobles of his people,
i.
e. with the noblest of mankind. See again, 1 Sam. ii. 8.
9. Making the barren (one) of the house to sit a joyful mother of
children.
Hallelujah! The common version (to keep house) is founded upon Ps.
lxviii.
7 (6), but is here at variance both with Hebrew usage and the
masoretic
accents, which require (tr,q,fE) barren
and (tyiBaha) the house to
be
closely united in construction, as above. The form of expression is like
one
in Ps. lxviii. 13 (12). To sit might
be rendered to dwell without any
material
change of sense; but the former keeps up the uniformity with
ver.
5, 8, where the same Hebrew word is used. The historical allusion is
to
Hannah who, with other long childless mothers mentioned in the sacred
history,
was a type of the Church in its low estate, and more especially in
exile.
Compare Isa. liv. 1.
VER.
1, 2.] PSALM
CXIV.
467
PSALM CXIV.
As the preceding psalm encouraged
the people of God, in a time of trial,
by
reminding them that, although infinitely exalted, he condescends to
notice
and relieve the sufferings of his creatures, so the one before us is
intended
to produce the same effect, by bringing to their recollection what
he
actually did for
deliverance
he acknowledged
attested
the acknowledgment by miracle, ver. 3, 4. Nature herself, whose
course
was interrupted, is appealed to as a witness, ver. 5, 6, that she is
subject
to the God of Israel, ver. 7, 8. There is no improbability in the
opinion
that this psalm, with those which immediately follow, was intended
to
continue the series begun in the two preceding trilogies (Ps. cviii.—cx.,
cxi.—cxiii.),
and intended to sustain the hopes of the Jewish Church after
its
return from
1. In the coming forth of
people of strange
language.
The first phrase is not to be restricted to the
very
act or moment of the exodus, but comprehends the whole Mosaic
period,
of which this was the characteristic and critical event. The house
of Jacob is a phrase peculiarly
appropriate to those who entered
a
family, and left it as a nation. Of strange language is a paraphrase of
one
Hebrew word, apparently a participle and occurring only here; but
according
to its obvious etymological affinities, it probably means stammer-
ing, and then, by an
association common in antiquity, speaking
barbarously
i.
e. in a foreign language. All such expressions may perhaps involve an
allusion
to the pre-eminence of Hebrew, as the primitive and sacred lan-
guage.
It was no small part of the humiliation to which
in
pendence
to a nation who did not even speak the sacred language, much less
profess
the true religion, so inseparably blended with it. See above, on Ps.
lxxxi.
6 (5), and compare my note on Isa. xxxiii. 19.
2.
an
equivalent to
the
psalm was written, but because it was destined to become so from the
first.
See Gen. xlix. 10. Became, literally was for, which might mean
nothing
more than served as or was treated as; but this construction of
the
verb to be with to or for is the only
representative in Hebrew of our
word
become. The sense thus obtained is
entirely consistent with the call-
ing
of Abraham, because what is here meant is that
now
publicly declared to be the chosen or peculiar people, an idea expressed
by
the phrase his sanctuary or holy thing, i. e. something set apart
exclu-
sively
to his use and service. The parallel word in the original is plural,
dominions or domains, in reference, as some suppose, to the plurality of
tribes,
but according to others, in contrast with the lordships and dominions
of
the world, to all which
as
the infinite superiority of the true God to all false gods is expressed or
suggested
by the plural name Elohim. Here, as
in Ps. lxxxvii. 1, the pro-
nouns
are without an antecedent in the sentence. The reference to God is
so
self-evident, that the only question has respect to the unusual form,
which
some explain by supposing that the psalm was originally part of the
preceding
one, or at leak designed to be always read or sung directly after
it.
The latest interpreters prefer the explanation, that the name of God.
468 PSALM CXIV. [VER.
3-8.
was
designedly suppressed, in order that the questions in ver. 5, 6, might
appear
more natural and yet more striking.
3. The sea saw and fled—the
versive
prefix to affect both verbs, we may render the last also as a prete-
rite,
turned back. The historical allusion
is to Exod. xiv. 21, Josh. iii. 14-
17.
At the same time, as seas and rivers are familiar emblems of the world
and
its nations, the reminiscence is adapted to suggest the hope, that other
seas
and other rivers may be yet controlled by the same power. See above,
on
Ps. lxxvii. 17 (16), xciii. 3, cvii. 23.
4. The mountains skipped like rams, (the) hills like the young of sheep.
As
the
Psalmist is reciting actual events, to be used as symbols and pledges of
others,
this cannot be explained as a poetical figure, but must be understood
as
referring to the concussion of Sinai, with its various peaks and neigh-
bouring
mountains. See Exod. xix. 18, Judges v. 4, Ps. lxviii. 9 (8),
xevii.
4, 5, Hab. iii. 6. Here again the familiar use of mountains to denote
states
and empires is suggestive of the same consolation as in ver. 3.
5. What aileth thee, 0 sea, that thou fleest—O
back? By a fine poetical
apostrophe, the Psalmist, instead of simply stat-
ing
the cause of these effects, puts the question to the natural objects which
thus
witnessed and attested the divine presence. The first phrase literally
means,
what (is) to thee, the nearest
approach that the Semitic dialects can
make
to our expression, what have you,
which in some languages, the French
for
instance, is the usual equivalent to what
ails you?
6. Ye mountains, (that) ye skip like rams—ye hills, like the young of
sheep?
The
sentence is continued from the foregoing verse, being still dependent on
the
question there asked. In this interrogation the terms of ver. 3, 4, are
studiously
repeated. The young of sheep, literally sons of the flock.
7. From before the Lord tremble, 0 earth, from before the God of Jacob,
As
in other cases of rhetorical interrogation, the writer or speaker answers
his
own question. The imperative mood is here peculiarly significant, in-
cluding
both a recollection and prediction; as if he had said, the earth might
well
tremble at the presence of the Lord, and may well tremble at it still,
From before is better than at the presence of, because the very
form of the
expression
necessarily suggests the ideas of recoil and flight. Before is it-
self
a compound term in Hebrew, meaning to the
face of. The word trans-
laced
Lord is the simple or primitive form
of Adhonai, and is applied both to
God
and man, in the sense of lord or master. See Exod. xxiii. 17, Mal. iii. 1.
8. Turning the rock (into) a pool of water, the flint to springs of water.
This
refers to the miraculous supply of water in the desert. See above, on
Ps.
cvii. 35, and compare Exod. xvii. 6, Num. xx. 11, Deut. viii. 15,
xxxii.
13, Isa. xli. 18. The connection with the preceding verse is still
more
marked in the original, the first words of which strictly mean the (one)
turning, &c. The reader is
left to draw for himself the natural and obvious
conclusion,
that the God, who thus drew water from a flinty rock for the
supply
of
the
hardest and most inauspicious situations. When this thought is sup-
plied,
the psalm no longer seems unfinished or abrupt in its conclusion.
PSALM CXV.
GOD is entreated by his people to
vindicate not their honour but his own,
ver.
1, 2, which is contrasted with the impotence of idols and their worship-
VER.
1-7.] PSALM
CXV. 469
pers,
ver. 3-8, and urged as a reason why his people should trust in him,
for
a large increase, ver. 9-15, and a fulfilment of his purpose to glorify
himself
by the praises of the living, not the dead, ver. 16-17, in the promo-
tion
of which end the church declares her resolution to co-operate for ever,
ver.
18. The general tenor of the psalm, thus stated, and its particular
contents,
make it perfectly well suited to the state of things in which the
series
is supposed to have been written, namely, that succeeding the return
from
exile, but before the actual rebuilding of the temple.
1. Not unto us, Jehovah, not unto us, but to thy name give glory, for thy
mercy, for thy truth. The glory meant is not
that of former but of future
deeds.
The implied petition is, that God would interpose for the deliver-
ance
of his people, not to do them honour, but to glorify himself, and
especially
to vindicate his mercy and fidelity, which seemed to be dis-
honoured
by his desertion of the chosen people. See above, on Ps. lxxix. 9,
and
compare Num. xiv. 15, Isa. xliii. 7, 25, xlviii. 9, 11, Dan. ix. 18. The
favour
sought is the completion of the work of restoration, still imperfect,
though
auspiciously begun.
2. Why should the nations say, Where now is their God? Why should
they
have occasion so to ask? The form of expression is borrowed from
Ps.
lxxix. 10, with the addition of (xnA) now, which is not a particle of time,
but
of entreaty, or, in this connection, of triumphant demand. Where,
pray, is their God? This verse is
explanatory of the one before it, by shew-
ing
that there really was need of something to silence the reproaches of the
heathen,
a description exactly corresponding to the state of the Jews at the
Restoration.
3. And our God (is) in heaven; all that he pleased he has done. The
and, though foreign from
our idiom, adds sensibly to the force of the ex-
pression.
They ask thus, as if our God were absent or had no existence;
and
yet all the while our God is in heaven, in his glorious and exalted
dwelling-place.
Compare Ps. ii. 4, xi. 4, ciii. 19. The same phrase, but
in
the future tense, is used by Solomon (Eccles. viii. 3). The same idea is
expressed
in other words, Gen. xviii. 14, Job xxiii. 13.
4. Their idols (are) silver and gold, the work of the hands of man.
Here
begins
the contrast between the true God and all others. Their idols, those
of
the Gentiles, who reproach us with the absence or indifference of our
God.
For the associations coupled with the word for idols, see above, on
Ps.
cvi. 38. Hands of man, not of a man, but of mankind, i. e. human
hands.
With this whole passage compare Isa. xl. 18-20, xli. 7, xliv. 9-20,
xlvi.
5-7, Jer. 28, x. 3-15.
5. They have a mouth and speak not; they have eyes and see not. As the
verb
to have is wanting in the Hebrew and
its cognate languages (see above,
on
Ps. cxiv. 5), it is not a literal translation of the original expression,
(there
is) a mouth to them, (there are) eyes to them. The future includes
not
only a simple affirmation, they speak not, they see not, but the future and
potential
sense, they never will or can speak or see.
6. They have ears and hear not, they have a nose and smell not. The
antithesis
is that expressed in Ps. xciv. 9, that God is the former of the eye and
the
planter of the ear in man; much more than can he see and hear himself.
7. They have hands, and feel not; they have feet, and walk not; they do
not mutter in their
throat.
The sameness of this long enumeration, the
force
of which is logical and not poetical, is partially relieved by a change
in
the form of the original, which cannot well be imitated in translation.
470 PSALM CXV. [VER. 8-14.
Their hands, and they
feel not; their feet, and they walk not. Some make
the
first words in each clause nominatives absolute; their hands—they feel
not; their feet—they
walk not.
But in the preceding parts of the descrip-
tion,
the verbs relate not to the particular members, but to the whole per-
son.
It is better, therefore, to supply a verb—their
hands (are there), and
(yet)
they feel not—their feet (are there),
and (yet) they go not. The Eng-
lish
feel is to be taken in its physical
and outward sense, corresponding to
the
Latin palpo, here used by the Vulgate
and Jerome. A less equivocal
translation
would be touch. The other verb
denotes all progressive move-
ments
of the body, comprehended in the English go.
See above, on Ps.
civ.
8. The meaning of the last clause is, that they cannot even make the
faintest
and most inarticulate guttural noise, like the lower animals; much
less
speak as men do. See above, on Ps. xxxv. 28, lxxi. 24.
8. Like them shall be those who made them, every one who trusts in them.
The
last clause forbids the application of the fast to the mere artificers, as
such,
and fastens it on those who trust in idols, whether made by them or
by
others for them. However formidable now, they shall hereafter be as
powerless
and senseless as the gods they worship. The translation are is
contrary
to Hebrew usage, which requires the present tense of the substan-
tive
verb to be suppressed.
9. 0
This
is the practical application of the contrast just presented. Since idols
are
impotent and God almighty, it is folly to fear them or their servants;
it
is worse than folly not to trust in Him. The last clause is borrowed
from
Ps. xxxiii. 20. After addressing
resumes
the third person in the second, and, as if speaking to himself,
assigns
the reason for the exhortation. The first clause is, as it were,
uttered
in a loud voice, and the second in a low one.
10. 0 house of Aaron, trust ye in Jehovah; their help and their shield
(is) He. Before the exile this
particular address to the priests would have
been
surprising. It is perfectly natural, however, after the return from
the
priests bore so large a proportion, not only to the other Levites, but to the
whole
nation, and naturally exercised a paramount influence in its affairs.
11. Fearers of Jehovah, trust ye in Jehovah; their help and their shield
(is) He. He turns again to the
people at large, who are here described as
fearers
of Jehovah, not in reference to the actual character of all the indi-
vidual
members, but to the high vocation of the body. See above, Ps,
xxii.
24 (23), cxi. 5.
12. Jehovah hath remembered us; he will bless, he will bless the house of
Israel; he will bless
the house of Aaron.
The exhortation to confide is God
does
not imply that he has yet done nothing. He has already shewn
his
gracious recollection of us by beginning to bless us, and he will still go
on
to bless us; an idea simply but beautifully expressed by the repetition
of
the verb, the effect of which is spoiled in the common version by need-
lessly
supplying us.
13. He will bless the fearers of Jehovah, the small with the great.
There
is
no need of explaining the great to be
the priests and the small the laity.
It
is much more natural to understand this as an instance of a common
Hebrew
idiom, which combines small and great in the sense of all, just as
neither good nor evil means neither one thing
nor another, i. e, nothing.
Compare
2 Kings, xviii. 24, Jer. xvi. 6, Rev. xiii. 16, xix. 6.
14. May Jehovah add to you, to you and to your children! This implies
VER.
15-18.] PSALM
CXV.
471
a
previous diminution of the people, such as really took place in the Baby-
lonish
exile. The optative meaning of the verb, both here and in Gen.
xxx.
24, is clear from Deut. i. 11, 2 Sam. xxiv. 3. The Hebrew preposi-
tion
strictly means upon you, and conveys
the idea of accumulation much
more
strongly. See above, on Ps. lxxi. 14, where we have an example of
the
same construction.
15. Blessed are ye of Jehovah, Maker of heaven and earth. Ye are the
people
blessed of old in the person of your father Abraham, by Melchizedek,
priest
of the Most High God, saying, "Blessed be Abraham of the Most
High
God, creator of heaven and earth," Gen. xiv. 19. Of Jehovah, lite-
rally
to Jehovah, as an object of
benediction to him. Or the Hebrew pre-
position,
as in many other cases, may be simply equivalent to our by. The
creative
character of God is mentioned, as ensuring his ability, no less than
his
willingness, to bless his people.
16. The heavens (are) heavens for Jehovah, and the earth he has given to
the sons of man. This verse suggests
another reason why God would in-
crease
them, namely, that although he reserved heaven for himself, he
designed
the earth to be filled and occupied by man, and hence in the
primeval
blessing on mankind, as originally uttered, and as repeated after
the
flood (Gen. i. 28, ix. 1), the command to increase is coupled with that
to
fill the earth. Now if it is not God's will that the race should be dimi-
nished
and reduced to nothing, much less can such be his intention with
respect
to his own people. The form of expression in the first clause is
unusual.
The construction given in the English Bible (the heaven, even the
heavens, are the Lord's) is entirely
gratuitous, the distinction of numbers
(heaven, heavens), and the emphatic even,
being both supplied by the trans-
lators.
The Hebrew word is plural in both cases, and is indeed used only
in
that number.
17. (It is) not the dead (that) are to
praise Jah, and not all (those) going
down in silence. This may be regarded as
a further reason for expecting
the
divine protection. God has chosen a people, from among the nations
of
the earth, to praise him, not when dead but living, not in the silence of
the
grave, but with their voices in the present life. Thus understood, the
verse
teaches nothing as to the employments of the disembodied spirit, or
of
soul and body in the future state. All that is affirmed here (and per-
haps
in other places like it) is that the praises of the chosen people, as
such,
must be limited to this life. See above, on Ps. vi. 6 (5), xxx. 10 (9)
lxxxviii.
11-13 (10-12), and compare Isa. xxxviii. 18. Silence, a poetical
description
of the grave or the unseen world, as in Ps. xciv. 17.
18. And (therefore) we will bless Jah from now even to eternity. Hal-
lelujah! As it is not the dead who are to do it, and as
we are still pre-
served
alive, let us answer our vocation and the very end of our existence.
The
insensible transition from temporal to eternal praise is altogether
natural.
The hallelujah refers back to the
expression praise Jah (yehalle-
lujah) in ver. 17. As if he
had said, Let us do what, the dead can not,
shout
Hallelujah!
PSALM
CXVI.
THE Church declares her resolution
to praise Jehovah for the deliverance
which
she has experienced, ver. 1, 2, and which is then described with
some
particularity, ver. 3-10, followed by a declaration of the way in which
472 PSALM
CXVI. [VER. 1-5.
the
Church means to express her gratitude, ver. 11-19. The Septuagint
and
Vulgate, which combine the two preceding psalms as one, divide the
one
before us into two, with as little reason in the one case as the other.
The
state of things referred to in this psalm, as one of mingled joy and
grief,
and its peculiarities of language, all combine to fix its date imme-
diately
after the return from
1. I love—because Jehovah hears my voice, my supplications. The com-
mon
version gives the sense correctly, but by a transposition of Jehovah,
avoids
the singular peculiarity of form in the original. The object of the
verb
I love is easily supplied from the
remainder of the sentence. Compare
Ps.
xviii. 2 (1), Dent. vi. 5. Both verbs may be translated in the present,
though
of different tenses in the Hebrew. The preterite form of the first
(I have loved) implies that the occasion
had already been afforded; the
future
form of the second (he will hear),
that it was continued and would
be
continued. The last word, according to its etymology, means prayers
for
grace or favour.
2. For he has inclined his ear to me, and in my days 1 will call (upon
him). The original idea of the figure in the first
clause seems to be that
of
leaning forward to catch a sound otherwise too faint to be distinctly
audible.
See above, on Ps. xxxi..3 (2); and compare Ps. xvii. 6, lxxi. 2,
lxxviii.
1, cii. 3. In my days is commonly
understood to mean through
all
the days of my life, or as long as I live. Compare Isa. xxxix. 8, and
see
above, on Ps. civ. 33. I will call might be understood to mean,
I will
still
pray to him who has hitherto answered my petitions. But to call upon
God is applied not only to
prayer but to thanksgiving, as appears frcm ver.
13
below, where indeed we have the execution of the purpose here avowed.
3. The bands of death enclosed me, and the pangs of hell found me; dis-
tress and grief I find. Here begins the
description of the sufferings from
which
God had delivered him. The expressions are borrowed from. Ps.
xviii.
5, 6 (4, 5). The twofold use of the verb find
in this verse is analo-
gous
to that of the synonymous verbs catch
and seize in English, when a
man
is said to catch a disease, and the disease is said to seize the man.
Compare
Ps. cxix. 143 with Prov. vi. 33. Hell, in the wide sense corre-
sponding
to Sheol, the grave, death, or the state of the dead. See above,
on
Ps. vi. 6 (5).
4. And on the name of Jehovah I call; ah now, Jehovah, deliver my
soul! The future in the first
clause may be strictly translated (I will
call)
as
expressing the determination which he formed in the midst of his dis-
tress.
See above on Ps. xviii. 5, 7 (4, 6). Ah
now corresponds exactly,
both
in origin and meaning, to the intensive particle of entreaty (hnA.xA for
xn.AxA from h.xA and xnA), which the common
version paraphrases, I beseech
thee. One of the elements of
which it is compounded occurs above, Ps. cxv. 2.
5. Gracious (is) Jehovah and righteous, and our God shews pity. With
the
first clause compare Ps. cxi. 4, cxii. 4. The last word in Hebrew is
the
active participle of the verb to pity,
to compassionate, and is here used
to
denote a habit as distinguished from a momentary feeling.
6. A preserver of the simple (is) Jehovah; I was brought low, and to me
he brought salvation. Here again the first
word is an active participle,
keeping the simple, i. e. habitually
watching over them. For the mcaning
of
the simple, see above, on Ps. xix. 8
(7). The word brought, twice used
in
translating this verse, has nothing distinctly corresponding to it in the
VER.
7-13.] PSALM
CXII.
473
Hebrew,
but by a fortuitous coincidence, enters into two English phrases,
by
which the original verbs may best be represented. The verb translated
brought low means to be reduced, in
person, strength, or circumstances.
See
above, on Ps. lxxix. 8, and compare the cognate adjective in Ps. xli.
2
(1). The other is the common Hebrew verb to
save, here expressed by
a
circumlocution, for the purpose of retaining the original construction with
the
preposition to, which also occurs
above, Ps. lxxii. 4, lxxxvi. 16.
7. Return, 0 my soul, unto thy rest, for Jehovah hath bestowed upon thee
(favour).
By calling on his soul, which had been agitated and alarmed, to
return
to its repose, he implies the cessation of the danger. Rest, literally
rests or resting-places, implying fulness or completeness of repose. See
above,
on Ps. xxiii. 2. For the sense and usage of (lmnA) the last verb,
see
above, on Ps. xiii. 6 (5), and compare Ps. vii. 5 (4), ciii. 10. The un-
usual
grammatical forms in this verse are similar to those in Ps. ciii. 2, 5.
8. For thou hast delivered my soul from death, my eye front weeping, my
foot from falling. By a sudden
apostrophe, God is now addressed directly.
The
first and last members of the sentence are borrowed from Ps. lvi.
14
(13). The second bears some resemblance to Ps. lvi. 9 (8) and Jer.
xxxi.
16.
9. I will walk before Jehovah in the land of life (or of the living).
This
is
also borrowed from Ps. lvi. 14 (13), with the substitution of land (lite-
rally
lands) for light. Compare Ps. xxvii. 13. The hope here expressed
is
in contrast with Ps. cxv. 17.
10. I believed, for (thus) I
speak; I was afflicted greatly. I must have
exercised
faith, or I could not thus have spoken. The Septuagint version,
retained
in the New Testament (2 Cor. iv. 13), clothes the same essential
meaning
in a different form, I believed,
therefore have 1 spoken. It was
because
his faith enabled him to speak, so that his speaking was a proof of
faith.
11. I said in my terror, All mankind (are) false. The form of expres-
sion
in the first clause is borrowed from Ps. xxxi. 23 (22). But instead of
being
a confession of error it is here rather a profession of faith. Even in
the
midst of his excitement, terror, panic, he could turn away from all
human
aid and trust in God alone. The proposition, all mankind are false,
i.
e. not to be trusted or relied upon, implies as its complement or converse,
therefore
God alone is to be trusted. See the same contrast stated more
explicitly
in Ps. cxviii. 8, and compare Ps. 9, 10 (8, 9), cviii. 13 (12),
cxlvi.
3, 4.
12. How shall I requite to Jehovah all his bestowments upon me. Be-
tween
this verse and that before it, we must supply the thought that his
faith
was rewarded and justified by the event. This is indeed implied in
the
interrogation now before us. How,
literally what, i. e. (in) what (way),
or
(by) what (means)? See Gen. xliv. 16.
The unusual word bestowments
is
here used to represent a Hebrew one occurring only here, but evidently
formed
from the verb (lmaGA) to confer or bestow upon, employed in
ver. 7
above.
The peculiar form both of the noun and pronoun (yhOlUmn;Ta) is
regarded
by the highest philological authorities as fixing the date of the
composition
after the Captivity.
13. The cup of salvations I will take up, and on the name of Jehovah
will call. This is commonly
explained by a reference to the Jewish tradi-
tion
of a cup of thanksgiving which accompanied or followed the thank-
474 PSALM
CXVI.
[VER 14-19.
offerings.
But we read of no such cup in Scripture, and its origin may
probably
be traced to the rabbinical interpretation of this very passage.
Interpreted
by Scriptural analogies, it simply means, I will accept the por-
tion
God allots me. For this figurative use of cup,
see above, on Ps. xi. 6,
xvi.
5. The plural form, salvations,
denotes fulness or completeness, as in
Ps.
xviii. 52 (51), liii. 7 (6). Take up,
as if from the table where the
hand
of God has placed it; or lift up,
towards heaven as a gesture of
acknowledgment.
14. My vows to Jehovah will I pay—in the presence of all his people.
The
word now, in the common version,
misleads the English reader, who
can
scarcely fail to understand it as an adverb of time, meaning at present,
immediately, without
delay,
whereas it is the particle of entreaty (xnA) used
in
Ps. cxv. 2, and here employed to modify the bold avowal of a purpose,
by
making it dependent on divine permission. As if he had said : my vows
to
Jehovah I will pay—let me do it in the presence (I entreat) of all his
people.
The same meaning is attached by some to the augmented or
paragogic
form of the word translated presence,
and which strictly means the
front
or forepart. Both these peculiarities are reckoned among the indica-
tions
of a later age of Hebrew composition.
15. Precious in the eyes of Jehovah (is) the death of his gracious ones (or
saints). The idea and expression
are borrowed from Ps. lxxii. 14, where
the
same thing is said of their blood. The word for death has the same
peculiarity
of form as that for presence in ver.
14, and is construed in the
same
way with the preposition to, the death to
his saints, e. the
death
belonging to them, which they die. These are regarded by the
critics
as additional tokens of the age in which the psalm was written. The
verse
assigns the reason for the preceding vow, to wit, that God counts the
death
of his people too costly to be lightly or gratuitously suffered.
16. Ah now, Jehovah—for I (am) thy servant, I (am) thy servant, the
son of thy handmaid;
thou hast loosed my bonds. The expression of en-
treaty
at the beginning has reference to some thing not expressed, though
easily
supplied, namely permission thus to testify his gratitude. Ah now,
Lord
(suffer me thus to do) for I am thy servant, &c. The additional
phrase,
son of thy handmaid, is much stronger
than thy servant, and de-
scribes
him as a home-born slave. See above, on Ps. lxxxvi. 16, In the
last
clause we have another instance of a preposition (l) interposed between
the
active verb and its object, in a way unknown to the older Hebrew. It is
possible,
however,
to translate the words, thou hast freed
(me) as to (i.e. from) my bonds.
17. To thee will I sacrifice a sacrifice of thanks, and on the name of
Jehovah will I call. The sense is not, I
will offer thanks instead of an oblation, but an
oblation
really expressive of thanksgiving and appointed for that purpose.
18. My vows to Jehovah will I pay in the presence (I entreat) of all his
people. An exact repetition of
ver. 14, with all its singularities of form.
19. In the courts of the house of Jehovah, in the midst of thee,
Hallelujah! This verse completes the
one before it, and explains the phrase,
before all his people. Some regard it as a
proof that the psalm was
composed
after the actual rebuilding of the temple. But in Ezra ii. 68,
iii.
8, we find the designation house of God
applied to the consecrated site.
The
use of the word courts is still more
natural, because it originally
means
enclosures, which might be and no
doubt were defined, long before
the
temple was rebuilt. This explanation seems to be confirmed by the
VER.
1.] PSALMS CXVII,
CXVIII. 475
addition
of the last clause. In the courts of the Lord's house, that is, on
the
consecrated spot in the midst of thee, 0
PSALM
CXVII.
THIS, which is the shortest psalm in
the collection, has evidently no in-
dependent
character or even meaning of its own, but was designed to be
a
chorus or doxology to a longer composition. Its position is sufficiently
accounted
for by the assumption, that it was primarily meant to serve the pur-
pose
just described with reference to the psalm or to the trilogy immediately
preceding;
while its being separately written as an independent psalm may
have
arisen from the purpose to use it sometimes in a different connection,
with
which view it would naturally be left moveable, like the doxologies in
our
modern books, which may be attached to any psalm or hymn, at the
discretion
of the person who conducts the service.
1. Praise Jehovah, all ye nations; laud him, all ye peoples. The last
word
is
a different plural from that in Gen. xxv. 16, Num. xxv. 15, and belongs,
no
doubt, to the later Hebrew. Here, as in Ps. xlvii. 2 (1), lxvi. 8, xcviii. 4,
the
whole world is invited to praise God for his favours shewn to
2. For mighty over us has been his mercy, and the truth of Jehovah (is) to
eternity. Hallelujah! The verb at the
beginning means not merely to be
great,
but to be strong or powerful. See above, on Ps. ciii. 11. The pre-
position
over suggests the idea of protection,
or, if translated on, that of
favour
descending from above.
PSALM
CXVIII.
AFTER an invitation to praise God
for his goodness to his people, ver.
1-4,
the occasion of this praise is more particularly stated, namely, that he
has
delivered
their
highest confidence, ver. 5-14. After another statement of the favour
just
experienced, ver. 15-18, the people are described as entering the
sanctuary,
there to give thanks and implore the divine blessing on the en-
terprise
in which they are engaged, ver. 19-29. The ideal speaker, through-
out
the psalm, is
celebrated
cannot be identified with any one so naturally as with that from
the
Babylonish exile. Some, on account of supposed allusions to the temple
us
already built, refer the psalm to the times of Nehemiah. Others, with more
probability,
though not with absolute conclusiveness, infer from the tone of
lively
joy and thankfulness pervading the whole composition, that it was
written
and originally sung soon after the return; and from the allusions
in
ver. 22, 25, that it has reference to the founding of the second temple,
and
is the very psalm, or one of the psalms mentioned in the history, Ezra
in.
10, 11, where its first and last words are recited. The mention of
David
in that passage is accounted for by the assumption that this psalm
was
sung only as a part of the whole series, which opens with a Davidic
trilogy,
Ps. cviii.–cx.
1. Give thanks unto Jehovah, for (he is) good, for unto eternity (is) his
mercy. The opening formula is
common to this psalm with Ps. cvi. and
cvii.
Its elements are also found, combined with others, in Ps. c. 4, 5.
With
the second member of the sentence compare Ps. xxv. 8, lxxiii. 1.
476 PSALM CXVIII. [VER. 2-9.
2. Oh that
clause
of this translation is a paraphrase of the original, to which the
particle
of entreaty (xnA) gives a strong optative meaning. Here, as, in
Ps.
cxvi.
14, 18, the common version (now) is equivocal. That version also
has
that instead of for, in the last clause of this and the two next verses.
This
translation is perfectly grammatical, and makes the sentence more
complete
in itself. But besides that it breaks the studied uniformity of the
context
by varying the version of the particle (yKi), the dependence of the
clause
on the preceding verse, required and denoted by the use of the word
for,
is really essential to the writer's object. It is as if he had said, the
reason
for thus urging man to praise Jehovah is because his mercy endureth
for
ever, and oh that
3, 4. Oh that the house of Aaron would say—'for unto eternity (is) his
mercy.' Oh, that the
fearers of Jehovah would say--'for unto eternity (is)
his mercy.' The succession of
of
Jehovah, in this and the following verses, is the same as in Ps, cxv.
9-11.
This and the trine repetitions in ver. 10-12, 15, 16, compared
with
that in Ps. cxv. 12, 13, are corroborations of the assumed affinity
between
the psalms of this whole series, both in origin and purpose.
5. Out of anguish I invoked Jah; heard me in a wide place Jah. The
first
noun is a rare one, common to this place and Ps. cxvi. 3, another in-
dication
of affinity. Heard, in the pregnant
sense of heard favourably,
heard
and answered. See above, on Ps. xxii. 22 (21). As the word tran-
slated
anguish originally means pressure,
confinement, the appropriate
figure
for relief from it is a wide room, ample space, enlargement. See
above,
on Ps. iv. 2 (1). To answer in a wide
place is to grant his
prayer
by bringing him forth into such a place.
6. Jehovah (is) for me; I will not fear; what can man do to me? In-
stead
of for me, i. e. in my favour, on my side, the Hebrew (yli) may also be translated
to me, i. e. is or belongs to
me, is mine. See above, on Ps. lvi. 5, 10, 12 (4, 9, 11).
Man does not here mean a man, but mankind, or Man as opposed to God.
7. Jehovah, is for me, among my helpers, and I shall look upon my haters.
Here
again, the first clause may be rendered, Jehovah
is to me (or I have
Jehovah) among or with my
helpers.
With this last expression compare
Ps.
xlv. 10 (9), xcix. 6. The construction in the last clause is the idio-
matic
one meaning to see with joy or triumph, or to see their punishment
and
subjugation. See above, on Ps. liv. 9 (7), and with the whole verse
compare
Ps. liv. 6 (4). As the ideal speaker is the ancient church or
chosen
people, the haters or enemies here meant are primarily heathen
persecutors
and oppressors.
8. It is good to confide in Jehovah (more) than to trust in man. This
and
the next verse affirm clearly and fully what is more obscurely intimated
in
Ps. cxvi. 11. As the Hebrew has no distinct form of comparison, this
is
the nearest possible approach to saying, it
is better. Than, literally
from, away from, implying difference,
and then comparison, but not ex-
pressing
it. The verb confide is the
expressive one originally meaning to
take
refuge or find shelter. See above, on Ps. ii. 12.
9. It is good to confide in Jehovah (more) than to trust in nobles. This
merely
strengthens the foregoing declaration, by rendering it more specific
and
emphatic. The Lord is more to be confided in, not merely than the
VER.
10-13.] PSALM CXVIII. 477
mass
of men, but than their chiefs. Nobles
is a better translation than
princes, because it keeps up
the association with the adjective sense noble,
generous,
liberal, spontaneous, which is otherwise lost sight of. See
above,
on Ps. li. 14 (12). Even the Persian patrons and protectors of the
Jews
had not entirely deserved their confidence; nor at all, in comparison
with
Jehovah their covenanted God.
10. All the nations surround me; in the name of Jehovah—that I will
cut them off. The hyperbolical
expression, all the nations, is less
strange
than
it might otherwise appear, because (MyiOG) nations had now begun to be
familiarly
applied to the gentiles or heathen, not as organized bodies merely,
but
as individuals, especially when numerous. There is nothing unnatural,
therefore,
in the use of this expression to describe the heathen adversaries
of
the Jews at the period of the Restoration, not excepting the Samaritans,
who,
though they claimed to be a mixed race, were really heathen, both in
origin
and character. Another way in which the hyperbole may be ex-
plained,
or rather done away, is by supposing the first clause to be sub-
stantially
although not formally conditional. Should
all nations (or though
all nations should)
surround me.
The strongest sense may then be put
upon
the words all nations, as the act
ascribed to them is merely hypothe-
tical.
The construction of the last clause is unusual and doubtful. Some
arbitrarily
make the yKi
a particle of affirmation, yea, yes, verily, &c.
Others
gain the same sense by explaining the whole phrase to mean, (it is
true,
or it is certain) that I will cut them off.
The same use of the particle
is
thought to be exemplified in Isa. vii. 9. Perhaps the best solution is the
one
afforded by the Hebrew usage of suppressing the principal verb in oaths
or
solemn affirmations. If this may be omitted even when there is nothing
to
denote the character of the expression, and when the form of the expres-
sion
itself is liable to misconstruction, as for instance in the formula with
if,
much more may it be omitted where the sense of the expression is quite
clear,
and its juratory or imprecatory character denoted by accompanying
words.
The sense will then be, in the name of
Jehovah (I swear or
solemnly
affirm) that I will cut them off.
This last verb always means to
cut,
and except in Ps. xc. 6, where one of its derived forms is used, to
circumcise.
It was here used, as some suppose, to suggest that the uncircumcised
enemies
of
sense.
Compare the play upon the corresponding Greek words in Phil. iii. 2, 3.
11. They surround me, yea they surround me; in the name of Jehovah
(I
declare) that I will cut them off. The
same sentence is repeated with a
slight
variation, which consists in the omission of the subject and the
iteration
of the verb, rendered more emphatic by a change of form. The
word
translated yea means also, likewise,
but cannot be so used in the
English
idiom. The climax indicated may be, that the act described is no
longer
hypothetical but actual. They surround me; yes, they really, in
fact,
surround me.
12. They surround me like bees; they are quenched as a fire of thorns; in
the name of Jehovah (I declare) that I will cut them off. This
completes the
trine
repetition so characteristic of these psalms. The point of comparison
with
bees is their swarming multitude and irritating stings. Compare Deut.
i.
44. That with thorns is the rapidity and ease with which they are both
kindled
and extinguished. See above, on Ps. lviii. 10 (9).
13. Thou didst thrust, thrust at me, to (make me) fall, and Jehovah
478 PSALM
CXVIII. [VER.
14-19.
helped me. By a lively apostrophe
the enemy is here addressed directly,
that
is, the hostile heathen power, from whose oppression
been
rescued. See above, on ver. 7. The verb to thrust
or strike at is the
root
of the noun translated falling in Ps. lvi. 14 (13), cxvi. 8.
14. My strength and song (is) Jah, and he has become my salvation.
These
words are from Exod. xv. 2. The first clause is also borrowed by
Isaiah
(xii. 2). My strength and song, my
protection or deliverer, and as
such
the object of my praise. Become my
salvation, literally has been to me
for salvation, a stranger though
synonymous expression for my saviour.
15. The voice of joy and salvation in the tents of the righteous--the right
hand of Jehovah has made
strength. The
word translated joy means properly
the
audible expression of it by shout or song, and is sometimes applied even to
a
cry of distress. Compare Ps. xxx. 6 (5), xlii. 5 (4), xlvii. 2 (1), with Ps.
xvii. 1,
lxi.
2 (1). Joy and salvation are related
as cause and effect, joy occasioned
by
salvation. Tents, a poetical expression
for dwellings. See above, on
Ps.
xci. 10. The righteous, the true
considered.
See above, on Ps. xxxiii. 1. The substantive verb (is) may be
supplied
in this verse, so as to make it a complete proposition; or it may
be
a kind of exclamation, as if he had said, Hark! the voice of joy, &c.
Compare
Isa. xi. 3, 6. The last clause may then be understood as contain-
ing
the words uttered by the voice. The idiomatic phrase at the end may
either
mean that God has acquired or exerted strength. See above, on Ps.
lx.
14 (12), cviii. 14.
16. The right hand of Jehovah, is raised, the right hand of Jehovah makes
strength. This, with the last
clause of ver. 15, makes another of the trip-
lets
or trine repetitions, which are characteristic of these psalms. See
above,
on ver. 2-4, 10-12. Instead of is raised some
read raises or exalts,
which
is equally grammatical, as the active and passive forms in this case
are
coincident. The meaning then is, that his right hand raises or exalts
his
people, as the other clause says that his right hand gains or exercises
strength
in
their behalf. It seems more natural, however, to explain it as an instance of a
common
figure which describes God's hand as raised, when he exerts his power.
17. I shall not die but live, and recount the works of Jah. The
existence
thus
to be preserved is that of
cause
of that existence, which is here stated as a ground of confidence, and
is
elsewhere urged as an argument in prayer. See above, on Ps. cxv. 17,
cxvi.
9, 15, and compare Ps. lxxi. 20. The original construction of the
first
clause is, I shall not die, for I shall
live.
18. Surely has Jah chastened me, but to death did not give me. This
verse,
though simple in its structure and transparent in its meaning, is
highly
idiomatic in its form. The adverb used in the translation represents
the
emphatic repetition of the verb in Hebrew, which is sometimes imitated
in
the English Bible (chastening has Jah
chastened me), but seldom so as to
convey
the whole idea. Of such a repetition we have had an instance in
ver.
13. Another unavoidable departure from the original form consists in
using
but for and, at the beginning of the second clause. Did not give, give
up,
give over or abandon. The chastisement here mentioned must be the
calamity
from which the people had been recently delivered, and in which
we
have already seen good grounds to recognise the Babylonish conquest,
domination
and captivity.
19. Open ye to me the gates of righteousness, I will come in by them, I
will thank Jah. This may have been
intended to accompany the entrance of
VER.
20 -23.] PSALM
CXVIII.
479
the
priests and people into the sacred enclosure, for the purpose of laying
the
foundation of the temple, as when David pitched the tabernacle on
Mount
20. This (is) the gate (that belongs) to Jehovah; the righteous shall come
in by it. Or the meaning may be,
since this is the Lord's gate, let the
righteous
(and no others) enter at it. Many interpreters find obvious indi-
cations
here of double or responsive choirs, by which the psalm was to be
sung.
But this, though possible, is not a necessary supposition, nor is
there
any certain trace of such a usage or arrangement elsewhere in the
book
of Psalms. See above, pp. 109, 110, 112.
21. I will thank thee, for thou host answered me, and hast become my
salvation. This verse assigns the
reason for their entrance. Answered,
in
the
specific sense of answering or granting prayer. See above, on ver. 5.
The
last clause is from ver. 14.
22. The stone (which) the
builders rejected has become the head of the
corner. This is a proverbial
expression, and as such applicable to any case,
in
which what seemed to be contemptible has come to honour. This mode
of
expressing the idea was most probably suggested by the founding of the
temple.
There is no need, however, of supposing any actual dispute among
the
Jewish builders in relation to the corner stone of the sacred edifice. The
sight
of the stone, or the act of laying it, would be sufficient to suggest the
proverb
and its application to the happy change experienced by
lately
blotted from the list of nations, and regarded by the heathen as un-
worthy
even of an humble place in the proud fabric of consolidated empire,
but
now restored not only to a place, but to the highest place among the
nations,
not in point of power, wealth, or worldly glory, but as the chosen
and
peculiar people of the Most High God. As this psalm was sung by
the
people at the last Jewish festival attended by our Saviour, he applied
this
proverb to himself, as one rejected by the Jews and by their rulers, yet
before
long to be recognised as their Messiah whom they had denied and
murdered,
but whom God had exalted as a Prince and a Saviour, to give
repentance
to
another
application of the proverb in its general meaning, has a certain
affinity
with its original application in the verse before us, because the for-
tunes
of the ancient
desioned
resemblance to the history of Christ himself, by a kind of sym-
pathy
between the Body and the Head. Even the temple, which suggested
the
original expression, did but teach the doctrine of divine inhabitation,
and
was therefore superseded by the advent of the Son himself. The head
of the corner means the chief or
corner-stone of the foundation, even in Zech.
iv.
7, where it is translated head stone.
The application of the verse before us
made
by Christ himself (Matt. xxi. 42) is renewed by Peter (Acts. iv. 11.)
23. From Jehovah is this; it is wonderfully done in our eyes. This
signal
revolution in the condition of the chosen people is not the work of
man
but of God. From the Lord, i. e.
proceeding from him as its author.
Is this, literally has been, i. e. happened, come to pass.
In the last clause
it
is said to be not merely wonderful,
but wonderfully done, the Hebrew word
being
a
passive participle, which strictly means distinguished, made to differ, made
strange,
strangely
done. Its plural is continually used as a noun in application to God's wondrous
works
or doings. This, no less than the proverb to which it is attached, was as
appropriate
to
the case of the Messiah as to that of his people, and is accordingly applied in
the same
manner
by himself (Matt. xxi. 42).
480 PSALM CXVIII. [VER. 24-27.
24. This is the day Jehovah has made, we will, rejoice and triumph in it.
By
the day we are here to understand the happier times which
through
God's grace, was permitted to enjoy. This day he is said, as the
author
of this blessed revolution, to have made, created. Some understand
by
day the festival or celebration, at
which the psalm was intended to be
sung.
The day, in this sense, God is said
to have made or instituted not
so
much by positive appointment as by having providentially afforded the
occasion
for it. In a still higher sense, the words may be applied to the
new
dispensation, as a glorious change in the condition of the church, com-
pared
with which the restoration from captivity was nothing, except as a
preliminary
to it and a preparation for it. There is no allusion to the
weekly
Sabbath, except so far as it was meant to be a type of the rest of
the
church from the heavy burdens of the old dispensation.
25. Ah now, Jehovah, save, we beseech thee! Ah now, Jehovah, prosper,
we beseech thee! The circumlocution, we beseech thee, is the only form in
which
the
force of the supplicatory particle (xnA) can be expressed,
without the
risk
of its being mistaken for an adverb of time. The whole phrase (hfAywiOh
xn.A) save, we
pray, became a standing formula of supplication with reference
to
great public interests or undertakings, and reappears in the New Testa-
ment
under the form Hosanna. See Matt.
xxi. 9, where we find it, in the
acclamations
of the multitude, combined with other expressions from this
same
psalm which, as we have seen, they were accustomed to sing at their
great
festivals. See above, on ver. 22.
26. Blessed be he that cometh in the name of Jehovah! We bless you
from the house of
Jehovah.
According to the accents, the construction of
the
first clause is, blessed, in the name of
Jehovah, be he that cometh. This
agrees
exactly with the frequent mention of blessing in the name of Jehovah.
See
below, Ps. cxxix. 8, and compare Num. 27, Deut. xxi. 5, 2 Sam.
vi.
18. He that cometh is commonly and
not improbably supposed to have
meant
primarily the people or their representatives, to whom, as they approach the
sacred
spot, these words were to be uttered. There were other thoughts, however,
which
the words could hardly fail to suggest, for example that of Israel coming back
from
exile, that of God coming back to his forsaken people, and at least in the most
enlightened
minds, that of the great Deliverer, to whose coming all the rest was but
preparatory,
to whom the name xBAha or o[ e]rxo<menoj was afterwards given as
a
standing
appellation, in allusion either to this passage or to Mal. iii. 1, or to both,
and
to whom this very sentence was applied by the multitude who witnessed and
attended
Christ's triumphal entrance into the Holy City. See Matt. xxi. 9.
27. Mighty (is) Jehovah and hath given light to us. Bind the sacrifice
with cords as far as the
horns of the altar.
The first word does not express
the
general idea of divinity, but that of divine power, which is no doubt
essential
to the writer's purpose. It was the power of Jehovah which had
turned
the night of
distress
with the light of his returning favour. The figure is borrowed from
the
pillar of fire, the token of Jehovah's presence with his people in the
wilderness.
See Exod. xiii. 21, xiv. 20, Neh. ix. 12. The last clause has
been
the subject of a good deal of dispute. It is commonly admitted that
(gHa) a Hebrew word, which
properly denotes a periodical or stated festival,
is
here put for the victim offered at it, as in Exod. xxiii. 18, the fat of my
sacrifice is in Hebrew the fat of
my festival (yGHi), and in 2 Chron. xxx. 22,
VER.
28, 29.] PSALM
CXVIII. 481
another
word for festival (dfeOm) is used in precisely the same way,
being
governed
by the verb to eat, although this
singular expression is avoided in
the
English Bible, by the use of the word "throughout." Those who
agree
in this, however, are at variance in relation to the act required. As
the
word translated cords is sometimes
applied to the thick boughs or
branches
of a tree (Ezek. xix. 11, xxxi. 3, 10, 14), some understand the
sense
to be, Bind the sacrifice with branches, sacrificial wreaths. But this
practice,
and the meaning put upon the Hebrew word, are both denied by
others
who allege, moreover, the repeated combination of the same verb and
noun
in the sense of tying, making fast, with cords. See Judges xv. 13,
xvi.
11, Ezek. iii. 25. The English Bible makes the clause refer to the
fastening
of the victim to the altar. To this it is objected that the prepo-
position
(df)
means as far as, and implies a verb
of motion, expressed or under-
stood.
To avoid this difficulty, some of the latest writers understand the
words
to signify the conducting of the victim bound until it reaches the
altar
as the place of sacrifice. Hold fast the sacrifice with cords, until it
comes
to the horns of the altar, poetically put for the altar itself, not only
as
its prominent or salient points, but as the parts to which the blood, the
essential
vehicle of expiation, was applied. Thus understood the clause is
merely
an invitation to fulfil the vow recorded in Ps. cxvi. 14, 17, 18.
28. My God art thou, and I will thank thee; my God, I will exalt thee.
The
Hebrew words for God are not the
same. The second is that commonly
so
rendered, while the first is that used in ver. 27, and denoting the divine
omnipotence.
29. Give thanks unto Jehovah, for (He is) good, for unto eternity (is) his
mercy. In these words we are
brought back to the point from which we
started,
and the circle of praise returns into itself.
PSALM CXIX.
THERE is no psalm in the whole
collection which has more the appear-
ance
of having been exclusively designed for practical and personal improve-
ment,
without any reference to national or even to ecclesiastical relations,
than
the one before us, which is wholly occupied with praises of God's word
or
written revelation, as the only source of spiritual strength and comfort,
and
with prayers for grace to make a profitable use of it. The prominence
of
this one theme is sufficiently apparent from the fact, to which the Masora
directs
attention, that there is only one verse which does not contain some
title
or description of the word of God. But notwithstanding this peculiar
character,
the position of the psalm in the collection, and especially its jux-
taposition
with respect to Ps. cviii.–cxviii., its kindred tone of mingled
gratitude
and sadness, and a great variety of minor verbal correspondences,
have
led some of the best interpreters to look upon it as the conclusion of
the
whole series or system of psalms, supposed to have been written for the
use
of the returned Jews, at or near the time of the founding of the second
temple.
The opinion, held by some of the same writers, that the ideal
speaker,
throughout this psalm, is
people,
will never commend itself as natural or likely to the mass of readers,
and
is scarcely consistent with such passages as ver. 63, 74, 79, and others,
where
the speaker expressly distinguishes himself as an individual from the
body
of the people. The same difficulty, in a less degree, attends the
482 PSALM CXIX. [VER. 1-6.
national
interpretation of the psalms immediately preceding. Perhaps the
best
mode of reconciling the two views is by supposing that this psalm was
intended
as a manual of pious and instructive thoughts, designed for popular
improvement,
and especially for that of the younger generation after the
return
from exile, and that the person speaking is the individual believer,
not
as an isolated personality, but as a member of the general body, with
which
he identifies himself so far, that many expressions of the psalm are
strictly
applicable only to the whole as such considered, while others are
appropriate
only to certain persons or to certain classes in the ancient
stant
repetition and reflection, the psalm is admirably suited by its form
and
structure. The alphabetical arrangement, of which it is at once the
most
extended and most perfect specimen, and the aphoristic character,
common
to all alphabetic psalms, are both adapted to assist the memory, as
well
as to give point to the immediate impression. It follows, of course,
that
the psalm was rather meant to be a store-house of materials for polls
meditation
than a discourse for continuous perusal. At the same time, the
fact
of its existence in the Psalter is presumptive proof that it was used in
public
worship, either as a whole, or in one or more of the twenty-two stanzas into
which
it is divided, corresponding to the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, all the
eight
verses of each paragraph beginning with the same Hebrew letter.
1. Happy the perfect of way, i. e. blameless in their course of life, those
walking in the law of
Jehovah.
There seems to be allusion to the precept
in.
Lev. xviii. 4. The common version of the second Hebrew word (unde-
filed) is derived from the
Vulgate (immaculate), which is itself
too confined
a
version of the Septuagint (a@mwmoi). The essential idea is
that of com-
pleteness
or perfection. The form and construction of the first word are
the
same as in Ps. i. 1.
2. Happy the keepers of his testimonies (who) with a whole heart seek him.
Keepers, observers, those
obeying. Testimonies, the divine
precepts, which
bear
witness against sin and in behalf of holiness. With all the heart, un-
divided
affection. See above, Ps. cxi. 1, and compare 2 Kings xxiii. 3.
Seek him, the knowledge of his
will and the enjoyment of his favour.
3. (Who) also do not practise wrong, (but) in his ways walk. This verse
both
limits and completes the one before it, by shewing that no zeal in
seeking
God can be acceptable, if coupled with a wicked life. In his ways,
not
in those of his enemies, nor even in their own.
4. Thou hast commanded thy precepts, to be kept strictly. Commanded,
given
them in charge, entrusted others with them. The literal meaning of
the
last clause is, to keep very (much),
i. e. not formally or superficially,
but
really and thoroughly. Compare the use of (dxom;) as a noun in Deut. vi.
5.
5. 0 that my ways were settled, to observe thy statutes! The optative
particle
at the beginning occurs only here and, with a slight difference of
pointing,
2 Kings v. 3. My ways, my customary
modes of acting, my
habits.
Settled, fixed, confirmed,
established, in opposition to capricious
vacillation
and unsteadiness. To observe, to
watch for the purpose of obey-
ing.
The word translated statutes,
according to its etymology, means
definite
and permanent enactments.
6. Then shall I not be shamed, in my looking unto all thy commandments.
The
then at the beginning has respect to
the time mentioned in the last
clause.
Shamed, put to shame, defeated,
frustrated, disappointed in one's
VER.
7-13.] PSALM
CXIX. 483
highest
hopes. In my looking suggests the
idea both of time and of causa-
tion,
when I look and because I look. The act itself is that of looking
towards
a mark to be, attained, or towards a model, rule, or standard, to be
followed
and conformed to.
7. I will thank thee with rectitude of heart, in my learning the judgments
of thy righteousness. It is only my
experience of thy righteous judgments
that
enables me to praise thee as I ought; a sentiment peculiarly appro-
priate
to the period of some great deliverance, for instance that of the
return
from exile, when the righteousness of God had been so signally dis-
played
in the destruction of his enemies, and in the fulfilment of his pro-
mise
to his people. Here again, in my learning does not mean merely
after I have learned, but in the very act
and in consequence of learning.
8. Thy statutes I will keep; Oh forsake me not utterly. The fixed
reso-
lution
to obey is intimately blended with a consciousness of incapacity to
do
so, unless aided by divine grace. Utterly,
unto extremity, or still more
literally,
until very (much). The initial words
of this first stanza are all
different,
except that ver. 1, 2, both begin with (yrwx) happiness or happy.
9. By what (means) can a youth
cleanse his path, (so) as to keep
(it) ac-
cording to thy word? To cleanse is here to keep clean or pure from the
stain
of sin. Most interpreters regard the last clause as an answer to the
question
in the first. But this requires the infinitive to be construed as a
gerund
(by keeping), a construction too rare and doubtful to be anywhere
assumed
without necessity. See above, on Ps. lxxviii. 18, cxi. 6. It is
much
more simple and agreeable to usage to regard the whole as one inter-
rogation,
and the second clause as supplementary to the first. To keep
may
then mean to adhere to it, or rather, in accordance with the figure of
the
first clause, to preserve it clear or pure as God requires. The answer
is
suppressed, or rather left to be inferred from the whole tenor of the
psalm,
which is, that men, and especially the young, whose passions and
temptations
are strong in proportion to their inexperience, can do nothing
of
themselves but are dependent on the grace of God. The omission of an
an
answer, which is thus suggested by the whole psalm, rather strengthens
than
impairs the impression on the reader.
10. With my whole heart have I sought thee; let me not err from thy com-
mandments. While the first clause
alleges his sincerity in seeking God,
the
second and third owns his dependence on him for success and safety.
11. In my heart have I hid thy saying, that I may not sin against thee.
The
first phrase means within me, as opposed to a mere outward and cor-
poreal
possession of the written word. Not in my house, or in my hand,
but
in myself, my mind, with special reference, in this case, to the memory.
Hid, not for concealment,
but for preservation. The word saying,
else-
where
used to signify God's promise, here denotes his precept, as it does
in
ver. 67 below. Against thee,
literally as to, with respect to thee.
See
above,
on Ps. li. 6 (4).
12. Blessed (be) thou, Jehovah! Teach me thy statutes! The doxology
seems
designed to break the uniformity of this series of aphorisms, by an
occasional
expression of strong feeling. At the same time, it furnishes a
kind
of ground for the petition in the last clause. Since thou art the
blessed
and eternal God, have pity on my weakness, and instruct me in the
knowledge
of thy will.
13. With my lips have I recounted all the judgments of thy mouth. I
have
not confined the knowledge of thy precepts to my own mind, but im-
484 PSALM CXIX. [VER. 14-24.
parted
it to others. See above, on Ps. xl. 10, 11 (9, 10). Judgments,
judicial
decisions, determinations as to what is right and binding, a descrip-
tion
perfectly appropriate to the divine precepts. Of thy mouth, which thou hast
uttered.
There seems to be allusion to the phrase with my lip in the first clause.
14. In the way of thy testimonies I rejoice as over all wealth. Not
merely
in the knowledge of God's will, but in the doing of it, in treading
the
path which he prescribes for us. Over
may be simply equivalent to in,
or
intended to suggest the additional idea of superiority, above, (or more
than) all wealth. As over, as I do over all the wealth I have, or as I should
do
over all wealth if I had it.
15. In thy precepts will I meditate, and look (at) thy paths. Not only of
thy
precepts or concerning them, but in
them, while engaged in doing them.
Look has the same sense as
in ver. 6.
16. In thy statutes I will delight myself; I will not forget thy word.
Delight
or enjoy myself, seek my pleasure, find my happiness. Hero ends
the
second stanza, in which all the verses except one (ver. 12) begin not
only
with the same letter but the same word, the preposition (b) in.
17. Grant to thy servant (that) I may live, and I will keep thy word.
Grant
to, bestow upon, thy servant this favour. See above, on Ps. xiii.
6
(5). There may be an allusion to the way in which the law connects life
and
obedience. See Lev. xviii. 5, Deut. vi. 24.
18. Uncover my eyes and I will look—wonders out of thy law! The last
clause
is a kind of exclamation after his eyes have been uncovered. This
figure
is often used to denote inspiration, or a special divine communication.
Out of thy law, i. e. brought out to
view, as if from a place of concealment,
19. A stranger (am) I in the earth; hide not from me thy commandments.
A
stranger, an exile, one without friends or home, a poetical description of
calamity
in general, not without allusion to the captivity both in
and
objects
of compassion. The prayer in the last clause is, that God will not
withhold
from him the knowledge of his will.
20. My soul breaketh with longing for thy judgments at every time. The
Hebrew
verb occurs only here, but its meaning is determined by the cognate
dialects.
The word translated longing belongs
also to the later Hebrew.
Its
verbal root occurs below in ver. 40, 174. Judgments
includes God's
precepts
mentioned in ver. 19, and his penal inflictions on the wicked men-
tioned
in ver. 21.
21. Thou hast rebuked the proud, the accursed, those wandering from thy
commandments. Compare Ps. ix. 6 (5).
Rebuked, not merely by word but
by
deed, i. e. punished.
22. Roll from off me reproach and contempt, for thy testimonies I have
kept. The first verse
coincides in foam with that at the beginning of ver.
18,
but is from a different root. There is an obvious allusion to the rolling
off
of the reproach of
23. Also princes sat and at me
talked together, and thy servant muses of
thy
statutes. This is one of the expressions in the psalm not literally appli-
cable
to the individual believer, and regarded therefore as a proof of its
national
design and import. The princes are then the chiefs of the sur-
rounding
nations. The also (MGa) seems to be inserted
merely on account of
the
alphabetical arrangement which requires the letter gimel.
24. Also thy testimonies (are) my delights, the men of my counsel. He
VER.
25-31.] PSALM
CXIX.
485
calls
them his counsellors, in opposition to the malignant counsels of the
enemy.
Delights,
enjoyments, happiness, the plural form denoting fulness
and
completeness. Two of the verses in the stanza ending here begin with
(Mg) also, and two with (lg), though in different
senses.
25. My soul cleaveth unto the dust; quicken thou me according to thy
word. The first clause seems
intended to suggest two consistent but dis-
tinct
ideas, that of deep degradation, as in Ps. xliv. 26 (25), and that of
death,
as in Ps. xxii. 30 (29). The first would be more obvious in itself,
and
in connection with the parallel referred to; but the other seems to be
indicated
as the prominent idea by the correlative petition in the last clause.
Quicken, i. e. save me alive,
or restore me to life, the Hebrew word being a
causative
of the verb to live. See above, on
Ps. xxx. 4 (3). Thy word,
the
promise annexed to thy commandment, as in ver. 28 below.
26. My ways have I recounted, and thou hast answered me; teach me thy
statutes. The first clause is not
to be restricted to a confession of sin,
though
that may be included, but extended to a statement of his cares,
anxieties,
and affairs in general. Hence the correlative expression, thou
hast answered me, the Hebrew verb being
specially appropriated to the hear-
ing
or answering of prayer, i. e. granting what it asks. The last clause
expresses
a desire to testify his gratitude for God's compassion by obeying
his
commandments, with the usual acknowledgment that these cannot be
executed
without divine assistance, or even known without divine instruction.
27. The way of thy precepts make me understand, and I will muse of thy
wonders. The first clause
expresses the same wish, arising from the same
consciousness
of weakness, as in ver. 26. The verb in the last clause is
one
of those in the usage of which the ideas of speech and meditation run
continually
into one another. See above, on Ps. lv. 18 (17), lxix. 13 (12),
lxxiv.
4, 7 (3, 6), cv. 2.
28. My soul weeps from sorrow; raise me up according to thy word.
The
meaning of the first verb seems to be determined by Job xvi. 20, where
the
same thing is predicated of the eye. The oldest versions make it mean
to slumber (LXX. e]nu<stacen. Vulg. dormitavit), which would make the
clause
remarkably coincident with Luke xxii. 45.
29. The way of falsehood remove from me, and thy law grant unto me
graciously. The way mentioned in
the first clause is that of unfaithfulness
to
God's covenant, or of apostasy from it. See above, ver. 21. Remove,
a
causative in Hebrew, meaning make to
depart. The common version of
the
last verb, as above given, is a correct paraphrase of the Hebrew verb
(NnahA) to be gracious, to act
graciously, and here still more specifically, to
give
graciously, to bestow as a free favour. To give the law is still, as in
the
preceding verses, to make it known by a divine illumination.
30. The way of truth have I chosen; thy judgments have I set (before
me).
Truth,
in the sense of faithfulness, fidelity to obligations, the opposite of
the
falsehood mentioned in ver. 29. His
own choice coincides with the
divine
requisitions. Judgments, as in ver. 7, 13, above. I have set, i. e.
before
me, as an end to be aimed at, and a rule to be followed. The
Hebrew
verb occurs above, Ps. xviii. 34 (33), xxi. 6 (5), lxxxix. 20 (19),
and
the full phrase, Ps. xvi. 8. The Septuagint renders it here, I have not forgotten.
31. I have cleaved unto thy testimonies, 0 Jehovah, put me not to shame.
The
first verb is the same with that in ver. 25. Unto, literally in, as if
implying
a complete absorption in the object. See above, on Ps. i. 2. Testi-
486 PSALM CXIX. [VER. 32-39.
monies, precepts, as in ver.
2. Shame me not, suffer not my hopes
to be
disappointed
and confounded. The Hebrew verb is a causative of that in ver. 6.
32. The way of thy commandments will I run, for thou wilt enlarge my
heart. The verb to run expresses a more zealous obedience
than the usual
expression
walk. To enlarge is sometimes to relieve from confinement.
See
above on Ps. cxviii. 5. But the whole phrase, to enlarge the heart,
seems,
especially in this connection, to denote a change in the affections
leading
to more prompt obedience. Of the eight verses in this stanza five
begin
with the noun (j`r,D,) way
or its plural, and two with the verb
(qbaDA) to cleave.
33. Guide me, Jehovah, (in) the way of thy statutes, and I will keep it (to
the) end. The first verb is here used in its
primary sense of shewing or
pointing
out the way, from which is deduced the secondary one of teaching.
Keep it, observe it, adhere to
it, keep in it. The last word in Hebrew,
which
occurs above, in different senses and connections, Ps. xix. 12 (11),
xl.
16 (15), lxx. 4 (8), is used adverbially here and in ver. 112 below.
34. Make me understand (it) and I
will keep thy law, and will observe 'it
with a whole heart. The first verb is too
vaguely rendered in the English
versions
(give me understanding). It has here
the same sense as in ver.
27,
and the object is to be supplied from the next member of the sentence.
The
form of the last verb is one expressing strong desire and fixed deter-
mination.
With a whole heart, or with all (my)
heart, as in ver. 2.
35. Make me tread in the path of thy commandments, for in it do I delight.
The
first verb is the causative of that used in Ps. vii. 13 (12), xi. 2, xxxvii.
14,
xci. 13. I delight, have delighted,
not at present merely but in time
past.
36. Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to gain. Here again
the
sense of absolute dependence or divine influence is strongly implied.
Testimonies,
as in ver 31. Gain, profit, lucre, as
in Ps. xxx. 10 (9), but
here
put for overweening love of it, supreme devotion to it.
37. Turn away my eyes from seeing falsehood; in thy ways quicken me.
The
first verb strictly means to cause to
pass (or turn) away. Falsehood is
not
the word so rendered in ver. 29, but the negative term (xv;wA) meaning
vanity, nonentity, and here
applied to all objects of religious trust besides
God.
These the Psalmist desires not even to see, much less to gaze at
with
delight and confidence. See above, Ps. xxxi. 7 (6), xl. 5 (4), lx. 13
(11),
lxii. 10 (9). Quicken me, save me or
make me alive, as in ver. 25.
In thy ways, by leading me in the way
of thy commandments.
38. Make good to thy servant thy word which (thou hast spoken) to thy
fearers. The first verb means to
cause to stand, to set up, to establish, to
confirm,
and in this connection to fulfil or verify. To
thy servant, not
merely
to me, but to me who am thy
servant, in a special and emphatic sense,
which
is applicable either to the chosen people as a whole, or to its indivi-
dual
members. Thy word, as in ver. 25, 28.
To thy fearers, literally to
thy fear, the abstract being put
for the concrete term: or it might be ren-
dered
for thy fear, that thou mayest be
feared. See below, on Ps. cxxx. 4.
39. Turn away my disgrace which I dread, for thy judgments (are) good.
The
first word is the same with that in ver. 37, meaning make (or cause) to
pass away. In this connection it
might either mean to remove or to avert;
but
the latter agrees better with the next phrase, which I dread. The
VER.
40-46.] PSALM
CXIX. 487
original
is not the common Hebrew word for fear,
but one used by Moses
in
precisely the same sense as here. See Deut. ix. 19, xxviii. 60, and com-
pare
Job ix. 28. Thy judgments are good,
i. e. prompted and controlled
by
infinite goodness, and should therefore fall upon the wicked, not the
righteous.
40. Behold, I long for thy precepts; in thy righteousness quicken me.
The
first word is equivalent to see (or thou seest) that it is so, and involves
an
appeal to the divine omniscience. The first verb is the root of the noun
longing in ver. 20. To long for
God's precepts is to long for the know-
ledge
of them and for grace to obey them. The last clause prays that since
God's
judgments are good (ver. 39), instead of killing they may make alive.
See
above, on ver. 17, 25, 37. In the stanza closing with this verse, only
one
initial word is repeated, namely (rbefEha) cause to pass or turn away.
41. And let thy mercies come (unto) me, 0 Jehovah, thy salvation, accord-
ing to thy word. That the stanzas were
not meant to be regarded as dis-
tinct
and independent compositions, is clear from the copulative (and) at
the
beginning of this verse. Mercies, suited to my various
necessities.
Come to me, or upon me, or into me,
which are the ideas commonly expressed
by
this verb when construed directly with a noun. See above, Ps. xxxv. 8,
xxxvi.
12 (11), c. 4. Salvation is in
apposition with mercies, being that
in
which
all other gifts and favours are summed up and comprehended. With
the
last words compare ver. 38 above.
42. And (then) I will answer my
reviler a word; for I trust in thy word.
The
best answer to the calumnies and insults of his enemies is that afforded
by
his manifest experience of God's favour, and the practical vindication
thereby
afforded. The addition of word, which in our idiom is superfluous,
may
have some reference to its use in the corresponding clause. As if he
had
said, Only let thy word be fulfilled, and I shall have a word to say in
answer
to my enemies.
43. And take not out of my mouth (this) word of truth utterly, for in thy
judgments do I hope. Deprive me not of this
conclusive answer to my
enemies,
by withholding that providential vindication of my character and
practical
attestation of thy favour towards me, which I confidently look for.
The
first verb is used in its primary sense (Gen. xxxii. 12), from which
comes
the usual but secondary one of snatching out of danger, extricating,
saving.
For the literal meaning of the Hebrew phrase translated utterly,
see
above, on ver. 8. The last phrase in the verse means, for thy judgments
I have waited, i. e. confidently
looked for their appearance.
44. And I will observe thy law always, unto eternity and perpetuity.
Not
merely for a time, or for the purpose of securing this triumph over his
enemies,
but for ever, to express which idea the three strongest terms
afforded
by the language are combined. As the keeping of the law, so often
mentioned
in this psalm, has evident reference to the present life, the strong
promise
of perpetual obedience, in the verse before us, is considered by
some
writers as a proof that the ideal speaker is not an individual believer,
but
the church or chosen people.
45. And I will walk in a wide place, for thy precepts have I sought.
Free
from the pressure and confinement to which he had been previously
subject.
See above, on Ps. cxviii. 5. Sought thy
precepts, i. e. sought to
know
them and to do them. Compare the combination, keep and seek, in
1
Chron. xxviii. 8.
46. And I will speak of thy testimonies before kings, and will not be
ashamed.
488 PSALM CXIX. [VER. 47-50.
Here
again some eminent interpreters have found an indication of the
national
design and meaning of the whole psalm, as the individual believer
could
not be expected to bear witness to the truth in such a presence. He
might,
however, do so, as one of the component parts of the whole body.
But
the words are really expressive only of a readiness to declare the divine
testimony
against sin, in any presence, even the most august, if it should
be
necessary. This passage seems to have been present to our Saviour's
mind
when he uttered the prediction in Mat. x. 18. Ashamed has here its
strict
sense, as denoting a painful feeling of humiliation.
47. And I will delight myself in thy commandments which I love. I will
not
obey them merely from a selfish dread of punishment or painful sense
of
obligation, but because I love them and derive my highest happiness
from
doing them. See above, on Ps. xix. 12 (11). The first verb has the
same
sense as in ver. 16. The past tense of the last verb (I have loved)
represents
his love to God's commandments as no new-born and capricious
passion,
but a settled habit and affection of his soul.
48. And I will raise my hands to thy commandments which I love, and
I will muse of thy
statutes.
The raising of the hands is a symbol of the
raising
of the heart or the affections to some elevated object. See above,
on
Ps. xxviii. 2. Which I love, or have loved, as in ver. 47, the terms of
which
are studiously repeated with a fine rhetorical effect, which is further
heightened
by the and at the beginning, throwing
both verses, as it were,
into
one sentence. As if he had said, I will derive my happiness from thy
commandments,
which I love and have loved, and to these commandments,
which
I love and have loved, I will lift up my hands and heart together. For
the
meaning of the last clause, see above, on ver. 27. The connective force
of
the conjunction and must not be urged
in this verse, as it was needed to
supply
the initial vau, a letter with which
scarcely any Hebrew words begin.
49. Remember (thy) word to thy
servant, because thou hast made me to
hope. The obvious meaning of
the first clause is, remember the word
(spoken) to thy servant. But Hebrew usage makes
it probable, that the
first
and last words of the clause are to be construed together, so as to
mean
remember for thy servant, i. e. for
his benefit, as in Ps. xxviii. 3,
cvi.
45. Word is then absolutely put for
promise, as in Ps. lvi. 11 (10),
and
the meaning of the whole clause is, remember thy promise in com.
passion
to thy servant. The common version of the last clause (upon
which, &c.) is forbidden
by the facts, that the Hebrew verb is never con-
strued
elsewhere with the preposition on,
and that Hebrew usage would.
require
a different combination (vylf rwx) to convey the sense supposed.
That
the one here used (rwx lf) may mean because, is clear from Deut.
xxix.
24, 2 Sam. iii. 30. The same verb that means to hope in ver. 43 is
used
as a causative, to make hope, here
and in Ezek. xiii. 6.
50. This (is) my comfort in my seering, and thy word quickens me.
The
reference to continued suffering in the first clause, and to its partial
cessation
in the second, agrees well with the condition of the chosen people
when
restored from exile. The terms, however, are so chosen as to be
equally
appropriate to personal afflictions, restorations, and deliverances.
The
word for comfort occurs elsewhere only
in Job vi. 10, where it has
precisely
the same form. Thy word includes thy
decree or order and thy
promise.
Quickens, saves alive, or restores to
life, according to the prayer
in
ver. 25, 37, 40. The past tense (has
quickened) implies that the con-
VER.
51-56.] PSALM
CXIX.
489
servative
or restorative effect has already been experienced, though not yet
perfected.
51. Proud (ones) deride me greatly; from thy law I swerve not. Both
verbs
are in the past tense, which would seem to indicate that the derision
here
complained of, although recent, had now ceased or been abated. The
clause
agrees well with the scorn excited in the heathen neighbours of the
restored
Jews by what seemed to be their mad attempt to build the temple.
The
omission of a connective makes the antithesis more pointed. Swerved,
declined,
or turned aside. See above, on Ps. xliv. 19 (18), and compare Ps.
xl.
5 (4). The first word in the verse is one commonly applied to pre-
sumptuous
high-handed sinners. See above, on Ps. xix. 14 (13).
52. I have remembered thy judgments from eternity, Jehovah, and con-
soled myself. His faith and hope
under present trials are sustained by
recollection
of the past. Thy judgments, not
merely the punishments
inflicted
on thy enemies, but all the exhibitions of thy righteousness in
outward
act, including the deliverances of thy people. From eternity, or
from
an indefinite antiquity, which is the primary meaning of the Hebrew
word.
There is no reason for discarding the reflexive form of the last verb,
as
some versions do, especially as it suggests the idea, not of a mere passive
reception
of the comfort, but of an active effort to obtain it.
53. Rage has seized me from wicked (men) abandoning thy law. No
English
word is strong enough to represent the first one in the Hebrew of
this
verse except rage or fury. See above, on Ps. xi. 6. It here denotes
the
highest pitch of indignant disapproval. From,
i. e. arising or proceed-
from,
because of. Forsaking thy law, not
only refusing in practice to obey
it,
but avowedly abjuring its authority.
54. Songs for me have been thy statutes in the house of my sojournings.
Instead
of abjuring them as presumptuous sinners do, I make them the
subject
of my thankful and triumphant songs (Isa. xxiv. 16), even while I
sojourn
as a pilgrim and a stranger in a strange land. The house of my
sojournings, e. the house where I
sojourn, is an imitation of the phrase,
land of sojournings, which occurs so often
in the patriarchal history. See
Gen.
xvii. 8, xxviii. 4, xxxvi. 7, xxxvii. 1. Pilgrimage
is less exact, because
it
suggests the idea of locomotion rather than of rest. The statutes of God
are
thus rejoiced in, not as mere requisitions, but as necessarily including
promises.
55. I remember in the night thy name, Jehovah, and observe thy law.
The
night is mentioned as the natural and customary season of reflection
and
self-recollection, and also as the time when pains of every kind are
usually
most acute. See above, on Ps. xci. 5. With this clause and the
verse
preceding compare Job xxxv. 10. Thy name,
i. e. all that is denoted
by
thy names, and more especially by the one here mentioned, thy eternal
self-existence
and thy covenant relation to thy people.
56. This has been to me, for thy precepts I have kept. The usual inter-
pretations,
this I had because I kept thy precepts,
and this I have (namely)
that I keep thy precepts, are almost unmeaning.
When taken in connection
with
the one before it, the true sense of the verse appears to be, that what
he
was thus wont to promise or resolve, he had performed. The substan-
tive
verb is to be taken in the sense which it so often has in history. This
has
happened to me, come to pass, been verified in my experience. In the
stanza
which here ends, three verses begin with some form of the verb (rkazA)
to remember, and two with the
pronoun (txzo)
this.
490 PSALM
CXIX. [VER.
57-62.
57. My portion, 0 Jehovah, I have said, (is) to keep thy words. This
construction
is rejected by Hengstenberg and others, as forbidden by the
accents
and the analogy of Ps. xvi. 5, lxxiii. 26. But as the same words may
either
express the sense here given or my
portion (is) Jehovah, we are at
liberty
to choose the one best suited to the context, even in opposition to
the
accents, which cannot be regarded as an ultimate authority. In favour
of
the sense first given is its perfect agreement with the close of the preceding
stanza. In
reference
to the resolution there recorded and described as having been fulfilled, he
here
adds,
thus have I said (declared my purpose), 0 Lord, to obey thy words.
58. I have sought thy favour with all (my) heart; be gracious unto me
according to thy word. In the first clause,
we have a repetition of the sin-
gular
and striking idiom used in Ps. xlv. 13 (12), and explained by some
as
meaning strictly to soothe or stroke the face, and by others to soften or
subdue
it, i. e. the hostility or opposition expressed by it. With all (my)
heart, or with a whole heart, as in ver. 2, 34,
above. Thy word or saying,
i.
e. thy promise. The original expression is not (rbd), the one so constantly
employed
in this psalm, but (hrmx), that used. in ver. 10, 41, and derived
from
the verb (rmx) to say.
59. I have thought on my ways, and turned back my feet to thy testimonies.
The
first verb here means thought over, pondered,
as in Ps. lxxvii. 6 (5).
My ways, i.e. as appears from
the last clause, my departures from thy tes-
timonies
or commandments. See above, on ver. 2, 14, 31, 36, 46. The
common
version of the last verb (turned),
although correct, is not sufficient
to
convey the full force of the Hebrew word, which is a causative, meaning
to
bring back or make to return, and implying previous departure, whereas
the
primitive verb turn carries with it
no such implication. While this verse is exactly
descriptive
of the process of personal conviction and conversion, it is also strikingly
appropriate
to the effects of the captivity on
60. I hastened, and delayed not, to observe thy commandments. This
con-
tinues
the account of his conversion, begun in the preceding verse. The
first
clause exemplifies the idiomatic combination of a positive and negative
expression
of the same idea. The second verb is peculiarly expressive, and
seems
to be applied, in the most ancient Hebrew books, to a trifling and
unreasonable
tarrying in great emergencies. See Gen. xix. 16, xliii. 10,
Exod.
xii. 39. In this respect, as well as in relation to its singular redupli-
cated
form, the Hebrew verb bears some analogy to certain familiar terms
in
English, which are colloquially used in the same manner.
61. The bands of wicked men environed me, (but) thy law I did not forget.
As
descriptive of personal experience, this may be translated in the present
(environ me, forget not); but in order to
include a reference to the Baby-
lonish
exile, and the preservation of the people from apostasy at that event-
ful
crisis, the preterite forms of the original must be preserved. The figure
of
the first clause is borrowed from Ps. xviii. 5, 6 (4, 5), but with the
substitution
of a verbal form used only here, and represented by the word
environed.
The relation of the clauses, to denote which in English but has
been
supplied, is the same as in ver. 51 above.
62. At midnight I will rise to give thanks unto thee on (account of) the
judgments of thy
righteousness.
The first phrase, which literally means
the
half (or halving) of the night, is borrowed from the history of the midnight
massacre
in
allusion,
as a signal instance of divine interposition and miraculous deliver-
VER.
63-66.] PSALM
CXIX.
491
ance.
A similar allusion may be traced in Job xxxiv. 20. The judgments
of thy righteousness, thy judgments of
righteousness, thy righteous judgments,
cannot
be altogether different in meaning from the very same words in ver. 7,
as
supposed by some interpreters, who there explain the phrase to mean
God's
precepts or his requisitions, here his penal inflictions. The solution
of
the difficulty lies in this, that the words mean neither of these things
specifically,
but something which comprehends them both, viz., the actual
manifestations
of God's righteousness, in word or deed, by precept or by punishment.
63. A fellow (am) I to all who fear thee, and to the keepers of thy
precepts.
Not
merely a companion or frequenter of
their company, but an associate,
a
congenial spirit, one of the same character. Compare the use of the same
Hebrew
word in Ps. xlv. 8 (7), where the plural is translated fellows in the
English
Bible. The verse before us is one of those which it seems most
difficult
to understand of
or
chosen people a companion of those fearing God and keeping his com-
mandments,
when all the people in the world of that description were em-
braced
within her own communion? The force of this objection is so great
that
Hengstenberg applies the description to the pious ancestors of the
returned
Jews, and refers to Mal. iii. 24 (iv. 6). The necessity of such a
forced
construction goes far to confirm the exegetical hypothesis, already
stated
as most probably the true one, that the psalm was intended to express
the
feelings of an individual believer, but that some of its terms are, from
parity
of circumstances, equally descriptive of what had been experienced
by
the house of
64. Of thy mercy, 0 Jehovah, full is the earth; thy statutes teach me.
Since
thy mercy fills the whole earth, let it reach to me, enabling me to
understand
thy will and to obey it. The relation of the clauses is not unlike
that
in ver. 12. The stanza closing with this verse is the first in which the
initial
words of all the verses are entirely different. See above, on ver. 8,
16,
24, 32, 40, 48, 56.
65. Good hast thou done to thy servant, 0 Jehovah, according to thy word.
The
common version of the first clause (thou
hast dealt well with thy servant)
is
equally correct, and has the advantage of retaining the preposition with,
which
may be used in English after deal,
but not after do. The sense
expressed
by both translations is the same, to wit, thou hast treated him
graciously
or kindly. According to thy word, i.
e. the promise annexed to
thy
commandments, as in ver. 25, 28 (compare ver. 41, 58). This verse
is
equally appropriate as a personal thanksgiving, and an acknowledgment
of
national deliverances, such as that from
66. Goodness of judgment and knowledge teach me, for in thy command-
ments I believe. The first word in
Hebrew is not (bOF) the adjective good,
as
in ver. 65, but (bUF) the corresponding abstract noun meaning goodness,
as
in Ps. xxv. 7, xxvii. 13, xxxi. 20 (19). That it here denotes not moral
but
intellectual excellence, is determined by the addition of (Mfama) a word
originally
meaning taste, and then transferred
to reason, judgment, under-
standing.
See above, on Ps. xxxiv. 1. Teach me good
judgment, i.e. im-
part
it by divine instruction. Judgment and knowledge may be here dis-
tinguished
as in common parlance, the one denoting the faculty employed,
the
other the result of its exertion. The knowledge
meant is that continually
prayed
for in this psalm; to wit, the knowledge of God's will. The connec-
tion
of the clauses seems to be, that he has faith and would fain have
492 PSALM CXIX. [VER. 67-71.
knowledge;
he takes God's precepts upon trust, but then prays that he
may
understand them. To believe in God's commandments is to believe
that
they are his, and therefore right and binding.
67. Before I suffered I (was) going astray, and now thy saying I observe.
Going
astray, wandering, erring, i. e. habitually, ever straying. And now
(on
the contrary), where our idiom would require a but. The saying of
God
is what he says, including both commands and promises, which indeed
are
represented in the Old Testament, and especially in this psalm, as insepa-
rable.
Observe, attend to, keep in view,
according to the nature of the
object,
trusting the promise, obeying the command. The last verb strictly
means
I have observed, implying that the
salutary fruit of the affliction was
already
realised and still continued. The sentiment of this verse has been
echoed,
and its very words repeated, by the godly sufferers of every age, a
strong
proof that it was meant to be so used. At the same time it furnishes an
exquisite
description
of the effect produced upon the Jews, as a body, by the Babylonish exile, and
especially
the end which it for ever put to their continual lapses into idolatry, by which
their
early history was characterised, and with respect to which the whole race might
well
have
said, Before I suffered I was (ever) straying.
68. Good (art) thou and doing good—teach me thy statutes! Good, both
essentially
and actively or practically; good in thyself and good to ethers.
The
participle, as in ver. 67, denotes habitual, constant action, (ever) doing
good. It is characteristic of
this psalm, that the petition founded en the
goodness
of God's nature, on his beneficence, and even on his infinite per-
fection,
is still, teach me thy statutes! Make
me acquainted with thy will,
and
shew me how to do it! See above, on ver. 12, 64.
69. Proud (men) have forged a lie against me; I, with all (my) heart,
will keep thy precepts. Proud, presumptuous,
overbearing sinners, as in
ver.
51. Forged expresses the essential
meaning of the Hebrew word, but not
its
figurative form, which seems to be that of sewing, analogous to that of
weaving,
as applied to the same thing, both in Hebrew and in other lan-
guages.
We may also compare our figurative phrase, to
patch up, which,
however,
is not so much suggestive of artifice or skill as of the want of it.
The
connection of the clauses is, that all the craft and malice of his enemies
should
only lead him to obey God with a more undivided heart than ever.
See
above, on ver. 58. With the same surprising skill and wisdom as in
many
other cases which have been already mentioned, this verse is so.
framed
as to be equally well suited to such national and public evils as
those
described in the fourth chapter of Ezra, and to the sufferings of the
pious
individual, arising from the pride and spite of wicked enemies.
70. Fat as grease (is) their heart. I (in) thy law delight. The con-
nection
of the clauses lies in the figurative use of fat to denote insensibi-
lity.
See above, on Ps. xvii. 10, lxxiii. 7. While they are utterly insensible
to
spiritual pleasures, and especially to those springing from the knowledge
of
thy law, I find therein my highest happiness. The verb in the last
clause
is a cognate form to that in ver. 16, 47, and identical with that in
Isa.
xi. 8, where it means to play, sport, or enjoy one's self.
71. (It is) good for me that I was made to suffer, to the end that I
might learn thy statutes. The prayer so
frequently repeated, teach me thy
statutes,
is now proved to be sincere by a hearty acquiescence in the painful
discipline
by which it had been partially fulfilled already. Good for me,
and
therefore good on God's part. The idea of compulsory subjection to
this
salutary process is suggested by the passive causative form of the verb
VER.
72-79.] PSALM
CXIX.
493
used
in ver. 67. To the end or intent, a phrase corresponding, both in
form
and
meaning, to the Hebrew.
72. Good for me is the law of thy mouth, (more) than thousands of gold
and silver. For me, for my use as well as
in my estimation. The law of thy
mouth, that which thou hast uttered.
See above, on ver. 13. Than, lite-
rally
from, away from, as distinguished from, as compared with, which is
just
the meaning of the English than. The
combination good than, or
good
from, is the nearest approach of which the Hebrew idiom admits, to
better than. The indefinite term thousands may refer to weight or number,
to
coin or bullion; to coins in general, or to shekels or talents in particular.
While
this verse primarily expresses the changed estimate which
learned
in exile to put upon the law, it is equally expressive of the feeling
cherished
by all true believers, in their best estate, as to the value of the
word
of God. Here ends the ninth stanza, of which five verses begin with
the
word (bvF)
good.
73. Thy hands made me and fashioned me; make me understand and
let me learn thy
commandments.
As I owe my existence to thy power, so
too
I rely upon thy grace for spiritual illumination. Compere Deut. xxxii. 6.
Fashioned, literally fixed,
established, i. e. framed my constitution as it is.
74. Thy fearers shall see me and rejoice; for in thy word have I hoped.
Compare
Ps. v. 12 (11), xxxiv. 3 (2). They shall rejoice in my case, as a
new
proof that they who trust in God cannot be disappointed. The literal
meaning
of the last clause is, because for thy word I have waited, i. e.
patiently
and trustfully awaited its fulfilment.
75. I know, Jehovah, that righteouness are thy judgments, and (in)faith-
fulness thou hast
afflicted me (or made me suffer). Thy judgments, thy
sovereign
decisions and their execution, are
righteousness itself, i. e. per-
fectly
righteous. So in the next clause, for in
faithfulnes we may read as
faithfulness itself, as one absolutely
faithful to his promise and engage-
ments.
This confession would be untrue, if those who made it were not
conscious
of their guilt and ill-desert. Compare Deut. xxxii. 4.
76. Oh that thy mercy might be for my comfort, according to thy saying to
thy servant. The optative
expression, oh that, is here used to
represent the
Hebrew
particle of entreaty (xnA), correctly paraphrased in the English Bible,
I pray thee. For my
comfort,
literally to comfort (or console) me. Thy
saying,
that which thou hast said or promised. To
thy servant, to me
as
thy servant, and as such in covenant with thee. This description is
equally
appropriate to the body and its members.
77. Let thy compassion come unto me (or upon me), and I shall live, for
thy law (is) my
delights.
The construction in the first clause is like that in
ver.
41. And I shall live, or as we might
express it, that I may live. See
above,
on ver. 17. He pleads what he has received already as a ground
for
asking more. The plural (delights)
expresses fulness and completeness,
or
perhaps implies that this joy is equal or superior to all others, or includes
them
all. The Hebrew noun is derived from the verb in ver. 16, 47, 70.
78. Shamed be the proud, for falsely have they wronged me; I will muse of
thy precepts. Falsely, literally falsehood, i. e. in or by it. Wronged, lite-
rally
bent, perverted. With the last clause compare ver. 27, 48.
79. Let them return to me that fear thee and know thy testimonies. Let
thy
servants who have looked upon me as abandoned by thee now restore
to
me their confidence. The various reading in the last clause (yfdy and
494 PSALM
CIXIX. [VER.
80-87
vfdy) does not affect the meaning of the sentence,
except that the reading
in
the text may be included in the wish, let
them know thy testimonies, i. e.
let
them learn from my experience to understand thy precepts better.
80. Let my heart be perfect in thy statutes, to the end that I may not be
ashamed. In thy
statutes,
in the knowledge and the practice of them, or as
it
is expressed in Ps. xix. 12 (11), in
keeping them. Shamed, put to shame
by
the frustration of my highest hopes. See above, on ver. 6. Two of
the
verses in this stanza begin with the same Hebrew word (yhiy;).
81. For thy salvation faints my soul; for thy word do I wait. Both
verbs
are in the preterite, implying that it is so and has been so. Faints,
is
spent or wasted. This strong expression for intense desire is borrowed
from
Ps. lxxxiv. 3 (2). With the last clause compare ver. 74.
82. My eyes fail for thy saying, so that I say, when wilt thou comfort
me? The first verb in
Hebrew is the same with the first in the preceding
verse.
Thy saying, the fulfilment of thy
promise. The Hebrew noun is
derived
from the following verb, to say, so
as to say, so that I say. It
might
also be translated, but with less exactness,
while I say.
83. For I have been like a bottle in the smoke; thy statutes I have not
forgotten. The bottle meant is one
of skin, still common in the east. The
comparison
is not entirely clear. Some suppose that the blackening and
shrivelling
effect of the smoke upon the skin is simply used as a figure for
distress.
Others understand the words as conveying the additional idea,
that
as wine-skins are not meant to be involved in smoke, so distress is
not
the normal or natural condition of God's people. Others, assuming
that
the skins were intentionally smoked by way of seasoning, suppose the
principal
idea to be that of painful but salutary discipline. There can be
no
doubt that the clause relates, in some way, to the afflictions, Either of
the
chosen people, or of individual believers, or of both. The meaning of
the
last clause is that, notwithstanding these afflictions, the sufferer has not
forgotten
God's commandments.
84. How many are the days of thy servant? When wilt thou execute upon
my persecutors judgment? The shortness of life
is indirectly urged as an
argument
for speedy action. See above, on Ps. xxxix. 5, 14 (4, 13), lxxviii. 39,
lxxxix.
48, 49 (47, 48). Execute judgment, or
do justice, as in Ps. ix. 5 (4).
85. Proud (men) dig for me pits, which (are) not according to thy law.
The
presumptuous sinners (ver. 51, 69, 78) who are his enemies use the
most
treacherous means for his destruction, without regard to the divine
command
or prohibition. See above, on Ps. vii. 16 (15), lvii. 7 (6).
86. All thy commandments (are) faithfulness; falsely do they persecute
me; help thou me. The promises annexed to
God's commandments are
infallible.
Falsely, as in ver. 78, falsehood, i. e. in falsehood, without
right
or reason, or with (by means of) falsehood,
as their instrument. The
verb
agrees with the remoter antecedent (persecutors)
in ver. 84.
87. They almost consumed me in the land, and I did not forsake thy
precepts. The verb consumed or destroyed (Ul.Ki) and the phrase in the
land
both occur in reference to the Canaanites, 2 Chron. viii. 8. The
translation
in the earth (ver. 19) is admissible,
but less significant and less
in
keeping with the national import of the psalm. The second clause, as
usual
in such cases, declares that notwithstanding his afflictions, he still
sought
to know and do the will of God.
VER.
88-96.] PSALM
CXIX. 495
88. According to thy mercy quicken me, and I will keep the testimony of
thy mouth. Restore me to life, or
save me alive, as in ver. 25, 37, 40. Of
thy mouth, as in ver. 11, 72. This
closes the eleventh stanza and the first
half
of the psalm. Two of these eight verses begin with different forms
of
the verb (Hlk)
to fail or faint, and three (including ver. 84) with the
particle
(k)
as or like.
89. To eternity, Jehovah, thy word is settled in heaven. The
translation,
eternal
(art thou), Lord, is contrary to usage, which requires the pronoun,
in
that case, to be expressed. Settled,
literally made to stand, i. e. unal-
terably
fixed. In heaven, beyond the reach of
all disturbing causes. See
above,
Ps. lxxxix. 3 (2).
90. To generation and generation (is) thy faithfulness; thou hast fixed the
earth and it stands. Resolved into our
idiom, the meaning of this verse is, that
the
truth of God's promises, or his fidelity to his engagements, is secured
by
the same divine perfection, which brought the world at first into exist-
ence,
and has ever since preserved it. The verb translated fixed is not the
one
employed in ver. 89, but that used in Ps. vii. 10 (9), ix. 8 (7), xl. 3 (2),
xlviii.
9 (8), lxviii. 10 (9), xc. 17, xcix. 4, cvii. 36. The sense prepared
is
rare and doubtful, and too feeble for this context.
91. For thy judgments they stand to-day, for all are thy servants. The
subject
of the first verb, though obscure, is probably the heavens and the
earth,
mentioned in the two preceding verses. These stand, continue to
exist,
for the execution of God's judgments, with reference, perhaps, to the
destruction
wrought by fire from heaven, by the opening of the earth, &c.
All, literally the whole, to>
pa?n, the
universe; but the construction of this
with
the plural servants would be harsh in
English. The same expression
is
applied in Ps. xiv. 3 to all mankind, but here to the material universe.
Thy servants, the instruments
employed to execute thy will.
92. Unless thy law were my delights, then should I perish in my affliction.
The
verse admits also of the construction in the English Bible, which
refers
it to a remoter past, and represents the danger as escaped, whereas
the
first construction implies a continued state of suffering. The law of
God,
as usual in this psalm, is here viewed, not as a body of mere requisi-
tions,
but as a covenant, a law accompanied by promises.
93. To eternity I will not forget thy precepts, for in them hast thou
quick-
ened me. In them, or by them,
which is really included in the other,
meaning
in the practice of them and by means of them. Quickened, as in
ver.
17, 25, 37, 40, 50.
94. Thine am I—save me—for thy precepts I have sought. The original
form
of the first clause is, to thee (am) I. Sought, as in ver. 2, 10, 45.
95. For me have wicked (men) waited, to destroy me; thy testimonies will I
understand. With the first clause
compare Ps. lvi. 7 (6). Consider,
though
correct, is an inadequate translation of the last verb, which denotes
a
fixed and intelligent attention. The only effect of his enemies' malignant
plots
is a still more serious contemplation of God's precepts.
96. To all perfection I have seen an end, (but) wide is thy command exceed-
ingly. By end we are not to understand the end of its existence, but the
limit
or boundary of its extent. To all other perfection (so called) I can
see
an end, but that required and embodied in thy law is boundless. All
the
verses of this stanza except one (ver. 92) begin with the preposition (l)
to or for, as all those of the second do with (b) in.
496 PSALM
CXIX. [VER.
97-102.
97. How I love thy law! All the day it is my meditation, i. e. the
sub-
ject
of my solitary musing. This continual representation of God's law,
not
as a mere rule, but as an object of affection and a subject of perpetual
reflection,
is characteristic of the Psalms, and appears at the very threshold
of
the whole collection. See above, on Ps. i. 2.
98. (More) than my enemies do thy commandments make me wise; for to
eternity it is mine (or to me). This is the construction of the first clause
preferred
by the latest interpreters, although it requires a singular verb to be
construed
with a plural noun. But as the same irregularity exists in the
construction
of the pronoun in the second clause, however the first may be
explained,
it is best to explain both anomalies alike, i. e. partly by the rela-
tive
position of the words, and partly by the aggregate sense in which com-
mandments
is here used as equivalent to law,
and which, agreeably to
general
usage, may sufficiently account for its construction with a verb and
pronoun
in the singular. As analogous cases have been cited, 2 Sam.
xxii.
23--"(as for) his statutes, I depart not from it"—and 2 Kings xvii. 22
—"the
sins of Jeroboam which he did, they departed not from it." As the
sins
of Jeroboam were concentrated in one, so the statutes of Jehovah
might
be viewed as one great comprehensive precept. The meaning of the
last
clause is not merely, it is ever with me,
but it is for ever to me, i. e.
mine,
my inalienable, indefeasible possession. See above, ver. 94.
99. (More) than all my teachers I act wisely, for thy testimonies (are) a
meditation to me. My teachers, my
superiors in natural and worldly wisdom.
As
the Hebrew verb has always elsewhere an active meaning, it is better to
retain
it here, the rather as it indicates more clearly that the wisdom which
he
boasts was practical, experimental. See above, on Ps. ii. 10, xiv. 2,
xxxii.
8 (7), xli. 2 (1) lxiv. 10 (9), ci. 2. The essential meaning of the
last
clause is the same with that of ver. 97, but the use of the expression
(yl;) suggests the same idea
of possession that is expressed in ver. 98. Thy
testimonies
are mine, belong to me, as an object of incessant contemplation.
100. (More) than old men I understand, because thy precepts I have kept.
The
first verb is the same, and has the same sense as in ver. 95. The am-
biguous
Hebrew word (Myniqez;) cannot be expressed by any one in
modern
English,
as it may mean either old men in the
proper sense, whose greater
experience
entitled them to be considered wiser than their juniors; or the
ancients,
those of former generations, who are popularly looked upon as
wiser
than their children and successors. One of these senses suits the
personal,
the other the national design and application of the psalm. In
either
case, there is really no boast of superior intelligence, as a distinguish-
ing
endowment, but merely an assertion, in a striking form, that the highest
wisdom
is to do the will of God. See above, on Ps. cxi. 10.
101. From every evil path I refrain my feet, to the intent that I may keep
thy word. Of the two ideas
conveyed by word, that of command is
here
predominant,
but not exclusive of the other. To keep God's word is primarily to obey
his
precept, but secondarily to verify his promise. This verse teaches clearly that
the
keeping of God's word is something incompatible with treading any evil path.
102. From thy judgments I do not depart, because thou guidest me. We
have
here another word of comprehensive meaning, in which sometimes
one
phrase of the essential idea is presented prominently, sometimes an-
other.
The divine judgments, in this psalm,
are always the external ehibi-
tions
of the divine righteousness, in word or deed, by precept or by punishment.
VER.
103-107.] PSALM
CXIX.
497
Here,
of course, the former are especially intended. The figure of a way,
though
not expressed, is still indicated by the verbs depart and guide. As
to
the latter, see above, on ver. 33. From this verse it is doubly clear that
he
claims nothing as belonging to himself, or as accomplished in his own
strength,
but ascribes all to the power and grace of God. The preterite
forms,
in this and the preceding verse, merely make the past more pro-
minent
than the future, as an accessory idea to the present.
103. How sweet to my palate are thy sayings, sweeter than honey to my
mouth! As the Hebrew verb
occurs only here, it is better to follow the
rabbinical
tradition and the ancient versions, which make the idea to be that
of
sweetness, than the uncertain etymological deductions of the lexicons,
which
make it to be that of smoothness. The
passive form may possibly
denote
that the Psalmist's relish for God's word was not a native but ac-
quired
taste. Some interpreters unreasonably give to word the sense of
law,
excluding that of promise altogether, whereas both must unavoidably
have
been suggested to a Hebrew reader. The original word means neither
more
nor less than that which God has said. The figures of this verse are
borrowed
from Ps. xix. 11 (10).
104. From thy precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every path
of falsehood. The common version of
the first verb comes as near to the
exact
sense of the original as any other English word or phrase. The
Hebrew
verb is the same that occurs above, ver. 95, 100. As he knows
no
wisdom independent of the truth, he hates falsehood as the height of
folly,
and regulates his life accordingly. All the verses of this stanza
begin
either with the exclamation (hm) how, or with the preposition (Nm)
from, than.
105. A lantern for my foot is thy word, and a light for my path. To the
figure
of a path, so frequently presented in this psalm already, is now added
that
of a light, to make it plain amidst surrounding darkness. The paral-
lelism
is completed by adding the generic term, light,
to the specific one,
lamp or lantern. For my foot, i. e. to guide it. For my path, i. e. to
shew
it.
106. I have sworn, and will perform (my oath), to observe the judgments
of thy righteousness. The second verb occurs
above, ver. 28, in its primary
sense
of raising up, or causing to stand upright. In the later books, par-
titularly
that of Esther, it occurs very often in the sense of ratifying or
confirming,
and might here be rendered, I confirm
(my oath already made).
In
either case, it merely strengthens the expression which precedes it.
serve, keep, or obey, as in
ver. 4, 5, 8, &c. Thy righteous
judgments, as in
ver.
7, 62. Considered as the language of the whole church or nation, this
verse
may have reference to the covenant entered into at mount Sinai and
renewed
in the plains of
counterpart
in the experience of every true believer.
107. I am afflicted even to extremity; Jehovah, quicken me according to
its thy word. That the first clause
does not relate merely to past sufferings
(I was afflicted), seems to follow from
the prayer in the last clause, which
may,
however, be understood as a petition for deliverance from the deaden-
ing
effects of a calamity already past, such as the Babylonish exile, the
enfeebling
influence of which, notwithstanding incidental benefits, continued
to
be felt for ages. The first verb in Hebrew, with the idea of suffering,
always
suggests that of humiliation. Even to
extremity, the same words
that
occur above, in ver. 8, 43, 51. The meaning of the last clause is, be-
498 PSALM CXIX. [VER. 108-116
stow
upon me that life which is promised in the Law to those who keep it.
See
Lev. xviii. 5, Deut. vi. 24.
108. The free-will offerings of my mouth accept, I pray thee, 0 Jehovah,
and thy judgments teach
me, For
the meaning of the first Hebrew word see
above,
on Ps. cx. 8. It is here a figure for prayers and praises, as appears
from
the addition of my mouth. The verb accept is one continually used in
the
Law, with respect to sacrificial offerings. See above, on Ps. li. 18 (16),
and
compare Ps. 1. 14. The recurrence of the prayer, thy judgments teach
me, shews that the
writer's object was to make everything tend to this con-
clusion,
and that however a sentence may begin, it cannot be complete
without
a repetition of this favourite idea.
109. My soul is in my hand always, and (yet) thy law I have not forgotten.
The
sense of the strong figure in the first clause is clear from Judges
xii.
13, 1 Sam. xix. 5, xxviii. 21, where he who risks or jeopards his own
life,
in war or otherwise, is said to put his soul into his hand, as if to have
it
ready to give up or throw away at any moment. The same expression
reappears
in Job xiii. 14. The meaning of the whole verse is, that even
amidst
the deadly perils which environed him, he still remembered the
divine
law, as an object of supreme affection.
110. Wicked (men) have laid a snare for me, and (yet) from thy precepts
I have not strayed. Laid
for me,
literally given to me, as we might
speak
of
a snare as presented to a person, i.
e. set before him. The devices and
temptations
of the wicked were as powerless as all the other causes previ-
ously
mentioned, in leading him away from the path of truth and safety.
111. I inherit thy testimonies to eternity, for the joy of my heart are
they.
The
first verb means to take as a possession or inheritance, and is here
used
in allusion to those places of the Pentateuch where it is applied to the
possession
of the promised land. See for example Exod. xxiii. 30.
112. I incline my heart to do thy statutes to eternity, (even to) the end.
The
preterite form of the first verb represents the effort as already made,
but
still continued. For the meaning of the last word, see above, on
ver.
33. This stanza, like the eighth, has a different initial word in every
verse.
113. Waverers I hate, and thy law I love. The first word in Hebrew
occurs
only here. According to the most probable etymology, it means
men
of divided and unstable minds. See above, on Ps. xii. 3 (2), and
compare
James i. 8.
114. My hiding-place and my shield (art) thou--for thy word I wait, i.e.
for
the fulfilment of thy promise. See above, on ver. 81. The first word
in
the verse means properly a secret or a secret place. See above, on Ps.
xxvii.
5, xxxii. 7, lxi. 5 (4), xci. 1. The shield is a favourite figure for
protection.
See above, on Ps. iii. 4 (3), vii. 11 (10), xviii. 3, 31, (2, 30).
115. Depart from me, evil doers, and I will keep the commandments of God.
The
first clause is borrowed from Ps. vi. 9 (8). The meaning in both cases
seems
to be, that he has no fear of their enmity. The reason given in this
case
is, because he is resolved to do the will of God, and is therefore sure
of
his protection.
116. Uphold me according to thy promise, and let me live, and let me not
be ashamed of my hope. Promise, literally
saying, that which thou hast
said,
as in ver. 82. Let me live might also
be translated and I shall live,
or
paraphrased that I may live. See
above, on ver. 17. Of my hope,
literally from my hope, which some understand in
a privative sense away
VER.
117-125.] PSALM
CXIX.
499
from, deprived of, without
my hope, i. e. without having it fulfilled.
Ashamed of my hope does not convey the
sense so fully as shamed in my
hope, frustrated,
disappointed, in my expectations.
117. Sustain me and I shall be saved, and I will look to thy statutes
always. The first verb is
nearly synonymous with that at the beginning of
ver.
116, and the same that occurs above, Ps. xx. 3 (2), xli. 4 (3), xciv. 18,
civ.
15. I shall be saved, or let me be saved, or that I may be saved, pre-
cisely
as in the preceding verse. The strict future sense is here to be pre-
ferred,
as the verb is not both preceded and followed by a prayer, as in the
other
case. Look to, have respect to,
regard, as the rule of my conduct.
The
construction of the verb and proposition is the same as in Exod. v. 9.
118. Thou despisest all (those) straying from thy statutes, for a lie (is)
their deceit. They are objects not
only of disapprobation but of scorn, be-
cause
in attempting to deceive others they deceive themselves. Their
deception
of others is a lie to themselves.
119. (As) dross host thou made to cease all the wicked of the earth;
therefore I love thy
testimonies.
The purifying tendency of God's judgments
is
itself a reason for delighting in them. The verb in the first clause, which
occurs
in its primary sense in Ps. viii. 3 (2), is applied to the purging out of
leaven
at the passover (Exod. xii. 15), and to the extirpation of wild beasts
(Lev.
xxvi. 6).
120. My flesh shudders from dread of thee, and of thy judgments I am
afraid. The first verb in
Hebrew occurs only here, but is universally
admitted
to denote some bodily effect of fear, such as trembling, shuddering,
or
the instinctive creeping of the flesh. Afraid
of, in the last clause, does
not
fully represent the Hebrew phrase, which denotes not mere apprehension
of
something still future or absent, but terror in view of something actually
present.
Judgments has its usual wide sense,
but with special reference,
in
this case, to God's penal visitations. Here ends the fifteenth stanza, in
which,
as in the one before it, every verse has a distinct initial word.
121. I do justice and righteousness; leave me not to my oppressors. The
first
verb is in the past tense, I have done and I still do. Do justice, not
in
the restricted or forensic sense of redressing wrong judicially, but in the
wide
sense of executing justice or reducing it to practice.
122. Be surety for thy servant for good; let not the proud oppress me.
The
sense and construction of the first verb are precisely the same as in
Gen.
xliii. 9, xliv. 32. Compare Job xvii. 3, and see my note on Isa.
xxxviii.
14. It means not merely take me under thy protection, but be-
come
answerable for me, stand between me and those who, under any pre-
text,
even that of legal right, may seek to oppress me. For good, i. e. for
my
good, for my safety or deliverance. Compare Deut. vi. 24, x. 13,
xxx.
9. This is noted in the masora as the only verse in which the word of
God,
or some equivalent expression, is not found.
123. My eyes fail for thy salvation, and for the word of thy righteousness.
With
the first clause compare ver. 82. The word of thy righteousness, thy
word
of righteousness, thy righteous word, the promise of a righteous God
who
cannot lie.
124. Deal with thy servant according to thy mercy, and thy statutes teach
me. The first words strictly
mean do with thy servant, which may be an
ellipsis
for do good to him, or deal kindly
with him, as in ver. 65. See
above,
on Ps. cix. 21.
125. Thy servant (am) I; make me understand and let me know thy testi-
500 PSALM CXIX. [VER. 126-130.
monies. That thy servant is not a mere periphrasis
for I or me in ver. 122
and
elsewhere, appears from the first clause of the verse before us, where it
constitutes
the predicate of the proposition. In the second clause, we have
the
same choice of constructions as in ver. 116, 117. Let me know, or
(then) I shall know, or that I may know, all implying one another, and
amounting
to the same thing.
126. (It is) time for Jehovah to do—they break thy law. The absolute
use
of do, without an object, or leaving
it to be suggested by the context, is a
peculiar
Hebrew idiom. See above, on Ps. 22 (21). We may here supply
justice from ver. 121 (compare
ver. 84); or more indefinitely, whatever
should
be done; or more indefinitely still, it
is time to do (something), i. e.
to
act, which is substantially the meaning of the common version (time to
work). Retaining the order
of the Hebrew words, the sense would seem to
be,
it is time to do (something) for
Jehovah, i. e. for his people to do it.
But
the direct address to God in the last clause, and the whole tenor of the
context,
make it more probable that God himself is here entreated to do
something
for the vindication of his broken law. The verb in the last clause
is
to be construed indefinitely; they,
i. e. men in general, or the wicked in
particular.
With this clause compare Isa. xxiv. 5.
127. Therefore I love thy commandments (more) than gold and (more)
than fine gold. The first word refers
not to the immediately preceding verse
but
to the whole previous description of the excellence of God's command-
ments.
The comparison in the last clause, like that in ver. 103, is bor-
rowed
from Ps. xix. 11 (10).
128. Therefore all (thy) precepts (as to) all (things) I think right; every
way of falsehood do I
hate.
The therefore is co-ordinate with
that in
the
preceding verse, and to be explained in the same manner. Both
were
probably occasioned by the alphabetical arrangement here requiring
an
initial ayin. Precepts of course mean
those of God, as word means
his
word in ver. 49. The construction here is very foreign from our
idiom,
and by no means easily translated into it. The literal meaning
of
the words is, all precepts of all,
which some understand to mean of all
kinds, as in ver. 14 and Ps.
cxviii. 10. But others deny that all
has
this
sense, even in the places cited, and explain it here to mean concerning
all, on all subjects. The
clause is then condemnatory of all partial dis-
tinctions
between God's commandments, which may be the way of falsehood
specially
intended in the last clause. Compare Mat. v. 17-19. The verb
in
the first clause always elsewhere means to make straight, to go straight,
or
to direct aright; but the best interpreters agree in making it here mean,
to
think right or approve. It is worthy of remark, that as to all these points,
the
true sense of this difficult clause seems to be given in the English Bible.
With
the last clause compare ver. 104. In the sixteenth stanza, which here
closes,
two of the verses begin with (NKe-lfa) therefore, and two with different
forms
of the verb (hWAfA) to
do.
129. Wonderful (are) thy testimonies; therefore my soul keepeth them.
The
first word in Hebrew is a plural form of that in Ps. lxxvii. 12, 15
(11,
14), lxxviii. 12, lxxxviii. 11 (10), and properly means wonders, i. e.
miracles
or prodigies of moral excellence. My soul,
not merely I, but I
with
all my heart or soul.
130. The opening of thy words enlightens, making the simple understand.
The
common version of the first word (entrance)
is inaccurate, and the one
VER.
131-137.] PSALM
CXIX.
501
here
given, though exact, is ambiguous. The clause does not refer to the
mechanical
opening of the book by the reader, but to the spiritual opening
of
its true sense, by divine illumination, to the mind which naturally cannot
discern
it. For the Scriptural usage of the word translated simple, see
above,
on Ps. xix. 8 (7), cxvi. 6.
131. My mouth I stretch and pant, because for thy commandments I long.
The
first verb usually means to gape or yawn, but these verbs are intransi-
tive
in English, and cannot be construed with the noun directly. For the
meaning
of the next verb, see above, on Ps. lvi. 2, 3 (1, 2), lvii. 4 (3).
Both
are figurative expressions of the idea conveyed directly by the third
verb,
which occurs nowhere else, but differs only in a single letter from the
verb
of the same meaning used in ver. 40, 174, which also is peculiar to
this
psalm.
132. Turn to me, and be gracious to me, as (is) due to the lovers of thy
name. The first verb does not
mean to return or come back, but to
turn
round
to or towards an object from which the looks have been averted. See
above,
on Ps. cii. 18 (17). Be gracious or
merciful, shew favour to or
favour
me. As is due to, or according to the
right of, the lovers, &c. The
Hebrew
word (FPAw;mi) has here the meaning of the Latin jus, as in Ps. lxxxi. 5 (4).
For
the meaning of the lovers of thy name,
see above, on Ps. v. 12 (11).
133. My steps establish by thy word, and let not any iniquity rule over
me. Establish, i. e. make
firm, cause me to walk safely. See above, on
Ps.
xl. 3 (2). By thy word or saying, what thou hast said, i. e. by
the
fulfilment
of thy promise. The last clause might seem to be a prayer
against
the power of his own corruption; but the frequent use of the Hebrew
noun
to denote the mutual injustice of men, together with the language of
the
next verse, seems to shew that this too is a prayer against oppression.
The
verb in this clause is applied by Nehemiah (v. 15), to the oppression
suffered
by the restored Jews. The Arabic verb of the same form is the
root
of the royal title Sultan.
134. Redeem me from the oppression of man, and I will keep thy precepts.
These
two verses are peculiarly appropriate to the trials and temptations of
the
Jews at the time of the Restoration. The form of the last verb denotes
strong
desire and determination.
135. Let thy face shine upon thy servant, and teach me thy statutes.
The
prayer
of the first clause is the same as that which forms the burden of Ps.
lxxx.
(4, 8, 20). Thy servant, i. e. me who
am thy servant; hence the
first
person is immediately resumed.
136. Streams of water run down my eyes, for (that) they do not keep thy
law. In the Hebrew of the
first clause, eye is the subject, not the object,
of
the verb. See the same or similar idiomatic constructions, Jer. ix. 17,
xiii.
17, Lam. i. 16, iii. 48, Ezek. vii. 17. The preposition in the last
clause
is to be construed with the relative understood, in the sense of for
that, forasmuch as, because.
The complete phrase occurs above, ver. 49.
They do not, i. e. men
indefinitely, others. Here ends the seventeenth
stanza,
all the verses of which begin with different Hebrew words.
137. Righteous (art) thou, 0 Jehovah, and just thy judgments. The
English
and the ancient versions make the second adjective agree with
judgments, although different in
number. This might be justified by making
(rwAyA) just a neuter adjective or substantive, as in Ps. cxi. 8. It is
much
502 PSALM CXIX. [VER. 138-145.
more
simple and agreeable to usage to apply the epithet to God himself, as
in
Deut. xxxii. 4, and explain thy judgments
as a kind of adverbial or quali-
fying
phrase, very common in Hebrew, but in our idiom requiring the inser-
tion
of a preposition, upright (in or as to) thy judgments.
138. Thou hast commanded righteousness thy testimonies, and faithfulness
—exceedingly. This is another
elliptical construction, wholly foreign from
our
idiom. Some resolve it by supplying to
or to be: thou hast commanded
thy
testimonies to (or to be) righteousness, i. e. hast made them righteous.
It
is simpler, however, and more like the syntax of the verse preceding, to
supply
in or with thou hast commanded (in) righteousness thy testimonies,
&c.
The very or exceedingly may belong to faithfulness
alone, or to the
whole
proposition. The mention of faithfulness shews that the idea of
God's
promise is included in his testimony. With this verse compare ver.
86,
and Ps. xciii. 5.
139. My zeal consumes me, because my adversaries forget thy word. The
verbs
strictly mean, has consumed, have
forgotten, but without excluding
the
present, as they might seem to do, if rendered literally into English.
Zeal, jealous regard for
God's authority and honour. See above, on Ps.
lxix.
10 (9). The first Hebrew verb occurs above, Ps. lxxxviii. 17 (16).
The
last clause gives the reason or occasion of his jealousy. Adversaries,
persecutors
or oppressors. Thy word, includes thy
promise to me and thy
command
to them.
140. Pure (is) thy word—exceedingly, and thy servant loves it. Pure,
literally
purged, tried, assayed, refined, like precious metal. See above,
on
Ps. xviii. 31 (30). Saying, as elsewhere in this psalm, alternates with
word, and has the same
comprehensive meaning. Thy servant, I
as thy
servant,
and because I am so. Loves and has
long loved.
141. Little (am) I and despised, (but) thy precepts do I not forget.
How-
ever
proudly or however justly I may be despised, I can still lay claim to
one
distinction, that I have not, like my despisers, forgotten God's com-
mandments.
These words are peculiarly appropriate to
at
the Restoration.
142. Thy righteousness (is) right for ever, and thy law (is) truth. Right
is
here used as a noun, in order to vary the expression in English as in
Hebrew,
where two cognate forms (hqdc and qdc) are employed. With
the
first clause compare Ps. ciii. 17, cxi. 3. The idea here is, that God's
rectitude
is not capricious or mutable, as might be inferred from the afflic-
tions
of his people, but unchangeable and to
eternity. Thy law, both in its
precepts
and its promises, is true, is truth itself.
143. Distress and anguish seize (or seized) me; thy commandments (are)
my delight. Even in the midst of
suffering, thy commandments not only
solace
me but make me happy. Seize,
literally find, as in Ps. cxvi. 3.
Delight, literally delights, a succedaneum for all other
pleasures. See
above,
on ver. 24.
144. Right (are) thy testimonies to eternity; make me understand, and I
shall live. Right, righteousness, the second of the nouns used in ver. 142.
Make me understand
(them),
i. e. these thy testimonies. And (then) I
shall
live, which includes let me live and that 1 may live. See above, on ver. 17, 116.
Three
of the verses in this stanza begin with derivatives of the root qdc.
145. I invoke (thee) with a whole heart—answer me, Jehovah—thy statutes
will I keep. I have invoked thy
favour with a heartfelt sense of its neces-
VER.
146-155.] PSALM
CXIX. 503
city;
grant it to me, according to my prayer, and I am fully resolved to
keep
thy statutes.
146. I invoke thee—save me—and I will observe thy testimonies. The
pronoun
implied in the preceding verse is here expressed. The augmented
form
of the last verb is emphatic or intensive. I WILL observe thy testi-
monies,
i. e. obey thy precepts and believe thy promises.
147. I come before (thee) in the (morning) twilight, and I cry to (thee);
for thy words do I wait.
The
first verb has the same sense as in Ps.
xcv.
2. Compare Ps. lxxxviii. 14 (13). Early prayer implies importunate
desire.
The twilight meant is that of
morning, as in 1 Sam. xxx. 17, Job
vii.
4. The second verb means to cry for help. Its augmented form is
common
in verbs of speaking, and supposed by some grammarians to denote
motion
or direction towards the object of address, like the local or directive
h in nouns. See Judges 10, 1 Sam. xxviii. 15,
Neh. v. 7, xiii. 11, 17,
21,
Dan. ix. 4.
148. My eyes anticipate the watches, to muse of thy promise. Before the
stated
hours of vigil he is awake and ready for devout meditation. To
muse,
that I may muse or meditate. See above, on ver. 62, and compare
Ps.
lxiii. 7 (6), lxxvii. 5 (4), Lam. ii. 19.
149. My voice hear according to thy mercy, 0 Jehovah, according to thy
judgments quicken me. According to the
promises annexed to thy com-
mandments.
150. Near are those pursuing crime; from thy law they are far off.
Pursuing, eagerly devising and
attempting. Crime, malicious mischief, as
in
Ps. xxvi. 10. In the last clause there is a kind of play upon the words
far and near, as if he had said, the nearer they
are to harming me, the
further
are they from obeying thee.
151. Near (art) thou, Jehovah, and all thy commandments are truth.
The
lusus verborum may be said to be
continued. As they are near to
injure,
thou art near to save, and all thy promises to those who do thy will
are
true, are truth itself.
152. Long have I known from thy testimonies (themselves) that thou unto
eternity hast founded
them.
The first word in Hebrew is a noun used
adverbially,
as in Ps. lv. 20 (19). The precepts of the law describe them-
selves
as everlasting. See Exod. xxvii. 21, xxviii. 43, xxxvi. 21, Lev. ill. 17,
vi.
11, vii. 36, Num. x. 8. This concludes the nineteenth stanza, two of the
initial
words in which are derivatives of xrq, two of brq, three of Mdq.
153. See my suffering and deliver me; for thy law I forget not. The
first
petition, in the same words, occurs above, Ps. ix. 14 (13). The first
verb
originally signifies to extricate or disembarrass. I forget not, and have
not
forgotten, both of which ideas would be necessarily suggested to a
Hebrew
reader.
154. Strive my strife and redeem me; as to thy word, quicken me. With
the
first clause compare Ps. xliii. 1, lxix. 19 (18). As to, according to, in
fulfilment
of, thy saying, that which thou hast
said, thy promise. See
above,
ver. 41.
155. Far from, the wicked (is) salvation: because thy statutes they seek
not. The first word in Hebrew
is a masculine adjective, and does not agree
regularly
with salvation, which is feminine,
but is construed as a neuter,
something far, as the first word in
ver. 72 means a good thing, Seek not, and
have
not sought, i.e. desired either to know or do thy will. See above, on ver. 45.
504 PSALM CXIX. [VER. 156-165.
156. Many (or manifold are) thy compassions, 0 Jehovah, according to
thy judgments quicken
me. That
the first word means many, not great, in
this
connection, seems clear from the next verse. According to thy judg-
ments, as in ver. 149.
157. Many (are) my persecutors and oppressors; from thy testimonies I
decline not. The second noun is
often rendered adversaries, as in
ver. 139,
but
it may here be taken in its primary sense, which is near akin to that of
the
preceding word. I decline not, and
have not declined, deviated, swerved.
158. I see traitors and am sickened—(those) who thy saying keep not.
The
wicked are called traitors against God, their rightful sovereign, as in
Ps.
xxv. 8. The first verb is the reflexive form of that in Ps. xcv. 10, I
sicken (or disgust) myself. The common version of the relative (because)
conveys
an idea not expressed but understood. There is no need of departing
from
the strict sense of the pronoun. See
and have seen, keep and have kept.
159. See how I love thy precepts, Jehovah; according to thy mercy, quicken
me. See how, literally see that, which is tantamount to saying,
thou seest that,
160. The head of thy word (is) truth, and to eternity (is) every judgment
of thy righteousness.
Head is
by some explained as meaning the sum total,
by
others as synonymous with the cognate form (tywixre) in Ps. cxi. 10.
Every judgment of thy
righteousness,
every one of thy righteous judgments.
Three
verses of the twentieth stanza begin with some form of the verb
(hxr) to see.
161. Princes persecute me without cause—and at thy words my heart is
awed. Both Hebrew verbs are
in the past tense. The first verb, like its
representative,
originally means to follow after, to pursue, but is commonly
employed
in a hostile sense. Without cause
answers to a single Hebrew
word
(Mn.AHi)
an adverb related to the noun (NHe) favour, as gratis is to gratia
in
Latin. So in modern English, the idea here might be expressed by the
one
word gratuitously. At thy words, literally from them, i. e. because or
on
account of them. The last verb is not a passive in Hebrew, but a less
usual
synonym of (xreyA)
to fear, correctly paraphrased in the English ver-
sions
(stand eth in awe). The masoretic
reading is thy word in the singular,
but,
as in most other cases, the best critics now prefer the reading in the text.
162. Rejoicing (am) I over thy saying, like (one) finding much spoil.
The
participle indicates continued and habitual rejoicing. Thy saying,
that
which thou hast said, thy law with its attendant promises.
163. Falsehood I hate and abhor; thy law I love. Hate and have hated,
love
and have loved. Falsehood or lying, as in ver. 29. The second verb
has
the same augmented and intensive form that occurs above, ver. 147, 158.
164. Seven times in the day I praise thee, for the judgments of thy right-
eousness. Seven times is a
proverbial idiom for often or repeatedly. The
use
of this form of expression here is not the effect but the occasion of the
observance
of canonical hours. See above, on Ps. lv. 18 (17). Praise thee,
and
have been accustomed so to do. With the last clause compare ver. 160.
165. (There is) much peace to the lovers of thy law, and there is to them
no stumbling-block. Peace, in opposition to
the disquietude inseparable from
a
course of sin. A stumbling-block is a common scriptural figure for an
occasion
of unbelief or sin.. The idea here is, that the best preservative
against
temptation is a love to God's commandments. The Prayer-Book
version
(they are not offended at it) and
that in the text of the English
VER.
166-472.] PSALM
CXTX. 505
Bible
(nothing shall offend them) convey a
very different meaning from the
true
one to a modern reader. The latter indeed seems directly contradic-
tory
to ver. 53, 158. The correct sense is intelligibly given in the margin
of
the common version.
166. I hope for thy salvation, 0 Jehovah, and thy commandments I do.
I hope and have hoped, do and have done. In the mean time,
while expect-
ing
thy salvation, I am careful to perform thy will.
167. My soul observes thy testimonies, and I love them greatly (or exceed-
tingly). I observe them, pay
particular regard to them, in regulating my
behaviour,
not with a mere external conformity, but from or with my soul,
because
I love them greatly.
168. I observe thy precepts and thy testimonies, because all my ways are
before thee. He does not affect to
be prompted by a love exclusive of all
fear,
but only of a slavish dread. He stands in awe of God's omniscience,
and
is influenced by dread of his disapprobation to obey his precepts, as
well
as by attachment to the law itself. My
ways, my courses of conduct,
mode
of life, behaviour. Before thee, open
to God's infallible inspection,
and
subjected to his judgment. Two of the verses in this stanza begin with
forms
of the verb (rmawA) to
observe or keep. It is also worthy
of remark
that
W
and w
are treated as one letter, three of the verses beginning with
the
former, namely, the two first and the sixth.
169. Let my cry come near before thee, 0 Jehovah; according to thy
word, make me understand. The first noun denotes
an audible expression
of
strong feeling, whether sorrowful or joyful. See above, on Ps. xvii. 1,
xxx.
6 (5). Come near before thee, not
only near enough to be heard, but
into
thy presence, so that he who utters it may be seen. According to thy
word, thy commandment which
requires, and thy promise which secures,
the
understanding of thy will. See above, ver. 25, 65, 107, and compare
Deut.
xxx. 6.
170. Let my supplication come before thee; according to thy promise, free
me (or deliver me). The first noun, according
to its etymology, denotes a
prayer
for grace or favour. See above, Ps. vi. 10 (9), lv. 2 (1). In this
and
the preceding verse, the prayer for deliverance from outward troubles
is
subjoined, and as it were subordinated, to that for grace to do the will
of
God. The same connection may be traced in Ps. xc. 11-17.
171. My lips shall pour forth praise; for thou wilt teach me thy statutes.
The
first verb means to cause to gush or flow, and is the same with that in
Ps.
xix. 3 (2), lxxviii. 2. It here denotes eager, abundant, and unceasing
praise.
The last clause expresses the confident expectation of the blessing
so
often and importunately asked throughout the psalm. As if he had said,
Now
shall my lips praise, for I am about to receive what I had prayed for;
thou
wilt, indeed, teach me thy statutes. The translation when thou hast taught me
(or
shalt teach me) is less exact, less
forcible, and really included in the other.
172. Let my tongue answer thy saying—that all thy commandments are
right. The verb which usually
means to answer prayer (see above, ver.
26,
145) is here used in the sense of responding to a precept or a promise
by
the language of praise and acquiescence. Compare ver. 42. There is no
need
of treating the optative form of the verb as a poetic licence. The
strict
sense agrees well with the prayer in the next verse. What is here
asked
is occasion thus to praise God. As the last clause seems to assign
no
pertinent reason for the prayer in the first, it may be regarded as the
506 PSALM CXX. [VER. 1.
response
itself. Let my tongue say in answer to all thy requisitions, that
all
thy commandments are right, or righteousness itself, as in ver. 142, 144.
173. Let thy hand be (near) to help me; for thy precepts do I choose.
The
word supplied in this translation is not necessary to the sense, but is
introduced
for the purpose of retaining the original construction, be to help
me, i. e. be my help, or
simply help me. The reason given in the last
clause
is, that as he voluntarily makes choice of God's will as his rule of
conduct,
he thereby renounces all other protection. The Hebrew verb is a
preterite;
I choose, and have already chosen.
174. I long for thy salvation, 0 Jehovah, and thy law (is) my delights.
I
long and have longed. With the first clause compare ver. 40, 81, 131;
with
the second, ver. 24, 77, 92.
175. Let my soul live and praise thee; and let thy judgments help me.
This
verse sums up in conclusion the petitions of the whole psalm. Save
me,
and thereby give me cause to praise thee, for the blessings which I have
derived
from the promises and precepts of the law.
Let my soul live, be-
cause
it is that which is in danger. Judgments,
as in ver. 149, 156.
176. I wander like a lost sheep—seek thy servant—for thy commandments
I do not forget. The English versions of
the first clause (I have gone astray),
although
they adhere strictly to the form of the original, seem to make the
primary
idea that of sin, which is really included, but only as the cause of
that
which is directly intended, namely, misery, represented by the wander-
ing
of a lost and helpless sheep. Compare Jer. 1. 6. Seek thy servant, de-
liver
from this wretched state one who is still thy servant, and as such
remembers
thy commandments, even in the midst of his worst sufferings.
As
the preceding verse sums up the petitions of the psalm, so this sums up
its
complaints in the first clause and its professions in the last, connected
by
the short prayer (seek thy servant)
as by a single link. The predominant
use
of the past tense, even to the end, shews how deeply the entire psalm
is
founded upon actual and previous experience. In this last stanza, the
only
initial word repeated is (yhiT;) the verb of existence.
PSALM
CXX.
1. A Song of the Ascents. To Jehovah, in my distress, I called, and he
answered me. This is the first of
fifteen psalms (cxx.—cxxxiv.), all bearing
the
inscription, song of ascents or upgoings,
i. e. sung during the periodical
journeys
or pilgrimages to
On
these occasions the people are said, even in historical prose, to go up to
xxxiv.
24, 1 Kings xii. 27, 28. The Hebrew verb (hlAfA) employed in such
connections
is the root of the noun (tOlfEma) ascents
in these inscriptions.
This
explanation of the title is much more satisfactory than any other
which
has been proposed. A rabbinical tradition represents these psalms
as
having been sung by the people, as they ascended the fifteen steps (in
Hebrew
tOlfEma), seven on one side and eight on the other, repeatedly
mentioned by Ezekiel (xl. 6, 22, 26, 31, 34,
37). But apart from the
intrinsic
improbability of this tradition, some psalms in the series were
evidently
not meant to be sung at the temple. No less improbable than
this
very ancient explanation is the modern one, that the inscription has
VER.
2, 3.] PSALM
CXX.
507
reference
to a peculiarity of structure, the repetition of a phrase or clause
of
one sentence in the next with an addition, forming a kind of climax or
progression
in the terms as well as the ideas. But even admitting that this
peculiarity
of form might be described by (tOlfEma) the Hebrew word in
question,
this word could not have been prefixed to each of the fifteen
psalms,
when the examples of the fact alleged are confined almost exclu-
sively
to one or two of them. Much nearer to the truth is the opinion,
that
these psalms were intended to be sung during the return from
which
is called an ascent (hlAfEma) by Ezra (vii. 9). But
this can only be
maintained
by arbitrarily denying the genuineness of the titles, which ascribe
four
of the psalms (cxxii., cxxiv., cxxxi., cxxxiii.) to David, and one (cxxvii.)
to
Solomon. The position assigned to these, and the difference of tone be-
tween
them and the rest, are ingeniously accounted for by Hengstenberg's
hypothesis,
that these five ancient psalms, sung by the people, as they went
up
to
or
system, designed for the same use by an inspired writer after the Resto-
ration,
who not only added ten psalms of his own, as appears from the
identity
of tone and diction, but joined them to the old ones in a studied
and
artificial manner, entirely inconsistent with the supposition of fortuitous
or
random combination. The one psalm by Solomon stands in the centre
of
the series or system and divides it into two equal parts, in each of which
we
find two psalms of David and five anonymous or new ones, the former
being
separated and surrounded by the latter, an additional and strong
proof
of intended adaptation to the times when the later psalms were written,
to
which Hengstenberg still further adds the number and distribution of the
divine
names in the whole series and its subdivisions. The psalm imme-
diately
before is anonymous, but its tone and diction mark it as belonging to
the
period of the Restoration. It begins with an acknowledgment of that
great
mercy, ver. 1, followed by a prayer for deliverance from treacherous
and
spiteful enemies, ver. 2, and a confident anticipation of their punish-
ment,
ver. 3, 4, but closes with a further lamentation and complaint of
present
sufferings, ver. 5-7. In this, as in all the other psalms of the series, the
ideal
speaker is
This
first verse, although general in its terms, is perfectly appropriate to the
Captivity,
as
the distress out of which the
sufferer cried to God, and to the Restoration, as the
answer to his prayer. In my distress, literally in distress to me, an expression like
that
in
Ps. xviii. 7 (6). The augmented form of the Hebrew noun is like that in Ps.
iii. 3 (2).
2. 0 Jehovah, free my soul from lip of falsehood, from tongue of fraud.
The
soul is particularly mentioned as usual when the life or the existence
is
in danger. The last two nouns in Hebrew are not in construction but
in
apposition, a tongue (which is) fraud,
equivalent in meaning to the same
English
words in an inverted order, fraud-tongues.
See a somewhat similar
combination,
Ps. xlv. 5 (4), lx. 5 (4). The terms of the description are
too
strong to be applied to mere delusive promises, and necessarily suggest
the
idea of calumnious falsehood, as in Ps. xxxi. 19 (18), cxix. 69, 78.
The
reality answering to this description in the case of the restored Jews
is
the spiteful misrepresentation, by which the Samaritans retarded the re-
building
of the temple, as recorded in the fourth chapter of Ezra.
3. What will he give to thee, and what will he add to thee, thou tongue of
fraud? Having complained to
God of the false tongue, the ideal speaker
turns
to it as actually present, and addresses it directly, speaking of God in
508 PSALM CXX. [VER.
4-6.
the
third person. The meaning of the question is, what recompence can
you
expect from an infinitely righteous God for these malignant calumnies?
The
peculiar form of the interrogation is derived from that of an ancient
oath,
The Lord do so to me and more also,
literally and so add, i. e. fur-
ther
do, or in addition to the thing in question. See 1 Sam. iii. 17,
xiv.
44. As explained by this allusion, the words have a new force. What
good
or evil may be imprecated on thee, as the consequence of these
cious
falsehoods.
4. Arrows of a warrior sharpened, (together) with coals of juniper.
The
general
idea of severe and painful punishment is here expressed by the
obvious
and intelligible figures of keen arrows and hot coals. The arrows
of a mighty man, warrior, or hero, are
those used in battle, perhaps with
an
allusion to the fact, that one of the races mentioned in the next verse
excelled
in archery. See Isa. xxi. 17. The word which the rabbinical
tradition
explains to mean the juniper, is by modern lexicographers identi-
fied
with the Arabic name of a species of broom-plant, which is thought, on
account
of its inflammatory quality, to make the best charcoal. See Robin-
son's
compare
Ps. vii. 14 (13), xviii. 13, 14 (12, 13), cxl. 11 (10).
5. Alas for me, that I sojourn (with) Meshech, (and) dwell near the tents
of
Kedar! The first verb seems
elsewhere, in the same construction, to de-
note
the act of dwelling with one, Ps. v. 5 (4). The Hebrew preposition
in
the last clause properly means with,
and denotes association and proxi-
mity.
The English Bible, by twice employing our preposition in, obscures
the
meaning of both clauses, which is not that the people were in the power or
even
in the midst of the enemies here mentioned, but compelled to reside
near
them and to suffer from their neighbourhood. Meshech is the name
given
in Gen. x. 2 to the Moschi, a barbarous people inhabiting the moun-
tains
between
of
Ishmael (Gen. xxv. 13), whose name is sometimes used to designate an
Arabian
tribe (Isa. xxi. 16, xlii. 11), and in later Hebrew the Arabians
generally.
As these races, dwelling far off, in the north and south, were
never
in immediate or continued contact with the Israelites, they are pro-
bably
named as types and representatives of warlike barbarism, just as the
names
Goths, Vandals, Huns, Turks, Tartars, Cossacks, have at different
times
been used proverbially in English, to describe those supposed to ex-
hibit
the same character, however unconnected or remote in genealogy and
local
habitation. A slight approach to the same usage was produced
among
ourselves by the revolutionary war, in reference to the national
names,
British and Hessian. In the case before us, it is evident from ver.
6,
that Meshech and Kedar are mere types and representatives of those who
hate
peace and delight in war. Compare Ezek. xxxviii. 2, where Meshech appears as
a
chief leader under Gog, the great prophetic representative of heathendom.
6. My soul has dwelt too long for her with (one) hating peace. The
substitution
of my soul for I implies the intimate conviction and the pain-
ful
sense of what is here asserted. Too long,
literally much or too much.
As
to this peculiar idiom, see above, on Ps. lxv. 10 (9). For her, may be
an
idiomatic pleonasm, adding nothing to the meaning of the verb, with
which
it must be read in close connection; or it may have the meaning
which
the corresponding phrase would naturally seem to have in English,
for her good or for her interest. See above, on Ps. lviii. 8 (7). Hating
peace is clearly a collective
or aggregate expression, comprehending all de-
VER.
1-4.] PSALM
CXX.I.
509
noted
by the Meshech and Kedar of the preceding verse, as an ideal
individual.
7. I am peace, and when I speak, they (go) to war. The first phrase
resembles
I am prayer in Ps. cix. 4, and seems to mean, I am all peace,
nothing
but peace, peace itself, i. e. entirely peaceful or pacific. Speak may
be
an ellipsis for speak peace, a phrase
repeatedly occurring in the Psalms.
See
above, Ps. xxxv. 20, lxxxv. 9 (8), and below, Ps. cxxii. 8. The
sense
will then be, whenever I desire or propose peace. If the verb be ab-
solutely
understood, the sense is that every word he utters is made an
occasion
of attack or conflict. The double for,
in the common version of
this
sentence, is as incorrect as the double in of ver. 5, and more enfeebling
to
the sense. I am not only for peace,
but am peace itself. They are not
only
for war, but arise, proceed, or
address themselves to it.
PSALM
CXXI.
1. A Song for the Ascents. I raise my eyes to the mountains. Whence
cometh my help? The title differs from
that of the preceding psalm only
in
the use of the preposition for, instead of the simple genitive construc-
tion.
This variation, though without effect upon the sense, is favourable
to
the explanation which has been already given of these titles, as a song
for the ascents or pilgrimages to
than a song for the steps of the temple, and
still more so than a song for
the returns from exile, while the modern
theory of climacteric resumptions
fails
altogether to account for the expression here used. The whole psalm
is
a description of Jehovah as the guardian or protector of his people. The
only
material distinction of the parts is that arising from the alternate use
of
the first and second person, as in Ps. xci., which has led some to assume
without
necessity, that the psalm was intended to be sung by alternate or
responsive
choirs. The phrase, to lift the eyes, though sometimes used
to
signify the mere act of directing them to an object, has its strict
and
full sense when a higher object is particularly mentioned, such
as
hills or heavens. The mountains here meant, are the heights on
which
intended
to be sung when the pilgrims came in sight of the
Some
suppose, moreover, that it was meant to be an evening song, and used
when
they halted for the last night's rest before they reached
The
relative construction of the last clause yields a good sense, but is not
in
perfect keeping with the usage of the compound particle (Nyixame), which is
elsewhere
always interrogative.
2. My help is from Jehovah, Maker of heaven and earth. The creative
power
of Jehovah is particularly mentioned, to demonstrate his ability to
help
his people. Compare Ps. cxv. 15.
3. May he not suffer to be moved thy foot; may he not slumber—thy
keeper. This is the expression
of a wish, the only sense consistent with
the
form of the orignal. Let him not give up
to moving thy foot. See
above,
Ps. xxxviii. 17 (16), lxvi. 9 (8). The figure is peculiarly appro-
priate
in the mouth of pilgrims, making their way among the hills and rocks
of
4. Lo, he shall not slumber, and he shall not sleep—the keeper of
What
is desired in the third verse, is affirmed in this. The position of the
subject
at the end of the sentence, in both cases, is emphatic. Most inter-
510 PSALM CXXII. [VER. 1-3.
preters
assume a gradation in the meaning of the two verbs, as if one
which
is the stronger of the two expressions. The latest writers say the
denoted
lighter and the other deep sleep; but they differ on the question
first.
See above, on Ps. iv. 9 (8).
5. Jehovah is thy keeper; Jehovah is thy shade upon thy right hand.
The
keeper or protector of
and
the right hand often mentioned as the place of a protector. See above,
title,
is now named. A shade or shadow is a common figure for protector,
on
Ps. cix. 6, cx. 5, and compare Num. xiv. 9.
6. By day the sun shall not smite thee, and the moon by night. The
last
clause
does not necessarily refer to injurious effects produced directly by the
moon,
but may be understood as a poetical description of all noxious influ-
ences
operating in the night, over which the moon was constituted ruler at
the
time of its creation. See Gen. i. 16, xxxi. 40, Jer. xxxvi. 30.
7. Jehovah will keep thee from all evil ; he will keep thy soul. The
protection
which had been repeatedly promised to
is
now. Jehovah described as extending to all evils and to the very life and soul.
8. Jehovah will keep thy going out and thy coming in from now even to
eternity. This is the third
repetition of the phrase, Jehovah will
keep, i. e.
keep
safe, protect, preserve, as if to silence the misgivings of a weak or
tempted
faith, by the reiterated declaration of this cheering truth. Going
out and coming in is a proverbial Hebrew phrase
for all the occupations
and
affairs of life. See Dent. xxviii. 6, 1 Sam. xxix. 6. The original
reference
is to man's going out to labour in the morning and returning home
to
rest at night. See above, on Ps. civ. 23. With the last clause compare Ps.
cxiii.
2, cxvi. 18, cxxv. 2. The promise of eternal preservation is addressed
lity
of individual believers, is admitted even by those least disposed to find
directly
to the church as such; but that it involves the blessed immorta-
allusions
to the future state in the Book of Psalms.
PSALM CXXII.
1. A Song of the Ascents. By David. I rejoice in (those) saying to
me, To the house of
Jehovah we will go.
This psalm, though so much
older
than the two before it, was probably placed third in the series, be-
cause
it was intended to be sung, and was actually sung, at the entrance of
the
march,
and on coming in sight of
sents
the church or chosen people. After the introduction, ver. 1, 2,
comes
a panegyric on
lowed
by a prayer for her prosperity as such, ver. 6-9. The Ascents, or
upward
journeys of the people to the sanctuary, as in Ps. cxx. 1, cxxi. 1.
To rejoice in those
saying
is to rejoice because they say. On the last clause
is
founded Isa. ii. 3, where the gentiles are described as joining in the
words
here uttered by the Jews.
2. Standing are our feet in thy gates, 0
version
(shall stand) is entirely ungrammatical. The past tense of the sub-
stantive
verb with the participle means strictly have
been standing, i. e. have
begun
to stand, or are already standing.
3.
This
seems to be a continuation of the address in the preceding verse.
The
unusual expressions in the last clause are intended to describe the city
VER.
1, 2.] PSALM
CXXIII.
511
as
substantially and strongly built. The sense is correctly given in the
English
Bible, a city that is compact together.
This seems to imply that
determine
the period in the reign of David, when the psalm was written.
See
2 Sam. v. 9. The abbreviated relative (hrAB;Huw,) has by some been
made
a proof of later date; but it no doubt belonged from the beginning
to
the dialect of common life, though not commonly employed in writing
till
a later date. It occurs in the song of Deborah, Judges v. 7, and else-
where
in the Book of Judges (vi. 17, vii. 12. viii. 26).
4. Where the tribes go up, the tribes of Jah, (as) a testimony to
give thanks to the name
of Jehovah. There
is obvious reference to the
requisition
in Exod. xxiii. 17, xxxiv. 23, Deut. xvi. 16, which is called a
testimony,
not merely as the law in general is (Ps. xciii. 5), but as a constant
memorial
of God's goodness to his people. The mention of the tribes
seems
to point to the period of the undivided monarchy.
5. For there sit thrones for judgment, thrones for the house of David.
This
means simply that
There, literally thither, implying that the singers were
themselves in
motion
towards these thrones. Sit, or as we
should say in English, stand.
See
below, Ps. cxxv. 1.
6. Pray for the peace of
Peace,
in both clauses, includes all prosperity. There is obvious allusion
to
the meaning of the name
7. Peace be within thy rampart, and repose within thy palaces. Peace
and
repose from all distracting) causes, of whatever nature. Rampart,
breast-work,
circumvallation. Rampart and palaces are put for the outer
and
inner masses of building. Compare Ps. xlviii. 14.
8. For the sake of my brethren and my friends, let me speak, Peace (be)
within thee. By brethren and friends
we are to understand the whole body
of
the chosen people. For their sake may
include the sense of in their
behalf. The last clause admits
of a different construction, Let me speak
peace to thee, literally in thee. See above, on Ps. lxxxv. 9 (8).
The
optative
meaning of the verb is determined by the particle (xnA), the use of
which
here seems to be imitated in Ps. cxv. 2, cxvi. 4.
9. For the sake of the house of Jehovah our God, I will seek thy good.
The
house of God is here the sanctuary and all the interests of which it
was
the local centre. Jehovah our God,
our patron and protector, our
peculiar
covenant God. Seek includes every
form of effort to promote it;
but
the prominent idea is that of intercession.
PSALM
CXXIII.
1. A Song of the Ascents. Unto thee do I raise my eyes, the (one) sitting
in the heavens. This psalm contains an
expression of solicitous desire for
divine
help, ver. 1, 2, a direct prayer for mercy, ver. 3, and a statement of
the
circumstances which occasioned it. With the first clause compare Ps.
cxxi.
1, with the second, Ps. ii. 4, xi. 4, ciii. 19, cxiii. 3, 5.
2. Behold, as the eyes of servants (are turned) to the hand of their
masters,
as the eyes of a maid to
the hand of her mistress, so our eyes (are turned) to
Jehovah our God, until
he have mercy upon us.
The behold as, at the
beginning,
is equivalent to see how in English.
Some suppose the act of
512 PSALM CXXIV. [VER. 1-3.
looking
towards the hand of a superior to denote desire of protection;
others
an appeal to his bounty, as in Ps. civ. 27, 28, cxlv. 15, 16; others
an
implied prayer that punishment may cease. Compare Gen. xvi. 6, 8, 9.
Perhaps
all these explanations err in being too specific, and the sense of
the
comparison is simply that they look with deference and trust to the
superior
power which controls them.
3. Have mercy upon us, 0 Jehovah, have mercy upon us; for greatly are
we sated with contempt. This petition forms
the centre of the psalm, to
which
what goes before is introductory, and what follows supplementary.
The
contempt is that of heathen neighbours, and especially that of the
Samaritans,
which is expressly mentioned in the history. See Neh. i. 3,
ii.
19.
4. Much sated in itself is our soul with the scorning of the secure, the
contempt of the proud. In itself, literally to or
for itself, as in Ps. cxxii. 3.
Secure (sinners), those at ease,
indifferent to the sufferings of others, and
without
apprehension of their own. Compare Ps. lxxiii. 12.
PSALM
CXXIV.
1. A Song of the Ascents. By David. If (it had) not (been) Jehovah
who was for us—Oh let
acknowledgment
of God as the deliverer of
quent
determination to trust in him exclusively for future favours, ver. 6-9.
The
verse before us propounds the theme of the whole composition, in a
conditional
and imperfect, but for that very reason a more striking form.
It
is tantamount to saying, what if the Lord had not been for us?—leaving
the
answer to the imagination of the reader. For
us, in our favour, on our
side;
or to us, belonging to us, ours,
which really includes the other. See
above,
on Ps. 10 (9). Oh that in the last
clause represents (xnA the
particle
of entreaty. The common version (now) conveys the very different
idea, at length, after all that we have
suffered, let
mistake
is rendered more natural or rather unavoidable, to mere English
readers,
by the seeming antithesis between the now of this verse and the
then of ver. 3, 4, 5, of
which there is not the slightest trace in the original.
2. If (it had) not (been) Jehovah who was for us, in the rising up of man
against us. What was left unfinished
in the first verse, as a mere suggestion
of
the Psalmist's theme, is now repeated, for the purpose of being carried
out.
This is one of the rhetorical resumptions, which some modern critics
hold
to be the (tOlfEma) degrees,
from which these fifteen psalms derived
their
common designation. With this verse compare Ps. lvi. 12 (11).
3. Then alive would they have swallowed us, in the kindling of their wrath
against us. With respect to the
then at the beginning of this verse, there
is
danger of an error just the opposite of that already pointed out in refer-
ence
to the now of ver. 1. As the English
reader would be almost sure to
take
that for a particle of time, which it is not, he would be equally certain
to
mistake this for a term of logic, meaning in that case, upon that
supposition,
or the like; whereas it really means at
that time, the well
remembered
time of our extremity, when God so wonderfully interposed for
our
deliverance. The Hebrew particle occurs in this form only here, and
is
consequently no more a proof of recent than of early date. Another
word
liable to misconstruction in the English versions of this clause is
VER.
1.] PSALM CXXV. 513
quick, here used in its
primary sense of living or alive, from which may be
easily
deduced its secondary sense of swift,
implying lively motion. The
historical
allusion, in this and other like passages, is no doubt to the fate
of
Korah and his company. Compare Num. xvi. 32, 33, where the same
verb
and adjective occur together. See above, on Ps. lv. 16 (15). The
plural
pronoun their refers to the
collective man in the preceding
verse.
4. Then the waters would have overwhelmed us (and) a stream passed over
our soul. The common version (had
overwhelmed us) is entirely correct, and
more
poetical in form than that here given, but at the same time ambiguous,
as
the sentence, taken by itself, would seem to mean, that before the time
signified
by then, the waters had actually
overwhelmed them, which was
not
the case. The figures are the same as in Ps. xviii. 5, 17 (4, 16), cxliv. 7.
5. Then had passed over our soul the waters, the proud (waters). The
waters
are so described, partly because of the ideas suggested by their
swelling
(Ps. lxxxix. 10), partly because they represent dangers arising
from
the selfish pride of human enemies. Some, without necessity, recur
to
the primary meaning of the root, and explain the adjective to mean
boiling,
effervescing.
6. Blessed (be) Jehovah, who did not give us (as) prey to their teeth.
By
one
of those rhetorical transitions which are constantly occurring in the
figurative
diction of the psalms, the enemies and dangers, which had just
been
represented as an overwhelming flood or torrent, are suddenly trans-
formed
into devouring beasts. See above, on Ps. iii. 8 (7), lviii. 7 (6).
With
the benediction or doxology, blessed (be)
Jehovah, compare Ps. xxviii. 6,
xxxi.
22 (21).
7. Our soul is escaped, like a bird, from the snare of the fowlers; the
snare
is broken and we are
escaped.
We have here a second transition and a third
comparison,
to wit, that of the enemies to fowlers, and of their devices to
snares
or traps used in catching birds. In the second clause there is an
obvious
climax. Not only is the bird gone, but the snare is broken.
This
is peculiarly appropriate to the restoration of the Jews from
which
was occasioned by the fall of
this
verse compare Ps. xviii. 5 (4), xci. 3. The English phrase is escaped,
denoting
a change of state, and not, like has
escaped, a single act, is well
suited
to represent the Hebrew verb, which though active in meaning, has
the
passive form.
8. Our help is in the name of Jehovah, maker of heaven and earth. The
conclusion
drawn from the experience here recorded is, that he who had
helped
them must help them still. Our help for the future no less than
the
past. In the name of Jehovah, the
manifested attributes, which con-
stitute
his name, in the peculiar dialect of
Scripture, and especially of this
book.
See above, on Ps. v. 12 (11), xx. 2 (1). With this verse compare
also
Ps. xxxiii. 22, cxxi. 2.
PSALM
CXXV.
1. A Song of the Ascents. Those trusting in Jehovah (are) like mount
expression
of strong confidence in the divine protection, ver. 1, 2, espe-
cially
against wicked enemies, ve,r. 3, with a prayer that this confidence may
not
go unrewarded, ver. 4, and a prophetic anticipation of the fate of the
514 PSALM CXXV. [VER. 2, 3.
ungodly,
ver. 5. The condition of the chosen people, here described or
presupposed,
as suffering from the spite of heathen enemies, not in capti-
vity
or exile, but at home in their own land, and internally divided into two
great
parties, the sincere and hypocritical, agrees exactly with the period of
the
Restoration, and especially that part of it in which the building of the
temple
was suspended, as known to us from history and prophecy. The
psalm
before us was well suited to alarm and warn the false
as
to encourage and support the true. According to Hengstenberg, it was
intended,
with the psalms before and after it, to form a trilogy, consisting
of
one ancient and two later compositions. Those
trusting in Jehovah is a
characteristic
designation of the true church, the spiritual
people.
The meaning is, not merely that they individually exercise this
faith,
but that collectively, or as a body, they are built upon it, and have
no
security except in the divine protection. Mount
for
the church, which would then be compared with itself, but simply as a
mountain,
and like other mountains solid and enduring, here selected as a
sample
or an emblem of these qualities, because it had also a religious pre-
eminence,
as the earthly seat and centre of the true religion. It is not (and
shall
not be) moved, shaken from its firm
position. See above, on Ps. xlvi.
6
(5). Stands for ever, literally sits to eternity, the Hebrew idiom using
one
of these postures as we use the other, or rather using both as we use only one,
to
denote the opposite of vacillation and prostration. See above, on Ps. cxxii. 5.
2.
from now even to
eternity.
The site of
furnishes
the Psalmist with a striking image of the divine protection. As
in
ver. 1, the permanent security of the church itself is likened to the firm-
ness
of
this
security, is likened to the heights by which the city is surrounded upon
all
sides. The verb has, supplied in the
translation of the first clause, is
really
a violation of the Hebrew idiom, to which, as well as to the kindred
tongues,
the verb to have is utterly unknown.
In our own idiom, however,
it
expresses the precise idea, and enables us to retain the Hebrew collocation,
which
assigns Jerusalem the first place in
the sentence. The Hebrew corre-
sponding
to about is a compound phrase, consisting of a local adverb and
a
preposition, around as to. His people,
meaning those who trust him (ver.
1),
to the exclusion of all hypocrites and unbelievers.
3. For not to rest is the rod of wickedness over the lot of the righteous,
to
the intent that the
righteous may not put forth to iniquity their hands. This
unusually
long verse clearly shews the actual condition of the chosen people,
here
assumed or presupposed, as well-known to the writer and original
readers
of the psalm. The present ascendancy of wicked men is not incon-
sistent
with the truth just stated, because it is to be brought to an end, lest
the
faith and patience of God's people should fail, and they should be
tempted
to renounce his service as unprofitable, nay, as ruinous. Compare
Ps.
lxxiii. 13, 14. To rest, not merely
to remain, but to continue undis-
turbed.
The rod or staff is here a symbol of authority, and might be ren-
dered
sceptre, if the subject of discourse
were kings. See above, on Ps.
ii.
9, xlv. 7 (6). The lot of the righteous,
their share of the inheritance of
the
chosen people, at first distributed by lot. To
the intent indicates the
reason
why this undeserved superiority is not to last. The reason is founded
not
merely on the ill desert of the wicked, but on the interest and welfare
of
the righteous. Put forth, or stretch
out, literally send into. See the
VER.
1.] PSALM
CXXVI. 515
same
construction, Gem xxxvii. 22, Exod. xxii. 7, 10 (8, 11). To touch
iniquity
is here to meddle with it, not, as some suppose, in the shape of
revenge
merely, but in all its degrees and forms, by which the righteous
can
be tempted.
4. Do good, 0 Jehovah, to the good, and to (those) upright in their
hearts.
These
are additional descriptions of the true church, or spiritual
whom
alone the promise of divine favour and protection had been given.
Upright, literally straight,
straightforward, as opposed to all moral obliquity
whatever.
See above, on Ps. vii. 11 (10). The prayer involves a pro-
phetic
declaration, that to such and such only, God will do good or act
kindly
in the highest sense. See above, on Ps. lxxiii. 1.
5. And, (as to) those turning
aside (in) their crooked (ways), Jehovah
will let them, go with
the doers of iniquity. Peace (be) upon
participle
in the first clause is properly a transitive and means causing to
turn
aside, but has here the sense of going aside,
or turning in the intran-
sitive
sense, the English verb having precisely the same double usage. This
construction
of the Hebrew verb, which occurs also in Isa. xxx 11, Job
xxiii.
11, may be resolved into the usual one, by supposing an ellipsis of
their feet or steps. The adjective translated crooked occurs only here and
in
Judges v. 6, where the noun (ways or paths) is expressed. It denotes
the
by-ways of corrupt inclination and transgression, by which men deviate
from
the straight and narrow highway of God's commandments. Compare
Deut.
ix. 16, Mal. ii. 8, 9. The workers of
iniquity are not a different
class
from these wanderers, but that to which they belong, and the doom of
which
they would gladly escape; but the
Lord will let them go on still with
those
whom they resemble in character, and as they have been like them by
the
way, they shall be like them in the end. Compare Ps. xxvi. 9, xxviii. 3.
Having
thus excluded hypocritical pretenders from the object of the bene-
diction,
he concludes by wishing or invoking peace
upon (the true or spiri-
tual)
Israel. Compare Isa. lvii. 19, 21.
PSALM
CXXVI.
1. A Song of the Ascents. in Jehovah's turning (to) the turning of
we were like (men)
dreaming.
The church acknowledges the good work of
deliverance
as joyfully begun, ver. 1-3, and prays that it may be completed,
ver.
4-6. For the meaning and construction of the first verb see above,
on
Ps. xiv. 7, lxxxvi. 5 (4), and compare my note on Isa. lii. 8. Instead
of
the usual combination (tUbw; bUw) return
to the captivity, we have here
one
resembling it in form (tbaywi bUw), but meaning to return to the return
or
meet those returning, as it were, half-way. Compare Deut. xxx. 2, 3,
James
iv. 8. The Hebrew noun denotes conversion,
in its spiritual sense,
and
the verb God's gracious condescension in accepting or responding to it.
The
great historical example of this condescension, which the Psalmist had
immediately
in view, was the deliverance from Babylon; but the terms are
so
selected as to be appropriate to the most intimate personal experience of
the
same kind. Zion is here put for the
church or chosen people, of which
it
was the local seat or centre. Like the
dreamers, or those dreaming, i.
e.
out
of our ordinary normal state, and in an ecstasy or trance, arising from
excess
of joy. The idea of incredulity may be included, but must not be
suffered
to exclude all others.
516 PSALM CXXVI. [VER. 2-6.
2. Then was filled with laughter our mouth, and our tongue with singing;
then said they among the
nations, Jehovah hath done great things to these
(people). The particle (zxA) then is followed by the future in the sense of
the
preterite, in prose as well as poetry. See Exod. xv. 1, Deut. iv. 41,
Josh.
x. 12. There is no need therefore of supposing that the writer
simply
retained the future forms of the passage from which this was copied,
namely,
Job viii. 21. Laughter and singing, both as signs of joy. Done
great things, literally magnified to
do, an idiomatic phrase borrowed from
Joel
ii. 21. To these, literally with these, i. e. in his associations
and trans-
actions
with them.
3. Jehovah has done great things to us. We are joyful. This last is
not
a
mere appendage to the first clause, we are glad that he has done great
things
for us, but an independent proposition, containing the proof of that
by
which it is preceded. He has indeed done much for us, for whereas we
were
lately wretched, we are now rejoicing, or more closely rendered, have
become
joyful.
4. Turn, 0 Jehovah, to our captivity, like the streams in the south.
The
prayer
is that God will return to, or revisit his people in their bondage or
distress,
and by necessary implication set them free from it. See above,
on
ver. 1. where we have a studied variation of this favourite expression.
According
to the usual interpretation (bring back
our captivity), this verse is
either
inconsistent with the first, or a proof that the restoration is not men-
tioned
there as past already. Like the streams
in the south, as the temporary
torrents
in the dry southern district of Palestine reappear in the rainy
season,
after having ceased to flow in the preceding drought.
5. Those sowing with weeping with singing shall reap. Those sowing,
literally the sowing, i. e. the (same persons
or the very persons) sowing.
With weeping, or in tears; the
Hebrew noun is a singular collective. See
above,
on Ps. vi. 7 (6), xxxix. 13 (12), lvi. 9 (8). Singing, as a vocal ex-
pression
of joy. See above, on ver. 2. The figures are natural and com-
mon
ones for means and end, or for the beginning and the issue of any
undertaking.
They may have been suggested here by the mention of the
parched
and thirsty south, where the fears of the husbandman are often disappointed
by
abundant rains and the sudden reappearance of the vanished streams.
6. He may go forth, he may go forth, and weep, bearing (his) load of seed.
lie shall come, he shall
come with singing, bearing sheaves. The emphatic
combination
of the finite tense with the infinitive is altogether foreign from
our
idiom, and very imperfectly represented, in the ancient and some
modern
versions, by the active participle (venientes
venient, coming they
shall
come), which conveys neither the peculiar form nor the precise sense
of
the Hebrew phrase. The best approximation to the force of the original
is
Luther's repetition of the finite tense, he
shall come, he shall come, be-
cause
in all such cases the infinitive is really defined or determined by the
term
which follows, and in sense, though not in form, assimilated to it.
Load of seed, literally drawing or draught of seed, an obscure phrase, pro-
bably
denoting that from which the sower draws forth seed to sow, or per-
haps
the seed itself thus drawn forth. The only analogous expression is in
Amos
ix. 13, where the sower is called (fraz,.ha j`wamo) a drawer (forth of)
seed. The common version
(precious seed) has no foundation either in ety-
mology
or usage. The contrast so beautifully painted in this verse was
realised
in the experience of
VER.
1, 2.] PSALM
CXXVII. 517
the
rest of the children of the captivity, kept the dedication of the house of
God
with joy" (Ezra vi. 16), "and kept the feast of unleavened bread
seven
days with joy, because the Lord had made them joyful, and turned
the
heart of the king of
the
work of the house of God, the God of Israel" (Ezra vi. 22). See also
Nehemiah
xii. 43.
PSALM
CXXVII.
1. A Song of the Ascents. By Solomon. If Jehovah will not build a
house, in vain toil its
builders in it.
If Jehovah will not keep a city, in vain
watches (its) keeper. This is the central
psalm of the series, having seven
before
and seven after it. This position it may owe to its being the only
psalm
of Solomon, whereas four are by David, and the remaining ten pro-
bably
by one and the same author. See above, on Ps. cxx. 1. The
admission
of this psalm among the Songs of Pilgrimage was probably occa-
sioned
by its opening words, which, though admitting of a general applica-
tion,
were peculiarly appropriate to the building both of the first and second
temple.
It was perfectly natural, apart from all particular divine direction,
that
the rebuilders of the temple should rejoice to appropriate the words of
Solomon,
their great exemplar. The correctness of the title, which ascribes
the
psalm to him, is not only free from any plausible objection, but abun-
dantly
confirmed by its internal character, its allusion to a state of high
prosperity,
and its resemblance to the Book of Proverbs, where the senti-
ment
here uttered is frequently reiterated. See for example Prov. x. 22.
The
general principle, that human care and toil are unavailing without
God's
blessing, is applied successively to several of the most familiar inter-
ests
of real life. Beyond this the plan admits of no subdivision. The
first
specification has respect to human dwellings, both on a small and on a
large
scale. The futures, will not build, will
not keep, may also be ex-
plained
as presents, builds not, keeps not.
The phrase (
to
be connected with the verb, and not with builders.
Watches, wakes,
remains
awake, but always with a view to the exercise of vigilance. See
above,
on Ps. cii. 8, and compare Prey. viii. 34. The last word in Hebrew
is
properly the participle of the verb translated keep.
2. It is in vain for you, rising up early, sitting down late, eating the
bread
of cares (or troubles).
So he giveth his beloved sleep. The first phrase
means,
you labour in vain. Rising up, not
merely from sleep, but to
labour,
addressing yourselves to work. Sitting
down, to rest when the
work
is done. The contrast is sufficiently maintained by the common
version, sitting up late; but it is objected
that the Hebrews did not work
in
a sitting posture. Both these phrases are peculiar in their form--mak-
ing early (or hastening) to rise—making late (or delaying) to sit. Bread of
cares (or troubles) is bread earned by hard toil and consumed amidst it.
There
is obvious allusion to Gen. iii. 17, 19. The last clause is exceed-
ingly
obscure. Some understand it to mean that while others labour,
God's
beloved sleeps. But this is contradicted by notorious facts and in-
consistent
with the doctrine of the Bible, and especially the Book of Pro-
verbs,
with respect to idleness and diligence. See Prov. vi. 9, 10, xxxi. 27.
Another
possible interpretation is that God gives his beloved refreshing
sleep
after their labour, but this cannot be said of such exclusively. The
latest
writers understand the clause to mean, that what others hope to gain
518 PSALM CXXVIII. [VER. 1-3.
exclusively
by labour, but in vain, the Lord bestows upon his people while
they
sleep, they know not how. According to this view of the passage, it
must
be translated, so, i. e. such, namely, what they thus seek, he gives to
his beloved one (in)
sleep.
This, which is not a very obvious construction,
derives
some additional colour from the seeming allusion to Solomon's
name
Jedidiah (2 Sam. xii. 25), the Beloved of
the Lord, and to the promise
of
prosperity communicated to him in a dream (1 Kings iii. 5, 15).
3. Lo, a heritage from Jehovah (are) children; a reward (is) the fruit of
the womb. What is true of dwellings
and the means of subsistence is no
less
true of those from whom these advantages are commonly provided.
An inheritance or
heritage,
i. e. a valuable possession derived from a father.
Children, literally sons, a term very often used
indefinitely. A reward or
hire, the expression used by
Leah, in naming her son Issachar, Gen.
xxx.
18. In the same chapter (Gen. xxx. 2) children are called the fruit
of the womb, and represented as the
gift of God. See also Deut. vii. 13.
4. As arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the sons of youth. The
first
clause describes them as defenders of their parents. A warrior,
literally
a strong or (mighty) one. Sons of youth,
i. e. born while their
parents
are still young. See Gen. xxxvii. 3, Isa. liv. 6. The allusion is
not
only to the vigour (Gen. xlix. 3), but to the value of their aid to the
parent
in declining age.
5. Happy the man who has filled his quiver with them—they shall not be
put to shame--they shall
speak with adversaries in the gate. The first clause
carries
out the figure of arrows in the verse preceding. The mention of the
gate,
in the last clause, as the place both of commercial and judicial busi-
ness,
seems to mark a transition from martial to forensic conflict, and to
shew
that the enemies or adversaries here meant are adverse parties in
litigation.
See above, on Ps. lxix. 13 (12). For a striking contrast to
this
picture, see Job v. 4. This last example, although perfectly in keeping
with
the views of the ancient Israelites in general, seems peculiarly natural
and
life-like in a psalm of Solomon.
PSALM
CXXVIII.
1. A Song of Ascents. Happy is every fearer of Jehovah, the (one) walk-
ing in his ways. This psalm seems
intended to assure the tempted and dis-
couraged
people of
devotion
to his service cannot lose its reward. As if he had said, however
things
may now seem to an eye of sense, it is still a certain truth that the
truly
happy man is he who fears Jehovah, not in mere profession, but who
testifies
his fear of him by walking in his ways or doing his commandments.
2. The labour of thy hands when thou shalt eat, happy thou and well with
thee. The promise implied is
the opposite of the threatening in Deut.
xxviii.
33, Lev. xxvi. 16. What the enemies of
as
doing, it is here said that
literally good for thee. The conjunction (yKi) in the first clause is
not to be
construed
as in Ps. cxviii. 10, but as a particle of time. Happy thou, or
oh
thy happiness, is an expression
borrowed from Deut. xxxiii. 29.
3. Thy wife, as a fruitful vine at the sides of thy house; thy sons, as
olive-
plants around thy table. The word translated sides always means the edge
or
border, and, according to some, the innermost part. See above, on Ps.
VER.
1-3.] PSALM
CXXIX.
519
xlviii.
3 (2). Sons, as usual, represent the
children of both sexes. The
olive-plants
are emblems of luxuriance and fruitfulness. See above, on
Ps.
lii. 10 (8), and compare Jer. xi. 16. The Hebrew for around or about
is
the same as in Ps. cxxv. 2.
4. See--for so shall be blessed the man fearing Jehovah. The lo or behold
at
the beginning is equivalent to saying, Look upon this picture, for it re-
presents
the state of one who truly fears the Lord. Although such a con-
nection
between goodness and prosperity was far from uniform and constant
under
the Old Testament than now, it is not to be supposed that these pro-
mises
were actually verified in the experience of every godly Israelite. This
has
led some of the most eminent interpreters to the conclusion, that the
promises
of this psalm are not personal at all, but addressed to an ideal
person
representing the whole class of true believers, the true
5. Jehovah bless thee out of
Ps.
cx. 2. The latter might, therefore, be translated as a promise, the
Lord shall bless thee, but the optative
meaning seems more natural in this
connection.
In either case, the imperative conveys substantially the same
idea.
See above, on Ps. xxxvii. 3, 4, 27. From
Zion, as his earthly resi-
dence,
the seat of the theocracy. See above, on Ps. xx. 3 (2). Look upon,
with
joy and triumph. See above, on Ps. xxii. 18 (17), xxxvii. 14, liv. 9
(8).
Welfare, literally goodness, not of character but of
condition, good for-
tune.
The Hebrew word occurs above, Ps. cxix. 66.
6. And see thou sons to thy sons. Peace (be) upon
clause
is a virtual promise of long life—thou
shalt see thy children's children.
An
interesting parallel is furnished by Zech. viii. 4, the whole of which
chapter
is, indeed, a prophetic commentary on this psalm. For the mean-
ing
of the last clause see above, on Ps. cxxv. 5.
PSALM
CXXIX.
1. A Song of the Ascents. Many (a time) have they distressed me from
my youth—oh let
past,
ver. 1-4, rests the hope of others in time to come, ver. 5-8. The
first
word after the inscription properly means much
or too much. See
above,
on Ps. cxx. 6, cxxiii. 4. But most interpreters agree in referring it
to
time, as in the English version, many a
time or often. The youth of
ii.
17, Jer. ii. 2, xxii. 21, Ezek. xxiii. 3. For the optative meaning of the
last
clause, and the true sense of the Hebrew particle (xnA), see above, on
Ps.
cxviii. 2, cxxiv. 1. Distressed,
persecuted or oppressed me. Compare
the
use of the participle in Ps. vi. 8 (7), vii. 5 (4), xxiii. 5.
2. Many (a time) have they distressed me from my youth; yet have they not
prevailed against me. The statement in the
first verse is repeated, for the
sake
of being joined with one of a more cheering character. Yet, literally
also. As if he had said; it
is true that they have so done, but it is also
true,
&c. Prevailed against me,
literally been able (as) to me, i. e.
able to
accomplish
their designs respecting me. See Gen. xxxii. 26 (25), and com-
pare
Ps. xiii. 5 (4).
3. Upon my back ploughed ploughers; they made long their furrows. The
expression
on my back seems to shew that the
allusion is to wounds pro-
520 PSALM CXXIX. [VER. 4-8.
duced
by stripes. As if he had said, my back was furrowed by their whips
or
scourges. We have here then an example of the image of an image.
The
ploughing is a figure for scourging, and the scourging a figure for the
manifold
sufferings inflicted upon
4. Jehovah (is) righteous; he cut the cord of the wicked. He is
righteous,
and
therefore faithful to his promise, and to his covenant engagements to
his
people. The cord (not cords) is that which fastened the ox to the
plough.
This continuation of the figure in ver. 3 is much more natural
than
the assumption of a new one, that of confinement by the tying of the
limbs,
as in Ps. ii. 3. According to the first translation above given, the
meaning
of the clause is, that Jehovah put an end to their inflictions by a
violent
separation from their victim.
5. Shamed and turned back are (and shall be) all haters of
Jehovah
has already done for
fies
the confident belief that he will do still more. This language was pecu-
liarly
appropriate to
had
already been accomplished, but others were still needed to complete
the
happy revolution. With the first clause compare Ps. vi. 11 (10),
xxxv.
4 (3), xl. 14 (13).
6. They shall be like the grass of the house-tops, which, before one pulls
(it) withers. The flat roofs of the
oriental houses being often covered with
earth,
grass and weeds readily spring up, but having no depth of root soon
wither.
Compare my note on Isa. xxxvii. 27, from which place the figure
is
here borrowed. The common version (afore
it groweth up) is founded on
Jerome's
(statim ut viruerit). The other is.
supported by the Septuagint
and
Vulgate (pro> tou? e]kspasqh?nai, priusquam
evellatur), and by the usage of
the
verb (JlawA)
in the sense of drawing (a sword), drawing off (a shoe), &c.
7. (With) which the reaper fills not his hand and his bosom, (when) bind-
ing sheaves. The ephemeral and
worthless vegetation of the house-top is
contrasted
still further with the useful products of the earth, in order to
contrast
still more strongly the end of the righteous and the wicked. The
last
Hebrew word is translated above strictly as a participle of the verb (rmf)
to
bind or gather sheaves, and may agree with (rcvq) reaper in the first
clause.
Since the latter, however, is itself a participle used as a noun,
most
interpreters put the same construction on the other word, and suppose
it
to denote a different person from the reaper. With which the reaper fills
not his hand nor his
bosom the sheaf-binder. The word translated bosom is
explained
by lexicographers to mean the front fold of the oriental robe, in
which
things are carried. It might also be translated lap. Hengstenberg's
version
is his arm. Compare my note on Isa. xlix. 22.
8. Nor do the passers by say, The blessing of Jehovah (come) unto you,
we bless you in the name
of Jehovah.
The negative description is still carried
out,
with unusual distinctness and particularity. This verse affords an
interesting
glimpse of ancient harvest usages, confirmed by the historical
statement
in Ruth ii. 4, from the analogy of which place it is altogether
probable,
although denied by some, that there is here allusion to the alter-
nate
or responsive salutations in common use among the people. We may
then
supply in thought before the last clause, nor
receive the customary
answer. As the Hebrew
preposition before you does not mean on but to
or
unto, it seems better to supply come than be. With this verse compare
Ps.
cxviii. 26.
VER.
1-6.] PSALM
CXXX. 521
PSALM CXXX.
1. A Song of Ascents. Out of the depths do I invoke thee, 0 Jehovah!
This
is the penitential psalm of the series, in which the guilt of the chosen
people
is distinctly acknowledged, as the cause of its calamities, but not as
an
occasion of despair. After an introductory petition to be heard, ver.
1,
2, comes the indirect confession of sin, ver. 3, 4, then an expression of
strong
confidence, ver. 5, 6, and an exhortation to
same,
ver. 7, 8. The distinction made in this last stanza, between
at
large and the penitent who utters the previous confession, would seem
to
show, that the latter is to be conceived of as an individual, and not as
representing
the whole people. But the best interpreters are of opinion,
that
the distinction is entirely formal, and that the object of address in the
last
stanza is identical with the person speaking in the others. See above,
on
Ps. lxix. 3, 15 (2, 14), and compare Isa. li. 10, in all which places the
word
translated depths occurs, and in the
same sense, as a figure for ex-
treme
dejection and distress. The figure itself is also used in Ps. xl. 3 (2),
Ezek.
xxvii. 34.
2. Lord, hearken to my voice; let thine ears be attentive to the voice of
my supplications. The first word in
Hebrew is (ynAdoxE) the one strictly
meaning
Lord, and shewing that the prayer is offered to a sovereign God.
The
common verb (fmawA) to
hear is here construed with a preposition
(B;), thus resembling, in
its syntax, our verbs hearken, listen.
The adjective
attentive is peculiar to the
later Hebrew, though its verbal root is of frequent
occurrence
in the psalms. Supplications, prayers
for grace or mercy. See
above,
on Ps. xxviii. 6; xxxi. 23 (22).
3. If iniquities thou mark, 0 Jah--0 Lord, who shall stand? This
interrogation
clearly implies consciousness of guilt, and is therefore an
indirect
confession of it. To mark is to note,
take notice of, observe. The
Hebrew
verb is used in precisely the same manner, Job x. 14, xiv. 16. To
stand is to stand one's
ground, maintain one's innocence, and perhaps in
this
case, to endure one's sentence. See above, on Ps. i. 6, and compare
Nah.
i. 6, Mal. iii. 2. The question is equivalent to a strong negation, or
an
affirmation that none can stand.
4. For with thee (there is) forgiveness, to the intent that thou mayest
be
feared. The for has reference to a thought suppressed
but, easily supplied.
Since
none can stand, 0 Lord, forgive, for
with thee, &c. Or, since none
can
stand, our only hope is in free forgiveness, for with thee, &c. With
thee, belonging to thee,
exercised by thee. The word rendered forgiveness
is
peculiar to the later Hebrew; its plural form occurs in Neh. ix. 17.
The forgiveness that we need, the (only) forgiveness that is available
or
attainable.
To the intent, for this very purpose,
not merely so that, as an
incidental
consequence. Fear or godly reverence is here represented as
one
fruit and evidence of pardoned sin.
5. I wait for Jehovah my soul
waits—and in his word do I hope. The
last
verb also means to wait for his word,
i. e. the fulfilment of his promise,
as
in Ps. cxix. 74, 81, 82, 114, 147. My
soul waits, I wait with all my
soul
or heart. My powers and affections are absorbed in this earnest ex-
pectation.
6. My soul (waits) for the Lord more than (those) watching for the morn-
ing—watching for the
morning.
There is something beautiful and touching
522 PSALM CXXXI. [VER. 1, 2.
in
this simple repetition, though it is not easy to account for its effect,
which
is sensibly impaired by the attempt made in the English version to
relieve
the baldness of the iteration, I say more
than they that watch for the
morning. The comparison
suggested is between the impatience of noctur-
nal
watchers for the break of day and that of sufferers for relief, or of
convicted
sinners for forgiveness.
7. Hope thou,
abundantly with him
redemption.
The third person used in the English
Bible
(let Israel hope in the Lord) is an
inaccuracy the more remarkable
because
not found in the Prayer Book Version (0
In
Jehovah, literally to him, i. e. look to him with confident expectation, as
in
Isa. li. 5. The construction in the last clause is idiomatic, and not
susceptible
of close translation. The word corresponding to abundantly
is
the infinitive of a verb meaning to increase or multiply, but is often used
adverbially
in the sense of much, greatly, or abundantly. See above, on
Ps.
li. 4 (2). Redemption, deliverance,
especially from bondage, that of
8. And He will redeem
emphatic;
only trust him for redemption, and he will himself redeem thee.
As
the first clause shews by whom
alone,
so the second shews from what, to wit, from sin, as the cause of his
sufferings.
This is a very significant variation of the older passage, Ps.
xxv.
22, where the sufferings alone are expressly mentioned.
PSALM CXXXI.
1. A Song of Ascents. By David. 0 Jehovah, not haughty is my
heart, and not lofty are
my eyes, and I meddle not with great (things)
and (with things) too
wonderful for me. This
short psalm is perfectly in
David's
manner, as well as his spirit, displaying in a high degree that
childlike
royalty, in which he is resembled by no other even of the sacred
writers.
Haughty, literally high, but with particular reference to hauteur
or
loftiness of spirit. Lofty eyes are mentioned elsewhere by David him-
self
as a sign of pride. See Ps. xviii. 28 (27), ci. 5. The elation here
described
is elsewhere represented as the natural fruit of undisturbed pros-
perity.
See Deut. xxxii. 15, 2 Chron. xxvi. 16, xxxii. 25. This confirms
the
Davidic origin of the psalm, and shews that it was only adapted by the
later
writer to his own purpose, when the original conception would have
been
almost impossible. Meddle, literally walk or walk about, i. e. employ
or
(as the English versions have it) exercise myself. Too wonderful for me,
wonderfully
done (more) than I (can comprehend). The great and wonder-
ful
things meant are God's secret purposes and sovereign means for their
accomplishment,
in which man is not called to co-operate but to acquiesce.
As
David practised this forbearance by his patient expectation of the king-
dom,
both before and after the death of Saul, so he here describes it as a
characteristic
of the chosen people.
2. (God knows) if I have not soothed and quieted my soul, as a weaned
(child leans) upon his
mother; as a weaned (child
leans) on me my soul.
The
first clause contains a strong asseveration, in the idiomatic form of an
ancient
oath, very feebly represented by our adverb surely.
See above,
on
Ps. lxxxix. 36 (35). The word translated soothed
means rather smoothed,
levelled,
as in Isa. xxviii. 25. Quieted,
stilled, hushed, reduced to silence.
VER.
1, 2.] PSALM
CXXXII.
523
The
repeated use of the preposition on in
this connection is so marked and
striking,
that it seems to make it necessary to supply a verb with which it may
be
construed. This is certainly better than to give it a different meaning in
the
two clauses, or in both one which does not belong to it. In the version
above
given, the comparison suggested is between a weaned child, quietly
reposing
on its mother's breast, without desiring to be suckled as of old,
and
the soul of the Psalmist, by a bold conception represented as his child,
and
acting in like manner. Hengstenberg denies that there is any reference
to
the mother's milk, or that weaned has
any other meaning here than that
of
infant or young child, as in Isa. xi. 8, xxviii. 9. The comparison is
then
coincident with that in Mat. xviii, 3, 4. But the use of the word
weaned, which was here
required by no parallelism as in Isaiah, and the
singular
aptness of the figure suggested by the word when strictly under-
stood,
have led most interpreters, and will probably lead most readers, to
prefer
the obvious and strict interpretation.
3. Hope thou, Israel, in Jehovah from now even to eternity. This is
the
opposite
of the feeling disavowed in the preceding verses. From the first
clause
that of Ps. cxxx. 7 was no doubt borrowed by the later writer, who
prefixed
that psalm to the one before us. With the last clause compare
Ps.
cxxi. 8.
PSALM
CXXXII.
1. A Song of Ascents. Remember, 0 Jehovah, for David, all his afflic-
tion. This psalm contains a
commemoration of David's zeal for the house
of
God, ver. 1-9, and a prayer that it may be rewarded by the fulfilment
of
the promise to him and to his house, ver. 10-18. The common version
(remember David and all his afflictions)
omits a preposition and inserts a
conjunction,
both without necessity. The same verb and preposition
(l
rkz) are
combined elsewhere, in the sense of remembering something in
a
person's favour, to his advantage, for his benefit. See above, on Ps.
xcviii.
3, cvi. 45, cxix. 49. So here: remember, in behalf of David how
he
was distressed. The common version of this last phrase (all his afflic-
tions) supposes the Hebrew
word (tOn.fu)
to be a plural noun, whereas it is
the
infinitive of the passive verb (HnAfu) to be afflicted or
distressed (Ps.
cxix.
71), and is therefore more correctly rendered in the Prayer Book
(all his trouble). The precise sense is, his being afflicted. The distress
referred
to is the great anxiety which David felt, first to reunite the ark
and
tabernacle, and then to build a more permanent sanctuary. This zeal
for
the house of God is one of the most characteristic features in the history
of
David, and for this he was rewarded, not only with a promise that his son
should
execute his favourite design, but also with a promise that God would
build
a house for him, by granting a perpetual succession in his family upon
the
throne of Judah. This promise seemed to be forgotten at the time of the
Captivity,
and even after the first Restoration, when the house of David was
reduced
so low, that its hereditary representative, Zerubbabel, never even
bore
the royal title. The form of the petition in this verse is copied from that
of
Solomon, at the dedication of the temple, as recorded in 2 Chron. vi. 42.
2. Who swore to Jehovah, vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob. This last
expression
is borrowed, both here and in Isa. i. 24, from Jacob himself.
See
Gen. xlix. 24.
524 PSALM CXXXII. [VER. 3-8.
3. If I go into the tent (which is) my house, if I go upon the bed (which
is) my couch. The elliptical form of
swearing here used is equivalent to
saying,
I will not go. See above, on Ps.
cxxxi. 2. The tent my house, the
couch my bed, are mere poetical
expressions for the house where I dwell,
the
couch where I lie. Instead of being in apposition, however, they may
be
in regimen the tent of my house, the
couch of my bed, i.e. the dwelling place
of
my house, the resting-place of my bed.
4. If I give sleep to my eyes, to my eylids slumber. This is a part of
the
sentence
begun in ver. 3 and completed in ver. 5. The promise is, of
course,
not to be absolutely understood, but as meaning, that he would not
sleep
at ease, or abandon himself to undisturbed repose, till the condition
was
complied with.
5. Until I find a place for Jehovah, dwellings for the Mighty One of
Jacob. The implication in the
first clause, that Jehovah was without a
place
on earth, may remind us of Christ's memorable saying, Mat. viii. 20,
Luke
ix. 58. The word translated dwellings
is peculiarly expressive, be-
cause,
although strictly a generic term, it is specially applied in usage to the
sanctuary
with its enclosures and appendages. See above, on Ps. lxxxiv. 2 (1).
6. Lo, we heard it in Ephrathah; we found it in the fields of the wood.
These
are most probably the words of David and his contemporaries, with
respect
to the recovery of the ark. We heard it,
or heard of it, i. e. of the
ark,
implying that they did not see it, that it was out of public view. In
Ephrathah has been variously
explained. Some suppose it to mean
Ephraim,
as Ephruthi means an Ephraimite, and
apply the words to
Shiloh,
where the ark was long deposited. But Ephrathah
itself is never
so
used elsewhere, and the ark, while at Shiloh, was as much in public
view
as at Jerusalem. Others, because Bethlehem
Ephrathah and Beth-
lehem Judah are convertible
expressions (1 Sam. xvii. 12, Micah v. 1), make
Ephrathah
another name for Judah, which it never is, however, when it
stands
by itself. The only explanation, equally agreeable to usage and the
context,
is that which makes Ephrathah the ancient name of Bethlehem
(Gen.
7), here mentioned as the place where David spent his youth,
and
where he used to hear of the ark, although he never saw it till long
afterwards,
when he found it in the fields of the wood, or in the neighbour-
hood
of Kirjath-jearim, which name means
Forest-town or City of the
Woods.
Compare 1 Sam. vii. 1 with 2 Sam. vi. 3, 4.
7. Let us come to his dwellings; let us bow down to his footstool. An-
other
step is here taken in reviewing the history of the sanctuary and of
David's
zeal for it. These are such words as might have been spoken at
the
public and solemn introduction of the ark into Jerusalem. As if it
had
been said, the ark of God has long been lost or out of sight, but now
that
a dwelling is provided for it on mount Zion, let us come, &c. Without
any
material change of sense, the future form may be retained, and the
paragogic
augment understood to express a strong determination. Now
that
the ark is established on mount Zion, we will come, &c. With respect
to
the representation of the ark as the footstool of Jehovah, and the act of
bowing
down to it, see above on Ps. xcix. 5.
8. Arise, Jehovah, to thy resting-place, thou and the ark, of thy
strength.
Here
again the form of expression is borrowed from the words of Solomon
at
the dedication of the temple, as recorded in 2 Chron. vi. 41. This
shews
that the Psalmist regarded Solomon as merely carrying out his
father's
plan, or acting as the executor of his will, which is in fact the
VER.
9-11.] PSALM CXXXII. 525
mutual
relation of these personages as they appear in sacred history. A
more
remote allusion may be traced to Num. x. 35. See above, on Ps.
lxviii.
2 (1). The word translated resting-place,
has here its proper meaning
as
a local noun. The last clause shews the true import of the ark in the
Mosaic
system, as a pledge and token of Jehovah's presence, so that its
solemn
entrance into
bow
down to it was to worship him. The ark of
thy strength is by some,
in
accordance with a common Hebrew idiom, resolved into thy ark of strength,
end
that into thy strong (or mighty) ark.
It is simpler, however, and in this case yields
a
better meaning, to retain the original expression in its obvious sense, the ark
which assures us of the presence and exertion of thy power for our protection.
9. Let thy priests be clothed with righteousness, and let thy saints shout
(or
sing). This is the conclusion
of the sentence quoted from 2 Chron. vi. 41.
Instead
of righteousness we there read salvation, which has led some to ex-
plain
the two words as synonymous, while others understand by righteous-
ness the practical
justification which salvation carries with it. Another
possible
construction is to take the righteousness as that of God, which is
displayed
in the salvation of his people, and in which his priests, who
officially
declared it, might be said to clothe themselves. See the same
figure
in Job xxix. 14. Saints, gracious
ones, or true believers. The
parallel
passage has, rejoice in good or goodness.
10. For the sake of David thy servant, turn not away the face of thine
Anointed. The most obvious
construction of this verse is that which makes
it
intercede, on the ground of the divine partiality to David, for another
person,
supposed by some to be one or more of his successors in the kingly
office,
by others
which
the words are borrowed (2 Chron. vi. 42) and of ver. 17 below, makes
it
highly probable that both clauses relate to David himself. This may be
rendered
clearer and more natural by making the first clause an elliptical
petition,
entirely distinct from the second. For
the sake of David thy ser-
vant (grant these requests
which are really his); turn not away (his
face
which
is) the face of thine Anointed. The
frequency with which God is
urged
to hear and answer prayer for David's
sake (1 Kings xi. 12, 13, xv. 4,
2
Kings viii. 19, &c.), is not to be explained by making David mean the
promise
to David, nor from the personal favour of which he was the object,
but
from his historical position, as the great theocratical model, in whom it
pleased
God that the old economy should reach its culminating point, and
who
is always held up as the type and representative of the Messiah, so
that
all the intervening kings are mere connecting links, and their reigns
mere
repetitions and continuations of the reign of David, with more or less
resemblance
as they happened to be good or bad. Hence the frequency
with
which his name appears in the later Scriptures, compared with even
the
best of his successors, and the otherwise inexplicable transfer of that
name
to the Messiah himself. It is in this unique character and office, as
the
Servant of the Lord, that David is here mentioned, first by his own
name,
and then as the Anointed King of Israel, whose face Jehovah is
entreated
not to turn away, a figure for refusing him an audience, or at least
denying
his petition, which we know to have been used in David's times.
See
the Hebrew of 1 Kings ii. 16, 17, 20.
11. Sworn hath Jehovah to David (in) truth, he will not turn back from
it: Of the fruit of thy
body I will place on the throne for thee. See above,
on
Ps. lxxxix. 4, 36 (3, 35), and compare 2 Sam. vii. 28. Turn back,
526 PSALM CXXXII. [VER. 12-18.
recede
from his engagement, or fail to perform it. Of
the fruit, from among
thy
posterity or offspring. On the throne,
literally to or for it. See above,
on
Ps. ix. 5 (4). For thee, in thy
place, as thy representatives, or (belong-
ing) to thee, i. e. thy throne.
12. If thy sons will observe my covenant and my testimonies which I teach
them, (then) likewise their sons unto perpetuity shall sit upon the throne for
thee. This is the condition of
the promise, the breach of which accounts
for
the apparent violation of the promise itself. Such a suspension of the
promise
was not only just in itself, but foreseen and provided for (2 Sam.
vii.
14, 15), as something perfectly consistent with the perpetuity of the
engagement.
I teach you refers not only to
external legislation,lbut to
spiritual
guidance and illumination.
13. For Jehovah has chosen
Besides
the oath and promise made directly to David, the petition of the
psalm
is here enforced by the divine choice of
connected
with the exaltation of the family of David. See the same thing
asserted
or implied, Ps. xliii. 2 (1), lxv. 2 (1), cxxv. 2. As in ver. 11, 12, the last
words
in
Hebrew (Ol)
may be also rendered to him,
belonging to him, his dwelling.
14. This is my resting-place to perpetuity; here will I dwell, because I
have desired it. These are the words of
God, though not expressly so
described.
See above, on Ps. lxxxvii. 4, lxxxix. 4, 5 (3, 4). The word
translated
dwell means originally to sit, and
especially to sit enthroned, so
that
this idea would be necessarily suggested with the other to a Hebrew
reader.
See above, on Ps. xxix. 10, lv. 20 (19), cii. 13 (12), cxxiii. 1.
15. Her provision I will bless, I will bless; her poor I will satisfy
(with)
bread. The repetition of the
verb may express either certainty or fulness.
I will surely bless, or
I will bless abundantly. See above, on Ps. cxxvi. 6.
The
word translated provision is a cognate form to that in Ps. lxxviii. 25.
Satisfy, amply or abundantly
supply.
16. And her priests I will clothe with salvation; and her saints shall
shout, shall shout (for joy). This is the
promise corresponding to the prayer
in
ver. 9. The word salvation, for which
righteousness was substituted there,
is
here restored from the original passage, 2 Chron. vi. 41. The last verb
in
Hebrew means to express joy by shouting or singing. As to the emphatic
repetition,
see above, on ver. 15.
17. There will I make to bud a horn for David; I have trimmed a lamp
for mine Anointed. These are common
figures in the Scripture for strength
and
prosperity. See above, on Ps. xviii. 11 (10), 29 (28), lxxxix. 18 (17),
xcii.
11, and compare 1 Sam. ii. 1, 2 Sam. xxi. 17, Ezek. xxix. 21. The
last
clause contains an allusion to the law, which cannot be preserved in
any
version. The word translated lamp is
used to designate the several
burners
of the golden candlestick (Exod. xxv. 37, xxxv. 14, xxxvii. 23,
xxxix.
37), and the verb here joined with it is the one applied to the order-
ing
or tending of the sacred lights by the priests (Exod. xxvii. 21, Lev.
xxiv.
3). The meaning of the whole verse is, that the promises of old made
to
David and to
present
appearances.
18. His enemies I will clothe with shame, and on him shall bloom his crown.
The
pronouns refer to David, as the Lord's Anointed, mentioned in ver. 17.
The
figure in the first clause is the converse or counterpart of that in ver.
9,
16, and the same with that in Ps. xxxv. 26, cix. 29. With the last
clause
compare Ps. lxxxix. 40 (39). The verb to bloom
or blossom agrees
VER.
1-3.] PSALM
CXXXIII. 527
well
with the idea of a wreath or chaplet. Compare the a]mara<ntinon
ste<faon
of
1 Pet. v. 4. Some prefer, however, to retain what they regard as the
original
meaning of the Hebrew verb; on him shall
his crown shine (or glitter).
See
above, on Ps. lxxii. 16.
PSALM
CXXXIII.
1. A Song of Ascents. By David. Behold, how good and how pleasant
(is) the dwelling of
brethren also together. This psalm is an effusion of holy
joy
occasioned by the sight of the gathering of
at
the yearly feasts. It is distinguished from the later compositions of this
series
by the absence of complaint or lamentation, while its freshness and
vivacity
and antique phraseology confirm the title which ascribes it to David.
The
idiomatic use of (MGa) also in the last clause is not easily
transferred to
any
other language. The meaning may be, that although the children of
great
convocations that, besides being thus related to each other, they also
actually
dwelt together. There might likewise be allusion, in the first
instance,
to the previous jealousies and alienations in the family of
which
seemed to be exchanged for mutual concord and affection, on David's
accession
to the throne of the whole nation.
2. Like the oil, the good (oil), on the head, running down upon the
beard,
the beard of Aaron,
which runs down to the edge of his robes. The joyous
character
of this great family meeting suggests the "oil of joy" (Isa. lxi. 3),
the
standing symbol of festivity, to which a more specific and religious
character
is then imparted by a beautiful transition to the good oil (i. e. sweet
and
costly), with which Aaron was anointed (Exod. xxix. 7, xxx. 22, xl. 13),
as
a sign of consecration and of spiritual influences. See above, on Ps. ii. 2.
As
we read of the anointing of no subsequent High Priest, except prospec-
tively
(Lev. xxi. 10, Num. xxxv. 25), the reference here may be confined to
Aaron
himself. This is alleged to have differed from the unction of the
other
priests, by adding to the simple application of the oil to certain parts
of
the body, a copious affusion on the head, extending to the beard and even
to
the sacerdotal vestments. Some interpreters apply the last clause to the
beard
itself as reaching down to the mouth (yPi) or opening at the neck
of
the
official tunic. But the repetition of the verb (dreyo), and the strong
improbability
that so much stress would have been laid upon the length of
the
beard, to which nothing is compared and which illustrates nothing, seem
decisive
in favour of the other explanation.
3. Like the dew of Hermon, which comes down upon the mountains of
Zion; for there has
Jehovah commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.
The
comparison with oil is now exchanged for one with dew, suggesting the
idea
of a refreshing, fertilizing influence. As the general comparison with
oil
is rendered more specific by the mention of the kind most highly valued,
because
made under the divine direction and applied to a most sacred use,
so
the general term dew is specified in like manner as the dew of Hermon,
the
dew falling on the lofty heights of Antilibanus. See above, on Ps. lxxxix.
13
(12). How this dew could be said to
fall upon the mountains of
a
question which has much divided and perplexed interpreters. Some have
assumed
a peculiar theory or system of physics on the writer's part.
528 PSALM CXXXIV. [VER. 1-3.
Others
suppose dew of Hermon to be merely
descriptive of the quality, irre-
spective
of the actual place of the deposit. Simpler and more natural than
either
of these, although not without difficulties of its own, is the interpre-
tation
which restricts the comparison itself to the first few words, and
includes
all that follows in the application. Like
the dew of Hermon (is
the
influence) which descends upon the hills
of Zion, for there, &c., the last
clause
then explaining what this influence was. Whether this be the true
solution
of the question as to form or not, it is no doubt the essential
meaning
of the passage, upon any exegetical hypothesis whatever. The
dew
of Hermon was mere moisture, but the dew of Zion was the promise
of
eternal life, there made and verified.
Even life for evermore, literally
life even to eternity.
PSALM CXXXIV.
1. A Song of Ascents. Behold! bless Jehovah, all ye servants of Jehovah,
those standing in the
house of Jehovah by night. The whole series of pil-
grimage
songs closes, in the most appropriate manner, with a summons to
bless
the Lord, addressed by the people on arriving at the sanctuary to the
priests
there in attendance, ver. 1, 2, and indirectly answered by a priestly
blessing
on the worshippers themselves, ver. 3. The lo
or behold at the
beginning
is equivalent to saying, See, we are
here, or we are come. To
bless
God, as in all other cases, is to praise him in a reverential and ador-
ing
manner. The servants of the Lord here
meant are not his people indis-
criminately,
but his official servants, and most probably the priests, as will
appear
from ver. 3 below. The (ones) standing,
the appropriate posture of
attendants,
even in the courts of earthly monarchs. By
night, literally in
the nights, which does not,
however, necessarily mean all night (1
Chron.
ix.
33), as appears from Ps. xcii. 3, where it stands opposed to in the
morning, and may therefore
denote simply in the evening, with
specific refer-
ence,
as some suppose, to the evening sacrifice,
with which the daily service
of
the priests concluded. We may then assume, although we cannot prove,
that
the pilgrims were accustomed to reach the sanctuary at that hour,
singing
this last "song of ascents."
2. Raise your hands to the holy place, and bless Jehovah! The gesture
mentioned
in the first clause symbolized the raising of the heart to God.
See
above, on Ps. xxviii. 2, lxiii. 5 (4). The word for holy place or sanc-
tuary
is the same in form with that so frequently translated as an abstract,
holiness.
For its local meaning, see above, on Ps. xx. 3 (2). It here de-
notes
the temple or its site, as distinguished from the courts around it.
As
to the act of praying to or towards it, see above, on Ps v. 8 (7),
xcix. 5.
3. Jehovah bless thee out of Zion, Maker of heaven and earth. As the
priests
were called upon to bless God in behalf of the people, so here they
bless
the people in behalf of God. Between the verses we may suppose the
previous
request to be complied with. The priests, having blessed God,
turn
and bless the people. The obvious allusion to the sacerdotal bless-
ing,
Num. vi. 23-27, favours the optative construction of this verse, which
really
includes a prediction (the Lord will
bless thee). Out of
Ps.
cxxviii. 5. Maker of heaven and earth,
and therefore infinitely able to
fulfil
this prayer. See above, on Ps. cxv. 15, cxxi. 2, cxxiv. 8.
VER.
1-7.] PSALM
CXXXV. 529
PSALM CXXXV.
THE people of Jehovah are exhorted
to praise him as their peculiar God,
ver.
1-4, as the God of nature, ver. 5-7, as the deliverer of
13,
14, rendered more glorious by contrast with the impotence of idols,
ver.
15-18, after which the psalm concludes as it began, with an exhorta-
tion
to praise God, ver. 19-21. According to Hengstenberg's arrangement
and
distribution, this is the first of a series of twelve psalms (cxxxv.–cxlvi.),
sung
at the completion of the second temple, and consisting of eight
Davidic
psalms (cxxxviii.–cxlv.), preceded by three (cxxxv.–cxxxvii.), and
followed
by one (cxlvi.) of later date. In this way he accounts for the
omission
of these ancient psalms in the former part of the collection, be-
cause
they were no longer looked upon as independent compositions, but
as
inseparable parts of the series or systems into which they had been
introduced.
1. Hallelujah! Praise the name of Jehovah. Praise (it), ye servants of
Jehovah! The close of the psalm
shews that although the priests are in-
cluded
(ver. 19) among the servants of Jehovah,
they are not exclusively
intended,
as in Ps. cxxxiv. 1. Even there, however, the priests are repre-
sentatives
of
2. Who (are) standing in the house of Jehovah, in the courts of the house
of
our God. The participle
indicates continued action. The mention of the
courts
confirms what has been already said, as to the objects of address in
ver.
1.
3. Hallelujah (praise ye Jah!) for
good (is) Jehovah. Make music to
his name, for it is
lovely.
The last words may also be translated, he
is
lovely, i. e. an object worthy
of supreme attachment.
4. For Jacob did Jah choose for himself,
They
are particularly bound to praise him, as his chosen and peculiar
people.
The last word in Hebrew means a possession of peculiar value,
set
apart and distinguished from all others. See Exod. xix. 5, Deut. vii. 6,
xiv.
2, xxvi. 18.
5. For I know that great is Jehovah, and our Lord (more) than all
gods. However ignorant the
world may be of his superiority, I, the re-
presentative
of
assured
of the truth from my own observation and experience.
6. All that Jehovah will he does in the heavens and in the earth, in the
seas and all depths. Compare Ps. cxv. 3,
Eccles. viii. 3, Jonah i. 14, Isa.
xlvi.
10, 11. It is not merely as their own peculiar God that they are
bound
to praise him, but as the universal sovereign. Heaven, earth, and
sea,
are put for the whole frame of nature, as in Exod. xx. 4.
7. Causing vapours to ascend from the end of the earth—lightnings for
the rain he
makes—bringing out the wind from his treasures. As certain
portions
of the world are specified in ver. 6 to define the extent of his
dominion,
so here certain natural phenomena are mentioned as the product
of
his power. Compare Jer. x. 13, li. 16.
From the end of the earth, i. e.
from
all parts of it, not excepting the most remote. See above, on Ps.
lxi.
3 (2). The second clause is by some explained to mean, turning light
pings into rain, i. e. causing the
thunder-cloud to dissolve in rain. But
this
is not so natural as the common version, he
maketh lightnings for the
rain, i. e. to accompany it,
or according to the paraphrase in the Prayer
530 PSALM CXXXV. [VER. 8
Book,
sendeth forth lightnings with the rain.
With the last clause compare
Job
xxxviii. 22.
8. Who smote the first-born of
proofs
of God’s supremacy in nature, he now proceeds to those in history,
and
especially the history of his dealings with his people and their enemies.
This
is precisely the relation between Ps. civ. and cv. The first example
chosen
here is the last and greatest of the plagues of
to beast, including both; in
other words, both man and beast.
9. Sent signs and wonders into the midst of thee, 0
and on all his servants. Signs and wonders, i.
e. miracles, to wit, those
which
preceded and accompanied the exodus. See above, on Ps. lxxviii.
43.
In the midst of thee, 0
cxvi.
19, in the midst of thee, 0
Pharaoh
and in all his servants.
10. Who smote many rations and slew mighty kings. To the miracles
of
11. Sihon king of the Amorites, and Og king of
kingdoms of
Hebrew
by the preposition (l;) to or for; and that this is not an inadvert-
ence
or an accident, appears from its repetition in the next psalm (cxxxvi.
19,
20). Though not in accordance with the usage of the verb (grahA)
which
is construed elsewhere with the verb directly, the particle must be
regarded
here as an objective sign, as in Ps. cxxix. 3, unless we suppose
the
sense to be, that what had just been said in general is true in particular
as to Sihon, as to Og,
and as to the kingdoms (here put for the kings)
of
12. And gave their land (as) a heritage, a heritage to
The
Canaanites,
but because it was to be transmitted from father to son, by
hereditary
right and succession. See above, on Ps. cv. 44, cxi. 6.
13. Jehovah, thy name (is) to eternity. Jehovah, thy memory is to
generation and
generation.
Name and memory are here equivalent expres-
sions,
meaning that by which God is remembered or commemorated,
namely,
his perfections as exhibited in act. The perpetuity of this implies
continued
or repeated acts of goodness.
14. For Jehovah will judge his people, and for the sake of his servants
will repent. He will fulfil the
promise in Deut. xxxii. 36. He will judge
(i.
e. do justice to) his people. See above, on Ps. lxxii. 2. For the sense
in
which repentance is ascribed to God, see above, on Ps. ice. 13.
15. The idols of the nations (are) silver and gold, works of the hands of
man. The divine perfection
of the Lord is now exhibited in contrast with
the
impotence and nullity of idols. The terms of the comparison are
borrowed,
with several variations, from Ps. cxv. 4-8.
16. (There is) a mouth to them, and
(yet) they speak not; (there are) eyes
to them, and (yet) they see not. See above, on Ps. cxv. 5, which agrees
exactly
with the verse before us.
17. (There are) ears to them, and (yet) they
hear not; likewise there is no
breath in their mouth. See above, on Ps. cxv.
6. This verse contains the
most
considerable variation of the passages. The second clause in both
begins
with the same Hebrew word (Jxa); but in the one case
it is a noun,
meaning
the nose, in the other an adverb,
meaning likewise. This kind of
VER.
1, 2.] PSALM
CXXXVI. 531
variation,
in which the form is retained but with a change of meaning, is
perfectly
agreeable to Hebrew usage.
18. Like them shall be those making them, every one who (is) trusting in
them. See above, on Ps. cxv.
8, with which this verse agrees exactly. If
the
meaning had been simply, those who make them are like them, Hebrew
usage
would have required the verb to be suppressed. Its insertion, there-
fore,
in the future form (Uyh;yi) requires it to be rendered strictly shall be,
i.
e. in fate as well as character. Idolaters shall perish with their perish-
able
idols. Compare Isa. i. 31.
19. 0 house of
Having
shewn what God is, in himself and in comparison with idols, he
repeats
the exhortation which this description was intended to explain and
justify.
With this and the next verse compare Ps. cxv. 9-11, cxviii. 2-4.
Instead
of trust we have here bless, as at
the beginning of the Psalm. Com-
pare
Ps. cxxxiv. 1.
20. 0 house of Levi, bless Jehovah! Fearers of Jehovah, bless Jehovah!
The
Levites are not particularly mentioned in the parallel passages.
21. Blessed (be) Jehovah from
There
is here an allusion to Ps. cxxxiv. 3. As Jehovah blesses out of
from
a radiating centre. This is said to be the only place in which Jeru-
Ps.
lxxvi. 3 (2), and compare Ps. cxxv. 1, 2.
PSALM
CXXXVI.
IN theme and structure, this psalm
resembles that before it, a resemblance
rendered
still more striking by particular coincidences of expression. In
this
case also, the people are invited to praise Jehovah, ver. 1-3, as the
God
of nature, ver. 4-9, as the deliverer of
his
guide in the wilderness, ver. 16, the conqueror of his enemies, ver.
17-24,
the provider of all creatures, ver. 25, and the God of heaven, to
whom,
in conclusion, praise is again declared to be due, ver. 26. The
grand
peculiarity of form in this psalm, by which it is distinguished from
all
others, is the regular recurrence, at the close of every verse, of a burden
or
refrain, like the responses in the
Litany, but carried through with still
more
perfect uniformity. The text or theme, which thus forms the second
clause
of every verse, is one which has repeatedly occurred already, in Ps.
cvi.
1, cvii. 1, cxviii. 1-4, 29. Compare 1 Chron. xvii. 34. It has been
a
favourite idea with interpreters, that such repetitions necessarily imply
alternate
or responsive choirs. But the other indications of this usage in
the
Psalter are extremely doubtful, and every exegetical condition may be
satisfied
by simply supposing that the singers, in some cases, answered
their
own questions, and that in others, as in that before us, the people
united
in the burden or chorus, as they were wont to do in the Amen. See
above,
on Ps. cvi. 48.
1. Give thanks unto Jehovah—for unto eternity (is) his mercy. This
introductory
sentence is identical with those already cited from Ps. cvi.,
cvii.,
cxviii.
2. Give thanks unto the God of gods—for unto eternity (is) his mercy.
The
divine title or description, both in this verse and the next, is borrowed
532 PSALM CXXXVI. [VER. 3-15.
from
Deut. x. 17. Gods does not here mean
false gods, but is a superlative
plural
qualifying that before it. See above, on Ps. lxxvii. 14 (13), cxxxv. 5.
3. Give thanks unto the Lord of lords for unto eternity (is) his mercy.
The
Lord of lords, i. e. the supreme
Lord, the Lord by way of excellence,
as
in the English phrase heart of hearts for inmost heart.
4. To (him) doing wondrous (things), great (things), alone for unto eter-
nity (is) his mercy. Compare the expression
doing wonders, Exod. xv. 11.
Alone, not merely more than
others, but to their exclusion. The for,
in
this
and the following verses, has reference, not to what immediately pre-
cedes,
but to the verb give thanks, to be
supplied at the beginning of the
sentence.
5. To him that made the heavens in wisdom--for unto eternity (is) his
mercy. That made, literally making, perhaps in reference to the
continued
exercise
of God's creative power. In wisdom,
or with understanding. See
above,
on Ps. civ. 24, and compare Prov. iii. 19.
6. To him that spread the earth above the waters--for unto eternity (is)
his
mercy. That spread, literally spreading, as
in ver. 5. Above (not upon,
but
higher than) the waters. See above,
on Ps. xxiv. 2.
7. To him that made great lights--for unto eternity (is) his mercy.
The
plural
lights (MyriOx)
occurs only here, but is cognate and synonymous with
the
one used in Gen. i. 14, 16.
8. The sun to rule by day--for unto eternity (is) his mercy. The
musical
design
of the composition is especially observable where the burden or
chorus
is interposed between inseparable parts of the same sentence, as in
this
one, the substance of which is borrowed from Gen. i. 16, but with
some
change both in the words and the construction.
9. The moon and stars to rule by night--for unto eternity (is) his mercy.
To rule, literally for rules or dominions, perhaps because the stars are here
made
sharers with the moon in the dominion of the night.
10. To him that smote Egzipt in their first-born--for unto eternity (is)
his
mercy. We have here the
transition from nature to history, as in Ps.
cxxxv.
8. Him that smote (or the smiler of) Egypt, i. e. the Egyptians.
Hence
the plural pronoun, their first-born.
11. And brought out
his mercy. Here for the first
time we have a finite tense (the future con-
versive),
interrupting the long series of participles, all agreeing with Jehovah
understood.
12. With a high hand and with an arm outstretched--for unto eternity
is his mercy. These are favourite
Mosaic figures for the active and ener-
getic
exercise of power. See Exod. iii. 19, vi. 1, 6, xiii. 9, xv. 12, Deut.
iv.
34, v. 15, vii. 19, xi. 2, xxvi. 8.
13. To him that larted the
mercy. Parted and parts have the same relation to each
other as the
Hebrew
verb and noun.
14. And made
(is) his mercy. Here again we have a
finite tense, not the conversive future,
as
in ver. 11, but the preterite. Through
the midst of it, between the parts
into
which it was divided. Some suppose an allusion to the covenant trans-
action
in Gen. xv. 17, where the word translated parts is the one used in
ver.
13 above.
15. And cast Pharaoh and his host into the
(is) his mercy. The first verb strictly means
knocked off or shook off,
VER.
1.] PSALM
CXXXVII.
533
and
is borrowed from Exod. xiv. 27. A passive form of it occurs above,
Ps.
cix. 23.
16. To him that led his people in the wilderness—for unto eternity (is)
his mercy. Led, literally, caused to
go. See above, Ps. cxxv. 5. The
participial
construction is again resumed.
17. To him that smote great kings—for unto eternity (is) his mercy.
Compare
the parallel passage, Ps. cxxxv. 10, which is here divided by the
theme
or chorus. See above, on ver. 8.
18. And slew mighty kings—for unto eternity (is) his mercy. The first
clause
answers to the latter half of Ps. cxxxv. 10, with the substitution of
another
Hebrew word for mighty.
19. Sihon king of the Amorite--for unto eternity (is) his mercy. Lite-
rally
to, for, or as to Sihon, &c. See above, on Ps. cxxxv. 11.
20. And Og king of Bash,an—for unto eternity (is) his mercy. To, for,
or
as to, Og king of
21. And gave their land as a heritage—for unto eternity (is) his mercy.
As a heritage, literally for it. See
above, on Ps. cxxxv. 12.
22. A heritage to Israel his servant—for unto eternity (is) his mercy.
This
is the latter half of Ps. cxxxv. 12, divided from the first half by the
theme
or chorus.
23. Who in our low estate remembered us—for unto eternity (is) his
mercy. In our low estate, in
our humiliation, in our being humbled or
reduced.
Remembered us, or for us, for our benefit, as in Ps. cxxxii. 1.
From
the analogy of Ps. cvii. 16, 18, 26, cxv. 12, we learn that this relates
to
the captivity in
24. And snatched us from our adversaries—for unto eternity (is) his
mercy. The first verb always
denotes violent action. See above, on Ps.
vii.
3 (2). It here means to snatch or tear away, as in Lam. v. 8, and has
reference
to the great catastrophe by which the Babylonian power was
broken
and the Jews set free.
25. Giving bread to all flesh—for unto eternity (is) his mercy. Here
the
description
passes suddenly from God's acts of mercy towards his people to
his
general beneficence towards all that lives, perhaps with a design to in-
timate
that he who thus cares for men in general and even for the lower
animals,
will not and cannot let his people perish. See Matt. vi. 30.
26. Give thanks unto the God of heaven, for unto eternity (is) his mercy.
The
God of heaven is a new description as to form, but substantially equiva-
lent
to that in Ps. vii. 8 (7), xi. 4, xiv. 2, xxxiii. 13, 14.
PSALM CXXXVII.
THIS is the most direct and striking
reminiscence of the Babylonish
Exile
in the whole collection, and could scarcely have been Written but by
one
who had partaken of its trials. The first part of the psalm recalls the
treatment
of the Jews in
punishment
of
ver.
7-9.
1. By the rivers of
membered
along
the course of streams, as in Ps. xxiii. 2.
put
for the whole country which we call
Tigris,
the
534 PSALM CXXXVII. [VER.
2-5.
branches.
Various explanations have been given of the exiles being repre-
sented
as sitting by the rivers; but none of them are so satisfactory as the
obvious
and simple supposition, that the rivers are mentioned as a charac-
teristic
feature of the country, just as we might speak of the mountains of
There is emphatic; there,
even in that distant heathen country. Sat
or sat
down, if significant at all,
may mean that they sat upon the ground as mourners.
Yea, literally also; we not only sat but also wept. When we remembered,
literally
in our remembering, i. e. at the time, and as the effect of our so
doing.
seat
of the theocracy and earthly centre of the true religion.
2. On willows in the midst of it we hung our harps. It has been
objected
that
the willow is unknown in the region once called
said
to produce nothing but the palm tree. Some avoid this difficulty by
explaining
the whole verse as metaphorical, hanging up the harps being a
figure
for renouncing music, and willows being suggested by the mention of
streams,
perhaps with some allusion to associations connected with this
particular
tree. It may also be observed that extraordinary changes have
taken
place in the vegetable products, and especially the trees, of certain countries.
Thus
the palm-tree, so frequently referred to in the Scriptures, and so common
once
that cities were called after it, is now almost unknown in
3. For there our captors asked of us the words of a song, and our spoilers
mirth, (saying) Sing to us from a song of
be
an idiomatic pleonasm meaning simply song itself, or denote, as in Eng-
lish,
the words sung as distinguished from the music. Our spoilers is by
some
taken in a passive sense, our spoiled or plundered ones; but the
usual
explanation is favoured by tradition and analogy. One of the Songs
can
hardly be the meaning of the Hebrew phrase, in which the noun is
singular.
The literal translation above given yields a perfectly good sense.
A Song of Zion is a psalm, a religious
lyric, such as many of the heathen
knew
to be employed in the temple worship atlerusalem. Many interpre-
ters
suppose the object of this request to be contempt or ridicule; but the
words
themselves necessarily suggest nothing more than curiosity.
4. How shall we sing the song of Jehovah on a foreign soil? These are
the
words with which the invitation was or might have been rejected at the
time.
The question implies a moral impossibility. The idea is not that
the
psalms themselves would be profaned by being sung there, but that the
expression
of religious joy would be misplaced and incongruous, implying an
oblivion
of the sanctuary and its forfeited advantages. A foreign soil, a
ground
or land of strangeness. See above, on Ps. xviii. 45, 46 (44, 45).
5. If I forget thee, 0
is
a disavowal of the forgetfulness which would have been implied in yield-
ing
to the wishes of their captors.
by
some to be me; let my right hand
forget me, i. e. let me be forgotten
by
myself. But most interpreters concur in the correctness of the common
version,
in which cunning has its old English
sense of skill. The only question
then
is, whether this is to be understood indefinitely of all that the right hand
can
do, and is wont to do, for the convenience of the person, or whether it
is
to be understood specifically of its use in playing on an instrument. The
former
is the more comprehensive meaning, but the latter is more pointed
and
better suited to this context. The sense will then be: if I so far for-
VER.
5-9.] PSALM CXXXVII. 535
get
thee as to strike the harp while in this condition, let my right hand lose
the
power so to do.
5. Let my tongue cleave to my palate if I do not remember thee, if I do
not raise
wished
as to his power of instrumental performance, he now wishes with
respect
to his vocal organs. If I forget thee, let my hand for ever cease
to
strike the harp, and my tongue to utter sound! The most natural
meaning
of the last clause is the one paraphrastically given in the English
version,
if I prefer not
7. Remember, 0 Jehovah, against the sons of
(against) those saying, Make bare, make bare, to the
very foundation in it.
Most
interpreters regard this as a kind of comment by the Psalmist on the
preceding
recollection of the Captivity. But the transition then seems too
abrupt
and unaccountable. The best explanation is, that these are still
the
real or supposed words of the captives, in reply to the request of their
oppressors,
far from granting which they break forth in a prayer for the
destruction
of those who had destroyed
No;
instead of singing psalms to gratify your idle or malignant curiosity, we
will
rather pray God to avenge the insults offered to his holy city. This
interpretation
is moreover recommended by its rendering the strong terms
that
follow more natural than if uttered in cold blood and in calm delibera-
tion
at a later period. Remember against,
literally for or with respect to.
See
above, on Ps. cxxxii. 1, cxxxvi. 23, where the same idiomatic phrase is
used
in a favourable sense. The day of
or
great catastrophe. Compare Obad. 11-13, where the same crime is
charged
upon
fall
of his kinsman
Ezek.
xxv. 12-14.
8. Daughter of
thee thy treatment wherewith
thou hast treated us.
The daughter of
(or
virgin
woman.
See above, on Ps. ix. 14 (13). The wasted
or desolated is the
epithet
belonging to her by way of eminence in prophecy and history.
There
is no need therefore of distinguishing between a partial and total
desolation,
or between that of the city and the kingdom at large. The last
clause
may mean nothing more than that such a revolution is at hand that
he
will be esteemed a fortunate man who treats thee as thou hast treated
us.
For the true sense of the last verb, see above, on Ps. xiii. 6 (5, 6).
9. Happy he (who) shall seize and dash thy little ones against the stones.
This
revolting act was not uncommon in ancient warfare. See 2 Kings
viii.
12, Hosea xiv. 1, Nah. iii. 10, Isa. xiii. 16, 18. The more revolting, .
the
stronger the description of the change awaiting
coming
when he shall be deemed fortunate who, according to the usages of
war,
requites thy own sanguinary cruelties. The word translated dash
means
really to dash in pieces, as in Ps. ii. 9. The act here meant is cona-
monly
expressed by (wFr) a different Hebrew verb. Taketh and dasheth
is
equivocal, the first of these verbs being used in familiar English as a kind
of
auxiliary, whereas the corresponding verb in Hebrew denotes a distinct
and
independent act.
536 PSALM CXXXVIII. [VER. 1-4.
PSALM CXXXVIII.
THIS is the first of a series of
eight psalms (cxxxviii.-cxlv.), probably
the
last composed by David, a kind of commentary on the great Messianic
promise
in 2 Sam. vii. They are found in this part of the Psalter, in con-
sequence
of having been made the basis, or rather the body, of a system
series
(cxxxv.-cxlvi.), by a later writer. See above, on Ps. cxxxv. 1. The
psalm
before us contains an acknowledgment of God's goodness as experi-
enced
already, ver. 1-3, an anticipation of his universal recognition by the
nations,
ver. 4, 5, and in the mean time of additional favours to the Psalmist,
or
to the church of which he was the temporary head, ver. 6-8. Such a
psalm
was of course well suited to sustain the faith and revive the hopes of
a
later generation.
1. By David. I will thank thee with all my heart; before gods I will
praise
thee. The Davidic style and
tone of composition are acknowledged even by
the
sceptical interpreters. With all my heart
implies the greatness of the
gift
to be acknowledged, which was no doubt the promise of Messiah con-
tained
in 2 Sam. vii. See above, on Ps. ix. 2 (1). Before
gods, i. e. in the
presence,
to the face, and in contempt of all imaginary rival deities. The
translation
before God is grammatical, but confounds
the second and third
person
in a single clause. The Septuagint and Vulgate have before angels,
which
is inconsistent with the usage of the Hebrew word. Thank thee, in
the
strict sense of praising for benefits received; or in a wider sense,
acknowledge thee as God. Praise thee, make music, sing and play
to thee.
With
this verse compare Ps. vii. 18 (17), xviii. 50 (49), liv. 8 (7), lvii. 10
(9),
ci. 1.
2. I will bow down to thy holy temple, and will thank thy name, for thy
mercy and for thy truth;
for thou hast made great, above all thy name, thy
promise. With the first clause
compare Ps. v. 8 (7). Bow down, or
prostrate
myself, as an act of worship. Mercy
in promising, truth in per-
forming.
See above, on Ps. xxv. 10. Above all thy
name, i. e. all the
previous
manifestations of thy nature. Thy word,
literally thy saying, that
which
thou hast said, but applied specifically to the divine promise. See
above,
on Ps. xviii. 31 (30), cxix. 38, 50, 103, 140. The transcendent
promise
here referred to is that of the Messiah in 2 Sam. vii., which is
there
described as unique by David himself, and which forms the basis of
many
psalms, but especially of Ps. xviii., xxi., lxi., ci., cii., ciii., and the
one
before us.
3. In the day I called and thou didst answer me, thou makest me brave
in my soul (with)
strength.
This may be connected with what goes before,
thou
didst magnify thy word in the day when I called, &c. The promise
in
2 Sam. vii. was an answer to his prayer for a perpetual succession. See
above,
on Ps. xxi. 3, 5 (2, 4), lxi. 6 (5). The common version of the last
clause
(strengthenedst me with strength in my
soul), contains a paronomasia
not
in the original, where the verb and noun have not even a letter in com-
mon.
The verb is by some translated made me
proud, i. e. elated me, not
with
a vain or selfish pride, but with a lofty and exhilarating hope. In my
soul, as opposed to a mere
outward influence. Strength, i. e.
strength of
faith
and confidence in God.
4. Jehovah, all kings of the earth shall acknowledge thee, when they have
heard the sayings of thy
mouth.
Not merely one king, though that king be
David,
shall acknowledge, thank, and praise thee, but all others who receive
VER.
5-8.] PSALM CXXXVIII. 537
the
true religion, when they know what thou hast promised, and especially
when
they compare the promise and fulfilment, with particular reference to
the
promise of Messiah, which is described in Scripture as a grand means
for
the conversion of the nations and the chiefs which represent them.
See
above, on Ps. lxviii. 30, 32 (29, 31), cii. 16 (15).
5. And they shall sing in the ways of Jehovah, for great (shall be) the
glory of Jehovah. The kings of the
earth, representing its nations, shall
join
in the praise of the true God, walking in his ways, i. e. as converts to
the
true religion. Compare Micah iv. 2, Isa. iv. 3. Instead of for we may
read
when, as in ver. 4; when the glory of
Jehovah has been duly exalted
and
diffused by the extension of the true religion. Some make this clause
the
theme or subject of the praise—they shall sing that the glory of Jeho-
vah
is great—a less natural construction, but one which yields an equally
good
sense.
6. For lofty is Jehovah—and the low he sees—and the haughty from afar
he knows. The first two clauses
may be in antithesis, and yet he looks
upon
the low, or simply co-ordinate, and therefore he looks upon the low, i.
e. the
lowly,
who shall be exalted, while the opposite end of the proud is implied.
where
he seems to behold nothing, he knows precisely what the proud man
is,
what he deserves, and what is actually to befall him. See above, on
Ps.
i. 1.
7. If Igo through the midst of distress, thou wilt save (or make) me
alive;
upon the wrath of my
enemies thou wilt stretch forth thy hand, and save me
(with) thy right hand. The first clause
resembles that of Ps. xxiii. 4. Go
through or walk in the
midst of trouble.
To quicken or revive, as in Ps.
xxx.
4 (3), lxxi. 20. Upon the wrath, implying motion from above, which
significant
and graphic than against implying
common version of the
last
words (and thy right hand shall save me)
is equally grammatical, and
found
in all the ancient versions; but the other is recommended by its
ascribing
the deliverance directly to God, and by the analogy of Ps. lx.
7
(5), where hand is adverbially
construed with the same verb. See also
Ps.
xvii. 14.
8. Jehovah will complete for me (what he has begun); Jehovah, thy mercy
(is) for ever; the works
of thy hands do not forsake. The work begun and
yet
to be completed was the whole series of God's gracious dispensations
towards
David and his seed, beginning with the first choice of the former
and
ending in the Messiah. With the first clause compare Ps. lvii. 3 (2),
Phil.
i. 6. The second member of the sentence might be read, let thy mercy
be for ever or unto
eternity.
But it is more probably an affirmation, similar
to
that in Ps. ciii. 17, and the clause contains an appeal to the promise of
eternal
favour, 2 Sam. vii. 13, 26, or perhaps to the eternity of God's com-
passions,
as a reason why he should not and could not abandon what had
been
so graciously begun.
PSALM
CXXXIX.
THE Psalmist describes God's
omnipresence and omniscience, ver. 1-12,
as
attributes necessarily belonging to him as the Creator, ver. 13-18, and
appeals
to them in attestation of his own aversion to the wicked, ver. 19-24.
Prom
its collocation it is probable that this psalm records David's exercises
under
the powerful impressions of the great Messianic promises in 2 Sam.
538 PSALM CXXXIX. [VER. 1-6.
vii.,
and is therefore to be regarded as a confession and profession made
not
merely for himself but for his successors on the throne of
intended
both to warn them and console them by this grand view of
Jehovah's
constant and infallible inspection. ix.
1. To the Chief Musician. By David. A Psalm. Jehovah, thou hast
searched me and knowest. As a later writer could
have no motive for pre-
fixing
the title to the Chief Musician, it
affords an incidental proof of an-
tiquity
and genuineness. Thou hast searched me,
or continually searchest
me. The Hebrew verb
originally means to dig, and is
applied to the search
for
precious metals (Job xxviii. 3), but metaphorically to a moral inquisition
into
guilt. See above, on Ps. xliv. 22 (21), and compare Job xiii. 9. It
is
here used in the intermediate sense of full investigation. Thou hast known or
knowest all that can result
from such a scrutiny, not only my corruptions and infirmities
but
my cares and sorrows. . The object is not expressed in this verse, which is a
summary
of
the whole psalm, because the very object of what follows is to state it in
detail.
2. Thou knowest my sitting and my rising; thou understandest as to my
thought from afar. Sitting and rising or
standing represent rest and motion,
or
all the various conditions of the living, waking man. See above, on Ps.
i.
1, xxvii. 2. In every posture, state, and occupation, thou knowest me.
The
next phrase does not merely signify, thou perceivest the meaning of my
thought,
but thou knowest all about it, its origin, its tendency, its moral
quality;
thou understandest (every thing) respecting it. From afar, unim-
peded
by local distance, by which men are prone to imagine the divine
omniscience
to be circumscribed. See Job xxii. 12-14, and compare with
this
verse Ps. cxxxviii. 6, Jer. xxiii. 23.
3. My path and my lair thou siftest, and with all my ways art acquainted.
Path
is here put for going, lair for lying, and these, like the terms of the
preceding
verse, for motion and rest, or the active and passive parts of
human
life. The poetical word lair is used
to represent a Hebrew one,
occurring
only here, but the verbal root of which is used by Moses, Lev.
xviii.
23, xx. 16. The last verb means to be accustomed (Num. xxii. 30),
and
then by a natural association, acquainted or familiar (Job xxii. 21).
My ways, my condition and my
conduct, what I do and what I suffer.
4. For there is not a word in my tongue, (but) lo, Jehovah, thou knowest
all of it. The relation of the
clauses may be also expressed thus in English,
which,
0 Lord, thou knowest not, all of it (or altogether). In my tongue, in
its
power, or, as it were, in its possession. This verse merely applies to
his
words specifically what was said before of all his actions. The lo or be-
hold is equivalent to see there, or to the act of pointing at
the words as
objects
of sight and as actually present.
5. Behind and before thou dost beset me, and layest upon me thy hand.
There
is here an insensible transition from God's omniscience to his omni-
presence,
out of which the Scriptures represent it as arising. Behind and
before, i. e. on all sides.
The idea of above and below is suggested by
the
last clause. Beset, besiege, hem in,
or closely surround. Thy hand,
or
the palm of thy hand, as the Hebrew word strictly denotes.
6. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is exalted, I cannot
(attain)
to it. The literal meaning of
the Hebrew word is, wonderful knowledge
away from me, or more than I (can comprehend); it is exalted, I cannot (do
anything)
as to it. With the word wonderful
compare the use of the cog-
nate
verb, Deut. xxx. 11, Prov. xxx. 18. The knowledge meant is man's
finite
knowledge of the infinite.
VER.
7-13.]
PSALM C'XXXIX. 539
7. Whither shall I go from thy Spirit, and whither from, thy face shall I
flee? The interrogation
involves a denial of all possible escape from God's
inspection,
when a guilty conscience prompts to seek one. Compare Amos ix. 2.
8. If I scale the heavens, there (art) thou; and if I spread the grave,
lo
thou (art there). The word scale is used to represent a Hebrew verb
oc,-
curring
only here, and no doubt belonging to the dialect of poetry. The
verb
translated spread means specifically
to spread a couch or make a bed.
If I make sheol my bed, i. e. lie down in the
grave or hell, in the wide old
English
sense. See above, on Ps. vi. 6 (5).
9. I will raise the wings of day-break. 1 will dwell in the end of the sea.
By
supplying if, although the sense is not
materially changed, the form of
expression
becomes much less striking. The conditional construction is
forbidden
also, or at least rendered highly improbable, by the form of the
second
verb, expressing strong desire and resolution. The truth is, that we
have
here a bold transition. After speaking of guilty flight from God him-
self,
the Psalmist now speaks of anxious flight from other enemies, and as
if
visibly surrounded by them, here resolves to escape from them. This,
which
is Hengstenberg's interpretation, is strongly favoured by the uncon-
ditional
construction, although he himself retains the other. The same
writer
objects to the translation raise the
wings, that before one can raise
wings
he must have them. But for that very reason the possession of them
may
be presupposed, or considered as implied in the act expressed. The
same
combination is employed by Ezekiel (x. 16, 19), in a way that ad-
wits
of only one translation. The Hebrew word (rHawa) is not the common
one
for morning, but one denoting day-break or the dawn. See above, on
Ps.
lvii. 9 (8). The point of comparison appears. to be the incalculable
velocity
of light. The extremity (or end) of
the sea, is added to heaven and
hell,
in order to convey the idea of the most remote points.
10. Even there thy hand guides me, and thy right hand holds me. From
the
use of similar expressions to denote a friendly guidance and support, in
Ps.xviii.
17 (16), lv. 7-9 (6-8), v. 9 (8), xxiii. 3.
xxvii. 11, lxxiii. 24,
and
other places, Hengstenberg infers that this must mean, when I fly to
the
ends of the earth before my enemies, thou art still there to protect
me,
and that the psalm was therefore meant not merely to alarm but to console.
11. And 1 say, only darkness overwhelms me, night is the light become
around me. The ideal situation is
the same as in ver. 9, one of danger
and
terror, in which he is constrained to say, nothing but darkness comes
upon
me, smites me, and the very light is turned to darkness round about
me.
According to this view of the passage, darkness, as in many other
places,
is a figure for calamity and danger. See Isa. 1.10, Ps. cxxxviii. 7.
According
to the usual interpretation, it denotes concealment from the eye
of
God.
12. Even darkness does not make (it) dark to him, and night like day
shines; as the darkness,
so the light. The
interpretation given of the fore-
going
verse does not necessarily affect the sense of this, which still means
pledge that nothing can prevent God's seeing either
sin or suffering, either the
danger
of his people or the malice of their enemies. Make dark, as in Ps.
cv.
28. To thee, literally from thee, i. e. so as to conceal from
thee.
13. For thou possessest my reins; thou coverest me in my mother's womb.
The
meaning of the first clause seems to be: thou hast in thy power and at
thy
control the very seat of my strongest sensibilities, my pains and plea-
540 PSALM CXXXIX. [VER. 14-16.
sures;
and this subjection is coeval with my being, for even before birth I
was
under thy protection and command, as I am now. The sense of weav-
ing, which is given to the
last verb by some modern writers, rests on a mere
etymological
deduction, and has no foundation either in tradition or in usage.
The
for at the beginning of this verse
marks the transition from the fact of
God's
omniscience to its origin or reason in his creative character and
rights.
As a logical particle, the for
relates, not to the immediately
preceding
verse, but to the whole preceding context. God is omnipresent
and
omniscent, for he is the maker of the universe.
14. I thank thee, because fearfully I am distinguished; wonderful (are)
thy works, and (that) my
soul knoweth right (well). He makes it a subject
of
grateful acknowledgment, that God has distinguished him or made him
to
differ from inferior creatures, both in constitution and in destiny. Because
is
in Hebrew a compound particle (yKi lfa) like for that, forasmuch as.
Fearfully, literally fearful (things), but used adverbially,
as in Ps. lxv. 6 (5).
It
might here be rendered (by) fearful
(things). The words corresponding
to
distinguished and wonderful are in Hebrew passive forms
from cognate
roots
(hlp
and xlp).
The particular statement of the first clause is resolved
by
the last into the general one, of which it is a mere specification. The
concluding
words
express a strong and, as it were, experimental conviction of the truth.
15. Not hid was my frame from thee, when I was made in secret, em-
broidered in depths of
the earth.
The not hid is a meiosis, implying
that
God
saw it clearly, and fully understood it, inasmuch as he himself created
it.
Frame, literally strength, as in Deut. viii. 17, but applied to the bones
and
sinews as the strength and framework of the body. See above, on
Ps.
vi. 3 (2), and compare Job x. 11. The common Hebrew word for
bone differs only in the
pointing. The word translated when is
(rw,xE)
the
relative pronoun, and may here retain its proper meaning, although then
not
easily translated, as its antecedent is latent in the phrase my frame,
which
may be thus resolved, the frame of me who
was made, &c. In secret,
i.
e. in the womb. Embroidered, which is
the invariable meaning of the
Hebrew
verb, is a bold but beautiful expression for the complicated tissue
of
the human frame, in which so many and such various threads are curi-
ously
interwoven. Depths of the earth can
only be explained as a compa-
rative
expression, corresponding to in secret
and denoting the same thing,
which
it describes as no less dark and hidden from the view of men than
subterraneous
caverns, or as some suppose sheol,
the invisible world. See
above
on Ps. lxiii. 10 (9), and compare Job i. 21, where the figure is in-
verted,
and the grave is confounded with the womb.
16. My unformed substance did thine eyes see, and in thy tools all of
them are written, days
are formed, and there is not one among them. This
is
one of the most obscure and doubtful verses in the book of Psalms. Its
difficulty
to our own translators may be gathered from the fact, that
substance yet being
unperfect answers
to a single Hebrew word, and that
my
members is a gratuitous addition to the text. The first word in He-
brew
occurs only here, but is clearly derived from a verb which means to
roll or roll up (2 Kings ii. 8), and may therefore be supposed itself to
signify
something
rolled up or rolled together, and from this may be deduced the
sense
of something shapeless or unformed, or more specifically that of an
embryo
or foetus. The next difficulty lies in the expression all of them,
evaded
in the English Bible by changing it to all
my members, and then
VER.
17-21.] PSALM
CXXXIX.
541
making
this the subject of the plurals following. The best interpreters are
now
disposed to construe all of them with
days by a grammatical prolepsis.
In
thy book all of them are written, namely, all my days, as they were
planned,
projected, or decreed, before as yet one of them had really ex-
isted.
Written and formed are then parallel expressions. All of them are
written, days are
delineated or
depicted. By days (translated in our Bible
in continuance) we are then to
understand not merely the length but the
events
and vicissitudes of life. See Job xiv. 5, Ps. lvi. 9 (8). This is one
of
those cases in which the difficulty lies in the particular expressions,
while
the general import of the passage is clearly determined by the
context.
Instead of (xlo) not,
the keri or marginal reading in the Hebrew
Bible
has (Ol)
to him, a variation to which no one
has succeeded in attach-
ing
a coherent sense. Precisely the same difference of text exists in Ps. c. 3.
17. And to me how precious are thy thoughts, 0 God! How great is the
sum of them! Having presented this
impressive view of God's omniscience,
he
now tells how he is himself affected by it. So far from thinking it a
hardship
to be subject to this scrutiny, he counts it a most valuable privi-
lege.
However others may regard this truth, to
me, my judgment and my
feelings,
how costly, valuable, are thy thoughts, i. e. thy perpetual
attention
to
me. For the true sense of precious,
see above, on Ps. xxxvi. 8 (7),
xlv.
10 (9). Great is the sum, literally strong (or many) are their sums, an
expression
which can hardly be retained in our idiom.
18. I will count them,--(but no)—more
than sand they are many—I
awake and still I (am)
with thee.
The first clause is equivalent to a condi-
tional
proposition, If I would count them,
&c., but far more striking and
poetical
in form. See above, on Ps. xl. 6 (5). I
am still with thee has
the
same essential meaning with the similar expression in Ps. lxxiii. 23,
namely,
I am still in the society or company. But there the reference is
chiefly
to divine protection, here to meditation on the divine attributes.
Thou
art still before me as an object of adoring wonder, not by day only,
but
by night; not merely in the watches
of the night, but even in my sleep.
See
above, on Ps. i. 2, xvi. 7, lxiii. 7 (6).
19. If thou wilt slay, 0 God, the wicked (man)! And ye men of blood,
depart from me? The first clause is in
fact, though not in form, the ex-
pression
of a wish. If thou wouldst but slay! In form, there is no apo-
siopesis,
which may be variously supplied by adding, I will praise thee, I
will
rejoice, it will be just, or the like. Men
of bloods, murderers or mur-
derous
men. See above, on Ps. v. 7 (6), xxvi. 9, lv. 24 (23). Depart from me is the
same
expression as in Ps. vi. 9 (8), cxix. 15, but the main idea here is that of
disavowal
or
repudiation. Oh that God would slay them, and until he does, I desire to have
no
communion
with them. Compare Job xxi. 14, Mat. vii. 23.
20. Who speak of thee for wickedness and take in vain—thy foes. Speak
of
thee, or name thee, use thy name, for the accomplishment of wicked
ends.
The other clause will then be strictly parallel, and take (thy name)
in vain, as in Exod. xx. 7. For
the meaning of this difficult expression, see above, on
Ps.
xxiv. 4. The subject of the proposition is placed emphatically at the end.
21. Thy haters, 0 Jehovah, shall not I hate, and with thine assailants be
disgusted? The simple future in the
first clause comprehends several dis-
tinct
shades of meaning. Do I not, may I not, must I not, hate those
hating
thee? Hate them, not as man hates, but as God hates. See
above,
on Ps. v. 6 (5). The construction of the verb and preposition in
542 PSALM CXL. [VER. 1.
the
last clause is the same in Hebrew and in English. Be disgusted, liter-
ally
sicken or disgust myself, abhor, or loathe. Thine
assailants, those
rising
up against thee, as rebellious enemies. The Hebrew word is a noun
formed
from the participle used above, Ps. xvii. 7, lix. 2 (1).
22. (With) perfection of hatred do I hate them, as enemies they are to me.
Literally they are for enemies, i. e. I so esteem
them. As enemies of God,
they
must be mine.
23. Search me, God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts.
The
last expression is emphatic, meaning even my most anxious and dis-
turbed
thoughts, into which corruption might most easily find entrance.
See
above, on Ps. xciv. 19, the only other place where the Hebrew word
occurs.
In this verse, he again appeals to the divine omniscience for the
purity
of his intentions, and thus comes back to the point from which he
started.
24. And see if a way of pain be in me, and guide me in a way of eter-
nity. In the first clause
some translate, the way of an idol, an idolatrous
way.
But the meaning idol is not justified by usage. A way of pain is
one
that leads to suffering and misery hereafter. The opposite of this is a
way of eternity, by which some
understand: an everlasting way, as distin-
guished
from the perishable way of sinners, Ps. i. 6. Others, more probably,
the
way that leads to everlasting life. Usage, however, is in favour of a
third
and very different interpretation, which gives the Hebrew phrase (j`r,D,
MlAOf) the same sense with a kindred one (MlAOf
tObytin;)
used by Jere-
miah
(vi. 16), to wit, that of old or ancient way, the one pursued by pro-
phets,
patriarchs, and saints of old. Similar expressions are found in Jer.
xviii.
15, Job xxii. 15, applied, in a bad sense, to the course pursued by
ancient
sinners. The prayer, however, still amounts to the same thing, to
wit,
that God would lead him in the good old way, which is itself the way
to
everlasting life.
PSALM
CXL.
1. To the Chief Musician. A Psalm. By David. We find ourselves,
in
this psalm, carried back not only to the times of David, but to those of
the
Sauline persecution, from which the images are evidently borrowed.
Besides
the warlike tone, the vigorous conciseness, the verbal agreements
with
Davidic psalms, combined with eminent originality, the very struc-
ture
is Davidic, and exhibits the familiar sequence of complaint, ver. 2-6
(1-5),
prayer, ver. 7-9 (6-8), and confident anticipation, ver. 10-14 a
(9-13).
So clearly do these features of the composition mark its origin,
even
independently of the inscription, that nothing can account for its
position
here but the hypothesis already
stated, that these ancient psalms
were
incorporated into a series of later date, and placed in the collection,
not
according to their individual antiquity, but according to the date of the
whole
set or system, into which they had been made to enter. Like the
psalms
immediately preceding, this was probably composed by David after
the
reception of the great Messianic promise, and with immediate refer-
ence
to it.
2 (1). Deliver me, Jehovah, from the bad man; from the man of vio-
lences thou wilt
preserve me. This
is one of those pictures so abundant in
the
genuine Davidic psalms, of which Saul seems to have furnished the
VER.
2-8.] PSALM
CXL.
543
original.
Compare Ps. lii. The first man is the
generic term (MdAxA), the
other
the individual designation (wyxi), which seem, however,
to be used
here
as equivalents. The insensible transition from direct prayer to confi-
dent
anticipation is characteristic of the psalms of David. Man of violence
is
another favourite expression. See above, on Ps. xviii. 49 (48), and corn-
pare
the parallel passage, 2 Sam. xxii. 49, where the plural form (violences)
is
used, as in the verse before us.
3 (2). Who imagine evils in (their) hearts; all the day they gather (for)
battles. That the preceding
verse, notwithstanding the reference to Saul,
is
the description of a whole class, is clear from the plural forms in this
verse.
Think, meditate, devise, imagine. Evils, particularly such as are
inflicted
on others, well expressed in the common versions, mischiefs.
Another
construction of the last clause, preferred by some interpreters, is,
all the day they dwell
with wars (or in wars), i. e. are constantly involved
in
them and busied with them. This use of the verb (rUg) is justified by
Ps.
v. 5 (4), cv. 23, cxxv. 5. But the analogy of Ps. lvi. 7 (6), lix. 4 (3),
is
decisive in favour of the other explanation. Compare Ps. xxxi. 14 (13),
xxxv.
15, Isa. liv. 15.
4 (3). They sharpen their tongue as a serpent; the poison of an adder
(is) under their lips,
Selah. Not as a serpent (does), but (spiteful or
veno-
mous)
as a serpent. See above, on Ps. lxiv.
4 (3). With the last clause
compare
Ps. x. 7, lviii. 5 (4). The word for asp
or adder occurs only
here.
The only point of exegetical importance is, that it means a poison-
ous
serpent, and is thus a specification of the general expression in the
other
clause.
5 (4). Keep me, Jehovah, from the hands of the wicked (man); from the
man of violences thou
wilt preserve me, who have thought to subvert my steps.
A
varied repetition of the prayer in ver. 1. With the last clause compare
Ps.
xxxv. 5, xxxvi. 13 (12), lvi. 14 (13), cxviii. 13.
6 (5). High (ones) have hid a snare for me, and cords—they have spread
out a net by the side of
the road—traps have they laid for me, Selah. This
is
little more than an accumulation of the various terms in which David
elsewhere
clothes one of his favourite figures, as if he saw his own perils
reappearing
in the future. High ones, i. e. proud
or haughty men. By
the side, literally the hand, as we say on either hand. The
word translated
road,
according to its etymology, denotes a waggon-road, a track worn by
wheels.
7 (6). I have said to Jehovah, My God (art) thou; give ear, Jehovah,
(to) the voice of my
supplications.
All the component parts of this verse
are
of constant occurrence in the psalms of David. With the first clause
compare
Ps. xvi. 2, xxxi. 15 (14). With the second, Ps. v. 2, 3 (1, 2),
xvii.
1, xxviii. 2, 6 (1, 5), xxxi. 23 (22), xxxix. 13 (12), liii. 4 (3).
8 (7). Jehovah, Lord, the strength of my salvation; thou hast covered my
head in the day of
battle.
My covenant God and sovereign, whose power
saves
me. Head is preceded by a preposition
(l;), thou hast been a covering
(or
afforded shelter) to (or for) my head. The day of
battle, literally of
armour
or of weapons, i. e. the day when they are used. With this verse
compare
Ps. v. 12 (11), lx. 9 (7), lxii. 2, 12 (1, 11), cxxxix. 13, 1 Sam. xxviii. 2.
9 (8). Grant not, Jehovah, the desires of the wicked man—his device.
succeed not—they will be
exalted.
Succeed not, suffer not to prosper;
literally,
draw not out, i. e. to a successful issue. The last clause states
544 PSALM CXL. [VER. 9-13.
what
would be the effect of their success; they would be elated, or exalt
themselves.
With this verse compare Ps. xxvii. 12, xxxi. 14 (13), xxxvii.
12,
lxvi. 7 (6), Deut. xxxii. 27.
10 (9). The head of those surrounding me—the mischief of their lips shall
cover them. The nominative absolute
refers back to the covering of the
Psalmist's
head in ver. 8 (7). While my head is covered by the divine
protection,
the head of those by whom I am beset shall be covered with the
consequences
or the punishment of the mischief occasioned by their
calumnies
and insults. Or the trouble, which their lips have caused to
others,
shall return upon themselves. Compare Ps. vii. 17 (16). Those
surrounding me, or, as a noun, my surroundings, as in 2 Kings xxiii. 5.
The
participle would, according to analogy and usage, mean causing me to
turn back or retreat (Jer. xxi. 4), which yields a good sense here. The
head
of those who once drove me back shall be covered, &c.
11 (10). Coals shall be cast upon them; into the fire he shall make them
fall, and into deep
waters,
(whence) they shall not rise. The
first noun in
Hebrew
always means burning or live coals. See above, on Ps. xviii.
13,
14 (12, 13). Shall be cast is the
keri or marginal reading, no doubt
intended
to relieve the harshness and obscurity of the reading in the text,
they shall cast or shake, an indefinite or impersonal construction, really
equivalent
in meaning to the passive. In the second member of the sen-
tence
the action is ascribed to God himself. Deep
waters answers to a
single
Hebrew word occurring only here, and by some supposed to mean
deep pits or excavations. The
first sense above given is founded on an
Arabic
analogy.
12 (11). A man of tongue shall not be established in the land, (nor) a
man of violence, a bad (man)—he shall hunt him to destruction. A man of
a
calumnious unbridled tongue (James i. 26) shall not be permanently
seated
in a prosperous condition. See above, on
Ps. ci. 7, cii. 29 (28).
The
next words may be variously construed; a
man of wicked violence, or,
disregarding
the accents, a man of violence, evil
shall hunt him, &c.
According
to the other constructions, God is the subject of the verb, as of
the
second in ver. 11 (10). To destructions,
the plural form denoting fulness
and
completeness. Others render it by strokes,
i. e. successive strokes ;
others
again, in haste, which agrees well
with the usage of the verbal root.
See
2 Chron. xxvi. 20, Esth. iii. 15, vi. 12, viii. 14.
13 (12). I know that Jehovah will do justice to the sufferer, and judgment
for the poor. Compare Ps. ix. 5, 17
(4, 16). Literally, the right of the
sufferer, the judgment
of the poor.
14 (13). Only the righteous shall give thanks unto thy name, the upright
shall sit in thy
presence.
Only the righteous shall have occasion for thanks-
giving.
There is no need therefore of departing from the proper sense of
(j`xa) the Hebrew particle.
See above, on Ps. lxxiii. 1. Sit in thy
presence,
as
thy friends or guests or favoured servants. Perhaps it may mean sit
(enthroned) before thee. Compare Mat. xix. 28.
Some understand the
sense
to be, shall dwell (in the land) before thee, i. e. under thy protection
and
inspection. Compare Ps. xxi. 7 (6), xli. 13 (12), lvi. 14 (13).
PSALM CXLI.
AFTER an introductory petition for a
favourable hearing, ver. 1, 2, the
Psalmist
prays to be delivered from the power of temptation, ver. 3, 4,
VER.
1-5.] PSALM
CXLI. 545
comforts
himself under his afflictions as paternal chastisements, ver. 5, 6,
anticipates
the ruin of his enemies, ver. 7, and prays for deliverance from
them
in the mean time, ver. 8-10. This psalm, like the one before it, is
distinguished
by
a pregnant brevity and the use of rare expressions, while at the same time it
is full
of
verbal and real coincidences with the psalms of David. These indications are so
clear
and undeniable, that a sceptical critic of great eminence (De Wette) pronounces
it
one of the oldest psalms in the collection. With respect to its position in the
Psalter,
see
the prefactory notes to Ps. cxxxv., cxl.
1. A Psalm. By David. Jehovah, I invoke thee; hasten to me; give
ear to my voice in my
calling to thee.
This verse is entirely made up of
phrases
frequently occurring in the psalms of David.
I invoke thee, Ps.
xvii.
6. Hasten to me, Ps. xxii. 20 (19), lxx. 2 (1), lxxi. 12. Hear my
voice, Ps. cxl. 7 (6). In my calling, Ps. iv. 2 (1).
2. Let my prayer continue (as) incense before thee, the offering of my
hands
(as) the evening
oblation. Continue,
literally be established, as in Ps.
cxl.
12
(11). He prays not only for acceptance, but for constant or perpetual
acceptance,
as the offerings referred to were the stated daily services of the
Mosaic
ritual. Incense is in Scripture the
symbol of prayer. In the books
posterior
to the Pentateuch it is commonly mentioned as an evening oblation
(1
Kings xviii. 29, 36, 2 Kings xvi. 15, Dan. ix. 21, Ezra ix. 4, 5), per-
haps
because in the evening it was reckoned the main offering, whereas in
the
morning it was merely an appendage to the animal sacrifice. Lifting
up is not the meaning of
the Hebrew word (txwm) in any other place,
whereas
it often means a gift, and especially a portion of food (Gen. xliii.
34,
2 Sam. xi. 8), in which sense it might naturally be applied to the
vegetable
offerings of the Law.
3. Set, 0 Jehovah, a guard at my mouth; watch over the door of my lips.
The
prayer, for which he had bespoken audience and acceptance, was a
prayer
against the power of temptation, and first with reference to sins of
speech.
See above, on Ps. xxxix. 2 (1). The words translated watch and
door are forms occurring
only here, but etymologically near akin to others
which
are in common use.
4. Incline not my heart to an evil word, to practise practices in
wickedness
with men (who are)
workers of iniquity, and let me not eat of their dainties.
An
evil word may be strictly understood,
as referring still to sins of the
tongue,
or be taken in the idiomatic sense of an evil
matter, which last is
preferred
by most interpreters. The assonance in practise
practices is copied
from
the Hebrew, where the cognate verb and noun are combined in the same
manner.
Practices in wickedness, or wicked
practices. The last words seem
to
be a prayer, that he might not be tempted, by the luxurious prosperity
of
wicked men, to follow their example. See above, on Ps. lxxiii. 3-7,12.
5. Let the righteous smite me (in) mercy and chasten me—oil for the head
let not my head refuse—for (it is) still (to
come)—and my prayer (must still
ascend)
in their injuries. This verse is so
obscure as to be almost unintel-
ligible.
According to the English versions, it expresses his willingness to
be
rebuked by good men for his benefit. But this sense is not only hard
to
be extracted from the words, but foreign from the context. Of the many
contradictory
interpretations which have been proposed, the most probable
is
that which makes the sentence mean, that the sufferings endured by the
good
man, even at the hand of the wicked, are chastisements inflicted by a
righteous
God in justice and in mercy, and as such may be likened to a
festive
ointment, which the head of the sufferer should not refuse, as he will
546 PSALM CXLI. [VER. 6-10.
still
have need of consolation and occasion to invoke God, in the midst of
trials
and of mischiefs yet to be experienced.
6. Thrown down among the rocks are their judges; and (then) they hear
my words, for they are
sweet.
When the judgments in reserve for the leaders
of
my enemies shall come upon them, they will perceive too late how rea-
sonable
are my words, and wish that they had hearkened to them sooner.
Thrown down, originally let go, here used as in 2 Kings ix. 33. Among the
rocks, literally in (or into) the hands of the rock. Some understand this to
mean
into its power (see ver. 9 below);
others, against its sides (see Ps.
cxl. 6);
but
the simplest explanation is that which supposes the rock to be personified
and
represented as standing below and holding out its hands to catch the
person
or thing falling. Some in the last clause read, that they are sweet.
Then,
when it is too late, they shall perceive how sweet my words are.
7. Like (one) ploughing and cleaving the earth—scattered are our bones
at the grace's mouth (or
the mouth of hell).
There are only two plausible
interpretations
of this obscure comparison. As the first Hebrew verb (HlP),
in
its derivative forms, has the general sense of cleaving, and the second
(fqb) is expressly used
(Eccles. x. 9) in that of splitting wood,
some inter-
preters
give both verbs that specific meaning here, and suppose the verse to
be
simply a description of mortality or carnage, the effect of which is, that
human
bones lie about the opening of the grave, or the devouring jaws of
hell
(Isa. v. 14), as numerous and as little heeded as so many logs or sticks
of
wood. To this it is objected, that the phrase in (or on) the earth is
then
unmeaning,
or at least superfluous, and that the verse, if thus explained,
does
not cohere with the ensuing context, which supposes the contents of
this
verse to be cheering and consolatory. The other interpretation avoids
these
objections, by explaining the first clause not of cleaving wood but
ploughing,
to which the first verb is applied in Arabic. Like (one) plough-
ing and cleaving (making furrows) in the earth, not for the sake of
mangling
its
surface, but to make it fruitful and productive, (so) our bones are scat-
tered at the mouth of
hell,
as the necessary means of a glorious resurrection.
8. For unto thee, Jehovah, Lord, (are) my eyes—in thee have I confided
—pour not out my soul. The for refers to the consolatory import of
the
verse
preceding. The one before us contains several favourite Davidic
phrases. My eyes are unto thee, Ps. xxv. 15. In thee have I confided (or
sought refuge), Ps. ii. 12, xxxi. 2
(1). In the last clause the soul or life is
confounded
with its vehicle. See Gen. ix. 4, Lev. xvii. 11, 14. The same
remarkable
expression is applied by Isaiah (liii. 12) to the voluntary death
of
the Messiah. That the verb literally means to pour out, is clear from Gen.
xxiv. 20,
Isa.
xxxii. 15. This verse resembles Ps. cxl. 8 (7), in two points, the combination
Jehovah Adhonai, and the supernumerary h in htAOKsa and HkAB;.
9. Keep me from the hands of the snare which they have netted for me, and
the nets of the doers of
iniquity.
The word hands is entirely omitted both
in
the English Bible and the Prayer Book version. It is put, by a favourite
personification,
for power or possession. The use of the expression here
was
probably occasioned by its previous use in Ps. cxl. 4. The verb netted
is
here employed to represent the cognate verb and noun in Hebrew.
10. Let the wicked .fall into their own traps, while I at the same time
escape. Compare Ps. vii. 16
(15). The combination of the singular and
plural
in the first clause—wicked (men) and his
snares—shews that the sin-
gular
denotes not a real but ideal person, representing a whole class. The
VER.
1-4.] PSALM CXLII. 547
best
construction of the last clause is that given in the English Bible and
retained
above, with the single change of withal
to the synonymous but less
ambiguous
expression, at the same time. The
transpositions of this clause
are
unusual, even in Hebrew—at the same time I
until (or while) I pass,
i.
e. pass by uninjured or escape.
PSALM
CXLII.
1. Maschil. By David, when he was in the cave. A prayer. It is
called a maschil or didactic psalm, because it
might otherwise have seemed
to
contain matter wholly personal to David. See above, on Ps. xxxii. 1.
When
he was, literally in his being, which
does not refer exclusively to time,
but
suggests the occasion or exciting cause. The reference may be either
to
the
xxiv.
3), or to that period and mode of life in general, when David was
obliged
to seek refuge in caves, and which, he might expect to see repro-
duced,
under other forms, in the experience of his successors, for whose
guidance
and encouragement this psalm was written. See above, on Ps.
lvii.
1. It is called a prayer, because the
complaint or description of the
danger,
ver. 2-5 (1-4), is merely introductory to the petition for deliver-
ance,
ver. 6-8 (5-7). See above, on Ps. xvii. 1, lxxxvi. 1, xc. 1, cii. 1.
2 (1). (With) my voice to Jehovah I cry; (with) my voice to Jehovah 1
make supplication. With the first clause
compare Ps. iii. 5 (4); with the
second,
Ps. xxx. 9 (8). There are also coincidences of expression with Ps.
xxii.
6 (5). lxxvii. 2 (1), cxl. 7 (6). cxli. 1. With
my voice, i. e. audibly,
aloud,
as opposed to a mere mental prayer. The word translated supplica-
tion means, according to its
etymology, a prayer for grace or mercy.
3 (2). I pour out before him my care; my trouble before him I tell. With
the
first clause compare Ps. xlii. 5 (4), lxii. 9 (8), 1 Sam. i. 15, Lam.
ii.
19. The word translated care means properly reflection, meditation,
musing,
especially such as is anxious and sad. See above, on Ps. lxiv. 2 (1).
4 (3). Because my spirit is overwhelmed within me—and thou knowest my
path—in the way that I
go, they have hid a snare for me. The literal trans-
lation
of the first words is, in my spirit's
being overwhelmed, which may
indicate
either the time or the cause of his distress. See above, on ver. 1.
Some
adopt this construction: when my spirit is overwhelmed (then) thou
knowest
my path. Others suppose two reasons to be given for his calling
upon
God, his distress and his trust in the divine omniscience. Because
my
spirit is overwhelmed, and (because) thou knowest my path. But as
the
form of the two phrases is entirely different in Hebrew, the simplest
and
safest construction is to treat the second clause as parenthetical.
Within me, literally upon me; see above, on Ps. xlii. 5-7
(4-6). In the
way that I go, i. e. along my path.
See above, on Ps. cxl. 5 (4). The
words
may mean, however, as in Ps. cxliii. 8, in
the way that I should go,
i.
e. in the path of duty. Without my fault they hid a snare for me. With
the
first clause of this verse compare Ps. xlii. 5 (4), lxi. 3 (2), lxxvii. 4 (3),
and
with the last, Ps. cxl. 6 (5), cxli. 9, cxliii. 8.
5 (4). Look to the right and see—and there is no one knowing me—refuge
has failed me—there is
no one caring for my soul. The first two verbs must
be
translated as imperatives, as in the margin of the English Bible. The
right
hand is mentioned as the post of a protector. See above, on Ps.
cix.
6, cx. 5, cxxi. 5: The and at the
beginning of the second clause is
548 PSALM CXLIII. [VER. 1.
foreign
from our idiom, which would seem to require that
or for. We might
however
say, look to the right and see, and (you will find that) there is not
one,
&c. Knowing, recognising, willing
to acknowledge, much less to de-
fend.
There is none to me, i.e. I have
none. Far from having a protector at
my
right hand, I have not even one who will acknowledge that he knows me.
Caring, literally seeking,
asking, or inquiring after it, in order to assist or save
it.
Nearly the same form of speech is used to express the very opposite
idea,
that of seeking one's soul to destroy
it. See above, on Ps. xxxv. 4.
6 (5). I have cried unto thee, Jehovah. I have said, Thou (art) my re-
fuge, my portion in the
land of life.
I have cried and still cry; I have said
and
still say. With this last expression compare Ps. xxxi. 15 (14), xli. 5
(4).
Thou (art) my refuge, as in Ps. lxii.
8 (7), lxxi. 7. My portion, as in
Ps.
xvi. 5, lxxiii. 26, cxix. 57. Land of
life (or of the living), as in
Ps.
xxvii.
13, lii. 7 (5).
7 (6). Hearken to my cry, for I am reduced greatly; free me from my
persecutors, for they
are mightier than I.
All these are favourite Davidic
phrases.
Hearken to my cry, as in Ps. xvii. 1,
lxi. 2 (1). I am reduced
(or
weakened) greatly, as in Ps. lxxix. 8 (7), cxvi. 6. Compare Judges
vi.
6. Free me from my persecutors, as in
Ps. vii. 2 (1). They are mightier
than I, as in Ps. xviii. 18
(17).
8. Bring out from prison my soul, to thank thy name. Me shall the
righteous surround when
thou shalt bestow on me (favour). With the first
clause
compare Ps. xxv. 17, cvii. 10, cxliii. 11. Some suppose an allusion
to
Joseph's imprisonment and liberation. See above, on Ps. cv. 17-20.
To thank (or praise) thy
name,
although an exact translation, is restricted
by
the English idiom to the person mentioned just before, and can only
mean
in accordance with our usage, that I may
thank thy name; whereas
the
Hebrew infinitive knows no such limitation, and in this case simply
means,
that some one (without defining who) may praise thy name; or,
exchanging
the active for the passive form, that thy
name may be praised;
or,
retaining the indefiniteness of the original expression, for the praising of
thy name. The agents here
intended are probably the righteous,
who are
mentioned
in the next clause. The verb surround,
which has a hostile sense
in
Ps. xxii. 13, Hab. i. 4, here means to gather round one with a friendly
curiosity
and eagerness, which some suppose to be suggested by the con-
struction
with the preposition (b), which cannot be expressed in English.
This
sympathy of the righteous in his joys and sorrows is a favourite idea
with
David. See above, on Ps. xxxv. 27, xl. 17 (16). For the meaning
and
construction of the last verb see above, on Ps. xiii. 6, ciii. 10, cxvi. 7.
PSALM
CXLIII.
THIS psalm may be divided into two
equal parts, separated by the Selah
in
ver. 6. The first contains a complaint, ver. 1-6; the second a prayer for
mercy,
ver. 7-12. It resembles the preceding psalm, not only in this relation
of
its parts, but in its whole tone and diction, its Davidic phraseology com-
bined
with an originality never exhibited by the mere imitator or compiler.
1. A Psalm. By David. Jehovah, hear my prayer, give ear unto my
cries for mercy; in thy,
faithfulness answer me (and) in thy righteousness.
The
combination of faithfulness and righteousness is like that in Ps.
xxxvi.
6, 7 (5, 6). They can hardly be regarded as distinct grounds of
argument,
but rather as modified statements of the same. The faithfulness
VER.
2-10] PSALM
CXLIII.
549
of
God has direct reference to his promise or covenant engagements; his
righteousness
has reference to the claims of his own people, but claims
which
owe their existence to those same covenant engagements.
2. And enter not into judgment with thy servant, for just before thee is
no one
living. To enter into judgment
is a forensic phrase meaning to go to law,
to
prosecute, to sue. See Job ix. 32, xxii. 4. The verb in the last clause
is
not a passive meaning to be justified, but a neuter meaning to be just or
innocent,
to be in the right or on the right side of the controverted question.
The
acknowledgment in this verse has caused the psalm to be reckoned
among
the penitential psalms. The verse is often imitated or referred to
elsewhere.
See Job ix. 2, xiv. 3, xv. 14, Rom. iii. 20, &c.
3. For the enemy persecutes my soul, crushes to the earth my life, makes
me
dwell in dark places
like the dead of old.
This verse assigns a reason for the
preceding
prayers, a connection indicated by the for.
He prays that God
will
deal with him in mercy, not in justice, by abandoning him to the fate here
described.
Compare Ps. vii. 6 (5), but especially Ps. lxxxviii. 4-7 (3-6).
See
also Lam. iii. 6. The last words some understand to mean for ever dead.
4. And overwhelmed within me is my spirit; in the midst of me desolated is
my
heart. With the first clause
compare Ps. cxlii. 4 (3); with the the second Ps. xl. 16 (15).
5. I remember the days of old; I meditate of all thy doings, of the work
of
thy hands I muse. He recalls and ponders
them not as a source of comfort,
as
in Ps. xliv. 2-4 (1-3), but of sorrow, from their painful contrast with
his
actual condition. See above, on Ps. xxii. 4-6 (3-5), lxxvii. 6 (5), and
with
the last clause compare Ps. xcii. 5.
6. I spread my hands unto thee; my soul is like a weary land to thee,
i. e.
thirst
or longs for thee, as a dry or thirsty land for rain. See above, on
Ps.
lxiii. 2 (1). A weary land is an
unusual expression, and one of the
peculiar
features of this psalm. With the first clause compare Ps. xliv. 21
(20).
The close of the complaint or lamentation, and the strength of the
feeling
with which it is uttered, are both indicated by the Selah.
7. Hasten, answer me, Jehovah—my spirit fails—hide not thy face from
me—or I shall be
confounded with (those) going down (to) the pit. The
meaning
of the first clause is, hasten to grant my petition. Fails, is spent
or
exhausted. See above, on Ps. xxviii. 1, xxxix. 11 (10), lxix. 18 (17),
cii.
3 (2). That he is in extremity, is urged as a reason why God cannot
fail
to hear and answer him. This verse begins the main prayer of the
psalm,
that in ver. 1,2, being merely introductory to the complaint in ver.
3-6,
which is itself introductory to the prayer that follows.
8. Let me hear in the morning thy mercy; let me know the way that I
must go, for unto thee I
raise my soul.
All these are familiar thoughts and
terms
to the readers of the psalms of David, and may be severally found in
Ps.
xxv. 1-4, li. 10 (8), lix. 17 (16). The
way that I must go, not merely
to
be right, but to be safe and happy; the way of safety as well as that of
duty.
See above, on Ps. cxlii. 7 (6).
9. Free me from my enemies, Jehovah, with thee I hide myself. With the
first
clause compare Ps. lix. 12 (11), cxlii. 7; with the second, Ps. xxvii. 5,
xxxi.
21 (20). The form of expression here, however, is peculiar and ori-
ginal.
The literal meaning is, to thee I cover,
i. e. cover myself, the reflex-
ive
use of the Hebrew verb being clear from Gen. xxxviii. 14, Deut.
xxii.
12, Jonah iii. 6. The force of the pregnant construction is well,
though
freely, given in the English version, I
flee unto thee to hide me.
10. Teach me to do thy will, for thou (art) my God. Thy spirit (is)
550 PSALM CXLIV. [VER. 1, 2.
good; let it guide me in
level ground.
This is a prayer for external safety,
and.
at the same time for that spiritual guidance without which it is un-
attainable.
Compare Ps. v. 9 (8), xxvi. 12, xxvii. 11, xl. 9 (8), cxxxix. 10,
24.
Some make but two clauses, and instead of the short proposition in
the
middle, read, let thy good spirit guide
me, &c , or let thy spirit,
(which
is)
good, guide me, &c. Level ground, literally earth (or land) of evenness
(or
straightness). See above, on Ps. xxvi.
12.
11. For thy name's sake, Jehovah, thou wilt quicken me; in thy righteous-
ness thou wilt bring out
of distress my soul.
Here again we have an accu-
mulation
of Davidic ideas and expressions. For thy
name's sake, as in Ps.
xxiii.
3, xxv. 12, xxxi. 4, cix. 21. Thou wilt
quicken me, as in Ps.
cxxxviii.
7. In thy righteousness, as in Ps.
xxxi. 2. Bring my soul out of
trouble, as in Ps. xxv. 15,
xxxiv. 18 (17), cxlii. 8 (7).
12. And in thy mercy thou wilt destroy my enemies and cause to perish
all that vex my soul;
for I (am) thy servant. With the first clause compare
Ps.
xxxi. 17 (16), xviii. 41 (40). Some find here an allusion to the pro-
mise
in Deut. 24. Vexers, adversaries,
persecutors of my soul. Thy
servant, not merely a believer,
but a chosen instrument; not merely one of
thy
people, but their chief and representative, and as such entitled to
deliverance
both for their sake and my own. In these two verses, the form
of
direct petition is insensibly exchanged for that of confident anticipation.
PSALM
CXLIV.
THIS is a kind of supplement or
counterpart to Ps. xviii., in which the
view
there taken of David's personal experience is applied to the anticipated
case
of his successors. The design thus assumed accounts for the position
of
the psalm in the collection. That its being placed precisely here is not
fortuitous,
may be inferred from its furnishing a kind of link between the
urgent
entreaties of the preceding psalms and the triumphant praise of
those
which follow. The Davidic origin of this psalm is as marked as that
of
any in the psalter. The accumulation of Davidic phrases is confined to
the
first part, while the last is independent and original, a fact entirely in-
consistent
with the supposition of a later compilation. The Psalmist
thanks
God for his protection of himself and of mankind in general, ver.
1-4,
prays for deliverance from present dangers, ver. 5-8, expresses his
confident
anticipation of a favourable answer, ver. 9, 10, renews his prayer,
not
only for himself but for the chosen people, ver. 11-14, and felicitates
them
that they are such, ver. 15.
1. By David. Blessed be Jehovah, my Rock, the (one) training my hands
for fight, my fingers
for war.
See above, on Ps. xviii. 35, 47 (34, 46),
where
most of these expressions have already been explained. Fight and
war are both verbs and
nouns in English, but the Hebrew words are nouns
with
the article prefixed. David here begins by referring all the successes
of
himself and his successors to Jehovah.
2. My mercy and my fortress, my high place, and a deliverer for me, my
shield and (he) in whom
I trust, the (one) subduing my people. No less
than
five of these descriptive epithets are taken from a single verse of Ps.
xviii.,
viz. ver. 3 (2). Peculiar to the place before us is my mercy, i. e. my
God
of mercy. See above, on Ps. Ex; 18 (17). The benefit of these rela-
tions
to Jehovah David claims not merely for himself but for his royal race,
which
was closed and yet perpetuated in the Messiah. He in whom I trust,
VER.
3-10.] PSALM CXLIV. 551
literally and in him I trust. My people, in its
widest sense, including
under
the reign of the Messiah. Compare Ps. xviii. 44, 48 (43, 47) with
the
parallel passages in 2 Samuel.
3. Jehovah, what (is) man, that thou shouldst know him, the son of man,
that thou shouldst think
of him?
The greatness of God's goodness is
enhanced
by a view of man's insignificance and unworthiness. The ori-
ginal
construction seems to be, what is man? (nothing),
and (yet) thou
knowest him, &c. To know is
here to recognise as being in existence, to
take
notice of. The first man is the
generic term, the second one denoting
weakness.
See above, on Ps. viii. 5 (4), and compare 2 Sam. vii. 18.
4. Man to vanity is like; his days (are) as a passing shadow. He
cannot
therefore
be a worthy object, in himself, of the divine regard and favour.
With
the first clause compare Ps. xxxix., 6, 7 (5, 6), lxii. 10 (9); with the
second,
Ps. cii. 12 (11), ciii. 15.
5. Jehovah, bow thy heavens and come down; touch the mountains and let
them smoke. With the first clause
compare Ps. xviii. 10 (9). What God
is
there described as doing, he is here besought to do again. With the
last
clause compare Ps. civ. 32. Mountains,
in all such connections, would
necessarily
suggest the idea of states and kingdoms. See above, on Ps. xlvi. 3, 4 (2, 3).
6. Lighten lightning and scatter them; send out thy arrows and confound
them. The first word in
Hebrew is a verb occurring nowhere else, and com-
posed
of the same radicals with the common word for lightning which im-
mediately
follows. For the meaning of the other terms, see above, on Ps.
xviii.
15 (14), and compare the parallel passage, 2 Sam. xxii. 15 (14), with
which
the writer of the psalm before us was certainly acquainted, as appears
from
his occasional use of its peculiar readings.
7. Send thy hands from on high; rid me and free me from (the) many
waters, from the hand of
aliens.
With the first clause compare Ps.
xviii.
17 (16). For hand we have here the
plural hands, and for the two
verbs
there used two substantially equivalent, the first of which has the
sense
here given to it only in this place and the cognate languages,. and is
therefore
well represented by the less usual English word rid. With the
last
clause, compare Ps. xviii. 45, 46 (44, 45), where the phrase sons of
strangeness (or of foreign parts) has been explained
already.
8. Whose mouth speaks fraud, and their right hand (is) a right hand of
falsehood. The word translated
fraud is properly a negative meaning vanity
or
emptiness, but applied to the want of moral goodness and especially of
truth.
See above on Ps. xxiv. 4. The right hand is mentioned in allusion
either
to the practice of swearing with uplifted hand (Ps. cvi. 26), or to that
of
striking hands in bargains (2 Kings x. 15). There seems to be reference,
in
this verse, to the feigned obedience of the enemy, Ps. xviii. 45 (44).
9. 0 God, a new song I will sing to thee; with a lyre of ten (strings) I
will play (or make
music) to thee.
See above, on Ps. xxxiii. 2, 3, where David
exhorts
others to do what he here resolves and vows to do himself. The
new
song still implies a new occasion for it, so that he here begins to
anticipate
the answer to his foregoing prayers.
10. The (one) giving salvation to kings; the (one) ridding David his ser-
vant from an evil sword. This mode of
connecting sentences, by a participle
agreeing
with a noun in the foregoing context, is a characteristic feature of
Ps.
xviii. See p. 82. The kings particularly meant are the
theocratical
sovereigns,
the royal family of David. Ridding,
the participle of the verb
552 PSALM CXLIV. [VER. 11-14.
so
rendered in ver. 7. David (as) his servant, because he is his
servant, in
the
sense repeatedly explained already. See above, on Ps. cxliii. 2, 12.
David
speaks of himself by name, not only here but in Ps. xviii. 51 (50),
lxi.
7 (6), lxiii. 12 (11), 2 Sam. vii. 26. An
evil sword, not only dangerous
but wicked. Compare Ps. xxii. 21 (20).
11. Rid me and free me from the hand of aliens, whose mouth, speaks fraud
and whose right hand
(is) a right hand of falsehood. In resuming the
language
of direct petition, the terms of ver. 7, 8, are studiously repeated,
as
if to shew that this prayer is parallel to that, and not an addition to it.
12. So that our sons (may be) as plants grown large in their youth, our
daughters as
corner-stones hewn (for) the building of the temple. The re-
miniscences
or imitations of Ps. xviii. suddenly cease here, and are followed
by
a series of original, peculiar, and for the most part no doubt antique ex-
pressions.
On the supposition that the title is correct in making David the
author,
this is natural enough. On any other supposition it is unaccount-
able,
unless by the gratuitous assumption, that this is a fragment of an
older
composition, a mode of reasoning by which any thing may be either
proved
or disproved. The first word in Hebrew is the relative pronoun,
and
the literal meaning of the clause is, (by)
which (or in consequence of
which) our sons, &c. The which refers to the deliverance prayed
for in the
preceding
verse. Grown large, literally magnified or made great. The
common
version (grown up in their youth) has
a paradoxical appearance,
arising
from the ambiguity of our phrase grown up,
which is applied (like
the
Greek h[liki<a) both to age and stature. The word translated corner-
stones has the same sense in
Zech. ix. 15. The corner-stones are mentioned
as
those which were hewn and polished with peculiar care. Likeness or
model would agree better with
the usage of the Hebrew word (tynib;Ta), but
its
primary sense, as a derivative of the verb (hnABA) to build, is here still
more
appropriate. Most interpreters give the last word the vague sense
of
a palace, considered as a splendid
building. There is something, how-
ever,
far more striking in the translation temple,
found in the Prayer-Book
and
the ancient versions. The omission of the article is a poetic licence of
perpetual
occurrence. The temple was the great architectural model and standard of
comparison,
and particularly remarkable for the great size and skilful elaboration of
its
foundation-stones, some of which, there is reason to believe, have remained
undisturbed
since the time of Solomon. See Robinson's
13. Our garners full, affording from kind to kind; our flocks bearing
thousands, multiplied by
myriads, in our streets. From kind to kind seems
to
denote not only variety but regular succession, as expressed in Hengsten-
berg's
version, one kind after another.
Compare Ps. lxxxiv. 8 (7). The
participles
in the next clause are highly idiomatic and scarcely reproducible
in
any other language. A somewhat similar example occurs above, Ps.
lxix.
32 (31). But there both forms are active, whereas here we have one
active
and one passive participle, formed directly from the Hebrew words
denoting
a thousand and a myriad, the last of which is a derivative of the
verb
to increase or multiply, and would therefore necessarily suggest that idea.
See
above, on Ps. iii. 7 (6), lxviii. 18 (17). Streets, though not incorrect,
is
an inadequate translation of the Hebrew word (tOcUH), which means
external
spaces, streets as opposed to the inside of houses, fields or country
as
opposed to a whole town. Here it includes not only roads but fields.
14. Our oxen loaded—no damage and no loss—and no complaint in our
VER.
1-3.] PSALM
CXLV. 553
streets. The first particular
implies abundance. For the use of oxen as
beasts
of burden, see 1 Chron. xii. 40. Damage
and loss, literally breach
and
going forth. Complaint, literally cry,
but especially for loss of the
fruits
of the earth. See Isa. xxiv. 11. Some give the sentence an entirely
different
meaning, by supposing the word translated oxen
to mean princes,
as
it does in Zech. ix. 7, xii. 5, 6, and giving the participle joined with it
the
Chaldee sense of raised erect or upright. Going out then means going
out
to war, as in Amos v. 3, breach the
incursion of an enemy, and cry a
war-cry.
But the first Hebrew word in question (JUl.xa) is applied only to
the
chiefs of
Testament,
such as Zechariah; and we naturally look for oxen after sheep,
as
in Ps. viii. 8 (7).
15. Happy the people (with) whom (it is) thus! Happy the people whose
God (is) Jehovah! The clauses are not
antithetical, but equivalent. The
people means the (chosen) people,
was
thus, and was thus for the very reason that Jehovah was their God.
PSALM
CXLV.
THIS has been happily characterised
as the "new song" promised in
Ps.
cxliv. 9. In other words, it is the song of praise, corresponding to
the
didactic, penitential, and supplicatory psalms of this series. In form
it
is an alphabetical psalm, and like others of that class (see p. 113),
admits
of no analysis, being made up of variations on a single theme, the
righteousness
and goodness of the Lord to men in general, to his own
people
in particular, and more especially to those who suffer. The letter
nun
is wanting, being omitted, as some suppose, for the sake of having
three
equal stanzas, each containing seven verses. The Septuagint sup-
plies
the omission, in a very inartificial manner, by anticipating ver. 17
before
ver. 15, with a simple change of righteous
(qyDica)
to faithful (NmAx,n,),
as
in Ps. cxi. 7.
1. Praise. By David. I will exalt thee, my God, the King, and will
bless thy name to eternity
and perpetuity.
This is the only case in which
the
word Praise stands alone as the
designation or description of a psalm.
It
evidently bears an antithetical relation to the title Prayer in Ps. cxlii. 1,
the
rather as the Hebrew words (hl.APiT; and hl.AhiT;) are still more alike
than
their English equivalents differing only in a single letter. I will exalt
thee, as in Ps. xxx. 2 (1),
where the reason is expressed that is here im-
plied,
to wit, that God had exalted him. The
king, the only true king, the
king
of kings, by whom they are put up and down, protected and punished.
See
above, on Ps. cxliv. 10, and compare Ps. v. 3 (2), xx. 10 (9), xxiv. 8, 10,
xxix.
10, xciii. 1, xcv. 3, xcvi. 10, xcix. 1. The regal honours paid to him-
self
by others David here transfers as due to God alone. Bless thy name,
i.
e. reverently praise it. See above, on Ps. v. 12 (11), xxxiv. 2 (1), ciii. 1.
For ever and ever, in reference not merely
to himself but to his royal race,
which
is to live for ever. See above, on Ps. cxxxviii. 8.
2. Every day will I bless thee, and praise thy name to eternity and per-
petuity. Compare Ps. lxviii. 20
(19), lxix. 31 (30), xcii. 2, 3. Every
day
denotes
constancy and regularity.
3. Great (is) Jehovah, and to be praised exceedingly, and to his greatness
there is no search, i. e. it is unsearchable. The first clause is
quoted in
554 PSALM CXLV. [VER. 4-12.
Ps.
xlviii. 2 (1). Greatly to be praised,
as in Ps. xviii. 4 (3), xcvi.
cxiii.
3. His greatness, as displayed in
act, his great performance or performances.
See
above, on Ps. lxxi. 21. With the last words of the verse compare Ps. xl. 6 (5).
4. Generation to generation lauds thy deeds, and thy mighty doings they
declare. With the first clause
compare Ps. xix. 3 (2). The verbs are of
the
future form, lauds and will laud, declare and will declare. The first
verb
is the one used in Ps. lxiii. 4 (3), cxvii. 1. Mighty doings, literally
mights or powers, but always used, like greatness,
in an active not an
abstract
sense. See above, on Ps. xx. 7 (6), cvi. 2. They
declare may
agree
with men indefinitely, or with the double generation
in the first
clause,
which, however, is there construed with a verb in the singular.
5. (Of) the beauty of the honour of thy majesty, and the words of thy
wonders, I will muse (or
meditate).
The accumulation of synonymous ex-
pression
in the first clause has been falsely represented as a proof of later
date
and a corupted taste, whereas it only proves intensity of admiration.
For
examples of the same thing in undisputed psalms of David, see above,
Ps.
xviii. 3 (2), lxii. 8 (7). Beauty and
majesty, as in Ps. xlv. 4 (3).
Honour or glory, as in Ps. xix. 1. Words
of thy wonders are the wonders
or
wondrous deeds themselves, considered as subjects of discourse or
celebration.
See above, on Ps. lxv. 4 (3), cv. 27. I
will muse, as in Ps.
lxxvii.
13 (12), cxix. 15, 23, 27, 48, 78, 148.
6. And the force of thy dread (deeds) they utter—and (as to) thy
greatness,
I will recount it. Dread, literally feared,
and then to be feared, as praised
means
to be praised in ver. 3 above. Utter,
literally say precisely as in Ps.
xl.
11 (10). Greatness, or according to
the reading in the text of the Hebrew
Bible,
greatnesses, i. e. great deeds, as mights means mighty deeds in ver. 5.
7. The memory of thy great goodnes they pour forth, and (of) thy rigit-
eousness they sing (or shout). Memory, as in Ps. vi. 6 (5). Great goodness
is
the order of the words not only in English but in Hebrew, where it is
unusual.
See above, on Ps. lxxxix. 51 (50). Pour
forth, as in Ps. xix.
3
(2), lxxviii. 2. Compare Ps. lix. 8 (7). Thy
righteousness, as in Ps.
xxxi.
2 (1), li. 16 (14), cxliii. 1. Sing
or shout for joy. The construction
is
like that in Ps. li. 16 (14), lix. 17 (16).
8. Gracious and compassionate (is) Jehovah, slow to anger and great (in)
mercy. Compare Ps. lxxxvi. 15
(14), ciii. 8, cxi. 4. Instead of the usual expression (bra)
much or abundant, we have here great,
in allusion to its previous use in ver. 3, 6.
9. Good (is) Jehovah to all, and his compassions (are) over all his works.
All, literally the all, the whole universe. See above,
on Ps. cxix. 91.
Over or upon, the first suggesting the idea of a covering, the second that
of a
descent
from above. His works, the things
which he has made, his creatures.
See
above, on Ps. ciii. 22. The argument implied is, how much more to
his
own people, the creatures of his grace. See above, on Ps. cxxxviii. 8.
10. All thy creatures, 0 Jehovah, praise (or thank) thee, and thy saints
bless thee. The future forms, as
usual, denote that it is so and will be so.
The
superfluous h in the last word is an orthographical
peculiarity like
that
in Ps. cxxxix. 3, cxl. 8, cxli. 8. As saints
(or gracious ones) are more
than
creatures, so to bless is more than to praise.
See above, on ver. 1.
11. The glory of thy reign they utter, and thy might they speak. Com-
pare
Ps. ciii. 19. Thy reign or kingdom, which is universal. The whole
phrase
may mean thy royal dignity or honour.
12. To make known to the sons of man his mighty deeds, and the glory of
VER.
13-21.] PSALM
CXLV.
555
the majesty of his reign (or kingdom). Some give the infinitive the
force of a
gerund,
by making known; but the true sense
seems to be, so as to (or so
that they) make known. See above, on Ps.
lxxviii. 18.
13. Thy reign is a reign of all eternities, and thy dominion in generation
and generation. These words are also
found in Dan. iii. 33, iv. 31. The
meaning
of the last clause is, thy dominion still exists and shall exist in
every
successive generation.
14. An upholder (is) Jehovah for all the falling, a lifter up for all the
bowed down. The first word in each
clause is properly a participle, here
used
as a noun, and therefore followed by the preposition to or for. Translated
in
either way, the words necessarily suggest the idea of habitual action.
With
the first clause compare Ps. xxxvii. 17, 24, liv. 6 (4), cxix. 116.
15. The eyes of all unto thee (look and) wait, and thou givest them their
food in its season. The verb in the first
clause means to wait, expect, or
hope,
but is here construed with the preposition to
or towards, which implies
the
act of turning or looking to the object confided in. Givest, literally
giving i. e. (art habitually) giving. See above, on
Ps. civ. 27, where these
words
are quoted.
16. Opening thy hand and satisfying to every living (thing its) desire, or
the
desire of every living thing. Another construction, preferred by some
interpreters,
is, satisfying (giving satisfaction) to every living thing (in its)
desire,
viz. that which it desires. See the imitation of this verse in Ps.
civ.
28, and compare Ps. ciii. 5, Acts xiv. 17. The words satisfy and will
(or
desire) are combined, as here, in
Dent. xxxiii. 23.
17. Righteous (is) Jehovah in all his ways and merciful in all his works.
Justice
and mercy are not mentioned here as opposites, but rather as
equivalents,
the goodness of God being really included in the rectitude so
frequently
ascribed to him.
18. Near (is) Jehovah to all calling upon him, to all calling upon him
in truth, i. e. sincerely, with
importunate desire and strong confidence.
With
this verse compare Ps. xxxiv. 7, 19.
19. The will of his fearers he will do, and their cry he will hear, and
will
save them. He will do what they
desire, or grant their prayer, especially
their
prayer for help in time of danger and distress, as intimated in the last
clause.
Compare Ps. xxxiv. 10, 16 (9, 15), xxxvii. 40.
20. Jehovah keeps all that love him, and all the wicked will he destroy.
The
fearers of ver. 19 and the lovers of
this verse are identical, which shews
that
godly fear and love are not incompatible. Keeps,
literally keeping, as
in
ver. 15, from all danger and distress, preserving.
21. The praise of Jehovah shall my mouth speak, and all flesh shall bless
his holy name for ever,
or retaining the idiomatic form of the original, all
flesh shall bless the
name of his holiness (or his name of
holiness) to eternity
and perpetuity. The use of the word
praise connects this verse with the
title
or inscription in ver. 1, which is thereby justified or proved to be cor-
rect.
All flesh, as in Ps. lxv. 3 (2). His holy name, as in Ps. xxxiii. 21.
PSALM
CXLVI.
THIS psalm may be divided into two
equal parts, the first of which de-
scribes
the happiness of those who trust in God and not in man, ver. 1-5,
while
the second gives the reason, drawn from the divine perfections,
ver.
6 10. The psalm is distinguished from the Davidic series which pre-
556 PSALM CXLVI. [VER. 1-8.
cedes
it (cxxxviii.—cxlv.) by its whole internal character. At the same time
its
coincidences of expression with the one immediately before it shew that
it
was meant to be used in connection with it, and may therefore be re-
garded
as the closing psalm of the whole series beginning with Ps. cxxxv.,
and
belonging to the time of Haggai and Zechariah, to which the psalm
before
us is expressly referred in the Septuagint Version.
1. Hallelujah! Praise, 0 my soul, Jehovah! See above, Ps.
ciii.
1, 22, civ. 1, 35. The Hallelujah
never appears in any psalm which
bears
the name of David, and is, indeed, as characteristic of the later psalms
as
the Selah is of the more ancient.
2. I will praise Jehovah while I live; I will make music to my God
while I still (exist). For the literal
meaning of these words, see above, on
Ps.
civ. 33, from which they are borrowed, with the unimportant change of
sing to praise.
3. Trust ye not in princes, in the son of man, to whom there is no salva-
tion, who cannot save either
himself or others, but is wholly dependent upon
God.
Compare Ps. xl. 5 (4), lxxv. 7, 8 (6, 7), cviii. 13, cxvi. 11,
cxliv.
10. This may be regarded as an exhortation to men in general from
4. Forth goes his spirit, he returns to his earth; in that very day his
thoughts perish. For the meaning of the
first clause, see above, on Ps.
civ.
29. The primary idea of breath and
the secondary one of spirit run
into
each other in the usage of the Hebrew word (HaUr), so that either may
be
expressed in the translation, without entirely excluding the other. His
thoughts, his vain notions or
ambitious schemes.
5. Happy lie whose help is the God of Jacob, (and) his reliance on Jehovah
his God. Whose help, literally in whose help, i. e. engaged, employed
in it,
or
more probably among whose helpers.
Compare Ps. xlv. 10 (9), liv. 6 (4),
xcix.
6, cxviii. 7. The divine name (lxe) here used suggests the
idea of
almighty
power, as opposed to that of human weakness. Reliance, literally
expectation, hope; but the first idea is
necessarily suggested by the preposition on.
6. Who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that (is) in them—the
(one) keeping truth for
ever.
Two reasons are here given for thus relying
upon
God; his almighty power, as exercised and proved in the creation of
the
world, and his unchangeable fidelity. See above, Ps. xxv. 5. Who
made, literally making, with the usual reference to
God's creative power as
still
exerted in the sustentation of the universe. See above, on Ps. lxv.
7
(6), cxxi. 2, cxliv. 2.
7. Doing justice to the oppressed—giving bread to the hungry—Jehovah,
freeing (or the
liberator of) the bound. He is not only able but accustomed
to
relieve those in distress, of whom several distinct classes are here speci-
fied
as samples. Compare Ps. xxxvii. 19, lxviii. 6, 7 (5, 6), cvii. 5, 9, 10,
cxlv.
14. Hunger and captivity are both familiar figures for spiritual evils,
as
well as literal designations of external ones, both which may here be
considered
as included.
8. Jehovah opens (the eyes of) the blind; Jehovah raises up the bowed
down; Jehovah loves the
righteous.
The ellipsis in the first clause is not
so
harsh in Hebrew as in English, because the verb (HqaPA) is almost con-
fined,
in usage, to the eyes, and would at once suggest them to a Hebrew
reader.
All the verbs are of the participial form, opening,
raising, loving,
i.
e. continually doing so. The first clause is applicable both to bodily and
VER.
1-4.] PSALMS CXLVII. 557
mental
blindness. Compare Deut. xxviii. 29, Isa. lix. 10, Job. xii. 25.
The
second clause is borrowed from Ps. cxlv. 14.
9. Jehovah preserves strangers; orphan and widow he relieves; and the
way of wicked men makes
crooked.
The stranger, the orphan, and the
widow
are constantly presented in the Law as objects of compassion and
beneficence.
See above, on Ps. lxviii. 6, 7 (5, 6). Relieves, restores,
raises
up from their low condition. As a straight path is an emblem of
prosperity,
to render one's path crooked is to involve him in calamity.
The
same verb is applied, in a moral sense, to the perverse conduct of the
wicked,
Ps. cxix. 78.
10. Jehovah (reigns and) shall
reign to eternity; thy God, 0
generation and
generation. Hallelujah (praise ye Jah)! The psalm closes
with
a grand sentence from the song of Moses, Exod. xv. 18, to which a
parallel
clause is added, and a concluding Hallelujah,
winding up the whole
series
of psalms, supposed to have been sung at the completion of the
second
temple.
PSALM
CXLVII.
A SONG of praise to Jehovah on
account Of his goodness to his creatures
generally,
and to his church or chosen people in particular. Both these
themes
run through the psalm; but one is predominant in the first part,
ver.
1-11; the other in the second, ver. 12-20. The four remaining
psalms
(cxlvii.–cl.), connected together, and distinguished from what goes
before,
by the Hallelujah with which they all
begin and end; by their
joyous
tone, unmixed with lamentation or complaint; by their frequent
allusions
to some great deliverance recently experienced; and by the pecu-
liar
way in which they bring together the exhibitions of God's glory in the
works
of nature and in his dealings with the church; have not improbably
been
represented as a series, intended to commemorate the completion of
the
walls of
itself,
as putting an end to the reproach of
City
to its proper rank. See Neh. i. 3, ii. 5, 17; vi. 6, 7, 15, 16, vii. 4,
ix.
6, 13, 14, x. 29, xii. 27, 35, 41, 43.
1. Hallelujah (praise ye Jah),
for it is good to celebrate our God, for it
is sweet (and) praise
becoming.
This is made up of the beginnings of three
other
psalms. See above, Ps. xcii. 2 (1), cxxxv. 3, xxxiii. 1. Celebrate,
make
music to, with voice and instrument. See above, on Ps. vii. 18 (17).
Instead
of it is sweet some read he is lovely, i. e. a worthy object of
supreme
affection,
as in Ps. cxxxv. 3. But even there the construction is a doubtful
one,
and here the first proposed above is recommended by the fact that
the
epithets before and after relate not to God himself but to his praise.
2. Building
The
rebuilding of the walls in the days of Nehemiah, may be said to have
completed
tha fulfilment of the promise in Isa. xi. 12, lvi. 8. Compare Ps.
cvii.
3.
3. The (one) healing the broken-hearted and binding up their wounds.
This
was true as a general description, and specially exemplified in the
deliverance
which
ciii.
3, and compare Isa. lxi. 1.
4. Telling the number of the stars—to all of them names he calls. The
God
who thus provides for
Telling, counting, reckoning,
estimating. Not determining beforehand, but
558 PSALM CXLVII. [VER. 5-16.
simply doing what man cannot. See Gen. xv. 5, and
compare Gen. xiii. 16,
Num.
xxxii. 10, Isa. lxv. 12. He not only counts but names them, calling
them all by name. The verse is borrowed
from Isa. xl. 26, where, as here,
God's
knowledge and control of nature is presented as a source of consola-
tion
to his people.
5. Great is our Lord and of much power; to his understanding there is
no number, i. e. it is
incalculable and immense. Compare Isa. xl. 26, 28.
Of much power, or abundant in
strength.
6. Raising up the humble (is) Jehovah, casting down the wicked to the very
earth. See above, Ps. cxlvi.
8, 9. To the very earth, literally
even to the earth.
7. Respond to Jehovah with thanksgiving; make music to our God with a
harp. The first verb has its
proper sense of answering or responding, as
in
Ps. cxix. 172. It may be doubted whether it ever has that of simply
singing.
Respond, i. e. to his manifold
favours.
8. The (one) covering the heavens with clouds—the (one) providing for
the earth rain—the (one)
causing the mountains to put forth grass. The grass as produced
by
means of the rain, and the rain by means of the clouds. See above, on Ps. civ.
13.
9. Giving to the cattle its food—to the young ravens which cry. The
first
noun
may also be translated beast, but still with reference to domestic ani-
mals,
with which is contrasted in the other clause the raven, as a wild
bird,
unconnected with mankind, and as some suppose with allusion to its
harsh
and piercing cry. See above, on Ps. civ. 21, cxlv. 15, and compare
Job
xxxviii. 41. Young ravens, literally sons of the raven.
10. Not in the strength of a horse does he delight; not with the legs of a
man is he pleased. The best explanation of
the singular expressions in the
last
clause is, that the whole verse was intended to describe horse and. foot,
or
cavalry and infantry, as forming the military strength of armies. It is
not
to those who trust in these that God is disposed to extend favour, nor
do
these advantages at all attract him.
11. Pleased (is) Jehovah with those fearing him, with those hoping for
his mercy. This implies the want
of secular advantages, or at least an
absence
of reliance on them, and a sense of dependence upon God alone.
12. Laud, 0
begins
the second division of the psalm, in which the goodness of God to
his
people is the theme, and the people itself the object of address.
13. For he hath strengthened the bars of thy gates ; he hath blessed thy
sons in the midst of
thee.
Although the first clause admits of a general
figurative
application, it seems to contain an evident allusion to the histo-
rical
occasion of the psalm, or at least to favour the opinion, that it was
designed
to celebrate the renewed fortifications of the
14. (It is) he that makes thy border peace, (and with) the fat of wheat
he satisfies thee. He
that makes,
literally the (one) placing. Border
is
put
for all that it contains or bounds, thy territory or domain. To make
it
peace is to make it peaceful or to give it peace. See Isa. liv. 12. With
the
last clause compare Ps. lxxxi. 17, Deut. xxxii. 14.
15. He that sendeth his commandment (upon) earth very swiftly runs his
word. The construction is
like that in the preceding verse. He that
sendeth, the (one) sending. Commandment, literally saying, what he says.
Very swiftly, literally even to swiftness. The authoritative
word of God is
here
personified as his messenger or agent, whose swift running signifies the
prompt
execution of the divine will.
16. He that gives snow like wool, hoar-frost like ashes sprinkles. As
VER.
1-3.] PSALM
CXLVIII.
559
easily
as a man scatters wool or ashes, does God cover the earth with snow
or
frost. The selection of phenomena peculiar to winter may have reference
to
the season when the psalm was written or originally sung. At the
same
time they were probably designed to serve as emblems of the long
distress,
to which the Restoration put an end, as spring does to winter. The
comparisons
in this verse are less striking to us than to the people of countries
where
snow and frost are less familiar.
17. He that sendeth his ice like crumbs. Before his cold who can stand?
The
second noun means scraps or morsels, but in usage is specially applied
to
food. See Gen. xviii. 5, Judges xix. 5. This seems to be descriptive of
hail,
which God sends upon the earth as easily and freely as man scatters
crumbs
or throws away the refuse of his food. The allusion to the feeding
of
domesticated animals, which some assume, is needless, though admissible.
18. He sends his word and melts them—he makes his wind blow—waters
flow. Sends his word, utters his command. The
plural pronoun (them)
refers
to snow, frost and ice, in ver. 16, 17. The winds meant are the
warm
winds of the spring, attended by a general thaw.
19. Declaring his word to Jacob, his statutes and his judgments to
The
God of Nature is the God of Revelation. He who thus controls the
elements
and seasons is the God of Israel, and will work spiritual changes
corresponding
to these natural phenomena, for the benefit of the people
whom
he has entrusted with the revelation of his will.
20. He has not done so to every nation—and (as for) judgments, they know
nothing of them. This revelation to
nation, and by implication, any one. This is, indeed, the only form
in
which
that idea could be expressed in Hebrew. The last clause declares
the
other nations ignorant not only of his
laws or judgments, but of any
that
deserve
the name.
PSALM
CXLVIII.
THE universe, in all its parts, is
summoned to praise God as its maker,
and
as infinitely worthy of its adoration. The invitation is addressed, in
the
first instance, to heaven and its inhabitants, exhorting them to praise
God
as their maker and preserver, ver. 1-6. It is then addressed to the
earth
and its inhabitants, exhorting them to praise him for his infinite per-
fection,
as displayed in his works, but especially in his dealings with his
chosen
people, ver. 7-14. Even the most sceptical critics are constrained
to
acknowledge that this psalm and the two which follow are admirably
suited
to their purpose.
1. Hallelujah! Praise ye Jehovah from the heavens! Praise him in
the heights! This verse designates
the place, or part of the creation, from
which
the praise is to proceed. Heights, or
high-places, is a simple equiva-
lent
to heavens, the plural form of which
it takes by assimilation. Compare
the
singular in Ps. xviii. 17 (16). The preposition from denotes the direc-
tion
of the sound, the preposition in the
place where it is uttered.
2. Praise ye him, all his angels! Praise ye him, all his hosts! As
this
last expression is applied both to the angels and the heavenly bodies,
it
here affords a natural transition from the one to the other. See above,
on
Ps. xxiv. 10, xxix. 1, ciii. 21.
3. Praise ye him, sun and moon! Praise him, all ye stars of light!
This
is
a specification of the general term, his
hosts, in ver. 2. Stars of light
is a
beautiful
poetical expression for bright or shining stars.
560 PSALM
CXLVIII. [VER. 4-10.
4.
Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye
waters which are above the
heavens! The object of address
in the first clause is the highest heaven, the
heaven
of that which is heaven to us. See above, on Ps. lxviii. 34 (33), and
compare
Dent. x. 14, 1 Kings viii. 27, 2 Cor. xii. 2. The waters meant are the
watery
clouds above the lower heavens, as in Gen. i. 7. See above, on Ps. civ. 3.
5. Let them praise the name of Jehovah, for he commanded and they were
created. The direct invitation
to the heavens is followed by a statement of
the
reason why they should comply with it, expressed in the third person, as
if
addressed to others. The pronoun he
is emphatic. (It was) he (that) com-
manded (and no other). See
above, on Ps. xxxiii. 9, and compare Gen. i. 3.
6. And made them stand to perpetuity and eternity; a limit he gave
(them) and they cannot
pass (it).
The immutability ascribed to the frame
of
nature, Ps. lxxii. 5, lxxxix. 3, 37 (2, 36), is not absolute but relative to
the
will
of the Creator. All that is required by the context in such cases is, that
they
cannot change in opposition to his will or independently of it. See
Ps.
cii. 27. The first word in the second clause is here used in its primary
sense
of a definite boundary or limit, from which may be readily deduced
the
usual one of statute or permanent enactment. See above, on Ps. ii. 7.
As
the last verb is in the singular number, the most obvious construction
is
the one given in the English Bible, a
decree which shall not pass. Com-
pare
Matt. v. 18. But the highest authorities appear to be agreed that
the
analogy of Job xiv. 5, Ps. civ. 9, Jer. v. 22, requires the verb to be
taken
in the sense of transcending or transgressing, and construed with the
aggreoate
of the heavenly bodies.
7. Praise Jehovah from the earth, ye dragons and all depths. Here
begins
the second part, in which the address is to the earth and its inhabi-
tants.
From the earth is in ,antithesis to from the heavens in ver. 1. Earth
here
includes land and water; hence the last clause makes exclusive mention
of
the latter, as the word translated dragons is applied to huge aquatic
animals
(Ps. lxxiv. 13), and the one translated depths
to large bodies of
water
(Ps. xxxiii. 7). As the first, however, sometimes means serpents
(Ps.
xci. 13), it may here be the connecting link between land and water.
8. Fire and hail, snow and vapour, stormy wind doing his word. The
address
here passes to the inanimate and unconscious agencies of nature.
Fire and hail, as in Ps. cv. 32. The
fire meant is commonly supposed to
be
lightning; but according to Hengstenberg the word is to be taken in its
ordinary
sense, and is separated from its natural attendant smoke (for such
is
the meaning of the Hebrew word elsewhere, e. g. Ps. cxix. 83) only for
the
purpose of contrasting hot and cold, white and black, which seems a
little
fanciful and far-fetched. The storm-wind
(or stormy wind) is men-
tioned
as a natural agent the least likely to be under control, and it is ex-
pressly
described as doing God's word, i. e. executing his command. See
above,
on Ps. ciii. 20, civ. 4.
9. The mountains and all hills, fruit-trees and all cedars. Not fruitful
trees,
as distinguished from barren trees, but fruit-trees (literally tree of
fruit), as distinguished from
forest-trees, here represented by the cedar,
which
is usually spoken of in Scripture as the noblest species, and therefore
called
the cedar of God, Ps. lxxx. 11 (10).
10. The wild (beast) and all cattle, creeping thing and flying fowl.
The
contrast
in the first clause is analogous to that between fruit-trees and
cedars
in ver. 9. The Hebrew word (WF,r,) translated creeping thing has
no
exact equivalent in English. It seems strictly to denote animal or vital
VER.
11-14.] PSALM
CXLVIII.
561
motion,
or as a concrete term whatever so moves, and is even applied to
aquatic
animals, Ps. civ. 25. But when used distinctively, it denotes the
smaller
classes of terrestrial animals, including insects, reptiles, and the
smallest
quadrupeds. It is here added simply to complete the expression
of
the general idea, all animals whatever.
Flying fowl, literally bird of wing.
The
first of the Hebrew words is specially applied to the smaller birds, and
sometimes
specifically to the sparrow. See above, on Ps. xi. 1, lxxxiv. 4
(3),
civ. 17, cxxiv. 7. This and the preceding item in the catalogue, sug-
gesting
the idea of the smallest animals, may possibly have been used to
denote
the universality of the call here made upon all creatures, from the
greatest
to the smallest, to praise God their maker.
11. Kings of the earth and all nations, chiefs and all judges of the
earth.
He
here passes from the lower animals to man. Kings
and the nations
whom
they represent. Princes is not an exact translation of the Hebrew (MyriWA),
which
is especially, though not exclusively, applied to military leaders of various
rank,
and may therefore be represented by the English chiefs or chieftains.
12. Young men and also maidens, old men with children. The obvious
meaning
of this verse is, all men, without distinction of sex or age. There
is
no need, therefore, of refining on the several particulars, or undertaking
to
explain why old men and young men are both mentioned, since neither
of
them could have been omitted without failing to accomplish the design
of
the enumeration. For the etymology and primary meaning of the first
word
in Hebrew see above, on Ps. lxxviii. 63, where it stands in precisely
the
same combination. The two nouns in the last clause may be considered
as
of common gender.
13. Let (all these) praise the
name of Jehovah, for exalted is his name alone,
his glory is above earth
and heaven.
The mention of earth and heaven
shews
that the first verb relates not merely to that which immediately pre-
cedes,
but to the whole enumeration of God's creatures with which the
psalm
is occupied. See above, on Ps. civ. 27. Exalted
is his name, as in
Isa.
xii. 4. His glory or majesty, a Hebrew word especially
applied to
royal
dignity. See above, on Ps. xxi. 6 (5), xlv. 4 (3), xcvi. 6, civ. 1,
cxi.
3. Above earth and heaven, i. e.
superior to their mere material splen-
dour,
or on earth and heaven, i. e. placed
upon them as a crown. See
above,
on Ps. viii. 2 (1), lvii. 6 (5).
14. And he has raised np a horn for his people praise for all his saints
—for the children of
all
the creatures before mentioned have abundant cause to praise God for
his
infinite perfection and his goodness to themselves, a peculiar obligation
is
incumbent on his people: first, for his distinguishing favour through all
periods
of their history; and then, for a special mercy recently experienced,
namely,
the restoration from captivity, now completed by the renewal of
the
temple and the reconstruction of the city walls. This restoration is
described,
by a favourite Davidic figure, as exalting or lifting up the horn
of
ous
condition of the chosen people might be well represented by the oppo-
site
figure used in Job xvi. 15. Raised a horn
for his people seems to be
only
another way of saying raised the horn of
his people. The first form of
expression
may have been here used for the purpose of assimilating this
clause
to the next, where praise is still
dependent on the verb at the begin-
ning,
and to raise up praise for his people
is to give them fresh occasion of
still
higher praise than they had ever yet been called to utter. The ancient
562 PSALM CXLIX. [VER.
1-6.
church
is here described in a fourfold manner: first, simply as his people;
then,
as his saints or gracious ones, the objects of his mercy and the subjects
of
his grace; then, by their national title, as the sons (or descendants)
of
and
lastly, as the people near him, i. e.
nearer to him than all others, sus-
taining
a more intimate relation to him, The same expression which is
elsewhere
applied to the priests (Le-v. x. 3, Ezek. xlii. 13) is here applied
to
PSALM
CXLIX.
THIS may be regarded as the special
song of praise required of
the
close of the preceding psalm : first, on account of mercies already
experienced
by the chosen people, ver. 1-5; and then, in the hope of future
triumphs
over all heathen and hostile powers, ver. 6-9. Nothing could
well
be more appropriate to the state of things under Nehemiah, when the
city
and nation had again been put into a posture of defence and resistance.
1. Hallelujah! Sing unto Jehovah a new song, his praise in the congre-
gation of saints. Compare Ps. xl. 4 (3),
xcvi. 1, cxi. 1, cxlviii. 14, to
which
last there is an obvious allusion, connecting the two psalms in the
closest
manner.
2. Let
King! Not merely the creator
of individuals, but of the church and nation
as
such, and that not only at first, but by a kind of new creation, in the
restoration
of the people from captivity. They are summoned to rejoice in
him,
not only as their founder and restorer, but their sovereign. See above,
on
Ps. xcv. 6, c. 3, cxlv. 1, and compare Isa. xliii. 1, xliv. 2, xlv. 13.
3. Let them praise his name in the dance; with timbrel and harp let
them play (or make
music) to him.
The usual modes of expressing joy are
here
combined. As to the dance, see above, on Ps. xxx. 12 (11).
4. For Jehovah is pleased with his people; he beautifies the humble with
salvation. The first clause
suggests the idea of a previous alienation, and
of
his having been appeased or reconciled. See above, on Ps. lxxxv. 2 (1).
The
verb is one applied in the Law to God's acceptance of the sacrifices,
and
might therefore awaken here associations with atonement and forgive-
ness.
See above, on Ps. xix. 15 (14), li. 22 (20). The verb occurs in
its
general sense of being pleased or satisfied, Ps. cxlvii. 10, 11. With the
last
clause compare Isa. lxi. 3.
5. Let the saints exult in glory ; let them sing (for joy) upon their
beds.
The
word translated saints is the same that occurs in Ps. clvii. 14, and is
there
explained. In glory (or honour), i. e. the glorious or
honourable
state
into which Jehovah has now brought them. The glory is not that
which
belongs to God, Ps. xxix. 9, xcvi. 7, but that which he bestows, Ps.
lxxxiv.
12 (11), lxxxv. 10 (9), The very phrase, in
honour, occurs above,
Ps.
cxii. 9. Sing or shout, as audible expressions of strong feeling, and
especially
of joy. On their beds, where they
have been accustomed to
lament
their previous degradation, or what Nehemiah calls their "affliction
and
reproach." See Neh. i. 3, iii. 36 (iv. 4).
6. Praises of God in their throat, and a two-edged sword in their hand.
A
striking coincidence has been observed between this verse and Neh.
iv.
11, 12 (17, 18). As then they worked with one hand and brandished
the
sword with the other, so now they might be said at the same time to
praise
God and defy their enemies. This singular mixture of devotional and
VER.
1, 2.]
PSALM CL. 563
martial
spirit is characteristic of the psalm, and furnishes a valuable index
to
the date of composition. The conclusion thus reached is corroborated
by
the account of the military and religious pomp, with which the walls
were
dedicated, as described by Nehemiah (xii. 31-47).
7. To execute vengeance among the nations, punishments among the peoples.
Not
their own vengeance, but that of God, to whom alone it appertains.
See
above, on Ps. xviii. 48 (47), xciv. 1, and compare Deut. xxxii. 35,
Rom.
xii. 19, Heb. x. 30. This is really nothing more than a prediction,
that
God would use his people as his instruments in punishing the nations
by
whom they had themselves been persecuted and oppressed. This was
partially
fulfilled in the successes of the Maccabees, but under a new and
unexpected
form, in the spiritual triumphs of the true religion, and its
actual
or prospective subjugation of the world.
8. To bind their kings with chains, their nobles with fetters of iron.
The
word
translated nobles is properly a
participle, meaning honoured (ones).
The
verse simply carries out the idea of the one before it, that of the subjuga-
tion
of the gentiles by the true religion. The objection to this, as a spiri-
tualising
explanation of the text, springs from a narrow and erroneous view
of
the very end for which
9. To execute among them the judgment written. An honour is that for
all his saints. This last phrase
occurs also at the close of the preceding
psalm
(cxlviii. 14). As written may mean written in the book of God's
decrees,
there is no need of supposing a reference to any part of Scripture.
If
there be such reference, however, it is no doubt to the threatening in
Deut.
xxxii. 41-43. To act as God's instruments in this great judicial
process,
so far from being a disgrace or hardship, is an honour reserved for
all
the objects of his mercy and subjects of his grace. The psalm ends as
it
began, with Hallelujah!
PSALM CL.
THIS is the closing Hallelujah or
Doxology, which marks the conclusion
of
the last series or cycle (Ps. cxlvii.-cl.), of the Fifth Book (Ps. cvii.-cl.),
and
of the whole Psalter. In form and structure it is perfectly simple,
merely
reciting, in an animated manner, the place (ver. 1), the theme (ver. 2),
the
mode (ver. 3-5), and the extent (ver. 6) of the praise due to Jehovah.
1. Hallelujah! Praise God in his sanctuary! Praise him in the fir-
mament of his power! The essential meaning of the verse is, praise
him
both
in earth and heaven. The particulars detailed in Ps. cxlviii. are here
condensed
into a pregnant summary. The sanctuary
is the earthly one,
and
as such stands opposed to the firmament
or heaven, called the firma-
ment of his power, as being one of the most glorious proofs and products
of
its
exercise, and still the scene of its most striking exhibitions. The phrase
is
to be understood as comprehending the hosts,
of heaven, both inanimate
and
living, both material and spiritual. The parallelism is rendered still
more
perfect by the correspondence between power in the last clause and
(lxe) the divine name in the
first.
2. Praise him for his mighty acts! Praise him according to his pleni-
tude of greatness! His mighty
acts, literally his rnights or powers. See
above,
on Ps. cxly. 4. For, literally in them, i. e. praise him as exhibited
and
viewed in these. The corresponding particle means like, in accordance
564 PSALM CL. [VE:R. 3-6.
with,
in proportion to, in a manner worthy of his greatness. The last
phrase
in Hebrew is peculiarly expressive, consisting of the two strongest
terms
denoting magnitude, the abstract forms of much
and great; which
might
be rendered, if our usage suffered it, muchness
of greatness.
3. Praise him with blast of trumpet! Praise him with harp and lyre!
Here
begins an enumeration of the instruments employed in public worship,
and
therefore necessarily associated with the idea of divine praise. The
trumpet
was used to assemble the people, and would therefore excite many
of
the same associations with our church-bells. The other instruments
were
used as actual accompaniments of the psalms performed in public worship.
4. Praise him with timbrel and dance! Praise him with strings and
pipe! The three great classes
of instruments are here distinctly mentioned,
namely,
wind, stringed, and pulsatile. The last, represented by the drum
or
timbrel, still called by a kindred name in Arabic, is here accompanied by
its
inseparable adjunct dancing, which might seem misplaced in a list of
instruments,
and those employed in sacred music, but for the peculiar
usages
and notions of the ancient Hebrews, with respect to this external
sign
of joy. See above, on Ps. xxx. 12 (11), cxlix. 3. The common ver-
sion
of the last word (organ) is derived through the Vulgate from the Sep-
tuagint,
where it denotes a system or combination of pipes. The Hebrew
word,
according to the Jewish tradition, means a simple pipe, and is so
rendered
in the Prayer Book version. It here represents the whole class of
wind-instruments.
See above, on Ps. lxviii. 26 (25), and compare 2 Sam. vi. 5.
5. Praise him with cymbals of loud sound! Praise him with cymbals of
joyful noise! The dominant idea, that
of audibly expressed joy, is sus-
tained
to the last, where the cymbals are mentioned in both clauses, as an
instrument
peculiarly appropriated to occasions of unusual rejoicing. See
2
Sam. vi. 5, Ezra iii. 10, Neh. xii. 27. .The effect is still further height-
ened
by the qualifying epithets, the first of which strictly denotes hearing
or
the thing heard, i. e. sound, and here by implication, loud sound. To
this
idea the parallel term adds that of joyful sound, to which it is con-
stantly
applied in usage. See above, on Ps. xxvii. 6, lxxxix. 16 (15), and
compare
Num. xxiii. 21. The distinction, here assumed by some interpreters,
between
cymbals of a larger and a smaller size, is wholly unnecessary.
6. Let all breath praise Jah! Hallelujah! The very ambiguity of all
breath gives extraordinary
richness of meaning to this, closing sentence.
From
the simple idea of wind instruments, mentioned in the context, it
leads
us, by a beautiful transition, to that of vocal, articulate, intelligent
praise,
uttered by the breath of living men, as distinguished from mere
1ifeless
instruments. See above, on Ps. lxviii. 26 (25). Then lastly, by a
natural
association, we ascend to the idea expressed in the common version,
everything that hath
breath,
not merely all that lives, but all that has a voice
to
praise God. There is nothing in the Psalter more majestic or more
beautiful
than this brief but most significant finale,
in which solemnity of
tone
predominates, without, however, in the least disturbing the exhilaration
which
the close of the Psalter seems intended to produce, as if in emblema-
tical
allusion to the triumph which awaits the church and all its members,
when
through much tribulation they shall enter into rest.
THE
END.
Please
report any errors to Ted Hildebrandt:
ted.hildebrandt@gordon.edu