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Psalm Twenty-one
New King James Version (NKJV)
YLT To the Overseer. -- A
Psalm of David.
INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 21
To the chief Musician, a Psalm of David. This psalm
was either written by David; and therefore called a "psalm of David";
or it was written, as it may be rendered, "for David", by some other
person, on account of his victories and triumphs; or rather "concerning
David"F19לדוד "pro Davide, vel
de Davide", Vatablus. ; that is, concerning the Messiah, the son of David,
as Kimchi says some expound it; or concerning the Messiah, who is called David,
Ezekiel 37:24; and Jarchi observes, that
their Rabbins interpret it of the Messiah; but, says he, it is right to explain
it, moreover, of David himself, for an answer to the heretics (Christians) who
err in it; and various passages in this psalm are by the Jewish writers
understood of the Messiah; as "the King", in Psalm 20:1 is in the Targum called the King
Messiah; Psalm 21:4 is in the Talmud appliedF20T.
Bab. Succah, fol. 52. 1. Vid. Nachman. disput. "cum fratre Paulo", p.
36. Ed. Wagenseil. to him; Psalm 21:3 are in ZoharF21In
Numb. fol. 68. 3. 4. , and in the MidrashesF23Midrash Tillim apud
Viccars. in loc. & in Galatin. l. 3. c. 9. Bemidbar Rabba, fol. 212. 4.
& 218. 1. , interpreted of him; and many Christian writers understand the
whole of him; which is right: though Theodoret thinks it was penned on the
account of the health of King Hezekiah, and his restoration from his disease;
which is not likely.
Psalm 21:1 The
king shall have joy in Your strength, O Lord; And in Your salvation
how greatly shall he rejoice!
YLT
1Jehovah, in Thy strength is
the king joyful, In Thy salvation how greatly he rejoiceth.
The king shall joy in thy strength, O Lord,.... Either in
that strength which is in Jehovah himself, in whom is everlasting strength; and
which is seen in the works of creation and providence, and is the same in
Christ himself, as he is the mighty God; or else in the strength which Jehovah
communicated to Christ as man, whereby he was strengthened in his human nature
to go through and complete the work of man's redemption; or in the strength
which the Lord puts forth, and the power which he exerts towards and upon his
people, in conversion; which is the produce of the exceeding greatness of his
power; and in strengthening them, from time to time, to exercise grace,
discharge duty, and withstand temptations and sin; and in keeping them safe to
the end; in supporting them under all their trials, and in carrying on and
finishing the work of faith upon their souls; all which is matter of joy to
Christ;
and in thy salvation how greatly shall he rejoice? meaning
either his own salvation by the Lord, from all his sorrows and troubles, and
out of the hands of all enemies, being in the presence of God, where is fulness
of joy, Psalm 16:9; or else the salvation of his
people by him, which Jehovah appointed them to, secured for them in the
covenant of grace, sent Christ to work out for them, applies by his Spirit, and
at last puts into the full possession of: Christ rejoices at the effectual
calling and conversion of his people, when salvation is brought near unto them;
and especially at their glorification, when they shall be in the full enjoyment
of it; then will they be his joy, and crown of rejoicing: this is the joy that
was set before him, which made him go so cheerfully through his sufferings and
death for them, Hebrews 12:2; the reasons of this joy are,
because of the great love he bears to them; the interest and property he has in
them; his undertakings for them, as their surety, to bring them safe to glory;
his purchase of them by his blood; his intercession for them, that they might
be with him to behold his glory; and, last of all, because of his Father's
glory, his own glory, and the glory of the blessed Spirit, which are concerned
in the salvation of these persons.
Psalm 21:2 2 You have given him his
heart’s desire, And have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah
YLT
2The desire of his heart
Thou gavest to him, And the request of his lips Thou hast not withheld. Selah.
Thou hast given him his heart's desire,.... Which the
church had prayed for in Psalm 20:4; whatever Christ's heart desired,
or his lips requested, has been given him;
and hast not withholden the request of his lips. Whatever he
asked in the council and covenant of peace was granted; he asked for all the
elect, as his spouse and bride; these were the desire of his heart and eyes,
and they were given him; he asked for all the blessings of grace for them, and
all grace was given to them in him; he asked for glory, for eternal life, and
it was promised him; and not only the promise of it was put into his hand, but
the thing itself; see Psalm 2:8, 1 John 5:11; and Psalm 20:4; whatever he requested of his
Father, when here on earth, was granted; he always heard him; that memorable
prayer of his in John 17:1 is heard and answered, both in
what respects himself, his own glorification, and the conversion,
sanctification, union, preservation, and glorification of his people; whatever
he now desires and requests in heaven, as the advocate and intercessor for his
saints, is ever fulfilled; which is an instance of the great regard Jehovah has
unto him, and may be considered as a reason of his joy in him.
Selah; on this word; see Gill on Psalm 3:2.
Psalm 21:3 3 For You meet him with the
blessings of goodness; You set a crown of pure gold upon his head.
YLT
3For Thou puttest before him
blessings of goodness, Thou settest on his head a crown of fine gold.
For thou preventest him with the blessings of goodness,.... Not
temporal, but spiritual blessings, which spring from the grace and goodness of
God, and consist of it; and relate to the spiritual and eternal welfare of
those for whose sake he receives them, and who are blessed with them in him:
his being "prevented" with them denotes the freeness of the donation
of them; that before he could well ask for them, or before he had done
requesting them, they were given him; and also the earliness of the gift of
them, they were put into his hands before his incarnation, before he was
manifest in the flesh, even from the foundation of the world, and before the
world began, Ephesians 1:3, 2 Timothy 1:9, and likewise the order in
which they were given; first to Christ, and then to his people in him, as the
passages referred to show;
thou settest a crown of pure gold on his head; which is
expressive of his victory over all enemies, sin, Satan, and the world, death
and hell; and of his being possessed of his throne and kingdom; and has respect
to his exaltation at the right hand of God, where he is crowned with glory and
honour: and this crown being of "pure gold" denotes the purity,
glory, solidity, and perpetuity of his kingdom; this is a crown, not which
believers put upon him by believing in him, and ascribing the glory of their
salvation to him, or what the church, called his mother, has crowned him with, Song of Solomon 3:11, but which his father
put upon him, who has set him King over his holy hill of Zion, Psalm 2:6; compare with this Revelation 14:14. The Septuagint and
Vulgate Latin versions read "a crown of a precious stone"; and so
Apollinarius; and seem to refer to the crown set on David's head, which had
precious stones in it, 2 Samuel 12:30; JosephusF24Antiqu.
l. 7. c. 7. s. 5. says it had a sardonyx. Fortunatus ScacchusF25Elaeochrism.
Sacr. l. 3. c. 40. p. 1003. fancies the topaz is meant, and that the Hebrew
text should be read "a crown of topaz"; mistaking the sense of the
word "phaz", which never signifies a topaz, but the best gold, pure
solid gold.
Psalm 21:4 4 He asked life from You, and
You gave it to him—Length of days forever and ever.
YLT
4Life he hath asked from
Thee, Thou hast given to him -- length of days, Age-during -- and for ever.
He asked life of thee, and thou gavest it him,.... Both for
himself, as man, when he was about to die, that he might be raised to life
again, which was granted him; and for his people, that they might live
spiritually and eternally, and accordingly life is given to him for them; and
he has power to give it to as many as the Father has given him, John 17:2;
even length of days
for ever and ever; the life he has for himself as man is what will ever continue;
he will die no more, death will have no more dominion over him; he will live
for evermore, and that to make intercession for his members, Romans 6:9; and the life which is granted
them at his request is an everlasting one, both as to body and soul; for though
they die as other men, they shall live again in the resurrection of the just,
and never die more, but shall be like the angels in heaven; and as for the
second death, that shall not harm them, nor have any power over them; they will
live and reign with Christ for ever.
Psalm 21:5 5 His glory is great
in Your salvation; Honor and majesty You have placed upon him.
YLT
5Great [is] his honour in
Thy salvation, Honour and majesty Thou placest on him.
His glory is great in thy salvation,.... That is,
the glory of the King Messiah is great in the Lord's salvation of him;
delivering him from all his troubles and sorrows, and out of the hands of all
his enemies, when he was raised from the dead, and was set at the right hand of
God, and crowned with glory and honour: or the sense is, that his glory is
great in the salvation of his people by him; it was his glory as Mediator to be
appointed to be the Lord's salvation to them; and it being effected by him
declares the glory and greatness of his person; and the nature of it is such as
cannot fast of bringing glory to him; and such is the sense his people have of
it, that it obliges them to ascribe the glory of it alone to him;
honour and majesty hast thou laid upon him; which is to
be understood not of the honour and majesty of his divine nature, which are
essential to him, and not laid upon him by any; nor of the glory which the
saints attribute to him on account of their salvation by him; but of that which
his Father has put upon him, and lies in the introduction of him into his glory
after his sufferings and death, and resurrection from the dead; in exalting him
at his right hand above all creatures and things; in giving him all power in
heaven and in earth; in putting all the gifts of the Spirit into his hands,
which he receiving gave to men, and in ordaining him Judge of quick and dead.
Psalm 21:6 6 For You have made him most
blessed forever; You have made him exceedingly glad with Your presence.
YLT
6For Thou makest him
blessings for ever, Thou dost cause him to rejoice with joy, By Thy
countenance.
For thou hast made him most blessed for ever,.... Not as
God, for as such he is over all blessed for ever, and not made so; but as man
and Mediator; the words may be rendered, "thou hast set him to be
blessings for ever"F26תשיתהו ברכות "posuisti vel pones eum benedictiones",
Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus; so Ainsworth, Cocceius, Gejerus. ; which design
the blessings which are laid up in Christ for his people, and which he imparts
unto, them, and they are blessed with in him; so that he is made a blessing, or
rather blessings to them; such as redemption to free them from, bondage,
righteousness to justify them, sanctification to make them holy, wisdom to
direct and guide them, and strength to assist and support them; through whom
they have the forgiveness of sins, by whom they have peace with God, and from
whom they receive all their joy and comfort, and at last eternal life and
happiness; and all these are for ever, they are irreversible blessings, are
never repented of, nor taken away: or this blessedness may be understood of
that which Christ himself enjoys as man; which lies in his human nature being
exalted to union with the Son of God; in being heard and helped in the day of
salvation; in being raised from the dead, and glory given him; in being set at
God's right hand, angels, authorities, and powers, being subject to him; and in
seeing the travail of his soul with satisfaction: the particular instance of
his blessedness follows;
thou hast made him exceeding glad with thy countenance; the glorious
presence of God in heaven; Christ having done his work on earth ascended to
heaven, where he was received by his Father with a cheerful countenance, was
made to sit down on the same throne with him, being well pleased with his obedience,
righteousness, and sacrifice; and being now in the presence of God, in which is
fulness of joy, and at his right hand, where are pleasures for evermore, the
human nature of Christ is filled with an excess of joy; the words may be
rendered, "thou hast made" or "wilt make him glad with joyF1תחדהו בשמחה "laetificabis
eum in laetitia", Pagninus, Montanus, Michaelis; so Junius &
Tremellius, Gejerus. , with thy countenance"; see Psalm 16:11.
Psalm 21:7 7 For the king trusts in the
Lord, And through
the mercy of the Most High he shall not be moved.
YLT
7For the king is trusting in
Jehovah, And in the kindness of the Most High He is not moved.
For the King trusteth in the Lord,.... That is, the King
Messiah, as the Targum paraphrases it; he trusted in the Lord for his support
and sustenance as man, for assistance and help in his time of trouble, and for
deliverance out of it; he trusted in the Lord that he would hear him for
himself, and for his people; and that he would glorify him with all glory,
honour, majesty, and blessedness, before spoken of; see Psalm 22:8;
and through the mercy of the most High he shall not be moved; God the
Father is the most High; Christ is called the Son of the Highest, and the
Spirit the power of the Highest, Luke 1:32; there is mercy with him, which
is a ground of hope and trust, in his people, and also in the Messiah; see Psalm 89:28; and some versions make the
mercy of the most High to be what the King Messiah trusts in, reading the wordsF2So
Genebrard, Muis, , "for the King trusteth in the Lord, and in the mercy of
the most High"; but the accent "athnach", which distinguishes
the propositions, will not admit of it; but the sense is, that because of the
mercy, grace, goodness, and faithfulness of God in making and keeping his
promises, Christ would not be and was not moved from his trust and confidence
in the Lord; nor shall he even be removed from his throne of glory on which he
sits; nor from the glorious and happy state in which he is: nor will it ever be
in the power of his enemies to displace him; for these in time will be
destroyed by him, as the following words show.
Psalm 21:8 8 Your hand will find all
Your enemies; Your right hand will find those who hate You.
YLT
8Thy hand cometh to all
Thine enemies, Thy right hand doth find Thy haters.
Thine hand shall find out all thine enemies,.... The Jews,
that would not have him to reign over them, who crucified him and persecuted
his apostles; the Gentiles, who were also concerned in his death; the Roman
emperors, who persecuted the Christians, and are signified by the red dragon
that waited to devour the man child when brought forth by the woman, the church,
Revelation 12:3; and also the Papists, the
followers of the man of sin, who oppose Christ in his offices and grace, and
are the enemies of his witnesses, and of his interest; and besides these there
are many professors of religion who are enemies of Christ, either doctrinally
or practically; to whom may be added, the devil and his angels, and all those
who are the children of him and are influenced by him: these the hand of Christ
will find out sooner or later; for the words are an address to the King
Messiah, who being omniscient knows where all his enemies are, and where to
find them; and being omnipotent he will lay hold upon them, and hold them, and
none shall escape from him; his hand of vengeance shall fall upon them, and he
shall inflict righteous and deserved punishment on them; and this shall be the
case of "all" of them, none will be able to hide themselves in secret
places from him. This has been in part verified in the Jewish nation at the
destruction of Jerusalem, when wrath came upon that people to the uttermost for
their treatment of the Messiah; and in the Pagan empire, when it was
demolished, and kings and great men in vain called to the rocks and mountains
to hide them from the wrath of the Lamb, Revelation 6:15; and will have a further
accomplishment in the antichristian states and kingdoms, when the vials of
God's wrath shall be poured out upon them; and especially at the battle of
Armageddon, when Christ will avenge himself, and get rid of all his enemies at
once; and will have its final accomplishment in all wicked men and devils at
the day of judgment, when all Christ's enemies will be found out by him,
whether open or secret, and receive their just punishment;
thy right hand shall find out those that hate thee; this is the
same with the former clause, and is repeated for the further certainty and
greater confirmation of the thing; and "the right hand" is mentioned
as expressive of the mighty power of the Lord. The Chaldee paraphrase renders
it, "the vengeance of thy right hand".
Psalm 21:9 9 You shall make them as a
fiery oven in the time of Your anger; The Lord shall swallow them up in
His wrath, And the fire shall devour them.
YLT
9Thou makest them as a
furnace of fire, At the time of Thy presence. Jehovah in His anger doth swallow
them, And fire doth devour them.
Thou shalt make them as a fiery oven,.... Some
think the allusion is to David's causing the Ammonites to pass through the
brick kiln, 2 Samuel 12:31; others to the burning of
Sodom and Gomorrah: it represents what a severe punishment shall be inflicted
on the enemies of Christ; they shall be cast into a fiery oven, or furnace of
fire, as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, were by the order of Nebuchadnezzar;
so some render the words, "thou shalt put them into a fiery oven", כ, "as", being put for ב,
"into"F3Vide Aben Ezram in loc. : wicked men are as dry
trees, as stubble, as thorns or briers, and are fit fuel for a fiery oven or
furnace; by which is meant the wrath and fury of God, which is poured forth as
fire; and this has had its fulfilment in part in the Jews at Jerusalem's
destruction; when that day of the Lord burned like an oven, and the proud and
haughty Jews, and who dealt wickedly by Christ, were burned up in it, Malachi 4:1; and will have an additional
accomplishment when the whore of Babylon shall be burnt with fire, and when the
beast and false prophet shall be cast alive into a lake of fire burning with
brimstone; and still more fully at the general conflagration, when will be the
perdition of ungodly men, and the earth and all that is therein shall be burnt
up; and especially when all wicked men and devils shall be cast into the lake
and furnace of fire, where will be weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth; see
Revelation 17:16. This will be
in the time of thine anger, or "of thy countenance"F4פניך "vultus tui", V. L. so Sept. Aethiop.
Gejerus, Muis, Ainsworth; "faciei iratae tuae", Junius &
Tremellius; so Michaelis. ; not his gracious, but his angry countenance; when
he shall put on a fierce look, and appear as the Lion of the tribe of Judah,
and stir up all his wrath;
the Lord shall swallow them up in his wrath; not that they
shall be annihilated; their souls remain after death, and their bodies after
the resurrection; and will be tormented with the fire of God's wrath for ever
and ever; the phrase is expressive of utter ruin, of the destruction of soul
and body in hell; see Psalm 35:25; Jarchi takes it to be a
prayer, "may the Lord swallow them up", &c.
and the fire shall devour them; that is, as the Targum
paraphrases it, the fire of hell; or, however, it designs the wrath of God, who
is a consuming fire; or that fiery indignation of his, which shall devour the
adversaries; which comes down upon them either in temporal judgments here, or
in their everlasting destruction hereafter.
Psalm 21:10 10 Their offspring You shall
destroy from the earth, And their descendants from among the sons of men.
YLT
10Their fruit from earth Thou
destroyest, And their seed from the sons of men.
Their fruit shall thou destroy from the earth,.... Meaning
the offspring of wicked men; the fruit of the womb, Psalm 127:3; the same with their seed in
the next clause:
and their seed from among the children of men; see Psalm 37:28; which must be understood of
such of their seed, and offspring as are as they were when born; are never
renewed and sanctified, but are like their parents; as the Jews were, their
parents were vipers, and they were serpents, the generation of them; and were
the children of the devil, and did his works: now these passages had their
accomplishment in the Jews, when the day of God's wrath burnt them up, and left
them neither root nor branch, Malachi 4:1; and in the Pagan empire, when
every mountain and island were moved out of their places, and the Heathen
perished out of the land, Revelation 6:14; and will be further accomplished
when the Lord shall punish the wicked woman Jezebel, the antichristian harlot,
and kill her children with death, Revelation 2:23; see Psalm 104:35.
Psalm 21:11 11 For they intended evil
against You; They devised a plot which they are not able to perform.
YLT
11For they stretched out
against Thee evil, They devised a wicked device, they prevail not,
For they intended evil against thee,.... All evil, whether in
thought or deed, if not immediately and directly, yet is ultimately against the
Lord, whose law is transgressed, and who is despised and reflected upon as a
lawgiver; all sin is an hostility committed against God, or against Christ,
against the Lord and his Anointed, or against his people, who are all one as
himself: the intention of evil is evil, and is cognizable by the Lord, and
punishable by him:
they imagined a mischievous device, which they are not able
to perform; not the death of Christ; that was indeed in itself a mischievous
device of theirs, but that they performed, though they had not their end in it;
they expected his name would then perish, and they should hear no more of him:
but rather it respects his resurrection from the dead, they could not prevent,
though they took all imaginable care that them might be no show of it; and when
they found he was really raised from the dead, they contrived a wicked scheme
to stop the credit of it, but in vain, Matthew 27:63; and Jews and Gentiles, and
Papists, have formed schemes and done all they can to root the Gospel, cause,
and interest of Christ, out of the world, but have not been able to perform it.
Psalm 21:12 12 Therefore You will make
them turn their back; You will make ready Your arrows on Your string
toward their faces.
YLT
12For Thou makest them a
butt, When Thy strings Thou preparest against their faces.
Therefore shall thou make them turn their back,.... Or flee
and run away to private places, to hide themselves from the wrath of God and of
the Lamb, though to no purpose; or "make them turn behind thy
back": God will turn his back upon them, and be negligent and careless of
them, and not regard them when they cry in their misery and destruction. Some
Jewish interpretersF5Kimchi & Ben Melech in loc. understand it
of their being put together on one side, in one corner, and be separate from
the people of God; to which sense the Targum inclines, rendering the word for
"back" the "shoulder", which sometimes signifies unanimity
and union, Zephaniah 3:9; and thus, being all together
by themselves, the wrath of God shall be poured forth upon them, and they shall
be destroyed at once: so the Christians were, by the providence of God, brought
out of Jerusalem before its destruction; and the saints will be called out of
Babylon before its fall; and the goats, the wicked, will be separated from the
righteous, and set together at Christ's left hand; for they shall not stand in
the congregation of the righteous: but the best sense of the words is,
"thou shalt set them for a butt" orF6תשיתמו שכם "ponis eos
metam", Cocceius; "humerum", Pagninus, Montanus, Gejerus;
"velut tumulum", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator. "heap";
or, as it is in the Hebrew text, a shoulder; a butt to shoot at being so
called, because it is earth heaped up like a shoulder; see Job 16:12; and to this agrees what follows:
when thou shalt
make ready thine arrows upon thy strings against the face of them; that is,
direct the arrows of his wrath and vengeance right against them; see Psalm 7:11.
Psalm 21:13 13 Be exalted, O Lord, in Your own
strength! We will sing and praise Your power.
YLT
13Be Thou exalted, O Jehovah
in, Thy strength, We sing and we praise Thy might!
Be thou exalted, Lord, in thine own strength,.... Exert thy
strength, display thy power in such manner, that thou mayest be exalted and
magnified on account of it. This was fulfilled at the destruction of Jerusalem,
when the kingdom of God came with power, Mark 9:1; and will be again when Babylon
shall be utterly destroyed, because the Lord is strong who judgeth her, Revelation 18:8; and finally at the day of
judgment, when the wicked will be punished with everlasting destruction from
the presence of the Lord, and the glory of his power, 2 Thessalonians 1:9;
so will we sing and praise
thy power; forms of such songs of praise may be seen, as Cocceius observes,
in Revelation 11:15; at the sounding of the
seventh trumpet, at the victory over the beast, and his image, and at the
destruction of Babylon.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》