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Psalm Twenty-seven
New King James Version (NKJV)
INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 27
cf15I
A Psalm of David. The Septuagint interpreters add to this title, "before
he was anointed". David was anointed three times, first when a youth in
his father's house; but this psalm could not be written before that time,
because he had not had then any experience of war, nor could be in any
immediate apprehension of it, as here suggested; he was anointed a second time,
after the death of Saul at Hebron, by the men of Judah; before that time indeed
he had been harassed by Saul, and distressed by the Amalekites, and was driven
from the public worship of God, to which he has a respect, Psalm 27:4; and he
was a third time anointed, by the elders of Israel, king over all Israel; and
between the death of Saul and this unction there was a war between the house of
David and the house of Saul; but what is referred to is not certain, nor is it
of moment, since these words are neither in the Hebrew text, nor in the Chaldee
paraphrase. Theodoret is of opinion this psalm was written by David when he
fled from Saul, and came to Ahimelech the priest.
Psalm 27:1 The
Lord is my
light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the
strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?
YLT
1By David. Jehovah [is] my
light and my salvation, Whom do I fear? Jehovah [is] the strength of my life,
Of whom am I afraid?
The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?.... The
Targum in the king of Spain's Bible explains it, "the Word of the Lord is
my light"; and so Ainsworth cites it; that is, Christ the eternal Word, in
whom "was life, and that life was the light of men", John 1:4; and the
psalmist is not to be understood of the light of nature and reason, with which
the Logos, or Word, enlightens every man that comes into the world; nor merely
in a temporal sense, of giving him the light of prosperity, and delivering him
from the darkness of adversity; but of the light of grace communicated to him
by him who is the sun of righteousness, and the light of the world; and by whom
such who are darkness itself, while in an unregenerate state, are made light,
and see light; all the light which is given to men at first conversion is from
Christ; and all the after communications and increase of it are from him; as
well as all that spiritual joy, peace, and comfort they partake of, which light
sometimes signifies, Psalm 97:11; and
which the psalmist now had an experience of; enjoying the light of God's
countenance, and having discoveries of his love, which made him fearless of
danger and enemies: and such who are made light in the Lord have no reason to
be afraid of the prince of darkness; nor of the rulers of the darkness of this
world; nor of all the darkness, distress, and persecutions they are the authors
of; nor of the blackness of darkness reserved for ungodly men; for their light
is an everlasting one, and they are made meet to be partakers of the
inheritance with the saints in light: and the more light they have, the less
fear; and what made the psalmist still more fearless was, that Christ was his
"salvation"; by the light which the Lord was to him, he saw his need
of salvation, he knew that his own righteousness would not save him; he was
made acquainted with the design and appointment of the Lord, that Christ should
be salvation to the ends of the earth; he had knowledge of the covenant of
grace, and faith in it, which was all his salvation, 2 Samuel 23:5.
Salvation was revealed to the Old Testament saints, in the promises,
sacrifices, types, and figures of that dispensation; and they looked through
them to him for it, and were saved by him, as New Testament believers are; and
they had faith of interest in Christ, and knew him to be their Saviour and
Redeemer, as did Job, and here the psalmist David: and such who know Christ to
be their salvation need not be afraid of any person or thing; not of sin, for
though they fear, and should fear to commit it, they need not fear the damning
power of it, for they are saved from it; nor of Satan, out of whose hands they
are ransomed; nor of the world, which is overcome by Christ; nor of the last
enemy, death, which is abolished by him; nor of hell, and wrath to come, for he
has delivered them from it;
the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be
afraid? meaning not of his natural life, though he was the God of his
life, who had given it to him, and had preserved it, and upheld his soul in it;
but of his spiritual life: Christ is the author of spiritual life, he implants
the principle of it in the hearts of his people, yea, he himself is that life;
he lives in them, and is the support of their life; he is the tree of life, and
the bread of life, by which it is maintained; and he is the security of it, it
is bound up in the bundle of life with him, it is hid with Christ in God; and
because he lives they live also; and he gives unto them eternal life, so that
they have no reason to be afraid that they shall come short of heaven and
happiness; nor need they fear them that kill the body and can do no more; nor
any enemy whatever, who cannot reach their spiritual life, nor hurt that, nor
hinder them of the enjoyment of eternal life.
Psalm 27:2 2 When the wicked came
against me To eat up my flesh, My enemies and foes, They stumbled and fell.
YLT
2When evil doers come near
to me to eat my flesh, My adversaries and mine enemies to me, They have
stumbled and fallen.
When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon
me,.... They are wicked men, men of malignant spirits, and
evildoers, who are the enemies and foes of the people of God, and who hate them
with an implacable hatred, and do everything they can to distress and afflict
them; and such enemies David had, who were many and mighty; and these
"came upon" him, or "approached against" himF3בקרב עלי "cum
appropinquaverint adversum me", Pagninus; so Gejerus. , they drew near to
him to make war with him, as the word signifiesF4"Belligerantibus
contra me", Junius & Tremellius; so Piscator & Ainsworth. ; they
attacked him in an hostile manner; and their view was, as he says,
to eat up my flesh, as they eat bread, Psalm 14:4; to
devour him at once, to make but one morsel of him, to destroy his life, to strip
him of his substance, to take away his wives and children, as the Amalekites at
Ziklag, 1 Samuel 30:1;
they stumbled and fell; the Lord put stumbling
blocks in their way, and retarded their march, and hindered them from executing
their designs; and they fell into the hands of David, and were subdued under
him, or fell by death; and these past instances of divine goodness the psalmist
calls to mind, to keep up his heart and courage, and animate and strengthen him
against the fears of men, of death and hell.
Psalm 27:3 3 Though an army may encamp
against me, My heart shall not fear; Though war may rise against me, In this I will
be confident.
YLT
3Though a host doth encamp
against me, My heart doth not fear, Though war riseth up against me, In this I
[am] confident.
Though an host should encamp against me,.... An host
of the ungodly, as the Targum; though ever so many of them, even ten thousands
of them, as in Psalm 3:6; should
beset him on every side;
my heart shall not fear; for not only the angels
of the Lord encamped about him, as they do about all that fear the Lord; but
salvation was appointed for walls and bulwarks about him; yea, the Lord himself
was a wall of fire around him, and he was kept as in a garrison by the power of
God;
though war should rise against me: in all its terrible
shapes:
in this will I be confident; either in
this war, in the midst of it; or in this that he had expressed, Psalm 27:1; that
the Lord was his light, his salvation, and the strength of his life; so the
Jewish writersF5Jarchi, Kimchi, & Aben Ezra in loc. : or as
othersF6Some in Aben Ezra in loc. , in this one thing, desired in Psalm 27:4; but either
of the former senses is best, especially the latter of them. Saints need not be
afraid, though there is a war within them between the flesh and spirit; and
though without are fightings with Satan and his principalities and powers;
since they may be confident of victory, and that they are more than conquerors,
through Christ that has loved them.
Psalm 27:4 4 One thing I have
desired of the Lord,
That will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord All the days of
my life, To behold the beauty of the Lord, And to inquire in His
temple.
YLT
4One [thing] I asked of
Jehovah -- it I seek. My dwelling in the house of Jehovah, All the days of my
life, To look on the pleasantness of Jehovah, And to inquire in His temple.
One thing have I desired of the Lord,.... Not to be
returned to Saul's court; nor to his own house and family; nor to have an
affluence of worldly riches and honours; but to have constant abode it, the
house of the Lord; an opportunity of attending continually on the public
worship of God; which is excused and neglected by many, and is a weariness to
others, but was by the psalmist preferred to everything else; he being now
deprived of it, as it seems;
that will I seek after; by incessant prayer,
until obtained; importunity and perseverance in prayer are the way to succeed,
as appears from the parable of the widow and unjust judge;
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life: not in
heaven, Christ's Father's house, where he dwells, and where the saints, will
dwell to all eternity; though to be clothed upon with the house from heaven is
very desirable; rather, in the church of the living God, which is the house of
God, and pillar of truth, where true believers in Christ have a place and a
name, and are pillars that will never go out; but here the place of divine
worship seems to be meant, where the Lord granted his presence, and where to
dwell the psalmist counted the greatest happiness on earth; he envied the very
sparrows and swallows, that built their nests on the altars in it; and reckoned
a day in it better than a thousand elsewhere; and to have the privilege of
attending all opportunities in it, as long as he lived, is the singular request
he here makes: the ends he had in view follow;
to behold the beauty of the Lord, or "the delight and
pleasantness of the Lord"F7בנעם יהוה "amaemotate, Jehovae", Junius &
Tremellius, Piscator, Gejerus; so Ainsworth; "suavitatem Jehovae",
Cocceius, Michaelis. ; to see the priests in their robes, and doing their
office, as typical of Christ the great High Priest; and the Levites and singers
performing their work in melodious strains, prefiguring the churches in Gospel
times, singing to the Lord with grace in their hearts, and the four and twenty
elders, and one hundred and forty four thousand, with the Lamb on Mount Zion,
singing the song of redeeming love; and all the tribes and people of Israel,
assembled together to worship God, representing the church of Christ as a
perfection of beauty, having the beauty of the Lord upon her, and made
perfectly comely through his comeliness; as it is a most delightful sight to
see a company of saints attending Gospel worship, meeting together to sing, and
pray, and hear the word, and wait upon the Lord in all his appointments; to see
them walking in the faith and fellowship of the Gospel, and according to the
order of it; this is next to the desirable sight of the bride, the Lamb's wife,
in the New Jerusalem state, having the glory of God upon her: moreover, it was
a pleasant sight to a believer in those times to behold the sacrifices of slain
beasts, which were figures of the better sacrifice of Christ, the Lamb slain
from the foundation of the world; to which may be added other things that were
to be seen by priests; as the ark of the Lord, which had the two tables in it,
typical of Christ, the fulfilling end of the law for righteousness; and the
table of shewbread, which pointed out Christ the bread of life, and his
perpetual intercession for his people; and the golden candlestick, a type of the
church, holding forth the word of life to others; with many other things,
which, with an eye of faith, the saints of those times could look upon with
delight and pleasure: also the presence of the Lord may be intended by his
beauty, than which nothing is more desirable to the people of God, even to
behold his smiling countenance, to see his face, and enjoy his favour, and to
have fellowship with him, and with one another; and particularly the beauty and
glory of the Lord Jesus Christ may be designed, represented by the Shechinah,
or glory, which filled both the tabernacle and the temple; who being the
brightness of his Father's glory, and fairer than the children of men, and
altogether lovely and full of grace, is a very desirable object to be beheld by
faith;
and to inquire in his temple; to seek the face of the
Lord, to consult him in matters of difficulty and moment; to search after the
knowledge of divine things, and to ask for blessings of grace, for which he
will be inquired of by his people, to bestow them on them.
Psalm 27:5 5 For in the time of trouble
He shall hide me in His pavilion; In the secret place of His tabernacle He
shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock.
YLT
5For He hideth me in a
tabernacle in the day of evil, He hideth me in a secret place of His tent, On a
rock he raiseth me up.
For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion,.... This,
with what follows, is given as a reason why the psalmist desired to dwell in
the house of the Lord; because he considered it as a pavilion or booth, as the
wordF8בסכה "in tugurio suo",
Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius, Michaelis. signifies in which he
should be hid by the Lord, in times of trouble and distress, either through the
heat of persecution, or of inward anxiety of mind, caused by the working of a
fiery law; the allusion being, as some think, to the shepherd's tent or booth,
into which he sometimes takes a poor sheep, and protects it from the scorching
heat of the sun at noon: and of such use is the tabernacle of the Lord; see Isaiah 4:6;
in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; alluding
either to the tents of generals of armies, who receive into them those whom they
would protect from the insults and injuries of others; or rather to the most
holy place in the tabernacle, called the secret place, Ezekiel 7:22;
typical of Christ, the hiding place of his, people, in whom their life is hid,
and where it is safe and secure;
he shall set me up upon a rock; where he would be above
and out of the reach of his enemies; meaning Christ, comparable to a rock for
its height, he being higher than the kings of the earth, than the angels in
heaven, than the heavens themselves, and much more than the sons of men; see Psalm 61:2; and for
shelter and safety, he being a munition of rocks, a strong tower, a place of
defence, and rock of refuge; and for firmness, solidity, and strength, he being
able to bear the whole weight of the building of the church, and every believer
laid upon him; and for duration, he being more immovable than rocks and
mountains; so that such who are set up upon him are in the most safe and secure
state imaginable.
Psalm 27:6 6 And now my head shall be
lifted up above my enemies all around me; Therefore I will offer sacrifices of
joy in His tabernacle; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord.
YLT
6And now, lifted up is my
head, Above my enemies -- my surrounders, And I sacrifice in His tent
sacrifices of shouting, I sing, yea, I sing praise to Jehovah.
And now shall mine head be lifted up,.... That is,
when brought into the house of the Lord, hid in the secret of his tabernacle,
and set upon the rock Christ; by this phrase he means, either that he should be
then restored to his former happy and comfortable condition, as it is used in Genesis 40:13; or
that he should overcome all his enemies, and triumph over them, being exalted,
as he adds,
above mine enemies round about me; so that not only they
should not be able to come at him, but should be subdued under him;
therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy: attended with
shouting and sounding of trumpets: in allusion to the blowing of trumpets at
the time of sacrifice, Numbers 10:10;
Sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving, with a joyful heart, for mercies
received, offered up publicly in the house of the Lord, are here intended;
I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the Lord; for whom
praise waits in Zion, to whom it is due; he being the Father of mercies, the
God of all comfort, and the author and giver of all blessings, temporal and
spiritual.
Psalm 27:7 7 Hear, O Lord, when I
cry with my voice! Have mercy also upon me, and answer me.
YLT
7Hear, O Jehovah, my voice
-- I call, And favour me, and answer me.
Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice,.... Which is
to be understood of prayer, and that in the time of distress; and of vocal
prayer, as distinguished from mental prayer; and the phrase denotes the
vehemency and intenseness of it: and the request is, that the Lord would hear
it; not only as he is omniscient and omnipresent, and so hears the prayers of all,
good and bad; but as a God gracious and merciful, who sometimes very quickly
hears, and answers in a gracious way, and sometimes seems to turn a deaf car,
to shut out the prayers of his people, and cover himself with a cloud, that
they should not pass through, or, however, defers an answer to it for a little
while; yet, sooner or later, he always shows himself a God hearing prayer;
have mercy also upon me; by delivering him out of
his temporal distresses, and by forgiving his iniquities;
and answer me; by speaking a word in season; commanding
off the affliction he lay under, and by saying to him that his sins were
forgiven him.
Psalm 27:8 8 When You said,
“Seek My face,” My heart said to You, “Your face, Lord, I will seek.”
YLT
8To Thee said my heart `They
sought my face, Thy face, O Jehovah, I seek.'
When thou saidst, seek ye my
face,.... To seek the face of the Lord is to attend his house and
ordinances, where he grants his presence; and with this view to enjoy his
gracious presence, and the light of his countenance, not being content with
bare attendance without it; it is to seek the Lord himself, and communion with
him through Christ, the brightness of his glory, and the Angel of his presence;
for the right way of seeking the Lord is in Christ, who is the way of access to
him, and of acceptance and fellowship with him; and that by prayer and
supplication for his sake, and with all the heart and soul; and this the Lord
calls upon his people to do, in his word, in his providences, and by his Spirit
moving upon their hearts, and inclining them to it, as follows;
my heart said unto thee, thy face, Lord, will I seek: it is an
encouragement to believers to seek the Lord when he calls them to it; for it is
a command with promise, that they shall find him, see his face, and enjoy his
favour; and he never says to any, "seek ye my face, in vain"; and
they always find it good for them to draw nigh to him: and as it is the best
way of seeking God, when the heart is engaged in it, so it is a token for good;
and it looks as though the Lord had a mind to manifest himself, and grant the
favour sought for, when he inclines the hearts of his people to pray unto him
for it; and this the psalmist makes mention of as taking encouragement from it,
to hope and believe that the Lord would hear and answer him, and have mercy on
him; because he had bid him seek his face, and he found his heart ready to do
it.
Psalm 27:9 9 Do not hide Your face from
me; Do not turn Your servant away in anger; You have been my help; Do not leave
me nor forsake me, O God of my salvation.
YLT
9Hide not Thy face from me,
Turn not aside in anger Thy servant, My help Thou hast been. Leave me not, nor
forsake me, O God of my salvation.
Hide not thy face far from me,.... Yea, not
at all from him; for the word "far" is not in the text: this is
sometimes the case of the best of men, and was of the psalmist at times, and
might be now, notwithstanding his strong expressions of faith and joy in the
preceding verses; for frames are very changeable things; and this case is
consistent with the everlasting and unchangeable love of God to his people;
though they are ready to impute it to wrath and anger, and is what is very
cutting and grievous to them; and therefore deprecate it as the psalmist does
here,
put not thy servant away in anger; either cast him not away
from thy presence, as being angry with him, though there is just reason for it;
or suffer him not to go away angry, fretting and murmuring: he makes mention of
his relation to God as a servant, as he was; not only by creation as a man, and
by his office as a king, but by efficacious grace as a converted man; and this
only as descriptive of himself, and as acknowledging his dependence on the
Lord, and his obligation to him; but not as a reason why he should be regarded
by him, for he knew he was but an unprofitable servant;
thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me: which
request, as the rest, he might put up in faith; for God will not leave his
people destitute of his presence finally and totally; nor to themselves and the
corruptions of their hearts, nor to the temptations of Satan; nor will he
forsake the work of his hands, the work of grace upon their hearts; or so
forsake them as that they shall perish: and that the Lord would not leave nor
forsake him in such sense, the psalmist had reason to conclude; since he had
been his help in times past, a present help in time of trouble; and his arm was
not shortened, his power was the same to help as ever, and so were his
inclination and will; since he could also call unto him, and upon him, as
follows:
O God of my salvation; the author both of his
temporal, spiritual, and eternal salvation; and what might he not hope for from
him? salvation includes all blessings, both for soul and body, for time and
eternity.
Psalm 27:10 10 When my father and my
mother forsake me, Then the Lord will take care of me.
YLT
10When my father and my
mother Have forsaken me, then doth Jehovah gather me.
When my father and my mother forsake me,.... Which is
not to be understood strictly and literally of his parents, that were in that
near relation to him according to the flesh, nor of anything that had past; not
of his parents leaving him to shift for himself, after having brought him up;
nor of his father being unmindful of him, when Samuel came to anoint one of his
sons to be king; nor of any slight and neglect of him by them when persecuted
by Saul; nor of their inability to help him then; see 1 Samuel 22:3; but
this is to be understood of something supposed yet to come; and it seems best
to interpret it of his nearest and dearest friends, his closest adherents, best
counsellors, and most firm allies; that when they should fail and drop him, his
God would not leave him: the design of it is to set forth the love and care of
God, as superior to that of the most affectionate friends; see Isaiah 49:14;
then the Lord will take me up; like a foundling in the
street, and such are called, in the Talmudic language, "persons gathered
up"F9T. Bab. Kiddushin, fol. 69. 1. ; and so the words may be
rendered here, "then the Lord will gather me"F11יאספני "colliget me", Pagninus, Montanus;
"collegit me", Musculus, Vatablus, Gejerus; so Ainsworth. ; into his
arms and bosom, and under the wings of his protection, and at last to himself
in glory.
Psalm 27:11 11 Teach me Your way, O Lord, And lead me
in a smooth path, because of my enemies.
YLT
11Shew me, O Jehovah, Thy
way, And lead me in a path of uprightness, For the sake of my beholders.
Teach me thy way, O Lord,.... Of providence,
grace, and duty; See Gill on Psalm 25:4;
and lead me in a plain path: as the path of truth is
to those that understand and find knowledge; and as the way of holiness is,
even to such who in other things are fools, but shall not err therein, Proverbs 8:9, Isaiah 35:8; or the
path of righteousness, in which Christ, the wisdom of God, and shepherd of his
people, leads them, Psalm 23:3;
because of mine enemies, or "those that
observe me"; who eyed him as Saul did, 1 Samuel 18:9; and
waited for his halting, as Jeremiah's familiars did for him; and lay in wait to
deceive him, and lead him out of the way, as false teachers do; and come upon
him at an unawares, and take every advantage against him, as Satan does.
Psalm 27:12 12 Do not deliver me to the
will of my adversaries; For false witnesses have risen against me, And such as
breathe out violence.
YLT
12Give me not to the will of
my adversaries, For risen against me have false witnesses, And they breathe out
violence to me.
Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies,.... It is a
dreadful thing for a man to be given up to his own heart's lusts, and to be
delivered up into the hands of Satan; who would fain have even the people of
God themselves in his hands, that he might distress them at pleasure, if not
destroy them; and also to be suffered to fall into the hands of wicked men,
whose tender mercies are cruel;
for false witnesses are risen up against me; laying to his
charge, that he sought to take away from Saul his crown and kingdom, and even
his life, 1 Samuel 24:9;
and such as breathe out cruelty; as Doeg the Edomite,
whose tongue was as a sharp razor, and by whose hands four score and five
priests were slain, on account of David's being supplied with bread by
Ahimelech; the word is in the singular number; see Psalm 52:1; compare
with this clause Acts 9:1; and
Horace's phrase, "Spirabat amores"F12Carmin. l. 4. Ode.
13. v. 19. .
Psalm 27:13 13 I would have lost heart,
unless I had believed That I would see the goodness of the Lord In the land of
the living.
YLT
13I had not believed to look
on the goodness of Jehovah In the land of the living!
I had fainted,.... When
false witnesses rose up against him, and threatened to take away his life, and
the life of his friends, in the most barbarous and cruel manner: the people of
God are subject to faintings, in the present state of things; by reason of
afflictions; because of the nature, number, and continuance of them; and
especially when they apprehend them to be in wrath and sore displeasure: and on
account of their sins, and the corruptions of their hearts; fearing lest there
should be no pardon for them; or that the true work of grace is not in them; or
that they shall fall, to the dishonour of the name of God, and to the reproach
of his, cause and interest; or that they shall perish eternally: likewise, by
reason of Satan's temptations, which are sometimes so grievous, that if Christ
did not pray for them, their faith would fail; and also on account of the
hidings of God's face, which they cannot bear: they are sometimes ready to
faint in the way of their duty, in the course of their profession, because of
the difficulties and discouragements, reproaches and persecutions, they meet
with; and sometimes in the expectation of blessings; and of the fulfilment of
promises, and of answers of prayer, which have been long deferred. This clause
is not in the original text, but is a supplement of our translators; and it is
generally agreed there is a defect of expression, which must be supplied in
some way or other: the Jewish interpreters generally refer it to the preceding
words; one supplies thusF13Jarchi. , "those false witnesses
would have rose up against me, and consumed me"; anotherF14Aben
Ezra. after this manner, "mine enemies had almost got the dominion over
me"; a thirdF15Kimchi. , "I had almost perished at their sayings":
and a fourthF16Abendana, Not. in Miclol Yophi in loc. , "and
they would have destroyed me". Perhaps it may be as well supplied from Psalm 119:92;
"I should then have perished in mine affliction"; it follows,
unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land
of the living: both the providential goodness of the Lord, in supplying him
with the, necessaries of life, and in delivering him out of the hands of his
enemies; and his special goodness, which he has laid up in his covenant, and in
his son; even all spiritual blessings in Christ, in whom he causes all his
goodness to pass before his people. The psalmist believed that he should "see";
that is, enjoy all these, or whatever was needful for him; all the good things
of life, all special favours; as supports under afflictions, views of pardoning
grace under a sense of sin, strength against Satan's temptations, and
deliverance out of them; the discoveries of the love of God, and the light of
his countenance, after desertions, and divine refreshments in his house, from
his word and ordinances; and at last all the glories of the other world; and
faith in these things is the best antidote against faintings. By "the land
of the living" may be meant either the land of Canaan, where the living
God was worshipped, and living saints dwelt, in opposition to other lands, the
habitations of men dead in sins; and at a distance from which David now might
be; or else the world in general, in opposition to the place and state of the
dead; or, as some think, heaven, or he life of the world to come, as Kimchi
expresses it; and so Apollinarius paraphrases it,
"I
shall see the blessed God with my eyes in the land of the blessed.'
The
word לולא, rendered "unless", is one of the
fifteen words which are extraordinarily pointed in the Hebrew Bible.
Psalm 27:14 14 Wait on the Lord; Be of good
courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord!
YLT
14Look unto Jehovah -- be
strong, And He doth strengthen thy heart, Yea, look unto Jehovah!
Wait on the Lord,.... This,
with what follows, is spoken by the psalmist either to himself or to others, or
it may be to both, upon the rich experience he declares in Psalm 27:13, it
becomes believers to wait on the Lord for the common blessings of life, for
even the eyes of all wait upon him for their daily food; and for the light of
his countenance, when it is withdrawn from them, for he will return again at
the set time; and for answers of prayer, which will be given sooner or later;
and for the performance of his promises, which are yea and amen in Christ: they
should wait upon him in his house and ordinances constantly, with reverence and
godly fear; they should wait upon him as servants on their masters, observe his
orders, and diligently execute them; and, as beggars for their alms, they
should knock and wait at Wisdom's gates, tell their case and wait, take
repulses and wait, and, when they succeed, give thanks. It is good to wait upon
the Lord; many are the favours and blessings such receive now, and eye has not
seen what God has prepared for them that wait for him;
be of good courage; the saints have need of courage,
considering the enemies they have to grapple with; the corruptions of their own
hearts, the enemies of a man's own house; the worst of all, Satan, and his
principalities and powers; and men of the world, and a world of them: and they
have great reason, notwithstanding, be of good courage, since God is for them;
Christ is the Captain of their salvation; the Holy Spirit, that is in them, is
greater than he that is in the world; angels encamp around them; they are
provided with the whole armour of God; they are engaged in a good cause, are
sure of victory, and shall wear the crown of righteousness; and it follows,
and he shall strengthen thine heart; that is, the Lord will
do it, as he has promised to them that wait on him, Isaiah 40:31; or
"let thine heart be strengthened": as the Septuagint render it; and
so the Chaldee paraphrase, "strengthen thine heart"; taking it for an
exhortation; as indeed it seems to be by what goes before and follows; see Joshua 1:6;
wait, I say, on the Lord; this is repeated, to
express the importance of this duty, and to encourage to it.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》