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Psalm Forty-eight
New King James Version (NKJV)
INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 48
A Song cf15I and Psalm for the sons of Korah. This psalm is
entitled a "song psalm", a psalm to be sung vocally; or "a song
and psalm" to be sung both vocally and instrumentally; and is one of the
spiritual songs the apostle speaks of, Ephesians 5:19; It
was occasioned, as some think, by David's spoiling the Philistines, 2 Samuel 5:17; or,
as others, by the deliverance of the people from the Moabites and Ammonites in
the times of Jehoshaphat, 2 Chronicles 20:27;
or, as others, by the deliverance of the inhabitants of Jerusalem from
Sennacherib in the times of Hezekiah, 2 Kings 19:34;
though as Kimchi, a celebrated Jewish commentator, owns, it belongs to the
times of the Messiah, as the other preceding psalms; and treats of his
greatness, and of the praise and glory due to him, and gives large encomiums of
his church.
Psalm 48:1 Great
is the Lord,
and greatly to be praised In the city of our God, In His holy mountain.
YLT
1A Song, a Psalm, by sons of
Korah. Great [is] Jehovah, and praised greatly, In the city of our God -- His
holy hill.
Great is the Lord,.... The same that in the
foregoing psalm is said to be gone, up to heaven with a shout, to sit on the
throne of his holiness, to reign over the Heathen, and to be King over all the
earth; who is great, and the Son of the Highest; the great God and our Saviour;
great in his person as God-man, God manifest in the flesh, his Father's fellow
and equal; and in the perfections of his nature, being of great power, and of
great wisdom, and of great faithfulness, and of strict holiness and justice,
and of wonderful grace and goodness; great in his works of creation and
providence; in his miraculous operations when on earth, and in the work of
man's redemption and salvation; great is he in all his offices, a great Prophet
risen in Israel, a great High Priest over thee house of God, a Saviour, and a great
one, and the great Shepherd of the sheep;
and greatly to be praised in the city of our God; the city of
Jerusalem, the city of solemnities, where was the worship of God, and where the
tribes went up to worship, and God was present with his people; and where the
great Lord of all showed himself to be great; here Christ the great Saviour
appeared, even in the temple, when a child, where Simeon and Anna saw him, and
spoke great things of him; where he at twelve years of age disputed with the
doctors, and showed his great wisdom; here when grown up he wrought many of his
great miracles, and taught his doctrines; here he entered in great triumph,
attended with the shouts, acclamations, and hosannas of the people; here he ate
his last passover with his disciples; and in a garden near it was he taken and
brought before the sanhedrim, assembled at the high priest's palace at
Jerusalem; and then tried and condemned at the bar of Pilate; when being led a
little way out of the city he was crucified on Mount Calvary; and on another
mount, the mount of Olives, about a mile from it, he ascended to heaven; and
here in this city he poured forth the Spirit in an extraordinary manner on his
disciples at the day of Pentecost, as an evidence of his ascension; and from
hence his Gospel went forth into all the world; and therefore was greatly to be
praised here, as he was by his disciples, church, and people, Acts 2:46.
Jerusalem is a figure of the Gospel church, which is often compared to a city, Isaiah 26:1; of
which saints are citizens and fellow citizens of each other; this is a city
built on Christ the foundation; is full of inhabitants, when together and
considered by themselves; is governed by wholesome laws, enacted by Christ its
King, who has appointed officers under him to explain and enforce them, and see
that they are put in execution; and has many privileges and immunities
belonging to it; and this is the city of God, of his building and of his
defending, and where he dwells; it is, as in Psalm 48:2;
"the city of the great King", the King Messiah, and where he displays
his greatness; here he appears great and glorious, shows his power and his
glory; is seen in the galleries and through the lattices of ordinances, in his
beauty and splendour; here he grants his gracious presence, and bestows his
favours and blessings; and is therefore greatly to be praised here, as he is by
all his people on the above accounts, Even
in the mountain of his
holiness; as Mount Zion is called on account of the temple built upon it,
and the worship of God in it; and a fit emblem it was of the church of Christ,
which, as that is, is chosen and, loved of God, and is his habitation, is
impregnable and immovable, and consists of persons sanctified by God the
Father, in the Son, and through the Spirit.
Psalm 48:2 2 Beautiful in elevation, The
joy of the whole earth, Is Mount Zion on the sides of the north, The
city of the great King.
YLT
2Beautiful [for] elevation,
A joy of all the land, [is] Mount Zion, The sides of the north, the city of a
great king.
Beautiful for situation,.... This, and what
follows, are said of the city of God, the city of Jerusalem, which was
delightfully situated on an eminence, in a wholesome air; the brook Kidron
gliding by it, the water of Siloah running through it or at least through some
parts of it; fields and gardens adjoining to it, and mountains all around it:
and so the church of Christ is built upon him, the Rock; the river of divine
love runs by it, the streams whereof make it glad; the green pastures of the
word and ordinances are in it; and salvation is as walls and bulwarks about it;
and so healthful is it, that the inhabitants have no reason to say they are
sick, since the people that dwell therein have their iniquities forgiven, Isaiah 33:24;
the joy of the whole earth: that is, the city of
Jerusalem, Lamentations 2:15;
especially it was so when Christ, whose birth near it was matter of great joy
to all people; when he who is the desire of all nations was in it; and when the
Gospel went out from it unto the whole earth, and caused joy wherever it came
in power, and with the Holy Ghost: and the church of Christ, particularly in
the latter day, will be an eternal excellency, and a joy of many generations, Isaiah 60:15; and
even now the whole world has reason to rejoice and be glad, because of the
church of Christ in it, who are the light of the world and the salt of the
earth, and on whose account the world continues, and the men of it enjoy the
blessings they do;
is Mount Zion; or "by
Mount Zion": Jerusalem was near it, and beautifully situated by it;
on the sides of the north; Jerusalem was
north of Zion, as Zion was south of Jerusalem; likewise the temple was on the
north part of Mount Zion, Isaiah 14:13; the
altar and altar gate were on the north side at the temple, and there were the
tables on which the sacrifices were slain, Ezekiel 8:5; and on
the north side of the altar was the creature to be offered killed, Leviticus 1:11; and
perhaps some reference is here had to the church of Christ in the latter day,
which for many years past has been chiefly in our northern part of the world:
hence the Protestant doctrine is by the Papists called the Northern Heresy; and
it will be "tidings out of the north" that shall trouble the man of
sin, or some agent of his, to come forth with fury, and plant the tabernacles
of his palace between the seas, in the glorious holy mountain, Daniel 11:44;
the city of the great King; of Christ the King of
kings; See Gill on Psalm 47:2; and See
Gill on Psalm 48:1.
Psalm 48:3 3 God is in her
palaces; He is known as her refuge.
YLT
3God in her high places is
known for a tower.
God is known in her palaces for a refuge. As there were
palaces in Jerusalem; see Psalm 48:13; so
there are in the church of Christ; every place in it is a palace fit for a
king; and everyone that has truly a name and a place there are kings and
priests unto God: and here God is a "refuge" both for saints and
sinners to fly unto; See Gill on Psalm 46:1; and is
"known" to be so; the ministers of the Gospel being here appointed to
direct and encourage souls to flee to Christ for refuge, who is the hope set
before them in the everlasting Gospel, preached by them to lay hold upon; and
all that do flee to him know, by experience, that he is a refuge for them; and
as all the people of God do in every time of distress, and when all refuge
fails them elsewhere.
Psalm 48:4 4 For behold, the kings
assembled, They passed by together.
YLT
4For, lo, the kings met,
they passed by together,
For, lo, the kings were assembled,.... As the princes of
the Philistines to seek for David, when in the strong hold of Zion, 2 Samuel 5:17; as the
Ethiopians in the time of Asa, 2 Chronicles 14:9;
and the Moabites and Ammonites in the times of Jehoshaphat, 2 Chronicles 20:1;
and the kings of Syria and Israel in the times of Ahaz, Isaiah 7:1; and
Sennacherib with his princes, who, in his esteem, were kings, in the times of
Hezekiah, 2 Kings 18:17;
which are instances of the kings, of the nations' gathering together against
Zion, the city of Jerusalem, and people of the Jews, who were typical of the
church of Christ; and that without success, and to their own confusion and
destruction; though this seems to refer to the latter day of the Gospel
dispensation, when all the kings of the earth, Pagan, Papal, and Mahometan,
will be gathered together at the instigation of Satan, to the battle of the
great day of the Lord God Almighty, in a place called Armageddon, where they
will be defeated by Christ the King of kings, Revelation 16:13.
Jarchi and Kimchi interpret the passage of Gog and Magog gathering together to
fight against Jerusalem, with which compare Revelation 20:8;
they passed by together; either to the battle, as
Jarchi explains it; or they passed by Jerusalem, the city of our God, the
church, without entering into it, or doing it any harm.
Psalm 48:5 5 They saw it, and so
they marveled; They were troubled, they hastened away.
YLT
5They have seen -- so they
have marvelled, They have been troubled, they were hastened away.
They saw it,.... Either the city or the power of God, as
Aben Ezra; or, as Jarchi, God himself going forth to fight against the nations.
This refers to the power Christ will take to himself, and show forth, by
reigning in his church, and protecting it, which will not only be visible to
the saints, but to the nations of the world; and to the brightness of Christ's
coming in his spiritual reign, with the lustre of which antichrist will be
destroyed, Revelation 11:17;
and to the glorious state of the church, signified by the rising of the
witnesses, and their standing on their feet, and ascending to heaven, which
will be seen by their enemies, Revelation 11:11;
and to the destruction of Rome, the smoke of whose burning, the kings of the
earth, that have committed fornication with her, will see and lament, Revelation 18:8;
and so their marvelled: at the glory
of the church, the security of it, the power of Christ in it and over it, and
at the destruction of mystical Babylon; see Isaiah 52:14;
they were troubled: as Herod and all Jerusalem were, upon
hearing of the birth of Christ, Matthew 2:3; so
these kings will be, upon seeing the coming and power of Christ in the latter
day, the invincibleness of his church, and their own immediate and utter ruin:
this will be the time or the howling of the shepherds, both civil and
ecclesiastical, when all hands will be faint, and every man's heart will melt, Zechariah 11:2;
and hasted away: fled for fear
of the great King at the head of his armies, in the defence of his church and
people: and as the kings of the earth also at the destruction of Rome will flee
and stand afar off, for fear of her torment, Revelation 18:10.
Psalm 48:6 6 Fear took hold of them
there, And pain, as of a woman in birth pangs,
YLT
6Trembling hath seized them
there, Pain, as of a travailing woman.
Fear took hold upon them there,.... That is, either when
they came up to the city, and passed by it, and saw what they did; or, as
Kimchi observes, in the place where they thought to have made a great
slaughter; that is, in Armageddon, Revelation 16:16;
so upon the slaughter of the seven thousand names of men, or men of name and
renown, such as the kings here assembled, the remnant will be frightened, Revelation 11:13;
and pain, as of a woman in
travail; this figure is made use of elsewhere, when the destruction of
Babylon and the coming of Christ are spoken of; see Isaiah 13:8.
Psalm 48:7 7 As when
You break the ships of Tarshish With an east wind.
YLT
7By an east wind Thou
shiverest ships of Tarshish.
Thou breakest the ships of Tarshish with east wind. This is either
another simile, expressing the greatness of the dread and fear that shall now
seize the kings of the earth; which will be, as Kimchi observes, as if they
were smitten with a strong east wind, which breaks the ships of Tarshish; and
to the same purpose is the note of Aben Ezra; who says, the psalmist compares
the pain that shall take hold upon them to an east wind in the sea, which
breaks the ships; for by Tarshish is meant, not Tartessus in Spain, nor Tarsus
in Cilicia, or the port to which the Prophet Jonah went and took shipping; but
the sea in general: or else this phrase denotes the manner in which the
antichristian kings, and antichristian states, wilt be destroyed; just as ships
upon the ocean are dashed to pieces with a strong east wind: or it may design
the loss of all their riches and substance brought to them in ships; hence the
lamentations of merchants, and sailors, and ship masters, Revelation 18:15.
Psalm 48:8 8 As we have heard, So we
have seen In the city of the Lord of hosts, In the city of
our God: God will establish it forever. Selah
YLT
8As we have heard, so we
have seen, In the city of Jehovah of hosts, In the city of our God, God doth
establish her -- to the age. Selah.
As we have heard, so have we seen,.... These are the words
of the people of God making their observations on the above things; and so Aben
Ezra and Kimchi understand them of the people of Israel; and the former,
referring them to the war of Gog and Magog, paraphrases them thus:
"the
Israelites shall say in that day, as we have heard the prophets, who prophesied
of the fall of Gog and Magog, so have we seen in the city of the Lord of
hosts.'
The
words may be understood, either of facts which have been reported and heard to
have been done in time past, to which others will correspond, and will be seen
to do to in the latter day; as, for instance, as it has been heard that God
inflicted plagues upon Egypt; so it will be seen that he will pour out the
vials of his wrath upon the great city, which is spiritually called Egypt and
Sodom: as it has been heard that God brought his people Israel out of Egypt
with a mighty hand; so it will be seen that he will deliver his people from the
captivity and tyranny of the man of sin, and will call them out from Babylon a
little before the destruction of it: as it has been heard that Pharaoh and his
host were drowned in the Red sea; so it will be seen that Babylon shall be
thrown down like a mill stone cast into the sea, and be found no more: as it
has been heard that, literal Babylon is destroyed; so it will be seen that
mystical Babylon will be destroyed also: and as it has been heard that the
kings of the nations, at several times, have gathered themselves together
against Jerusalem, without effect; so it will be seen treat the kings of the
earth will assemble together against the church of Christ; but, as soon as they
shall come up to her, and look upon her, they shall be astonished and flee with
the utmost consternation, fear, and dread, and be utterly ruined: or else the
sense is, as it has been heard, from the promises and prophecies delivered out
from time to time, that God will grant his presence to his church and people,
and will be the protection of them, and will destroy all his and their enemies;
so it has been seen that these have been fulfilled, more or less, in all ages;
in the latter day their accomplishment will be full and manifest, even
in the city of the Lord of hosts; of the hosts of heaven
and earth, of all armies above and below; and therefore the church must be safe
under his protection;
in the city of our God: the covenant God of his
people; wherefore, as the former title declares his power, this shows his love
and affection, and both together secure the happiness of the saints: wherefore
it follows,
God will establish it for ever. Not only particular
believers, of which the church consists, are established on the foundation,
Christ; but the church itself is built on him, the Rock against which the gates
of hell cannot prevail; yet as they are not always in a settled and constant
condition, so neither is that, being sometimes tossed with the tempests of
afflictions and persecutions, and sometimes in one place, and sometimes in
another; but in the latter day it will be established on the top of the
mountains; and which is a desirable thing by all the saints, and what they
should, as many do, earnestly pray for; and which God will do in his own time;
and then it shall be established for ever, and be a tabernacle that shall not
be taken down; not one of its stakes shall be removed, nor any of its cords
broken, Isaiah 2:2, Isaiah 33:20.
Selah; on this word; see Gill on Psalm 3:2.
Psalm 48:9 9 We have thought, O God, on
Your lovingkindness, In the midst of Your temple.
YLT
9We have thought, O God, of
Thy kindness, In the midst of Thy temple,
We have thought of thy lovingkindness, O God,.... Jarchi
interprets it, "we have waited for thy lovingkindness"; to see thy
salvation; and some, as Ben Melech observes, explain it of hope and
expectation; as if the sense was, "we have hoped for thy
lovingkindness"; so the Syriac version renders it, and the word used has
the signification of tarrying, 1 Samuel 14:9. God
has his set time to favour his Zion, and till that time comes it is right in
them to be hoping, expecting, and waiting for it. The Chaldee paraphrase is,
"we have esteemed thy goodness"; it being very excellent, exceeding
valuable, and better than life itself; but other Jewish writers, as Menachem,
Aben Ezra, Kimchi, and Ben Melech, render it as we do, "we have
thought", &c. The lovingkindness of God towards his people in Christ
is a very delightful and profitable subject to dwell in meditation upon, to
consider the objects, instances, cause, and nature of it; and serves greatly to
encourage faith and hope, to draw out love to God, and engage to a ready and
cheerful obedience to his will; and this is sometimes done in public, as well
as in private conversation, and in the closet; as follows;
in the midst of thy temple; the church of Christ,
which is of his building, where he dwells, and grants his presence, and is
often called the temple of God in the New Testament, in allusion to Solomon's
temple; see 1 Corinthians 3:16;
here the word of God is preached, his ordinances administered, and his presence
granted; which are instances of his lovingkindness, and lead his people to
think of it; and particularly when the faithful ministers of the Gospel make
mention of it, and the ordinance of the supper is administering, which is intended
to bring to remembrance the love of God and Christ: moreover, in the latter
day, to which this psalm belongs, the temple of God will be opened, Revelation 11:19;
that is, the true worship of God will be restored, and pure and undefiled
religion freely exercised; the Gospel will be clearly and fully preached; and
the ordinances administered as they were first delivered, which will lead the
saints to think of the lovingkindness of God unto them; and particularly when
they shall see the angels with the seven vials the executioners of God's wrath
on the antichristian states, go forth from the temple to pour them out upon
them, Revelation 15:6.
Psalm 48:10 10 According to Your name, O
God, So is Your praise to the ends of the earth; Your right hand is full
of righteousness.
YLT
10As [is] Thy name, O God, so
[is] Thy praise, Over the ends of the earth, Righteousness hath filled Thy
right hand.
According to thy name, O God, so is thy praise unto the
ends of the earth,.... That is, as he himself is in the perfections of his nature,
which are displayed in the works of his bands, throughout the whole creation;
so is or ought his praise to be: or rather, as in the latter day his name will
be great in all the earth, Malachi 1:11; so
will his praise be; and as his name will be One, Zechariah 14:9; he
will be one Lord, there will be one faith and one baptism; his worship, word,
and ordinances, will be uniformly observed and attended to; so will be his
praise: all the saints will unite together in giving glory to him: he, and he
alone, shall be exalted. Moreover, his Gospel is his name, Acts 9:15; and that
in the latter day will be preached to every nation, kindred, tongue, and
people, Revelation 14:6;
and multitudes, both of Jews and Gentiles, will be convert ed, and from the
uttermost parts of the earth will be heard songs of praise and glory unto him, Isaiah 24:15;
thy right hand is full of righteousness: of all
spiritual blessings for his people; and particularly of the righteousness of
Christ, which God accepts of, imputes unto, and liberally bestows upon them:
and it is also full of punitive justice, which he inflicts on his and their
enemies; his right hand teaches him terrible things, and these terrible things
he does in righteousness; all his works are in righteousness, which the right
hand, being the instrument of action, is a token of. Moreover, Christ is the
right hand of God; he is the man of his right hand, and as dear to him as his
right hand; he is the right hand of his righteousness, by which he upholds his
people; and this right hand of his is full of righteousness; he does nothing
else but righteousness; he is the author and donor of it to his people, and
will execute righteousness upon his enemies; in righteousness he will make war
with them, Revelation 19:11;
and which is greatly the sense of this passage, as appears by Psalm 48:11.
Psalm 48:11 11 Let Mount Zion rejoice, Let
the daughters of Judah be glad, Because of Your judgments.
YLT
11Rejoice doth Mount Zion,
The daughters of Judah are joyful, For the sake of Thy judgments.
Let Mount Zion rejoice,.... The church in
general; see Psalm 48:1;
let the daughters of Judah be glad; particular churches; and
so the Targum renders it, "the congregations of the house of Judah";
or particular believers; such as are called the daughters of Jerusalem, and the
daughters of Zion, Song of Solomon 3:10;
these are exhorted to joy and gladness, at the loving kindness of God, at the
spread of his name and glory to the ends of the earth, and at his righteousness
his right hand is full of; and as it follows,
because of thy judgments; executed on the
antichristian kings, Psalm 48:4; and on
all the antichristian states, and on the whore of Babylon, and those who have
committed fornication with her; see Revelation 19:1.
Psalm 48:12 12 Walk about Zion, And go
all around her. Count her towers;
YLT
12Compass Zion, and go round
her, count her towers,
Walk about Zion, and go round about her,.... These
words are either an address to the enemies of the church, sarcastically
delivered; calling upon them to come, and surround, and besiege Zion, and see
what the issue and consequence of it will he, even the same as that of the
kings, Psalm 48:4; or to
the builders of Zion, as Jarchi observes, to come and take a survey of it, and
see what repairs were necessary; or rather to the saints, to the daughters of
Judah before mentioned, to take a view of the strength and defence of the
church, for their own comfort and encouragement, and to report the same to
others for theirs also; for by walking around it may be observed the
foundation, the rock and eminence on which it is built, Christ Jesus; the wall
of it, the Lord himself, a wall of fire; the entrance into it, Christ the gate
of righteousness; the fortress and strong hold of it the same; and the guards
about it, the watch men on its walls, the ministers of the Gospel, and an
innumerable company of angels, that in a circle surround both ministers and
people; see Revelation 7:11;
tell the towers thereof; see 2 Chronicles 26:9;
the Lord himself is the tower of his people, high and strong, which secures and
defends them from all their enemies, Psalm 18:2; the
ministers of the Gospel, who are immovable, and are set for the defence of it, Jeremiah 6:27; the
Scriptures of truth, which are like a tower built for an armoury, out of which
the saints are furnished and provided with proper armour, whereby they are able
to engage with false teachers, and to overcome the evil one, Song of Solomon 4:4;
and the ordinances of the Gospel, the church's two breasts, said to be as
towers, Song of Solomon 8:10;
some render the words, "tell in the towers"F9מגדליה εν τοις
πυργοις αυτης, Sept. "in turribus ejus", V. L. ; publish on the house
tops, declare in the high places of the city, in the most public manner, the
great things of the Gospel, which relate to the glory of Christ and his church.
Psalm 48:13 13 Mark well her bulwarks; Consider
her palaces; That you may tell it to the generation following.
YLT
13Set your heart to her
bulwark, Consider her high places, So that ye recount to a later generation,
Mark ye well her bulwarks,.... Such as the free
favour of God in Christ; which is not only as a shield, but as a bulwark to the
church; his everlasting love, electing grace, the covenant of grace, with its
blessings and promises, all which are more immovable than rocks and mountains;
and especially the power of God, which surrounds his church, as the mountains
did Jerusalem; and by which they are kept and preserved as in a garrison, Psalm 125:2. Also
salvation by Christ; his righteousness, sacrifice, and satisfaction, which God
has appointed for walls and bulwarks, and which make the city, the church, a
strong and impregnable one, Isaiah 26:1.
Likewise the Spirit of God, and his operations and influences, which are a
standard against the enemy's flood of opposition and persecution; and who being
in his church and people, is greater than he that is in the world, Isaiah 59:19, 1 John 4:4. Some
render the words, set "your hearts on her strength", as the Vulgate
Latin version; that is, on Christ, who is the strength of the poor and needy in
their distress; the strength of their hearts, of their lives, and of their
salvation, and the security of the church. Others readier them, "set your
hearts on her armies"; as the Targum is; her volunteers, her soldiers, who
endure hardness as good soldiers of Christ, fight the Lord's battles, and are
more than conquerors through him; and a lovely sight it is to behold them, with
Christ at the head of them; see Revelation 19:14;
consider her palaces; for Jehovah, Father,
Son, and Spirit, have their dwelling places in Zion; and here, besides
apostles, prophets, evangelists, and ordinary ministers of the word, who are
rulers and officers set in the first place, every saint is a prince and a king;
and has a place and a name here, better than that of sons and daughters of the
greatest potentate on earth; every dwelling place in Mount Zion is a palace.
that ye may tell it to the generation following: that is, the
beauty and glory, strength and safety of the church; and even all that is
spoken of her in this psalm, as well as what follows: this is the end proposed
by taking a circuit round Zion, and making the above observations on it.
Psalm 48:14 14 For this is God, Our
God forever and ever; He will be our guide Even to death.[a]
YLT
14That this God [is] our God
-- To the age and for ever, He -- he doth lead us over death!
For this God is our God for ever and ever,.... Who is
spoken of throughout the whole psalm as greatly to be praised, as well as is
known in Zion, as the stability, security, and protection of her. This is said
as pointing unto him as if visible, as Christ is God manifest in the flesh, now
in Gospel times, to which this psalm belongs; as distinguishing him from all others,
from the gods of the Gentiles, rejected by the people of God; as claiming an
interest in him as their covenant God; as exulting in the view of such relation
to him; as suggesting how happy they were on this account; and especially since
this relation will always continue, being founded in an everlasting covenant,
and arising from the unchangeable love of God;
he will be our guide, even unto death; the Lord
orders the steps of the righteous, holds them by the right hand, and guides
them with his counsel and in judgment: Christ, the great Shepherd of the flock,
feeds them, as the antitype of David, according to the integrity of his heart,
and guides them by the skilfulness of his hands; he guides their feet in the
ways of peace, life, and salvation, by himself; he leads them into green
pastures, beside the still waters, and unto fountains of living waters: the
Spirit of the Lord leads them to the fulness of Christ; guides them into all
truth, as it is in him; directs them into his and his Father's love, and leads
them on to the land of uprightness. And this guide is an everlasting one;
"even unto death", or "in death", or "above
death"F11על מות
"super mortem", Montanus; "supra mortem", Cocceius,
Gussetius, Michaelis; so Syr. vers. "in ipsa morte", Pfeiffer, Dub.
Ver. loc. 66. ; so as not to be hurt of the second death. He guides not only to
the brink of Jordan's river, but through the deep waters of it, and never
leaves till he has landed them safe on the shores of eternity: and some, as
Aben Ezra, render the word as if it was עולמית,
"for ever"; and others, as Abendana observes, render it
"secretly"; the Lord sometimes leading his people in ways dark and
hidden to them: and others give the sense of it, "as in the days of
youth"; that is, God is the guide of his people in old age as in youth; he
is always their guide, and ever will be: to which sense incline R. Moses in
Aben Ezra, others in Kimchi and Abendana, and as also Jarchi and the Chaldee
paraphrase; but Kimchi and Ben Melech render it as we do, "unto
death", or "unto our death".
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》
New King James
Version (NKJV)