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Psalm Twenty-one
Psalm 21
Chapter Contents
Thanksgiving for victory. (1-6) Confidence of further
success. (7-13)
Commentary on Psalm 21:1-6
(Read Psalm 21:1-6)
Happy the people whose king makes God's strength his
confidence, and God's salvation his joy; who is pleased with all the
advancements of God kingdom, and trusts God to support him in all he does for
the service of it. All our blessings are blessings of goodness, and are owing,
not to any merit of ours, but only to God's goodness. But when God's blessings
come sooner, and prove richer than we imagine; when they are given before we
prayed for them, before we were ready for them, nay, when we feared the
contrary; then it may be truly said that he prevented, or went before us, with
them. Nothing indeed prevented, or went before Christ, but to mankind never was
any favour more preventing than our redemption by Christ. Thou hast made him to
be a universal, everlasting blessing to the world, in whom the families of the
earth are, and shall be blessed; and so thou hast made him exceeding glad with
the countenance thou hast given to his undertaking, and to him in the
prosecution of it. The Spirit of prophecy rises from what related to the king,
to that which is peculiar to Christ; none other is blessed for ever, much less
a blessing for ever.
Commentary on Psalm 21:7-13
(Read Psalm 21:7-13)
The psalmist teaches to look forward with faith, and
hope, and prayer upon what God would further do. The success with which God
blessed David, was a type of the total overthrow of all Christ's enemies. Those
who might have had Christ to rule and save them, but rejected him and fought
against him, shall find the remembrance of it a worm that dies not. God makes
sinners willing by his grace, receives them to his favour, and delivers them
from the wrath to come. May he exalt himself, by his all-powerful grace, in our
hearts, destroying all the strong-holds of sin and Satan. How great should be
our joy and praise to behold our Brother and Friend upon the throne, and for
all the blessings we may expect from him! yet he delights in his exalted state,
as enabling him to confer happiness and glory on poor sinners, who are taught
to love and trust in him.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Psalms》
Psalm 21
Verse 3
[3] For
thou preventest him with the blessings of goodness: thou settest a crown of
pure gold on his head.
Prevent —
Crowning him with manifold blessings, both more and sooner than he expected.
With —
With excellent blessings.
Verse 4
[4] He asked life of thee, and thou gavest it him, even length of days for
ever and ever.
For ever —
Thou gavest him a long life and reign here, and after that didst translate him
to live with thee for ever. But this was more eminently fulfilled in Christ,
who asked of his father, life, or to be saved from death, Hebrews 5:7, though with submission to his will:
but his father, though he saw it necessary to take away his temporal life, yet
instantly gave him another, far more noble, even the perfect possession of an
everlasting life both in his soul and body, at his right hand.
Verse 5
[5] His
glory is great in thy salvation: honour and majesty hast thou laid upon him.
Glory —
His fame or renown.
Salvation — By
reason of those great and glorious deliverances which thou hast wrought both
for him, and by him.
Verse 6
[6] For
thou hast made him most blessed for ever: thou hast made him exceeding glad
with thy countenance.
Countenance —
Smiling upon him, by thy grace and favour.
Verse 9
[9] Thou shalt make them as a fiery oven in the time of thine anger: the LORD
shall swallow them up in his wrath, and the fire shall devour them.
Oven —
Like wood, which when it is cast in there, is quickly consumed.
Verse 10
[10]
Their fruit shalt thou destroy from the earth, and their seed from among the
children of men.
Fruit —
Their children. God will take away both root and branch, the parents and all
that wicked race.
Verse 11
[11] For
they intended evil against thee: they imagined a mischievous device, which they
are not able to perform.
Thee —
Against God, not directly, but by consequence, because it was against David,
whom God had anointed, and against the Lord's people, whose injuries God takes
as done to himself.
Verse 13
[13] Be
thou exalted, LORD, in thine own strength: so will we sing and praise thy
power.
Exalted — By
thy own power, or by the manifestation thereof.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Psalms》
Psalm 21
Exposition
Explanatory Notes and Quaint Sayings
Hints to the Village Preacher
SUBJECT. The
title gives us but little information; it is simply, To the chief Musician,
a Psalm of David. Probably written by David, sung by David, relating to
David, and intended by David to refer in its fullest reach of meaning to
David's Lord. It is evidently the fit companion of Psalm Twenty, and is in its
proper position next to it. Psalm Twenty anticipates what this regards as
realized. If we pray to-day for a benefit and receive it, we must, ere the sun
goes down, praise God for that mercy, or we deserve to be denied the next time.
It has been called David's triumphant song, and we may remember it as The
Royal Triumphal Ode. "The king" is most prominent throughout, and
we shall read it to true profit if our meditation of him shall be sweet while
perusing it. We must crown him with the glory of our salvation; singing of his
love, and praising his power, The next psalm will take us to the foot of the
cross, this introduces us to the steps of the throne.
DIVISION.
The division of the translators will answer every purpose. A thanksgiving
for victory, verses 1 to 6. Confidence of further success, verses 7 to 13.
EXPOSITION
Verse
1. "The king shall joy in thy strength, O Lord." Jesus is a
Royal Personage. The question, "Art thou a King then?" received a
full answer from the Saviour's lips: "Thou sayest that I am a King. To
this end was I born, and for this purpose came I into the world, that I might
bear witness unto the truth." He is not merely a King, but the
King; King over minds and hearts, reigning with a dominion of love, before
which all other rule is but mere brute force. He was proclaimed King even on
the cross, for there, indeed, to the eye of faith, he reigned as on a throne,
blessing with more than imperial munificence the needy sons of earth. Jesus has
wrought out the salvation of his people, but as a man he found his strength in
Jehovah his God, to whom he addressed himself in prayer upon the lonely mountain's
side, and in the garden's solitary gloom. That strength so abundantly given is
here gratefully acknowledged, and made the subject of joy. The Man of Sorrows
is now anointed with the oil of gladness above his fellows. Returned in triumph
from the overthrow of all his foes, he offers his own rapturous Te Deum
in the temple above, and joys in the power of the Lord. Herein let every
subject of King Jesus imitate the King; let us lean upon Jehovah's strength,
let us joy in it by unstaggering faith, let us exult in it in our thankful
songs. Jesus not only has thus rejoiced, but he shall do so as he sees
the power of divine grace bringing out from their sinful hiding-places the
purchase of his soul's travail; we also shall rejoice more and more as we learn
by experience more and more fully the strength of the arm of our covenant God.
Our weakness unstrings our harps, but his strength tunes them anew. If we
cannot sing a note in honour of our own strength, we can at any rate rejoice in
our omnipotent God.
"And
in thy salvation how greatly shall he rejoice!" Everything is ascribed
to God; the source is thy strength and the stream is thy salvation.
Jehovah planned and ordained it, works it and crowns it, and therefore it is
his salvation. The joy here spoken of is described by a note of exclamation and
a word of wonder: "how greatly!" The rejoicing of our risen
Lord must, like his agony, be unutterable. If the mountains of his joy rise in
proportion to the depth of the valleys of his grief, then his sacred bliss is
high as the seventh heaven. For the joy which was set before him as he endured
the cross, despising the shame, and now that joy daily grows, for he rests in
his love and rejoices over his redeemed with singing, as in due order they are
brought to find their salvation in his blood. Let us with our Lord rejoice in
salvation, as coming from God, as coming to us, as extending itself to others,
and as soon to encompass all lands. We need not be afraid of too much rejoicing
in this respect; this solid foundation will well sustain the loftiest edifice
of joy. The shoutings of the early methodists in the excitement of the joy were
far more pardonable than our own lukewarmness. Our joy should have some sort of
inexpressibleness in it.
Verse
2. "Thou hast given him his heart's desire." That desire he
ardently pursued when he was on earth, both by his prayer, his actions, and his
suffering; he manifested that his heart longed to redeem his people, and now in
heaven he has his desire granted him, for he sees his beloved coming to be with
him where he is. The desires of the Lord Jesus were from his heart, and the
Lord heard them; if our hearts are right with God, he will in our case also "fulfil
the desires of them that fear him."
"And
hast not withholden the request of his lips." What is in the well of
the heart is sure to come up in the bucket of the lips, and those are the only
true prayers where the heart's desire is first, and the lip's request follows
after. Jesus prayed vocally as well as mentally; speech is a great assistance
to thought. Some of us feel that even when alone we find it easier to collect our
thoughts when we can pray aloud. The requests of the Saviour were not withheld.
He was and still is a prevailing Pleader. Our Advocate on high returns not
empty from the throne of grace. He asked for his elect in the eternal
council-chamber, he asked for blessings for them here, he asked for glory for
them hereafter, and his requests have speeded. He is ready to ask for us at the
mercy-seat. Have we not at this hour some desire to send up to his Father by
him? Let us not be slack to use our willing, loving, all-prevailing
Intercessor.
"Selah."
Here a pause is very properly inserted that we may admire the blessed success
of the king's prayers, and that we may prepare our own requests which may be
presented through him. If we had a few more quiet rests, a few more Selahs in
our public worship, it might be profitable.
Verse
3. "For thou preventest him with the blessings of goodness."
The word prevent formerly signified to precede or go before, and
assuredly Jehovah preceded his Son with blessings. Before he died saints were
saved by the anticipated merit of his death, before he came believers saw his
day and were glad, and he himself had his delights with the sons of men. The Father
is so willing to give blessings through his Son, that instead of his being
constrained to bestow his grace, he outstrips the Mediatorial march of mercy.
"I say not that I will pray the Father for you, for the Father himself
loveth you." Before Jesus calls the Father answers, and while he is yet
speaking he hears. Mercies may be bought with blood, but they are also freely
given. The love of Jehovah is not caused by the Redeemer's sacrifice, but that
love, with its blessings of goodness, preceded the great atonement, and
provided it for our salvation. Reader, it will be a happy thing for thee if,
like thy Lord, thou canst see both providence and grace preceding thee,
forestalling thy needs, and preparing thy path. Mercy, in the case of many of
us, ran before our desires and prayers, and it ever outruns our endeavours and
expectancies, and even our hopes are left to lag behind. Prevenient grace
deserves a song; we may make one out of this sentence; let us try. All our
mercies are to be viewed as "blessings;" gifts of a blessed
God, meant to make us blessed; they are "blessings of goodness,"
not of merit, but of free favour; and they come to us in a preventing way,
a way of prudent foresight, such as only preventing love could have arranged.
In this light the verse is itself a sonnet!
"Thou
settest a crown of pure gold on his head." Jesus wore the thorn-crown,
but now wears the glory-crown. It is a "crown," indicating
royal nature, imperial power, deserved honour, glorious conquest, and divine
government. The crown is of the richest, rarest, most resplendent, and most
lasting order—"gold," and that gold of the most refined and
valuable sort, "pure gold," to indicate the excellence of his
dominion. This crown is set upon his head most firmly, and whereas other
monarchs find their diadems fitting loosely, his is fixed so that no power can
move it, for Jehovah himself has set it upon his brow. Napoleon crowned
himself, but Jehovah crowned the Lord Jesus; the empire of the one melted in an
hour, but the other has an abiding dominion. Some versions read, "a crown
of precious stones;" this may remind us of those beloved ones who shall be
as jewels in his crown, of whom he has said, "They shall be mine in the
day when I make up my jewels." May we be set in the golden circlet of the
Redeemer's glory, and adorn his head for ever!
Verse
4. "He asked life of thee, and thou gavest it him, even length of days
for ever and ever." The first words may suit King David, but the
length of days for ever and ever can only refer to the King Messiah. Jesus, as
man, prayed for resurrection and he received it, and now possesses it in
immortality. He died once, but being raised from the dead he dieth no more.
"Because I live, ye shall live also," is the delightful intimation
which the Saviour gives us, that we are partakers of his eternal life. We had
never found this jewel, if he had not rolled away the stone which covered it.
Verse
5. "His glory is great in thy salvation." Immanuel bears the
palm; he once bore the cross. The Father has glorified the Son, so that there
is no glory like unto that which surroundeth him. See his person as it is
described by John in the Revelation; see his dominion as it stretches from sea
to sea; see his splendour as he is revealed in flaming fire. Lord, who is like
unto thee? Solomon in all his glory could not be compared with thee, thou once
despised Man of Nazareth! Mark, reader: salvation is ascribed to God; and thus
the Son, as our Saviour, magnifies his Father; but the Son's glory is also
greatly seen, for the Father glorifies his Son.
"Honour
and majesty hast thou laid upon him." Parkhurst reads, "splendour
and beauty." These are put upon Jesus as chains of gold, and stars and
tokens of honour are placed upon princes and great men. As the wood of the
tabernacle was overlaid with pure gold, so is Jesus covered with glory and
honour. If there be a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory for his
humble followers, what must there be for our Lord himself? The whole weight of
sin was laid upon him; it is but meet that the full measure of the glory of
bearing it away should be laid upon the same beloved person. A glory
commensurate with his shame he must and will receive, for well has he earned
it. It is not possible for us to honour Jesus too much; what our God delights
to do, we may certainly do to our utmost. Oh for new crowns for the lofty brow
which once was marred with thorns!
"Let him
be crowned with majesty
Who bowed his head to death,
And be his honours sounded high
By all things that have breath."
Verse
6. "For thou hast made him most blessed for ever." He is most
blessed in himself, for he is God over all, blessed for ever; but this relates
to him as our Mediator, in which capacity blessedness is given to him as a
reward. The margin has it, thou hast set him to be blessings; he is an
overflowing wellspring of blessings to others, a sun filling the universe with
light. According as the Lord sware unto Abraham, the promised seed is an
everlasting source of blessings to all the nations of the earth. He is set for
this, ordained, appointed, made incarnate with this very design, that he may bless
the sons of men. Oh that sinners had sense enough to use the Saviour for that
end to which he is ordained, viz., to be a Saviour to lost and guilty souls.
"Thou
hast made him exceeding glad with thy countenance." He who is a
blessing to others cannot but be glad himself; the unbounded good-doing of
Jesus ensures him unlimited joy. The loving favour of his Father, the
countenance of God, gives Jesus exceeding joy. This is the purest stream to
drink of, and Jesus chooses no other. His joy is full. Its source is divine.
Its continuance is eternal. Its degree exceeding all bounds. The countenance of
God makes the Prince of Heaven glad; how ought we to seek it, and how careful
should we be lest we should provoke him by our sins to hide his face from us!
Our anticipations may cheerfully fly forward to the hour when the joy of our
Lord shall be shed abroad on all the saints, and the countenance of Jehovah
shall shine upon all the blood-bought. So shall we "enter into the joy of
our Lord."
So
far all has been "the shout of them that triumph, the song of them that
feast." Let us shout and sing with them, for Jesus is our King, and in his
triumphs we share a part.
Verse
7. "For the king trusteth in the Lord." Our Lord, like a true
King and leader, was a master in the use of the weapons, and could handle well
the shield of faith, for he has set us a brilliant example of unwavering
confidence in God. He felt himself safe in his Father's care until his hour was
come, he knew that he was always heard in heaven; he committed his cause to him
that judgeth right, and in his last moments he committed his spirit into the
same hands. The joy expressed in the former verses was the joy of faith, and
the victory achieved was due to the same precious grace. A holy confidence in
Jehovah is the true mother of victories. This psalm of triumph was composed
long before our Lord's conflict began, but faith overleaps the boundaries of
time, and chants her "Io triumphe," while yet she sings her battle
song.
"Through
the mercy of the Most High he shall not be moved." Eternal mercy
secures the mediatorial throne of Jesus. He who is Most High in every sense,
engages all his infinite perfections to maintain the throne of grace upon which
our King in Zion reigns. He was not moved from his purpose, nor in
his sufferings, nor by his enemies, nor shall he be moved from
the completion of his designs. He is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever.
Other empires are dissolved by the lapse of years, but eternal mercy maintains
his growing dominion evermore; other kings fail because they rest upon an arm
of flesh, but our monarch reigns on in splendour because he trusteth in
Jehovah. It is a great display of divine mercy to men that the throne of King
Jesus is still among them: nothing but divine mercy could sustain it, for human
malice would overturn it to-morrow if it could. We ought to trust in God for
the promotion of the Redeemer's kingdom, for in Jehovah the King himself
trusts: all unbelieving methods of action, and especially all reliance upon
mere human ability, should be for ever discarded from a kingdom where the
monarch sets the examples of walking by faith in God.
Verse
8. "Thine hand shall find out all thine enemies: thy right hand shall
find out those that hate thee." The destruction of the wicked is a
fitting subject for joy to the friends of righteousness; hence here, and in
most scriptural songs, it is noted with calm thanksgiving. "Thou hast put
down the mighty from their seats," is a note of the same song which sings,
"and hast exalted them of low degree." We pity the lost for they are
men, but we cannot pity them as enemies of Christ. None can escape from the
wrath of the victorious King, nor is it desirable that they should. Without
looking for his flying foes he will find them with his hand, for his presence
is about and around them. In vain shall any hope for escape, he will find out
all, and be able to punish all, and that too with the ease and rapidity which
belong to the warrior's right hand. The finding out relates, we think, not only
to the discovery of the hiding places of the haters of God, but to the touching
of them in their tenderest parts, so as to cause the severest suffering. When
he appears to judge the world hard hearts will be subdued into terror, and
proud spirits humbled into shame. He who has the key of human nature can touch
all its springs at his will, and find out the means of bringing the utmost
confusion and terror upon those who aforetime boastfully expressed their hatred
of him.
Verse
9. "Thou shalt make them as a fiery oven in the time of thine
anger." They themselves shall be an oven to themselves, and so their
own tormentors. Those who burned with anger against thee shall be burned by
thine anger. The fire of sin will be followed by the fire of wrath. Even as the
smoke of Sodom and Gomorrah went up to heaven, so shall the enemies of the Lord
Jesus be utterly and terribly consumed. Some read it, "thou shalt put them
as it were into a furnace of fire." Like faggots cast into an oven they
shall burn furiously beneath the anger of the Lord; "they shall be cast
into a furnace of fire, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
These are terrible words, and those teachers do not well who endeavour by their
sophistical reasonings to weaken their force. Reader, never tolerate slight
thoughts of hell, or you will soon have low thoughts of sin. The hell of
sinners must be fearful beyond all conception, or such language as the present
would not be used. Who would have the Son of God to be his enemy when such an
overthrow awaits his foes? The expression, "the time of thine anger,"
reminds us that as now is the time of his grace, so there will be a set time
for his wrath. The judge goes upon assize at an appointed time. There is a day
of vengeance of our God; let those who despise the day of grace remember this
day of wrath.
"The
Lord shall swallow them up in his wrath, and the fire shall devour them."
Jehovah will himself visit with his anger the enemies of his Son. The Lord
Jesus will, as it were, judge by commission from God, whose solemn assent and
co-operation shall be with him in his sentences upon impenitent sinners. An
utter destruction of soul and body, so that both shall be swallowed up with
misery, and be devoured with anguish, is here intended. Oh, the wrath to come!
The wrath to come! Who can endure it? Lord, save us from it, for Jesu's sake.
Verse
10. "Their fruit shalt thou destroy from the earth." Their
life's work shall be a failure, and the result of their toil shall be
disappointment. That in which they prided themselves shall be forgotten; their
very names shall be wiped out as abominable, "and their seed from among
the children of men." Their posterity following in their footsteps
shall meet with a similar overthrow, till at last the race shall come to an
end. Doubtless the blessing of God is often handed down by the righteous to
their sons, as almost a heirloom in the family, while the dying sinner
bequeaths a curse to his descendants. If men will hate the Son of God, they
must not wonder if their own sons meet with no favour.
Verse
11. "For they intended evil against thee." God takes notice of
intentions. He who would but could not is as guilty as he who did. Christ's
church and cause are not only attacked by those who do not understand it, but
there are many who have the light and yet hate it. Intentional evil has a virus
in it which is not found in sins of ignorance; now as ungodly men with malice
aforethought attack the gospel of Christ, their crime is great, and their
punishment will be proportionate. The words "against thee"
show us that he who intends evil against the poorest believer means ill to the
King himself: let persecutors beware.
"They
imagined a mischievous device, which they are not able to perform."
Want of power is the clog on the foot of the haters of the Lord Jesus. They
have the wickedness to imagine, and the cunning to devise, and
the malice to plot mischief, but blessed be God, they fail in ability;
yet they shall be judged as to their hearts, and the will shall be taken for
the deed in the great day of account. When we read the boastful threatenings of
the enemies of the gospel at the present day, we may close our reading by
cheerfully repeating, "which they are not able to perform."
The serpent may hiss, but his head is broken; the lion may worry, but he cannot
devour: the tempest may thunder, but cannot strike. Old Giant Pope bites his
nails at the pilgrims, but he cannot pick their bones as aforetime. Growling
forth a hideous "non possumus," the devil and all his allies retire
in dismay from the walls of Zion, for the Lord is there.
Verse
12. "Therefore shalt thou make them turn their back, when thou shalt
make ready thine arrows upon thy strings against the face of them."
For a time the foes of God may make bold advances, and threaten to overthrow
everything, but a few ticks of the clock will alter the face of their affairs.
At first they advance impudently enough, but Jehovah meets them to their teeth,
and a taste of the sharp judgment of God speedily makes them flee in dismay.
The original has in it the thought of the wicked being set as a butt for God to
shoot at, a target for his wrath to aim at. What a dreadful situation! As an
illustration upon a large scale, remember Jerusalem during the siege; and for a
specimen in an individual, read the story of the death-bed of Francis Spira.
God takes sure aim; who would be his target? His arrows are sharp and transfix
the heart; who would wish to be wounded by them? Ah, ye enemies of God, your
boastings will soon be over when once the shafts begin to fly!
Verse
13. "Be thou exalted, Lord, in thine own strength." A sweet
concluding verse. Our hearts shall join in it. It is always right to praise the
Lord when we call to remembrance his goodness to his Son, and the overthrow of
his foes. The exaltation of the name of God should be the business of every
Christian; but since such poor things as we fail to honour him as he deserves,
we may invoke his own power to aid us. Be high, O God, but do thou maintain thy
loftiness by thine own almightiness, for no other power can worthily do it.
"So
will we sing and praise thy power." For a time the saints may mourn,
but the glorious appearance of their divine Helper awakens their joy. Joy
should always flow in the channel of praise. All the attributes of God are fitting
subjects to be celebrated by the music of our hearts and voices, and when we
observe a display of his power, we must extol it. He wrought our
deliverance alone, and he alone shall have the praise.
EXPLANATORY
NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
Whole
Psalm. The last Psalm was a litany before the king went forth to battle.
This is apparently a Te Deum on his return.—J. J. Stewart Perowne,
B.D., in the "Book of Psalms: a New Translation, with Introduction and
Notes," 1864.
Whole
Psalm. The prayer which the church offers up at the conclusion of the
preceding Psalm now issues in a hymn of praise, the result of a believing view
of the glory which is to follow, when Messiah's sufferings are ended. This is
one of the beautiful songs of which we find many in Scripture, prepared by the
Holy Spirit to awaken and enliven the hopes and expectations of the church
while she waits for the Lord, and to give utterance to her joy at the time of
his arrival. The theme is Messiah's exaltation and glory, and the time chosen
for its delivery is just the moment when darkness covered the earth, and all
nature seemed about to die with its expiring Lord. Scripture deals largely in
contrasts. It seems to be suitable to the human mind to turn from one extreme
to another. Man can endure any change, however violent and contradictory, but a
long continuance, a sameness either of joy or sorrow, has a debilitating and
depressing effect.—R. H. Ryland.
Whole
Psalm. "After this I looked. . . . and behold a throne was set in
heaven, and one sat on the throne." Revelation 4:1, 2. Such may be
considered as the description of this Psalm, after the foregoing prayer.
"He who in the preceding Psalm," says St. Jerome, "was prayed
for as having taken the form of a servant, in this is King of kings, and Lord
of lords."—Isaac Williams.
Whole
Psalm. I am persuaded that there is not one who consents to the
application of the preceding Psalm to Christ in his trouble, who will fail to
recognise in this, Christ in his triumph. There he was in the dark valley—the
valley of Achor; now he is on the mount of Zion; there he was enduring sorrow
and travail; now he remembers no more the anguish, for joy that a spiritual
seed is born into the world; there he was beset with deadly enemies, who
encompassed him on every side; but here he has entered upon that which is
written in Psalm 78:65, 66, "Then the Lord awaked as one out of sleep, and
like a mighty man that shouteth by reason of wine. And he smote his enemies in
the hinder parts: he put them to a perpetual reproach."—Hamilton
Verschoyle.
Whole
Psalm. As you have already observed in the heading of this Psalm, it is
said to have been composed by David. He wrote of himself in the third person,
and as "the king." He penned the Psalm, not so much for his
own use, as for his people's. It is, in fact, a national anthem, celebrating
the majesty and glory of David, but ascribing both to God—expressing confidence
in David's future, but building that confidence upon God alone.—Samuel
Martin, in "Westminster Chapel Pulpit," 1860.
Verse 1. "Thy
strength. . . . thy salvation." So you have two words, "virtus
and salus," strength and salvation. Note them well; for not virtus
without salus, not salus without virtus, neither without
the other is full, nor both without Tua Domine. In virtute is
well, so it have in salute after it. For not in strength alone is there
matter of joy, every way considered. No, not in God's strength, if it
have not salvation behind it. Strength, not to smite us down, but
strength to deliver; this is the joyful side. Now turn it the other way. As
strength, if it end in salvation, is just cause for joy, so salvation, if it go
with strength, makes joy yet more joyful; for it becomes a strong salvation, a
mighty deliverance.—Launcelot Andrews (Bishop), 1555-1626, in
"Conspiracie of the Goweries."
Verse 1. "In
thy salvation how greatly shall he rejoice." Oh, it is good rejoicing
in the strength of that arm which shall never wither, and in the shadow of
those wings which shall never cast their feathers! In him that is not there
yesterday and here to-day, but the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever! For as
he is, so shall the joy be.—Launcelot Andrews.
Verse 2. "Thou
hast given him the desire of his soul." He desired to eat the
passover, and to lay down his life when he would, and again when he would to
take it; and thou hast given it to him. "And hast not deprived him of
the good pleasure of his lips." "My peace," saith he,
"I leave with you;" and it was done.—Augustine, in loc.
Verse 2 (first
clause). Good men are sure to have out their prayers either in money, or in
money's worth, as they say—in that very thing, or a better.—John Trapp.
Verse 2. "Selah."
See pages 25, 29, 38, 345.
Verse 3. "For
thou preventest him with the blessings of goodness: thou settest a crown of
pure gold on his head." The Son of God could not be more ready to ask
for the blessings of the divine goodness, than the Father was to give them; and
his disposition is the same towards all his adopted sons. Christ, as King and
Priest, weareth a crown of glory, represented by the purest and most
resplendent of metals—gold. He is pleased to esteem his saints, excelling in
different virtues, as the rubies, the sapphires, and the emeralds, which grace
and adorn that crown. Who would not be ambitious of obtaining a place therein?—George
Horne.
Verse 3. "Thou
hast prevented him with the blessings of goodness." As if he should
say, "Lord, I never asked for a kingdom, I never thought of a kingdom, but
thou hast prevented me with the blessings of thy goodness." . . . . . From
whence I take up this note or doctrine, that it is a sweet thing and worthy of
all our thankful acknowledgments, to be prevented with the blessings of God's
goodness, or God's good blessings. . . . It is no new thing for God to walk in
a way of preventing love and mercy with the children of men. Thus he hath
always dealt, doth deal, and will deal; thus he hath always dealt with the
world, with the nations of the world, with great towns and places, with
families, and with particular souls. . . . As for particular souls, you know
how it was with Matthew the publican, sitting at the receipt of custom.
"Come and follow me," says Christ; preventing of him. And you know
how it was with Paul: "I was a blasphemer, and I was a persecutor, but I
obtained mercy." How so? Did he seek it first? "No," says he,
"I went breathing out threatenings against the people of God, and God met
me, and unhorsed me; God prevented me with his grace and mercy." Thus
Paul. And pray tell me what do you think of that whole chapter of Luke—the
fifteenth? There are three parables: the parable of the lost groat, of the lost
sheep, and of the lost son. The woman lost her groat, and swept to find it; but
did the groat make first toward the woman, or the woman make after the groat
first? The shepherd lost his sheep, but did the sheep make first after the
shepherd, or the shepherd after the sheep? Indeed, it is said concerning the
lost son, that he first takes up a resolution, "I will return home to my
father," but when his father saw him afar off, he ran and met him, and
embraced him, and welcomed him home. Why? But to show that the work of grace
and mercy shall be all along carried on in a way of preventing love.—Condensed
from William Bridge, 1600-1670.
Verse 3. "For
thou hast prevented him with the blessings of sweetness." Because he
had first quaffed the blessings of thy sweetness, the gall of our sins did not
hurt him.—Augustine.
Verse 3. "Thou
preventest him." The word "prevent" is now generally
used to represent the idea of hindrance. "Thou preventest him,"
would mean commonly, "Thou hinderest him." But here the word
"prevent" means to go before. Thou goest before him with the
blessings of thy goodness as a pioneer, to make crooked ways straight, and
rough places smooth; or, as one who strews flowers in the path of another, to
render the way beautiful to the eye and pleasant to the tread.—Samuel
Martin.
Verse 3 (first
clause). The text is an acknowledgment of God's goodness. God has
anticipated David's wants; and he writes, "Thou preventest—thou
goest before him—with goodness." The words "blessings of
goodness" suggest that God's gifts are God's love embodied and
expressed. And this greatly enhances the value of our blessings— that they are
cups as full of God and of God's kindness as of happiness and blessedness.—Samuel
Martin.
Verse 3 (first
clause). A large portion of our blessing is given us before our asking or
seeking. Existence, reason, intellect, a birth in a Christian land, the calling
of our nation to the knowledge of Christ, and Christ himself, with many other
things, are unsought bestowed on men, as was David's right to the throne on
him. No one ever asked for a Saviour till God of his own motion promised
"the seed of the woman."—William S. Plumer.
Verse 3. "Thou
settest a crown of pure gold on his head." Christ may be said to have
a fourfold glory, or crown. 1. As God co-essential with the Father; "the
brightness of the Father's glory, and the express image of his person."
Hebrews 1:1, 2, 3. 2. He hath a crown and glory as Mediator, in respect of the
power, authority, and glory wherewith he is invested as God's great deputy, and
anointed upon the hill of Zion, having power, and a rod of iron, even in
reference to enemies. 3. He hath a crown and glory in respect of the
manifestation of his glory in the executing of his offices, when he makes his
mediatory power and glory apparent in particular steps: thus sometimes he is
said to take his power to him (Revelation 11:17); and is said to be
crowned when the white horse of the gospel rides in triumph. Revelation
6:2. The last step of this glory will be in the day of judgment; in short, this
consists in his exercising his former power committed to him as Mediator. 4.
There is a crown and glory which is in a manner put on him by particular
believers, when he is glorified by them, not by adding anything to his infinite
glory, but by their acknowledging of him to be so.—James Durham,
1622-1658.
Verse 3. "The
crown of pure gold" 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.—John Gill.
Verse 4. "He
asked life of thee, and thou gavest it him, even length of days for ever and
ever." The glory of God is concerned in Christ's living for ever—1.
The glory of his faithfulness: for eternal life and blessedness were
pledged to Immanuel in covenant as the reward of his work (Psalm 110:1-4;
Isaiah 9:6, 7, etc.); and it was in the anticipation and confident hope of
this, that he "endured the cross, despising the shame." Hebrews 12:2;
Psalm 16:8-11. 2. The glory of his justice. The justice of God was
honoured and fully satisfied in all its righteous demands by the death of
Christ. His subsequent life is the expression on the part of God of that
satisfaction. His perpetual life is a permanent declaration that in him and his
finished work the everlasting righteousness of Jehovah rests for ever
satisfied. Death can "never more have dominion over him:" for to
inflict the penalty again would be a violation of justice. 3. The glory of his grace.
The glory of this grace he now lives actively to promote. John 17:2. By living "ever"
at God's right hand, he appears as an eternal memorial of God's love in making
him our Mediator and Substitute—our Saviour from sin and wrath; and his
permanent appearance there will keep all heaven perpetually in mind that
"by the grace of God they are what they are," owing all to the
sovereign mercy of God through Jesus Christ. He shall appear as the blessed
medium through which all the gifts and joys of salvation shall flow to the
guilty for evermore. Thus the power of God and all his moral attributes secure
the perpetuity of the life of the risen and exalted Saviour.—Ralph Wardlaw,
D.D.
Verse 4. "He
asked life of thee, and thou gavest it him." He asked a resurrection,
saying, "Father, glorify thy Son;" and thou gavest it him. "Length
of days for ever and ever." The prolonged ages of this world which the
church was to have, and after them an eternity, world without end.—Augustine.
Verse 4. "He
asked life of thee," etc. Thus God is better to his people than their
prayers; and when they ask but one blessing, he answereth them as Naaman did
Gehazi, with, Nay, take two. Hezekiah asked but one life, and God gave him
fifteen years, which we reckon at two lives and more. He giveth liberally and
like himself; as great Alexander did when he gave the poor beggar a city; and
when he sent his schoolmaster a ship full of frankincense, and bade him
sacrifice freely.—John Trapp.
Verses 4-8. If David
had before been without the symbol of his royal dignity, namely, the diadem, he
was the more justified in praising the goodness of God, which had now
transferred it from the head of an enemy to his own.—Augustus F. Tholuck.
Verse 5. "His
glory is great in thy salvation." I remember one dying, and hearing
some discourse of Jesus Christ; "Oh," said she, "speak more of
this—let me hear more of this—be not weary of telling his praise; I long to see
him, how should I but long to hear of him?" Surely I cannot say too much
of Jesus Christ. On this blessed subject no man can possibly hyperbolise. Had I
the tongues of men and angels, I could never fully set forth Christ. It
involves an eternal contradiction, that the creature can see to the bottom of
the Creator. Suppose all the sands on the sea-shore, all the flowers, herbs,
leaves, twigs of trees in woods and forests, all the stars of heaven, were all
rational creatures; and had they that wisdom and tongues of angels to speak of
the loveliness, beauty, glory, and excellency of Christ, as gone to heaven, and
sitting at the right hand of his Father, they would, in all their expressions,
stay millions of miles on this side Jesus Christ. Oh, the loveliness, beauty,
and glory of his countenance! Can I speak, or you hear of such a Christ? And
are we not all in a burning love, in a seraphical love, or at least in a
conjugal love? O my heart, how is it thou art not love sick? How is it thou
dost not charge the daughters of Jerusalem as the spouse did: "I charge
you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye shall tell him,
that I am sick of love." Canticles 5:8.—Isaac Ambrose.
Verse 5. "Honour
and majesty hast thou laid upon him." If it be demanded whether Christ
were exalted unto his glory and dignity, according to both his natures, both
his Godhead and his manhood, I answer, according to both. According to his
Godhead, not as it is considered in itself, but inasmuch as his Godhead, which from
his birth unto his death did little show itself, after his resurrection was
made manifest in his manhood; for, as the apostle saith (Romans 1:4), "He
was declared mightily to be the Son of God by the resurrection from the
dead," even by the resurrection and after his resurrection from the dead,
he which was thought only to be man, was most plainly manifested likewise to be
God. Now, as touching his manhood, he was therein exalted unto highest majesty
in the heavenly places, not only shaking off all infirmities of man's nature,
but also being beautified and adorned with all qualities of glory, both in his
soul and in his body, yet so that he still retaineth the properties of a true
body, for even as he was man, he was set at the right hand of the Father, to
rule and reign over all, till all his enemies be destroyed, and put under his
feet. To knit up all in a word, Christ, God and man, after his resurrection,
was crowned with glory and honour, even such as plainly showed him to be God,
and was set on the throne of God, there to rule and reign as sovereign Lord and
King, till he come in the clouds to judge both quick and dead. Here, then, is
both matter of comfort and consolation unto the godly, and likewise for fear
and astonishment unto the wicked and ungodly.—Henry Airway, 1560-1616.
Verse 5 (last
clause). Christ was "a man of sorrows" on earth, but he is full
of joy in heaven. He that "wipes away all tears from the eyes of his
people," surely has none in his own. There was a joy set before him
before he suffered, and doubtless it was given him, when he sat down at God's
right hand. We may take the latter to be an actual donation of the former; the
joy he had in prospect when he suffered he had in possession when he came to
his throne. This is the time of his receiving the Father's public approbation,
and the tokens of his love, before the whole heavenly assembly, which must be
matter of great joy to him who so much valued and delighted in his Father's
love.—John Hurrion, 1675-1731.
Verse 5. Happy he
who hath a bone, or an arm, to put the crown upon the head of our highest King,
whose chariot is paved with love. Were there ten thousand millions of heavens
created above these highest heavens, and again as many above them, and as many
above them, till angels were wearied with counting, it were but too low a seat
to fix the princely throne of that Lord Jesus (whose ye are) above them all.—Samuel
Rutherford.
Verse 6. "Thou
hast made him exceeding glad:" literally, "brightened him,"
possibly in allusion to the brightness of Moses' face. Dalman Hapstone,
M.A., in "The Ancient Psalms. . . . A Literal—Translation and Notes,"
etc., 1867.
Verse 6. "Thou
hast made him exceeding glad with thy countenance." Though this be
metamorphically used for favour, yet is the speech not all metaphor, and
that well-experienced Christians will tell you.—Zachary Bogan, in "The
Mirth of a Christian Life," 1653.
Verse 6 (first
clause). Literally, as in the Bible marginal translation, "Thou hast
set him to be blessings for ever." Most truly said of the King in
whom all the nations of the earth were to be blessed.—Richard Mant.
Verse 8. "Thine
hand shall find out all thine enemies: thy right hand shall find out those that
hate thee." 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 Samuel 23:17; Isaiah 10:10; in the
latter of which places the verb is construed with a preposition (Heb.), 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.—Joseph Addison Alexander.
Verse 8. "Thine
hand shall find out all thine enemies: thy right hand shall find out those that
hate thee." Saul killed himself, for fear of falling into the hands of
his enemies, and thought death less terrible than the shame that he would have
endured in seeing himself in their power. What will it be then "to fall
into the hands of the living God" (Hebrews 10:31), of an offended God? of
God unchangeably determined to be avenged? "Who can stand before his
indignation?" says the prophet Nahum (chap. 1:6). Who will dare look on
him? Who will dare show himself? "Who may abide the day of his
coming" (Malachi 3:2) without shuddering and fainting for fear? If
Joseph's brethren were so terrified that they "could not answer him,"
when he said, "I am Joseph your brother," how will it be with
sinners, when they shall hear the voice of the Son of God, when he shall
triumph over them in his wrath, and say unto them, "I am he" whom ye
despised; "I am he" whom ye have offended; "I am he" whom
ye have crucified? If these words, "I am he," overthrew the soldiers
in the garden of Olives (John 18:6), though spoken with extreme gentleness, how
will it be when his indignation bursts forth, when it falls upon his enemies
like a thunderbolt, and reduces them into dust? Then will they cry out in
terror, and say to the mountains, "Fall on us, and hide us from the
face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb."
Revelation 6:16.—James Nouet.
Verse 8. "Thine
hand shall find out," etc. It is not meant only of a discovery of a
person (though it be a truth, that the Lord will discover all that are his
enemies), but thine hand shall find them out, is, it shall take hold of
them, grasp them, and arrest them. "Thine hand shall find out" all
"thine enemies," though close, though covert enemies; not only thy
above-ground enemies, but thy under-ground enemies; as well those that
undermine thee, as those that assault thee.—Joseph Caryl.
Verse 9. "Thou
shalt make them as a fiery oven in the time of thine anger: the Lord shall
swallow them up in his wrath, and the fire shall devour them." How
then shall it fare with sinners, when, after all, shall come that general fire
so often foretold, which shall either fall from heaven, or ascend out of hell,
or (according to Albertus Magnus), proceed from both, and shall devour and
consume all it meets with? Whither shall the miserable fly, when that river of
flames, or (to say better), that inundation and deluge of fire shall so
encompass them, as no place of surety shall be left; where nothing can avail
but a holy life; when all besides shall perish, in that universal ruin of the
whole world? What lamentations were in Rome, when it burnt for seven days
together! What shrieks were heard in Troy, when it was wholly consumed with
flames! What howling and astonishment in Pentapolis, when those cities were
destroyed with fire from heaven! What weeping there was in Jerusalem, when they
beheld the house of God, the glory of their kingdom, the wonder of the world,
involved in fire and smoke! Imagine what these people felt; they saw their
houses and goods on fire, and no possibility of saving them; when the husband
heard the shrieks and cries of his dying wife; the father, of his little
children; and, unawares, perceived himself so encompassed with flames, that he
could neither relieve them, nor free himself. What shall it then profit the
worldlings, to have rich vessels of gold and silver, curious embroideries,
precious tapestries, pleasant gardens, sumptuous palaces, and all what the
world now esteems, when they shall with their own eyes, behold their costly
palaces burnt, their rich and curious pieces of gold melted, and their
flourishing and pleasant orchards consumed, without power to preserve them or
themselves? All shall burn, and with it the world, and all the memory and fame
of it shall die; and that which mortals thought to be immortal, shall then end
and perish.—Jeremy Taylor.
Verse 9. "Thou
shalt make them as a fiery oven in the time of thine anger." They
shall not only be cast into a furnace of fire (Matthew 13:42), but he shall
make them themselves as a fiery oven or furnace, they shall be their own
tormentors, the reflections and terrors of their own consciences will be their
hell. Those that might have had Christ to rule and save them, but rejected him,
and fought against him, even the remembrance of that will be enough to make
them to eternity a fiery oven to themselves.—Matthew Henry.
Verse 9. "Thou
shalt make them as a fiery oven:" thou shalt make them on fire within,
by the consciousness of their ungodliness: "In the time of thy
countenance;" in the time of thy manifestation.—Augustine.
Verse 9. "As
a fiery oven," where the burning is extremely hot, the heat striking
upon what is in it from all sides, above, below, and about, on all hands, and
the door closed from going out, or from suffering any cool refreshment to come
in.—David Dickson.
Verse 9. "As
a fiery oven." Shall make them like a vault of fire, literally, "an
oven," as in our translation, or "furnace of fire." Bishop
Horsley remarks, "It describes the smoke of the Messiah's enemies
perishing by fire, ascending like the smoke of a furnace. 'The smoke of their
torments shall ascend for ever and ever.'" How awfully grand is that
description of the ruins of the cities of the plain, as the prospect struck on
Abraham's eye on the fatal morning of their destruction! "And he looked
toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld,
and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace."
Milton puts it—
"Overhead
the dismal hiss
Of fiery darts in flaming volleys flew,
And flying vaulted either host with fire."
Richard Mant.
Verse 9. The Chaldee
reads:—"The fire of Gehenna, or hell."—John Morison.
Verse 9. "The
time of thine anger." If God be willing to pour out his heavy
displeasure upon those that displease him, what can hinder his mighty arm from
performing? Creatures indeed may be angry, but oftentimes, like drones without
stings, cannot hurt; as cannons charged with powder without shot only make a
roaring; like the Pope's Bulls, threaten many, hurt none but those whose
conscience is enslaved. Saul may be angry at David, but cannot find him out;
but from God's all-piercing eye none can hide himself. Satan may desire to kill
Job, Jonah may be angry till death for Nineveh's preservation; yet God puts a
bit in both their mouths, who, if he be angry, nothing can be holden out of his
reach. Princes, if they take captives, may have them rescued from them again,
as Lot was from the King of Sodom; bought with a price, as Joseph of the
Ishmaelites. But no power can rescue us from God's anger, no ransom but
Christ's blood redeem us. God's will being set afoot, all his attributes
follow; if his will say, Be angry, his eye seek out the object of his anger,
and finds it; his wisdom tempers the cup, his hand whets the sword, his arm
strikes the blow. Thus you see there is a time of God's anger for sin, because
he will have it so.—John Cragge.
Verse 9. "The
fire shall devour them." Being troubled by the vengeance of the Lord,
after the accusation of their conscience, they shall be given up to eternal
fire to be devoured.—Augustine.
Verse 9. I have read
that a frown of Queen Elizabeth killed Sir Christopher Hatton, the Lord
Chancellor of England. What then shall the frowns of the King of nations do? If
the rocks rend, the mountains melt, and the foundations of the earth tremble
under his wrath; how will the ungodly sinner appear when he comes in all his
royal glory to take vengeance on all that knew him not, and that obeyed not his
glorious gospel?—Charles Bradbury.
Verse 10. "Their
fruit shalt thou destroy from the earth, and their seed from among the children
of men." A day is coming when all the "fruits" of
sin, brought forth by sinners in their words, their writings, and their actions
shall be "destroyed;" yea, the tree itself, which had produced
them, shall be rooted up, and cast into the fire. The "seed"
and posterity of the wicked, if they continue in the way of their forefathers,
will be punished like them. Let parents consider, that upon their principles
and practices may depend the salvation or destruction of multitudes after them.
The case of the Jews, daily before their eyes, should make them tremble.—George
Horne.
Verse 11. "They
intended," or warped. Hebrew, have bent or stretched. A
similitude taken from weavers, who warp their yarn before they weave: or from
archers, who, when they have bent their bow and put in their arrow, do take
their aim.—John Diodati.
Verse 12. "Therefore
shalt thou make them turn their back," or thou shalt set them as a
butt, "when thou shalt make ready thine arrows upon thy strings against
the face of them." The judgments of God are called his "arrows,"
being sharp, swift, sure and deadly. What a dreadful situation, to be set as a
mark and "butt" at which these arrows are directed! View
Jerusalem encompassed by the Roman armies without, and torn to pieces by the
animosity of desperate and bloody factions within! No farther commentary is
requisite upon this verse.—George Horne.
HINTS TO THE
VILLAGE PREACHER
Verse 1. The joy of
Jesus and of his people in the strength and salvation of God.
Verses 1, 2. The
doctrine of the resurrection of Jesus Christ contained in the text, may be
considered under three heads:
I.
As an answer to prayer.
II.
His joy therein—even in the resurrection.
III.
As a necessary appendage to this—our own individual concern in his glory and
in his joy. Hamilton Verschoyle.
Verse 2. The
successful Advocate.
Verse 3 (first
clause). Preventing mercies.
Verse 3 (first
clause). GOD GOING BEFORE US, or God's anticipation of our necessities by
his merciful dispensations. God prevents us with the blessings of his goodness:
I.
When we come into the world.
II.
When we become personal transgressors.
III.
When we enter upon the duties and upon the cares of mature life.
IV.
When, in the general course of life, we enter upon new paths.
V.
In the dark "valley of the shadow of death."
VI.
By giving us many mercies without our asking for them; and thus creating
occasion, not for prayer, but for praise only.
VII.
By opening to us the gate of heaven, and by storing heaven with every provision
for our blessedness.—Samuel Martin.
Verse 3 (second
clause). Jesus crowned.
I.
His previous labours.
II.
The dominion bestowed.
III.
The character of the crown.
IV.
The divine coronant.
Verse 4. Jesus ever
living.
Verse 5. The glory
of the Mediator.
Verse 6. The
blessedness of Jesus.
Verse 7. Jesus, and
example of faith and of its results.
Verse 8. The secret
sinner unearthed, and deprived of all hope of concealment.
Verses 8, 9. The
certainty and terror of the punishment of the wicked.
Verses 11, 12. The
guilt and punishment of evil intentions.
Verse 12. The
retreat of the grand army of hell.
Verse 13. A
devout Doxology.
I.
God exalted.
II.
God alone exalted.
III.
God exalted by his own strength.
IV.
His people singing his praise.
── C.H. Spurgeon《The Treasury of David》