THE PSALMS
TRANSLATED
AND
EXPLAINED
JOSEPH ADDISON ALEXANDER, D.D.
1864 Edinburgh; Andrew Elliot and James Thin.
Digitized by Ted Hildebrandt
and Erin Bensing.
PREFACE
The present publication owes its origin
to Hengstenberg's Commentary on
the
Psalms. The original design was to make that work, by abridgment
and
other unessential changes, more acceptable and useful to the English
reader
than it could be in the form of an exact translation. It was soon
found,
however, that by far the most important part of such a book would
be
a literal version of the Hebrew text, and that this was precisely what
could
not be obtained at second hand, by the awkward and unsatisfying
process
of translating a translation, but must be derived directly from an
independent
scrutiny of the original. In attempting this, the deviations
from
Hengstenberg, continually in form and not unfrequently in substance,
rendered
it wholly inexpedient and improper to make him responsible for
what
was really a new translation. The only course remaining therefore
was
to make this general acknowledgment, that his work is the basis of the
one
now offered to the public, and that more has been directly drawn from
that
source than from all others put together. The present writer has so
freely
availed himself of Hengstenberg's translations, exegetical suggestions,
and
illustrative citations, in preparing his own version and explanatory
comments,
that nothing could have led him to forego the advantage of in-
serting
that distinguised name upon his title-page, except a natural unwill-
ingness
to make it answerable for the good or evil which is really his own.
At
the same time, he considers it by no means the least merit of the book,
that
it presents, in a smaller compass and a more familiar dress, the most
valuable
results of so masterly an exposition.
In justice to his work and to himself, the
author wishes it to be distinctly
understood,
that he has aimed exclusively at explanation, the discovery and
statement
of the meaning. To this he has confined himself for several
reasons:
first, because a wider plan would have required a larger book than
was
consistent with his general purpose; then, because this is really the
point
in which assistance is most needed by the readers of the Psalter; and
lastly,
because he had especially in view the wants of ministers, who are
better
able than himself to erect a doctrinal, devotional, or practical super-
structure
on the exegetical basis which he has endeavoured here to furnish.
It
follows of course, that the book is not designed to supersede the admirable
1
2
PREFACE.
works
in common use, except so far as it may be found to correct their
occasional
errors of translation or verbal exposition.
It may be thought that, in order to
accomplish this design, the author
might
have satisfied himself with a bare translation.
But experience has
more
and more convinced him, that the meaning of an author cannot be
fully
given in another language by the use of exact equivalents, which are
in
fact so few, that the deficiency can only be supplied by the addition of
synonymous
expressions or by explanatory paraphrase, or by exegetical
remark
directly added to the text, or by the use of all these means together.
The
idea which he has endeavoured here to realize is that of an amplified
translation. In the version properly so called, he has
endeavoured to pre-
serve,
not only the strength but the peculiar form of the original, which is
often
lost in the English Bible, by substituting literal for figurative and
general
for specific terms, as well as by a needless deviation from the order
of
the words in Hebrew, upon which the emphasis, if not the sense, is fre-
quently
dependent, and which has here been carefully restored wherever the
difference
of idiom would suffer it, and sometimes, it may possibly be thought,
without
regard to it. Another gratuitous
departure from the form of the
original,
which has been perhaps too scrupulously shunned, but not, it is
believed,
without advantage to the general character of the translation,
arises
from the habit of confounding the tenses, or merging the future and
the
past in a jejune and inexpressive present.
The instances where this
rule
has been pushed to a rigorous extreme may be readily detected, but
will
not perhaps be thought to outweigh the advantage of preserving one
of
the most marked and striking features of the Hebrew language.
The plan of the book, as already defined,
has excluded not only all devo-
tional
and practical remark, but all attempt to give the history of the
interpretation,
or to enumerate the advocates and authors of conflicting
expositions. This, although necessary to a complete
exegetical work, would
rather
have defeated the design of this one, both by adding to its bulk and
by
repelling a large class of readers. It
has therefore been thought better to exclude it, or rather to reserve it for a
kindred work upon a large scale, if
such
should hereafter be demanded by the public.
The same course has been
taken
with respect to a great mass of materials, relating to those topics
which
would naturally find their place in a Critical Introduction. Many of
these,
and such as are particularly necessary to the exposition, have been
noticed
incidentally as they occur. But
synoptical summaries of these, and
full
discussions of the various questions, as to the age and authors of the
several
psalms, the origin and principle of their arrangement, the best mode
of
classification, and the principles on which they ought to be interpreted,
would
fill a volume by themselves, without materially promoting the main
object
of the present publication. As the
topics thus necessarily excluded
will
probably constitute a principal subject of the author’s private and pro-
fessional
studies for some time to come, he is not without the hope of being
able
to bring something of this kind before the public, either in a separate
work
upon the Psalms, or in a general Introduction to the Scriptures.
PREFACE. 3
The difficulty of discussing these
preliminary matters within reasonable
compass,
although great in the case of any important part of Scripture, is
aggravated
by the peculiar structure of the Psalter, the most miscellaneous
of
the sacred books, containing a hundred and fifty compositions, each com-
plete
in itself, and varying in length, from two sentences (Ps. cxvii.) to a
hundred
and seventy-six (Ps. cxix.), as well as in subject, style, and tone,
the
work of many authors, and of different ages; so that a superficial reader
might
be tempted to regard it as a random or fortuitous collection of uncon-
nected
and incongruous materials.
A closer inspection shews, however, that
this heterogeneous mass is not
without
a bond of union; that these hundred and fifty independent pieces,
different
as they are, have this in common, that they are all poetical, not
merely
imaginative and expressive of feeling, but stamped externally with
that
peculiar character of parallelism, which distinguishes the higher style
of
Hebrew composition from ordinary prose. A still more marked resem-
blance
is that they are all not only poetical but lyrical, i. e. songs, poems
intended
to be sung, and with a musical accompaniment. Thirdly, they are
all
religious lyrics, even those which seem at first sight the most secular in
theme
and spirit, but which are all found on inquiry to be strongly expres-
sive
of religious feeling. In the fourth place, they are all ecclesiastical lyrics,
psalms
or hymns, intended to be permanently used in public worship, not
excepting
those which bear the clearest impress of original connection with
the
social, domestic, or personal relations and experience of the writers.
The book being thus invested with a certain
unity of spirit, form, and
purpose,
we are naturally led to seek for something in the psalms them-
selves,
which may determine more definitely their relation to each other.
The
first thing of this kind that presents itself is the existence, in a very
large
proportion, of an ancient title or inscription, varying in length and ful-
ness;
sometimes simply describing the composition, as a psalm, a song, a
prayer,
&c.; sometimes stating the subject or historical occasion, either in
plain
or enigmatical expressions; sometimes directing the performance, by
indicating
the accompanying instrument, by specifying the appropriate key
or
mode, or by naming the particular performer: these various intimations
occurring
sometimes singly, but frequently in combination.
The strenuous attempts which have been made
by modern writers to
discredit
these inscriptions, as spurious additions of a later date, containing
groundless
and erroneous conjectures, often at variance with the terms and
substance
of the psalm itself, are defeated by the fact that they are found
in
the Hebrew text, as far as we can trace its history, not as addenda, but
as
integral parts of the composition; that such indications of the author
and
the subject, at the commencement of a composition, are familiar both
to
classical and oriental usage; and that the truth of these inscriptions may
in
every case be vindicated, and in none more successfully than those which
seem
at first sight least defensible, and which have therefore been appealed
to,
with most confidence, as proofs of spuriousness and recent date.
The details included in this general
statement will be pointed out as they
4
PREFACE.
occur,
but are here referred to by anticipation, to explain and vindicate the
constant
treatment of the titles in this volume as an integral part of the
sacred
text, which in some editions of the Bible has been mutilated by
omitting
them, and in others dislocated or confused, for the purposes of refer-
ence,
by passing them over in the numeration of the verses. As this last arrangement is familiar to all
readers of the English Bible, an attempt has been made in the following
exposition to consult their convenience, by add-
ing
the numbers of the English to those of the Hebrew text, wherever they
are
different.
Another point of contact and resemblance
between these apparently de-
tached
and independent compositions is the frequent recurrence of set
phrases
and of certain forms extending to the structure of whole psalms,
such
as the alphabetical arrangement, in which the successive sentences or
paragraphs
begin with the letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
This is the more remarkable, because these alphabetic psalms have all a
common
character,
distinguishing them from the rest, to wit, that instead of a pro-
gression
of ideas, they consist of variations on a theme propounded at the outset,
whether this be regarded as the cause or the effect of the peculiar
form
itself.
The same inquiries which have led to these
conclusions also shew that the arrangement of the psalms in the collection is
by no means so unmean-
ing
and fortuitous as may at first sight seem to be the case, but that in
many
instances at least, a reason may be found for the juxtaposition, in
resemblance
or identity of subject or historical occasion, or in some
remarkable
coincidence of general form or of particular expressions. If
in
some cases it is difficult to trace the reason of the collocation, there are
others
in which two psalms bear so intimate and obvious a mutual relation,
that
they seem to constitute a pair or double psalm, either because they
were
originally meant to match each other, or because one has been sub-
sequently
added for the purpose. Sometimes,
particularly in the latter
part
of the collection, we may trace not only pairs but trilogies, and even
more
extensive systems of connected psalms, each independent of the rest,
and
yet together forming beautiful and striking combinations, particularly
when
the nucleus or the basis of the series is an ancient psalm; for instance
one
of David’s, to which others have been added, in the way of variation or of
imitation, at a later period, such as that of the Captivity.
Although the facts just mentioned are
sufficient to evince that the Book
of
Psalms was not thrown together at random, but adjusted by a careful
hand,
the principle of the arrangement is not always so apparent, or of
such
a nature as to repress the wish to classify the psalms and reduce them
to
some systematic order. The most obvious
arrangement would be that
by
authors, if the data were sufficient.
But although the title ascribe one
to
Moses, seventy-two to David, two to Solomon, twelve to Asaph, one to
Ethan,
and eleven to the Sons of Korah, it is doubtful in some of the
cases,
more particularly those last mentioned, whether the title was designed
to
indicate the author or the musical performer, and more than fifty are
PREFACE. 5
anonymous.
In some of these the hand of David may be still distinctly
traced,
but as to most, we are abandoned to conjecture, which of course
affords
no solid basis for a satisfactory or useful distribution.
Another principle of classification is the
internal character, the subject,
style,
and manner of the psalms. This was applied by the older writers,
in
accordance with the forms of artificial rhetoric, and with endless variety
in
the result. But the best application of the principle is that proposed by
Hengstenberg,
and founded on the tone of pious feeling which the psalm
expresses:
whether joyous, as in the general psalms of praise, and more
especially
in those of thanksgiving; or sad, as in the querulous and peni-
tential
psalms; or calm, as in most of the prophetic and didactic psalms.
All
these, however, are arrangements which the reader can make best to
please
himself, and which are rather the results of exposition than prelimi-
nary
aids to it.
Apart from these attempts at systematic
distribution and arrangement,
there
is also a question with respect to the division of the Psalter as it
stands.
There is an ancient division into five parts, corresponding, as the
Rabbins
say, to the five books of Moses, and indicated by doxologies at the
close
of Ps. xli., lxxii., lxxxix., cvi., while Ps. cl. is itself a doxology,
winding
up the whole. The modern critics, more especially in
have
tasked their ingenuity to prove that these are distinct collections,
contemporaneous
or successive, of detached compositions, afterwards com-
bined
to form the present Psalter. But they never have been able to
account,
with any plausibility or show of truth, for the remarkable position
which
the psalms of David occupy in all parts of the book. A much more
probable
hypothesis, though coupled with a theory, to say the least,
extremely
dubious, is that of Hengstenberg, who looks upon the actual
arrangement
as the work of Ezra, or some other skilful and authoritative
hand,
and accounts for the division into five books as follows. The first
book
(Ps. i.–xli.) contains only psalms of David, in which the use of the
divine
name Jehovah is predominant. The second (Ps. xlii.-lxxii.) contains
psalms
of David and his contemporaries, i. e.,
Solomon, Asaph, and the
Sons
of Korah, in which the predominant divine name is Elohim. The third
(Ps.
lxxiii.–lxxxix.) contains psalms of Asaph and the Sons of Korah, in
which
the name Jehovah is predominant. The fourth (Ps. xc.–cvi.) and
fifth
(cvii.–cl.,) contain, for the most part, psalms of later date, the princi-
pal
exceptions being one by Moses (Ps. xc.), and several of David's, to
which
others in the same strain have been added, in the way already
mentioned.
However ingenious this hypothesis may be,
it will be seen at once that
it
contributes very little to the just appreciation or correct interpretation of
the
several psalms, except by enabling us, in certain cases, to derive illus-
tration
from a more extended context, as the reader will find stated in its
proper
place. Even granting, therefore, the historical assumption upon
which
it rests, and the favourite doctrine as to the divine names, with
which
it is to some extent identified, it will be sufficient for our present
6
PREFACE.
purpose
to have stated it in outline, leaving the reader to compare it with
the
facts as they successively present themselves, and reserving a more full
investigation
of the general question to another time and place.
The best arrangement for the ordinary student
of the Psalter is the
actual
arrangement of the book itself: first, because we have no better,
and
the efforts to invent a better have proved fruitless; then, because, as
we
have seen, there are sufficient indications, of a principle or purpose in
this
actual arrangement, whether we can always trace it there or not;
lastly,
because uniform tradition and analogy agree in representing it as
highly
probable that this arrangement was the work of Ezra, the inspired
collector
and rédacteur of the canon, so that
even if nothing more should
ever
be discovered, with respect to his particular design or plan, we have
still
the satisfaction of relying, not on chance, but on a competent or rather
an
infallible authority, as well as the advantage of studying the psalms in
a
connection and an order which may possibly throw light upon them, even
when
it seems to us most fortuitous or arbitrary.
If any subdivision of the book is needed,
as a basis or a means of more
convenient
exposition, it may be obtained by taking, as the central column
of
this splendid fabric, its most ancient portion, the sublime and affecting
Prayer
of Moses, known from time immemorial as the Ninetieth Psalm,
and
suffering this, as a dividing line, to separate the whole into two great
parts,
the first composed entirely of psalms belonging to the times of
David,
the other of a few such, with a much greater number of later com-
positions,
founded on them and connected with them.
This simple distribution seems to secure
all the substantial advantages
of
Hengstenberg's hypothesis, without its complexity or doubtful points.
Among
the latter may be reckoned the extraordinary stress laid by this
eminent
interpreter on what may be called Symbolical Arithmetic, or the
significance
ascribed to the number of verses, of Selahs, of Jehovahs, of
Elohims,
used in any given psalm. Setting out from the unquestionable
fact,
that certain numbers are symbolically used in the Old Testament;
that
seven is the symbol of the covenant, twelve of the theocracy, ten of
completeness
or perfection, five of the reverse, &c., he attempts to trace
the
application of this principle throughout the psalms, and not, as might
have
been expected, without many palpable failures to establish his favour-
ite
and foregone conclusion. The effect which this singular prepossession
might
have had upon his exposition is prevented by his happily restricting
it
entirely to form and structure, and putting it precisely on a level with
the
alphabetical arrangement of the Hebrews, and with rhyme as used by
other
nations. There is still, however, reason to regret the space allotted
to
this subject in his volumes, and good ground for excluding it from works
of
an humbler and more popular description. As all the views of such a
mind,
however, are at least entitled to consideration, this subject may
appropriately
take its place among the topics of a Critical Introduction.
With respect to the historical relations of
the Psalter and its bearings
on
the other parts of Scripture, it will be sufficient to remind the reader,
PREFACE. 7
that
the Mosaic system reached its culminating point and full development
in
the reign of David, when the land of promise was in full possession, the
provisions
of the law for the first time fully carried out, and a permanent
sanctuary
secured, and, we may even say, prospectively erected. The chain
of
Messianic promises, which for ages had been broken, or concealed
beneath
the prophetic ritual, was now renewed by the addition of a new
link,
in the great Messianic promise made to David (2 Sam. vii.) of per-
petual
succession in his family. As the head of this royal race from which
the
Messiah was to spring, and as the great theocratical model of succeed-
ing
ages, who is mentioned more frequently in prophecy and gospel than
all
his natural descendants put together, he was inspired to originate a new
kind
of sacred composition, that of Psalmody, or rather to educe from the
germ
which Moses had planted an abundant harvest of religious poetry,
not
for his own private use, but for that of the Church, in the new form of
public
service which he added by divine command to the Mosaic ritual.
As
an inspired psalmist, as the founder and director of the temple-music.
and
as a model and exemplar to those after him, David's position is unique
in
sacred history. As his military prowess had been necessary to complete
the
conquest of the land, so his poetical and musical genius was necessary
to
secure his influence upon the church for ever. The result is, that no
part
of the Bible has been so long, so constantly, and so extensively fami-
liar,
both to Jews and Christians, as the Psalms
of David. This deno-
minatio a potiori is entirely correct, as
all the other writers of the psalms,
excepting
Moses, merely carry out and vary what had been already done
by
David; and as if to guard the system from deterioration, the further we
proceed
the more direct and obvious is this dependence upon David, as
"the
man raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the
sweet
psalmist of
other
psalmists, from the days of Solomon to those of Ezra.
The interesting questions which have so
often been discussed, as to the
theology
and ethics of the Psalter, and especially in reference to the doc-
trine
of a Messiah and a future state, and to the so-called imprecations of
the
psalms, can be satisfactorily settled only by detailed interpretation of
the
passages concerned, and any summary anticipation of the general
result
may here be spared, although it would be highly appropriate in a
Critical
Introduction.
After this brief statement of preliminary
points which might be fully
treated
in an Introduction, it only remains to add, in explanation of the
plan
adopted in the work itself, that the reader is constantly supposed to
be
familiar with the Hebrew text and with the authorised version, but that,
in
order to make the exposition accessible to a larger class of educated
readers,
the original words have been introduced but sparingly, and only
for
the purpose of saving space and avoiding an awkward circumlocution.
The
translation of the text is printed in italic type as prose, partly for a
reason
just assigned, to save room; partly because it is really prose, and
not
verse, according to the common acceptation of those terms; partly be-
8
PREFACE.
cause
the effect of the poetical element, so far as it exists, is weakened
rather
than enhanced when printed as irregular blank verse: but especially
because
the version is not meant to stand by itself, or to be continuously
read,
but to be part and parcel of the exposition, and to be qualified by the
accompanying
paraphrase and comments.
The religious uses of the Psalms, both
doctrinal and practical, though
not
directly aimed at in these volumes, are so far from being undervalued
by
the author, and indeed so essential to his ultimate design, that any effect
which
the book may have, however humble or remote, in the promotion of
this
end, will be esteemed by him as its most flattering success, and the
most
acceptable reward of his exertions.
THE
PSALMS.
PSALM I.
The book opens with an exquisite picture
of the truly Happy Man, as seen
from
the highest ground of the old dispensation. He is described both
literally
and figuratively, positively and negatively, directly and by contrast,
with
respect both to his character and his condition, here and hereafter.
The
compression of all this into so short a composition, without confusion
or
obscurity, and with a high degree of graphic vividness, shews what the
psalm
is in a rhetorical or literary point of view, apart from its religious
import
and divine authority. Its moral design is both didactic and con-
solatory.
There is no trace of any particular historical occasion or allusion.
The
teams employed are general, and admit of an easy application to all
times
and places where the word of God is known. The psalm indeed con-
tains
a summary of the doctrine taught in this book and in the Scriptures
generally,
as to the connection between happiness and goodness. It is well
placed,
therefore, as an introduction to the whole collection, and although
anonymous,
was probably composed by David. It is altogether worthy of
this
origin, and corresponds, in form and substance, to the next psalm,
which
is certainly by David. The two seem indeed to form a pair or double
psalm,
of which arrangement there are several other instances. The struc-
ture
of the first psalm is symmetrical but simple, and the style removed
from
that of elevated prose by nothing but the use of strong and lively
figures.
1. The Happy Man is first described in
literal but negative expressions,
i. e. by stating what he does
not habitually do. The description opens with
a
kind of admiring exclamation. (Oh) the blessedness of the man! The
plural
form of the original (felicities or happinesses), if anything more than
a
grammatical idiom like ashes, means,
&c., in our language, may denote
fulness
and variety of happiness, as if he had said, How completely happy is
the man! The negative
description follows. Happy the man who
has not
walked, a common figure for
the course of life or the habitual conduct, which
is
furthermore suggested by the use of the past tense, but without excluding
the
present, who has not walked and does not walk, in the counsel, i. e. live
after
the manner, on the principles, or according to the plans, of wicked
(men), and in, the way of sinners has not stood. The word translated sinners
properly
denotes those who fall short of the standard of duty, as the word
translated
wicked denotes those who positively
violate a rule by disorderly
10 PSALM
I. [VER.
2, 3.
conduct.
Together they express the whole idea of ungodly or unrighteous
men.
And in the seat, not the chair, but
the company, or the place where
men
convene and sit together, of scorners,
scoffers, those who treat religion
with
contempt, has not sat. The three
verbs denote the three acts or pos-
tures
of a waking man, namely, walking, standing, sitting, and are there-
fore
well adapted to express the whole course of life or conduct. It is also
possible
that a climax was intended, so that walking, standing, and sitting
in
the company of sinners will denote successive stages of deterioration, first
occasional
conformity, then fixed association, then established residence
among
the wicked, not as a mere spectator or companion, but as one of
themselves.
The same kind of negative description reappears in Psalm
xxvi.
4, 5, and in Jer. xv. 17. It is of course implied that no one, of whom
any
of these things can be affirmed, is entitled to the character of a Happy Man.
2. A positive trait is now added to the
picture. Having shewn what the
truly
happy man does not, the Psalmist shews us what he does. But, on
the
contrary, in contrast with the previous description, in the law of Jehovah,
i. e. the written revelation
of his will, and more especially the Pentateuch
or
Law of Moses, which lay at the foundation of the Hebrew Scriptures, (is)
his delight, not merely his
employment, or his trust, but his pleasure, his
happiness.
And in his law he will meditate, i. e. he
does so and will do so
still,
not merely as a theme of speculation or study, but as a cherished
object
of affection, a favourite subject of the thoughts, day and night, i. e.
at
all times, in every interval of other duties, nay in the midst of other
duties,
this is the theme to which his mind spontaneously reverts. The
cordial
attachment to an unfinished revelation, here implicitly enjoined,
chews
clearly what is due to the completed word of God which we possess.
3. The literal description of the Happy
Man, both in its negative and
positive
form, is followed by a beautiful comparison, expressive of his cha-
racter
and his condition. And he is, or he
shall be; the present and the future
insensibly
run into each other, so as to suggest the idea of continuous or
permanent
condition, like the past and present in the first verse. And
he is, or shall be, like a tree, a lively emblem of vitality
and fruitfulness.
He
is not, however, like a tree growing wild, but like a tree planted, in the
most
favourable situation, on or over, i. e. overhanging, streams of water.
The
original words properly denote canals or channels, as customary means
of
artificial irrigation. Hence the single tree is said to overhang more than
one,
because surrounded by them. The image presented is that of a highly
cultivated
spot, and implies security and care, such as could not be enjoyed
in
the most luxuriant wilderness or forest. The divine culture thus experi-
enced
is the cause of the effect represented by the rest of the comparison.
Which (tree) will give, or
yield, its fruit in its season, and its
leaf shall not
wither; it shall lose neither
its utility nor beauty. This is then expressed
in
a more positive and prosaic form. And all,
or every thing, which he,
the
man represented by the verdant fruitful tree, shall do, he shall make to
prosper, or do prosperously,
with good success. This pleasing image is in
perfect
keeping with the scope of the psalm, which is not to describe the
righteous
man, as such, but the truly happy man, with whom the righteous
man
is afterwards identified. The neglect of this peculiar feature of the
composition
impairs its moral as well as its rhetorical effect, by making it
an
austere declaration of what will be expected from a good man, rather
than
a joyous exhibition of his happy lot. That the common experience,
even
of the best men, falls short of this description, is because their cha-
VER.
4-6.] PSALM I.
11
racter
and life fall short of that presented in the two preceding verses. The
whole
description is not so much a picture drawn from real life, as an ideal
standard
or model, by striving to attain which our aims and our attainments
will
be elevated, though imperfect after all.
4. Not
so the wicked. The direct description of the Happy Man is
heightened
and completed by comparison with others. Not
so the wicked,
i. e. neither in condition
nor in character. The dependence of the one upon
the
other is suggested by describing them as wicked, rather than unhappy.
Not so, i. e. not thus happy, (are) the
wicked, because they are wicked, and
are
therefore destitute of all that constitutes the happiness before described.
The
immediate reference, in the phrase not so,
is to the beautiful, well-
watered,
green, and thriving tree of the preceding verse. To this delightful
emblem
of a healthful happy state the Psalmist now opposes one drawn
likewise
from the vegetable world, but as totally unlike the first as possible.
The
wicked are not represented by a tree, not even by a barren tree, a dead
tree,
a prostrate tree, a shrub, a weed, all which are figures not unfre-
quent
in the Scriptures. But all these are more or less associated with the
natural
condition of a living plant, and therefore insufficient to present the
necessary
contrast. This is finely done by a comparison with chaff, which,
though
a vegetable substance, and connected in its origin with one of the
most
valuable products of the earth, is itself neither living, fruitful, nor
nutritious,
but only fit to be removed and scattered by the wind, in the
ancient
and oriental mode of winnowing. There is a double fitness in the
emblem
here presented, as suggesting the idea of intrinsic worthlessness,
and
at the same time that of contrast with the useful grain, with which it
came
into existence, and from which it shall be separated only to be blown
away
or burned. Not so the wicked, but like
the chaff; which the wind drives
away. The same comparison is
used in Psalm xxxv. 5, Isa. xvii. 13, xxix.
5,
Hos. xiii. 3, Zeph. ii. 2, Job xxi. 18, and by John the Baptist in Mat.
iii.
12, with obvious allusion to this psalm, but with a new figure, that of
burning,
which seems to be intended to denote final and complete destruc-
tion,
while in all the other cases, the idea suggested by the chaff being
blown
away is that of violent and rapid disappearance.
5. Therefore,
because they are unlike a living tree, and like the worth-
less
chaff, fit only to be scattered by the wind, wicked (men) shall not stand,
i. e. stand their ground or
be able to sustain themselves, in the judgment,
i. e. at the bar of God. This
includes two ideas, that of God's unerring
estimation
of all creatures at their real value, and that of his corresponding
action
towards them. The wicked shall neither be approved by God, nor,
as
a necessary consequence, continue to enjoy his favour, even in appear-
ance.
Whatever providential inequalities may now exist will all be rectified
hereafter.
The wicked shall not always be confounded with their betters.
They shall not stand in
the judgment,
either present intermediate judgments,
or
the final judgment of the great day. And
sinners, the same persons
under
another name, as in ver. 1 (shall not
stand) in the congregation, or
assembly,
of righteous (men). They shall not continue intermingled with
them
in society as now, and, what is more important, they shall not for ever
seem
to form part of the church or chosen people, to which the word trans-
lated
congregation is constantly applied in
the Old Testament. Whatever
doubt
may now exist, the time is coming when the wicked are to take their
proper
place and to be seen in their true character, as totally unlike the righteous.
6. The certainty of this event is secured
by God's omniscience, from
12
PSALM I. [VER.
6.
which
his power and his justice are inseparable. However men may be
deceived
in their prognostications, he is not. The
Lord, Jehovah, the God
of
Revelation, the covenant God of Israel, knows,
literally (is) knowing, i. e.
habitually
knows, or knows from the beginning to the end, the way of right-
eous (men), i. e. the tendency
and issue of their character and conduct.
As
if he had said, the Lord knows whither they are going and where they
will
arrive at last. This is a clear though indirect assertion of their safety, here
and
hereafter. The figure of a way is
often used to express the character
and
conduct itself; but this idea is here implied or comprehended in that of
destiny,
as determined by the character and conduct. There is no need, there-
fore,
of taking the verb know in any other
than its usual and proper sense.
The
verse is an appeal to divine omniscience for the truth of the implied
assertion,
that the righteous are safe and will be happy, as well as for that
of
the express assertion, with which the whole psalm closes. The way of
wicked (men), in the same sense as before, shall perish, i. e. end in ruin.
The
apparent solecism of making a way perish only brings out in more
prominent
relief the truth really asserted, namely, the perdition of those
who
travel it. This completes the contrast, and sums up the description
of
the truly Happy Man, as one whose delight is in the law and his happi-
ness
in the favour of Jehovah, and whose strongest negative characteristic
is
his total want of moral likeness here to those from whom he is to dwell
apart
hereafter.
PSALM II.
A sublime
vision of the nations in revolt against Jehovah and his
Anointed,
with a declaration of the divine purpose to maintain his King's
authority,
and a warning to the world that it must bow to him or perish.
The
structure of this psalm is extremely regular. It naturally falls into
four
stanzas of three verses each. In the first, the conduct of the rebel-
lious
nations is described. In the second, God replies to them by word
and
deed. In the third, the Messiah or Anointed One declares the divine
decree
in relation to himself. In the fourth, the Psalmist exhorts the rulers
of
the nations to submission, with a threatening of divine wrath to the dis-
obedient,
and a closing benediction on believers. The several sentences
it
are also very regular in form, exhibiting parallelisms of great uniformity.
Little
as this psalm may, at first sight, seem to resemble that before it,
there
is really a very strong affinity between them. Even in form they are
related
to each other. The number of verses and of stanzas is just double
in
the second, which moreover begins, as the first ends, with a threatening,
and
ends, as the first begins, with a beatitude. There is also a resemblance
in
their subject and contents. The contrast indicated in the first is carried
out
and rendered more distinct in the second. The first is in fact an intro-
duction
to the second, and the second to what follows. And as the psalms
which
follow bear the name of David, there is the strongest reason to believe
that
these two are his likewise, a conclusion confirmed by the authority of
Acts
iv. 25, as well as by the internal character of the psalm itself. The
imagery
of the scene presented is evidently borrowed from the warlike and
eventful
times of David. He cannot, however, be himself the subject of
the
composition, the terms of which are wholly inappropriate to any king
but
the Messiah, to whom they are applied by the oldest Jewish writers,
and
again and again in the New Testament. This is the first of those pro-
VER.
1, 2.] PSALM
II.
13
phetic
psalms, in which the promise made to David, with respect to the
Messiah
(2 Sam. vii. 16, 1 Chron. xvii. 11-14), is wrought into the lyrical
devotions
of the ancient church. The supposition of a double reference to
David,
or some one of his successors, and to Christ, is not only needless
and
gratuitous, but hurtful to the sense by the confusion which it introduces,
and
forbidden by the utter inappropriateness of some of the expressions
used
to any lower subject. The style of this psalm, although not less pure
and
simple, is livelier than that of the first, a difference arising partly from
the
nature of the subject, but still more from the dramatic structure of the
composition.
1. This psalm opens, like the first, with
an exclamation, here expressive
of
astonishment and indignation at the wickedness and folly of the scene
presented
to the psalmist's view. Why do nations
make a noise, tumultuate,
or
rage? The Hebrew verb is not expressive of an internal feeling, but of
the
outward agitation which denotes it. There may be an allusion to the
rolling
and roaring of the sea, often used as an emblem of popular commo-
tion,
both in the Scriptures and the classics. The past tense of this verb
(why have they raged?) refers to the
commotion as already begun, while the
future
in the next clause expresses its continuance. And peoples, not people,
in
the collective sense of persons, but in the proper plural sense of nations,
races,
will imagine, i. e. are imagining and
will continue to imagine, vanity,
a
vain thing, something hopeless and impossible. The interrogation in
this
verse implies that no rational solution of the strange sight could be
given,
for reasons assigned in the remainder of the psalm. This implied
charge
of irrationality is equally well founded in all cases where the same
kind
of opposition exists, though secretly, and on the smallest scale.
2. The confused scene presented in the
first verse now becomes more
distinct,
by a nearer view of the contending parties. (Why will) the
kings of earth set
themselves,
or, without repeating the interrogation, the
kings of earth will set
themselves,
or take their stand, and rulers consult
to-
gether, literally sit
together, but with special reference to taking counsel,
as
in Ps. xxxi. 14 (13), against Jehovah and
against his Anointed, or Messiah,
which
is only a modified form of the Hebrew word here used, as Christ is
a
like modification of the corresponding term in Greek. External unction
or
anointing is a sign, in the Old Testament, of the gifts of the Holy Spirit,
and
especially of those conferred on prophets, priests, and kings, as minis-
ters
of the theocracy, and representatives of Christ himself. To kings
particularly,
as the highest and most comprehensive order, and peculiar
types
of Christ in his supremacy as Head of the church, the sacred history
applies
the title of the Lord's Anointed. The
rite of unction is explicitly
recorded
in the case of Saul, David, and Solomon, and was probably re-
peated
at the coronation of their successors. From the verse before us,
and
from Dan. ix. 26, the name Messiah
has, before the Advent, come into
use
among the Jews as a common designation of the great Deliverer and
King
whom they expected. (Compare John i. 41 with ver. 49 of the same
chapter,
and with Mark xv. 32.) The intimate relation of the Anointed
One
to God himself is indicated even here by making them the common
object
of attack, or rather of revolt. In Acts iv. 25-27, this description
is
applied to the combination of Herod and Pilate, Jews and Gentiles,
against
Jesus Christ, not as the sole event predicted, but as that in which
the
gradual fulfilment reached its culmination. From that quotation,
and
indeed from the terms of the prophecy itself, we learn that nations
here
does not mean Gentiles or heathen, as opposed to Jews, but whole com-
14
PSALM II. [VER. 3, 4.
munities
or masses of mankind, as distinguished from mere personal or
insulated
cases of resistance and rebellion.
3. Having described the conduct of the
disaffected nations and their
chiefs,
he now introduces them as speaking. In the preceding verse they
were
seen, as it were, at a distance, taking counsel. Here they are brought
so
near to us, or we to them, that we can overhear their consultations.
Let us break their
bands, i. e.
the bands of the Lord and his Anointed, the
restraints
imposed by their authority. The form of the Hebrew verb may
be
expressive either of a proposition or of a fixed determination. We will
break their bands, we are resolved to do
it. This is, in fact, involved in the
other
version, where let us break must not
be understood as a faint or
dubious
suggestion, but as a summons to the execution of a formed and
settled
purpose. The same idea is expressed, with a slight modification,
in
the other clause. And we will cast,
or let us cast away from us their cords,
twisted
ropes, a stronger term than bands.
The verb, too, while it really
implies
the act of breaking, suggests the additional idea of contemptuous
facility,
as if they had said, Let us fling away from us with scorn these
feeble
bands by which we have been hitherto confined. The application
of
this passage to the revolt of the Ammonites and other conquered nations
against
David, or to any similar rebellion against any of the later Jewish
kings,
as the principal subject of this grand description, makes it quite
ridiculous,
if not profane, and cannot therefore be consistent with the
principles
of sound interpretation. The utmost that can be conceded is
that
David borrowed the scenery of this dramatic exhibition from the wars
and
insurrections of his own eventful reign. The language of the rebels
in
the verse before us is a genuine expression of the feelings entertained,
not
only in the hearts of individual sinners, but by the masses of mankind,
so
far as they have been brought into collision with the sovereignty of God
and
Christ, not only at the time of his appearance upon earth, but in the ages
both
before and after that event, in which the prophecy, as we have seen, attained
its
height,
but was not finally exhausted or fulfilled, since the same rash and hopeless
opposition
to the Lord and his anointed still continues, and is likely to continue until
the
kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ
(Rev.
xi. 15), an expression borrowed from this very passage.
4. As the first strophe or stanza of three
verses is descriptive of the
conduct
of the rebels, so the next describes the corresponding action of
their
sovereign, in precisely the same order, telling first what he does (in
ver.
4, 5), and then what he says (in ver. 6), so that these two stanzas
are
not only regular in their internal structure, but exactly fitted to each
other.
This symmetrical adjustment is entitled to attention, as that feature
of
the Hebrew poetry which fills the place of rhythm and metre in the
poetry
of other nations. At the same time, it facilitates interpretation,
when
allowed to speak for itself without artificial or unnatural straining,
by
exhibiting the salient points of the passage in their true relation. The
transition
here is a sublime one, from the noise and agitation of earth
to
the safety and tranquillity of heaven. No shifting of the scene could be
more
dramatic in effect or form. While the nations and their kings exhort
each
other to cast off their allegiance to Jehovah, and thereby virtually
to
dethrone him, he reposes far above them, and beyond their reach. Sit-
ting in the heavens, i.
e.
resident and reigning there, he laughs,
or will
laugh.
This figure, strong and almost startling as it is, cannot possibly
be
misunderstood by any reader, as a vivid expression of contemptuous
VER.
5-7.]
PSALM II. 15
security
on God's part, and of impotent folly on the part of men. At them
may
be supplied from Ps. xxxvii. 13, and lix. 9 (8); but it is not neces-
sary,
and the picture is perhaps more perfect, if we understand the laughter
here
to be simply expressive of contempt, and the idea of directly laughing
at them to be first suggested
in the other clause. The Lord, not Jehovah,
as
in ver. 2, but Adhonai, the Hebrew
word properly denoting Lord or
Sovereign as a divine title, the
Lord shall mock them, or mock at them, as
the
strongest possible expression of contempt. This verse conveys in the
most
vivid manner, one indeed that would be inadmissible in any unin-
spired
writer, the fatuity of all rebellious opposition to God's will. That
such
is often suffered to proceed long with impunity is only, in the figura-
tive
language of this passage, because God first laughs at human folly,
and
then smites it. "Who thought," says Luther, "when Christ
suffered,
and
the Jews triumphed, that God was laughing all the time?" Beneath
this
bold anthropomorphism there is hidden a profound truth, namely,
that
to all superior beings, and above all, to God himself, there is some-
thing
in sin not only odious but absurd, something which cannot possibly
escape
the contempt of higher, much less of the highest, intelligence.
5. This contemptuous repose and seeming
indifference shall not last for
ever.
Then, after having thus derided them,
then, as the next stage in this
fearful
process, he will speak to them, as
they, after rising up against him,
spoke
to one another in ver. 3. And in his
heat, i. e. his hot displeasure,
the
wrath to which the laughter of ver. 4 was but a prelude, he will agitate
them, terrify them, make them
quake with fear, not as a separate act
from
that described in the first clause, but by the very act of speaking to
them
in his anger, the words spoken being given in the following verse.
6. The divine address begins, as it were,
in the middle of a sentence;
but
the clause suppressed is easily supplied, being tacitly involved in what
precedes.
As if he had said, you renounce your allegiance and assert your
independence,
and I, on my part, the pronoun when
expressed in Hebrew
being
commonly emphatic, and here in strong antithesis to those who are
addressed.
You pursue your course and I mine. The translation yet,
though
inexact and arbitrary, brings out the antithesis correctly in a different
form
from that of the original. And I have
constituted, or created, with
allusion
in the Hebrew to the casting of an image, or as some less probably
suppose
to unction, I have constituted my King,
not simply a king, nor even
the king, neither of which
expressions would be adequate, but my
king, one
who
is to reign for me and in indissoluble union with me, so that his reign-
ing
is identical with mine. This brings out still more clearly the intimate
relation
of the Anointed to Jehovah, which had been indicated less dis-
tinctly
in ver. 2, and thus prepares us for the full disclosure of their mutual
relation
in ver. 7. And I have constituted my King
upon
holiness, or holy hill, i. e. consecrated, set apart,
distinguished from all
other
hills and other places, as the seat of the theocracy, the royal residence, the
capital
city,
of the Lord and of his Christ, from the time that David took up his abode, and
deposited
the ark there. The translation over
only
the visible and temporary centre of a kingdom coextensive with the earth, as we
expressly
read it, ver. 8, below. This shews that the application of the verse before
us
to David himself, although intrinsically possible, is utterly at variance
with
the context and the whole scope of the composition.
7. We have here another of those changes
which impart to this whole
16
PSALM II.
VER. 7.
psalm
a highly dramatic character. A third personage is introduced as
speaking
without any formal intimation in the text. As the first stanza
(ver.
1-3) closes with the words of the insurgents, and the second (ver. 4-6)
with
the words of the Lord, so the third (ver. 7-9) contains the language
of
the king described in the preceding verse, announcing with his own lips
the
law or constitution of his kingdom. I
will declare, or let me declare,
the
same form of the verb as in ver. 3, the
decree, the statute, the organic
law
or constitution of my kingdom. The Hebrew verb is followed by a
preposition,
which may be expressed in English, without any change of
sense,
by rendering the clause, I will declare,
or make a declaration, i. e.
a
public, formal announcement (as) to the law or constitution of my
kingdom.
This
announcement is then made in a historical form, by reciting what had
been
said to the king at his inauguration or induction into office. Jehovah
said to me, My son (art) thou, this day have I
begotten thee. Whether this
be
regarded as a part of the decree or law itself, or as a mere preamble to
it,
the relation here described is evidently one which carried with it uni-
versal
dominion as a necessary consequence, as well as one which justifies
the
use of the expression my King in ver.
6. It must be something more,
then,
than a figure for intense love or peculiar favour, something more than
the
filial relation which the theocratic kings, and
God.
(Exod. iv. 22; Deut. xiv. 1,2, xxxii. 6; Isa. lxiii. 16; Hos. xi. 1;
Mal.
i. 6; Rom ix. 4.) Nor will any explanation of the terms fully meet
the
requisitions of the context except one which supposes the relation here,
described
as manifest in time to rest on one essential and eternal. This
alone
accounts for the identification of the persons as possessing a common
interest,
and reigning with and in each other. This profound sense of the
passage
is no more excluded by the phrase this
day, implying something
recent,
than the universality of Christ's dominion is excluded by the local
reference
to
centre
of an infinite circle. Besides, the mere form of the declaration is a
part
of the dramatic scenery or costume with which the truth is here
invested.
The ideas of a king, a coronation, a hereditary succession, are
all
drawn from human and temporal associations. This
day have I begotten
thee may be considered,
therefore, as referring only to the coronation of
Messiah,
which is an ideal one. The essential meaning of the phrase I
have begotten thee is simply this, I am thy father. The antithesis is per-
fectly
identical with that in 2 Sam. vii. 14, "I will be his father, and he
shall
be my son." Had the same form of expression been used here, this
day am I thy father, no reader would have
understood this day as limiting
the
mutual relation of the parties, however it might limit to a certain point
of
time the formal recognition of it. It must also be observed, that even
if
this day be referred to the inception of the filial relation, it is thrown
indefinitely
back by the form of reminiscence or narration in the first clause
of
the verse. Jehovah said to me, but
when? If understood to mean from everlasting or
eternity,
the form of expression would he perfectly in keeping with the other figurative
forms
by which the Scriptures represent things really ineffable in human language.
The
opinion
that this passage is applied by Paul, in Acts xiii. 33, to Christ's
resurrection, rests
upon
a misapprehension of the verb raised up,
which has this specific meaning only
when
determined by the context or the addition of the words from the dead, as in
the
next verse of the same chapter, which is so far from requiring the more
general
expressions of the preceding verse to be taken in the same sense,
that
it rather forbids such a construction, and shows that the two verses
VER.
8, 9.] PSALM
II.
17
speak
of different stages in the same great process: first, the raising up of
Jesus
in the same sense in which God is said to have raised him up in Acts
ii.
30, iii. 22, 26, vii. 36, i. e.
bringing him into being as a man; and then
the
raising up from the dead, which the apostle himself introduces as
another
topic in Acts xiii. 34. There is nothing, therefore, inconsistent
with
the statement that the psalmist here speaks of eternal sonship, either
in
the passage just referred to, or in Heb. v. 5, where the words are only
cited
to prove the solemn recognition of Christ's sonship, and his conse-
quent
authority, by God himself. This recognition was repeated, and, as
it
were, realised at our Saviour's baptism and transfiguration (Mat. iii. 17,
xvii.
5), when a voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son, in whom
I
am well pleased, hear ye him!"
8.
The recital of Jehovah's declaration to his Son is still continued.
Ask of me, and I will
give nations
(as) thy heritage, i. e. thy
portion as my
Son,
and (as) thy (permanent) possession, from a verb denoting to hold fast,
the ends of the earth, a common Old Testament
expression for the whole
earth,
the remotest bounds and all that lies between them. The phrase is
never
applied to a particular country, and cannot therefore be explained of
the
ridiculous. The only subject, who can be assumed and carried through
without
absurdity, is the Messiah, who, as the Son and heir of God, had a
right
to ask this vast inheritance. That he had asked it and received it,
is
implied in the dominion claimed for him in ver. 2 and 3, where the
nations
are represented in revolt against him as their rightful sovereign.
It
was to justify this claim that the divine decree is here recited, the
constitution of
Messiah's
kingdom, in which its limits are defined as co-extensive with the earth.
9. This extensive grant had been
accompanied by that of power ade-
quate
to hold it. That power was to be exercised in wrath as well as
mercy.
The former is here rendered prominent, because the previous con-
text
has respect to audacious rebels, over whom Messiah is invested with
the
necessary power of punishment, and even of destruction. Thou shalt
break them with a rod (or sceptre) of iron, as
the hardest metal, and there-
fore
the best suited to the use in question. By a slight change of pointing
in
the Hebrew, it may be made to mean, thou
shalt feed them (as a shep-
herd)
with a rod of iron, which is the
sense expressed in several of the
ancient
versions, and to which there may be an ironical allusion, as the
figure
is a common one to represent the exercise of regal power. (See for
example
2 Sam. vii. 7, and Micah vii. 14.) Like a
potter's vessel thou, shalt
shiver them, or dash them in
pieces, which last, however, weakens the
expression
by multiplying the words. The idea suggested by the last
comparison
is that of easy and immediate destruction, perhaps with an
implication
of worthlessness in the object. This view of the Messiah as a
destroyer
is in perfect keeping with the New Testament doctrine, that those
who
reject Christ will incur an aggravated doom, and that Christ himself
is
in some sense the destroyer of those who will not let him be their
Saviour,
or, to borrow terms from one of his own parables, in strict agree-
ment
with the scene presented by the psalm before us, "those mine ene-
mies
which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither and slay
them
before me" (Luke xix. 27). That false view of the divine nature
which
regards God as delighting in the death of the sinner, is more revolt-
ing,
but not more dangerous than that which looks upon his justice as ex-
tinguished
by his mercy, and supposes that the death of Christ has rendered
18
PSALM II.
[VER. 10-12.
perdition
impossible, even to those who will not believe in him. The terms of this verse
are
repeatedly applied to Christ in the Book of Revelation (ii. 27, xii. 5, xix.
15).
10. The description having reached its
height in the preceding verse,
there
is here a sudden change of manner, a transition to the tone of earnest
admonition,
still addressed, however, to the characters originally brought
upon
the scene. And now (O) kings,
after all that you have seen and
heard,
after this demonstration that you cannot escape from the dominion
of
Messiah, and that if you persist in your rebellion he will certainly destroy
you,
be wise, act wisely; be warned, be admonished of your danger
and your
duty,
(O) judges of the earth! A specific function of the regal office is
here
used
as an equivalent or parallel to kings
in the first clause, just as rulers
is
employed for the same purpose in ver. 2. The change of tone in this
last
strophe shews that the previous exhibition of Messiah as invested with
destroying
power was, as it usually is in Scripture, only introductory to
another
aspect of the same great object, which becomes more clear and
bright
to the conclusion of the psalm. At the same time the original
dramatic
structure is maintained; for the speaker, in this closing stanza,
is
the Psalmist himself.
11. Serve
the Lord, Jehovah, in the way that he requires, by acknow-
ledging
his Anointed as your rightful sovereign. Serve
the Lord with fear,
religious
awe, not only on account of his tremendous majesty, but also in
view
of his vindicatory justice and destroying power. And shout, as a cus-
tomary
recognition of a present sovereign, with
trembling, an external sign
of
fear, employed as an equivalent or parallel to fear itself. The word
translated
shout may also mean rejoice, as joy is often publicly
expressed
by
acclamation. The sense will then be, and
rejoice with trembling, i. e.
exercise
those mingled feelings which are suited to your present situation,
in
full view of God's wrath on one side, and his mercy on the other. This
explanation
agrees well with the transition, in these verses, from the tone
of
terrible denunciation to that of friendly admonition and encouragement.
12. Lest the exhortation in the preceding
verse should seem to have
respect
to Jehovah as an absolute sovereign, without reference to any other
person,
the attention is again called to his King, his Anointed, and his
Son,
as the sovereign to whom homage must be paid, in order to escape
destruction.
Kiss the Son, an ancient mode of
doing homage or allegiance
to
a king (1 Sam. x. 1), sometimes applied to the dress, and sometimes to
the
person, either of the sovereign or the subject himself. Even in modern
European
courts the kissing of the hand has this significance. In the case
before
us there may possibly be an allusion to the kiss as a religious act
among
the heathen (1 Kings xix. 18; Hos. xiii. 2; Job xxxi. 27). Kiss
the Son, the Son of God, the
Messiah, so called by the Jews in Christ's
time
(John i. 50; Matt. xxvi. 63; Mark xi-v. 61; Luke xxii. 70): do
him
homage, own him as your sovereign, lest
he be angry, and ye lose the
way, i. e. the way to happiness and heaven, as in Ps. i. 6, or perish from
the way, which is the same
thing in another form, or perish by the
way, i. e.
before
you reach your destination. All these ideas are suggested by the
Hebrew
phrase, which is unusual. The necessity of prompt as well as
humble
submission is then urged. For his wrath
will soon burn, or be
kindled. The translation,
"when his wrath is kindled but a little," does
not
yield so good a meaning, and requires two of the original expressions
to
be taken in a doubtful and unusual sense. The same view of the
Messiah
as a judge and an avenger, which appeared in ver. 9, is again
VER.
1.] PSALM
III.
19
presented
here, but only for a moment, and as a prelude to the closing beati-
tude
or benediction. Blessed (are) all,
oh the felicities of all, those trusting
him, believing on him, and
confiding in him. This delightful contrast of
salvation
and perdition, at one and the same view, is characteristic of the
Scriptures,
and should teach us not to look ourselves, and not to turn the
eyes
of others, towards either of these objects without due regard to the
other
also. The resemblance in the language of this verse to that of Ps.
i.
1 and 6, brings the two into connection, as parts of one harmonious com-
position,
or at least as kindred and contemporaneous products of a single
mind,
under the influence of one and the same Spirit.
PSALM III.
This
Psalm contains a strong description of the enemies and dangers by
which
the writer was surrounded, and an equally strong expression of con-
fidence
that God would extricate him from them, with particular reference
to
former deliverances of the same kind. Its place in the collection does
not
seem to be fortuitous or arbitrary. It was probably among the first of
David's
lyrical compositions, the two which now precede it having been
afterwards
prefixed to the collection. In these three psalms there is a
sensible
gradation or progressive development of one great idea. The
general
contrast, which the first exhibits, of the righteous and the wicked,
is
reproduced, in the second, as a war against the Lord and his Anointed.
In
the third it is still further individualised as a conflict between David,
the
great historical type of the Messiah, and his enemies. At the same
time,
the expressions are so chosen as to make the psalm appropriate to
its
main design, that of furnishing a vehicle of pious feeling to the church
at
large, and to its individual members in their own emergencies. The
structure
of the psalm is regular, consisting of four double verses, besides
the
title.
1. A
Psalm of David, literally (belonging)
to David, i. e. as the author.
This
is not a mere inscription, but a part of the text and inseparable from
it,
so far as we can trace its history. It was an ancient usage, both among
classical
and oriental writers, for the author to introduce his own name into
the
first sentence of his composition. The titles of the psalms ought, there-
fore,
not to have been printed in a different type, or as something added to
the
text, which has led some editors to omit them altogether. In all
Hebrew
manuscripts they bear the same relation to the body of the psalm,
that
the inscriptions in the prophet's or in Paul's epistles bear to the sub-
stance
of the composition. In the case before us, as in every other, the
inscription
is in perfect keeping with the psalm itself, as well as with the
parallel
history. Besides the author's name, it here states the historical
occasion
of the composition. A Psalm of David, in his fleeing, when he
fled,
from the face, from the presence, or
before, Absalom, his son (see
2
Sam. xv. 14, 17, 30). Such a psalm might well be conceived, and even
composed,
if not actually written, in the midst of the dangers and distresses
which
occasioned it. There is no need therefore of supposing the reference
to
be merely retrospective. That the terms used are so general, is because
the
psalm, though first suggested by the writer's personal experience, was
intended
for more general use.
2 (1). O
Lord, Jehovah, the name of God as self-existent and eternal,
and
also as the covenant God of Israel, how
many, or how multiplied, are
20
PSALM III. [VER. 2-4.
my foes, my oppressors or
tormentors! This is not a question, but an
exclamation
of surprise and grief. Many rising up
against me. The sen-
tence
may either be completed thus: many (are they) that rise up against
me;
or the construction of the other clause may be continued. (How)
many (are there) rising up against
me! The same periphrasis for enemies
is
used
by Moses, Deut. xxviii. 7. What is here said of the multitude of
enemies
agrees well with the historical statement in 2 Sam. xv. 13, xvi. 18.
3 (2). (There
are) many saying, or, (how) many
(are there) saying to my
soul, i. e. so as to affect my heart, though really said of him, not
directly
addressed
to him. (Compare Ps. xxxv. 3; Isa. li. 23.) There
is no salva-
tion, deliverance from evil,
whether temporal, spiritual, or eternal. There
is
no salvation for him, the sufferer, and primarily the psalmist himself, in
God, i. e. in his power, or his purpose, implying either that God does
not
concern
himself about such things, Ps. x. 11, or that he has cast the suf-
ferer
off, Ps. xlii. 4, 11 (3, 10), lxxi. 11, xxii. 8, 9 (7, 8); Matt. xxvii. 43.
This
is the language, not of despondent friends, but of malignant ene-
mies,
and is really the worst that even such could say of him. For, as
Luther
well says, all the temptations in the world, and in hell too, melted
together
into one, are nothing when compared with the temptation to
despair
of God's mercy. The first stanza, or double verse, closes, like the
second
and fourth, with the word Selah. This
term occurs seventy-three
times
in the psalms, and three times in the prophecy of Habakkuk. It
corresponds
to rest, either as a noun or verb,
and like it is properly a
musical
term, but generally indicates a pause in the sense as well as the
performance.
See below, on Ps. ix. 17 (16). Like the titles, it invariably
forms
part of the text, and its omission by some editors and translators is
a
mutilation of the word of God. In the case before us, it serves as a kind
of
pious ejaculation to express the writer's feelings, and, at the same time,
warns
the reader to reflect on what he reads, just as our Saviour was accus-
tomed
to say: He that hath ears to hear let him hear.
4 (3). From his earthly enemies and dangers
he looks up to God, the
source
of his honours and his tried protector. The connection is similar
to
that between the fifth and sixth verses of the second psalm. The and
(not
but) has reference to a tacit
comparison or contrast. This is my treat-
ment
at the hands of men, and thou, on the
other hand, O Lord, Jehovah,
(art) a
shield about me, or around me, i. e.
covering my whole body, not
merely
a part of it, as ordinary shields do. This is a favourite metaphor
with
David; see Ps. vii. 11 (10), xviii. 3 (2), xxviii. 7. It occurs, how-
ever,
more than once in the Pentateuch; see Gen. xv. 1; Deut. xxxiii. 29.
My honour, i. e. the source of the honours I enjoy, with particular refer-
ence,
no doubt, to his royal dignity, not as a secular distinction merely,
but
in connection with the honour put upon him as a type and representa-
tive
of Christ. The honour thus bestowed by God he might well be expected
to
protect. My honour, and the (one) raising my head, i. e. making me look up from
my
despondency. The whole verse is an appeal to the psalmist's previous experience
of
God's goodness as a ground for the confidence afterwards expressed.
5 (4). (With)
my voice to the Lord, Jehovah, I will call, or cry. The
future
form of the verb is probably intended to express continued or habi-
tual
action, as in Ps. i. 2. I cry and will cry still. And he hears me, or,
then he hears me, i. e. when I call. The original construction shews, in a
peculiar
manner, the dependence of the last verb on the first, which can
hardly
be conveyed by an exact translation. The second verb is not the
VER.
5-7.] PSALM
III.
21
usual
verb to hear, but one especially appropriated to the gracious hearing
or
answering of prayer. And he hears (or
answers) me from his hill of holi-
ness, or holy hill. This, as we learn from Ps.
ii. 6, is
centre
of the old theocracy, the place where God visibly dwelt among his
people.
This designation of a certain spot as the earthly residence of God,
was
superseded by the incarnation of his Son, whose person thenceforth
took
the place of the old sanctuary. It was, therefore, no play upon words
or
fanciful allusion, when our Saviour "spake of the temple of his body"
(John
ii. 21), but a disclosure of the true sense of the sanctuary under the
old
system, as designed to teach the doctrine of God's dwelling with his
people.
The same confidence with which the Christian now looks to God
in
Christ the old believer felt towards the holy hill of Zion. Here again the
strophe
ends
with a devout and meditative pause, denoted as before by Selah.
6 (5.) I,
even I, whose case you regarded as so desperate, have lain down,
and slept, (and) awaked,
notwithstanding all these dangers, for
the Lord,
Jehovah,
will sustain me, and I therefore have
no fears to rob me of my
sleep.
This last clause is not a reason for the safety he enjoys, which
would
require the past tense, but for his freedom from anxiety, in reference
to
which the future is entirely appropriate. This construction, the only
one
which gives the Hebrew words their strict and full sense, forbids the
supposition
that the psalm before us was an evening song, composed on the
night
of David's flight from
sible
or necessary, it may be regarded as a morning rather than an evening
hymn.
7 (6). The fearlessness implied in the
preceding verse is here expressed.
I will not be afraid of
myriads,
or multitudes, the Hebrew word being
used
both
in a definite and vague sense. It also contains an allusion to the first
verb
in ver. 2 (1), of which it is a derivative. I
will not be afraid of
myriads of people, either in the sense of
persons, men, or by a poetic licence
for
the people, i. e.
Whom they, my enemies, have set, or posted, round about against me. This
is
a simpler and more accurate construction than the reflexive one, who
have set (themselves) against me round
about, although the essential meaning
still
remains the same. The sum of the whole verse is, that the same
courage
which enabled him to sleep without disturbance in the midst of
enemies
and dangers, still sustained him when those enemies and dangers
were
presented to his waking senses.
8 (7). That this courage was not founded
upon self-reliance, he now
shews
by asking God for that which he before expressed his sure hope of
obtaining.
Arise, O Lord, Jehovah! This is a
common scriptural mode
of
calling upon God to manifest his presence and his power, either in wrath
or
favour. By a natural anthropomorphism, it describes the intervals of
such
manifestations as periods of inaction or of slumber, out of which he
is
besought to rouse himself. Save me,
even me, of whom they say there
is
no help for him in God. See above, ver. 3 (2). Save me, O my God,
mine
by covenant and mutual engagement, to whom I therefore have a
right
to look for deliverance and protection. This confidence is warranted,
moreover,
by experience. For thou hast, in
former exigencies, smitten all
my enemies, without exception, (on the) cheek or jaw, an act at
once violent
and
insulting. See 1 Kings xxii. 24; Micah iv. 14; v. 1; Lam. iii. 30.
The teeth of the wicked, here identified with
his enemies, because he was
the
champion and representative of God's cause, thou
hast broken, and thus
22 PSALM
IV. [VER.
1.
rendered
harmless. The image present to his mind seems to be that of
wild
beasts eager to devour him, under which form his enemies are repre-
sented
in Ps. xxvii. 2.
9 (8). To
the Lord, Jehovah, the salvation,
which I need and hope for,
is
or belongs, as to its only author and dispenser. To him, therefore, he
appeals
for the bestowment of it, not on himself alone, but on the church
of
which he was the visible and temporary head. On thy people (be)
thy blessing! This earnest and
disinterested intercession for God's people
forms
a noble close or winding up of the whole psalm, and is therefore
preferable
to the version, on thy people (is) thy
blessing, which, though
equally
grammatical, is less significant, and indeed little more than a repe-
tition
of the fact asserted in the first clause, whereas this is really an im-
portunate
petition founded on it. The whole closes, like the first and
second
stanzas, with a solemn and devout pause. Selah.
PSALM
IV.
The
Psalmist prays God to deliver him from present as from past dis-
tresses,
ver. 2 (1). He assures the haters of his regal dignity that God
bestowed
it, and will certainly protect it, ver. 3, 4 (2, 3). He exhorts
them
to quiet submission, righteousness, and trust in God, ver. 5, 6 (4, 5).
He
contrasts his own satisfaction, springing from such trust, with the hope-
less
disquietude of others, even in the midst of their enjoyments, ver. 7, 8
(6,
7). He closes with an exquisite proof of his tranquillity by falling
asleep,
as it were, before us, under the divine protection, ver. 9 (8). The
resemblance
of the last verse to ver. 6 (5) of the preceding psalm, together
with
the general similarity of structure, shews that, like the first and second,
they
were meant to form a pair, or double psalm. For the reasons given
in
explaining Ps. iii. 6 (5), the third may be described as a morning, and
the
fourth as an evening psalm. The historical occasion is of course
the
same in both, though mentioned only in the title of the third, while
the
musical directions are given in the title of the fourth. The absence of
personal
and local allusions is explained by the object of the composition,
which
was not to express private feelings merely, but to furnish a vehicle
of
pious sentiment for other sufferers, and the church at large.
1. To
the chief musician, literally the overseer
or superintendent, of any
work
or labour (2 Chron. ii. 1, 17, xxxiv. 12), and of the temple music in
particular
(1 Chron. xv. 21). The psalm is described as belonging to him,
as
the performer, or as intended for him,
to be given to him. This shows
that
it was written for the use of the ancient church, and not for any merely
private
purpose. That this direction was not added by a later hand is
clear
from the fact that it never appears in the latest psalms. The same
formula
occurs at the beginning of fifty-three psalms, and at the close of
the
one in the third chapter of Habakkuk. A more specific musical direc-
tion
follows. In, on, or with stringed instruments. This may
either qualify
chief musician, as denoting the leader
in that particular style of perform-
ance,
or direct him to perform this particular psalm with that kind of accom-
paniment.
A psalm to David, i. e. belonging to him as the author,
just as
it
belonged to the chief musician, as
the performer. The original expres-
sion
is the same in both cases. Of David
conveys the sense correctly, but
is
rather a paraphrase than a translation.
2 (1). The psalm opens with a prayer for
deliverance founded on pre-
VER.
2, 3.] PSALM
IV.
23
vious
experience of God's mercy. In my calling,
when I call, hear me, in
the
pregnant sense of hearing favourably, hear and answer me, grant me
what
I ask. O my God of righteousness, my
righteous God! Compare
my hill of holiness, Ps. ii. 6, and his hill of holiness, Ps. iii. 5 (4).
The
appeal
to God, as a God of righteousness, implies the justice of the Psalm-
ist's
cause, and spews that he asks nothing inconsistent with God's holi-
ness.
The same rule should govern all our prayers, which must be impious if
they
ask God to deny himself. The mercy here asked is no new or untried
favour.
It is because he has experienced it before that he dares to ask it
now.
In the pressure, or confinement, a
common figure for distress, which
I
have heretofore experienced, thou hast
widened, or made room for me, the
corresponding
figure for relief. All he asks is that this may be repeated.
Have mercy upon me, or be gracious unto me, now as in former
times, and
hear my prayer. This appeal to former
mercies, as a ground for claiming new
ones,
is characteristic of the Bible and of true religion. Among men past
favours
may forbid all further expectations; but no such rule applies to
the
divine compassions. The more we draw from this source, the more
copious
and exhaustless it becomes.
3 (2). Sons
of man! In Hebrew, as in Greek, Latin, and German,
there
are two words answering to man, one generic and the other specific.
When
placed in opposition to each other, they denote men of high and low
degree,
as in Ps. xlix. 3 (2), lxii. 10 (9), Prov. viii. 4. It seems better,
therefore,
to give the phrase here used its emphatic sense, as signifying men
of
note or eminence, rather than the vague one of men in general or human
beings.
This agrees, moreover, with the probable occasion of this psalm,
viz.,
the rebellion of Absalom, in which the leading men of
involved.
To what (time), i. e. how long, or
to what (point), degree of
wickedness;
most probably the former. How long (shall) my honour, not
merely
personal, but official, (be) for shame, i. e. be so accounted, or (be
converted) into shame, by my humiliation? David never loses sight of his
religious
dignity as a theocratical king and a type of the Messiah, or of the
insults
offered to the latter in his person. The question, how long? im-
plies
that it had lasted long enough, nay, too long, even when it first began;
in
other words, that it was wrong from the beginning. (How long) will ye
love vanity, or a vain thing, in
the sense both of a foolish, hopeless under-
taking,
and of something morally defective or worthless. The same word
is
used above in reference to the insurrection of the nations against God
and
Christ (Ps. ii. 1). (How long) will ye seek a lie, i. e. seek to realise a
vain
imagination, or to verify a false pretension, with particular reference
perhaps
to the deceitful policy of Absalom (2 Sam. xv. 4, 7). As the love
of
the first clause denotes the bent of their affections, so the seek of this
clause
signifies the acting out of their internal dispositions. Compare Ps.
xxxiv.
15 (14), and Zeph. ii. 3. The feeling of indignant surprise implied
in
the interrogation is expressed still further by a solemn pause. Selah.
See
above, on Ps. iii. 3 (2). The position of this word, here and in ver. 5 (4)
below,
seems
to forbid the division of the psalm into strophes or stanzas of equal length.
4 (3). The pause at the close of the
preceding verse expresses feeling.
The
connection of the verses, as to sense, is as intimate as possible. The
and at the beginning of the
verse before us has reference to the exhortation
implied
in the foregoing question. (See above, on Ps. ii. 6.) Cease to
love
vanity and seek a lie, and know, be
assured, that the Lord, Jehovah,
hath set apart, the same verb used to
signify the segregation of
24 PSALM IV. [VER. 4.
the
rest of men (Ex. viii. 18, ix. 4, xi. 7, xxxiii. 16), here applied to the
designation
of an individual to the highest theocratical dignity. The Lord
hath set apart for
himself,
for his own service, the execution of his own plans,
and
the promotion of his own honour. It was not, therefore, an attack on
David,
but on God himself and the Messiah whom he represented. The
Hebrew
word dysiHA derived from ds,H,, love to God or man,
may either
signify
an object of the divine mercy, or one actuated by religious love. If
both
ideas are included, which is altogether probable, neither godly nor any
other
single word in English is an adequate translation. The predominant
idea
seems to be the passive one, so that the words are not so much de-
scriptive
of religious character as of divine choice: and know that the Lord
hath
set apart for the accomplishment of his own purpose one selected in
his
sovereign mercy for that purpose. This is mentioned as a proof that
their
hostility was vain, and that the prayer of verse 2 (1) would certainly
be
heard and answered. This followed as a necessary consequence from
the
relation which the Psalmist bore to God, not only as a godly man, but
as
a theocratic sovereign. The Lord,
Jehovah, will hear, in my calling,
when
I call, unto him. The terms of the
opening petition are here studi-
ously
repeated, so as to connect the prayer itself with the expression of
assured
hope that it will be answered.
5 (4). The address to his enemies is still
continued, but merely as a
vehicle
of truth and his own feelings. Rage and
sin not, i. e. do not sin
by
raging, as you have done, against me, the Lord's Anointed, and indirectly
therefore
against himself. This construction of the Hebrew words, though
not
the most obvious or agreeable to usage, agrees best with the context
and
with the Septuagint version, adopted by Paul in Ephesians iv. 26, where
the
precept, Be ye angry and sin not,
seems to be a positive prohibition of
anger,
i. e., of its wilful continuance, as
appears from what the apostle adds,
perhaps
in allusion to the last clause of the verse before us. Some, it is
true,
have understood Paul as meaning, Be angry upon just occasions, but
be
careful not to sin by groundless anger or excess. But even if this be
the
sense of the words there, it is entirely inappropriate here, where the
anger
of the enemies was altogether sinful, and they could not therefore be
exhorted
to indulge it. There is still another meaning which the Hebrew
words
will bear. The verb strictly means to be violently moved with any
passion
or emotion, whether anger (Prov. xxix. 9), grief (2 Sam. xviii. 33),
or
fear (Isa. xxxii. 11). It might therefore be translated here, tremble,
stand
in awe, and sin not. But this,
although it yields a good sense, cuts
off
all connection between David's words and those of Paul, and makes the
explanation
of the latter still more difficult. The English word rage not
only
conveys the sense of the original correctly, but is probably connected
with
it in its etymology. The command to cease from raging against God
and
his Anointed, is still further carried out in the next clause. Say in
your heart, to yourselves, and not
aloud, much less with clamour, what you
have
to say. The Hebrew verb does not mean to speak
but to say, and,
like
this English word, is always followed by the words spoken, except in
a
few cases where they can be instantly supplied from the context. E. g.
Exod.
xix. 25, "So Moses went unto the people and said (not spake) to
them"
what
God had just commanded him. Gen. iv. 8, "And Cain said to Abel
his
brother (not talked with him),"
let us go into the field, as appears from
what
immediately follows. Compare 2 Chron. ii. 10 (11). It might here
be
rendered, say (so) in your heart, i. e. say we will no longer sin by raging
VER.
5-8.] PSALM
IV.
25
against
David; but the other is more natural, and agrees better with what
follows.
Say (what you do say) in your heart, upon your bed, i. e. in the
silence
of the night, often spoken of in Scripture as the season of reflec-
tion
(Eph. iv. 26), and be still, be
silent, implying repentance and submis-
sion
to authority. The effect of this exhortation to be still is beautifully
strengthened
by a pause in the performance. Selah.
6 (5). Before his enemies can be successful
they must have a fear of
God
and a faith, of which they are entirely destitute. This confirmation
of
the Psalmist's hopes is clothed in the form of an exhortation to his
enemies.
Offer offerings, or sacrifice
sacrifices, of righteousness, i. e.
righteous
sacrifices,
prompted by a right motive, and implying a correct view of the
divine
nature. There may be an allusion to the hypocritical services of
Absalom,
and especially his pretended vow (2 Sam. xv. 7, 8). The form of
expression
here is borrowed from Deut. xxxiii. 19. As an indispensable
prerequisite
to such a service, he particularly mentions faith. And trust in
the Lord, Jehovah, not in any
human help or temporal advantages.
7 (6). Many
(there are) saying, Who will shew us good? This may be
in
allusion to the anxious fears of his companions in misfortune, but is more
probably
a picture of the disquiet and unsatisfied desire arising from the
want
of faith and righteousness described in the foregoing verse. Of all
who
do not trust in God it may be said, that they are continually asking
Who will shew us good, who will shew us
wherein happiness consists, and
how
we may obtain it? In contrast with this restlessness of hope or of
despair,
he shews his own acquaintance with the true source of tranquillity
by
a petition founded on the ancient and authoritative form in which the
High
Priest was required to bless the people (Num. vi. 24-26). "The
Lord
bless thee and keep thee; the Lord make his face shine upon thee
and
be gracious unto thee; the Lord lift up his countenance upon thee and
give
thee peace." Two of these solemn benedictions are here mingled in
a
prayer. Lift upon us the light of thy
countenance, O Lord, Jehovah!
The
light of the countenance is a favourite figure in the Psalms, for a favour-
able
aspect or expression. See Ps. xxxi. 17 (16), xliv. 4 (3), lxxx. 4 (3). The
lifting
up may have reference to the rising of the sun, or be put in opposi-
tion
to the act of looking down or away from any object, as a token of
aversion
or displeasure. Upon us extends the
prayer to his companions in
misfortune,
or to all God's people, or to men in general, as if he had said, This is the
only
hope of our lost race. The plural form may be compared with those in the
Lord's
Prayer, as indicating the expansive comprehensive spirit of true piety.
8 (7). The faith, of which his enemies were
destitute, he possessed in
such
a measure, that the mere anticipation of God's favour made him
happier,
in the midst of his distresses, than his foes in the actual posses-
sion
of their temporal advantages. Thou hast
given gladness in my heart,
not
to my heart, but to me in my heart, i. e.
a real, inward, heartfelt glad-
ness,
more than the time, or more than when, i. e. more than they ever en-
joyed
when their corn and their wine abounded,
or increased. The original
nouns
properly denote the new corn and wine of the passing year, the fresh
fruits
of the field and vineyard. The reference may be either to the pro-
verbial
joy of harvest and of vintage, or to the abundant stores of David's
enemies
contrasted with his own condition when dependent on a faithful
servant
for subsistence (2 Sam. xvi. 1, 2).
9 (8). With this faith in the divine
protection, he has nothing even to
disturb
his rest. In peace, tranquillity,
composure, at once, or at the same
26 PSALM
IV. [VER.
8.
time,
by the same act, I will lie down and will
sleep, or rather go to sleep,
fall
asleep, which is the meaning of the Hebrew verb in Gen. ii. 21, xli. 5,
1
Kings xix. 5, and elsewhere. Nothing could be more natural and beauti-
ful,
as a description of complete tranquillity, than this trait borrowed from
the
physical habits of the young, the healthy, and those free from all
anxiety,
to whom the act of lying down and that of sleeping are almost
coincident.
The ground of this security is given in the last clause. For
thou, Lord, Jehovah, alone in safety, or security, wilt make me dwell. The
future
form, though not exclusive of the present (see above, on Ps. i. 2),
should
be retained because it indicates the Psalmist's assured hope of
something
not yet realised, and is thus in perfect keeping with ver. 8 (7).
Alone may be connected with
what goes before: for thou Lord, and no
other,
thou, even though all other friends and advantages should fail me, art
sufficient
to protect and provide for me. Or it may be connected with
what
follows: alone, in safety, thou wilt make
me dwell. There is then an
allusion
to the repeated application of the same Hebrew word to
dwelling
apart from other nations under God's protection and in the enjoy-
ment
of his favour. See Num. xxiii. 9, Duet. xxxiii. 28, 29, and com-
pare
Micah vii. 14, Jer. xlix. 31, Deut. iv. 7, 8, 2 Sam. vii. 23. What
was
originally said of the people is then transferred, as in ver. 4 (3)
above,
to David, not as a private member of the ancient church, however
excellent,
but as its theocratic head and representative, in whom, as after-
wards
more perfectly in Christ, the promises to
realised.
This last interpretation of alone is
so striking, and agrees so
well
with the other allusions in this context to the Pentateuch, e. g. to Lev.
xxv.
18, 19, and Deut. xxxiii. 12 in this verse, and to Num. vi. 24-26 in
ver.
7 (6), that some combine the two constructions, and suppose alone to
have
a kind of double sense, as if he had said, Thou alone wilt make me
dwell
alone. Although the form of this verse has respect to the particular
historical
occasion of the psalm, the sentiment is so expressed as to admit
of
an unforced application to the ease of every suffering believer, and to the
distresses
of the church at large, for whose use it was not only left on
record
but originally written.
PSALM V.
The
Psalmist prays for the divine help, ver. 2 (1), on the ground that
Jehovah
is his King and his God, ver. 3 (2), that he early and constantly
invokes
his aid, ver. 4 (3), that the enemies, from whom he seeks to be de-
livered,
are the enemies of God, ver. 5, 6 (4, 5), and as such must inevit-
ably
perish, ver. 7 (6), while he, as the representative of God's friends, must
be
rescued, ver. 8 (7). He then goes over the same ground afresh, asking
again
to be protected from his enemies, ver. 9 (8), again describing them as
desperately
wicked, ver. 10 (9), again appealing to God's justice to destroy
them,
ver. 11 (10), and again anticipating certain triumph, ver. 12 (11),
on
the ground of God's habitual and uniform dealing with the righteous,
ver.
13 (12). As the two preceding psalms appear to constitute a pair, so
this
one seems to contain such a pair or double psalm within itself. It is
also
obvious that this is but a further variation of the theme which runs
through
the preceding psalms, and therefore an additional proof that their
arrangement
in the book is not fortuitous or arbitrary. If ver. 4 (3) of
this
psalm be supposed to mark it as a morning hymn, its affinity to the
two
before it becomes still more close and striking.
VER.
1-3.]
PSALM V.
27
1. To
(or for) the Chief Musician. See above on Ps. iv. 1. To (or for)
Nehiloth. This, though
undoubtedly a part of the original inscription, is
obscure
and enigmatical. Its very obscurity indeed may be regarded as a
proof
of its antiquity and genuineness. Some understand it to mean flutes
or
wind-instruments in general, as Neginoth,
in the title of the fourth
psalm,
means stringed instruments. The sense would then be: (to be
sung)
to (an accompaniment of) flutes or wind-instruments. But as the
Hebrew
word is nowhere else used in this sense, and the preposition here
employed
is not the one prefixed to names of instruments, and flutes are
nowhere
mentioned as a part of the temple music, others make Nehiloth
the
name of a tune, or of another song to the melody of which this was
to
be adapted: (to be sung) to (the air of) Nehiloth. Others follow the
ancient
version in making it refer, not to the musical performance, but the
subject
of the psalm: (as) to inheritances, lots, or destinies, viz. those of
the
righteous and the wicked. This is favoured by the circumstance, that
most
of the other enigmatical inscriptions of the psalms may be more pro-
bably
explained as having reference to their theme or subject than in any
other
manner. The title closes, as in the foregoing psalm, by ascribing it
to
David as its author. Nor is there anything, as we shall see, to militate
against
the truth of this inscription.
2 (1). To
my words, O Lord, Jehovah, give ear,
perceive my thought.
Attend
not only to my vocal and audible petitions, but to my unexpressed
desires,
to those "groanings which cannot be uttered," but are no less
significant
to God than language (Rom. viii. 26, 27). The second verb
suggests
the idea of attention, as well as that of simple apprehension.
3 (2). Hearken
to the voice of my crying, or my cry for help, to which
the
Hebrew word is always specially applied. My
king and my God, not
as
a mere creator and providential ruler, but as the covenant God and king
of
so
God was his king, the lord paramount or sovereign, in whose right he
reigned.
This address involves a reason why his prayer must be heard.
God,
as the king of his people, could not deny them his protection, and
they
asked no other. For to thee, and thee
only, will I pray. As if he
had
said, It is in this capacity that I invoke thee, and I therefore must
be
heard. This is a specimen of that par>r[hsi<a, or freedom of speech
to-
wards
God, which is recognised as an effect and evidence of faith, in the New as well
as
the Old Testament, Heb. iv. 16, x. 19, 35; 1 John ii. 28, iii. 21, iv. 17, v.
14.
4 (3). O
Lord, Jehovah, (in) the morning thou shalt hear my voice.
This
is not so much a request to be heard as a resolution to persist in
prayer.
The reference may be either to stated hours of prayer or to early
devotion
as a proof of earnestness and faith. See Ps. lv. 18 (17), lxxxviii.
14
(13.) (In) the morning I will set (my prayer) in order, to (or for) thee.
There
is here a beautiful allusion to the Mosaic ritual, which is unavoidably
lost
in a translation. The Hebrew verb is the technical term used in the
Old
Testament to signify the act of arranging the wood upon the altar
(Gen.
xxii. 9, Lev. i. 7, 1 Kings xviii. 33), and the shewbread on the table
(Exod.
xl. 23, Lev. xxiv. 6, 8). It would therefore necessarily suggest the
idea
of prayer as an oblation, here described as a kind of morning sacrifice
to
God. And I will look out, or watch,
for an answer to my prayers. The
image
presented is that of one looking from a wall or tower in anxious
expectation
of approaching succour. A similar use of the same verb
occurs
in Hab. ii. 1, and Micah vii. 7. True faith is not contented
28 PSALM V. [VER. 4-7.
with
the act of supplication, but displays itself in eager expectation of an answer.
5 (4). Here, as elsewhere, the Psalmist
identifies his cause with God's,
and
anticipates the downfall of his enemies because they are sinners and
therefore
odious in God's sight. For not a God
delighting in wickedness (art)
thou, as might appear to be
the case if these should go unpunished. It is
necessary,
therefore, for the divine honour, that they should not go un-
punished.
Not with thee, as thy guest or
friend, shall evil, or the bad (man),
dwell. For an opposite use of
the same figure, see below, Ps. xv. 1, lxi.
5
(4). It is still implied, that the impunity of sinners would appear as if
God
harboured and abetted them, and therefore must be inconsistent with
his
honour as a holy God.
6 (5). What was said in the preceding verse
of sin is here, to prevent
misapprehension,
said of sinners. They shall not stand,
the proud, or
insolent, here put for wicked
men in general and for the Psalmist's enemies
in
particular, before thine eyes. Thou
canst not bear the presence of thy
moral
opposites. Sin is not only opposed to God's will, but repugnant to
his
nature. By ceasing to hate it, he would cease to be holy, cease to be
perfect,
cease to be God. This idea is expressed more directly in the other
clause.
Thou hast hated, and must still hate,
all doers of iniquity. This
last
word is originally a negative, meaning inanity or nonentity, but like
several
other negatives in Hebrew, is employed as a strong term to denote
moral
deficiency and worthlessness.
7 (6). As the preceding verse extends what
was said of sin in the abstract
to
personal offenders, so here what was said of the divine dispositions is
applied
to divine acts. That which God hates he must destroy. Particular
classes
of transgressors are here put, as before, by way of specimen or
sample,
for the whole; with special reference, however, to the sins of
David's
enemies. Thou wilt destroy speakers of
falsehood; see above, on
Ps.
iv. 3 (2.) A man of blood, literally bloods, the plural form being com-
monly
used where there is reference to blood-guiltiness or murder. See
Gen.
iv. 10, 11 ; Ps. li. 16 (14). A man of blood
and fraud, a bloody and
deceitful
man, the Lord, Jehovah, will abhor; he must and will skew his
abhorrence
by the punishment of such offenders. This confident anticipa-
tion
of God's righteous retributions really involves a prayer for the deliver-
ance
of the Psalmist from his enemies.
8 (7). For the same reason he is equally
confident in the anticipation of
his
own deliverance. Since his enemies must perish as the enemies of God,
he
must escape, not on account of his own merit, nor simply as an object
of
God's favour, but as the champion of his cause, his earthly vicegerent,
the
type and representative of his Messiah. And
I, as distinguished from
these
sinners, in the abundance of thy mercy,
which excludes all reliance on
his
own strength or goodness, will come to
thy house, the tabernacle set up
on
towards thy temple of
holiness,
thy holy temple, or rather palace, so called
as
the residence of
the
tabernacle than the temple. See 1 Sam. i. 9, iii. 3, Ps. xxvii. 4,
xxviii.
2. Towards, not in, because the worshippers did not go into the
sanctuary
itself, but worshipped in the court, with their faces turned towards
the
place of God's manifested presence. Such usages are now superseded
by
the advent of the true sanctuary. See above, on Ps. iii. 5 (4). In thy
fear, the reverence
engendered even by the view and the experience of God's
mercy.
There may be an allusion in this verse to David's painful sense of
VER.
8-11.] PSALM
V.
29
his
exclusion from the house of God (2 Sam. xv. 25); but it cannot be
merely
an anticipation of renewed access to the sanctuary, which was
equally
open to all others, and could not therefore be used to indicate the
contrast
between his condition and that of others. The verse is rather an
engagement
to acknowledge God's delivering mercy in the customary man-
ner.
See below, Ps. lxvi. 13. As if he had said, While my enemies
perish
by the hand of God, I shall be brought by his mercy to give thanks
for
my deliverance at his sanctuary.
9 (8). The Psalmist here begins his prayer
and argument anew, pursuing
the
same order as before. O Lord,
Jehovah, lead me, guide me safely,
in thy righteousness, i. e. in the exercise of that same justice which destroys
my
enemies, on account of my enemies,
that they may not triumph; make
straight before my face
thy way,
i. e. mark out a safe and easy path
for me
to
tread. The explanation of the way as
that of duty and obedience,
although
not at variance with scriptural usage, is less suited to the context
here,
in which the prayer throughout is for protection and deliverance.
10 (9). The same reason as before is now
assigned for his deliverance
from
his enemies, viz. because they were the enemies of God, and they
were
such because they were atrocious sinners. For
there is nothing in his
mouth, i. e. the mouth of any one of them, or of all concentrated in one
ideal
person,
sure or certain, i. e. true. Their inside, their heart; their real
dis-
position,
as distinguished from the outward appearance, (is) mischiefs, in-
juries,
or crimes, consists of nothing else. A
grave opened, to receive the
victim,
(is) their throat, like that of a devouring monster. Or the throat
may
be mentioned as an organ of speech, as in Ps. cxlix. 6, cxv. 7, and
compared
with the grave as a receptacle of corruption or a place of de-
struction.
Their tongue they smooth, or make smooth, by hypocrisy or
flattery,
as the wicked woman is said to make her
words smooth, Prov. ii.
16,
vii. 5. The Septuagint version of this clause is quoted by Paul (
iii.
13), with several other passages from the Old Testament, as a strong
description
of human depravity. The last words are rendered in that
version,
"with their tongues they have used craft or deceit," an idea really
included
in the literal translation.
11 (10). Condemn them, literally make
them guilty, i. e. recognise and
treat
them as such, O God! They shall fall, i. e.
they must, they cannot
but
fall, a common figure for destruction (Ps. xxxvi. 13, cxli. 10), from their
plans, i. e., before they can accomplish them, or in consequence, by means
of
them. (Compare Hos. xi. 6). In the
fulness, or abundance, of their
sins, thrust them forth,
cast them out from thy presence, and down from
their
present exaltation. For they have
rebelled against thee, not me, or
against
me only as thy instrument and representative. Or the opposition
may
be between rebelling against God and simply sinning against man.
The
imperative and future forms, in this verse, both express the certainty
of
the event, with an implication of approving acquiescence. Such expres-
sions,
in the Psalms, have never really excited or encouraged a spirit of
revenge
in any reader, and are no more fitted to have that effect than the
act
of a judge who condemns a criminal to death, or of the officer who
executes
the sentence. The objections often urged against such passages
are
not natural, but spring from over-refinement and a false view of the
Psalms
as expressions of mere personal feeling. See below, on Ps. vii.13 (12).
12 (11). The transition and contrast are
the same as in ver. 8 (7) above.
While
the wicked perish, the righteous shall have cause for everlasting joy.
30
PSALM V.
[VER. 12.
And all (those) trusting
in thee,
making thee their refuge, shall be glad;
for
ever shall they shout (or sing) for joy, and (not without
cause, for) thou wilt
cover over (or protect) them; and in thee, in thy presence and
thy favour,
shall exult, or triumph, (the) lovers of thy name, i. e. of thy manifested
excellence,
which is the usual sense of this expression in the Old Testament.
The
believers and lovers of God's name, here spoken of, are not merely
friends
of the psalmist who rejoice in his deliverance, but the great congre-
gation
of God's people, to which he belonged, and of which he was the
representative,
so that his deliverance was theirs, and a rational occasion
of
their joy, not only on his account but on their own.
13 (12). The confident hope expressed in
the foregoing verse was not a
groundless
or capricious one, but founded on the nature of God and the
uniform
tenor of his dispensations. The psalmist knows what God will
do
in this case, because he knows what he does and will do still in general.
For thou wilt bless, and art wont to bless,
the righteous, the opposite of those
described
in ver. 5-7 (4-6) and 10, 11 (9, 10), O
Lord, Jehovah! Like
the shield, as the shield protects
the soldier (so with) favour thou wilt
sur-
round him, or enclose him, still referring to the
righteous; see the same
comparison
in Ps. iii. 4 (3.) The confident assertion that God will do so,
implies
that he has done so, and is wont to do so, to the righteous as a
class.
And this affords a reasonable ground for the belief, expressed in the
preceding
verse, that he will do so also in the present case.
PSALM VI.
THE psalmist prays for the removal of God's
chastisements, ver. 2 (1),
because
they have already brought him very low, ver. 3, 4 (2, 3), because
the
divine glory will be promoted by his rescue, ver. 5 (4), and obscured
by
his destruction, ver. 6 (5), and because, unless speedily relieved, he can
no
longer bear up under his sufferings, ver. 7, 8 (6, 7). He is neverthe-
less
sure of the divine compassion, ver. 9 (8). His prayer is heard and
will
be answered, ver. 10 (9), in the defeat and disappointment of his ene-
mies,
by whose malignant opposition his distress was caused, ver. 11 (10).
This
reference to his enemies constitutes the link of connection between
this
psalm and the foregoing series, and maintains the contrast, running
through
that series, between two great classes of mankind, the righteous
and
the wicked, the subjects of Messiah and the rebels against him, the
friends
and foes of the theocracy, the friends and foes of David, as an indi-
vidual,
a sovereign, and a type of the Messiah. At the same time, this
psalm
differs wholly from the others in its tone of querulous but humble
grief,
which has caused it to be reckoned as the first of the Penitential
psalms.
This tone is suddenly exchanged, in ver. 9 (8), for one of confi-
dent
assurance, perfectly in keeping with what goes before, and true to
nature.
1. For
the Chief Musician, (to be sung) with
stringed instruments upon
the eighth. This last word
corresponds exactly to our octave;
but its pre-
cise
application in the ancient music we have now no means of ascertaining.
An
instrument of eight strings, which some suppose to be the sense, could
hardly
be described by the ordinal number eighth.
We probably lose little
by
our incapacity to understand these technical expressions, while, at the
same
time, their very obscurity may serve to confirm our faith in their
antiquity
and genuineness, as parts of the original composition. This
VER.
1-5.] PSALM
VI.
31
psalm,
like the three which immediately precede it, describes itself as a
psalm of (or by) David,
belonging to David, as its author. The correct-
ness
of this statement there is as little reason to dispute in this as in either
of
the other cases.
2 (1). O
Lord, Jehovah, do not in thine anger
rebuke me, and do not in
thy heat, or hot displeasure, chasten me. Both the original verbs properly
denote
the conviction and reproof of an offender in words, but are here, as
often
elsewhere, applied to providential chastisements, in which God speaks
with
a reproving voice. This is not a prayer for the mitigation of the
punishment,
like that in Jer. x. 24, but for its removal, as appears from
the
account of the answer in ver. 9-11 (8-10). Such a petition, while it
indicates
a strong faith, at the same time recognises the connection between
suffering
and sin. In the very act of asking for relief, the psalmist owns
that
he is justly punished. This may serve to teach us how far the confi-
dent
tone of the preceding psalms is from betraying a self-righteous spirit,
or
excluding the consciousness of personal unworthiness and ill-desert.
The
boldness there displayed is not that of self-reliance, but of faith.
3 (2). Have
mercy upon me, or be gracious unto me, O Lord, Jehovah,
for drooping, languishing, am I. The original construction is, for I am
(one who) droops or withers, like a
blighted plant. Like a child complain-
ing
to a parent, he describes the greatness of his suffering as a reason for
relieving
him. Heal me, O Lord, Jehovah, for shaken, agitated with dis-
tress
and terror, are my bones, here
mentioned as the strength and frame-
work
of the body. This might seem to indicate corporeal disease as the
whole
from which he prays to be delivered. But the absence of any such
allusion
in the latter part of the psalm, and the explicit mention there of
enemies
as the occasion of his sufferings, shows that the pain of body here
described
was that arising from distress of mind, and which could only be
relieved
by the removal of the cause. To regard the bodily distress as a
mere
figure for internal anguish, would be wholly arbitrary and destructive
of
all sure interpretation. The physical effect here ascribed to moral causes
is
entirely natural and confirmed by all experience.
4 (3). The Psalmist himself guards against
the error of supposing that
his
worst distresses were corporeal. And my
soul, as well as my body, or
more
than my body, which merely sympathizes with it, is greatly agitated,
terror-stricken,
the same word that was applied to the bones in the preced-
ing
verse. The description of his suffering is then interrupted by another
apostrophe
to God. And thou, O Lord, Jehovah, until when, how long?
The
sentence is left to be completed by the reader: how long wilt thou
leave
me thus to suffer? how long before thou wilt appear for my deliver-
ance?
This question, in its Latin form, Domine
quousque, was Calvin's
favourite
ejaculation in his times of suffering, and especially of painful sickness.
5 (4). The expostulatory question is now
followed by direct petition.
Return, O Lord, Jehovah, deliver my soul, my life, my self, from
this im-
pending
death. As God seems to be absent when his people suffer, so
relief
is constantly described as his return to them. (Oh) save me, a still
more
comprehensive term than that used in the first clause, for the sake of
thy mercy, not merely according
to it, as a rule or measure, but to vindicate
it
from reproach, and do it honour, as a worthy end to be desired and
accomplished.
6 (5). As a further reason for his rescue,
he now urges that without it
God
will lose the honour, and himself the happiness, of his praises and
32
PSALM VI.
[VER. 6-9.
thanksgivings.
For there is not in death; or the
state of the dead, thy
remembrance, any remembrance of
thee. In Sheol, the grave, as a general
receptacle,
here parallel to death, and, like it,
meaning the unseen world or
state
of the dead, who will acknowledge, or
give thanks, to thee? The Hebrew
verb
denotes that kind of praise called forth by the experience of goodness.
The
question in the last clause is equivalent to the negative proposition in
the
first. This verse does not prove that David had no belief or expecta-
tion
of a future state, nor that the intermediate state is an unconscious one,
but
only that in this emergency he looks no further than the close of life,
as
the appointed term of thanksgiving and praise. Whatever might even-
tually
follow, it was certain that his death would put an end to the praise
of
God, in that form and those circumstances to which he had been accus-
tomed.
See below, on Ps. xxx. 10 (9); lxxxviii. 11-13 (10-12), cxv. 17,
18,
and compare Isa. xxxviii. 18. So far is the argument here urged from
being
weakened by our clearer knowledge of the future state, that it is greatly
strengthened
by the substitution of the second or eternal death.
7 (6). I
am weary in (or of) my
groaning, I have become wearied with
it,
and unless I am relieved, I shall
(still as hitherto) make my bed swim
every night, my couch
with tears I shall dissolve, or make to flow. The
uniform
translation of the verbs as presents does not bring out their full
meaning,
or express the idea, suggested in the Hebrew by the change of
tense,
that the grief which had already become wearisome must still con-
tinue
without mitigation, unless God should interpose for his deliverance.
Thus
understood, the verse is not a mere description, but a disguised prayer.
8 (7). Mine
eye has failed, grown dim, a common
symptom both of men-
tal
and bodily distress, from vexation,
not mere grief, but grief mixed with
indignation
at my enemies. It has grown old, dim
like the eye of an old
man,
a still stronger expression of the same idea, in (the midst of) all my
enemies, or in (consequence of) all my enemies, i. e. of
their vexatious con-
duct.
Compare Ps. xxxi. 10 (9). In these two verses he resumes the
description
of his own distress, in order to shew that the argument in ver.
6
(5) was appropriate to his case, as that of one drawing near to death,
and
therefore likely soon to lose the capacity and opportunity of praising God.
9 (8). Here the key abruptly changes from
the tone of sorrowful com-
plaint
to that of joyful confidence. No gradual transition could have so
successfully
conveyed the idea that the prayer of the psalmist has been
heard,
and will be answered. The effect is like that of a whisper in the
sufferer's
ear, while still engrossed with his distresses, to assure him that
they
are about to terminate. This he announces by a direct and bold
address
to his persecuting enemies. Depart from
me, all ye doers of ini-
quity, the same phrase that
occurs in Ps. v. 6 (5). The sense is not that
he
will testify his gratitude by abjuring all communion with the wicked,
but
that his assurance of divine protection relieves him from all fear of his
wicked
foes. When God arises, then his enemies are scattered. This
sense
is required by the last clause of ver. 8 (7), and confirmed by a com-
parison
with ver. 11 (10), For the Lord,
Jehovah, hath heard the voice of
my weeping, or my weeping voice.
The infrequency of silent grief is said
to
be characteristic of the orientals, and the same thing may be observed
in
Homer's pictures of heroic manners.
10 (9). Jehovah
hath heard my supplication. The assurance of this fact
relieves
all fear as to the future. Jehovah my
prayer will receive. The
change
of tense is not unmeaning or fortuitous. The combination of the
VER.
10.] PSALM
VI.
33
past
and future represents the acceptance as complete and final, as already
begun,
and certain to continue. The particular petition thus accepted is
the
one expressed or implied in the next verse.
11 (10). Ashamed and confounded, i. e.
disappointed and struck with
terror,
shall be all my enemies. The desire
that they may be is not expressed,
but
involved in the confident anticipation that they will be. In the second
verb
there is an obvious allusion to its use in ver. 3, 4 (2, 3). As he had
been
terror-stricken, so shall they be. As they filled him with consterna-
tion,
so shall God fill them. They shall return,
turn back from their assault
repulsed;
they shall be ashamed, filled with
shame at their defeat; and that
not
hereafter, (in) a moment,
instantaneously.
PSALM
VII.
The
Psalmist still prays for deliverance from his enemies, ver. 2, 3 (1, 2),
on
the ground that he is innocent of that wherewith they charge him, ver.
4-6
(3-5). He prays for justice to himself and on his enemies, as a part of
that
great judicial process which belongs to God as the universal judge, ver.
7-10
(6-9). He trusts in the divine discrimination between innocence and
guilt,
ver. 11, 12 (10, 11). He anticipates God's vengeance on impeni-
tent
offenders, ver. 13, 14 (12, 13). He sees them forced to act as self-
destroyers,
ver. 15-17 (14-16). At the same time he rejoices in God's
mercy
to himself, and to the whole class whom he represents, ver. 18 (17).
The
penitential tone, which predominated in the sixth psalm, here gives
way
again to that of self-justification, perhaps because the Psalmist here
speaks
no longer as an individual, but as the representative of the righteous
or
God's people. The two views which he thus takes of himself are per-
fectly
consistent, and should be suffered to interpret one another.
1. Shiggaion,
i. e. wandering, error. The noun
occurs only here, and
in
the plural form, Hab. iii. 1, but the verb from which it is derived is not
uncommon,
and is applied by Saul to his own errors with respect to
David
(1 Sam. xxvi. 21). See also Ps. cxix. 10, 118. Hence some ex-
plain
the word here as denoting moral error, sin, and make it descriptive
of
the subject of the psalm. See above on Ps. v. 1. Still more in accord-
ance
with the literal meaning of the root is the opinion that it here denotes
the
wandering of David at the period when the psalm was probably con-
ceived.
In either case, it means a song of wandering or error, which he
sang, in the literal sense,
or in the secondary one of poetical composition,
as
Virgil says, I sing the man and arms, i.
e. they are the subject of my
poem.
To the Lord, Jehovah, to whom a large
part of the psalm is really
addressed.
Concerning (or because of) the words of
is
clear from ver. 4-6 (3-5), that the words
referred to were calumnious
reports
or accusations. These may have been uttered by one Cush, a Ben-
jamite,
who nowhere else appears in history. But as this very circum-
stance
makes it improbable that he would have been singled out, as the
occasion
of this psalm, from among so many slanderers, some suppose
Cush
to be Shimei, who cursed David when he fled from Absalom (2 Sam.
xvi.
5-13). As the psalm, however, seems much better suited to the times
of
Saul, some suppose
opia,
to be here an enigmatical name applied to Saul himself, in reference
to
the blackness of his heart, and perhaps to his incorrigible wickedness.
See
Jer. xiii. 23, and Amos ix. 7. The description Benjamite, is equally
3
34 PSALM
VII. [VER.
1-5.
appropriate
to Saul (1 Sam. ix. 1, 2; 5, 11) and Shimei, who, indeed,
were
kinsmen. This explanation of the word
might
otherwise appear, because enigmatical descriptions of the theme are
not
unfrequent in the titles of the Psalms. See above, on Ps. v. 1, and
below,
on Ps. ix. 1; xxii. 1; liii. 1;
lvii. 1; lx. 1.
2 (1). The psalm opens with an expression
of strong confidence in God,
and
a prayer founded on it. O Lord,
Jehovah, my God, not merely
by
creation, but by special covenant, in thee,
as such, and therefore in
no
other, I have trusted, and do still
trust. This relation and this trust
entitle
him to audience and deliverance. Save me
from all my persecu-
tors, or pursuers, a term
frequently employed in David's history. See
1
Sam. xxiv. 15 (14); xxvi. 20. By these we are here to understand the
whole
class of worldly and ungodly men, of which Saul was the type and
representative.
The all suggests the urgency of the necessity, as a motive
to
immediate interposition. And extricate me,
or deliver me. The primary idea of the
verb
translated save is that of making room, enlarging. See above, on Ps. iv. 2 (1).
3 (2). Lest
he tear, like a lion, my soul. The singular form, following
the
plural in the foregoing verse, may have particular reference to Saul, or
to
the class of which he was a type, personified as an ideal individual. The
imagery
of the verse is borrowed from the habits of wild beasts, with which
David
was familiar from a child. See 1 Sam. xvii. 34-37. The soul or
life
is mentioned as the real object of attack, and not as a mere periphrasis
for
the personal pronoun, as if my soul
were equivalent to me. Rending,
or
breaking the bones, and there
is none delivering, or with none to deliver.
4 (3.) He proceeds upon the principle that
God will not hear the prayer
of
the wicked, and that he must hear that of the righteous. He proceeds,
therefore,
to assert his innocence, not his freedom from all sin, but from
that
particular offence with which he had been charged. O Lord, Jeho-
vah,
my God, as in ver. 2 (1), if I have done this, which follows, or
this of
which
I am accused, referring to "the words of
which
gave occasion to the psalm itself. If
there is, with emphasis on the
verb,
which might have been omitted in Hebrew, and is therefore em-
phatic,
if there is indeed, as my accusers
say, perverseness, iniquity, in my
palms, in the palms of my
hands, here mentioned as instruments of evil.
The
apodosis of the sentence is contained in ver. 6 (5) below.
5 (4). If
I have repaid my friend, one at peace with me, evil, and spoiled,
plundered,
(one) distressing me, acting as my
enemy, without a cause. There
seems
to be an allusion here to the two periods of David's connection with
Saul,
that of their friendly intercourse, and that of their open enmity.
During
neither of these had David been guilty of the sins charged upon
him.
He had not conspired against Saul while in his service (1 Sam. xxii.
7,
8), and when persecuted by him he had spared his life (1 Sam. xxiv. 10,
11).
Some suppose this last fact to be here referred to, and translate the
second
clause, yea, I have delivered him that
without cause is mine enemy.
The
Hebrew verb is certainly used elsewhere in this sense (2 Sam. xxii. 20,
Ps.
vi. 5), but its primary meaning seems to be that of stripping or spoil-
ing
a conquered enemy. The first construction above given is moreover
much
more natural, and agrees better with the grammatical dependence of
the
second verb upon the first.
6 (5). His consciousness of innocence is
expressed in the strongest man
ner
by invoking the divine displeasure if the charge can be established. An
enemy, or by poetic licence, the enemy, whether Saul or the ideal
enemy
VER.
6-8.] PSALM VII.
35
referred
to in verse 3 (2), shall pursue, or may pursue, which is equivalent
to
saying, Let the enemy pursue my soul,
the figure being still the same as in
verse
3 (2) above, but carried out with more minuteness, and overtake (it),
and trample to the earth
my life,
and my honour in the dust make dwell,
i. e.
completely
prostrate and degrade. Some regard honour
as equivalent to
soul and life, the intelligent and vital part,
which is the glory of man's con-
stitution.
But the analogy of Ps. iii. 4 (3) and iv. 3 (2) makes it more
probable
that in this case also there is reference to the Psalmist's personal
and
official honour. The allusion, however, is not so much to posthumous
disgrace
as to present humiliation. All this he imprecates upon himself if
really
guilty of the charges calumniously brought against him. The solemnity of this
appeal
to God, as a witness and a judge, is enhanced by the usual pause. Selah.
7 (6). Upon this protestation of his
innocence he founds a fresh prayer
for
protection and deliverance. Arise,
arouse thyself, O Lord, Jehovah.
See
above, on Ps. iii. 8 (7). Arise in thine
anger, raise thyself, or be exalted,
in, i. e. amidst, the ragings of
my enemies. The idea because of my
enemies is
rather
implied than expressed. The sense directly intended seems to be
that,
as his enemies are raging, it is time for God to arise in anger too. As
they
rage against him, he calls upon God to rise in anger against them.
And
awake, a still stronger figure than arise, because implying sleep as well
as
inactivity. Awake unto me, at my call
and for my benefit. Judgment
hast thou commanded, or ordained. Let that
judgment now be executed.
He
appeals to the general administration of God's justice, as a ground for
expecting
it in this one case. As it was part of the divine plan or pur-
pose
to do justice, both on friends and foes, here was an opportunity to
put
it into execution.
8 (7). And
the congregation of nations shall surround thee, which in this
connection
is equivalent to saying, let it surround
thee. The most probable
sense
of these obscure words is, appear in the midst of the nations as their
judge.
The same connection between God's judicial government in general
and
his judicial acts in a particular case, that is implied in the preceding
verse,
is here embodied in the figure of an oriental king dispensing justice
to
his subjects in a popular assembly. And
above it, the assembly, to the
high place, or the height, return thou.
This may either mean, return to
heaven
when the judgment is concluded, or, which seems more natural,
Resume
thy seat as judge above this great ideal congregation. Above it,
thus
assembled to receive thee, to the high
place, or the judgment-seat, re-
turn thou, after so long an
absence, previously intimated by the summons to
arise
and awake. Inaction, sleep, and absence from the judgment-seat, are all
bold
metaphors for God's delay to save his people and destroy their enemies.
9 (8). The same thing is now expressed in a
direct and formal manner.
Jehovah will judge, is to judge, the nations. This is laid down as a
certain
general
proposition, from which the Psalmist draws a special inference in
the
shape of a petition. Judge me, O Lord,
Jehovah! If it be true that
God
will judge the world, redress all wrong, and punish all iniquity, let him
begin
with me. Let me share now in the justice which is to be universally
administered.
Judge me, O Lord, according to my right,
and my complete-
ness, or perfection, over me, i. e. according to my innocence which covers and
protects
me. All such expressions must be qualified and explained by the
confession
of unworthiness in Ps. vi. and elsewhere, which sufficiently demon-
strates
that the Psalmist here makes no claim to absolute perfection and
innocence,
nor to any whatever that is independent of God's sovereign mercy.
36
PSALM VII.
[VER. 9-13.
10 (9). Let
cease, I pray, the badness of wicked (men). The future has
an
optative meaning given to it by the Hebrew particle (xnA), which is often
rendered
now, not as an adverb of time, but of
entreaty. Between man and.
man,
it is frequently equivalent to if you
please in modern parlance. When
addressed
to God, it scarcely admits of any other version than I pray. The
assonance
or paronomasia in the common version, wickedness
of the wicked,
is
not found in the original, where two words, not akin to one another,
are
employed. The plural form of wicked
is also lost or left ambiguous in
the
common version. And thou wilt confirm,
or establish, a righteous (man),
and a trier of hearts
and reins,
constantly used in Scripture for the internal
dispositions,
(is the) righteous God, or (art thou) O righteous God, which
last
agrees best with the direct address to God in the preceding clauses.
This
does not merely mean that God is omniscient, and therefore able thus
to
try the hearts and reins, but that he actually does it. Here he is spe-
cially
appealed to, as a judge or umpire between Saul, or "the wicked" whom
he
represented, and "the righteous," of whom David was the type and
champion.
11 (10). My shield (is) upon God. My protection or defence depends
on
him alone. The figure is the same as in Ps. iii. 4 (3) and v. 13 (12).
Here
again the hope of personal deliverance is founded on a general truth,
as
to the course of the divine administration. My
shield (is) upon God, sav-
ing, or who saves, the Saviour of the upright, straightforward, or sincere in
heart. This is a new indirect
assertion of his own integrity and innocence.
12 (11). The second word in the original of
this verse may be either a
participle
or a noun, so that the clause admits of two translations, God (is)
a righteous judge, and, God is judging, i. e. judges, the righteous. The first
would
be a repetition of the general truth taught in ver. 9 (8) above, but
here
applied to the punishment of the wicked, as it is there to the salvation
of
the innocent. According to the other construction, the verse before us
presents
both ideas: God judges the righteous,
i. e. does him justice, and
God is angry every day. The object of this
anger, although not expressed,
is
obvious, and is even rendered more conspicuous by this omission. As if
he
had said, "God, who does justice to the righteous, has likewise objects
for
his indignation."
13 (12). If he, the sinner at whom God is angry, will not turn, i. e.
turn
back from his impious and rebellious undertakings, his sword he will
whet, i. e. with a natural though sudden change of subject, God will whet
his
sword, often referred to as an instrument of vengeance. His bow he has
trodden on, alluding to the ancient
mode of bending the large and heavy
bows
used in battle, and made it ready.
The bow and the sword were the
most
common weapons used in ancient warfare. The past tense of these
verbs
implies that the instruments of vengeance are prepared already, and
not
merely viewed as something future.
14 (13). And at him (the wicked enemy) he
has aimed, or directed, the
instruments of death, his deadly weapons.
This is still another step in
advance.
The weapons are not only ready for him, but aimed at him.
His arrows to (be)
burning he will make,
i. e. he will make his arrows
burning
arrows, in allusion to the ancient military custom of shooting
ignited
darts or arrows into besieged towns, for the purpose of setting them
on
fire, as well as that of personal injury. The figurative terms in these
two
verses all express the certainty and promptness of the divine judgments
on
incorrigible sinners. For even these denunciations are not absolute,
VER.
14-17.] PSALM VII. 37
but
suspended on the enemy's repentance or persistency in evil. That
significant
phrase, if he will not turn, may be
tacitly supplied as qualifying
every
threatening in the book, however strong and unconditional in its expressions.
15 (14). Behold, he, the wicked man, will
writhe, or travail (with)
iniquity, (towards others), and conceive mischief (to himself), and bring
forth falsehood, self-deception,
disappointment. The meaning seems to be,
that
while bringing his malignant schemes to maturity, he will uncon-
sciously
conceive and bring forth ruin to himself.
16 (15) The same idea is then expressed by
other figures, borrowed
perhaps
from certain ancient modes of hunting. A
well he has digged,
i. e. a pitfall for his
enemy, and hollowed it, or made it
deep, and fallen
into the pit he is
making,
or about to make. The change from the past
tense
to the future seems to place the catastrophe between the inception
and
completion of the plan. The translation of the last verb as a simple
preterite
is entirely ungrammatical.
17 (16). Still a third variation of the
same theme. His mischief shall
return upon his own head, literally into it,
like a falling body which not
only
rests upon an object, but sinks and is imbedded in it. And on his own
crown his violence, including the ideas of
injustice and cruelty, shall come
down.
18 (17). While the wicked enemy of God and
his people is thus made
to
execute the sentence on himself, the Psalmist already exults in the ex-
perience
of God's saving mercy. I will praise the
Lord, Jehovah, i. e.
acknowledge
his favours. See above, on Ps. vi. 6 (5). According
to his
right, desert, or due, as in
ver. 9 (8) above. Or according to his
righteous-
ness, his justice, i. e. the praise shall correspond to the
display just made
of
this attribute, as well in the deliverance of the Psalmist as in the des-
truction
of his enemies. And I will sing praise,
praise by singing, praise
in
song, the name, the manifested
excellence (see above, on Ps. v. 12 (11),)
of the Lord, Jehovah, High or Most High. He will praise the Lord in this
exalted
character as manifested by his dealings in the case which gave
occasion
to the psalm. The resolution thus expressed may be considered
as
fulfilled in the psalm itself, so confident is he that it cannot be performed
before
his prayer is answered. Or the words may be understood as en-
gaging
to continue these acknowledgments hereafter.
PSALM VIII.
This
psalm begins and ends with an admiring recognition of God's mani-
fested
excellence, ver. 2 (1) and 10 (9). In the intermediate verses the
manifestation
is traced, first in the inanimate creation, ver. 3, 4 (2, 3,
and
then in animated nature, vers. 5-9 (4-8), with particular reference
to
man's superiority. This is indeed the main subject of the psalm, the
glory
of God in nature being only introduced to heighten his goodness to
mankind.
We have here, therefore, a description of the dignity of human
nature,
as it was at first, and as it is to be restored in Christ, to whom the
descriptive
terms may therefore be applied, without forced or fanciful
accommodation
on the one hand, and without denying the primary generic
import
of the composition on the other.
1. To
the Chief Musician, on (or according to) the Gittith. This word,
which
reappears in the titles of two other psalms (the eighty-first and
38 PSALM
VII]. [VER.
1, 2.
eighty-fourth),
would seem, from its form, to be the feminine of Gitti,
which
always means a Gittite or inhabitant of
2
Sam. vi. 10, xv. 18. As David once resided there, and had afterwards
much
intercourse with the inhabitants, the word may naturally here denote
an
instrument there invented or in use, or an air, or a style of performance,
borrowed
from that city. Some prefer, however, to derive it from the
primary
sense of
to
an instrument of that shape, or to a melody or style which usage had
connected
with the joy of vintage or the pressing of the grapes. Either of
these
explanations is more probable than that which derives Gittith from
the
same root with Neginoth in the titles
of Ps. iv. and vi., and gives it
the
same sense, viz. stringed instruments, or the music of stringed instru-
ments.
Besides the dubious etymology on which this explanation rests, it
is
improbable that two such technical terms would have been used to
signify
precisely the same thing. The only further observation to be made
upon
this title is, that all the psalms to which it is prefixed are of a joyous
character,
which agrees well with the supposition that it signifies an air or
style
of musical performance. The ascription of this Psalm to David, as
its
author, is fully confirmed by its internal character.
2 (1). Jehovah,
our Lord, not of the Psalmist only, but of all men, and
especially
all
(see
above, Ps. v. 11, vii. 17), in all the
earth, which gave thy glory, i. e.
which
glory of thine give or place, above the
heavens. The verbal form here
used
is, in every other place where it occurs, an imperative, and should not
therefore,
without necessity, be otherwise translated. Thus understood,
the
clause contains a prayer or wish, that the divine glory may be made
still
more conspicuous. To give or place glory on an object is an idiomatic
phrase
repeatedly used elsewhere, to denote the conferring of honour on an in-
ferior.
See Num. xxvii. 20; 1 Chron. xxix. 25; Dan. xi. 21. It here implies
that
the glory belonging to the frame of nature is not inherent but derivative.
3 (2.) From
the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast founded strength.
The
instinctive admiration of thy works, even by the youngest children, is
a
strong defence against those who would question thy being or obscure
thy
glory. The Septuagint version of the last words in this clause, thou
hast
prepared (or provided) praise, conveys the same idea with a change of
form,
since it is really the praise or admiration of the child that is de-
scribed
in the original as strength. This version is adopted by Matthew,
in
his record of our Lord's reply to the Pharisees, when they complained of
the
hosannas uttered by the children in the temple (Mat. xxi. 16). That
allusion
does not prove that Christ was the primary subject of this psalm,
but
only that the truth expressed in the words quoted was exemplified in
that
case. If the Scriptures had already taught that even the unconscious
admiration
of the infant is a tribute to God's glory, how much more might
children
of maturer age be suffered to join in acclamations to his Son. The
sense
thus put upon the words of David agrees better with the context than
the
one preferred by some interpreters, viz., that the defence in question is
afforded
by the structure and progress of the child itself. If this had been
intended,
he would hardly have said from the mouth,
or have confined his subsequent
allusions
to the splendour of the firmament.—The effect, or rather the legitimate
tendency
of this spontaneous testimony is to silence
enemy and avenger, i. e. to stop
the
mouths
of all malignant railers against God, whose cavils and sophisms are put to
shame
by
the instinctive recognition of God's being and his glory by the youngest
children.
VER.
3-6.] PSALM
VIII.
39
4 (3). When
I see thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, an expression
borrowed
from the habits of men, to whom the fingers are natural organs of
contrivance
and construction, the moon and the stars
which thou hast fixed,
or
settled in their several spheres. As we constantly associate the sky
and
sun together, the latter, although not expressly mentioned, may be
considered
as included in the subject of the first clause. Or the mention
of
the moon and stars without the sun may be understood to mark this as
an
evening hymn. There is no ground, however, for referring this psalm to the
pastoral
period
of David's life, or for doubting that it was composed when he was king.
5 (4). The sentence begun in the preceding
verse is here completed.
When
I see thy heavens, &c., what is man,
frail man, as the original word
signifies,
that thou shouldst remember him,
think of him, attend to him, and
(any)
son of man, or the son of man, as a generic designation of the race,
that
thou shouldst visit him, i. e. according to the usage of this
figure,
manifest
thyself to him, either in wrath or mercy. See Gen. xviii. 14,
xxi.
1, Ruth i. 6, &c. Here of course the latter is intended. The
scriptural
idea of a divine visitation is of something which reveals God's
special
presence and activity, whether as a friend or foe. The interrogation
in
this verse implies a strong negation of man's worthiness to be thus
honoured,
not in comparison with the material universe, to which he is in
truth
superior, but with the God whose glory the whole frame of nature was
intended
to display and does display, even to the least matured and culti-
vated
minds. It was with a view to this comparison, and not for its own
sake,
or as the main subject of the psalm, that the glory of creation was
referred
to the foregoing verse.
6 (5). And
remove him little from divinity, i.
e. from a divine and
heavenly,
or at least a superhuman state. The Hebrew noun is the com-
mon
one for God, but being plural in its
form, is sometimes used in a more
vague
and abstract sense, for all conditions of existence higher than our
own.
1 Sam. xxviii. 13, Zech. ix. 7. Hence it is sometimes rendered
angels
in the Septuagint, which version, although inexact, is retained in
the
New Testament (Heb. ii. 7), because it sufficiently expresses the idea
which
was essential to the writer's argument. The verb in this clause
strictly
means to make or let one want, to leave deficient. Eccles. iv. 8,
vi.
2. The form here used (that of the future with vav conversive), con-
nects
it in the closest manner with the verb of the preceding verse, a con-
struction
which may be imperfectly conveyed by the omission of the
auxiliary
verbs in English. "What is man, that thou shouldst remember
him,
and visit him, and make him want but little of divinity, and crown
him
with honour and glory?" The Hebrew order of the last clause is,
and (with) honour and
glory crown him.
These nouns are elsewhere put
together
to express royal dignity. Ps. xxi. 1, 6 (5), xlv. 4 (3), Jer.
xxii.
18, 1 Chron. xxix. 25. There is an obvious allusion to man's being
made
in the image of God, with dominion over the inferior creation. Gen.
i.
26, 28; ix. 2. This is predicated not of the individual but of the race,
which
lost its perfection in Adam and recovers it in Christ. Hence the
description
is pre-eminently true of him, and the application of the words
in
Heb. ii. 7, is entirely legitimate, although it does not make him the
exclusive
subject of the psalm itself.
7 (6). The same construction is continued
through the first clause of
this
verse. Make him rule, i. e. what is man that thou shouldst
make
him
rule, in, among, and by implication over, the works, the other and
40
PSALM VIII. [VER. 7-9.
inferior
creatures, of thy hands. The use of
the future form in Hebrew up
to
this point is dependent on the question and contingent particle (what is
man that) in ver. 5 (4). The
question being now exhausted or exchanged
for
a direct affirmation, the past tense is resumed. All, everything, hast
thou put under his feet, i. e. subjected to his power. The application of
these
terms to Christ (1 Cor. xv. 27, Eph. i. 22), as the ideal representative
of
human nature in its restored perfection, is precisely similar to that of
the
expressions used in the preceding verse.
8 (7). This verse contains a mere
specification of the general term all
in
the verse before it. Sheep, or rather
flocks, including sheep and goats, and
oxen, as a generic term for
larger cattle, and also, not only
these domesti-
cated
animals, but also, beasts of the field,
which always means in Scripture
wild
beasts (Gen. ii. 20, iii. 14, 1 Sam. xvii. 44, Joel i. 20), field being
used
in such connections to denote, not the cultivated land, but the open,
unenclosed,
and wilder portions of the country. The whole verse is a
general
description of all quadrupeds or beasts, whether tame or wild.
9 (8). To complete the cycle of animated
nature, the inhabitants of the
air
and water are now added to those of the earth. Bird of heaven, a
collective
phrase, denoting the birds of the sky, i.
e. those which fly across
the
visible heavens. The common version, "fowl of the air," is
descriptive
of
the same objects, but is not a strict translation. And fishes of the sea,
and (every thing)
passing in, or through, the paths of the sea. Some read
without
supplying anything, fishes of the sea
passing through the paths of the
sea. But this weakens the
expression, and is also at variance with the
form
of the original, where passing is a
singular. Others construe it with
man,
who is then described as passing over the sea and ruling its inhabi-
tants.
But neither the syntax nor the sense is, on the whole, so natural
as
that proposed above, which makes this a residuary comprehensive clause,
intended
to embrace whatever might not be included in the more specific
terms
by which it is preceded. The dominion thus ascribed to man, as a
part
of his original prerogative, is not to be confounded with the coercive
rule
which he still exercises over the inferior creation (Gen. ix. 2, James
iii.
7), although this is really a relic of his pristine state, and at the same
time
an earnest of his future restoration.
10 (9). Jehovah,
our Lord, how glorious is thy name in all the earth, not
only
made so by the splendour of the skies, but by God's condescending
goodness
to mankind. With this new evidence and clearer view of the
divine
perfection, the Psalmist here comes back to the point from which he
started,
and closes with a solemn repetition of the theme propounded in the
opening
sentence.
PSALM IX.
This
psalm expresses, in a series of natural and striking alternations,
gratitude
for past deliverances, trust in God's power and disposition to
repeat
them, and direct and earnest prayer for such repetition. We have
first
the acknowledgment of former mercies, ver. 2-7 (1-6); then the
expression
of trust for the future, ver. 8-13 (7-12); then the petition
founded
on it, ver. 14, 15 (13, 14). The same succession of ideas is
repeated:
recollection of the past, ver. 16, 17 (15, 16); anticipation of
the
future, ver. 18, 19 (17, 18); prayer for present and immediate help,
ver.
20, 21 (19, 20). This parallelism of the parts makes the structure of
VER.
1-3.] PSALM
IX.
41
the
psalm remarkably like that of the seventh. The composition was inten-
tionally
so framed as to be a vehicle of pious feeling to the church at any
period
of strife and persecution. The form is that of the Old Testament;
but
the substance and the spirit are common to both dispensations.
1. To
the Chief Musician, Al-muth-labben. This enigmatical title has
been
variously explained. Some understand it as descriptive of the sub-
ject,
and make labben an anagram of Nabol, the name of one of David's
enemies,
and, at the same time, an appellative denoting fool, in which sense
it
is frequently applied to the wicked; see, for example, Ps. xiv. 1. The
whole
would then mean on the death of the fool,
i. e. the sinner. Such
enigmatical
changes are supposed to occur in Jer. xxv. 26, li. 1, 41; Zech.
ix.
1. Others, by a change of pointing in the Hebrew, for al-muth read
alamoth, a musical term
occurring in the title of Ps. xlvi., or a cognate
form
almuth, and explain labben to mean for Ben, or the (children of)
Ben,
one
of the Levitical singers mentioned in 1 Chron. xv. 18. Neither of
these
explanations seem so natural as a third, which supposes muth-labben
to
be the title, or the first words, or a prominent expression of some other
poem,
in the style, or to the air of which, this psalm was composed. After
the manner, or to the air, of (the song or poem) Death to the son, or the
death
of the son. Compare 2 Sam. i. 18, where David's elegy on Saul
appears
to be called Kesheth or the Bow, because that word is a prominent
expression
in the composition. As it cannot be supposed that the expres-
sion
was originally without meaning, the obscurity, in this and many
similar
cases, is rather a proof of antiquity than of the opposite.
2 (1). I
will thank Jehovah, praise him for his benefits, with all my
heart, sincerely, cordially,
and with a just appreciation of the greatness of
his
favours. I will recount all thy wonders,
the wonderful things done by
thee,
with special reference to those attested by his own experience. The
change
from the third to the second person is entirely natural, as if the
Psalmist's
warmth of feeling would not suffer him to speak any longer
merely
of God, as one absent, but compelled him to turn to him, as the
immediate
object of address. There is no need, therefore, of supplying
thee
in the first clause, and construing Jehovah
as a vocative.
3 (2). I
will joy and triumph in thee, not merely in thy presence, or
because
of thee, i. e. because of what thou
hast done, but in communion
with
thee, and because of my personal interest in thee. The form of the
verbs,
both here and in the last clause of the preceding verse, expresses
strong
desire and fixed determination; see above, on Ps. ii. 3. I will
praise, or celebrate in
song;
see above, on Ps. vii. 18 (17). Thy name,
thy
manifested excellence; see above, on Ps. v. 12 (11). (Thou) Highest, or Most High!
see
above, on Ps. vii. 18 (17). Here again there is special reference to the proofs
of God's
supremacy
afforded by his recent dealings with the Psalmist and his enemies.
4 (3). In
the turning of my enemies back, i. e.
from their assault on me,
which
is equivalent to saying, in their retreat, their defeat, their disappoint-
ment.
This may either be connected with what goes before, and understood
as
a statement of the reason or occasion of the praise there promised: "I
will
celebrate thy name when (or because) my enemies turn back;" or
it
may begin a new sentence, and ascribe their defeat to the agency of
God
himself: "When my enemies turn back (it is because) they are to
stumble, and perish from
thy presence,
from before thee, or at thy presence,
i. e. as soon as thou
appearest." The Hebrew preposition has both a causa-
tive
and local meaning. The form of the verbs does not necessarily imply
42 PSALM
IX. [VER.
4-6.
that
the deliverance acknowledged was still future, but only that it might
occur
again, and that in any such case, whether past or yet to come,
Jehovah
was and would be the true author of the victory achieved. The
act
of stumbling implies that of falling as its natural consequence, and is
often
used in Scripture as a figure for complete and ruinous failure.
5 (4). This was not a matter of precarious
expectation, but of certain
experience.
For thou hast made, done, executed,
wrought out, and thereby
maintained,
my cause and my right. This phrase is
always used elsewhere
in
a favourable sense, and never in the vague one of simply doing justice,
whether
to the innocent or guilty. See Deut. x. 18; 1 Kings viii. 45, 49;
Ps.
cxl. 12; and compare Isa. x. 2. And this defence was not merely that
of
an advocate, but that of a judge, or rather of a sovereign in the exercise
of
those judicial functions which belong to royalty. See Prov. xx. 8. Thou
hast sat, and sittest, on a throne, the throne of universal
sovereignty, judging right,
i. e. rightly, or a judge of righteousness, a righteous
judge. See above, on Ps. vii.
12
(11). In this august character the Psalmist had already seen Jehovah, and he
therefore
gives it as a reason for expecting him to act in accordance with it now.
6 (5). The forensic terms of the preceding
verse are now explained as
denoting
the destruction of God's enemies. Thou
hast rebuked nations,
not
merely individuals, but nations. God's chastisements are often called
rebukes,
because in them he speaks by act as clearly as he could by word.
Thou hast destroyed a
wicked (one),
i. e. many a wicked enemy, in former
times,
in other cases, and that not with a partial ruin, but with complete
extermination
even of their memory. Their name,
that by which men are
distinguished
and remembered, thou hast blotted out, erased,
effaced, obli-
terated,
to perpetuity and eternity, an idiomatic combination, coincident in
sense,
though not in form, with the English phrase, for ever and ever. This
verse
does not refer exclusively to any one manifestation of God's power
and
wrath, but to the general course of his dealings with his enemies, and
especially
to their invariable issue, the destruction of the adverse party.
7 (6). The
enemy, or as to the enemy, a
nominative absolute placed at the
beginning
of the sentence for the sake of emphasis—finished,
completed,
are (his) ruins, desolations, for ever; i. e. he is ruined or made desolate
for
ever. The construction of the first word as a vocative— O enemy, ended
are (thy) desolations
for ever,
i. e. the desolations caused by
thee—affords a
good
sense, but is neither so agreeable to usage nor to the context as the
one
first given. Still less so are the other versions which have been given
of
this difficult clause. E. g. The enemies are completely desolate for ever;
—the
enemies are consumed, (there are) ruins (or desolations) for ever, &c.
The
address is still to Jehovah, as in the preceding verse. And (their)
cities, viz. those of the
enemy, hast thou destroyed. According
to the second
construction
above given, this would mean, thou (O
enemy) hast destroyed
cities, but art now destroyed
thyself. The same reasons as before require
us
to prefer Jehovah as the object of address. Gone,
perish, is their very
memory. The idiomatic form of
the original in this clause cannot be
retained
in a translation. The nearest approach to it would be, gone is
their memory, themselves. This may either mean their memory, viz. (that
of) themselves, i. e. their own; or, perished
is their memory (and) themselves
(with it). There seems to be an
obvious allusion to the threatenings
against
Amalek in the books of Moses (Exod. xvii. 14; Num. xxiv. 20;
Deut.
xxv. 19), which received their literal fulfilment in the conquests of
Saul
and David (1 Sam. xv. 3, 7, xxvii. 8, 9, xxx. 1, 17; 2 Sam. viii. 12;
VER.
7-12.]
PSALM IX.
43
1
Chron. iv. 43). But this is evidently here presented merely as a sample
of
other conquests over the surrounding nations (2 Sam. viii. 11-14), and
even
these as only samples of the wonders wrought by God for his own
people,
and celebrated in ver. 2 (1) above.
8 (7). And
Jehovah to eternity, for ever, will
sit, as he sits now, upon
the
throne and judgment-seat. He has set up
for judgment, for the purpose
of
acting as a judge, his throne. It is
not as an absolute or arbitrary ruler,
but
as a just judge, that Jehovah reigns. This recognition of God's judicial
character
and office as perpetual is intended to prepare the way for an
appeal
to his righteous intervention in the present case.
9 (8). And
he, himself, with emphasis upon the pronoun, is to judge the
world, the fruitful and cultivated earth, as the
Hebrew word properly
denotes,
here put for its inhabitants, in justice,
or righteousness, i. e. in
the
exercise of this divine perfection. He
will judge, a different Hebrew
verb,
to which we have no equivalent, he will
judge nations, peoples, races,
not
mere individuals, in equities, in
equity, the plural form denoting fulness
or
completeness, as in Ps. i. 1. As the preceding verse describes Jehovah's
kingship
as judicial, so the verse before us represents him in the actual
exercise
of his judicial functions.
10 (9). And
(so) will Jehovah be a high place, out of reach of danger,
hence
a refuge, for the oppressed,
literally the bruised or broken in pieces,
a high place, refuge, in times of distress, literally at times in distress, i. e.
at times (when men are) in distress. God's judicial sovereignty
is exercised
so
as to relieve the sufferer and deliver those in danger.
11 (10). And in thee will trust, as now so in all times to come, the
knowers of thy name, those who know the
former exhibitions of thy great-
ness
and thy goodness, all which are included in the name of God. See
ver.
3 (2), and Ps. viii. 2 (1), vii. 18 (17), ver. 12 (11). For thou hast not forsaken thy
seekers, or (those) seeking thee, O Lord, Jehovah, i. e. seeking thy favour in general,
and
thy protection against their enemies in particular. The certain knowledge of
this
fact
is laid as the foundation of the confidence expressed in the first clause.
12 (11). Sing, make music, give praise by song or music, to Jehovah,
as
the God of Israel, inhabiting Zion, i. e. the sanctuary there established.
Or
the words may mean sitting, as a
king, enthroned, (in) Zion, which
agrees
well with the use of the same verbs in ver. 5, 8 (4, 7) above, al-
though
the other version is favoured by the obvious allusion to the symboli-
cal
import of the sanctuary under the Mosaic law, as teaching the great
doctrine
of God's dwelling among men. See above, on Ps. iii. 5 (4),
v.
8 (7). Zion is here represented as the centre of a circle reaching far
beyond
the house of Israel, and indeed co-extensive with the earth. Tell,
declare,
make known, in, among, the nations, his exploits, his noble
deeds,
the
wonders mentioned in ver. 2 (1). We
have here, in his inspired
formula
of worship, a clear proof that the ancient church believed and
understood
the great truth, that the law was to go forth from Zion, and the
word
of the Lord from Jerusalem, Isa. ii. 3, Mic. iv. 2.
13 (12). For seeking blood, or as an inquisitor of blood, he has remem-
bered, he remembers, it, i.
e. the blood; he has not forgotten
the cry of the
distressed. God is here revealed
in the character which he assumes in Gen.
ix.
5, where the same verb and noun are used in the first clause of the
verse
before us. The word translated blood
is in the plural form. See
above,
on Ps. v. 7 (6). Hence the literal translation of the next word is,
he has remembered them, i. e. the bloods or murders. The cry meant is
44 PSALM IX. [VER. 13, 14.
the
cry of suffering and complaint, with particular reference to Gen. iv. 10.
According,
to another reading of the last clause, the cry is that of the meek
or
humble, not of the distressed. But the common text affords a better
sense,
and really includes the other, as the innocence of the sufferers is im-
plied,
though not expressed. The general import of the verse is that God's
judgments,
though deferred, are not abandoned, that he does not forget
even
what he seems to disregard, and that sooner or later he will certainly
appear
as an avenger. Murder is here put as the highest crime against
the
person, for all others, and indeed for wickedness in general.
14 (13). Have mercy upon me, or be gracious to me, O Jehovah, see my
suffering from my
haters, raising me from the gates of death. The view
previously
taken of God's faithfulness and justice is now made the ground
of
an importunate petition for deliverance from present dangers and dis-
tress.
My haters, those who hate me. From my haters may be taken as
a
pregnant construction, meaning, see my suffering (and free me) from my
enemies.
Thus in 2 Sam. xviii. 19, "Jehovah hath judged him from the
hand
of his enemies," means "hath done him justice (and so freed him)
from
the power of his enemies." See a similar expression in Ps. xxii. 22
(21)
below. It seems more natural and obvious, however, in the case
before
us, to give from a causal meaning.
"See my distress (arising)
from,
or caused by, those who hate me." Raising
me does not denote an
accompanying
act, as if he had said, see my distress, and at the same time
lift
me up, &c. It is rather descriptive of a certain divine character or
habit,
and agrees with the pronoun of the second person understood.
"Thou
that liftest me up," that art accustomed so to do, that has done so
in
other cases, with an implied prayer, do so now. The gates of death may
have
reference to the image of a subterranean dungeon, from which no prisoner can
free
himself; or it may be simply a poetical expression for the entrance to the grave
of
the state of the dead. Compare Isa. xxxviii. 10, and Mat. xvi. 18.
15 (14). That I may recount all thy praise in the gates of the daughter of
Zion, may joy in thy
salvation.
This is one important end for which he
asks
to be delivered, namely, that God may have the praise of his deliver-
ance.
There is a trace, in the Hebrew text, of an original plural form,
praises,
which might then denote praiseworthy deeds, actions worthy to be
celebrated.
But the singular form occurs with all in
Ps. cvi. 2 below.
The
gates here mentioned are contrasted with those of the preceding verse.
The
God who saves him from the gates of death shall be praised for this
deliverance
in the gates of the daughter of Zion. This last expression is
supposed
by some to be a personification of the people inhabiting Zion or
Jerusalem,
who are then put for Israel at large, as the church or chosen
people.
Others regard the genitive construction as equivalent to a simple
apposition,
as in river of Euphrates, or in our
familiar phrase, the city of
Jerusalem. The personification is
then that of the city itself, considered
as
an ideal virgin, and on that account called daughter,
by a usage similar
to
that of the corresponding word in French. In either case, there is an
obvious
reference to the ancient church, as the scene or the witness of the
Psalmist's
praises. The verb in the last clause may be made to depend upon
the
particle at the beginning of the verse, (that)
I may exult; or it may be
still
more emphatically construed as an independent proposition, I will exult
in thy salvation. The form of the verb
is the same as in Ps. ii. 3 above.
The
second verb itself occurs in ver. 11 of that psalm, and as in that case,
may
either denote an inward emotion or the outward expression of it, I will
VER.
15-18.] PSALM
IX.
45
shout. In thy salvation, i. e. in the possession or experience of it, and in
acknowledgment
of having thus experienced or possessed it.
16 (15). Sunk are nations in a pit they made; in a net which they hid,
taken is their foot. This may be either a
confident anticipation of the future
as
if already past, or a further reference to previous deliverance, as a ground
of
hope for others yet to come. Nations,
whole nations, when opposed to
God.
Compare Ps. ii. 1. The accessory idea of Gentiles,
heathen, would
be
necessarily suggested at the same time to a Hebrew reader. Most ver-
sions
have the definite forms, the pit, the net;
but the indefinite form of the
original
is equally intelligible in English, and therefore preferable as a more
exact
translation. The ellipsis of the relative, a
pit (which) they made, is
common
to the Hebrew idiom and our own. The figures are borrowed
from
ancient modes of hunting. See above, on Ps. vii. 16 (15). Their
foot, their own foot, not
that of the victim whose destruction they intended.
17 (16). Known is Jehovah, or has made himself known. Justice has he
done, or judgment has he
executed. In the work of his (own) hands
en-
snared is a wicked
(man). Higgaion,
meditation. Selah, pause. God has
revealed
himself as present and attentive, notwithstanding his apparent obli-
vion
and inaction, by doing justice on his enemies, or rather by making
them
do justice on themselves, converting their devices against others into
means
of self-destruction. In view of this most striking attestation of
God's
providential government, the reader is summoned to reflect, and
enabled
so to do by a significant and solemn pause. The sense of medita-
tion
or reflection is clear from Ps. xix. 15 (14), and Lam. iii. 62. See
below,
on Ps. xcii. 4 (3). The addition of Higgaion
to Selah here con-
firms
the explanation already given of the latter word. See above, on Ps.
iii.
3 (2). With this understanding of the terms, we may well say, to our-
selves
or others, in view of every signal providential retribution, especially
where
sin is conspicuously made its own avenger, Higgaion
Selah!
18 (17). The wicked shall turn back even to hell, to death, or to the grave,
all nations forgetful,
of God.
The enemies of God and of his people shall
be
not only thwarted and repulsed, but driven to destruction; and that not
merely
individuals, but nations. For the meaning of Sheol see above, on
Ps.
vi. 6 (5). The figure of turning back, retreating, failing, is the same
as
in ver. 4 (3) above. The idea expressed is not that of being turned
directly
into hell, but that of turning back, first to one's original position,
and
then beyond it, to the grave or hell. In the last clause there is an
allusion
to the implied charge of forgetfulness on God's part in ver. 13 (12)
above.
He had not forgotten the "poor innocents," as they feared, and
as
their enemies believed; but these very enemies had forgotten him, and
must
now abide the consequences of their own forgetfulness. The future
forms
of this verse may have reference to the same things mentioned in the
verse
preceding as already past. It seems more natural, however, to explain
them
as a confident anticipation of results precisely similar to those which
had
already been produced by the same causes. As Jehovah had already
caused
the heathen to become their own destroyers, so he might be expected
to
renew the same judicial process in another case.
19 (18). For not for ever shall the poor be forgotten, (and) the hope of the
humble perish to
eternity.
However long God may appear to be forgetful
of
his suffering people, even this seeming oblivion is to have an end. Still
another
allusion to the charge or imputation of forgetfulness implied in ver.
13
(12) above. The difference between the readings humble and afflicted
46
PSALM X. [VER. 1.
(Myvnf and Myynf) is not essential, as
the context shews that the humble
meant
are humble sufferers.
20 (19). Arise, Jehovah! Let not man, frail man, be strong. Let na-
tions, or the heathen, be judged, and as a necessary consequence
condemned,
before thy face, in thy presence, at
thy bar. Here again, as in ver. 13, 14
(12,
13), the expression of strong confidence is made the occasion of an
earnest
prayer. So far is an implicit trust from leading men to cast off
fear
and restrain prayer before God. On the exhortation to arise, as from a
state
of previous inaction, see above, Ps. iii. 7 (6). For the full sense of the
word
translated man, see above, on Ps.
viii. 5 (4). Let him not be strong,
i. e. let him not, so appear,
or so esteem himself. Let him have no occasion,
by
indulgence or prolonged impunity, to cherish this delusion, or to prac-
tise
this imposture. The absurdity of making man the stronger party in
this
strife with God is so preposterous, that God is summoned to arise for
the
purpose of exploding it. To be judged, in the case of the wicked, is of
course
to be condemned. To be judged in God's presence, or at his tri-
bunal,
is of course to be condemned without appeal.
21 (20). Set, place, or join, O Jehovah,
fear to them. Let nations know,
or
then shall nations know, (that) man,
not God, (are) they. Selah. God
is
entreated so to frighten them, that they may become conscious of their
own
insignificance and weakness. The word translated fear is elsewhere
used
to signify a razor. Hence some would
render the first clause, apply
the razor to them, i. e. shave them, in allusion to the oriental feeling with
respect
to the beard. But this seems far-fetched, and the masoretic read-
ing
yields a better sense. The precise import of the first phrase seems to
be,
set fear as a guard over them (Ps. cxli. 3), or join it to them as a con-
stant companion. The word