PSALM 19 THE ARGUMENT The design of this Psalm is to adore and magnify the name of God, for the discovery of his wisdom, and power, and goodness, both by his great and glorious works of creation and providence, and especially by his word and the Holy Scripture; which he prefers before the former. TH... [ Continue Reading ]
DAY UNTO DAY; or rather, _after_ (as the Hebrew _lamed_ oft signifies, as EXODUS 16:1, EXODUS 29:38 2 CHRONICLES 30:21 PSALMS 96:2) _day_; for the day doth not utter this to the day, but to us upon the day. The sense is either, 1. That orderly, and constant, and useful succession of days and nights... [ Continue Reading ]
Or, _understood_, as the verb oft signifies, as GENESIS 11:7, GENESIS 42:23 2 KINGS 18:26 1 CORINTHIANS 14:2; for the _hearing_ of it would have been insignificant without the understanding of it, in which the force of the argument lies. The sense is, There are divers nations in the world, which hav... [ Continue Reading ]
THEIR LINE; either, 1. Their admirable structure made exactly, and as it were by line: see JOB 38:5 MALACHI 1:16. Or, 2. _Their lines_, the singular number being put for the plural, for the line answereth to the words in the next clause. And by _line_ or _lines_ he may understand their writing, as t... [ Continue Reading ]
AS A BRIDEGROOM; gloriously adorned with light as with a beautiful garment, and smiling upon the lower world with a pleasant countenance. COMING OUT OF HIS CHAMBER; in which he is poetically supposed to have rested all night, and thence to break forth as it were on a sudden, as both sacred and profa... [ Continue Reading ]
His course is constant from east to west, and thence to the east again. There is no part of the earth which doth not one time or other feel the comfort and benefit of its light and heat.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE LAW OF THE LORD, i.e. the doctrine delivered by God to his church, whether by Moses or by other prophets, and holy men of God after him; for the title of _law_ is given not only to the ten commandments, or the moral law, as it is ROMANS 2:23,25,27 3:31, but also to the whole word of God, as PSAL... [ Continue Reading ]
_ Statutes_, another word signifying the same thing with law and testimonies, are right; both in themselves, as being free from crookedness or error; and in their effect, as guiding and directing men in the right and ready way to eternal happiness: which also reflects upon that knowledge of divine t... [ Continue Reading ]
THE FEAR OF THE LORD; by which he understands not the grace of God's fear, as this phrase is commonly taken; nor the whole worship of God, as it is taken PSALMS 34:9,11 MT 15:9; but the law and word of God, which is the only thing that is here commended, and which is meant by all the other parallel... [ Continue Reading ]
THAN MUCH FINE GOLD; than gold of the best quality, and in the greatest quantity. SWEETER ALSO THAN HONEY; which was most sweet in those Eastern countries. THE HONEYCOMB; than that honey which the bees have most diligently wrought in their combs, and which freely flows from them; which is sweeter th... [ Continue Reading ]
THY SERVANT; I thy servant, though a king and a prophet, and of some repute for wisdom and knowledge, yet I am daily taught by them. WARNED, or, _enlightened_, as DANIEL 12:3; or clearly admonished, as this word signifies, EXODUS 18:20 2 KINGS 6:10 ECCLESIASTES 4:13 EZEKIEL 3:17, &c.; EZEKIEL 33:3,9... [ Continue Reading ]
WHO CAN UNDERSTAND? this may be here added, either, 1. As a further proof of the excellency and necessity of God's law, because men's errors are so many and hard to be discovered and prevented, that they indispensably need such a friend and counsellot as the law is, to give them the true knowledge... [ Continue Reading ]
KEEP BACK, OR RESTRAIN, OR WITHDRAW; which word is emphatical, and signifies man's natural and great proneness even to the worst of sins, and the necessity of God's grace, as a bridle, to keep men from rushing upon them. Having begged pardon for his former errors, he now begs grace to keep him from... [ Continue Reading ]
Having prayed that God would keep him from sinful actions, he now prays that God would govern and sanctify his words and thoughts, wherein he had many ways offended, as he here implies, and oft in this book confesseth and bewaileth. And this he the rather doth, because this caution was very necessar... [ Continue Reading ]