In one of his prophecies of the approaching judgement which was to shatter the power of Assyria and set Israel free, Isaiah compares the rejoicings with which the deliverance would be celebrated to the rejoicings of the Passover festival. "Ye shall have a song, as in the night when a holy feast is k... [ Continue Reading ]
The theme of the Psalm: thanksgiving for the recent manifestation of God's presence and power among His people. _for_that _thy name_is _near thy wondrous works declare_ The A.V., retained in R.V. marg., gives a good sense, but such a personification of God's wondrous works is without analogy, and e... [ Continue Reading ]
When I reach the appointed time, I Judge uprightly. The -appointed time" (Psalms 102:13; Habakkuk 2:3; Acts 17:31) is the proper moment foreordained in the Divine counsels and known to God. The intervention of Jehovah at the moment when the Assyrians are ripe for judgement is a favourite thought w... [ Continue Reading ]
God speaks, as in Psalms 46:10, and His words are virtually an answer to men's thoughts. Men may have thought that He had abdicated His function as Judge of all the earth: not so: He was only waiting for the fitting moment for action.... [ Continue Reading ]
The first line virtually forms the protasis of the sentence: Though the earth &c.; I have set up the pillars of it. Though all the world is in terror and confusion, _I_(emphatic) have established a moral order in it. The material world is often compared to a building with its foundations and pillars... [ Continue Reading ]
I say unto the arrogant, Deal not arrogantly. Cp. Psalms 73:3; Psalms 5:5. Rabshakeh and his colleagues and the Assyrians in general were the very type of such boastful, defiant arrogance (Isaiah 37:23; Isaiah 10:7 ff.; Nahum 1:11). _Lift not up the horn_ A metaphor, derived from animals tossing th... [ Continue Reading ]
A warning to all presumptuous braggarts, based on the Divine utterances of Psalms 75:2. It is disputed whether the speaker is still God, as in Psalms 75:2, or the poet, but the latter alternative is preferable. The interposition of _Selah_marks the end of the Divine speech, and _I said_naturally int... [ Continue Reading ]
_speak_not _with a stiff neck_ Better, as R.V. marg., _Speak not insolently with a_haughty _neck_. Cp. 1 Samuel 2:3; and for _neck_= _haughty neck_, see Job 15:26. _Not_should not have been italicised in A.V. A single negative governs both clauses in the Heb. though our idiom requires its repetition... [ Continue Reading ]
According to one reading of the Heb. text we must render, For neither from the east, nor from the west, Nor yet from the wilderness, (cometh) lifting up. _The wilderness_, to the S. of Palestine, stands for the south: and the sense is, Exalt not yourselves, for exaltation comes from no quarter of... [ Continue Reading ]
The reason for this warning. Israel looks to God alone for help, and He is the supreme arbiter of human destinies.... [ Continue Reading ]
_the judge_ Cp. Isaiah 33:22. _setteth up_ Lifteth up. Cp. 1 Samuel 2:6-7; Psalms 147:6.... [ Continue Reading ]
The judgement is described under the figure of a cup of wine, which God gives the wicked to drink. The figure is a common one. See Jeremiah 25:15 ff., Jeremiah 25:27 ff.; Jeremiah 49:12; Jeremiah 51:7; Isaiah 51:17 ff.; Job 21:20; Psalms 11:6; Psalms 60:3. _is red_ Or, foameth (R.V.). _mixture_ He [ Continue Reading ]
But as for me, I will declare for ever. It is easy to supply -thy wondrous works." But the LXX reads (with change of one letter) _I will rejoice_, which may be right. Cp. Psalms 9:14; Isaiah 29:19. _For ever_may mean -while life lasts" (1 Samuel 1:22): or is he speaking as the representative of the... [ Continue Reading ]
The vow of praise and the assurance of triumph.... [ Continue Reading ]
_will I cut off_ If the poet is the speaker, he speaks in the name of Israel, confident that in God's strength they will be able to complete the humiliation of their proud foes. Cp. Micah 4:13. But the speaker may be God, answering the vow of praise with a fresh promise. Cp. Psalms 46:10. For the fi... [ Continue Reading ]