1._My God! _The first verse contains two remarkable sentences, which, although apparently contrary to each other, are yet ever entering into the minds of the godly together. When the Psalmist speaks of being forsaken and cast off by God, it seems to be the complaint of a man in despair; for can a ma... [ Continue Reading ]
2._O my God! I cry in the day-time. _In this verse the Psalmist expresses the long continuance of his affliction, which increased his disquietude and weariness. It was a temptation even still more grievous, that his crying seemed only to be lost labor; for, as our only means of relief under our cala... [ Continue Reading ]
3._Yet thou art holy. _In the Hebrew, it is properly, _And thou art holy: _but the copula ו _, vau_, ought, without doubt, to be rendered by the adversative particle _yet. _Some think that the eternal and immutable state of God is here set in opposition to the afflictions which David experienced; (5... [ Continue Reading ]
4._Our fathers trusted in thee. _Here the Psalmist assigns the reason why God sitteth amidst the praises of the tribes of Israel. The reason is, because his hand had been always stretched forth to preserve his faithful people. David, as I have just now observed, gathers together the examples of all... [ Continue Reading ]
6._But I am a worm, and not a man. _David does not murmur against God as if God had dealt hardly with him; but in bewailing his condition, he says, in order the more effectually to induce God to show him mercy, that he is not accounted so much as a man. This, it is true, seems at first sight to have... [ Continue Reading ]
7._All those who see me mock at me, etc., _(505) This is an explanation of the preceding sentence. He had said that he was an object of scorn to the lowest of men, and, as it were, to the refuse of the people. He now informs us of the ignominy with which he had been treated, — that not content with... [ Continue Reading ]
How severe a temptation this must have been to David every man may judge from his own experience. But by the remedy he used he afforded a proof of the sincerity of his confidence: for unless he had had God as the undoubted witness and approver of the sincerity of his heart, he would never have dared... [ Continue Reading ]
9._Surely thou. _David again here raises a new fortress, in order to withstand and repel the machinations of Satan. He briefly enumerates the benefits which God had bestowed upon him, by which he had long since learned that he was his father. Yea, he declares that even before he was born God had sho... [ Continue Reading ]
11._Depart not far from me. _Here he employs another argument to induce God to show him mercy, alleging that he is sorely pressed and hemmed in by the greatest distress. He doubtless set before his eyes the office which the Scriptures every where attribute to God of succouring the miserable, and of... [ Continue Reading ]
12._Strong bulls have encompassed me. _The Psalmist now complains of the cruelty and barbarous rage of his enemies; and he compares them first to bulls, secondly to lions, and thirdly to dogs. When the anger of bulls is kindled, we know how fierce and terrible they are. The lion, also, is a cruel be... [ Continue Reading ]
14._I am poured out like water. _Hitherto he has informed us that being surrounded by wild beasts, he was not far from death, as if he had been at the point of being devoured every moment. He now bewails, in addition to this, his inward distress; from which we learn that he was not stupid or insensi... [ Continue Reading ]
15._My strength is dried up. _He means the vigor which is imparted to us by the radical moisture, as physicians call it. What he adds in the next clause, _My tongue cleaveth to my jaws, _is of the same import. We know that excessive grief not only consumes the vital spirits, but also dries up almost... [ Continue Reading ]
16._They have pierced my hands and my feet. _The original word, which we have translated _they have pierced, _is כארי, _caari, _which literally rendered is, _like a lion. _As all the Hebrew Bibles at this day, without exception, have this reading, I would have had great hesitation in departing from... [ Continue Reading ]
17._I will number. _The Hebrew word עצמות, _atsmoth _which signifies _bones, _is derived from another word, which signifies _strength; _and, therefore, this term is sometimes applied to friends, by whose defense we are strengthened, or to arguments and reasons which are, as it were, the sinews and t... [ Continue Reading ]
What follows in the next verse concerning his garments is metaphorical. It is as if he had said, that all his goods were become a prey to his enemies, even as conquerors are accustomed to plunder the vanquished, or to divide the spoil among themselves, by casting lots to determine the share which be... [ Continue Reading ]
19._Be not thou, then, far from me, O Jehovah! _We must keep in mind all that David has hitherto related concerning himself. As his miseries had reached the utmost height, and as he saw not even a single ray of hope to encourage him to expect deliverance, it is a wonderful instance of the power of f... [ Continue Reading ]
22._I will declare thy name. _(520) David, in promising that when he is delivered he will not be ungrateful, confirms what I have previously stated, that he had never been so cast down by temptation as not to take courage to resist it. How could he be putting himself in readiness, as he is doing her... [ Continue Reading ]
23._Ye who fear Jehovah. _Here, again, the Psalmist expresses more distinctly the fruit of public and solemn thanksgiving, of which I have spoken before, declaring, that by engaging in this exercise, every man in his own place invites and stirs up the church by his example to praise God. He tells us... [ Continue Reading ]
24._For he hath not despised. _To rejoice in one another’s good, and to give thanks in common for each other’s welfare, is a branch of that communion which ought to exist among the people of God, as Paul also teaches, “That for the gift bestowed upon us by the means of many persons, thanks may be g... [ Continue Reading ]
25._My praise shall proceed from thee. _I do not reject the other translation; but in my opinion, the Hebrew manner of expression here requires this sense - that David will take the matter of his song of praise from God. Accordingly, I supply the verb _shall proceed, _or _shall flow, _— _My praise s... [ Continue Reading ]
26._The poor shall eat. _The Psalmist has a reference to the custom which was at that time prevalent among the Jews, of feasting on their sacrifices, as is very well known. He here promises this feast, in order to exercise and prove his charity. And surely that is a pleasant and an acceptable oblati... [ Continue Reading ]
27._All the ends of the earth shall remember. _This passage, beyond all doubt, shows that David stops not at his own person, but that under himself, as a type, he describes the promised Messiah. For even then, it ought to have been a well-known point, that he had been created king by God, that the p... [ Continue Reading ]
This sense is more fully confirmed by the reason (524) which is added in the following verse, (28) _The kingdom is Jehovah’s, that he may rule over the nations _Some explain these words thus:- It is not to be wondered at if the Gentiles should be constrained to yield honor to God, by whom they were... [ Continue Reading ]
29._All the fat ones of the earth shall eat and worship. _Lest it should be thought inconsistent that now the fat ones of the earth are admitted as guests to this banquet, which David seemed immediately before to have appointed only for the poor, let us remember that the first place was given to the... [ Continue Reading ]
30._Their seed shall serve him. _The more to exalt the greatness of the benefit, he declares that it will be of such a character that posterity will never forget it. And he shows how it will come to be perpetuated, namely, because the conversion of the world, of which he has spoken, will not be for... [ Continue Reading ]
31._They shall come, and shall declare. _The Psalmist here confirms what I have previously stated, that since the fathers will transmit the knowledge of this benefit to their children, as it were from hand to hand, the name of God will be always renowned. From this we may also deduce the additional... [ Continue Reading ]