1._I said, I will take heed to my ways. _David explains and illustrates the greatness of his grief by this circumstance, that, contrary to his inclination and resolution, he broke forth into the severest complaints. The meaning substantially is, that although he had subdued his heart to patience, an... [ Continue Reading ]
2._I was dumb in silence. _He now declares that this resolution of which he has spoken had not been a mere passing and momentary thought, but that he had shown by his conduct that it was indeed a resolution deeply fixed in his heart. He says, then, that he held his peace for a time, just as if he ha... [ Continue Reading ]
3._My heart became hot within me _He now illustrates the greatness of his grief by the introduction of a simile, telling us that his sorrow, being internally suppressed, became so much the more inflamed, until the ardent passion of his soul continued to increase in strength. From this we may learn t... [ Continue Reading ]
4._O Jehovah! cause me to know my end. _It appears from this, that David was transported by an improper and sinful excess of passion, seeing he finds fault with God. This will appear still more clearly from the following verses. It is true, indeed, that in what follows he introduces pious and becomi... [ Continue Reading ]
6._Surely man walketh in a shadow. _(69) He still prosecutes the same subject. By the word _shadow, _he means, that there is nothing substantial in man, but that he is only, as we say, a vain show, and has I know not how much of display and ostentation. (70) Some translate the word _darkness, _and u... [ Continue Reading ]
7._And now, O Lord! what do I wait for? _David, having acknowledged that his heart had been too much under the influence of ardent and impetuous emotion, from which he had experienced great disquietude, now returns to a calm and settled state of mind; and from this what I have before stated is rende... [ Continue Reading ]
8._Deliver me from all my sins. _In this verse the Psalmist still continues his godly and holy prayer. He is now no longer carried away by the violence of his grief to murmur against God, but, humbly acknowledging himself guilty before God, he has recourse to his mercy. In asking to be delivered fro... [ Continue Reading ]
9._I was dumb _Here David blames himself, because he had not preserved that silence which, as we have already seen, the violence of his grief forced him to break. When he says then that he was _dumb, _he does not mean this as a commendation of the uniform and persevering restraint which he had exerc... [ Continue Reading ]
10_Take away thy stroke from me. _David here confirms the prayer which he had already presented, namely, that having obtained pardon from God, he might, at the same time, be gently dealt with by him. This prayer, however, does not disturb the silence of which he had just made mention; for our desire... [ Continue Reading ]
12_Hear my prayer, O Jehovah! _David gradually increases his vehemence in prayer. He speaks first of _prayer; _in the second place, of _crying; _and in the third place, of _tears _This gradation is not a mere figure of rhetoric, which serves only to adorn the style, or to express the same thing in d... [ Continue Reading ]
13_Let me alone, that I may recover strength. _Literally, it is, _cease from me, _and therefore some explain it, Let there be a wall raised betwixt us, that thy hand may not reach me. Others read, as a supplement, the word _eyes; _but as to the sense, it matters little which of the expositions be ad... [ Continue Reading ]