1._Be merciful unto me, O God! _The repetition of the prayer proves that the grief, the anxiety, and the apprehension, with which David was filled at this time, must have been of no common description. It is noticeable, that his plea for mercy is, his having hoped in God. His _soul _trusted in him;... [ Continue Reading ]
3_He shall send from heaven, and save me. _David, as I have repeatedly had occasion to observe, interlaces his prayers with holy meditations for the comfort of his own soul, in which he contemplates his hopes as already realised in the event. In the words before us, he glories in the divine help wit... [ Continue Reading ]
4._My soul is among lions. _He again insists upon the cruelty of his enemies as a plea to prevail with God for his speedier interposition. He compares them to lions, speaks of them as inflamed with fury or implacable hatred, and likens their teeth to spears and arrows. In what he says of their tongu... [ Continue Reading ]
To him we find David appealing in the words that follow, _Exalt thyself, O God! above the heavens: let thy glory be above all the earth. _To perceive the appropriateness of this prayer, it is necessary that we reflect upon the height of audacity and pride to which the wicked proceed, when unrestrain... [ Continue Reading ]
7._My heart is prepared, O God! _(344) Some read _fixed, _or _confirmed, _and the Hebrew word נכון,_nacon, _bears that signification as well as the other. If we adopt it, we must understand David as saying that he had well and duly meditated upon the praises which he was about to offer; that he did... [ Continue Reading ]
8._Awake up, my tongue _David here expresses, in poetical terms, the ardor with which his soul was inspired. He calls upon tongue, psaltery, and harp, to prepare for the celebration of the name of God. The word כבוד, _cabod, _which I have translated _tongue, _some have rendered _glory; _but although... [ Continue Reading ]
9._I will praise thee, O Lord! among the peoples. _As the _nations _and _peoples _are here said to be auditors of the praise which he offered, we must infer that David, in the sufferings spoken of throughout the psalm, represented Christ. This it is important to observe, as it proves that our own st... [ Continue Reading ]