1_Praise waiteth for thee, O God! in Zion _Literally it runs, _Praise is silent to thee, _but the verb דמיה, _dumiyah, _has been metaphorically rendered first, _to be at rest, _then _to wait. _The meaning of the expression is, that God’s goodness to his people is such as to afford constantly new mat... [ Continue Reading ]
3_Words of iniquity have prevailed against me _(447) He does not complain of the people being assailed with calumny, but is to be understood as confessing that their sins were the cause of any interruption which had taken place in the communication of the divine favor to the Jews. The passage is par... [ Continue Reading ]
4._Blessed is the man whom thou hast chosen _Having already acknowledged that the people had separated themselves from God by their sins, and forfeited all right to be heard, he now takes refuge in the free grace of God, which secures the remission of sin amongst other blessings. He thus casts an ad... [ Continue Reading ]
5_Terrible things _(453) _in righteousness wilt thou answer to us _He proceeds to illustrate, although in a somewhat different form, the same point of the blessedness of those who are admitted into the temple of God, and nourished in his house. He declares that God would answer his people by miracle... [ Continue Reading ]
6._By his strength setting fast the mountains _For the sake of illustration, he instances the power of God seen in the general fabric of the world. In these times it sounded as a new and strange truth to say that the Gentiles should be called to the same hope with the Jews. To prove that it was not... [ Continue Reading ]
8_They also that dwell, etc. _By the _signs _referred to, we must evidently understand those signal and memorable works of the Lord which bear the impress of his glorious hand. It is true, that the minutest and meanest objects, whether in the heavens or upon the earth, reflect to some extent the glo... [ Continue Reading ]
9._Thou hast visited the earth, and watered it _This and the verbs which follow denote action continually going forward, and may therefore be rendered in the present tense. The exact meaning of the second verb in the sentence has been disputed. Some derive it from the verb שוק, _shuk, _signifying _t... [ Continue Reading ]
10._Thou dost saturate its furrows _Some take the verbs as being in the optative mood, and construe the words as a prayer. But there can be little doubt that David still continues the strain of thanksgiving, and praises God for moistening and saturating the earth with rains that it may be fitted for... [ Continue Reading ]
11_Thou crownest the year with thy goodness _(461) Some read — _Thou crownest the year _of _thy goodness; _as if the Psalmist meant that the fertile year had a peculiar glory attached to it, and were crowned, so to speak, by God. Thus, if there was a more abundant crop or vintage than usual, this wo... [ Continue Reading ]