1_O Jehovah! thou hast been favorable to thy land. _Those who translate these words in the future tense, in my opinion, mar their meaning. This psalm, it is probable, was endited to be sung by the people when they were persecuted by the cruel tyranny of Antiochus; and from the deliverance wrought fo... [ Continue Reading ]
2_Thou hast taken away the iniquity of thy people. _It was very natural for the faithful to feel alarmed and perplexed on account of their sins, and therefore the prophet removes all ground for overwhelming apprehension, by showing them, that God, in delivering his people, had given an irrefragable... [ Continue Reading ]
4_Turn us, O God of our salvation! _The faithful now make a practical application to themselves, in their present circumstances, of what they had rehearsed before concerning God’s paternal tenderness towards his people whom he had redeemed. And they attribute to him, by whom they desire to be restor... [ Continue Reading ]
5_Wilt thou be wroth against us for ever? _Here the godly bewail the long continuance of their afflictions, and derive an argument in prayer from the nature of God, as it is described in the law, — “The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, k... [ Continue Reading ]
The godly, still dwelling on the same theme, ask, in the 6th verse, whether _God will not turn again and quicken them _Being fully convinced of the truth of this principle, That the punishments with which God chastises his children are only temporary; they thereby encourage themselves in the confide... [ Continue Reading ]
7._Show us thy mercy, O Jehovah! _In these words there is the same contrast as in the preceding sentence. In supplicating that mercy may be extended to them, and deliverance granted them, they confess that they are deprived of all sense of both these blessings. Such having been the state of the sain... [ Continue Reading ]
8._I will hear what God Jehovah will speak. _The prophet, by his own example, here exhorts the whole body of the Church to quiet and calm endurance. As he had burst forth under the influence of strong emotion into a degree of vehemence, he now restrains himself as it were with a bridle; and in all o... [ Continue Reading ]
9_Surely his salvation is near to them that fear him. _Here the Psalmist confirms the statement made in the preceding verse. He encourages both himself and other servants of God in the hope, that although to outward appearance God was far off from his people, yet deliverance was near at hand; becaus... [ Continue Reading ]
10._Mercy and truth shall meet together. _Here the verbs are in the past tense; but it is evident from the scope of the passage, that they should be translated into the future. I cordially embrace the opinion which is held by many, that we have here a prophecy concerning the kingdom of Christ. There... [ Continue Reading ]
12._Likewise, Jehovah will grant prosperity. _Some take this verse allegorically, and interpret it of the increase of spiritual blessings; but this does not agree with the particle גם _, gam, _rendered _likewise, _by which the prophet, in my opinion, intends to express the completeness of that bless... [ Continue Reading ]
13._Righteousness shall go before him. _The word _righteousness _is taken by some for _a righteous person; _but this is unnatural. Viewed in this light, the passage, indeed, contains the useful and important truth, That the righteous man will walk before God, and will make it his object to regulate... [ Continue Reading ]