Section 1. The author. This psalm purports in the title to be “A Psalm of David,” and is the first one to which a title indicating authorship, or the occasion on which a psalm was composed, is prefixed. The title is found in the Aramaic Paraphrase, the Latin Vulgate, the Septuagint, the Syriac, the... [ Continue Reading ]
LORD, HOW ARE THEY INCREASED - How are they multiplied; or, how numerous they are. Perhaps the idea is, that at first they seemed to be comparatively few in number, but had now so multiplied as to endanger his crown and life. This is an appropriate expression on the supposition that it refers to Abs... [ Continue Reading ]
:Title A PSALM OF DAVID - literally, belonging to David; that is, belonging to him as the author. This is marked in the Hebrew as the first verse, and so in the Syriac version, the Latin Vulgate, and the Septuagint, making in the Hebrew, and in each of these versions, nine verses in the psalm inste... [ Continue Reading ]
MANY THERE BE WHICH SAY OF MY SOUL - Or rather, perhaps, of his “life,” for so the word used here - נפשׁ _nephesh_ - frequently means Leviticus 17:11; Deuteronomy 12:23; Genesis 9:4; Genesis 35:18; 1 Kings 17:21. The object of their persecution, as here stated, was not his soul, as such, in the sens... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT THOU, O LORD, ART A SHIELD FOR ME - Not only in these dangers, but in all dangers. The declaration here has a general form, as if he could trust in him at all times. It shows what his feelings were on the occasion here referred to, when dangers stood thick around him, and what his feelings habit... [ Continue Reading ]
I CRIED UNTO THE LORD - That is, in these troubles, as he had always done in affliction. The form of the verb here is future - “I will cry” or call unto the Lord; probably, however, designed to state a general habit with him, that when troubles came he always called on the Lord. He speaks now of him... [ Continue Reading ]
I LAID ME DOWN AND SLEPT - Notwithstanding these troubles and dangers I had such confidence that God hears prayer, and such calm trust in his protection, that I laid me down gently and slept securely. The psalmist mentions this as a remarkable proof of the divine protection and favor. He was driven... [ Continue Reading ]
I WILL NOT BE AFRAID - As the result of this new proof of the divine protection, and in view of all that God has done and has promised, the psalmist now says that he would not be afraid though any number of foes should rise up against him. Perhaps this confiding and exulting spirit may be regarded i... [ Continue Reading ]
ARISE, O LORD - This is a common mode of calling upon God in the Scriptures, as if he had been sitting still, or had been inactive. It is, of course, language taken from human conceptions, for in the intervals of active effort, in labor or in battle, we sit or lie down, and when we engage in toil we... [ Continue Reading ]
SALVATION BELONGETH UNTO THE LORD - That is, it pertains to God alone to save. The psalmist had no expectation of saving himself; he had no confidence in the unaided prowess of his own arm. If he was to be saved he felt that it was to be only by God, and the praise of this was to be given to Him. Th... [ Continue Reading ]