This is said to be “A Psalm or Song at the dedication of the house of David.” There is no reason to call in question the correctness of this inscription, though it cannot be certain that it was prefixed by the author himself. The words of the title are found in the Hebrew, and it is to be presumed t... [ Continue Reading ]
I WILL EXTOL THEE - literally, “I will exalt thee;” that is, he would make God first and supreme in his thoughts and affections; he would do what he could to make Him known; he would elevate Him high in his praises. FOR THOU HAST LIFTED ME UP - To wit, from the state of danger in which I was Psalms... [ Continue Reading ]
O LORD MY GOD, I CRIED UNTO THEE - In the time of trouble and danger. AND THOU HAST HEALED ME - Thou didst restore me to health. The language here evidently refers to the fact that he had been sick, and had then been restored to health.... [ Continue Reading ]
O, LORD, THOU HAST BROUGHT UP MY SOUL FROM THE GRAVE - My life; me. The meaning is, that he had been in imminent danger of death, and had been brought from the borders of the grave. The word here rendered “grave” is “Sheol” - a word which, properly used, commonly denotes the region of the dead; the... [ Continue Reading ]
SING UNTO THE LORD, O YE SAINTS OF HIS - This call upon others to give thanks to God is in view of the mercy which he had experienced. He invites them to unite with him in celebrating the praises of that God who had showed him so much mercy. It was not because they had been benefited by these tokens... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR HIS ANGER ENDURETH BUT A MOMENT - Margin: There is but “a moment in his anger.” So the Hebrew. That is, his anger endures but a short time, or brief period. The reference here is to the troubles and sorrows through which the psalmist had passed, as compared with his subsequent happiness. Though... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IN MY PROSPERITY I SAID, I SHALL NEVER BE MOVED - I shall never be visited with calamity or trial. This refers to a past period of his life, when everything seemed to be prosperous, and when he had drawn around him so many comforts, and had apparently made them so secure, that it seemed as if th... [ Continue Reading ]
LORD, BY THY FAVOR THOU HAST MADE MY MOUNTAIN TO STAND STRONG - Margin: “settled strength for my mountain.” This refers, I apprehend, to his former state of mind; to his confidence in that which constituted his prosperity as referred to in the previous verse; to his feeling, in that state, that ever... [ Continue Reading ]
I CRIED TO THEE, O LORD - That is, when those reverses came, and when that on which I had so confidently relied was taken away, I called upon the Lord; I uttered an earnest cry for aid. The prayer which he uttered on the occasion is specified in the following verses. The idea here is, that he was no... [ Continue Reading ]
WHAT PROOF IS THERE IN MY BLOOD - That is, What profit or advantage would there be to thee if I should die? What would be “gained” by it? The argument which the psalmist urges is that he could better serve God by his life than by his death; that his death, by removing him from the earth, would preve... [ Continue Reading ]
HEAR, O LORD, AND HAVE MERCY UPON ME, - etc. This, too, is the prayer which he uttered in the calamities adverted to in Psalms 30:7. It is a cry for mercy founded on the idea referred to in Psalms 30:9.... [ Continue Reading ]
THOU HAST TURNED FOR ME - In my behalf. That is, God had heard his prayer; he had brought his troubles to an end; he had caused his sorrows to be succeeded by correspondent joy. MY MOURNING INTO DANCING - Joy, exultation, every expression of rejoicing, had been made to succeed his deep sorrows. Com... [ Continue Reading ]
TO THE END THAT MY GLORY MAY SING PRAISE TO THEE - Margin, my “tongue,” or my “soul.” DeWette renders it, “my heart.” The Aramaic Paraphrase: “that the honorable of the world may praise thee.” The Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate: “my glory.” The reference is, undoubtedly, to what the psalmist regar... [ Continue Reading ]