This also purports to be a psalm of David. It is dedicated to “the chief Musician,” or committed to him to be set to appropriate music for the public worship of God. See the notes at the Introduction to Psalms 4:1. It is described as both “a psalm,” and “a song.” It is not easy to account for this d... [ Continue Reading ]
PRAISE WAITETH FOR THEE, O GOD, IN SION - That is, all the arrangements are made; the people are assembled; their hearts are prepared to praise thee. The fact that Zion is mentioned here as the seat of praise would seem to imply that this psalm was composed before the building of the temple, contrar... [ Continue Reading ]
O THOU THAT HEAREST PRAYER - Who hast revealed thyself as a God hearing prayer - one of the leading characteristics of whose nature it is that thou dost hear prayer. Literally, “Hearer of prayer, to thee shall all flesh come.” Nothing as applied even to God is more sublime and beautiful than the app... [ Continue Reading ]
INIQUITIES PREVAIL AGAINST ME - Margin, as in Hebrew, Words, or matters of iniquities. The literal meaning is words; and the idea may be that words spoken in iniquity, or slanderous words spoken by others, prevailed against him. The phrase, however, is susceptible of the interpretation which refers... [ Continue Reading ]
BLESSED IS THE MAN WHOM THOU CHOOSEST - That is, Happy is the man; or, “Oh, the happiness of the man whom thou dost thus permit to approach thee.” The construction here in the Hebrew is the same as in Psalms 1:1. See the notes at that passage. The word choosest refers to the fact that true piety reg... [ Continue Reading ]
BY TERRIBLE THINGS IN RIGHTEOUSNESS WILT THOU ANSWER US - That is, By things suited to inspire us and all people with awe, or with a deep sense of thy majesty, thy power, and thy glory. The answer to their prayers would be in such a manner as deeply to impress their minds and hearts. God’s judgments... [ Continue Reading ]
WHICH BY HIS STRENGTH SETTETH FAST THE MOUNTAINS - Fixing them firm on their foundations. This is an exhibition of vast strength or power on the part of God, as if he fixed them so firm that they could not be moved - as if he handled with ease those vast masses of matter, with all their rocks and fo... [ Continue Reading ]
WHICH STILLETH THE NOISE OF THE SEAS - He calms the seas when they have been agitated by the storm. He causes the mighty waves to settle down, and the whole surface of the ocean becomes calm and smooth. The storm subsides at his command, and the sea is still. It was the manifestation of this power w... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY ALSO THAT DWELL IN THE UTTER-MOST PARTS - That is, Those who dwell in the remotest regions; far from civilized lands; far from those places where people are instructed as to the causes of the events which occur, and as to the being and character of the great God who performs these wonders. The... [ Continue Reading ]
THOU VISITEST THE EARTH - God seems to come down that he may attend to the needs of the earth; survey the condition of things; arrange for the welfare of the world which he has made; and supply the needs of those whom he has created to dwell upon it. See the notes at Psalms 8:4. AND WATEREST IT - M... [ Continue Reading ]
THOU WATEREST THE RIDGES THEREOF ABUNDANTLY - Or rather, its furrows, for so the Hebrew word properly means. Job 31:38; Job 39:10. The allusion is to the furrows made by the plow, which are filled with water by the rains. THOU SETTLEST THE FURROWS THEREOF - Or rather, thou beatest down the ridges t... [ Continue Reading ]
THOU CROWNEST THE YEAR WITH THY GOODNESS - Margin, the year of thy goodness. The Hebrew is literally the year of thy goodness - meaning a year remarkable for the manifestation of kindness; or a year of abundant productions. But the Hebrew will admit of the other construction, meaning that God crowns... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY DROP UPON THE PASTURES OF THE WILDERNESS - The waste places, or the waste parts of the land; the uncultivated places, the places of rocks and sands. The word wilderness in the Scriptures does not mean, as with us, a tract of country covered with trees, but a place of barren rocks or sands - an... [ Continue Reading ]
THE PASTURES ARE CLOTHED WITH FLOCKS - The flocks stand so thick together, and are spread so far, that they seem to be a clothing for the pasture; or, the fields are entirely covered with them. THE VALLEYS ALSO ARE COVERED OVER WITH CORN - With grain. That is, the parts of the land - the fertile va... [ Continue Reading ]