This is one of the psalms ascribed to Asaph. See Introduction to Psalms 73. If, as is likely, it was composed at a later period than the time of David, the word “Asaph” must be taken as a general term denoting the successor in the family off Asaph, who presided over the music the sanctuary. On the w... [ Continue Reading ]
GIVE EAR, O MY PEOPLE - This is not an address of God, but an address of the king or ruler of the people, calling their attention to an important subject; to wit, his right to rule over them, or showing why the power had been vested in him. TO MY LAW - The word law here seems to mean what he would... [ Continue Reading ]
I WILL OPEN MY MOUTH IN A PARABLE - See the notes at Psalms 49:4. The word “parable” here means a statement by analogy or comparison; that is, he would bring out what he had to say by a course of reasoning founded on an analogy drawn from the ancient history of the people. I WILL UTTER DARK SAYINGS... [ Continue Reading ]
WHICH WE HAVE HEARD AND KNOWN - Which have been communicated to us as certain truth. AND OUR FATHERS HAVE TOLD US - That is, we have heard and known them by their telling us; or, this is the means by which we have known them. They have come down to us by tradition from ancient times.... [ Continue Reading ]
WE WILL NOT HIDE THEM FROM THEIR CHILDREN - From their descendants, however remote. We of this generation will be faithful in handing down these truths to future times. We stand between past generations and the generations to come. We are entrusted by those who have gone before us with great and imp... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR HE ESTABLISHED A TESTIMONY IN JACOB - He ordained or appointed that which would be for a “witness” for him; that which would bear testimony to his character and perfections; that which would serve to remind them of what he was, and of his authority over them. Any law or ordinance of God is thus... [ Continue Reading ]
THAT THE GENERATION TO COME MIGHT KNOW THEM ... - That people in future times might enjoy the benefit of them as their fathers had done, and that they should then send them forward to those who were to succeed them. WHO SHOULD ARISE AND DECLARE THEM TO THEIR CHILDREN - Who, as they appeared on the... [ Continue Reading ]
THAT THEY MIGHT SET THEIR HOPE IN GOD - That they might place confidence in God; that they might maintain their allegiance to him. The object was to give such exhibitions of his character and government as to inspire just confidence in him, or to lead people to trust in him; and not to trust in idol... [ Continue Reading ]
AND MIGHT NOT BE AS THEIR FATHERS - Their ancestors, particularly in the wilderness, as they passed through it to the promised land. See Exodus 32:7; Exodus 33:3; Exodus 34:9; Acts 7:51. A STUBBORN AND REBELLIOUS GENERATION - Stiff-necked, ungovernable; inclined to revolt. Nothing was more remarkab... [ Continue Reading ]
THE CHILDREN OF EPHRAIM - The sons of Ephraim; that is, the descendants of Ephraim; the tribe of Ephraim. Ephraim was one of the “largest” of the tribes of Israel, and was the “chief” tribe in the rebellion, and hence, the term is often used to denote the “ten” tribes, or the kingdom of Israel, in c... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY KEPT NOT THE COVENANT OF GOD - The covenant which God had made with the entire Hebrew people. They did not maintain their allegiance to Yahweh. Compare Deuteronomy 4:13, Deuteronomy 4:23; Deuteronomy 17:2. AND REFUSED TO WALK IN HIS LAW - Refused to obey his law. They rebelled against him.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND FORGAT HIS WORKS - The works which he had performed in behalf of the nation. These works are referred to in the verses following. AND HIS WONDERS THAT HE HAD SHEWED THEM - The wonderful works in Egypt, at the Red Sea, and in the wilderness; the miracles which he had performed on behalf of the n... [ Continue Reading ]
MARVELLOUS THINGS DID HE IN THE SIGHT OF THEIR FATHERS - Things suited to excite wonder and astonishment. Such were all the miracles that he performed, in effecting the deliverance of his people. IN THE LAND OF EGYPT - In delivering them from Pharaoh. IN THE FIELD OF ZOAN - The Septuagint renders t... [ Continue Reading ]
HE DIVIDED THE SEA ... - The Red Sea. Exodus 14:21. AND HE MADE THE WATERS TO STAND AS AN HEAP - The word rendered “heap” means anything piled up, or a mound; and the idea is, that the waters were piled up on each side of them as a “mound.” See the notes at Psalms 33:7. Compare Joshua 3:13, Joshua... [ Continue Reading ]
IN THE DAY-TIME ALSO HE LED THEM WITH A CLOUD - That is, the cloud was the visible symbol of his presence, and its movements determined the way in which they were to go. It was “God” who led them, and who adopted this manner of doing it, so that they had “always” with them, by day and by night, a “v... [ Continue Reading ]
HE CLAVE THE ROCKS IN THE WILDERNESS - There were two occasions on which the rock was smitten for water; one Exodus 17:6 at Mount Horeb, shortly after they came out of Egypt; and the other Numbers 20:11, when they had nearly ceased their wanderings in the wilderness. Hence, the plural term (rocks) i... [ Continue Reading ]
HE BROUGHT STREAMS ALSO OUT OF THE ROCK ... - literally, “flowings.” The waters were poured out in an over-flowing stream. Those streams continued to flow, thus constituting a continued proof of the presence of God. See this fully explained in the notes at 1 Corinthians 10:4.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEY SINNED YET MORE AGAINST HIM - literally, “They added to sin against him.” The idea is, that his mercies, and the proofs of his presence were only made the occasion of greater sin on their part. This may have been in two ways; (1) their sin was thus more aggravated, as being committed again... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEY TEMPTED GOD IN THEIR HEART - Exodus 16:2. The heart was the source of the evil. They were not satisfied with what he gave them. They asked for that which would be more agreeable to them, and they did it with a complaining and a murmuring spirit. It is not wrong in itself to ask of God that... [ Continue Reading ]
YEA, THEY SPAKE AGAINST GOD - That is, in the manner which is immediately specified - by calling in question his power, or his ability to provide for them in the wilderness. See Numbers 11:4. THEY SAID, CAN GOD FURNISH A TABLE IN THE WILDERNESS? - In the desert. The word rendered “furnish” is in th... [ Continue Reading ]
BEHOLD, HE SMOTE THE ROCK ... - See the notes at Psalms 78:15. The smiting of the rock the first time occurred “before” the complaining about the food. The fact that the rock had been smitten could not be doubted. They had thus had abundant evidence that God was able to do that, and to furnish “wate... [ Continue Reading ]
THEREFORE THE LORD HEARD THIS, AND WAS WROTH - See Numbers 11:1, Numbers 11:10. SO A FIRE WAS KINDLED AGAINST JACOB ... - Fire may be used here, as in Numbers 11:1, as an emblem of wrath; a fire may have been literally sent down to consume them.... [ Continue Reading ]
BECAUSE THEY BELIEVED NOT IN GOD - They did not believe in his power, or in his promises. AND TRUSTED NOT IN HIS SALVATION - In his power and his willingness to save. They had had abundant evidence of that power, but they still doubted his ability to save them, notwithstanding all that he had done... [ Continue Reading ]
THOUGH HE HAD COMMANDED THE CLOUDS FROM ABOVE - Though he had showed that he had absolute control over the clouds, and had only to command them and they would furnish rain in abundance. Compare the notes at Isaiah 5:6. AND OPENED THE DOORS OF HEAVEN - As he had done at the deluge, Genesis 7:11. The... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HAD RAINED DOWN MANNA UPON THEM TO EAT - Exodus 16:4, Exodus 16:14; Numbers 11:7. Compare the notes at John 6:31. AND HAD GIVEN THEM OF THE CORN OF HEAVEN - Food that seemed to come down from heaven. The reference here is to the manna, and it is called corn in the sense that it was food, or tha... [ Continue Reading ]
MAN DID EAT ANGELS’ FOOD - Food that came from heaven; food so directly and manifestly from heaven that it might be supposed to be the same kind that was eaten there, and that had now been sent down by a special miracle for man; food so delicate and so free from the ordinary coarse properties of foo... [ Continue Reading ]
HE CAUSED AN EAST WIND TO BLOW IN THE HEAVEN - See Numbers 11:31. In the history, the quarter from which the wind came is not mentioned, except as it might be indicated by the statement that the “quails were brought from the sea;” - that is, evidently, the Red Sea. This wind would have come from the... [ Continue Reading ]
HE RAINED FLESH ALSO UPON THEM AS DUST - The flesh of quails, Numbers 11:31. The word “rained” means that they seemed to come upon them like a copious shower. The word dust denotes their great abundance. AND FEATHERED FOWLS - Margin, as in Hebrew, “fowl of wing.” This is a poetic expression, design... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE LET IT FALL IN THE MIDST OF THEIR CAMP ... - It was brought to their very doors; they had not to go and seek it abroad.... [ Continue Reading ]
SO THEY DID EAT, AND WERE WELL FILLED - The word rendered “well” here is intensive. It means that they were abundantly satisfied; that there was no lack; that they had the most ample supply. FOR HE GAVE THEM THEIR OWN DESIRE - He gave them exactly what they asked. He gave them flesh to eat as they... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY WERE NOT ESTRANGED FROM THEIR LUST - literally, “They were not made strangers to;” that is, in regard to their lusts or desires they were not in the condition of “foreigners” or aliens; they were not separated from them. The word “lusts” here means “desires, wishes.” It is not used here in the... [ Continue Reading ]
THE WRATH OF GOD CAME UPON THEM - See Numbers 11:33. AND SLEW THE FATTEST OF THEM - literally, “slew among their fat ones.” That is, The most vigorous among them were cut down; the people most eminent for rank, for influence, for strength, for valor. How far this was the natural effect of indulgenc... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR ALL THIS THEY SINNED STILL - Even this did not reclaim them, and prevent their sinning. Heavy judgments do not always restrain men from sin. Not unfrequently they take occasion from such judgments to sin the more. AND BELIEVED NOT FOR HIS WONDROUS WORKS - They did not trust in His wondrous work... [ Continue Reading ]
THEREFORE THEIR DAYS DID HE CONSUME IN VANITY - He suffered them to spend their days - the days of that entire generation - in vain and fruitless wanderings in the desert. Instead of leading them at once to the promised land, they were kept there to wear out their life in tedious monotony, accomplis... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN HE SLEW THEM - When he came forth in his wrath and cut them down by the plague, by fiery serpents, or by their enemies. THEN THEY SOUGHT HIM - Their calamities had the effect of producing temporary reformation. They became professedly penitent; they manifested a wish to know God, and expressed... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEY REMEMBERED THAT GOD WAS THEIR ROCK - See Deuteronomy 32:4, Deuteronomy 32:15, Deuteronomy 32:31. Compare the notes at Psalms 18:2. That is, they were brought to reflect that their only security and defense was God. They were made to feel that they could not rely on themselves, or on any hum... [ Continue Reading ]
NEVERTHELESS THEY DID FLATTER HIM WITH THEIR MOUTH - The word rendered “flatter” means properly “to open;” and hence, “to be open; to be ingenious or frank;” and then, to be easily persuaded, to be deluded, to be beguiled; and hence, also, in an active form, to persuade, to entice, to seduce, to beg... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THEIR HEART WAS NOT RIGHT WITH HIM - Luther renders this, “Not fast with him.” The Hebrew word means “to fit, to prepare;” and the idea is, that the heart was not “adjusted” to such a profession, or did not “accord” with such a promise or pledge. It was a mere profession made by the lips, while... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT HE, BEING FULL OF COMPASSION - literally, “But he, merciful,” That is, he was ready to forgive them. FORGAVE THEIR INIQUITY - literally, Atoned for, expiated, covered over their iniquity. There is connected with the word the idea of expiation or atonement, as the ground of pardon. AND DESTROYE... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR HE REMEMBERED THAT THEY WERE BUT FLESH - That they were human; that they were weak; that they were prone to err; that they were liable to fall into temptation. In his dealings with them he took into view their fallen nature; their training; their temptations; their trials; their weaknesses; and... [ Continue Reading ]
HOW OFT DID THEY PROVOKE HIM IN THE WILDERNESS - Margin, Or, rebel against him. The Hebrew word may have the signification in the margin. The idea is, that they were perverse and rebellious; that they excited his displeasure, and gave occasion for his anger. See Psalms 78:17. AND GRIEVE HIM IN THE... [ Continue Reading ]
YEA, THEY TURNED BACK, AND TEMPTED GOD - They turned away from his service; they were disposed to return to Egypt, and to place themselves in the condition in which they were before they were delivered from bondage. AND LIMITED THE HOLY ONE OF ISRAEL - The idea is, that they set a limit to the power... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY REMEMBERED NOT HIS HAND - His gracious interpositions; the manifestations of his power. They forgot that power had been exercised which showed that he was omnipotent - that there was no limit to his ability to aid them. NOR THE DAY WHEN HE DELIVERED THEM FROM THE ENEMY - The time when he rescu... [ Continue Reading ]
HOW HE HAD WROUGHT HIS SIGNS IN EGYPT - Margin, set. The Hebrew word means to set or place. The word signs here refers to miracles as signs or indications of God’s power and favor. The things which he did were of such a nature as to show that he was almighty, and at the same time to assure them of h... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HAD TURNED THEIR RIVERS INTO BLOOD - Exodus 7:20. There was properly but one river in Egypt - the Nile. But there were several branches of that river at the mouth; and there were numerous artificial streams or canals cut from the river, to anyone of which the word river might be also given. Comp... [ Continue Reading ]
HE SENT DIVERS SORTS OF FLIES ... - The account of this plague is found in Exodus 8:24. The word there used is simply “swarm,” without indicating what the swarm was composed of. The rabbis explain the word as denoting a mixture, or a conflux of noxious insects, as if the word were derived from ערב _... [ Continue Reading ]
HE GAVE ALSO THEIR INCREASE UNTO THE CATERPILLAR - The increase or the produce of their fields. Exodus 10:12. The word חסיל _châsı̂yl_ - is supposed to denote a species of locust rather than the caterpillar. It literally means the devourer. In our version, however, it is uniformly rendered caterpil... [ Continue Reading ]
HE DESTROYED THEIR VINES WITH HAIL - Margin, killed. See Exodus 9:22. In the account in Exodus the hail is said to have smitten man and beast, the herb, and the tree of the field. In the psalm only one thing is mentioned, perhaps denoting the ruin by what would be particularly felt in Palestine, whe... [ Continue Reading ]
HE GAVE UP THEIR CATTLE ALSO TO THE HAIL - Margin, he shut up. Exodus 9:22. AND THEIR FLOCKS TO HOT THUNDERBOLTS - Margin, lightnings. The original word means flame; then, lightning. There is no allusion in the word to the idea of a bolt, or shaft, accompanying the lightning or the thunder, by whic... [ Continue Reading ]
HE CAST UPON THEM THE FIERCENESS OF HIS ANGER ... - This verse is designed to describe the last, and the most dreadful of the plagues that came upon the Egyptians, the slaying of their first-born; and hence, there is such an accumulation of expressions: anger - fierce anger - wrath - indignation - t... [ Continue Reading ]
HE MADE A WAY TO HIS ANGER - Margin, he weighed a path. He leveled a path for it; he took away all hindrance to it; he allowed it to have free scope. The idea of weighing is not in the original. The allusion is to a preparation made by which one can march along freely, and without any obstruction. S... [ Continue Reading ]
AND SMOTE ALL THE FIRSTBORN IN EGYPT - See Exodus 11:4; Exodus 12:29. THE CHIEF OF THEIR STRENGTH - Those on whom they relied; their firstborn; their pride; their glory; their heirs. Compare Genesis 49:3. IN THE TABERNACLES OF HAM - The tents; the dwelling-places of Ham; that is, of Egypt. Compare... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT MADE HIS OWN PEOPLE TO GO FORTH LIKE SHEEP ... - That is, he was a shepherd to them. He defended them; provided for them; led them - as a shepherd does his flock. See the notes at Psalms 23:1.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE LED THEM ON SAFELY, SO THAT THEY FEARED NOT - In hope; in confidence; so that they had no occasion for alarm. He showed himself able and willing to defend them. BUT THE SEA OVERWHELMED THEIR ENEMIES - Margin, as in Hebrew, covered. See Exodus 14:27; Exodus 15:10.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE BROUGHT THEM TO THE BORDER OF HIS SANCTUARY - The Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate render this, “to the mountain of his holiness”; that is, his holy mountain. But the reference is rather to the whole land of Canaan. He brought them to the borders of that land - the land of promise - the holy... [ Continue Reading ]
HE CAST OUT THE HEATHEN ALSO BEFORE THEM - literally, the nations. The idea of their being pagan, in the sense which is now attached to that word, is not in the original. The word is one which would be applied to any nation, without reference to its religion. These nations were, indeed, pagans accor... [ Continue Reading ]
YET THEY TEMPTED AND PROVOKED ... - They tried the patience of God, and provoked him to anger after they were peaceably settled in the promised land. See Judges 2:10. The object is to show that it was the character of the people that they were prone to depart from God. Compare Psalms 78:10, note; Ps... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT TURNED BACK ... - See the notes at Psalms 78:41. THEY WERE TURNED ASIDE LIKE A DECEITFUL BOW - literally, a bow of deceit. That is, a bow that could not be depended on; a bow, one of whose arms was longer or more elastic than the other, so that the arrow would turn aside from the mark. The mark... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THEY PROVOKED HIM TO ANGER WITH THEIR HIGH PLACES - places where idols were worshipped; usually on mountains or elevated places. Leviticus 26:30; compare 1Ki 3:2; 1 Kings 12:31; 2 Kings 17:32; 2 Chronicles 33:17. AND MOVED HIM TO JEALOUSY - As one is when affections due to himself are bestowed... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN GOD HEARD THIS - literally, “God heard;” that is, he understood this; he was acquainted with it. He heard their prayers addressed to false gods; he heard their praises sung in honor of idols. HE WAS WROTH - This is language taken from the common manner of speaking among people, for language de... [ Continue Reading ]
SO THAT HE FORSOOK THE TABERNACLE OF SHILOH - The tabernacle or tent which had been erected at Shiloh. He forsook that as a place where he was to be worshipped; that is, he caused his tabernacle, or his place of worship, to be erected in another place, to wit, on Mount Zion. See Psalms 78:68. The na... [ Continue Reading ]
AND DELIVERED HIS STRENGTH INTO CAPTIVITY - That is, the ark, considered as the symbol of his power. This constituted the defense of the people; this was the emblem of the presence of God, which, when with them, was their real protection. The allusion here is to the time when the ark was taken by th... [ Continue Reading ]
HE GAVE HIS PEOPLE OVER ALSO UNTO THE SWORD - When the ark was taken, 1 Samuel 4:10. Thirty thousand of the children of Israel fell on that occasion. AND WAS WROTH WITH HIS INHERITANCE - Was angry with his people, considered as his inheritance; that is, considered as his own special people, or his... [ Continue Reading ]
THE FIRE CONSUMED THEIR YOUNG MEN - Fire here may be regarded as an image of destructive war, as in Numbers 21:28 : “For there is a fire gone out of Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon: it hath consumed Ar of Moab,” etc. The idea here is, that the young people had been cut off in war. AND THEIR... [ Continue Reading ]
THEIR PRIESTS FELL BY THE SWORD - Compare 1 Samuel 4:11. It was considered a special calamity that the ministers of religion were cut down in war. AND THEIR WIDOWS MADE NO LAMENTATION - That is, the public troubles were so great, the danger was still so imminent, the calamities thickened so fast, t... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN THE LORD AWAKED AS ONE OUT OF SLEEP - literally, as one sleeping; that is, as one who is asleep suddenly arouses himself. The Lord seemed to have slept, or to have been inattentive to what was occurring. Suddenly he aroused himself to inflict vengeance on the enemies of his people. Compare Psal... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE SMOTE HIS ENEMIES IN THE HINDER PART - From behind; that is, as they fled. There are two ideas here: one, that they fled at his approach, or turned their backs; the other, that as they fled, he smote and destroyed them. HE PUT THEM TO A PERPETUAL REPROACH - As discomfited; as defeated and sc... [ Continue Reading ]
MOREOVER, HE REFUSED THE TABERNACLE OF JOSEPH - As a place where his worship should be celebrated. This is the completion of the statement in Psalms 78:60. The design is to show that there had been a transfer of the preeminence from the tribe of Ephraim to the tribe of Judah, and from Shiloh to Zion... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT CHOSE THE TRIBE OF JUDAH - He chose David of the tribe of Judah as ruler and king; he chose a place within the limits of Judah, to wit, Mount Zion, or Jerusalem, as the place where his worship was to be celebrated. Thus, the ancient prediction in regard to the supremacy of Judah was accomplished... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE BUILT HIS SANCTUARY - His holy place; that is, his tabernacle. The temple was not then built; and, when reared, it was not on Mount Zion, but on Mount Moriah. The name Zion, however, was often given to the whole city. LIKE HIGH PALACES - The word palaces is not in the original. The Hebrew me... [ Continue Reading ]
HE CHOSE DAVID ALSO HIS SERVANT - He chose him that he might set him over his people as their king. The idea is, that David was selected when he had no natural pretensions to the office, as he did not pertain to a royal family, and could have no claim to such a distinction. The account of this choic... [ Continue Reading ]
FROM FOLLOWING THE EWES GREAT WITH YOUNQ - Margin, as in Hebrew, From after. The meaning is, that he followed after them; that is, he attended them, or watched over them as a shepherd. The single word rendered “the ewes great with young” - עול _‛__ûl_ - is a participle from עלוה _‛__âlâhô_, to a... [ Continue Reading ]
SO HE FED THEM - He performed toward them the office of a shepherd. ACCORDING TO THE INTEGRITY OF HIS HEART - literally, “According to the perfection of his heart.” That is, he was upright and pure in the administration of his government. AND GUIDED THEM BY THE SKILLFULNESS OF HIS HANDS - literally... [ Continue Reading ]