This psalm purports also to be a psalm of Asaph. See Introduction to Psalms 73. In the absence of any evidence to the contrary, it may be assumed to have been composed by or for the Asaph who was the contemporary of David, and who was, appointed by him to preside over the music of the sanctuary. Ven... [ Continue Reading ]
SING ALOUD UNTO GOD OUR STRENGTH - The strength and support of the nation; he from whom the nation has derived all its power. The word rendered sing aloud means to rejoice; and then, to make or cause to rejoice. It would be appropriate to a high festal occasion, where music constituted an important... [ Continue Reading ]
TAKE A PSALM - literally, “Lift up a psalm; perhaps, as we should say, “Raise the tune.” Or, it may mean, Take an ode, a hymn, a psalm, composed for the occasion, and accompany it with the instruments of music which are specified. AND BRING HITHER THE TIMBREL - For the purpose of praise. On the mea... [ Continue Reading ]
BLOW UP THE TRUMPET - The word rendered blow means to make a clangor or noise as on a trumpet. The trumpet was, like the timbrel, the harp, and the psaltery, a common instrument of music, and was employed on all their festive occasions. It was at first made of horn, and then was made similar in shap... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THIS WAS A STATUTE FOR ISRAEL ... - See Exodus 12:3. That is, it was a law for the whole Jewish people, for all who had the name Israel, for all the descendants of Jacob. The word was is not in the original, as if this had been an old commandment which might now be obsolete, but the idea is one... [ Continue Reading ]
THIS HE ORDAINED IN JOSEPH FOR A TESTIMONY - literally, he placed this; that is, he appointed it. The word Joseph here stands for the whole Hebrew people, as in Psalms 80:1. See the notes at that verse. The meaning is, that the ordinance for observing this festival - the Passover - was to be traced... [ Continue Reading ]
I REMOVED HIS SHOULDER FROM THE BURDEN - The burden which the people of Israel were called to hear in Egypt. The reference is undoubtedly to their burdens in making bricks, and conveying them to the place where they were to be used; and perhaps also to the fact that they were required to carry stone... [ Continue Reading ]
THOU CALLEDST IN TROUBLE - The people of Israel. Exodus 2:23; Exodus 3:9; Exodus 14:10. AND I DELIVERED THEE - I brought the people out of Egypt. I ANSWERED THEE IN THE SECRET PLACE OF THUNDER - That is, in the lonely, retired, solemn place where the thunder rolled; the solitudes where there was no... [ Continue Reading ]
HEAR, O MY PEOPLE, AND I WILL TESTIFY UNTO THEE ... - See the notes at the similar passage in Psalms 50:7. God calls their attention to what he required of them; to what his law demanded; to what was the condition of their being his people and of securing his favor. What the demanded was, that they... [ Continue Reading ]
THERE SHALL NO STRANGE GOD BE IN THEE - Worshipped by thee; or recognized and regarded as a god. This was a condition of his favor and friendship. Compare Deuteronomy 32:12; Isaiah 43:12. The word here rendered “strange” - זר _zār_ - has reference to one of a foreign nation; and the meaning is, tha... [ Continue Reading ]
I AM THE LORD THY GOD ... - See Exodus 20:2. The meaning is, “I am Yahweh, that God; the God to be worshipped and honored by thee; I only am thy God, and no other god is to be recognized or acknowledged by thee.” The foundation of the claim to exclusive service and devotion is here laid in the fact... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT MY PEOPLE ... - See Psalms 78:10, Psalms 78:17. “And Israel would none of me.” Literally, “Did not will me;” that is, “did not incline to me; were not attached to me; were not disposed to worship me, and to find happiness in me.” Compare Isaiah 1:19; Job 39:9; Proverbs 1:25. They refused or reje... [ Continue Reading ]
SO I GAVE THEM UP UNTO THEIR OWN HEARTS’ LUST - Margin, as in Hebrew, to the hardness of their own hearts. Literally, “I sent them, or I dismissed them, to the hardness of their hearts.” I suffered them to have what, in the hardness of their hearts they desired, or what their hard and rebellious hea... [ Continue Reading ]
OH THAT MY PEOPLE HAD HEARKENED UNTO ME - This passage is designed mainly to show what would have been the consequences if the Hebrew people had been obedient to the commands of God, Psalms 81:14. At the same time, however, it expresses what was the earnest desire - the wish - the preference of God,... [ Continue Reading ]
I SHOULD SOON HAVE SUBDUED THEIR ENEMIES - This is one of the consequences which, it is said, would have followed if they had been obedient to the laws of God. The phrase rendered soon means literally like a little; that is, as we might say, in a little, to wit, in a little time. The word rendered s... [ Continue Reading ]
THE HATERS OF THE LORD - The enemies of the Lord, often represented as those who hate him - hatred being always in fact or in form connected with an unwillingness to submit to God. It is hatred of his law; hatred of his government; hatred of his plans; hatred of his character. See Romans 1:30; John... [ Continue Reading ]
HE SHOULD HAVE FED THEM ALSO - He would have given them prosperity, and their land would have produced abundantly of the necessities - even of the luxuries - of life. This is in accordance with the usual promises of the Scriptures, that obedience to God will be followed by national temporal prosperi... [ Continue Reading ]