_A.M. 2981. B.C. 1023._ This Psalm is an encomium on Zion, as a type and figure of the gospel church, to which its contents are very applicable. Some think it was composed to express the joy of God's people when Zion was in a flourishing state; others, that it was written to encourage their faith a... [ Continue Reading ]
_His foundation_ Namely, the foundation of the city, or temple of God, of which he speaks in the following verses. The psalmist's thoughts, we may suppose, were strongly fixed upon the temple and city of God; he had them full in his view, and was contemplating the glories of them, and at length brea... [ Continue Reading ]
_The Lord loveth the gates of Zion_ That is, the city of Zion, or Jerusalem, _gates_ being often put for _cities._ He saith _Zion_ rather than _Jerusalem_, to intimate that he loved Jerusalem for Zion's sake, or for the temple, which he chose for his peculiar dwelling-place. He loved the gates of th... [ Continue Reading ]
_Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God_ “As the prophet began, in a rapture, to speak of the holy city, so now, in a fresh transport, he changes the person, and suddenly addresses himself to it. The old Jerusalem was _the city of God, and glorious things were therefore said of it_ by the... [ Continue Reading ]
_I will make mention_ Hebrew, אזכיר, _azchir, I will record_, or, _cause to be remembered, Rahab_ That is, Egypt, so called, Psalms 89:10; Isaiah 51:9, but whether from its _pride_, or natural _strength_, both which the word signifies, is not material; _and Babylon_ I will reckon upon the inhabitant... [ Continue Reading ]
_Of Zion_ Concerning the church of God, whether composed of Jews or Gentiles, _it shall be said_ It shall be mentioned by God, and acknowledged by men, as a great and wonderful work of Jehovah, that _this and that man was born in her_ That is, persons of this and that nation: not only a few of one n... [ Continue Reading ]
_The Lord, shall count, when he writeth up the people_ In the book of life, that register of heaven, kept by God himself, in which men's names are entered, not as born of flesh and blood, by the will of man, but as born of the Spirit, by the will of God; _that this man was born there_ By a spiritual... [ Continue Reading ]
_As well the singers, &c., shall be there_ That is, in the church, and among the people of God. Indeed God's people have the greatest, nay, the only cause of rejoicing, being his children, and heirs, and joint heirs with Christ. As to all others, the divine injunction is, _Be afflicted, and mourn an... [ Continue Reading ]