_PRESERVE ME, O GOD: FOR IN THEE DO I PUT MY TRUST._ Title. - MICHTAM OF DAVID. Some derive _ MIKTAAM_ (H4387) from _ KAATAM_ (H3799), gold-the golden (i:e., excellent) psalm, as Pythagoras' verses were called golden verses. This is scarcely borne out by the Hebrew. Hengstenberg better explains it... [ Continue Reading ]
_O MY SOUL, THOU HAST SAID UNTO THE LORD, THOU ART MY LORD: MY GOODNESS EXTENDETH NOT TO THEE;_ (O my soul), thou hast said unto the Lord - (Lamentations 3:24.) The Septuagint, Vulgate, and Syriac read, 'I have said' х_ 'AAMARTIY_ (H559), instead of _ 'AAMART_ (H559)]. The Hebrew feminine second pe... [ Continue Reading ]
_BUT TO THE SAINTS THAT ARE IN THE EARTH, AND TO THE EXCELLENT, IN WHOM IS ALL MY DELIGHT._ But to the saints are in the earth - in contrast to the Most High, who is in the heaven of heavens. Christ Jesus, the Antitype to David, is He to whom this psalm is twice applied in the New Testament (Acts 2... [ Continue Reading ]
_THEIR SORROWS SHALL BE MULTIPLIED THAT HASTEN AFTER ANOTHER GOD: THEIR DRINK OFFERINGS OF BLOOD WILL I NOT OFFER, NOR TAKE UP THEIR NAMES INTO MY LIPS._ Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another god - in contrast to the the "inheritance" and "pleasant places" (Psalms 16:5) which... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE LORD IS THE PORTION OF MINE INHERITANCE AND OF MY CUP: THOU MAINTAINEST MY LOT._ The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance - (Lamentations 3:24.) The image is from the tribe of Levi and Aaron the high priest, to whom the Lord spake, Numbers 18:20, "Thou shalt have no inheritance in their lan... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE LINES ARE FALLEN UNTO ME IN PLEASANT PLACES; YEA, I HAVE A GOODLY HERITAGE._ The lines are fallen unto me - an image from the cords with which they used to measure and allot lands. THE LINES ARE FALLEN UNTO ME - an image from the cords with which they used to measure and allot lands. Hence, it... [ Continue Reading ]
_I WILL BLESS THE LORD, WHO HATH GIVEN ME COUNSEL: MY REINS ALSO INSTRUCT ME IN THE NIGHT SEASONS._ I will bless the Lord, who hath given me counsel - so as to know, and will to choose, the "goodly heritage" (Psalms 16:6; taking 'the Lord for the portion of mine inheritance' (Psalms 16:5). MY REIN... [ Continue Reading ]
_I HAVE SET THE LORD ALWAYS BEFORE ME: BECAUSE HE IS AT MY RIGHT HAND, I SHALL NOT BE MOVED._ Because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. 'It gives such an undaunted heart when one has God always before one's eyes, that even the cross and sufferings will then be cheerfully encountered' (L... [ Continue Reading ]
_THEREFORE MY HEART IS GLAD, AND MY GLORY REJOICETH: MY FLESH ALSO SHALL REST IN HOPE._ Therefore - because the Lord is at my right hand. MY HEART IS GLAD - in the assurance of perfect deliverance. AND MY GLORY REJOICETH - "my glory," i:e., my soul, the most honourable part of man. Rather, 'my... [ Continue Reading ]
_FOR THOU WILT NOT LEAVE MY SOUL IN HELL; NEITHER WILT THOU SUFFER THINE HOLY ONE TO SEE CORRUPTION._ FOR THOU WILT NOT LEAVE MY SOUL IN HELL - not the place of torment; nor, on the other hand, merely the grave, which is not referred to until the next clause; but the unseen world of disembodied soul... [ Continue Reading ]
_THOU WILT SHEW ME THE PATH OF LIFE: IN THY PRESENCE IS FULNESS OF JOY; AT THY RIGHT HAND THERE ARE PLEASURES FOR EVERMORE._ Thou wilt show me the path of life - i:e., the path to life; Hebrew, lives. As in Psalms 16:10 his deliverance was described negatively-namely, from Hades and corruption-so h... [ Continue Reading ]