2 Samuel 23:1

David the son of Jesse said The oracle of David the son of Jesse: a peculiar word, generally used of a direct message from God through a prophet in the phrase rendered, "saith the Lord," and joined with the name of the human speaker only here and in Numbers 24:3-4; Numbers 24:15-16; Proverbs 30:1. It therefore marks these "last words" as an utterance delivered by special divine inspiration.

raised up on high Raised by God from a low estate to be the king of Israel. Cp. ch. 2 Samuel 7:8-9; Psalms 78:70-71.

the God of Jacob The use of the name Jacob, instead of the more familiar Israel, is chiefly poetical. It suggests more vividly the connexion of the nation with their great ancestor, and recalls more forcibly the covenant made with him by God. Cp. Psalms 20:1; Isaiah 2:3.

the sweet psalmist of Israel Lit. pleasant in Israel's songs of praise: a title deserving to stand by the side of "the anointed of the God of Jacob," because he was God's instrument for educating and developing his people's religious life by means of his Psalms, not less than for governing them as king. See Introd. ch. V. § 6, c, p. 31.