THE PSALMS BOOK III Psalms 73-89 THE THIRD BOOK OF PSALMS Twelve Psalms in the Psalter are entitled Psalms "of Asaph," of which one (Psalms 50) stands by itself between the Korahite and Davidic groups in Book ii, and the remainder stand together in a group at the beginning of Book iii. It has be... [ Continue Reading ]
_Truly_ It is possible to render with R.V. marg., _Only good is God_. Though He permits His people to suffer, He is wholly loving-kindness toward them. Cp. Lamentations 3:25. But it is preferable to render with R.V. text, Surely. The particle _ak_in this connexion expresses the idea _Nay but after a... [ Continue Reading ]
Faith tried by the sight of the prosperity of the wicked.... [ Continue Reading ]
The Psalmist begins by stating the conclusion to which he had been led through the trial of his faith.... [ Continue Reading ]
But the Psalmist had almost lost his faith in God's goodness. He had as it were all but swerved from the right path (Psalms 44:18); all but lost his footing in the slippery places of life's journey (Psalms 17:5).... [ Continue Reading ]
_I was envious_ Cp. Psalms 37:1; and the repeated warnings of the Book of Proverbs 3:31; Proverbs 23:17; Proverbs 24:1; Proverbs 24:19. _the foolish_ Rather as R.V., the arrogant, a word denoting boastful blustering presumption. Cp. Psalms 5:5; Psalms 75:4. _the prosperity_ Lit. _the peace_. Cp.... [ Continue Reading ]
The cause: the unbroken prosperity of the godless. Cp. Job's indignant complaint, Psalms 21:7 ff.... [ Continue Reading ]
_no bands &c_.] The meaning may be that they are not bound and delivered over like "pale captives" to premature death (cp. the paraphrase of P.B.V. "they are in no peril of death"): or that they have no torments of pain and disease (R.V. marg. _pangs_) in their death, but have a peaceful end to a pr... [ Continue Reading ]
They have no share in the misery of mortals; Neither are they plagued along with other men: Therefore pride is as a chain about their neck; Violence covereth them as a garment. Though "man is born for misery" (Job 5:7), they escape the common lot of humanity, and consequently their pride and bru... [ Continue Reading ]
According to the Massoretic Text the first line describes the insolent look of these sleek-faced villains. Cp. Job 15:27. But the LXX and Syr. represent a different reading, which suits the probable sense of the next line better, and gets rid of a grammatical anomaly. Render Their Iniquity cometh f... [ Continue Reading ]
The rhythm seems to require a different division of the verse from that given by the Massoretic accentuation, thus; They scoff, and talk of evil: Of oppression do they talk from on high. Not the commandments of God (Deuteronomy 6:7; Deuteronomy 11:19) but their own nefarious designs are the subje... [ Continue Reading ]
The A.V. gives a good sense: they blaspheme God and dictate to men. Cp. Daniel 7:25. But probably the R.V. is right in rendering, They have set their mouth In the heavens. The clause expands the words of the preceding verse "from on high." They make an impious claim of divine authority, and dictat... [ Continue Reading ]
A difficult verse. The general sense appears to be that attracted by the prosperity and pretensions of the wicked a crowd of imitators turn to follow them, and in their company drink to the dregs the cup of sinful pleasure. The Psalmist's temptation is intensified as he contemplates the popularity o... [ Continue Reading ]
The mass of men are carried away by their evil example.... [ Continue Reading ]
The speakers in this verse are not -the wicked," but the deluded mass of their followers described in Psalms 73:10. They adopt the language of their leaders, and question God's knowledge of their doings in particular, and even His omniscience in general. Cp. Psalms 10:4; Psalms 10:11; Psalms 10:13.... [ Continue Reading ]
Behold, such are the wicked! And being always at ease they have gotten much substance. _At ease_is a favourite word in Job: e.g. Job 3:26; Psalms 12:6 (A.V. _prosper_); Job 16:12; Job 20:20; Job 21:23; cp. Jeremiah 12:1.... [ Continue Reading ]
The Psalmist's temptation as he contemplated the scene. Some commentators regard these verses as the continuation of the speech in Psalms 73:11, giving the thoughts of the followers of the wicked, the speaker in Psalms 73:13 being any individual among them. But it is preferable to regard them as the... [ Continue Reading ]
_Verily_ The same word _ak_as in Psalms 73:1. R.V. Surely in vain have I cleansed my heart. If the wicked prosper thus, his endeavours after holiness have been wasted. There is no reward for the righteous: nay (Psalms 73:14) his own reward has been chastisement. He would not have claimed to be sinle... [ Continue Reading ]
_For_&c. Apparently the recompence of his piety has been continual chastisement. The wicked are not plagued (Psalms 73:5), but for him there has been constant renewal of divinely inflicted sufferings. Cp. Psalms 39:10-11; Job 7:18.... [ Continue Reading ]
Instead of parading his doubts, he wrestled with them until in the sanctuary the solution of them was revealed to him.... [ Continue Reading ]
Faith triumphant in the conviction of an ultimate judgement and the consciousness of the supreme blessedness of fellowship with God.... [ Continue Reading ]
If I had said, I will speak thus; Behold, I had dealt treacherously with the generation of thy children (R.V.). If he had paraded his perplexities, and made open profession of the wicked man's creed (Job 21:15), he would have been faithless to the interests of God's family. In the O.T. Israel as a... [ Continue Reading ]
And I kept thinking how to understand this: It was misery In mine eyes: Until I went into the sanctuary of God, And considered their latter end. As he kept pondering how to reconcile the facts of experience with the revealed truth of God's character and promises, the sight of the world's disorde... [ Continue Reading ]
Surely in slippery places dost thou appoint their lot: Suddenly dost thou cast them down into ruin. _Surely_, as in Psalms 73:1_; Psalms 73:13_, means -after all." They are set in dangerous places where they will stumble and fall. Cp. Psalms 35:6; Jeremiah 23:12. The word for _ruin_occurs elsewher... [ Continue Reading ]
The awful fate of the wicked is the _negative_solution of the problem.... [ Continue Reading ]
How are they become a desolation in a moment! They are at an end, they are consumed with terrors. The word _terrors_, found here only in the Psalter, is a favourite word in Job in similar connexions (Psalms 18:11; Psalms 18:14, &c.).... [ Continue Reading ]
_As a dream_ Cp. Job 20:8; Isaiah 29:7. _when thou awakest_ When thou arousest thyself, a different word from that in the previous line, used in Psalms 7:6; Psalms 35:23, of God bestirring Himself to judgement. The word may mean _in the city_(R.V. marg. and the Ancient Versions); but this rendering... [ Continue Reading ]
The Psalmist's confession of his error.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thus_ R.V. For. If this rendering is adopted, the connexion is with the general sense of the preceding verses: -I failed to perceive the truth until my eyes were opened in the sanctuary, _for_" &c. But it is better to render: When my heart grew sour, And I was pricked in my reins, I was brutish... [ Continue Reading ]
_Nevertheless_ Lit., _But as for me, I am_&c. Render, Whereas I am &c. He contrasts his real position of fellowship with God with his former delusion and also with the insecurity of the wicked. _thou hast holden_&c. Better as R.V., thou hast holden my right band. Cp. Psalms 63:8.... [ Continue Reading ]
The _positive_solution of the Psalmist's perplexity: the only true and abiding happiness is to be found in fellowship with God.... [ Continue Reading ]
_with thy counsel_ Tacitly he contrasts the course of his life with that of the wicked, for counsel is an attribute of the Divine Wisdom (Proverbs 8:14), which the wicked despise (Proverbs 1:25; Proverbs 1:30). to _glory_ Or, _with glory_(R.V. marg.); or, as the word is often translated, _with hono... [ Continue Reading ]
_But thee_is rightly supplied in the first line, which receives its completion and explanation from the second. The idea which logically is one is divided into two clauses for the sake of the poetical rhythm. _beside thee_ Lit. _with thee_. If I have Thee, there is none else in heaven and earth who... [ Continue Reading ]
_God is the strength of my heart_ Lit., the rock of my heart. Though bodily and mental powers fail, God is his sure refuge in every danger (Psalms 62:2; Psalms 62:6-7), the possession which cannot be taken from him (Psalms 16:5; Psalms 142:5). Never, now that he has come to his right mind, will he l... [ Continue Reading ]
_they that are far from thee_ Better, they that go far from thee, Vulg., _qui elongant se a te_. Desertion of God the source of life (Psalms 36:9) can lead only to ruin and death. _all them that go a whoring from thee_ All Israelites who are faithless to the covenant with God. The figure of marriag... [ Continue Reading ]
The final contrast of death and life.... [ Continue Reading ]
But as for me, to draw near to God is good for me: In the Lord Jehovah have I made my refuge; That I may speak of all thy works. Emphatically he contrasts himself with those who -go far from God." Once he had been tempted to ask what profit there was in serving God, and openly to speak (Psalms 73... [ Continue Reading ]