This Psalm breathes the spirit of Habakkuk, and uses language closely resembling that of his -Prayer." As Habakkuk watched the advance of the Chaldeans, and foresaw that they were to be the executioners of God's judgement upon Judah, his faith was tried to the uttermost. Could such an apparent trium... [ Continue Reading ]
"Aloud unto God let me cry, Yea, aloud unto God, and he will give ear to me.... [ Continue Reading ]
The Psalmist relates how, under the pressure of calamity, he could find no consolation even in prayer.... [ Continue Reading ]
(Thus) in the day of my distress I sought the Lord: My hand was stretched out in the night, and slacked not; My soul refused to be comforted.... [ Continue Reading ]
When I would fain remember God, I was disquieted: When I would fain muse in prayer, my spirit fainted. The precise force of the tenses of the original is difficult to determine. The perfects in Psalms 77:2, and again in Psalms 77:4, however, shew that the poet is relating a past experience. In Psa... [ Continue Reading ]
Thou heldest open the lids of mine eyes: I was perplexed, and could not speak. The word rendered _waking_in A.V., _watching_in R.V., probably means the _guards_or _lids_of the eyes. The general sense is clear. In his agony of sorrow he was sleepless and speechless: it was God who withheld sleep fr... [ Continue Reading ]
In the vigils of the night he pondered on the history of the past, and asked himself with earnest questionings whether it were possible that God could have utterly cast off His people, and changed His character as a gracious and merciful God.... [ Continue Reading ]
I considered the days of old, The years of ages past, (saying), "Not pathetic only but profound also and of the most solid substance was that reply made by an old Carthusian monk to the trifler who asked him how he had managed to get through his life: _Cogitavi dies antiquos, et annos aeternos in... [ Continue Reading ]
"Let me remember my song in the night: Let me muse in my heart;" And my spirit inquired, (saying), In the first two lines he tells us how he bade himself recall the songs of thanksgiving which he had once been able to sing in the night, the quiet time of meditation and thanksgiving (Psalms 42:8;... [ Continue Reading ]
"For age after age will the Lord cast off? And will he not once again shew favour?" The emphasis is on _for ever;_lit. _for ages_to come, which are compared with the ages past (Psalms 77:5); a different word from that in Psalms 77:8, and Psalms 74:1. Cp. Psalms 85:5. For -shew favour," cp. Psalms... [ Continue Reading ]
Is his lovingkindness at an end for ever? Hath his promise failed for all generations? Cp. Psalms 85:5; Psalms 105:8.... [ Continue Reading ]
Has He forgotten or deliberately abandoned those attributes which He once proclaimed as the essence of His Nature (Exodus 34:6)? Cp. Habakkuk 3:2, "In wrath wilt thou remember mercy.... [ Continue Reading ]
The Psalmist resolves to recall the exhibition of God's character in the deliverance of His people from Egypt.... [ Continue Reading ]
The history of the past is the most convincing answer to these questions, the best cordial for his fainting spirits. Cp. Isaiah 63:7 ff.... [ Continue Reading ]
_And I said_introduces the argument by which the Psalmist thrusts aside the possibility of an affirmative answer to his questionings. But the rest of the verse is obscure, and has been very variously explained. The precise sense of the word rendered _my infirmity_is doubtful; and in the second line... [ Continue Reading ]
I will make mention of the deeds of Jah; Yea, I will remember thy wonders of old. The A.V. _remember_follows the _Qrç_; the R.V. _make mention_is the reading of the _Kthîbh_. Cp. Isaiah 63:7. The name _Jah_recalls the deliverance from Egypt (Exodus 15:2; cp. Psalms 68:4), the greatest of all God'... [ Continue Reading ]
I will meditate also upon all thy work, And muse on thy doings. (R.V.) For _work_cp. Habakkuk 3:2.... [ Continue Reading ]
_in the sanctuary_ Better, in holiness. Cp. Exodus 15:11. All the plan and method of God's dealings in the world moves in the sphere of holiness, separate from all sin and imperfection, in accord with the perfection of His Nature. Cp. Habakkuk's appeal to God's holiness (Habakkuk 1:12.) _who_&c. Wh... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thou_art _the God_&c. The true El, the living, Almighty God (Psalms 5:4; Psalms 42:2). The epithet _that doest wonders_is borrowed from Exodus 15:11. Cp. Isaiah 25:1. _thou hast declared_&c. Render, Thou didst make known thy strength among the peoples. Cp. Exodus 15:13-14; Exodus 9:16.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thou hast_&c. With a (strong) arm didst thou redeem thy people. Cp. Exodus 15:13; Exodus 15:16; Exodus 6:6; Psalms 74:2. _the sons of Jacob and Joseph_ According to the Targum, Joseph is named because, by preserving the lives of his brethren in Egypt, lie became as it were a second father of the na... [ Continue Reading ]
The waters and depths of the Red Sea are personified, as though they were conscious of the presence of their Creator and Lord. Cp. Hebrews 3:10, "The mountains saw thee, they were afraid": and Psalms 114:3; Exodus 15:5; Exodus 15:8. We miss in translation the pictorial force of the Heb. tenses: lit.... [ Continue Reading ]
The manifestation of God's sovereignty over nature in that supreme act of redemption.... [ Continue Reading ]
God came in storm and earthquake. So the poet develops the thought of Exodus 14:24-25. Cp. Psalms 18:7 ff; Psalms 97:3 ff.; and the parallel passage in Habakkuk 3:10-11, where _tempest_(R.V.) is the cognate substantive to the verb rendered _poured out_here. _sent out a sound_ Better (cp. Hab.), utt... [ Continue Reading ]
_in the heaven_ The word _galgal_, derived from a root meaning _to roll_, was understood by the Jewish commentators to mean the _vault_or _circuit_of the heaven. More probably it should be rendered in the whirlwind (R.V.), or, with rumbling, the rolling of the thunder being conceived of as the rolli... [ Continue Reading ]
Thy way was in the sea, And thy paths in the great waters, And thy footsteps were not known. (R.V.) Cp. Habakkuk 3:15. The A.V. _path_follows the _Qrî_; R.V. _paths_the _Kthîbh_and the Ancient Versions. The sea flowed back where Israel passed, and no visible trace of God's victorious march was le... [ Continue Reading ]
Conclusion. The convulsions of nature were the heralds of deliverance (Luke 21:28), and the Shepherd of Israel led forth His flock under the guidance of His chosen servants. Cp. Exodus 15:13; Psalms 78:52 ff; Psalms 74:1, note. The words of the last line come from Numbers 33:1; cp. Micah 6:4; Isaiah... [ Continue Reading ]