1._Hear my righteousness, O Jehovah. _The Psalmist begins the psalm by setting forth the goodness of his cause. He does this because God has promised that he will not suffer the innocent to be oppressed, but will always, at length, succor them. Some explain the word _righteousness _as denoting _righ... [ Continue Reading ]
2._From the presence of thy countenance. _Literally it is, _from before thy face, _or, _before thy face. _By these words David intimates that if God does not rise up as the vindicator of his cause, he will be overwhelmed with calumnies though innocent, and will be looked upon as a guilty and condemn... [ Continue Reading ]
3._Thou hast proved my heart. _Some are of opinion that in the three first verbs the past tense is put for the future. Others more correctly and more clearly resolve the words thus: If thou provest my heart, and visitest it by night, and examinest it thoroughly, there will not be found any deceit th... [ Continue Reading ]
4._As for the works of men, by the word of thy lips. _Interpreters explain this verse in different senses. Some thinking that the letter ב, _beth, _which commonly signifies _in _or _by_, is taken for _against, _render it thus: As for the works of men which they practice against thy word. But I rathe... [ Continue Reading ]
5._Uphold my steps. _If we take _God’s paths _for the precepts of his law, the sense will be evident, namely, that although David had spoken according to truth, in boasting of having, in the midst of the most grievous temptations which assailed him, constantly practiced righteousness with a pure hea... [ Continue Reading ]
6._I have called upon thee, etc. _This verb being put in the past tense denotes a continued act; and, therefore, it includes the present time. The Hebrew word כי, _ki_, which we translate _surely, _often signifies _because, _and if it is so understood in this passage, the meaning will be, that David... [ Continue Reading ]
7._Make marvellous thy mercies. _As the word הפלה,_haphleh, _signifies sometimes _to make wonderful, _or _remarkable, _and sometimes _to separate and set apart, _both these senses will be very suitable to this passage. In Psalms 31:19, the “goodness” of God is said to be “laid up” in store as a pecu... [ Continue Reading ]
The two similitudes which David has subjoined in the following verse, respecting _the apple of the eye, _and the little birds which the mother keeps _under her wings, _(363) are introduced for illustrating the same subject. God, to express the great care which he has of his own people, compares hims... [ Continue Reading ]
9._From the face of the ungodly. _The Psalmist, by again accusing his enemies, intends to set forth his own innocence, as an argument for his obtaining the favor of God. At the same time, he complains of their cruelty, that God may be the more inclined to aid him. First, he says that they burn with... [ Continue Reading ]
10._They have inclosed themselves in their own fat _If the translation which is given by others is considered preferable, _They have inclosed their own fat, _the meaning will be quite the same. Some Jewish interpreters explain the words thus: that being stuffed with fat, and their throat being, as i... [ Continue Reading ]
11._They have now compassed me round about in our steps. _The Psalmist confirms what he has said before concerning the furious passion for doing mischief with which his enemies were inflamed. He says they were so cruelly bent on accomplishing his destruction, that in whatever way he directed or alte... [ Continue Reading ]
13._Arise, O Jehovah. _The more furiously David was persecuted by his enemies, he beseeches God the more earnestly to afford him immediate aid; for he uses the word _face _to denote the swift impetuosity of his adversary, to repress which there was need of the greatest haste. By these words, the Hol... [ Continue Reading ]
14._From men by thy hand, O Jehovah, from men who are from an age. _I connect these words thus: O Lord, deliver me by thy hand, or by thy heavenly aid, from men; I say from men whose tyranny has prevailed too long, and whom thou hast suffered to wallow too long in the filth and draft of their prospe... [ Continue Reading ]
Having with anguish of heart declared before God the troubles which afflicted and tormented him, that he might not be overwhelmed with the load of temptations which pressed upon him, he now takes, as it were, the wings of faith and rises up to a region of undisturbed tranquillity, where he may behol... [ Continue Reading ]