1._Jehovah is my shepherd. _Although God, by his benefits, gently allures us to himself, as it were by a taste of his fatherly sweetness, yet there is nothing into which we more easily fall than into a forgetfulness of him, when we are in the enjoyment of peace and comfort. Yea, prosperity not only... [ Continue Reading ]
2._He maketh me to lie down in pastures of grass. _With respect to the words, it is in the Hebrew, _pastures, _or_fields of grass, _for _grassy and rich grounds. _Some, instead of translating the word נאות,_neoth, _which we have rendered _pastures, _render it _shepherds’ cots _or _lodges. _If this t... [ Continue Reading ]
3._He restoreth my soul _As it is the duty of a good shepherd to cherish his sheep, and when they are diseased or weak to nurse and support them, David declares that this was the manner in which he was treated by God. _The restoring of the soul, _as we have translated it, or _the conversion of the s... [ Continue Reading ]
4._Though I should walk. _True believers, although they dwell safely under the protection of God, are, notwithstanding, exposed to many dangers, or rather they are liable to all the afflictions which befall mankind in common, that they may the better feel how much they need the protection of God. Da... [ Continue Reading ]
5._Thou wilt prepare. _These words, which are put in the future tense, here denote a continued act. David, therefore, now repeats, without a figure, what he has hitherto declared, concerning the beneficence of God, under the similitude of a shepherd. He tells us that by his liberality he is supplied... [ Continue Reading ]
6._Surely goodness and mercy. _Having recounted the blessings which God had bestowed upon him, he now expresses his undoubted persuasion of the continuance of them to the end of his life. But whence proceeded this confidence, by which he assures himself that the beneficence and mercy of God will acc... [ Continue Reading ]