1._Unto thee, O Jehovah! will I cry. _The Psalmist begins by declaring that he would betake himself to the help of God alone, which shows both his faith and his sincerity. Although men labor every where under a multitude of troubles, yet scarcely one in a hundred ever has recourse to God. Almost all... [ Continue Reading ]
2._Hear the voice of my prayers when I cry to thee. _This repetition is a sign of a heart in anguish. David’s ardor and vehemence in prayer are also intimated by the noun signifying _voice, _and the verb signifying _to cry. _He means that he was so stricken with anxiety and fear, that he prayed not... [ Continue Reading ]
3._Draw me not away with wicked men. _The meaning is, that in circumstances so dissimilar, God should not mingle the righteous with the wicked in the same indiscriminate destruction. (595) Undoubtedly, too, in speaking of his enemies, he indirectly asserts his own integrity. But he did not pray in t... [ Continue Reading ]
4._Give them according to their works. _Having thus requested God to have a regard to his innocence, the Psalmist thunders forth a curse against his enemies. And the accumulation of words shows that he had groaned long and grievously under the burden before he broke forth to desire such vengeance. H... [ Continue Reading ]
5._Because they regard not the doings of Jehovah. _In this verse he lays open the root of impiety, declaring that the ungodly are so bold to do mischief, because, while they are thus indulging their hatred, and perpetrating every species of wickedness, they think that they have nothing to do with Go... [ Continue Reading ]
6._Blessed be Jehovah, who hath heard. _This is the second part of the psalm in which the prophet begins to give thanks to God. We have already seen how he employed himself in prayer in the midst of his dangers; and now by this thanksgiving he teaches us that his prayers were not in vain. Thus he co... [ Continue Reading ]
8._Jehovah is their strength. _By way of explanation, he repeats what he had said before, that God had been his strength; namely, because he had blessed his armies. David had indeed employed the hand and labor of men, but to God alone he ascribes the victory. As he knew that whatever help he had obt... [ Continue Reading ]
In this verse he shows that it was not so much his own welfare as the welfare of the whole Church which was the object of his concern, and that he neither lived nor reigned for himself, but for the common good of the people. He well knew that he was appointed king for no other end. In this he declar... [ Continue Reading ]