1._O God! we have heard with our ears. _The people of God here recount the goodness which he had formerly manifested towards their fathers, that, by showing the great dissimilarity of their own condition, they may induce God to alleviate their miseries. They begin by declaring that they speak not of... [ Continue Reading ]
2._Thou hast expelled the heathen with thy hand. _This is an illustration of the preceding verse: for the inspired writer had not yet expressly referred to that work of God, the fame of which had been preserved by their fathers. He therefore now adds, that God _with his own hand expelled the heathen... [ Continue Reading ]
3_For they got not possession of the land by their own sword. _Here the sacred writer confirms by contrast what he has just said; for if they obtained not possession of the land by their own power and skill, it follows that they were planted in it by the hand of another. The multitude of men who wen... [ Continue Reading ]
4._Thou, even thou, art my King, O God! _In this verse the faithful express still more plainly what I have already alluded to a little before, namely, that the goodness of God was not only apparent in the deliverance of his people, but also flowed upon them in continued succession from age to age; a... [ Continue Reading ]
5._Through thee we have pushed, or smitten, with the horn our adversaries. _(135) The prophet here declares in what respect God had manifested himself to be the King of this people. He did so by investing them with such strength and power, that all their enemies stood in fear of them. The similitude... [ Continue Reading ]
8._In God we will boast _(136) _all the day _This is the conclusion of the first part of the psalm. To express the meaning in a few words, they acknowledge, that in all ages the goodness of God had been so great towards the children of Abraham, that it furnished them with continual matter of thanksg... [ Continue Reading ]
9._Nevertheless thou hast abhorred us _Here follows a complaint, in which they bewail their present miseries and extreme calamity. There is here described such a change as showed not only that God had ceased to exercise towards them his accustomed favor, but also, that he was openly adverse and host... [ Continue Reading ]
10._Thou hast made us to turn back from the enemy. _Here the people of God still further complain, that he had made them to flee before their enemies, and had given them up as a prey to be devoured by them. As the saints firmly believe that men are strong and valiant only in so far as God upholds th... [ Continue Reading ]
To the same purpose is that other comparison, (verse 11) in which they say that _they were given as sheep for food _(141) By this the prophet intimates, that being already vanquished previous to the battle, they fell down, as it were, upon the earth before their enemies, ready to be devoured by them... [ Continue Reading ]
12_Thou hast sold thy people, and not become rich. _In saying that they were sold without any gain, it is meant that they were exposed to sale as slaves that are contemptible, and of no value. In the second clause, too, _And hast not increased the price of them, _there seems to be an allusion to the... [ Continue Reading ]
13_Thou hast made us a reproach to our neighbors _Here the Psalmist speaks of their neighbors, who were all actuated either by some secret ill-will, or avowed enmity to the people of God. And certainly it often happens, that neighborhood, which ought to be the means of preserving mutual friendship,... [ Continue Reading ]
15_My reproach is daily before me. _The Hebrew words כלהיום, _col-hayom, _mean all the day, and denote long continuance: but they may be understood in two ways, either for the whole or entire day, from morning to evening, or for continued succession of days. According to either of these interpretati... [ Continue Reading ]
17_All this has come upon us, etc. _As they have already attributed to God all the afflictions which they endured, if they should now say that they were undeservedly afflicted, it would be the same thing as to accuse God of injustice; and thus what is here spoken would no longer be a holy prayer, bu... [ Continue Reading ]
19_Although thou hast broken us in the place of dragons. _In the Hebrew it is, _For thou hast broken us, etc.; _but the causal particle, כי, _ki, _according to the idiom of the Hebrew language, is often taken in the sense of _although _or _when. _(146) And certainly it must be so rendered in this pl... [ Continue Reading ]
21_Shall not God search this out? _We have here a solemn and emphatic protestation, in which the people of God dare to appeal to him as the judge of their integrity and uprightness. From this it appears, that they did not plead their cause openly before men, but communed with themselves as if they h... [ Continue Reading ]
22_Surely for thy sake we are killed all the day. _Here the faithful urge another reason why God should show mercy to them, namely, that they are subjected to sufferings not on account of crimes committed by themselves, but simply because the ungodly, from hatred to the name of God, are opposed to t... [ Continue Reading ]
23_Arise, O Lord! why sleepest thou? _Here the saints desire that God, having pity upon them, would at length send them help and deliverance. Although God allows the saints to plead with him in this babbling manner, when in their prayers they desire him to rise up or awake; yet it is necessary that... [ Continue Reading ]
25_For our soul is humbled to the dust _The people of God again deplore the greatness of their calamities, and in order that God may be the more disposed to help them, they declare to him that they are afflicted in no ordinary manner. By the metaphors which they here employ, they mean not only that... [ Continue Reading ]