1_Be merciful unto me, O God! for man swallows me up _(330) It would be difficult to determine whether he speaks here of foreign or domestic enemies. When brought to King Achish he was as a sheep between two bands of wolves, an object of deadly hatred to the Philistines on the one hand, and exposed... [ Continue Reading ]
3._In the day that I was afraid, etc. _In the Hebrew, the words run in the future tense, but they must be resolved into the praeterite. He acknowledges his weakness, in so far as he was sensible of fear, but denies having yielded to it. Dangers might distress him, but could not induce him to surrend... [ Continue Reading ]
4._In God I will praise his word _Here he grows more courageous in the exercise of hope, as generally happens with the people of God. They find it difficult at first to reach this exercise. It is only after a severe struggle that they rise to it, but the effort being once made, they emerge from thei... [ Continue Reading ]
5_Every day my words vex me _The first part of this verse has been variously rendered. Some understand _my words _to be the nominative in the sentence, and with these I agree in opinion. Others suppose a reference to the enemies of David, and translate, _they calumniate my words, _or, _they cause me... [ Continue Reading ]
7._After their mischief they think to escape. _The beginning of this verse is read by some interrogatively, _Shall they escape in their iniquity? _(333) But there is no necessity for having recourse to this distant meaning. It is much better to understand the words in the sense which they naturally... [ Continue Reading ]
8._Thou hast taken account of my wanderings _The words run in the form of an abrupt prayer. Having begun by requesting God to consider his tears, suddenly, as if he had obtained what he asked, he declares that they were written in God’s book. It is possible, indeed, to understand the interrogation a... [ Continue Reading ]
9._When I cry, then shall mine enemies turn back. _Here he boasts of victory with even more confidence than formerly, specifying, as it were, the very moment of time when his enemies were to be turned back. He had no sensible evidence of their approaching destruction but from the firm reliance which... [ Continue Reading ]
10_In God will I praise his word _In the original the pronoun is not expressed, but we are left to infer, from the parallel verse which went before, that it is understood. The repetition adds an emphasis to the sentiment, intimating, that though God delayed the sensible manifestation of his favor, a... [ Continue Reading ]
12._Thy vows are upon me, O God! _I hinted, from the outset, that it is probable this psalm was written by David after he had escaped the dangers which he describes; and this may account for the thanksgiving here appended to it. At the same time, we have evidence that he was ever ready to engage in... [ Continue Reading ]
13._For thou hast delivered my soul from death _This confirms the truth of the remark which I have already made, that he considered his life as received from the hands of God, his destruction having been inevitable but for the miraculous preservation which he had experienced. To remove all doubt upo... [ Continue Reading ]