_A.M. 2962. B.C. 1042._ The author of this Psalm was David, as is manifest from 1 Chronicles 16:8, where we learn that the first part of it, at least, to the end of the 15th verse, was delivered by him to Asaph and his brethren, for the constant service of God in his tabernacle. It was composed aft... [ Continue Reading ]
_Call upon his name_ Or, _proclaim his name_, as קראו בשׁמו, _kiru bishmo_, may be properly rendered: that is, proclaim the fame and glory of his works, as it follows. _Make known his deeds_, &c. Let each of you among his people, and even among the heathen, declare God's mighty acts as he has opport... [ Continue Reading ]
_Remember the judgments of his mouth_ Either, 1st, The laws delivered from his mouth: Or rather, 2d, The plagues, or punishments, which he brought upon Egypt by his mere word or command. _O ye seed of Abraham his servant_ Born in his house, his church, and being thereby entitled to the privileges of... [ Continue Reading ]
_He hath remembered his covenant for ever_ Or, will remember it; that is, practically, so as to perform and make it good. _The word_ The promise; _which he commanded_ Established, or appointed, _to a thousand generations_ To all generations; a certain number being put for an uncertain. _And his oath... [ Continue Reading ]
_When they were but few in number_ Hebrew, מתי מספר, _methee mispar, men of number_, so few as easily to be numbered, in opposition to what their posterity afterward were, _as the sand of the sea without number: yea, very few_ The word כמעשׂ, _chimgnat_, thus rendered, signifies either small as to n... [ Continue Reading ]
_He called for a famine_ That is, he brought a famine upon the land. _He brake the whole staff of bread_ Bread, which is the staff or support of men's lives. _He sent a man before them_ Who was to nourish them in the famine: sent him, by the direction of his secret providence, many years before the... [ Continue Reading ]
_Until the time that his word came_ Dr. Waterland renders the verse, _Until the time that his saying came to pass, the word of the Lord purged him:_ and Green translates it, _Until the time that his prediction had come to pass, and the word of the Lord cleared him._ The meaning seems evidently to be... [ Continue Reading ]
_Israel also_ Jacob in person, with his children; _came into Egypt_ Where he and all his were very comfortably and honourably provided for many years. Thus the New Testament church has a place provided for her, even in the wilderness, where she is nourished for _a time, times, and half a time, Revel... [ Continue Reading ]
_He turned their heart to hate his people_ Not by putting hatred to his people into their hearts, which would not have been consistent, either with the holiness of his nature, or with the truth of his word; and which was altogether unnecessary, because they, like the rest of mankind, were corrupt by... [ Continue Reading ]
_He sent Moses_, &c. “When the tyranny and oppression of Pharaoh were at the highest, and Israel cried unto Jehovah because of the bondage, he remembered his promise to Abraham, and sent Moses, with Aaron, to effect that mighty deliverance, which was to be the grand pledge and figure of our redempti... [ Continue Reading ]
_He sent darkness_, &c. This was one of the last plagues, though here mentioned first: God sent darkness, and, coming with commission from him, it came with efficacy; his command _made it dark. And they rebelled not against his word_ That is, the people of Israel were not disobedient to God's comman... [ Continue Reading ]
_He brought them forth also with silver and gold_ Laden with the spoils of their enemies, which God, who is the absolute lord of all property, empowered them to ask and receive of them, and thereby, as a righteous judge, awarded them “the wages due to their great labours, the Egyptians being now wil... [ Continue Reading ]
_The people asked, and he brought quails_ He speaks of the first instance of his giving quails, mentioned Exodus 16:13, which God sent them as a refreshment, graciously pardoning their sin in desiring them; and not of that second instance, recorded Numbers 11:31, when God gave them quails in judgmen... [ Continue Reading ]
_For he remembered his holy promise_ They were unworthy and unthankful, yet he did these great things in their favour because he remembered his _covenant, Psalms 105:8_, and his _holy promise_, and would not suffer one iota or tittle of it to fall to the ground. _Therefore he brought forth his peopl... [ Continue Reading ]