_David praiseth God for his manifold and marvellous blessings._ _Title._ לדוד יהוה לעבד למנצח _lamnatseach leebed Jehovah ledavid. To the chief musician._ A Psalm _of David, the servant of the Lord._] After David had subdued his enemies, and was in peaceable possession of his kingdom, in grateful co... [ Continue Reading ]
THE LORD IS MY ROCK, &C.— These words, by which David expresses his security under the protection of God's providence, will appear to be well chosen, if we consider that under Saul, when he was driven into banishment by him, he was forced to conceal himself in rocks and caverns, and to retreat for h... [ Continue Reading ]
THE SORROWS OF DEATH, &C.— _The whirlpools of death in heaps rolled over me._ Chandler. In the parallel place of Samuel, it is, _The waves of death compassed me._ Dr. Delaney observes, that nothing can be a finer emblem of a host of men, in their several ranks, than the waves of the sea, succeeding... [ Continue Reading ]
THE SORROWS OF HELL, &C.— _The nets of Hades,_ &c. Chandler; with whom Houbigant and Mudge agree; for, by this rendering, the clauses again in this verse properly correspond. By the _cords_ and _toils of hell,_ he means, such as would have sent him into the state of the dead, if he had been taken by... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN THE EARTH SHOOK, &C.— In this, and the eight following verses, David describes, by the sublimest expressions and grandest terms, the majesty of God, and the awful manner in which he came to his assistance. The representation of the storm, in these verses, must be allowed by all skilful and impa... [ Continue Reading ]
THERE WENT UP A SMOKE OUT OF HIS NOSTRILS— Or, _There ascended into his nostrils a smoke,_ as the words, literally rendered, signify. The ancients placed the seat of anger in the _nose,_ or nostrils, because that passion, when it grows warm and violent, discovers itself by the heated vehement breath... [ Continue Reading ]
HE BOWED THE HEAVENS ALSO, AND CAME DOWN— He made the heavens bend under him, when he descended to take vengeance on his enemies. The Psalmist seems here to express the appearance of the divine Majesty in a glorious cloud, descending from heaven, which underneath was substantially dark, but above br... [ Continue Reading ]
HE RODE UPON A CHERUB, AND DID FLY— i.e. As it is immediately explained, _Yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind._ God was in the storm, and, by the ministry of angels, guided the course of it, and drove it on with such an impetuous force, as nothing could withstand. He rides in the whirlwind, a... [ Continue Reading ]
HE MADE DARKNESS HIS SECRET PLACE— _His tent._ Chandler. God is frequently represented in the sacred writings as surrounded by clouds. See Psalms 97:2.Deuteronomy 4:11. This representation in the place before us is peculiarly proper, as thick heavy clouds, deeply charged, and with louring aspects, a... [ Continue Reading ]
AT THE BRIGHTNESS THAT WAS BEFORE HIM— _At his lightning his clouds swelled, and burst out into hailstones and coals of fire._ Schultens, Chandler, &c. The meaning is, that at the brightness or lightning which proceeded from God, his clouds _fermented, i.e._ being rarefied by the heat, swelled and b... [ Continue Reading ]
THE LORD ALSO THUNDERED IN THE HEAVENS, &C.— The former verse mentioned the lightning, with its effects: this gives us the report of the thunder, and the increasing storm of hail and fire which attended it; and the omission of the hail and fire after the thunder, would have made it a sort of _brutum... [ Continue Reading ]
YEA, HE SENT OUT HIS ARROWS, AND SCATTERED THEM— _Yea, he sent out his darts, and scorched them: he brandished his thunder-bolts, and dissolved them; i.e. the heavens._ Schultens. Dr. Chandler approves of this version of Schultens; only instead of _scorched,_ in the former clause, he renders it, _ma... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN THE CHANNELS OF WATER WERE SEEN— This is a description of the effects of the earthquake, by which the earth was riven or rent in sunder, and such clefts made in it, that the subterraneous passages of the waters were discovered by the eruption of vast quantities of water proceeding from the brea... [ Continue Reading ]
HE SENT FROM ABOVE, &C.— This may either denote, in general, that God aided and assisted him by his divine power, or that he sent his angels from heaven, to protect and rescue him from the many dangers that surrounded him; which he figuratively calls _drawing him out of many waters;_ afflictions and... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY PREVENTED ME IN THE DAY OF MY CALAMITY— i.e. "came on me suddenly, unawares, when I was unprovided and helpless; and must have destroyed me, had not God upheld and supported me when I was in danger of perishing." God was to the Psalmist _for a staff,_ to support him. What a staff is to one who... [ Continue Reading ]
HE BROUGHT ME FORTH ALSO INTO A LARGE PLACE— The Psalmist expresses himself much in the same manner, but with an addition which explains the nature of the phrase, Psalms 31:8. _Thou hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy: thou hast set my feet in a large room._ David was several times shut u... [ Continue Reading ]
THE LORD REWARDED ME ACCORDING TO MY RIGHTEOUSNESS— In this and the five following verses, David declares his own integrity, and that he had not departed from, but conscientiously observed, the precepts and commands which God had given him by the law of Moses; and that therefore God, in the delivera... [ Continue Reading ]
I KEPT MYSELF FROM MINE INIQUITY— The affix י _jod, my_ to the noun עון _avon_ may probably be merely supplemental, and not point out any particular sin to which David was especially inclined. The Chaldee paraphrase renders it, _He was the saviour of my soul from sin;_ and the Syriac version, _I pre... [ Continue Reading ]
WITH THE MERCIFUL THOU WILT SHEW THYSELF MERCIFUL— In this and the two next verses, David lays down the general method of the procedure of God's moral providence and government, which will be in the issue agreeable to the moral character and conduct of men themselves. _With the merciful thou wilt sh... [ Continue Reading ]
THOU WILT LIGHT MY CANDLE— i.e. Advance me to honour, and increase my prosperity; and make me continually joyful by thy favour. Nothing more usual among the Oriental writers than the representing any person or family by a lamp enlightening the whole house. See 1 Kings 11:36; 1 Kings 15:4. Job 18:5.... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR BY THEE I HAVE RUN THROUGH A TROOP, &C.— David mentions this as one instance of God's _lighting up his lamp;_ or his purpose to advance him to the greatest splendours of royal majesty: his beating the troops of his enemies, and his reducing some remarkable city or fortress; both of them circumst... [ Continue Reading ]
IT IS GOD THAT GIRDETH ME, &C.— The form of speaking here seems to be taken from the military belt which officers wore as the emblem of authority and valour; and the meaning is, that God distinguished him by inspiring him with a superior spirit of courage, and the highest resolution and fortitude in... [ Continue Reading ]
HE MAKETH MY FEET LIKE HINDS' FEET, &C.— i.e. "Hath endowed me with agility and vigour, and made me swift to run, so that I can easily ascend the highest hills." This was reckoned a very honourable qualification among the ancient warriors; who, as they generally fought on foot, were enabled by their... [ Continue Reading ]
A BOW OF STEEL IS BROKEN BY MINE ARMS— _My arms have bent the bow of steel._ Chandler. _He makes my arms to be like a brazen bow._ Houbigant and Mudge: but Dr. Chandler's rendering is more agreeable to the Hebrew. In the foregoing part of the verse, the Psalmist acknowledges that God taught his hand... [ Continue Reading ]
THOU HAST ALSO GIVEN ME THE SHIELD OF THY SALVATION, &C.— i.e. "The salvation which thou hast afforded me, hath been my constant protection and security; _and thy gentleness; i.e._ (as I think the words may be rendered) that gentleness, forbearance, and freedom from the spirit of malice and revenge,... [ Continue Reading ]
THOU HAST ENLARGED MY STEPS UNDER ME— See the note on Psalms 18:18. "Thou hast brought me out of my distresses; given me great prosperity:" _and my feet do not slip: i.e._ my happiness continues unmoved.... [ Continue Reading ]
THOU HAST GIRDED ME WITH STRENGTH UNTO BATTLE— "Thou hast inspired my forces with resolution and vigour, and thereby _hast subdued under me those who rose up against me: i.e._ my enemies, who joined in battle to oppress me.... [ Continue Reading ]
THOU HAST ALSO GIVEN ME THE NECKS OF MINE ENEMIES— _As for mine enemies, thou givest me their back._ Houbigant. Mudge, &c. The word ףּער _oreph,_ rendered _neck,_ signifies the _back part of the neck,_ and therefore is equivalent to _back,_ as the LXX also translate it. _Thou givest me their back;_ t... [ Continue Reading ]
I DID CAST THEM OUT AS THE DIRT IN THE STREETS— _As the mire in the streets I trampled them down._ Chandler. _I beat them flat._ Mudge.... [ Continue Reading ]
THOU HAST DELIVERED ME FROM THE STRIVINGS OF THE PEOPLE— From that conflict between the tribes, or the civil war, which was raised by Abner in favour of Ishbosheth, and from the invasions of the Philistines, who attacked him soon after his succession to the kingdom; and thereby put him into peaceabl... [ Continue Reading ]
THE STRANGERS SHALL SUBMIT THEMSELVES UNTO ME— The Hebrew is literally, _The sons of the stranger have lied unto me;_ "The foreign nations that I have conquered have promised me their obedience, and, dissembling their hatred and hostility, have submitted to my government; offered me their service, a... [ Continue Reading ]
THE STRANGERS SHALL FADE AWAY, &C.— "They shall either lose their courage, and all power to resist, and their prosperity shall decay, and come to an utter end; or they themselves shall fall and gradually perish, till there be few or none of them left to oppose me." See Isaiah 1:30; Isaiah 40:7. Exod... [ Continue Reading ]
GREAT DELIVERANCE GIVETH HE, &C.— Literally, _He magnifies the salvations of his king;_ they are such as are great and wonderful in themselves, and as they add a dignity and lustre to the king, on whom they are bestowed; there being nothing which can tend more to advance the honour, and heighten the... [ Continue Reading ]