_David complaineth of his affliction: he prayeth for deliverance: he devoteth his enemies to destruction: he praiseth God with thanksgiving._ To the chief musician upon Shoshannim: _A Psalm_ of David. _Title._ לדוד שׁושׁנים על למנצח _lamnatseach al shoshanniim ledavid._] As a great part of this psa... [ Continue Reading ]
I RESTORED THAT WHICH I TOOK NOT AWAY— _What I have not taken away, I restore upon the spot. i.e._ "I have been so far from provoking their malice, that I have been content, rather than quarrel with them, to part with my own right, and to make them satisfaction for wrongs which I never did them." Th... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THY SAKE— i.e. "Merely because I adhere to thee, and will use no unlawful means to right myself." See 1 Samuel 24:10; 1 Samuel 24:22.... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THE ZEAL OF THINE HOUSE— That is, "My concern for thy holy worship has drawn a confederacy of irreligious men upon me, who are now just upon the point of compassing my ruin." But this verse had a more eminent completion in our Redeemer. See John 2:17 and Romans 15:3.... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN I WEPT, &C.— _When I bemoaned my soul with fasting. Psalms 69:12. They that sit in the gate_] i.e. As it is generally interpreted, the judges or chief persons of the state; for the gates of cities were the places of judicature, as we have had occasion frequently to remark. But St. Hilary interp... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT AS FOR ME, MY PRAYER, &C.— _But as for me, let my prayer come unto the, O Lord, in a favourable moment._ Mudge. _In the truth of thy salvation_ means, "according to the faithfulness wherewith thou hast promised to deliver those who depend upon thee.... [ Continue Reading ]
THY LOVING-KINDNESS IS GOOD— _Gracious_ or _bountiful._ The Hebrew word חסדךֶ _chasdeka,_ in this, as in many other places, signifies _abundance of goodness_ or _mercifulness._... [ Continue Reading ]
MINE ADVERSARIES ARE ALL BEFORE THEE— i.e. "None of them, nor of their secret plots and subtle lies, whereby they seek to defame and undo me, are hidden from thy all-seeing view.... [ Continue Reading ]
REPROACH HATH BROKEN MY HEART— Dr. Delaney observes, that there were two circumstances of distress which attended upon David's fall, not sufficiently considered, though they are beyond all question the greatest and the severest which human nature can suffer: the first is, the distress that he endure... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY GAVE ME ALSO GALL, &C.— This was only figurative in respect of David, as it is here expressed, but it was literally true of our Saviour on the cross; and therefore what follows may as truly, and perhaps more properly, be considered as predictions of the punishment which should be inflicted on t... [ Continue Reading ]
LET THEIR TABLE, &C.— _Their table shall be for a snare before them, and their peace-offerings for a trap._ This and the following verses are to be understood in the future tense, by way of prediction, and not of imprecation. The meaning of the whole verse is this, "The oblations and prayers of thos... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEY TALK TO THE GRIEF— _And they add to the pain._ See Bishop Hare, and the LXX.... [ Continue Reading ]
ADD INIQUITY, &C.— Or _give,_ or _permit,_ as the original word may be rendered. This sentence will be best translated according to the old version; _Let them,_ or _permit them to fall from one wickedness to another._ It is not unusual with God, as a punishment of some great sin or sins, though not... [ Continue Reading ]
LET THEM BE BLOTTED OUT OF THE BOOK— This means no more than that they should be cut off, and die before the usual time. We have before observed, that God is sometimes represented as recording and entering in a book the conception, birth, sufferings, actions, and punishments of his people: so here,... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT I AM POOR AND SORROWFUL— _But as for me, though I am low and full of pain, thy salvation, O God, shall protect me._ See Bishop Hare and Mudge.... [ Continue Reading ]
THIS ALSO SHALL PLEASE THE LORD, &C.— i.e. This is the most acceptable sacrifice which can be presented to him; and this shall be used by the Christian church, instead of the sacrifices of the law. The horns and hoofs are mentioned as being conspicuous in an ox going to be sacrificed; being probably... [ Continue Reading ]