Psalms 71:19

_THY RIGHTEOUSNESS ALSO, O GOD, IS VERY HIGH, WHO HAST DONE GREAT THINGS: O GOD, WHO IS LIKE UNTO THEE!_ Thy righteousness also, O God, is very high - literally, 'is even to the height' (Psalms 36:5; Psalms 57:5; Psalms 57:10). O GOD, WHO IS LIKE UNTO THEE! Exodus 15:11 is the fundamental passage. Compare David's own words, 2 Samuel 7:22 - an undesigned coincidence....

19._And thy righteousness, O God! is very high. _(115) Some connect this verse with the preceding, and repeating the verb _I will declare, _as common to both verses, translate, And _I will declare thy righteousness, O God! _But this being a matter of small importance, I will not dwell upon it. David prosecutes at greater length the subject of which he had previously spoken. In the first place, he _declares _that _the righteousness of God is very high; _secondly, that it wrought mightily; and, finally, he exclaims in admiration, _Who is like thee? _It is worthy of notice, that the righteousness of God, the effects of which are near to us and conspicuous, is yet placed on high, inasmuch as it cannot be comprehended by our finite understanding. Whilst we measure it according to our own limited standard, we are overwhelmed and swallowed up by the smallest temptation. In order, therefore,

14-24 The psalmist declares that the righteousness of Christ, and the great salvation obtained thereby, shall be the chosen subject of his discourse. Not on a sabbath only, but on every day of the week, of the year, of his life. Not merely at stated returns of solemn devotion, but on every occasion, all the day long. Why will he always dwell on this? Because he knew not the numbers thereof. It is impossible to measure the value or the fulness of these blessings. The righteousness is unspeakable, the salvation everlasting. God will not cast off his grey-headed servants when no longer capable of labouring as they have done. The Lord often strengthens his people in their souls, when nature is sinking into decay. And it is a debt which the old disciples of Christ owe to succeeding generations, to leave behind them a solemn testimony to the advantage of religion, and the truth of God's promi...

Verse Psalms 71:19. _THY RIGHTEOUSNESS _- IS _VERY HIGH_] עד מרום _ad_ _marom _- is up to the exalted place, reaches _up to heaven_. The mercy of God fills all _space_ and _place_. It crowns in the heavens what it governed upon earth. _WHO HAST DONE GREAT THINGS_] גדלות _gedoloth_. Thou hast worked _miracles_, and displayed the _greatest acts of power_. _WHO_ IS _LIKE UNTO THEE!_] מי כמוך _mi camocha_. God is alone, - who can resemble him? He is eternal. He can have none _before_, and there can be none _after_; for in the infinite _unity_ of his _trinity_ he is that eternal, unlimited, impartible, incomprehensible, and uncompounded ineffable Being, whose _essence_ is hidden from all created intelligences, and whose coun

THY RIGHTEOUSNESS ALSO, O GOD, IS VERY HIGH - See the notes at Psalms 36:5. The purpose of the psalmist is to exalt that righteousness as much as possible, and he, therefore, compares it with that which is high - the heavens - the highest thing of all. The literal rendering would be, “even to the high,” or the height; that is, to the highest place. The passage is designed to express his confidence in God, in the infirmities and troubles which he must expect to come upon him with advancing years. WHO HAST DONE GREAT THINGS - In his work of creation; in his providence; in his manifested mercy toward his people. He had done things so great as to show that he could protect those who put their trust in him. O GOD, WHO IS LIKE UNTO THEE! - Who can be compared to thee! See the notes at

EXPOSITION Psalms 71:1 is, like so many others, a psalm divided between complaint and praise. It is comparatively wanting in originality, being, to a very great extent, an echo of other psalms, especially Psalms 22:1, Psalms 31:1, Psalms 35:1, and Psalms 40:1. Complaint, mingled with prayer, occupies the first half (Psalms 40:1); praise and thanksgiving the second (Psa 40:14 -24). The authorship of the psalm is very doubtful, as it has no "title," and fe

THY RIGHTEOUSNESS ALSO, O GOD, [IS] VERY HIGH,.... Or, "unto [the place] on high" f; it reaches unto heaven, as the mercy, truth, and faithfulness of God, are said to do, Psalms 36:5. The righteousness of Christ is accepted of with God the Father in heaven; it is in Christ, who is there at the right hand of God; and it is higher and infinitely above any righteousness of a creature, angel's or man's; WHO HAST DONE GREAT THINGS; in nature, in forming the world out of nothing, and in upholding all creatures in their beings; in providence, in governing the world, and ordering all things in it for the best, and to answer the wisest purposes; in grace, in the salvation of lost sinners by Christ; in the justification of them by his righteousness; and in the atonement and pardon of their sins, through his blood and sacrifice; in the regeneration of them by his grace; in making and p

This Psalm, written by an old man, is specially suitable for an old man. It is numbered seventy-one, and it may suit those who have reached that age; but it is also appropriate to us all in prospect of the days of feebleness that will come to us, sooner or later, if we are spared to grow old. Psalms 71:1. _In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust: let me never be put to confusion._ «Stand by me, O Lord, for I only stand as thou upholdest me; and if thou shouldest leave me, after I have trusted in thee, what could I say or do? Therefore, O Jehovah, since I put my trust in thee, ‘let me never be put to confusion.'» Psalms 71:2. _Deliver me in thy righteousness, and cause me to escape:_ «I am like a poor dove taken in a net, I cannot get away. Stretch out thine hand,

Psalms 71 Israel's Song of Hope _ 1. Declaration of trust (Psalms 71:1)_ 2. Anticipations of faith (Psalms 71:12) 3. Revival and victory (Psalms 71:19) This Psalm, which bears no inscription whatever, gives another prophetic picture of the faith and the anticipations of faith as found in the godly of Israel, when the salvation is about to come out of Zion. They look to Him who is all sufficient to deliver and to save them. The Psalm may well be called Israel's song of hope. It abounds in many beautiful, refreshing statements, equally precious to us....

LXXI. A PSALM OF GRATITUDE FOR GOD'S CONSTANT CARE OF HIS SERVANT FROM YOUTH TO OLD AGE. The Psalmist expresses himself in language borrowed from older sources. PSALMS 71:1. Quoted from Psalms 31. Use is also made of Psalms 22. But the Psalmist is a man of original power, and the Ps. has a definite character of its own. He has powerful enemies and has been brought to death's door, but he is full of trust that God, who has led him from his infancy, will lead him to the end. He is already growing old. The writer cannot be speaking in the name of Israel (see Psalms 71:9). Psalms 71:6_ c_. Read, my hope shall be continually in thee....