PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
The Expositor's Bible: The Psalms, Vol. 3
Alexander Maclaren, 1826-1910 · 128,788 words · 179 reading sections
Psalm Cvii.
1 Give thanks to Jehovah, for He is good, For His loving-kindness [endures] for ever. 2 Let the redeemed of Jehovah say [thus], Whom He has redeemed from the gripe of distress, 3 And gathered them from the lands, From east and west, From north and from [the] sea. 4 They wandered in the wilderness, in a waste of …
666 wordsSECTION 62Psalm Cvii.
43 Whoso is wise, let him observe these things, And let them understand the loving-kindnesses of Jehovah. Notwithstanding the division of Books which separates Psalm cvii. from the two preceding, it is a pendant to these. The "gathering from among the heathen" prayed for in Psalm cvi. 47 has here come to pass (ver. 3…
653 wordsSECTION 63Psalm Cvii.
New mercies give new meaning to old praises. Fresh outpourings of thankfulness willingly run in well-worn channels. The children can repeat the fathers' doxology, and words hallowed by having borne the gratitude of many generations are the best vehicles for to-day's praise. Therefore, the psalm begins with venerable wo…
745 wordsSECTION 64Psalm Cvii.
The travellers are driven to God by their "distress." Happy they who, when lost in a desert, bethink themselves of the only Guide. He does not reject the cry which is forced out by the pressure of calamity; but, as the structure of vv. 6, 7, shows, His answer is simultaneous with the appeal to Him, and it is complete, …
803 wordsSECTION 65Psalm Cvii.
Sickness, which yields the third type of suffering, is a commoner experience than the two preceding. The picture is lightly sketched, emphasis being laid on the cause of the sickness, which is sin, in accordance with the prevailing view in the Old Testament. The psalmist introduces the persons of whom he is to speak by…
670 wordsSECTION 66Psalm Cvii.
Their cry to Jehovah was heard above the shriek of the storm, and the tempest fell as suddenly as it rose. The description of the deliverance is extended beyond the normal single verse, just as that of the peril had been prolonged. It comes like a benediction after the hurly-burly of the gale. How gently the words echo…
730 wordsSECTION 67Psalm Cviii.
1 Steadfast is my heart, O God, I will sing and harp, yea, my glory [shall sing]. 2 Awake, harp and lute, I will wake the dawn. 3 I will give Thee thanks among the peoples, Jehovah, And I will harp to Thee among the nations. 4 For great above the heavens is Thy loving-kindness, And to the clouds Thy troth. 5 Ex…
602 wordsSECTION 68Psalm Cix.
1 God of my praise, be not silent, 2 For a wicked man's mouth and a mouth of deceit have they opened on me. 3 And with words of hate have they compassed me, And have fought [against] me causelessly. 4 In return for my love, they have been my adversaries, But I--I was [all] prayer. 5 And they have laid upon me ev…
819 wordsSECTION 69Psalm Cix.
Divine retribution for evil was the truth of the Old Testament, as forgiveness is that of the New. The conflict between God's kingdom and its enemies was being keenly and perpetually waged, in most literal fashion. Devout men could not but long for the triumph of that with which all good was associated, and therefore f…
778 wordsSECTION 70Psalm Cix.
Vv. 6-8 are best taken in close connection, as representing the trial and condemnation of the object of the psalmist's imprecations, before a tribunal. He prays that the man may be haled before a wicked judge. The word rendered "set" is the root from which that rendered "office" in ver. 8 comes, and here means to set i…
678 wordsSECTION 71Psalm Cix.
In ver. 16 a new turn of thought begins, which is pursued till ver. 20--namely, that of the self-retributive action of a perverted choice of evil. "He remembered not" to be gracious to him who needed compassion; therefore it is just that he should not be remembered on earth, and that his sin should be remembered in hea…
851 wordsSECTION 72Psalm Cx.
The psalm began with addressing "the God of my _praise_"; it ends with the confidence and the vow that the singer will yet _praise_ Him. It painted an adversary standing at the right hand of the wicked to condemn him; it ends with the assurance that Jehovah stands at the right hand of His afflicted servant, as his advo…
743 wordsSECTION 73Psalm Cx.
The psalm falls into two parts: the Vision of the Priest-King and His army (vv. 1-4); the King's Warfare and Victory (vv. 5-7). "The oracle of Jehovah" introduces a fresh utterance of God's, heard by the psalmist, who thus claims to be the mouthpiece of the Divine will. It is a familiar prophetic phrase, but usually f…
698 wordsSECTION 74Psalm Cx.
The kingdom in relation to its subjects is the theme of ver. 3, which accords with the warlike tone of the whole psalm, by describing them as an army. The period spoken of is "the day of Thy host," or array--the time when the forces are mustered and set in order for battle. The word rendered _free-will offerings_ may p…
968 wordsSECTION 75Psalm Cx.
Many attempts have been made to fit the language of the psalm to one or other of the kings of Israel; but, not to mention other difficulties, this ver. 4 remains as an insuperable obstacle. In default of Israelite kings, one or other of the Maccabean family has been thought of. Cheyne strongly pronounces for Simon Macc…
675 wordsSECTION 76Psalm Cxi.
Hallelujah. 1 א I will thank Jehovah with my whole heart, ב In the council of the upright and in the congregation. 2 ג Great are the works of Jehovah, ד Inquired into by all who delight in them. 3 ה Honour and majesty is His working, ו And His righteousness stands fast for aye. 4 ז He has made a memorial for His…
681 wordsSECTION 77Psalm Cxi.
These general contemplations are followed in vv. 4-6 by references to Israel's history as the greatest example of God's working. "He has made a memorial for His wonders." Some find here a reference to the Passover and other feasts commemorative of the deliverance from Egypt. But it is better to think of Israel itself a…
649 wordsSECTION 78Psalm Cxii.
Hallelujah. 1 א Happy the man who fears Jehovah, ב [Who] delights exceedingly in His commandments. 2 ג Mighty on the earth shall his seed be, ד The generation of the upright shall be blessed. 3 ה Wealth and riches are in his house, ו And his righteousness stands fast for aye. 4 ז There riseth in the darkness lig…
802 wordsSECTION 79Psalm Cxii.
Ver. 4 blends consequences of righteousness and characterisation of it, in a remarkable way. The construction is doubtful. In _a_, "upright" is in the plural, and the adjectives in _b_ are in the singular number. They are appended abruptly to the preceding clause; and the loose structure has occasioned difficulty to ex…
681 wordsSECTION 80Psalm Cxii.
The two final verses are elongated, like the corresponding ones in Psalm cxi. Again, beneficence is put in the forefront, as a kind of shorthand summing up of all virtues. And, again, in ver. 9 the analogy is drawn out between God and the godly. "He has sent redemption to His people"; and they, in their degree, are to …
532 wordsSECTION 81Psalm Cxiii.
Hallelujah. 1 Praise, ye servants of Jehovah, Praise the name of Jehovah. 2 Be the name of Jehovah blessed From henceforth and for evermore! 3 From the rising of the sun to its going down, Praised be the name of Jehovah. 4 High above all nations is Jehovah, Above the heavens His glory. 5 Who is like Jehovah ou…
824 wordsSECTION 82Psalm Cxiii.
The third strophe pursues the thought of the Divine condescension as especially shown in stooping to the dejected and helpless and lifting them. The effect of the descent of One so high must be to raise the lowliness to which He bends. The words in vv. 7, 8, are quoted from Hannah's song (1 Sam. ii. 8). Probably the si…
384 wordsSECTION 83Psalm Cxiv.
1 When Israel went forth from Egypt, The house of Jacob from a stammering people, 2 Judah became His sanctuary, Israel His dominion. 3 The sea beheld and fled, Jordan turned back. 4 The mountains leaped like rams, The hills like the sons of a flock. 5 What ails thee, Sea, that thou fleest? Jordan, that thou ar…
691 wordsSECTION 84Psalm Cxiv.
The historical substratum for vv. 3, 4, is the twin miracles of drying up the Red Sea and the Jordan, which began and closed the Exodus, and the "quaking" of Sinai at the Theophany accompanying the giving of the Law. These physical facts are imaginatively conceived as the effects of panic produced by some dread vision;…
385 wordsSECTION 85Psalm Cxv.
1 Not to us, not to us, Jehovah, But to Thy name give glory, For the sake of Thy lovingkindness, for the sake of Thy troth. 2 Why should the nations say, "Where, then, is their God?" 3 But our God is in the heavens, Whatsoever He willed, He has done. 4 Their idols are silver and gold, The work of the hands of m…
704 wordsSECTION 86Psalm Cxv.
The prayer in vv. 1, 2, beautifully blends profound consciousness of demerit and confidence that, unworthy as Israel is, its welfare is inextricably interwoven with Jehovah's honour. It goes very deep into the logic of supplication, even though the thing desired is but deliverance from human foes. Men win their pleas w…
801 wordsSECTION 87Psalm Cxv.
Promises of blessing occupy vv. 12-15, which may probably have been sung by priests, or rather by Levites, the musicians of the Temple service. In any case, these benedictions are authoritative assurances from commissioned lips, not utterances of hopeful faith. They are Jehovah's response to Israel's obedience to the p…
418 wordsSECTION 88Psalm Cxvi.
1 I love--for Jehovah hears My voice, my supplications. 2 For He has bent His ear to me, And throughout my days will I call. 3 The cords of death ringed me round, And the narrows of Sheol found me, Distress and trouble did I find. 4 And on the name of Jehovah I called, "I beseech Thee, Jehovah, deliver my soul.…
854 wordsSECTION 89Psalm Cxvi.
The psalmist does not pause to say definitely that he was delivered, but breaks into the celebration of the Name on which he had called, and from which the certainty of an answer followed. Since Jehovah is gracious, righteous (as strictly adhering to the conditions He has laid down), and merciful (as condescending in l…
784 wordsSECTION 90Psalm Cxvi.
Again he hurries on to sing the issues of deliverance, without waiting to describe it. That little dialogue of the devout soul with itself (vv. 12, 13) goes very deep. It is an illuminative word as to God's character, an emancipating word as to the true notion of service to Him, a guiding word as to common life. For it…
681 wordsSECTION 91Psalm Cxvii.
1 Praise Jehovah, all nations, Laud Him, all peoples. 2 For great is His lovingkindness over us, And the troth of Jehovah endures for ever. Hallelujah. This shortest of the psalms is not a fragment, though some MSS. attach it to the preceding and some to the following psalm. It contains large "riches in a narrow r…
316 wordsSECTION 92Psalm Cxviii.
1 Give thanks to Jehovah, for He is good, For His lovingkindness endures for ever. 2 O let Israel say, That His lovingkindness endures for ever. 3 O let the house of Aaron say, That His lovingkindness endures for ever. 4 O let those who fear Jah say, That His lovingkindness endures for ever. 5 Out of the strait…
834 wordsSECTION 93Psalm Cxviii.
Apparently the psalm falls into two halves, of which the former (vv. 1-16) seems to have been sung as a processional hymn while approaching the sanctuary, and the latter (vv. 17-29), partly at the Temple gates, partly by a chorus of priests within, and partly by the procession when it had entered. Every reader recognis…
699 wordsSECTION 94Psalm Cxviii.
The individual experience is resumed in vv. 10-14. The energetic reduplications strengthen the impression of multiplied attacks, corresponding with the facts of the Restoration period. The same impression is accentuated by the use in ver. 11_a_ of two forms of the same verb, and in ver. 12_a_ by the metaphor of a swarm…
687 wordsSECTION 95Psalm Cxviii.
Ver. 20 may belong to the individual voice, but is perhaps better taken as the answer from within the Temple, of the priests or Levites who guarded the closed doors, and who now proclaim what must be the character of those who would tread the sacred courts. The gate (not as in ver. 19, _gates_) belongs to Jehovah, and …
679 wordsSECTION 96Psalm Cxviii.
Ver. 24 is best regarded as the continuation of the choral praise in vv. 22, 23. "The day" is that of the festival now in process, the joyful culmination of God's manifold deliverances. It is a day in which joy is duty, and no heart has a right to be too heavy to leap for gladness. Private sorrows enough many of the ju…
873 wordsSECTION 97Psalm Cxix.
Once more Miriam's song supplies ancient language of praise for recent mercies, and the personified Israel compasses the altar with thanksgiving (ver. 28). Then the whole multitude, both of those who had come up to the Temple and of those who had welcomed them there, join in the chorus of praise with which the psalm be…
865 wordsSECTION 98Psalm Cxix.
"Whatever record leap to light, He never shall be shamed." Nor will he cherish hopes that fail, nor desires that when accomplished, are bitter of taste. To give heed to the commandments is the condition of learning them and recognising how righteous they are; and such learning makes the learner's heart righteous like…
686 wordsSECTION 99Psalm Cxix.
Professions and vows now take the place of petitions. "From the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh," and the word hid in it will certainly not be concealed. It is buried deep, that it may grow high. It is hidden, that it may come abroad. Therefore ver. 13 tells of bold utterance, which is as incumbent on men as …
715 wordsSECTION 100Psalm Cxix.
The last three verses of the section appear to be linked together. They relate to the persecutions of the psalmist for his faithfulness to God's law. In ver. 22 he prays that reproach and shame, which wrapped him like a covering, may be lifted from him; and his plea in ver. 22_b_ declares that he lay under these becaus…
851 wordsSECTION 101Psalm Cxix.
§ ה 33 Teach me, Jehovah, the way of Thy statutes, And I will keep it to the end. 34 Make me understand so that I may keep Thy law, And I will observe it with [my] whole heart. 35 Make me walk in the path of Thy commandments, For in it I delight. 36 Incline my heart to Thy testimonies, And not to plunder. 37 M…
684 wordsSECTION 102Psalm Cxix.
§ ו 41 And let Thy lovingkindnesses come to me, Jehovah, Thy salvation according to Thy promise. 42 And I shall have a word to answer him that reproaches me, For I trust in Thy word. 43 And pluck not the word of truth out of my mouth utterly, For I have waited for Thy judgments. 44 And I would observe Thy law co…
730 wordsSECTION 103Psalm Cxix.
This section has only one verse of petition, the others being mainly avowals of adherence to the Law in the face of various trials. The single petition (ver. 49) pleads the relation of servant, as giving a claim on the great Lord of the household, and adduces God's having encouraged hope as imposing on Him an obligatio…
736 wordsSECTION 104Psalm Cxix.
Ver. 57 goes to the root of the matter in setting forth the resolve of obedience as the result of the consciousness of possessing God. He who feels, in his own happy heart, that Jehovah is his portion will be moved thereby to vow to keep His words. This psalmist had learned the evangelical lesson that he did not win Go…
757 wordsSECTION 105Psalm Cxix.
The restrictions of the acrostic structure are very obvious in this section, five of the eight verses of which begin with "Good." The epithet is first applied in ver. 65 to the whole of God's dealings with the psalmist. To the devout soul all life is of one piece, and its submission and faith exercise transmuting power…
669 wordsSECTION 106Psalm Cxix.
§ י 73 Thy hands have made me and fashioned me, Give me understanding that I may learn Thy commandments. 74 Let those who fear Thee see me and rejoice, For I have waited for Thy word. 75 I know, Jehovah, that Thy judgments are in righteousness, And that [in] faithfulness Thou hast afflicted me. 76 Oh let Thy lov…
673 wordsSECTION 107Psalm Cxix.
This section has more than usual continuity. The psalmist is persecuted, and in these eight verses pours out his heart to God. Taken as a whole, they make a lovely picture of patient endurance and submissive longing. Intense and protracted yearning for deliverance has wasted his very soul, but has not merged in impatie…
903 wordsSECTION 108Psalm Cxix.
§ מ 97 How I love Thy law! All the day is it my meditation. 98 Wiser than my enemies do Thy commandments make me, For they are mine for ever. 99 More than all my teachers am I prudent, For Thy testimonies are my meditation. 100 More than the aged do I understand, For Thy precepts have I kept. 101 From every ev…
1,048 wordsSECTION 109Psalm Cxix.
§ ס 113 The double-minded I hate, But Thy law I love. 114 My shelter and my shield art Thou, For Thy word have I waited. 115 Depart from me, ye evil-doers, That I may keep the commandments of my God. 116 Uphold me according to Thy promise that I may live, And let me not be ashamed of my hope. 117 Hold me up an…
732 wordsSECTION 110Psalm Cxix.
The thought of evil-doers tinges most of this section. It opens with a triplet of verses, occasioned by their oppressions of the psalmist, and closes with a triplet occasioned by their breaches of the Law. In the former, he is conscious that he has followed the "judgment" or law of God, and hence hopes that he will not…
1,057 wordsSECTION 111Psalm Cxix.
§ צ 137 Righteous art Thou, Jehovah, And upright are Thy judgments. 138 In righteousness Thou hast commanded Thy testimonies, And in exceeding faithfulness. 139 My zeal has consumed me, For my adversaries have forgotten Thy words. 140 Well tried by fire is Thy promise, And Thy servant loves it. 141 Small and d…
696 wordsSECTION 112Psalm Cxix.
The first two verses are a pair, in which former prayers for deliverance and vows of obedience are recalled and repeated. The tone of supplication prevails through the section. The cries now presented are no new things. The psalmist's habit has been prayer, whole-hearted, continued, and accompanied with the resolve to …
905 wordsSECTION 113Psalm Cxix.
§ ש 161 Princes have persecuted me without a cause, But at Thy words my heart stands in awe. 162 I rejoice over Thy promise, As one that finds great booty. 163 Lying I hate and abhor, Thy law do I love. 164 Seven times a day I praise Thee, Because of Thy righteous judgments. 165 Great peace have they that love…
1,154 wordsSECTION 114Psalms Cxx.-Cxxxiv.
These fifteen psalms form a short psalter within the Psalter, each having the same title (with a slight grammatical variation in Psalm cxxi.). Its meaning is very doubtful. Many of the older authorities understand it to signify "a song of steps," and explain it by a very uncertain tradition that these psalms were sung …
308 wordsSECTION 115Psalm Cxx.
1 To Jehovah in my straits I cried, And He answered me. 2 Jehovah, deliver my soul from the lying lip, From the deceitful tongue. 3 What shall He give to thee, and what more shall He give thee, Deceitful tongue? 4 Arrows of the Mighty, sharpened ones, With coals of broom. 5 Woe is me that I sojourn in Meshech, …
845 wordsSECTION 116Psalm Cxx.
In the group of vv. 5-7, the psalmist bemoans his compulsory association with hostile companions, and longs to "flee away and be at rest." Meshech was the name of barbarous tribes who, in the times of Sargon and Sennacherib, inhabited the highlands to the east of Cilicia, and in later days retreated northwards to the n…
284 wordsSECTION 117Psalm Cxxi.
1 I will lift mine eyes to the hills; Whence cometh my help? 2 My help [comes] from Jehovah, The Maker of heaven and earth. 3 May He not suffer thy feet to totter, May thy Keeper not slumber! 4 Behold, thy Keeper slumbers not; Behold, He slumbers not nor sleeps [Who is] the Keeper of Israel. 5 Jehovah is thy K…
733 wordsSECTION 118Psalm Cxxi.
The particle of negation in ver. 3 is not that used in ver. 4, but that which is employed in commands or wishes. The progress from subjective desire in ver. 3, to objective certainty of Divine help as expressed in ver. 4 and the remainder of the psalm, is best exhibited if the verbs in the former verse are translated a…
687 wordsSECTION 119Psalm Cxxii.
In the final verse, the psalmist recurs to his favourite antithesis of external toil and repose in the home, the two halves of the pilgrim life for every man; and while thus, in the first clause of the verse, he includes all varieties of circumstance, in the second he looks on into a future of which he does not see the…
793 wordsSECTION 120Psalm Cxxii.
Thus moved to the depths of his soul, he breaks forth into exhortation to his companion pilgrims to pray for the peace of the city. There is a play on the meaning of the name in ver. 6_a_; for, as the Tel-el-Amarna tablets have told us, the name of the city of the priest-king was Uru Salim--the city of [the god of] pea…
400 wordsSource & rights
Public domain in the USA; original historical text digitized by Project Gutenberg.
Project Gutenberg source record →
Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.