PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible — Psalms
Gill, John, 1697-1771 · 746,590 words · 1615 reading sections
Psalms 115:8
Psalms 115:8 Ver. 8. They that make them are like unto them,.... As stupid as the matter of which they are made; as sottish and as senseless as the idols themselves, see Isa 44:9. Aben Ezra and Kimchi interpret it as a petition, "let them that make them be like unto them"; and so the Targum, the Septuagint, Vulgate La…
165 wordsSECTION 1262Psalms 115:9
Psalms 115:9 Ver. 9. O Israel, trust thou in the Lord,.... Or, "the house of Israel hath trusted in the Lord": so the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions: the Targum is, "Israel trusteth in the Word of the Lord;'' in distinction from the Heathens, that trust in their idols. But it is bet…
515 wordsSECTION 1263Psalms 115:10
Psalms 115:10 Ver. 10. O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord,.... The family of the tribe of Levi, that was separated from the rest, to minister in the priest's office, to offer gifts and sacrifices for the people, and to bless them; and therefore ought to trust in the Lord, and set a good example to others: as minister…
205 wordsSECTION 1264Psalms 115:11
Psalms 115:11 Ver. 11. Ye that fear the Lord, trust in the Lord,.... Which is said not to distinguish true saints from hypocrites, in Israel or in Aaron's house; rather to describe such who belonged to neither: but, as Aben Ezra interprets it, who feared the Lord, of every people and nation; or proselytes, as Jarchi e…
255 wordsSECTION 1265Psalms 115:12
Psalms 115:12 Ver. 12. The Lord hath been mindful of us,.... The Targum is, "the Word of the Lord hath remembered us for good.'' And is another reason why his people should trust in him: he has been mindful of his covenant with them and promises to them, and has kept them; he remembered them in their low estate, and…
242 wordsSECTION 1266Psalms 115:13
Psalms 115:13 Ver. 13. He will bless them that fear the Lord,.... They shall want no good thing now, and have much goodness laid up for them to be enjoyed hereafter; the sun of righteousness rises upon them, and a book of remembrance is written on their account; the Lord delights in them, his eye is upon them; and the…
102 wordsSECTION 1267Psalms 115:14
Psalms 115:14 Ver. 14. The Lord shall increase you more and more,.... The Word of the Lord, as the Targum, shall do it; in a temporal sense, with a numerous posterity, with riches, wealth, and honour; and in a spiritual sense, with an addition of spiritual blessings; with renewed instances of divine layout: with an in…
133 wordsSECTION 1268Psalms 115:15
Psalms 115:15 Ver. 15. You are blessed of the Lord,.... The Arabic version reads it, "we are blessed"; with temporal and with spiritual blessings; being the beloved of the Lord, chosen of him; whose sins are pardoned, whose persons are justified by the righteousness of Christ; who are put among the children of God, an…
169 wordsSECTION 1269Psalms 115:16
Psalms 115:16 Ver. 16. The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord's,.... Not only the visible heavens, the airy and starry regions, which are within our sight; but the heaven of heavens, the third heaven, into which the Apostle Paul was caught, and heard and saw things not to be uttered; and which is, as the Targum ex…
445 wordsSECTION 1270Psalms 115:17
Psalms 115:17 Ver. 17. The dead praise not the Lord,.... Not the dead in sin; such as the makers of idols, and those that trust in them, who are like unto them; men must be made spiritually alive, ere they can show forth the praises of God: nor the dead corporeally. The souls of departed saints can and do praise the L…
316 wordsSECTION 1271Psalms 115:18
Psalms 115:18 Ver. 18. But we will bless the Lord from this time forth and for evermore,.... The Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Ethiopic, and Arabic versions, render it, "we who are alive"; both in a corporeal and in a spiritual sense who, as long as we live, and while we have a being, will bless the Lord; being made spir…
167 wordsSECTION 1272Psalms 116:1
Psalms 116:1 INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 116 Theodoret applies this psalm to the distresses of the Jews in the times of the Maccabees under Antiochus Epiphanes; and R. Obadiah interprets some passages in it of the Grecians of those times; but it rather seems to have been written by David on account of some troubles of his,…
608 wordsSECTION 1273Psalms 116:2
Psalms 116:2 Ver. 2. Because he hath inclined his ear unto me,.... Not as hard of hearing, for his ear is not heavy that it cannot hear; he is quick of hearing, and his ears are always open to the righteous; it rather denotes his readiness to hear; he hearkens and hears, he listens to what his people say, and hears th…
294 wordsSECTION 1274Psalms 116:3
Psalms 116:3 Ver. 3. The sorrows of death compassed me,.... Christ, of whom David was a type, was a man of sorrows all his days; and in the garden he was surrounded with sorrow; exceeding sorrowful even unto death, in a view of the sins of his people imputed to him, and under a sense of wrath for them, he was about to…
476 wordsSECTION 1275Psalms 116:4
Psalms 116:4 Ver. 4. Then called I upon the name of the Lord,.... Upon the Lord himself in prayer for speedy deliverance; or "in the name of the Lord" {h}, in the name of the Messiah, the only Mediator between God and man; "saying", as follows, and which word may be supplied, O Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my soul; …
97 wordsSECTION 1276Psalms 116:5
Psalms 116:5 Ver. 5. Gracious is the Lord,.... So the psalmist found him, calling upon him; so he is in Christ, the author and giver of all grace, to help in time of need. And righteous; faithful to his promises, just in every dispensation of his providence, even in afflictive ones; righteous in punishing the enemies…
107 wordsSECTION 1277Psalms 116:6
Psalms 116:6 Ver. 6. The Lord preserveth the simple,.... Such as have but a small degree of understanding, either in things natural or spiritual, in comparison of others; babes, as the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions render it, so in the Talmud {i}; see Mt 11:25. Such who are sensible …
330 wordsSECTION 1278Psalms 116:7
Psalms 116:7 Ver. 7. Return unto thy rest, O my soul,.... To a quiet and tranquil state after much distress {k}; a soliloquy, an address to his own soul to return to God his resting place, as Kimchi; or to Christ, whose rest is glorious, and which lies in a cessation from a man's own works; not from doing them, but fr…
354 wordsSECTION 1279Psalms 116:8
Psalms 116:8 Ver. 8. For thou hast delivered my soul from death,.... From a corporeal death, when his life was in danger, surrounded by Saul's army, in the hand of the Philistines at Gath, and when his son rebelled against him; and from a spiritual death in regeneration, which is a passing from death to life; and from…
241 wordsSECTION 1280Psalms 116:9
Psalms 116:9 Ver. 9. I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living. As in the sight of the omniscient God, according to his word and will, and in such manner as to please him. So Enoch's walking with God is by the apostle explained of pleasing him; compare Ge 5:22, and so the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and Ara…
219 wordsSECTION 1281Psalms 116:10
Psalms 116:10 Ver. 10. I believed, therefore have I spoken,.... Here the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions, begin a new psalm, but without any foundation in the original; nor is it countenanced by the Targum; and is manifestly against the connection with the preceding verses. David expresses his…
397 wordsSECTION 1282Psalms 116:11
Psalms 116:11 Ver. 11. I said in my haste, all men [are] liars. The sin of lying is common to man; there is a natural proneness and propensity to it: men go astray from the womb, speaking lies; yet such who have received the grace of God "put [it] off" with the rest of "the deeds of the old man", and are "children tha…
397 wordsSECTION 1283Psalms 116:12
Psalms 116:12 Ver. 12. What shall I render unto the Lord?.... He considers the Lord only as the author and giver of his mercies, and has nothing to say of his own merits, nor of other persons, who might be instruments of good to him; but is for giving all the glory to God: not as though he could render anything propor…
269 wordsSECTION 1284Psalms 116:13
Psalms 116:13 Ver. 13. I will take the cup of salvation,.... Or "salvations" {n}; not the eucharistic cup, or the cup in the Lord's supper, which the apostle calls "the cup of blessing", 1Co 10:16; though some so think, and that the psalmist represents the saints under the Gospel dispensation; nor the cup of afflictio…
249 wordsSECTION 1285Psalms 116:14
Psalms 116:14 Ver. 14. I will pay my vows unto the Lord now, in the presence of all his people. Make good the resolutions and determinations he made in the strength of divine grace, in the time of his troubles; that should the Lord deliver him out of them, he would give him all the glory, and offer thanksgiving and pr…
99 wordsSECTION 1286Psalms 116:15
Psalms 116:15 Ver. 15. Precious in the sight of the Lord [is] the death of his saints. The Lord has his saints or sanctified ones, who are sanctified or set apart by God the Father from all eternity; who are sanctified in Christ, their head and representative; who are sanctified by his blood, shed for the expiation of…
664 wordsSECTION 1287Psalms 116:16
Psalms 116:16 Ver. 16. O Lord, truly I [am] thy servant, I [am] thy servant,.... Not merely by creation, and as obliged by providential favours; but by the grace of God, which made him a willing one: and he was so, not nominally only, but in reality; not as those who say Lord, Lord, but do not the will of God; whereas…
271 wordsSECTION 1288Psalms 116:17
Psalms 116:17 Ver. 17. I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving,.... For deliverance from afflictions and death; for loosing his bonds, in every sense; for all mercies, temporal and spiritual; see Ro 6:17; Such sacrifices are according to the will of God; are well pleasing to him, when offered up through Chr…
341 wordsSECTION 1289Psalms 117:1
Psalms 117:1 INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 117 The inscription of this psalm in the Syriac version is, "it is said concerning those of the house (or the companions) of Ananias, when they came out of the furnace; likewise it foretells the calling of the Gentiles by the declaration of the Gospel.'' Which last is right; for t…
435 wordsSECTION 1290Psalms 117:2
Psalms 117:2 Ver. 2. For his merciful kindness is great towards us,.... Not us Israelites only, of whom David was, but Gentiles also; or otherwise there would be no force in the reason why all people and nations should praise the Lord: but it respects the time when these should become one people, partaking of the same…
346 wordsSECTION 1291Psalms 118:1
Psalms 118:1 INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 118 Kimchi says their Rabbins are divided about this psalm. Some understand it of David; others of the Messiah: but, with us Christians, there ought to be no doubt of its belonging to the Messiah; since our Lord has quoted a passage out of it, and applied it to himself, Ps 118:22; s…
347 wordsSECTION 1292Psalms 118:2
Psalms 118:2 Ver. 2. Let Israel now say, that his mercy [endureth] for ever. Let such who have had an experience of it acknowledge and declare it to others; not only believe in it with their hearts, and privately give thanks for it, but with the mouth make confession of it to the glory of divine grace; not only litera…
194 wordsSECTION 1293Psalms 118:3
Psalms 118:3 Ver. 3. Let the house of Aaron now say, that his mercy [endureth] for ever. The priests and Levites that blessed the people, and taught them the knowledge of divine things; but not these literally, at least not only these, since the priesthood of Aaron is changed, and the law of it abrogated, and all beli…
93 wordsSECTION 1294Psalms 118:4
Psalms 118:4 Ver. 4. Let them now that fear the Lord say, that his mercy [endureth] for ever. Not the proselytes to the Jewish religion only, but all that feared the Lord among all people, as Aben Ezra observes; such as fear the Lord and his goodness, and have had an experience of his grace and mercy, which has caused…
105 wordsSECTION 1295Psalms 118:5
Psalms 118:5 Ver. 5. I called upon the Lord in distress,.... Or "out of that strait" {q}; when David was encompassed by Saul and his men, or when at the court of Achish, or when his own people talked of stoning him. As this may respect the Messiah, it may design his distresses in the garden, when surrounded with sorro…
480 wordsSECTION 1296Psalms 118:6
Psalms 118:6 Ver. 6. The Lord [is] on my side,.... Or "for me" {s}; he was on the side of David, hence all his prosperity and victories, the wonderful things done by him, his exaltation to the throne, and the establishment of it; and so he was on the side of Christ, he was near unto him, at his right hand, to guide, d…
347 wordsSECTION 1297Psalms 118:7
Psalms 118:7 Ver. 7. The Lord taketh my part with them that help me,.... With the four hundred men that were with David, and stood by him in his troubles, 1Sa 22:2; see Ps 54:4; and with those who ministered unto Christ as man, Lu 8:3. Or, "the Lord [is] for me, with" or "among my helpers" {t}; he is the principal hel…
255 wordsSECTION 1298Psalms 118:8
Psalms 118:8 Ver. 8. [It is] better to trust in the Lord,.... This, with what follows in Ps 118:9, is the conclusion from the above premises and experience; it is good to trust in the Lord; such enjoy peace, are in safety, shall not want any good thing, nor ever be ashamed and confounded: the Targum is, "it is better…
189 wordsSECTION 1299Psalms 118:9
Psalms 118:9 Ver. 9. [It is] better to trust in the Lord,.... The Targum is, "in the Word of the Lord.'' This is repeated for the sake of what follows: than to put confidence in princes; who have greater ability to help, and whose honour should engage them to keep their word; and yet it is better to trust in the Lo…
132 wordsSECTION 1300Psalms 118:10
Psalms 118:10 Ver. 10. All nations compassed me about,.... Not all the nations of the world, but all the neighbouring nations about Judea; as the Philistines, Moabites, Ammonites, Amalekites, and Syrians; and these not all at one time, but sometimes one, and sometimes another, whom David fought with and subdued: and t…
476 wordsSECTION 1301Psalms 118:11
Psalms 118:11 Ver. 11. They compassed me about; yea, they compassed me about,.... Which is repeated not only for the confirmation of, it, but to denote the frequency and fury of their attacks, and their obstinate persisting therein; See Gill on "Ps 118:10"; but in the name of the Lord I will destroy them; which also …
82 wordsSECTION 1302Psalms 118:12
Psalms 118:12 Ver. 12. They compassed me about like bees,.... In great numbers {w}; as a swarm of bees, which, being irritated and provoked, will fly upon persons in a body, and with great fury; to which the Amorites and the Assyrian army were compared, De 1:44. They will attack horses and kill them, as Aristotle {x} …
359 wordsSECTION 1303Psalms 118:13
Psalms 118:13 Ver. 13. Thou hast thrust sore at me, that I might fall,.... Or "pushing, thou hast pushed me {a}, that I might fall": an apostrophe to some particular enemy, as Saul was to David; who thrust sore at him to take away his life, by casting a javelin at him; speaking to his servants to kill him; sending mes…
341 wordsSECTION 1304Psalms 118:14
Psalms 118:14 Ver. 14. The Lord [is] my strength and song,.... It being in the name of the Lord the enemies of the psalmist were destroyed; and having obtained help of him when sore thrust at, he gives him all the glory, and ascribes nothing to himself. It was the Lord that strengthened him, helped him, and gave him t…
155 wordsSECTION 1305Psalms 118:15
Psalms 118:15 Ver. 15. The voice of rejoicing and salvation [is] in the tabernacles of the righteous,.... In all the dwellings of good men, throughout the land of Israel, was heard nothing but the voice of joy, on account of David's accession to the throne; the deliverance of him from a persecuting Saul, and of them f…
352 wordsSECTION 1306Psalms 118:16
Psalms 118:16 Ver. 16. The right hand of the Lord is exalted,.... Lifted up, very eminent and conspicuous, easily to be observed in the instances before given, and become great and glorious in power; see Ex 15:6. The power of God is superior to all enemies; and is beyond conception and expression; and is able to do fo…
3,595 wordsSECTION 1307Psalms 119:1
Psalms 119:1 INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 119 This psalm is generally thought to be written by David, but when is uncertain; very probably towards the decline of life; and, as some think, for the sake or his son Solomon. It seems to be a collection of observations on the word of God and its precepts, the usefulness and exce…
692 wordsSECTION 1308Psalms 119:2
Psalms 119:2 Ver. 2. Blessed [are] they that keep his testimonies,.... The whole word of God, the Scriptures of truth, are his testimonies: they testify of the mind of God, and of his love and grace in the method of salvation by Christ; they testify of Christ, his person, offices, and grace; of the sufferings of Chris…
340 wordsSECTION 1309Psalms 119:3
Psalms 119:3 Ver. 3. They also do no iniquity,.... Not that they are free from indwelling sin, nor from the acts of sin, nor that what they do are not sins; but they do not make a trade of sinning, it is not the course of their lives; nor do they do iniquity with that ease and pleasure, without reluctance and remorse,…
176 wordsSECTION 1310Psalms 119:4
Psalms 119:4 Ver. 4. Thou hast commanded [us] to keep thy precepts diligently. Here, and in the following verses, the psalmist expresses his great regard to the precepts, commandments, statutes, and judgments of God; and that as such, because they were commanded by him; were not the precepts of men, but the commands o…
164 wordsSECTION 1311Psalms 119:5
Psalms 119:5 Ver. 5. O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes!] The psalmist, sensible of his own inability, as every good man is, to keep the commands of God, prays for grace, direction, and assistance in it; that the ways of his mind, his thoughts, affections, and inclinations, might be directed to an obser…
192 wordsSECTION 1312Psalms 119:6
Psalms 119:6 Ver. 6. Then shall I not be ashamed,.... Of hope in God, of a profession of faith in him, and of a conversation agreeable to it before men; nor of appearing before God in his house, worshipping him there; nor at the throne of his grace, nor at the day of judgment, and before Christ at his coming; when I …
176 wordsSECTION 1313Psalms 119:7
Psalms 119:7 Ver. 7. I will praise thee with uprightness of heart,.... In the most sincere manner, in the most affectionate way, with the whole heart; sensible of great favours received, and great obligations laid under; see Ps 9:1; when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments; or, "the judgments of thy righteou…
221 wordsSECTION 1314Psalms 119:8
Psalms 119:8 Ver. 8. I will keep thy statutes,.... This is a resolution taken up in the strength of divine grace, to answer the end of learning the judgments of God; which he did, not merely to have a notional knowledge of them, but to put them in practice; and not that he thought he could perfectly keep them, but was…
215 wordsSECTION 1315Psalms 119:9
Psalms 119:9 b, BETH.--The Second Part. Ver. 9. BETH. Wherewith shall a young man cleanse his way?.... Some think David means himself, and that he was a young man when he wrote this psalm; and which they think is confirmed by Ps 119:100; but neither of them seem conclusive; rather any young man is meant, and who is p…
436 wordsSECTION 1316Psalms 119:10
Psalms 119:10 Ver. 10. With my whole heart have I sought thee,.... Not himself, his own honour and applause, as formal worshippers and self-righteous persons do; but the Lord and his glory, his face, his presence, and communion with him, his grace, and fresh supplies of it, to help in time of need; his doctrine, as th…
313 wordsSECTION 1317Psalms 119:11
Psalms 119:11 Ver. 11. Thy word have I hid in mine heart,.... Not only heard and read it, but received it into his affections; mixed it with faith, laid it up in his mind and memory for future use; preserved it in his heart as a choice treasure, where it might dwell richly, and be of service to him on many occasions; …
161 wordsSECTION 1318Psalms 119:12
Psalms 119:12 Ver. 12. Blessed [art] thou, O Lord,.... In himself, in his nature, persons, and perfections; the fountain of all happiness to angels and men, in time and to eternity; to whom all blessing, honour, and glory, are to be given. The psalmist takes this method of praising and ascribing blessing to God, for w…
186 wordsSECTION 1319Psalms 119:13
Psalms 119:13 Ver. 13. With my lips have I declared all the judgments of thy mouth. Not the judgments of his hand, what he executes on an ungodly world; nor the intricate dispensations of his providence; those judgments of his now unsearchable, though before long will be manifest; these the psalmist could not declare:…
156 wordsSECTION 1320Psalms 119:14
Psalms 119:14 Ver. 14. I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies,.... The way which the Scriptures, that testify of God and Christ, direct unto; and the principal way is Christ himself, the only way of life and salvation; in which believers walk and go on rejoicing; rejoicing in his person, offices, grace, righteo…
220 wordsSource & rights
Public domain; John Gill (1697–1771). Source item is marked Public Domain on Internet Archive.
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Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.