Psalms 76:11
Ver. 11. Vow, and pay unto the Lord your God,.... Not monastic vows, which the Papists would infer from these and such like words; nor ceremonial ones, but spiritual sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving, such as men sometimes make in times of distress, or when delivered, Ps 66:13 and which when vowed ought to be paid, Ec 5:4, not to creatures, angels, or saints, but to God, from whom the mercy desired must be expected, and from whence it comes, Ps 50:14, these words are an address to such who were delivered from wrath, either of God or man:
let all that be round about him; who surround the throne of his grace, gather together in his house to attend his word and ordinances, who are his servants, and constantly and faithfully adhere to him; among whom he grants his presence, they are near to him, and he to them. It is a periphrasis of the assembly of the saints; see Ps 89:7. The Targum is,
"all ye that dwell round about his sanctuary;''
the allusion is to the situation of the camp of Israel, and the tabernacle in the wilderness, Nu 2:1 compare with this Re 4:4,
bring presents unto him that ought to be feared, or "to the fear" {f}, which is one of the names of God; see Ge 31:42 and who is and ought to be the object of the fear and reverence of men; the "presents", to be brought to him are the sacrifices of prayer and praise, yea, the whole persons, the souls and bodies, of men; see Ps 72:10, compare with this 2Ch 32:22. The Targum is,
"let them bring offerings into the house of the sanctuary of the terrible One;''
of him that is to be feared, with a godly fear by good men, and to be dreaded by evil men, as follows.
{f} arwml "ad verb terrori, timori", Vatsblus; "numini", De Dieu, "venerando et timendo huic numini", Michaelis; so Ainsworth.