Verse 36. His seed shall endure for ever. They shall continue for ever in three senses. First. In the succession of their race to the end of the world. It will never be cut off.—"The Church is in danger!" What Church? "Upon this rock", says he, "I will build my Church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Yea, his people shall continue to increase in number and excellency. We shall leave the world better than we entered it: and so will our children; till Jerusalem shall be established, and be made a praise in the whole earth. Secondly. In their religious character to the end of their own life. If left to themselves, we could not be sure of their persevering to the end of a day or an hour. But they are kept by the power of God, through faith, unto salvation. He upholdeth them with his hand. They shall hold on their way. In all their dangers they shall be more than conquerors. Thirdly. In their glorified state, through eternal ages. The world passeth away, and the lusts thereof; but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. All other greatness is only for life: it is frequently less durable—at death it ends. But then, the Christian's greatness—I will not say, begins; for it began the moment he prayed—but then it continues, increases, and is perfected.— William Jay.
Verse 37. It shall be established for ever as the moon. This clause Kimchi expounds not only of the perpetuity, but of the quality and condition of David's Kingdom, after this fashion: If his children be good, they shall be like the moon, when full and shining; if bad, like the moon waning and obscure. Nevertheless the kingdom itself shall not cease, just as the moon does not go out of existence, whilst it is obscure, but lasts perpetually.— Musculus.
Verse 37. And as a faithful witness in heaven. (New Translation) And as the rainbow's faithful sign. The rainbow is not expressly mentioned in the original, which speaks only of "the faithful witness in heaven." Some commentators understand the "witness" thus mentioned to be no other than the moon itself. I prefer, however, the interpretation that fixes it on the rainbow, which God after the deluge appointed as a "sign" or "witness" of his mercy in Christ. Ge 9:12-17. Conformably to this appointment, the Jews, when they behold the rainbow, are said to bless God, who remembers his covenant and is faithful to his promise. And the tradition of this its designation to proclaim comfort to mankind was strong among the heathens: for, according to the mythology of the Greeks, the "rainbow" was the daughter of "wonder", "a sign to mortal men", and regarded, upon its appearance, as a messenger of the celestial deities. Thus Homer with remarkable conformity to the Scripture account speaks of the "rainbow", which "Jove hath set in the cloud, a sign to men."— Richard Mant.
Verse 38. But thou hast cast off , etc. The complaining of the saints meanwhile is so exaggerated, that carnal feeling makes itself more apparent in them, than faith...Yet such is the goodness of God, He is not offended with these complaints, provided faith is not altogether extinguished, or succumbs.— Mollerus.
Verse 39. Thou hast profaned his crown, etc. The crown of a king, (like that of the high priest, on which was inscribed "holiness to the Lord") (Ex 28:36) was a sacred thing, and therefore to cast it in the dust was to profane it.— A.R. Fausset.
Verse 40. Hedges and strong holds. Both of these may refer to the appointments of a vineyard in which the king was the vine. It was usually fenced around with a stone wall, and in it was a small house or tower, wherein a keeper was set to keep away intruders. When the wall, or hedge, was thrown down, every passer by plucked at the fruit, and when the tower was gone the vineyard was left open to the neighbours who could do as they would with the vines. When the church is no longer separated from the world, and her divine Keeper has no more a dwelling place within her, her plight is wretched indeed.— C.H.S.
Verse 43. Thou hast also turned the edge of his sword , etc. The arms and military prowess of thy people are no longer of any use to them; Thou art against them, and therefore they are fallen. In what a perilous and hopeless situation must that soldier be who, defending his life against his mortal foe, has his sword broken, or its edge turned; or, in modern warfare, whose gun misses fire! The Gauls, when invaded by the Romans, had no method of hardening iron; at every blow their swords bent, so that they were obliged, before they could strike again, to put them under their foot or over their knee, to straighten them; and in most cases, before this could be done, their better armed foe had taken away their life! The edge of their sword was turned, so that they could not stand in battle; and hence the Gauls were conquered by the Romans.— Adam Clarke.
Verse 43. Thou hast also turned the edge of his sword , that it cannot do execution as it has done; and what is worse, thou hast "turned the edge" of his spirit, and taken off his courage, and hast not made him to stand , as he used to do, in the day of battle. The spirit of men is what the Father and Former of spirits makes them; nor can we stand with any strength or resolution, farther than God is pleased to uphold us. If men's hearts fail them, it is God that dispirits them; but it is sad with the church when those cannot stand that should stand up for it.— Matthew Henry.
Verse 45. The days of his youth hast thou shortened. Our kings have not reigned half their days, nor lived out half their lives. The four last kings of Judea reigned but a short time, and either died by the sword or in captivity. Jehoahaz reigned only three months, and was led captive to Egypt, where he died. Jehoiakim reigned only eleven years, and was tributary to the Chaldeans, who put him to death, and cast his body into the common sewer. Jehoiachim, reigned three months and ten days, and was led captive to Babylon, where he continued in prison to the time of Evil merodach, who, though he loosed him from prison, never invested him with any power. Zedekiah, the last of all, had reigned only eleven years when he was taken, his eyes put out, was loaded with chains, and thus carried to Babylon. Most of these kings died a violent and premature death. Thus the "days of their youth" —of their power, dignity, and life, "were shortened", and they themselves covered with shame. Selah ; so it most incontestably is.— Adam Clarke.
Verse 45. Thou hast covered them with shame. Selah. Thou hast wrapped him up in the winding sheet of shame. Lord, this is true.— John Trapp.
Verses 46-47. This undoubtedly sounds like the voice of one who knows no hereafter. The Psalmist speaks as if all his hopes were bound by the grave; as if the overthrow of the united kingdom of Judah and Ephraim had bereft him of all his joy; and as if he knew no future kingdom to compensate him with its hopes. But it would be doing cruel injustice to take him thus at his word. What we hear is the language of passion, not of sedate conviction. This is well expressed by John Howe in a famous sermon. "The expostulation (he observes) was somewhat passionate, and did proceed upon the sudden view of this disconsolate case, very abstractly considered, and by itself only; and the Psalmist did not, at that instant, look beyond it to a better and more comfortable scene of things. An eye bleared with present sorrow sees not far, nor comprehends so much at one view, as it would at another time, or as it doth presently when the tear is wiped out and its own beams have cleared it up." It would be unwarrantable, therefore, to infer from Ethan's expostulation, that the saints who lived under the early kings were strangers to the hope of everlasting life. I am inclined to go further, and to point to this very complaint as affording a presumption that there was in their hearts an irrepressible sentiment of immortality. The bird that frets and wounds itself on the bars of its cage shows thereby that its proper home is the free air. When inveterate sensuality has succeeded in quenching in a man's heart the hope of a life beyond the grave, the dreary void which succeeds utters itself, not in solemn complaints like Ethan's, but in songs of forced mirth—dismal Anacreontic songs: "Let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die."
"It is time to live if I grow old,
It is time short pleasures now to take,
Of little life the best to make,
And manage wisely the last stake."
(Anacreon's Age, as translated by Cowley.)— William Binnie.
Verse 46. Shall thy wrath burn like fire? An element that hath no mercy.— William Nicholson.
Verse 47. Wherefore hast thou made all men in vain? If I should demand of any, for what cause especially man came into the world; he would answer with the Psalmist, God did not create man in vain. Did He create man to heap up wealth together? no, for the apostle saith. "We brought nothing into this world, and it is certain that we can carry nothing out. And, having food and raiment, let us be therewith content." 1Ti 6:6-8. Did he create him to hawk after power and principality? no, for Nebuchadnezzar lusting after these, lost no less than a kingdom. Did He create him to eat, drink and play? no, for Seneca, though an heathen saith, major sum, etc., I am greater, and born to greater things, than that I should be a vile slave of my senses. What then is the proper end of man? That we should live to the praise of the glory of his grace wherewith he hath made us freely accepted in his Beloved. Eph 1:6.— William Pulley.
Verse 47. Wherefore hast thou made all men in vain? If we think that God hath made man "in vain", because so many have short lives, and long afflictions in this world, it is true that God "hath made" them so; but it is not true, that therefore they are "made in vain". For those whose days are few and full of trouble, yet may glorify God, and do some good, may keep their communion with God, and go to heaven, and then they are not made in vain. If we think that God has made men in vain, because the most of men neither serve him nor enjoy him, it is true, that as to themselves, they were made in vain, better for them they had not been born, than not be "born again"; but it was not owing to God, that they were made in vain, it was owing to themselves; nor are they made in vain as to him; for he has "made all things for himself, even the wicked for the day of evil", and those whom he is not glorified by he will be glorified upon.— Matthew Henry.
Verse 47. Wherefore hast thou made all men in vain? When I add to the consideration of my short time, that of dying mankind, and behold a dark and deadly shade universally overspreading the world, the whole species of human creatures vanishing, quitting the stage round about me, and disappearing almost as soon as they show themselves; have I not a fair and plausible ground for that (seemingly rude) challenge? Why is there so unaccountable a phenomenon? Such a creature made to no purpose; the noblest part of this inferior creation brought forth into being without any imaginable design? I know not how to untie the knot, upon this only view of the case, or avoid the absurdity. It is hard sure to design the supposal, (or what it may yet seem hard to suppose), "that all men were made in vain." — John Howe.
Verse 47. Wherefore hast thou made all men in vain? Two thoughts crush us— Man was made to mourn, and man was made in vain. Yes, this thought is painfully pressed upon us,—man is "made in vain!" In how many particulars, especially when we survey that large range of characters to which we may give the denomination of wasted lives; there to behold peerless genius frittering itself away upon unworthy attainments, upon worthless performances; imagination that might adorn truth, if that were possible; wit , that might select and discriminate the true from the false; and eloquence that might enforce the true;—where do we find these? Unsatisfactory and miserable world, may we well exclaim, where nothing is real, and nothing is realised: when I consider how our lives are passed in the struggle for existence; when I consider the worry of life, where it is not a woe—the woe, where it is not a worry; when I consider how the millions pass their time in a mere toil for sensual objects, and that those to whom the sad contradiction of life never comes, are the most wretched of all, did they but know it; when I consider the millions of distorted existences; and the many millions!—the greater number of the world by far—who wander Christless, loveless, hopeless, over the broad highway of it; when I consider life in many of the awakened as a restless dream, as children beating the curtain and crying in the night; when I consider how many questions recur for ever to us; and will not be silenced, and cannot be answered; when I consider the vanity of the philosopher's inquisitiveness, and the end of Royalty in the tomb; when I look round on the region of my own joys, and know how short their lease is, and that their very ineffableness is a blight upon them; when I consider how little the best can do, and that none can do anything well; and, finally, when I consider the immeasurable immensity of thought within, unfulfilled, and the goading restlessness, I can almost exclaim with our unhappy poet Byron —
"Count all the joys thine hours have seen,
Count all thy days from anguish free,
And know, whatever thou last been,
It were something better not to be."
—E. Paxton Hood , in "Dark Sayings on a Harp", 1865.
Verses 47-48. In these verses, the fundamental condition of Israel's blessedness is found to be an acknowledgment of the total unprofitableness of the flesh. Resurrection is the basis upon which the sure mercies of David rest availably for faith (Ac 13:34). This is rather implied than directly stated in the present Psalm.— Arthur Pridham.
Verse 48. What man. Mi gheber, says the original; it is not Is he, which is the first name of man, in the Scriptures, and signifies nothing but a sound, a voice, a word, a musical air which dies, and evaporates; what wonder if man, that is but Ishe, a sound, should die too? It is not Adam, which is another name of man, and signifies nothing but red earth; let it be earth red with blood, (with that murder which we have done upon ourselves,)let it be earth red with blushing, (so the word is used in the original), with a conscience of our own infirmity, what wonder if man, that is but Adam, guilty of this self murder in himself, guilty of this inborn frailty in himself, die too? It is not Enos, which is also a third name of man, and signifies nothing but a wretched and miserable creature; what wonder that man, that is but earth, that is a burden to his neighbours, to his friends, to his kindred, to himself, to whom all others, and to whom myself desires death, what wonder if he die? But this question is framed upon more of these names; not Ishe, not Adam, not Enos; but it is Mi gheber, Quis vir; which is the word always signifying a man accomplished in all excellencies, a man accompanied with all advantages; fame, and a good opinion justly conceived, keeps him from being Ishe, a mere sound, standing only upon popular acclamation; innocency and integrity keeps him from being Adam, red earth, from bleeding, or blushing at anything he hath done; that holy and religious art of arts, which St. Paul professed. That he knew how to want, and hvw to abound, keeps him from being Enos, miserable or wretched in any fortune; he is gheber, a great man, and a good man, a happy man, and a holy man, and yet Mi gheber, Quis homo, this man must see death.— John Donne.
Verse 48. This Psalm is one of those twelve that are marked in the forehead with Maschil; that is, a Psalm giving instruction. It consisteth of as many verses as the year doth of weeks, and hath like the year, its summer and winter. The summer part is the former; wherein, the church having reaped a most rich crop (the best blessings of Heaven and earth) the Psalmist breaketh forth into the praises of their gracious Benefactor, I will sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever : so it begins, and so he goeth on a great way. Who now would expect anything but mercies, and singing, and summer all the way? But summer ceaseth, and winter commences, at Ps 89:38: But thou hast cast off and abhorred, thou hast been wroth, with thine anointed. Mercies and singing are now turned into troubles and mourning. But nothing shall you hear but bitter querimonies and expostulations till you come to the last verse. There the good man's come to himself again. Though God were angry with his people, he cannot part with God in discontent. Though God had laden them with crosses, he lifts up his head, and presents God with blessing; Blessed be the Lord forevermore. Amen, and Amen. He blesseth him as well for winter as for summer, for troubles as for mercies. And thus the last verse of Psalm having as much affinity with the first in matter, as the last day of the year hath with the first in season; if we circle the Psalm, and bring both ends together, we find a fit resemblance between the year and it. The text is one of the Psalmist's winter drops; a black line from that pen, which erstwhile was so filled with joy, and wrote nothing but rubrics. He complains in the next precedent verse, of the brevity of his own life (it was like a winter's day, very short); in this, of the instability of man's life; as though he had said, I am not the only mortal. Other men's lives, though haply clothed with more comforts than mine, are altogether as mortal as mine; for his interrogations are equivalent to strong negations. As to see sleep is to sleep; so to see or taste death, is to die. There is no surviving such a sight Death says, as God once to Moses, "There shall no man see me and live." Ex 33:20.— Thomas Du-gard, in a Funeral Sermon, 1648.
Verse 48. Death spares no rank, no condition of men. Kings as well as subjects, princes as well as the meanest rustics are liable to this fatal stroke. The lofty cedars and low shrubs; palaces and cottages are alike here. Indeed, we read that Julius Caesar bid the master of the ship wherein he was sailing, take courage notwithstanding the boisterous tempest, because he had Caesar and his fortunes embarked in his vessel, as much as to say, the element on which they then were could not prove fatal to an emperor, to so great a one as he was. Our William surnamed Rufus said, he never heard of a king that was drowned. And Charles the Fifth, at the Battle of Tunis, being advised to retire when the great ordnance began to play, told them that it was never known that an emperor was slain with great shot, and so rushed into the battle. But this we are sure of, it was never known or heard that any king or crowned head escaped the blow of death at last. The sceptre cannot keep off `the arrows that fly by day, and the sickness which wastes at noonday; 'it is no screen, no guard against the shafts of death. We have heard of great tyrants and usurpers who vaunted that they had the power of life and death, and as absolutely disposed of men as Domitian did of flies; but we have heard likewise that in a short time (and generally the shorter the more furious they have been) their sceptres are fallen out of their hands; their crowns are toppled off their heads, and they are themselves snatched away by the King of Terrors. Or, if we speak of those royal personages that are mild and gentle, and like Vespasian are the darlings and delight of the people, yet these no less than others have their fatal hour, and their regal honour and majesty are laid in the dust. The King doth not die, may be a Common law maxim, but it is a falsehood according to the laws of God and Nature, and the established constitution of heaven. For God himself who hath said, Ye are gods , hath also added, Ye shall die like men. In the Escurial the palace of the Kings of Spain, is their cemetery too; there their royal ashes lie. So in the place where the kings and queens of England are crowned, their predecessors are entombed: to tell them, as it were, that their crowns exempt them not from the grave, and that there is no greatness and splendour that can guard them from the arrest of death. He regards the rich and wealthy no more than the poor and necessitous: he snatches persons out of their mansion houses and hereditary seats, as well as out of almshouses and hospitals. His dominion is over masters as well as servants, parents as well as children, superiors as well as inferiors.— John Edwards.
Verse 48.
The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power,
And all that beauty, all that wealth ever gave, Await alike the inevitable hour—
The paths of glory lead but to the grave.
Can storied urn, or animated bust,
Back to its mansions call the fleeting breath? Can Honour's voice provoke the silent dust,
Or Flattery soothe the dull cold ear of Death?— Thomas Gray, 1716-1771.
Verse 50. How I do bear in my bosom the reproach , etc. I take the reproaches of thy servants and thine anointed, (1) as if they reproached me in mine own particular; or, (2) in that they lie so heavy upon my heart; or, (3) in that I am resolved quietly to endure them, and to swallow them down in silence, as not being indeed able to shake them off; because in the eye of reason our condition is at present so contrary to what we waited for; or, (4) in that their reproaches came not to his ears by hear say only, but were openly to his face cast as it were into his bosom.— Arthur Jackson.
Verse 50. I do bear in, my bosom the reproach, etc. The reproach of religion and of the godly doth lie near, and should lie near, the heart of every lively member of the church.— David Dickson.
Verse 51. They have reproached the footsteps of thine anointed. This phrase is obscure in diction, and therefore variously interpreted
1. Some by the footsteps of Christ, judge that his advent in the flesh is meant: others refer the words to David, and take the meaning to be, imitation of him. The first exposition yields this sense: Be mindful, O Lord, of the reproach of thy enemies wherewith they insult our expectation of thy Anointed, and scoff at his advent as if it would never come.
2. The second interpretation is this: Recollect, O Lord, what contempt thy enemies heap upon us on account of thy servant David, because we fondly cherish his memory and his example, and nourish the hope of thy covenant with him, clinging tenaciously thereto...Thirdly, this clause may be so interpreted that by twbqe, that is, the heel, we may understand the extremities of the Kingdom of Christ, of David. Thus we may imagine the enemies of God threw this in the teeth of the people of Israel, that they had already come to the end and extremity of the Kingdom of David.— Musculus.
Verse 51 ( second clause ). The Chaldee has: "They have scoffed at the tardiness of Thy Messiah's footsteps." So Kimchi: "He delays so long, they say He will never come." Compare 2Pe 3:4,9. The Arabic aqaba is used in the sense of "delaying."— William Kay.
Verse 51. The footsteps , or foot soles, that is, the ways, life, actions, and sufferings, Ps 56:6 Ps 49:5. This referred to Christ, respecteth the oracle, Ge 3:15, that the Serpent should bruise the foot sole of the woman's seed; referred to Christians which follow his footsteps, in suffering and dying with him, that we may be glorified with him (1Pe 2:21 Ro 8:17); it notes the scandal of the Cross of Christ, "to the Jews a stumbling block, and to the Greeks foolishness." (1Co 1:23 1Pe 4:13-14.) The Chaldee understands it of the slackness of the footsteps.— Henry Ainsworth.
Verse 52. Blessed be the Lord for evermore. Amen, and Amen. Victory begins to shine in the phrase, Blessed be Jehovah for evermore. Amen, and Amen. Some think that these words are not the words of the Psalmist, because they are of opinion that they do not agree with the preceding, but were written by another, or added by the Collector of the Psalms as a concluding doxology; or if the Psalmist wrote them, he did so merely in finishing his prayer. But it is a matter of the greatest moment; for it indicates the victory of faith, since he observes that after that grief, the reproach of the heel is gloriously removed that the Messiah may remain a victor for ever, having bruised the serpent's head, and taken away from him in perpetuity all his power of hurting. That this should certainly take place, he adds the seal of faith again and again: "Amen, and Amen." — James Alting, 1618-1679.
Verse 52. This doxology belongs alike to all the Psalms of the Third Book, and ought not to be treated as if it were merely the last verse of the Psalm to which it adjoins. It ought to be set forth in such a shape as would enable and invite God's people to sing it as a separate formula of praise, or in connection with any other Psalm.— William Binnie.
Verse 52. As to the words Amen and Amen, I readily grant that they are here employed to mark the end of the third book of the Psalms.— John Calvin.
HINTS TO THE VILLAGE PREACHER
Verse 1.
1. Mercies celebrated. When?—"for ever."
2. By whom?—by those who are the subjects of them.
3. Therefore they must live for ever to celebrate them.
4. Faithfulness declared. (a) To our own generation. (b) To succeeding generations by its influence upon others.
Verse 2. —
1. The Testimony.
(a) To the constancy of Mercy: (1.) builds up its trophies every moment. (2.) It preserves them for ever.
(b) To the constancy of Faithfulness. It remains as the ordinances of heaven.
2. Its Confirmation. "I have said", etc., said it,
(a) Upon the ground of Scripture.
(b) of experience.
(c) of reason.
(d) of observation of others.
Verses 3-4.
1. The Covenant made. With whom?—with David and in him with David's Lord and Son. The true David—the chosen one—the servant of the Father in redemption.
2. For what?—
(a) for his seed. He should have a seed and that seed should be established.
(b) for himself, "his throne", etc.
3. The Covenant confirmed.
(a) By decree. "I have made", etc.
(b) By promise. "I will establish."
(c) By oath. "I have sworn."
Verse 6. —We have a comparison between God and the most excellent in heaven and earth—challenge both worlds.
1. The true God, sovereign of heaven and earth is incomparably great in his BEING and EXISTENCE;
(a) because his being is of himself eternal;
(b) because he is a perfect being;
(c) because he is independent;
(d) because he is unchangeable.
2. God is incomparably great in his ATTRIBUTES and PERFECTIONS.
(a) In his holiness;
(b) in his wisdom and knowledge;
(c) in his power;
(d) in his justice;
(e) in his patience;
(f) in his love and goodness.
3. God is incomparably great in his WORKS—creation; providence; redemption, and human salvation.— Theophilus Jones, 1830.
Verse 6. —The incomparableness of God, in his Being, Attributes, Works, and Word.— Swinnock. (Nichol's Edition of Swinnock's Works, Vol. 4, pp. 373-508.)
Verses 6-7.
1. In creation God is far above other beings. Ps 89:6.
2. In Redemption he is far above himself in creation. Ps 89:7.
Verses 9-10. God's present rule in the midst of confusion, and rebellion; and his ultimate overthrow of all adverse forces.
Verse 11.
1. God's possession of heaven, the model of his possession of earth.
2. God's possession of earth most certain, and its manifestation in the future most sure.
3. The course of action suggested to his people by the two facts.
Verse 12. The joy of creation in its Creator.
Verse 14.
1. The Equity of the divine government—"justice", etc. No creature can eventually be unjustly dealt with under his dominion, and his kingdom ruleth over all.
2. The Sovereignty of the divine government. Truth before mercy. Mercy founded upon truth. "Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob and the mercy to Abraham." The covenant made in mercy to Abraham is fulfilled in truth to Jacob.
Verse 15.
1. The gospel is a joyful sound. Good tidings, etc.
2. It is a joyful sound to those who know it, hear it, believe it, love it, obey it.
3. They to whom it is a joyful sound are blessed. "They shall walk", etc.
Verse 15.
1. There is a theoretical knowledge of the gospel.
2. An experimental knowledge, and,
3. A practical knowledge
—W. Drasfield, 1859.
Verse 16. —
1. Exultation.
(a) "In thy name", etc., as rich in mercy as the God of salvation—of all grace—of all consolation.
(b) At what season—"all the day", morning, noon, and night.
2. Exaltation. "In thy righteousness", etc.
(a) How not exalted. Not in their own righteousness.
(b) How exalted. "In thy", etc. Procured for them—by a divine person ( thy )—imputed to them. Ours, though thine. The righteousness of God as God could not exalt us, but his righteousness as God man can. Exalted above hell, above earth, above Paradise, above angels. Exalted to friends of God—children of God—one with God, to heaven.
Verse 16. ( second clause ).—Consider,
1. What the believer is exalted above or from, by God's righteousness.
(a) It exalts him above the law.
(b) Above the world.
(c) Above the power and malice of Satan.
(d) Above death.
(e) Above all accusations (Ro 8:33-34.)
2. To what happiness or dignity the believer is exalted by virtue of that righteousness.
a) To a state of peace and reconciliation with God.
(b) To sonship.
(c) To fellowship and familiarity with God, and access to him.
(d) And finally, to a state of endless glory.
—E. Erskine.
Verse 17.
1. The blessedness of the righteous.
(a) Their internal glory. Reliance upon divine strength.
(b) Their internal honour. "In thy favour", etc.
2. The participation in that blessedness. The their of the people of God becomes our. Their strength our horn. Happy they, who, with respect to all the privileges of the saints, can thus turn their into our.
Verse 17.
1. Consider our natural weakness.
2. Consider our strength in God.
3. Give God the glory of it.
Verse 18.
1. Jehovah—his power, self existence, and majesty—our defence.
2. The Holy One of Israel—his character, covenant character, and unity—our government.
Verse 19.
1. The work required. "Help."
(a) By whom? By God himself.
(b) For what? To reconcile God to man, and man to God.
2. The persons selected for this work.
(a) Human. "Chosen out of the people."
(b) Divine. "Thy Holy One."
3. His qualifications for the work.
(a) His own ability for the office. "One that is mighty."
(b) His appointment to it by God. "I have laid." etc. "I have chosen", etc.
Verse 19. ( last clause ). Election, extraction, exaltation.
Verses 20-21.
1. The Messiah would be of the seed of David. The true David.
2. He would be a servant of the Father. "My servant."
3. He would be consecrated to his office by God. "With my holy oil", etc.
4. He would perfectly fulfil it. "With whom my hand", etc.
5. He would be sustained in it by the Father. "Mine arm", etc.
Verse 2 2-23.
1. A prophecy of the conflict of the Messiah with Satan. Satan could not exact any debt or homage for him.
2. Of his refutation of his enemies. "I will beat down", etc. The Scribes and Pharisees were beaten down before his face.
3. Of the destruction of their city and nation. "And plague them", etc.
Verse 26. Our Lord's filial spirit, and how it was displayed.
Verse 29.
1. The subjects of Messiah's reign. "His seed."
(a) For union—his seed.
(b) For resemblance.
(c) For multitude.
2. The duration of his reign.
(a) They for ever one with him.
(b) He for ever on the throne.
Verses 30-34.
1. The persons referred to. "His children." "Ye are all the children", etc.
2. The supposition concerning them. "If his children forsake", etc.
(a) They may possibly—may fall, though not fall away.
(b) They will probably, because they are far from being perfect.
(c) They have actually: as David himself and others.
3. The threatening founded upon that supposition.
(a) Specified—"the rod—stripes." They shall smart for it sooner or later.
(b) Certified. "Then will I."
4. The qualification of the threatening. "Nevertheless", etc.
(a) The nevertheless characterized. Lovingkindness not removed, etc.