Bible Commentaries

Psalms 10:1 — 1.Lord, why standest thou afar off? We here see how the prophet, seeking a remedy for his calamities, which were apparently past hope, directly addresses himself to God at the very commencement. And the rule which we should observe, when we are in trouble

Psalms 111:1 — 1I will praise Jehovah The best and most efficient method of inculcating the performance of any duty is to be exemplary; and, accordingly, we find that the prophet, in the present instance, sets himself for an example, to lead others to engage in the

Psalms 119:148 — 148.My eyes have prevented the night watchers. (21) The Psalmist here intimates, that he was more sedulously intent on meditating upon the law of God than watchmen of the night were to keep watch. Others are of opinion, that the verb שוח,

Psalms 18:10 — 10.He rode also upon a cherub. The Psalmist having exhibited to us a sign of the wrath of God in the clouds, and in the darkening of the air, representing him as if he breathed out smoke, (401) from his nostrils, and descended with a threatening countenance,

Psalms 21:1 — 1.The king will rejoice in thy strength, O Jehovah! David could have given thanks to God in private for the victories and other signal favors which he had received from him; but it was his intention to testify not only that it was God who elevated him

Psalms 22:29 — from the want of food; that the former, laying aside their pride, may humble themselves before God, and that the latter, though they may be brought low, may lift up their minds by spiritual joy to God, the author of all good things, as James (James 1:9) admonishes both classes, in these words, “Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted; but the rich in that he is made low.” Now, if God, under the law, joined the full with the hungry, the noble with the mean, the happy

Psalms 26:1 — 1.Judge me, O Jehovah! I have just said, that David betakes himself to the judgment of God, because he found neither equity nor humanity among men. The Hebrew word which is rendered to judge, signifies to undertake the cognisance of a cause. The meaning

Psalms 27:14 — 14.Wait thou on Jehovah. It may be doubted whether David, having in the preceding verses spoken of himself, here addresses his discourse to others, and exhorts them by his own example to fortitude and persevering patience, as he does in the conclusion

Psalms 37:1 — 1.Fret not thyself because of the wicked. David lays down this as a general principle, that the prosperity of the wicked, in which they greatly rejoice, should on no account vex or disquiet the children of God, because it will soon fade away. On the other

Psalms 42:1 — 1.As the hart crieth for the fountains of water, etc The meaning of these two verses simply is, that David preferred to all the enjoyments, riches, pleasures, and honors of this world, the opportunity of access to the sanctuary, that in this way he might

Psalms 62:1 — 1.Nevertheless, my soul is silent towards God. Should the translation I have followed be adopted, the psalm is to be considered as beginning abruptly, in the usual style of compositions of an impassioned kind. (409) Of this we have an instance in Psalms

Psalms 69:13 — 13.But as for me, my prayer is to thee, O Jehovah! It was a sign of uncommon virtue in David, that even this hard treatment could not shake his mind, and sink him into despondency. He informs us of the means by which he fortified himself against that

Psalms 74:1 — 1.O God! why hast thou east us off for ever? If this complaint was written when the people were captives in Babylon, although Jeremiah had assigned the 70th year of their captivity as the period of their deliverance, it is not wonderful that waiting so

Psalms 85:9 — relating to that sublimer, more sacred, and mystical sense, which is not obscurely shadowed under the ostensible image, it is certainly uncommonly noble and elevated, mysterious and sublime.” — (Lowth ’s Lectures on Hebrew Poetry, volume 1, page 284.) Dr Adam Clarke gives a turn to the text, which still more heightens its effect. “It would be more simple,” says he, “to translate the original, ‘Mercy and truth have met on the way; Righteousness and peace have

Deuteronomy 32:26 — nation, so that no ruins should remain as witnesses of their former state; whereas He now speaks of the destruction, which should altogether blot out the name of the nation, as if it had never been chosen by God. (273) Hebr., כעס , cagnas, used in the plural number in 2 Kings 23:26, and translated in A. V. provocations; margin, “Heb. angers.” (274) See Margin, A.V. (275) The references in the original to both these passages are obviously incorrect; it is probable,

Deuteronomy 32:48 — banquet. Thus it is plain that these holy men had so consecrated themselves to God, that they were ready to live or to die, according to His pleasure. Mount Abarim seems to have obtained its name from its angles or sides, because it was divided (301) into many hills; as it is called also Nebo in this place, and elsewhere by divers other names. Others think it is named from a passage; but the other opinion is more probable, since it is called in the plural number Abarim, that is, heights, or summits,

Deuteronomy 33:11 — 11.Bless, Lord, his substance. This supplication appears to have been intended tacitly to provide against the poverty which awaited the Levites, if God had not supplied them with food from some other source besides the produce of the soil; for they were

Joshua 16:1 — 1.And the lot of the children of Joseph fell, etc The sacred writer first states what the lot was which fell to the two children of Joseph, and then describes the lot of Ephraim. It is strange, however, that when the half of the tribe of Manasseh had

Joshua 20:1 — 1.The Lord also spoke unto Joshua, etc In the fact of its not having occurred to their own minds, to designate the cities of refuge, till they were again reminded of it, their sluggishness appears to be indirectly censured. The divine command to that

Joshua 4:12 — 12.And the children of Reuben, etc He makes mention of the expedition of the two tribes and half tribe, as they did not set out to engage in warfare on their own private account, but to assist their brethren, by whose valor their own possession had been