Bible Commentaries

Psalms 102:14 — 14.For thy servants take pleasure in her stones To restrict this to Cyrus and Darius is altogether unsuitable. It is not at all wonderful to find the Jewish doctors hunting, with excessive eagerness, after foolish subtilties; but I am surprised that some

Psalms 102:25 — the creation, while the heavens still continue as they were amidst this continual fluctuation? Again, so beautiful is their arrangement, and so excellent their frame-work, that the whole fabric proclaims itself to be the product of God’s hands (161) And yet neither the long period during which the heavens have existed, nor their fair embellishment, will exempt them from perishing. What then shall become of us poor mortals, who die when we are as yet scarcely born? for there is no part of our

Psalms 105:19 — 19.Until the time that his word came Here the prophet teaches, that although, according to the judgment of the flesh, God seems to be too tardy in his steps, yet he holds supreme rule over all things, that he may at length accomplish in due time what

Psalms 116:13 — 13.The cup of salvation He refers to a custom which was prevalent under the Law. For when they rendered solemn thanks to God, a feast was also appointed, at which, in token of their gladness, there was an holy libation. This being a symbol of their deliverance

Psalms 120:4 — to pierce them, or coals to burn them, we need not be surprised at seeing the most eminent servants of God exercised with similar assaults. (52) The Hebrew word רתם, rothem, here rendered “juniper, ” occurs also in 1 Kings 19:4, and Job 30:4, in both which places it is translated in our English Bible by “juniper-tree.” It would appear that this shrub was remarkable for the intense flame with which it burned, and for the length of time during which its

Psalms 136:1 — 1.For his mercy, (172) etc. The insertion of this clause again and again in so many short and abrupt sentences, may seem a vain repetition, but verses repeated by way of chorus are both allowed and admired in profane poets, and why should we object to

Psalms 14:4 — any feeling of humanity? He attributes this manner of speaking to God, not because any thing can happen which is strange or unexpected to him, but in order the more forcibly to express his indignation. The Prophet Isaiah, in like manner, (Isaiah 59:16,) when treating of almost the same subject, says, “And God saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor.” (Isaiah 59:16) God, it is true, does not actually experience in himself such affections, but he represents

Psalms 23:1 — 1.Jehovah is my shepherd. Although God, by his benefits, gently allures us to himself, as it were by a taste of his fatherly sweetness, yet there is nothing into which we more easily fall than into a forgetfulness of him, when we are in the enjoyment

Psalms 25:13 — 13.His soul shall dwell in good. If the supreme felicity of man consists in undertaking or attempting nothing except by the warrant of God, it follows that it is also a high and incomparable benefit to have him for our conductor and guide through life,

Psalms 27:8 — can believingly rise to seek God until the way is first opened by God’s invitation, as I have elsewhere shown from the prophet’s declaration, “I will say, It is my people; and they shall say, The Lord is my God,” (Zechariah 13:9.) David accordingly says, that in this way the door was opened for him to seek God: he brings forward this promise, and thus responds, as it were, to God. (586) And, certainly, if this symphony does not precede, no man will conduct aright the chorus

Psalms 36:1 — 1.Ungodliness saith to the wicked in the midst of my heart Commentators are not agreed as to the interpretation of the first verse. Literally it is, The saying [or speech ]of transgression, or rather, Transgression saith to the wicked As, however, the

Psalms 37:12 — 12.The wicked plotteth against the righteous. David here anticipates an objection which might have been taken to the preceding verse. Where, it might be said, can tranquillity and joy be found when the wicked are mad with rage, and plot every kind of

Psalms 39:1 — 1.I said, I will take heed to my ways. David explains and illustrates the greatness of his grief by this circumstance, that, contrary to his inclination and resolution, he broke forth into the severest complaints. The meaning substantially is, that although

Psalms 55:22 — 22Cast thy giving upon Jehovah. The Hebrew verb יהב, yahab, signifies to give, so that יהבע, yehobcha, according to the ordinary rules of grammar, should be rendered thy giving, or thy gift. (321) Most interpreters read thy burden, but they assign no reason for this rendering.

Psalms 66:10 — 10For thou, O God! hast proved us We may read, Though thou, O God! etc., and then the passage comes in as a qualification of what went before, and is brought forward by the Psalmist to enhance the goodness of God, who had delivered them from such severe

Psalms 68:22 — God to bring forth all his enemies to destruction: be they on the heights of Bashan, or in the profoundest depths of the ocean, they shall not escape; his hand will lay hold upon them, and his power utterly destroy them. In Amos 9:2, and in Obadiah 1:4, there are two sublime illustrations of the sentiment that is here delivered.” “Bashan was east of Judea,” says Boothroyd, “and the sea in the west, so that the meaning is, that God would bring his enemies from every quarter

Psalms 73:11 — 11.And they say, How doth God know? Some commentators maintain that the Prophet here returns to the ungodly, and relates the scoffings and blasphemies with which they stimulate and stir up themselves to commit sin; but of this I cannot approve. David

Psalms 89:19 — 19.Then thou spakest in vision to thy meek ones. The Psalmist now declares at greater length why he said that the king, set over the chosen people for the preservation of the public good, was given them from heaven; namely, because he was not chosen by

Psalms 89:38 — complains that those notable promises of which he had spoken had to appearance vanished and come to nought. Whenever the faithful put the question, “How long wilt thou forget me, O Lord?” “Awake, why sleepest thou, O Lord?” (Psalms 13:1,) they assuredly are not to be understood as attributing forgetfulness or sleep to him: they only lay before him the temptations which flesh and blood suggest to them in order to induce him speedily to succor them under the infirmity with which

Psalms 99:6 — among the common Levites, and that Moses himself, after the giving of the law, never held the office of high priest. But as the Hebrews call כוהנים, chohanim, those who are chief and very eminent personages, (121) such as kings’ sons, there is nothing to prevent the prophet from giving this designation to Moses, as if he had said that he was one of the holy rulers of the Church. (122) Moreover, if we go back to the first original — to the period