Psa 43:1

AN UNGODLY NATION: Heb “goi” identifies a Gentile nation — the Assyrian invader.

(NT) Can be read as hinting that, by rejecting him, Israel would become a cast-off people — like the Gentiles!

DECEITFUL AND WICKED MEN: Sennacherib, who accepted tribute and signed a treaty, and then pressed his invasion as hard as ever.

(NT) Caiaphas.

Psa 43:3

SEND FORTH YOUR LIGHT AND YOUR TRUTH: A plea for God to give a clear directive by means of Urim (= lights) and Thummim (= perfection). For a full discussion of this possibility, see SSD 305-310. But another poss: “light” ref the Shekinah Glory, God’s sign of the king’s imminent recovery (v 3b), and “truth” is an allusion to the great Promise to David which Hezekiah hoped to see continued through himself.

(NT) The ultimate vindication and triumph over the forces of evil.

LET THEM GUIDE ME: “Pray urgently and fervently for a yearning, aching realization of your need for God — how dark and empty and meaningless everything in life is without Him: how bright and full and purposeful everything is with Him. Christ has, in God’s love, opened and illuminated the way to God and to life and this is perfect obedience. We cannot achieve this of ourselves, but we can be covered by that of Christ, If we enter into and abide in Christ. Entry into Christ is by knowledge, belief and baptism. Abiding in Christ is by total dedication to learning and developing and obedience, and putting all we have and are into his service. We find no other way to life promised in the Scriptures. Any who promise or expect an easier one are deceiving and being deceived” (GVG).

Psa 43:4

THEN WILL I GO TO THE ALTAR OF GOD: 2Ki 20:8; Isa 37:14-20.

THE ALTAR OF GOD… MY JOY: David had learned two thing concerning joy. First, there is only one source of joy; it is God Himself. Second, there is only one place where we can draw from that source: it is the “altar”. In spiritual terms, the “altar” is the place of sacrifice, and of commitment and consecration, the place where our lives are laid down. Through the sacrifice we make at the altar, the joy that comes from God alone is released within us. There is a great difference between joy and happiness. Joy is in the realm of the spirit — an unchanging realm. Happiness is in the realm of the here and now, or the physical. It has been said that happiness “happens”, but joy “abides”. Joy is not dependent on feeling or circumstances, or on our physical conditions. Joy comes from God himself, and just like God, it is eternal, unchangeable, and unaffected by situations or circumstances. But joy is released only at the altar. We have to make up our minds, as David did, that we will go to God, to the altar — to the place of sacrifice — and present the living sacrifices which are our reasonable service, or logical act of worship (Rom 12:1,2). In our meeting with God beyond the things that are temporary, we discover that He alone is the source of our joy, and we bring that down from our mountaintop experience to dispense to a world only beset by what it “sees” through the five senses.

WITH THE HARP: Isa 38:20: “my songs to the stringed instruments”.

Psa 43:5

SUBSCRIPTION: “FOR THE DIRECTOR OF MUSIC.”

Psa 44:1

SUPERSCRIPTION: “OF THE SONS OF KORAH. A MASKIL.” See Lesson, Psalms, “Maschil”.

HISTORICAL: Def a Hezekiah psalm. The first person pronouns in vv 4,6,15 are his. The Passover background, already noted is specially fitting because it was at a Passover when Hezekiah recovered from his great illness and when the Assyrian army was destroyed at the gates of Jerusalem (Isa 30:29,31; 31:5; 33:19,20; cp Isa 26:20,21 with Exo 12:22, and Isa 37:36 with Exo 12:23).

Psa 44:2

AND PLANTED OUR FATHERS: Israel, in preparation for 2Sa 7:10.

The Heb “nata” is used of planting gardens (eg, Eden: Gen 2:8) but only planting with a very long-term view: a tree, for example, but not a flowerbed. It carries the idea of deep-rooted establishment: sw in Gen 21:33; Exo 15:17; Num 24:6.

YOU CRUSHED THE PEOPLES: Not Israel. This Heb word “leumim” (in v 14 also) usually means the Canaanite or Arab people.

AND MADE OUR FATHERS FLOURISH: “And cast them out” (AV) should be: and spread them (Israel) abroad, like the branches of a tree (sw 80:11; also cp Jer 17:8; Eze 17:6; 31:5).

Psa 44:3

FACE (of God): In Psalms, always ref God’s presence in ark/tabernacle/temple: see VL, Psalms, God’s face.

Psa 44:4

YOU ARE MY KING: King Hezekiah makes ready acknowledgment that there is a King higher than he. Psa 20 is a coronation psalm. This v (“king”… “Jacob”) looks back to vv 1,9 there.

WHO DECREES VICTORIES: A splendid example of the intensive plural. Hezekiah was asking for only one deliverance, but that is a very sensational one!

Psa 44:5

Hezekiah’s faith that God would yet come to the rescue against the invaders. And note the corresponding negatives: “not by bow, nor sword”. Deu 33:17 suggests the overpowering might of the Cherubim chariot of the Lord, as described in Eze 1. Note also Isa 37:16 and 1Ki 22:11.

Psa 44:7

Ref to former victories, in time of crisis, and esp in the overwhelming of the Egyptians at the Red Sea — at Passover!

Psa 44:8

IN GOD WE MAKE OUR BOAST ALL DAY LONG: Counterpoint to the sustained Assyrian tirade against the Lord: Isa 36:7,15,18,20; 37:4, 16,17,23,24,28,29. See 2Ch 32:8. This was surely the only time until Antiochus Epiphanes in all their history when Israel suffered in the name of their God.

See Lesson, Selah.

Psa 44:9

YOU HAVE REJECTED AND HUMBLED US: Judah’s helplessness in the face of the Assyrian invasion. But not really true: Psa 89:28.

Psa 44:11

TO BE DEVOURED LIKE SHEEP: RSV has “sheep for the slaughter”, as in v 22. Also cp Isa 53:6,7.

AND HAVE SCATTERED US AMONG THE NATIONS: Sennacherib’s inscription boasts that in this campaign he took away 200,150 captives (v 12 and Taylor’s prism). Mic 4:10 says that he settled them in Babylon, which he had recently conquered.

Psa 44:12

GAINING NOTHING FROM THEIR SALE: That is, He has not increased His wealth by one jot by the “price” He has received for them! See Isa 52:3,4; Amo 1:6,9; Oba 1:11,12; Jer 15:13; Joe 3:1-7; Mic 7:12,13. Ct God’s action in Psa 72:14; 116:15; Isa 43:3. We are redeemed/bought without silver or gold (1Pe 1:18,19; Rom 3:24,25).

Psa 44:13

REPROACH… SCORN… DERISION… BYWORD… SHAKE THEIR HEADS AT US: Surrounding nations (esp Edom and Moab) gloated over the discomfiture of Judah at this time.

Psa 44:14

THE PEOPLES SHAKE THEIR HEADS AT US: A “laughingstock” (RSV). But the tables were turned: 2Ki 19:21.

Psa 44:15

DISGRACE… SHAME: Not only politically, but also personally — Hezekiah’s dreadful disease.

MY DISGRACE: Ref Hezekiah’s illness or to his seemingly pointless faith in God’s deliverance?

MY FACE IS COVERED WITH SHAME: Ct 2Ch 32:21: Shame would ultimately cover the defeated Sennacherib, who made his ignominious retreat to Nineveh.

Psa 44:16

THOSE WHO REPROACH AND REVILE ME: Rabshakeh’s sustained propaganda and brutal railing against Jerusalem — its king, its people, and especially its God (cp Psa 123:3,4). Six times this word “reproach” is used about Rabshakeh: 2Ki 19:4,16,22,23; Isa 37:4,17.

THE ENEMY, WHO IS BENT ON REVENGE: Here is another “David and Goliath” situation (cp Psa 8:2).

Psa 44:17

THOUGH WE HAD NOT FORGOTTEN YOU: Spiritual decay of the nation in Isaiah’s time. But here and in v 18 the Psa speaks for the faithful remnant (eg Isa 26:3,4,6-9,16; 33:2; 29:12-14; 30:15,18; etc) who continued to observe Passover in the years after 2Ch 30 and who remained loyal to the king and his supporting prophets, Isaiah, Micah, and others.

Psa 44:18

OUR HEARTS HAD NOT TURNED BACK: What a ct with their fathers, who “told” them: v 1; Psa 78:41.

Psa 44:19

JACKALS: AV has “dragons”. Some say jackals (tannim). But could there be confusion with tanninim, great beasts, alluding to elephants in the massive Egyptian army which Sennacherib defeated at El-tekeh (Taylor prism again)?

AND COVERED US OVER WITH DEEP DARKNESS: AV has “the shadow of death”: Cp Psa 23:4. Allusion to the destroying angel of the Passover (Exo 12:23; Isa 37:36)? Or to the pillar of cloud confounding the Egyptians (Exo 14:19,20)?

Psa 44:22

‘We are killed all day long, like so many Passover lambs.’ Reports were constantly coming in of massacres at captured towns and villages. One of Sennacherib’s favorite tactics was to impale his prisoners on rows of stakes. This would be done just outside Jerusalem with intent to frighten and demoralize the besieged populace.

Psa 44:23

AWAKE, O LORD! WHY DO YOU SLEEP?: Normally God does come to the aid of His afflicted people. He does. And he did, in the middle of that Passover night (Isa 37:36). Note Psa 121:4, another Hezekiah psalm.

(NT) Plainly echoed in Mar 4:38 (and Mat 8:24 and Luk 8:24): It is the appeal of frightened disciples in the midst of an awesome storm at sea: “They awake him, and say unto him, ‘Master, carest thou not that we perish?’ ” Of course he cared, and he would act — at the proper time, but not before.

Psa 44:24

WHY DO YOU HIDE YOUR FACE?: Cp Isa 45:15, and esp Isa 6:2, to which most of such passages refer.

FACE (of God): In Psalms, always ref God’s presence in ark/tabernacle/temple: see VL, Psalms, God’s face.

Psa 44:25

Seemingly they were under a curse, like the serpent: Gen 3:14.

Psa 44:26

BECAUSE OF YOUR UNFAILING LOVE: So very often an allusion to God’s covenants of promise (v 17), as in Mic 7:20.

SUBSCRIPTION: “FOR THE DIRECTOR OF MUSIC. TO THE TUNE OF ‘LILIES’ “: “Shoshannim” (AV). JWT provides good reasons for believing that lilies (shoshannim) were specially associated with the spring festival of Passover, and that the bells and pomegranates on the hem of the high priest’s robe (Exo 28:34; 39:26) were actually symbolic flowers (lilies) and fruit (seed). Jewish coins of the Maccabean period feature the same symbolism. It is, then, very satisfying to find clear examples in this psalm of Passover language — v 1: the tradition handed down from the fathers; vv 2,3: the conquest of the Land under Joshua, at another Passover; vv 11,22: slaughtered like Passover lambs.

Psa 45:1

SUPERSCRIPTION: “OF THE SONS OF KORAH. A MASKIL. A WEDDING SONG”. All these Korah psalms belong to the time of Hezekiah. Attention to Psa 42, 50 (“A Psa of Asaph”) confirm that here “For the sons of Korah” is not a SUBSCRIPTIONion but a heading.

MASKIL: See Lesson, Psalms, “Maschil”.

WEDDING: Or “Loves” = Yedidoth. Prob an intensive plural — sig “a song of great love” (or again, poss, pointing to more than one application: ie, it is both psalm and prophecy). LXX: Concerning the Beloved. Paul ref to this in Eph 1:6 (God hath accepted us in the Beloved). Solomon is called the “Beloved of Yahweh” (Jedidiah) in 2Sa 12:25, and the similarities between Psa 45 and the “Song of Songs, which is Solomon’s” are obvious.

“Thus the great story of eternal love finds its emotion in the Psalms. By this means we hear the heart of our Bridegroom, and feel the emotion of the impending wedding. So the King is praised for his beauty, splendor, speech, justice and equity, valour, fulness of gifts, prosperity, stability of rule. The Bride is praised for her inward virtues, outward beauty, title and dignity, attire and vesture, position at the right hand. The maidens that follow her reflect her fruitfulness in posterity. We should keep this glorious vision in our minds, and strive to prepare as the heavenly Bride (Rev 19:8)” (GEM).

HEZEKIAH REFERENCE: Hezekiah’s bride was Hephzibah (2Ki 21:1; Isa 62:1-5). It is poss that this Psa and Isa 62 do not describe the original wedding, but a corresponding ceremony which took place in the year after the Assyrian invasion. (Hezekiah’s leprosy would in effect have nullified the original marriage, for he would have become as a “dead man”. This would explain the peculiar lack of a child in the early years of the union.) The picture in Isa 54:1-8 (and Gal 4:24-27) of a fruitless marriage, like widowhood, being reinvigorated with prosperity, is almost certainly another part of the Hezekiah allegory, a part which fits wonderfully well into the Messianic type. So Isa 62:1-5 and Psa 45 may relate primarily to a renewed marriage after the king’s recovery, and to the beginning of a wonderful wave of national prosperity.

(NT) Psalm 45 is a “miniature Song of Songs”. Both Scriptures describe the marriage of a great “king” to a special “bride”. The righteous King (vv 2,7), taken from among his fellows (v 7), but now elevated above all them to sit on God’s throne (v 6), celebrates a great marriage (vv 9-11). This is none other than “the marriage of the Lamb” (Rev 19:7-9), with his “Bride” who has been taken out of the Gentiles (vv 11,12)! This King is also a great High Priest (cp Isa 61:1,2,10: a “bridegroom who decketh himself as a priest”), for (as in the Song of Songs) he is described in imagery reminiscent of the temple and its services. It is because of the surpassing sacrifice which the great King-Priest has offered that his prospective Bride has been cleansed, and prepared for him (Eph 5:25-27, citing Song 4:7; cp Song 6:8,9).

MY HEART IS STIRRED BY A NOBLE THEME: Ct Psa 39:1,2. In some psalms there seems to be an emphasis on inspiration: Psa 49:3,4; 78:2,3; 36:1,2; 110:1; 2Sa 23:2. The last three use the Heb word “said”, which always sig a word from the Lord.

STIRRED: “Stirred” is the Hebrew “rachash” = “to boil or bubble up” (AV mg), overflowing like a perennial, inexhaustible spring. This conveys an eager enthusiasm that cannot be restrained. “My heart overflows with a goodly theme” (RSV). “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh” (Mat 12:34,35). The common Hebrew word for prophet (nabi) is from another root which also signifies “to bubble forth”. Surely here is a holy man of God speaking as he is moved by the Holy Spirit (2Pe 1:21).

MY VERSES: AV “the things which I have made”, or “framed”, a word, and phrase, used frequently about the tapestry and other handiwork of the Tabernacle and the Temple. Our words and thoughts are veritable “temples” in which God is most truly enshrined and worshipped! The “temple” motif is very evident in this psalm, as in the holy anointing oil of the priests (v 8) and the needlework and wrought gold (vv 13,14). (Cp the almost inexhaustible Temple imagery of the Song of Songs — where both King and Bride are rapturously described in terms of temple worship.)

If our heart is stirred by these themes, then our “verses”, or words and actions, will be — like the curtains of the Temple — a beautiful piece of handiwork that speaks forth the Glory of our God. We should remember that, every day, we are “building” and “furnishing” and “decorating” a “temple” which brings praise to our Heavenly Father: “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body” (1Co 6:19,20).

Psa 45:2

YOU ARE THE MOST EXCELLENT OF MEN: A physical detail about the king of some importance, now that he was recovered from the ravages of his disease.

(NT) In all senses this is true of Christ in his glory. And it is true also of his Bride, his eternal companion, who is “fairest among women” (Song 5:9) — because she has been made, and she has made herself (both are true!), the fitting counterpart of her Beloved! When Christ lived among men, and esp in the circumstances of his sufferings and death, he was certainly not to be desired for his form or comeliness (Isa 52:14; 53:2). But having been glorified, he is now “holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens” (Heb 7:26); in short he is “altogether lovely” (Song 5:16).

YOUR LIPS HAVE BEEN ANOINTED WITH GRACE: An expression of Hezekiah’s godliness.

(NT) Luk 4:22 — a direct allusion to this verse, in a section which follows the exposition of Isa 61 (and Isa 62:1-5?). “Grace” in the NT has the dual meaning of Holy Spirit gifts (Rom 12:3,6; 1Co 1:4,7; Gal 2:9; Eph 4:7; 1Pe 4:10) and the forgiveness of sins (Rom 3:24; 5:17,20,21; 6:1; Eph 1:6,7; 2:5-8) — both wonderfully apt.

SINCE GOD HAS BLESSED YOU FOREVER: (NT) This emphasis on eternal life (v 17) certainly looks beyond the primary ref. This is a divine king (vv 6,11), hence he is blessed by God for ever (Rom 9:5, prob citing this verse). The blessing certainly includes receiving a special Name, for the One who does God’s work is given God’s Name, or authority: Phi 2:9,10.

Psa 45:3

THY SWORD… THY RIGHT HAND (v 4): The expressions here of military strength are quite relevant, for after the destruction of the feared Assyrians, the kingdom of Judah moved into a new era of influence and importance.

Vv 3-5: (NT) Almost incongruously, a combination of symbolism: war and love! The great warrior, winning the ultimate victory over his enemies, then becomes the loving Bridegroom (Rev 19:7-9,11-16; 21:1-3; cp also 2Co 10:4,5). The same curious juxtaposition of themes dominates the Song of Songs (Song 3:6-8; 4:4; 6:10,12).

SWORD: (NT) Isa 11:4; 49:2. The “Word of God” (ie, the personal Word, Christ!) as a “sword” in Heb 4:12. Cp the usage in Eph 6:17.

O MIGHTY ONE: “Gibbor”, the mighty warrior! Cp Isa 9:6 (a prophecy of Messiah’s birth); Psa 24:8 (the Lord, mighty — ie gibbor — in battle); and Exo 15:3.

Psa 45:4

IN YOUR MAJESTY RIDE FORTH VICTORIOUSLY: (NT) “Rachav” (to ride) is rendered in the LXX by “basileuein” (to reign). In general “to ride upon” sig “to have dominion over” (Eur 2:486). The One who rode an ass into Jerusalem, in peace (Zec 9:9; Mat 21:5), will come to the Holy City another time riding upon a white horse and leading an army of heaven, in wrath to make war against his enemies (Rev 19:11-16).

IN BEHALF OF TRUTH, HUMILITY AND RIGHTEOUSNESS: (NT) What a powerful sequence of words to describe (1) Messiah’s qualifications to be King, and (2) the objectives of his reign! Truth = his fulfillment of the Promises. Meekness = the humility of his first advent (Zec 9:9). And righteousness = his perfect sinlessness (Joh 8:46).

TRUTH, HUMILITY, AND RIGHTEOUSNESS: All of these fit godly Hezekiah, the second describing the period of his sickness and retirement from public affairs.

Psa 45:5

LET YOUR SHARP ARROWS PIERCE THE HEARTS: In Heb there is a well-recognized relation between firing arrows and teaching. (Consider, as one example, Act 2:37, where Peter’s preaching “pierced” the hearts of the listeners.)

(NT) Heb “amim”, which hundreds of times refers to the people of Israel. Now Israel is to suffer national abasement before the King whom once they rejected (cp Zec 12:10-14; 13:9).

LET THE NATIONS FALL BENEATH YOUR FEET: Hence this is a ref to the king’s influence, throughout the whole twelve tribes, since the reformation he sponsored.

Psa 45:6

(NT) These vv are quoted in Heb 1:8,9 to prove that the Son has higher status than angels. What angel is anointed and has a throne and a scepter?

YOUR THRONE, O GOD: A phrase mistakenly used by some to prove the “deity” of Christ. The RSV has “your divine throne”, and the NEB, “Your throne is like God’s throne.” But, nonetheless, the phrase as it stands in the AV should present no real problem: See Lesson, Jesus as “God”?

SCEPTER: Heb “shebet”: a rod (Gen 49:10; Num 24:17; 2Sa 7:14). A rod was for ruling and correction (cp Psa 2:9; 23:4).

Psa 45:7

YOU LOVE RIGHTEOUSNESS AND HATE WICKEDNESS: (NT) The chief virtue of any ruler (2Sa 23:3; Isa 9:6,7; 11:3-5; Jer 23:5,6), but in the absolute sense it is true only of Jesus. All others are more or less in love with their favorite sins. Now note the force of “therefore” in Phi 2:9: it is just because (and only because) he was perfectly obedient that Jesus was highly exalted above all men (and even angels)!

ABOVE YOUR FELLOWS BY ANOINTING: What king since David compared with Hezekiah?

(NT) This King-Priest is the leader of others who, by impl, are anointed along with him; that is, they share his glory and joy (Rev 5:10).

ANOINTING YOU WITH THE OIL OF JOY: (NT) See Isa 61:1-3). This should have told the men of Nazareth plainly that Jesus was their promised Messiah — “anointed with the Holy Spirit and with power” (Act 10:38). This anointing with oil is also a priestly anointing (Exo 30:23-25,30,37,38), sym purification, preservation, sacrifice, and dedication. Consider Joh 12:3 and 19:39: Jesus was thus anointed both before and after his great sacrifice. It is because of this anointing that the “virgins” love him (Song 1:3; Rev 14:4). Also see Psa 133:1,2.

Psa 45:8

ALL YOUR ROBES ARE FRAGRANT WITH MYRRH AND ALOES AND CASSIA: What was the first thing Jesus would smell on the resurrection morning? Since Psa 45 is a psalm of the resurrection (cp Heb 1:9), this verse might seem to provide an answer. These items are the ingredients in the holy anointing oil of the priests (Exo 30:23,24; Lev 8:30). It was the scent of sacrifice! The resurrected Jesus smelled like a holy priest. Further, Song 4:14,16, about the bride, demonstrates that she has about her the scent of sacrifice and resurrection as well!

MYRRH: A well-known gum resin, used in perfume (Pro 7:17) and for purification (Est 2:12). It was a present from the wise men to the child Jesus (Mat 2:11), and it was used in the anointing of his dead body (Joh 19:39,40; Mar 15:23). Suggestive of sacrifice, which is bitter (the meaning of “myrrh”) in its experience yet purifying and cleansing in its effect. (See also Song 1:13; 4:6.)

ALOES: Heb “ahalim”: Num 24:6; Pro 7:17; Song 4:14. A large tree with a very fine wood, containing a resin, and an essential oil, constituting a perfume greatly prized. It was used, along with myrrh, in the burial of Christ (Joh 19:39,40). The Heb sig “tents”, suggestive of the wilderness wanderings and trials of the children of Israel.

CASSIA: Exo 30:24: a tree whose bark, when stripped off, has the flavor and aroma of cinnamon. From a Heb root “to bow down”, thus sig humility (ie Psa 110:7; 2Co 8:9; Phi 2:5-8).

FROM PALACES ADORNED WITH IVORY: At this period, fine houses with ivory inlay (found by archaeologists) were fashionable (as Ahab’s palace: 1Ki 22:39; cp Amo 3:15; 6:4). Here, “away from ivory palaces” is a poss reading, and not unsuitable.

(NT) Exactly the same word (shen) is translated “teeth”. The Bride is praised for her white, even, beautiful teeth (Song 4:2)! And the King is compared also to ivory in Song 5:14. Ivory is white and smooth and precious; it is a living substance of great beauty and durability. Solomon’s ivory throne (1Ki 10:18; 2Ch 9:17) is typical of the great white throne of peace and righteousness (Rev 20:11) from which Christ will rule the world.

THE MUSIC OF THE STRINGS MAKES YOU GLAD: (NT) The basic characteristic of the glorified Redeemed is incessant praise: They “rest not day and night”, crying “Holy, holy, holy” unto the Lord (Rev 4:8). Such are the “harpers” (stringed instruments!) upon mount Zion (Rev 14:2,3).

Psa 45:9

DAUGHTERS OF KINGS ARE AMONG YOUR HONORED WOMEN: (NT) Lit, “thy precious ones”, suggestive of the multitudinous nature of the “Bride” of the Lamb-like King. This is comparable to the “bride’s maids” in Song of Songs, and the wise virgins in Christ’s parable (Mat 25:1-12). In conjunction with the Bride herself, they portray both the singular (ie Joh 17:21; Rom 12:4; Eph 4:4) and the plural (ie 1Co 12:14: “many members”) aspects and character of Christ’s “bride” or church.

YOUR RIGHT HAND: The place of honor and power (Psa 110:1; Act 2:34; 1Ki 2:19) and acceptance (Mat 25:33,34).

GOLD: (NT) In the Temple, the cherubim and the ark and the mercy-seat and the altar were all overlaid with gold. The High Priest wore an ephod of gold (Exo 28:6,35). All these items are symbolic testimony to the fact that God’s saints — Christ’s bride — are perfected through the trials of their faith (1Pe 1:7).

OPHIR: Job 22:24; Isa 13:12; 1Ki 9:28; 10:11. The principal gold-producing (and/or gold-trading) region of the ancient world, also called Uphaz in Dan 10:5. See Lesson, Ophir. The word sig “abundance”, and thus the LXX reads this differently: “arrayed in divers (or abundant) colours”. 1Pe 4:10 (manifold) has the same word.

Psa 45:10

FORGET YOUR PEOPLE: This suggests that the bride was of Gentile origin. Hephzibah (lit Chephtsibah) means “my delight (Heb chephets) is in her” (see Deut 21:14, sw, about a Gentile wife put away). Also, “causing to forget” was the name given to the first child of the marriage (Manasseh) (cp Gen 41:51: the same name for Joseph’s son by Asenath, another Gentile wife).

(NT) Alongside this consider Rth 1:16; 2:8,11; and Isa 54:1-8. In addition to Ruth, other “Gentile” brides introduced into the hope of Israel (and even into the house and lineage of David) were Rahab (Mat 1:5) and Rebekah (Gen 24:58) and Leah (Gen 29). The great purpose of God is to take a “bride” for His beloved Son out of all nations, to bring her to His Holy city, and there to present her to His Son (Rev 19:7-9; 21:2,9,10). “Hearken… consider… incline thine ear… forget” are necessary qualifications for the Bride of Christ. And the emphasis here (and in v 1) implies that this Scripture is to be received as a parable; so also Isa 62:1-5 and 2Co 11:2. “Forget” (Mar 13:15 and Luk 9:62) is matched by the husband’s forgetting (Gen 2:24; v 16 here; cp Phi 3:13).

Psa 45:11

(NT) So, ie because she has forgotten her old associations, and has separated herself from her natural environment. This willingness to leave all for her Lord is her special beauty, a spiritual “beauty” elsewhere described in Song 4:1,9,10,12. Cp the force of “therefore” in v 2.

FOR HE IS YOUR LORD: Cp Gen 18:12 and 1Pe 3:6: Sarah calling Abraham “lord”.

Psa 45:12

THE DAUGHTER OF TYRE WILL COME WITH A GIFT: (NT) Typ of those of the Gentiles who come to believe in Christ. Among the first to fit that category was the woman of Syrophoenicia (the same region as Tyre) who showed such great faith in Mat 15:21-28 and Mar 7:24-30. It may be objected that she came to Jesus asking for a gift rather than bringing one. But she did bring a gift — the gift of faith! This, in the last analysis, is the greatest gift of all.

THE DAUGHTER OF TYRE: May simply sig a representative from the Tyrian people, just as Judah is often called “the daughter of Zion”. The country’s tremendous surge of prosperity after invasion would encourage renewal of the old alliance formed by Hiram of Tyre with David and Solomon.

TYRE: In the time of the psalmist, Tyre was probably the most wealthy and luxurious commercial town then existing; and it is referred to here as meaning that persons of highest rank, and of the greatest riches, and those who were surrounded most by affluence and luxury, would come to honor the king. Even the daughter of the magnificent prince of Tyre would deem it an honor to be present with a gift becoming her exalted station, and properly representing the wealth of a king of so much magnificence.

In the last days Tyre is (as recent events have shown) the representative of the Arab enemies of Israel who now at last realize who is the rightful ruler of the Holy Land. The original Tyre and its king helped to build God’s Temple (1Ki 5:1-12). And, in like manner, the future “merchandise” of Tyre will be devoted to exalting the holiness of the Lord in Jerusalem (Psa 72:10; Isa 23:18; 60:9,11-14).

GIFT: “Minchah”, used of the meal-offering in Lev 2.

Psa 45:13

ALL GLORIOUS IS THE PRINCESS WITHIN HER CHAMBERS: “Within” is used exclusively of the temple/tabernacle: cp Lev 10:18; 1Ki 6:18,19,21,29,30; 2Ki 7:11; 2Ch 3:4 29:16,18; Psa 45:13; Eze 40:16; 41:3. The “king’s daughter” is the ecclesia which is “the temple of the living God” (2Co 6:16).

(NT) (1) In the chamber, where this union is solemnized; or (2) not only her outward adornment (v 14), but her personal character (Eph 5:27), her inward adorning (1Pe 3:3,4). Further on this latter possibility, cp the Tabernacle in the wilderness, its outward covering black and dull, but on the inside bedecked with beautiful curtains (Exo 26:31; cp 2Ch 3:14) and the brilliant Glory of the Lord. In like fashion, the prospective Bride of Christ is (externally) “black” “as the tents of Kedar”, but also (internally) “comely” “as the curtains of Solomon” (Song 1:5)! The bride has transformed herself (or, more precisely, has been transformed) (Rom 8:29; Eph 5:27) into the glorious spiritual likeness of her Lord (Joh 1:14; Heb 1:3).

HER GOWN IS INTERWOVEN WITH GOLD: “Interwoven” is used only of the High Priest’s shoulder pieces and the engraved stones of the breastplate (Exo 28:11-25; 39:6-18). Both have the same symbolism.

THE PRINCESS: “The king’s daughter” (AV). Instead of a Gentile, was she perhaps the daughter of the last king of Israel — an attempt, like 2Ch 30:5, at unification of the twelve tribes? This, of course, can be nothing more than guesswork.

Psa 45:14

EMBROIDERED GARMENTS: The same expression is used of the High Priest’s girdle (Exo 28:39; 39:27-29). The painstaking labor, on a natural level, required for such garments suggests: thought, preparation, carefulness, and serious toil in spiritual matters.

SHE IS LED TO THE KING: That is, by the Father (Gen 2:22).

HER VIRGIN COMPANIONS FOLLOW HER: The wise virgins (Mat 25:10).

Psa 45:15

PALACE: “Naos” (LXX), the inner shrine of the temple (cp v 7).

Psa 45:16

YOUR SONS WILL TAKE THE PLACE OF YOUR FATHERS: Hezekiah had lamented the threatened discontinuity of the Davidic line: Isa 38:5,19. Now he can look forward to rejoicing in his children: cp Psa 127:3-5 (a song of — or for? — Solomon, but used by Hezekiah in his “Songs of Degrees”) and Psa 128:3,4,6 (definitely a Hezekiah psalm).

YOUR SONS: (NT) Christ is the spiritual “father” (Isa 9:6,7; 53:10) of the “children” whom God has given him (Isa 8:18; Heb 2:13; cp also Psa 22:30; 24:6). Hence he is not only the “branch” (Isa 11:1) but also the “root” of David (Rev 22:16). And because he is the “resurrection” (Joh 11:25) they are also “the children of the resurrection” (Luk 20:36)!

YOUR FATHERS: (1) Adam, and the progenitors of the whole human race? (2) Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? Or, (3) The earlier generations of Israel, who lost their birthright through disbelief and disobedience (Luk 11:47; John 6:49; Act 7:39; Heb 3:17-19)?

PRINCES THROUGHOUT THE LAND: (NT) “Thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles” (Isa 54:3). Cp also 1Pe 2:9; Rev 1:6; 5:9,10; 20:6.

Psa 45:17

I WILL PERPETUATE YOUR MEMORY: Simply, “You will have a seed!”

(NT) “Remember” is the word which is constantly associated with the Memorial Name; therefore this King is divine (v 6). And his “children” (v 16) will perpetuate his Name to all eternity.

ALAMOTH: A SUBSCRIPTIONion of Psa 45, not a SUPERSCRIPTIONion of Psa 46, according to Thirtle = Maidens. The singular is alma, a hidden one, a covered one, or a virgin (Isa 7:14; Gen 24:43; Exo 2:8). This Psa was assigned to a choir of maidens (1Ch 15:20), or else they provided accompaniment for it. Such a designation is appropriate to a wedding hymn (vv 9,14 here); the “maidens” here (called also “kings’ daughters” and “honourable women”: v 9) are the counterpart of the “daughters of Jerusalem” or “Zion” in Song 1:5; 2:7; 3:5; etc.

SUBSCRIPTION: “FOR THE DIRECTOR OF MUSIC”.

Psa 46:1

SUPERSCRIPTION: “OF THE SONS OF KORAH. A SONG.” (“Alamoth” pertains to Psa 45.) All the Korah psalms fit the Hezekiah period remarkably well. This psalm and Psalms 47,48 form a trilogy on the same theme: the destruction of Sennacherib’s Assyrian army (2Ki 18). The awesome army of the Assyrian “wolf” is decimated by divine power (Psa 46), and God is at last glorified in the earth (Psa 47). And Jerusalem, the “city of the great king” (Psa 48:2; Mat 5:35), is preserved. Various passages (Isa 29:6; 30:30,31; 31:8,9) suggest that the Assyrians were destroyed by a mighty exercise of divine power — hurricane, earthquake, or the Cherubim of glory; maybe, in fact, by all of these combined! The vivid language of this psalm adds to the picture.

REFUGE: Machseh: “that to which one flees”. Nsw as vv 7,11. Many from surrounding cities and villages fled from the depredations of Sennacherib, until the only refuge remaining was the city of Jerusalem. So, thankfully, they pressed into it, until it was filled to overflowing.

Psa 46:2

THEREFORE WE WILL NOT FEAR: “The Psalmist could see for himself, as others in his place, seas roar and mountains tremble, and yet be still, and know that ‘there is a river, whose streams make glad the city of our God’; and we can echo his words when the sea and the waves roar, and some men fear, and some men doubt and some blaspheme, and we can be still and know ‘that our redemption draweth nigh’ ” (ADN).

THOUGH THE EARTH GIVE WAY: Suggestion of earthquake here (cp v 3). Lit, “at the changing of the earth” — perhaps as of a worn-out garment (cp the related Psa 102:26).

AND THE MOUNTAINS FALL INTO THE HEART OF THE SEA: (NT) Achieved figuratively in the first century by the faith of the disciples (Mar 11:23), and will be achieved lit in the days of Messiah’s glory (Isa 54:10; Psa 76:1-6; Zec 14:4,5).

Psa 46:3

THOUGH ITS WATERS ROAR: In Isaiah’s figure, the mighty waters of the Euphrates River (sym Assyrian power) “invade” God’s Land. What a ct with “the waters of Shiloah that go softly” (v 4; Isa 8:7,8; 17:12-14; and note “Immanuel” and “Lord of hosts” in Isa 8:10,13 — cpd with vv 5,7,11 here).

(NT) The sea and the waves roaring (Luk 21:25; cp Psa 89:9; Jer 31:35,36). The nations are like a troubled sea which cannot rest (Isa 57:20,21; cp Psa 48:22).

The chaotic waters are perhaps intended to conjure up the picture — familiar in Canaanite and Babylonian mythology — of the god’s (ie, in this case, Yahweh’s) primordial victory over Leviathan the “god” of the sea: see Lesson, Leviathan — esp “OT History”.

See Lesson, Selah.

Psa 46:4

RIVER: “Nachar” (a constantly flowing stream), in contrast to “nachal” (a wadi, an erratic, often dry desert stream bed). This river, this “nachar”, which gladdens the city of God is Hezekiah’s conduit, driven through solid rock by two teams of engineers, so as to insure an adequate supply of water for the besieged people of Jerusalem (2Ki 20:20; 2Ch 32:2-5; cp Psa 42:7n). (Before this time, Jerusalem had depended upon rock-cistern storage for rain water, and upon the fountain of the Virgin’s Spring located outside the walls of the city.) At the same time as the conduit was being constructed, a new wall was going up to enclose the area of Siloam, at the south end of the city, as a sizeable reservoir. Hezekiah’s conduit is, even today, an amazing feat of planning and execution. But it is more than that: it is also an eloquent symbol of the silent, hidden purpose of the Almighty (the “still, small voice”), by which Israel was sustained during her severest trials (cp Psa 87:7; Isa 22:9,11).

(NT) The waters of Shiloah (Isa 8:5-7), or Siloam, remind us of the miracle performed by Christ in conjunction therewith (Joh 9:1-7). We too have, in a spiritual sense, been born blind. We too have been bidden by Jesus to go and wash in the pool of Siloam. So, washing ourselves in the pool of “the One Sent” (Joh 9:7), we see — for the first time — the hidden resources of strength and sustenance and protection to be found in the Lord of hosts: Christ, the “river of life” (Gen 2:10; Rev 22:1), the river flowing from under God’s throne (Eze 47:1-5), “a spring whose blessings never fail”. And, further, the Kingdom of God will witness “living waters” going forth from Jerusalem, both literal and figurative (Zec 14:8; Joe 3:18; Isa 30:25; 33:21; 41:18; 43:19,20; Joh 7:37), and in Christ himself a “fountain” for the purification of sin and uncleanness (Zec 13:1).

THE HOLY PLACE WHERE THE MOST HIGH DWELLS: AV has “tabernacles” (plural), prob ref to the “great tabernacle”, ie Solomon’s temple (Heb intensive plural). (NT) The Son of David has not yet established the full glory of his temple in his glorified saints.

THE MOST HIGH: Elyon, a title of the Almighty often associated with Gentiles: Gen 14:18; Deu 32:8; Psa 18:13; 47:2,3; Isa 14:14. It is first used of Melchizedek, priest of Elyon and king of Salem, the exalted (v 10 here) or elevated (Psa 48:2) city of God.

Psa 46:5

SHE WILL NOT FALL: “She shall not be moved” (AV) — and this in spite of the devastating cataclysm destroying the Assyrian camp less than a mile away (the ancient name of Mount Scopus is “the camp of the Assyrians”). The great “waves” of the Assyrian flood surged through Judah — sweeping everything before them — but they could not overflow Jerusalem, which was in God’s plan fixed and immovable (Psa 124:1,4,5; 125:1,2). The same word is used, for contrast, in v 2 (mountains “carried”, or moved) and v 6 (kingdoms moved).

(NT) Quoted in Heb 12:28, about the “heavenly Jerusalem… the general assembly, and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven”. What a ct with v 6 here.

GOD WILL HELP HER AT BREAK OF DAY: “God shall help her, and that right early” (AV). Lit, at the dawn of the morning (RV mg), or “at the opening of the dawn” (Eur 2:17). The best commentary on these words is 2Ki 19:35 and Isa 37:36.

“O Thou whose ear is ever bowed to strains of human care; Who writest on my darkest cloud Thy rainbow soft and fair: When silent grief implores Thy aid, and begs Thy hand to move, Let my extremity be made the chariot of Thy love.

“A triumph of Thy loving skill, I rest upon Thy grace, Though midnight pains and tears conceal the glory of Thy face. Help me to wait till light appears, and let the morning prove How false and baseless were my fears, How faithful is Thy love.”

Psa 46:6

What a superb ct here. When the feared Assyrians “raged” (like uncontrollable waters: Isa 8:7), many kingdoms trembled. God speaks but once (in His storm and earthquake), and the whole earth is demoralized and abjectly silent!

Psa 46:7

THE LORD ALMIGHTY IS WITH US: “Immanuel”! The Isa 7:14 prophecy about, first, Hezekiah and then Christ is alluded to here. Lord of hosts = the Cherubim of Glory (1Sa 4:4; 2Sa 6:2; Isa 6:1-3; 37:15,16; Psa 24:10; 80:1,4; Hag 2:7). The LXX suggests “hosts of angels” — hence…

THE GOD OF JACOB: The Jacob who saw God’s angelic host at Mahanaim (Gen 32:1,2; cp Gen 28:15).

FORTRESS: Misgab (as in v 11) sig an impregnable place. A “fortress” (RSV). The sw occurs in Isa 33:16 (Isa 33 has quite a number of verbal contacts with Psa 46-48).

See Lesson, Selah.

Psa 46:8

(NT) With v 9, A satisfying picture of the final end of all human frightfulness, and of war itself: Isa 2:4; Eze 39:9; Hos 2:18; Hag 2:22; Rev 11:18.

SEE: “Behold” (AV). This Heb word is normally used of seeing a divine revelation, in this instance the “theophany” of desolations wrought by the angel of the Lord.

THE DESOLATIONS HE HAS BROUGHT ON THE EARTH: Eretz: Land, ie of Israel. And even this sounds like an understatement when contemplating 185,000 corpses!

Psa 46:9

HE MAKES WARS CEASE: After this the warlike Assyrians left Judah severely alone for a long time. The rest of this v describes the havoc in the Assyrian camp (cp Isa 9:4,5, which foretold all this; also cp Isa 2:2-4).

SHIELDS: AV and NIV mg have “chariots”. Chariots (agaloth) is, lit, carts (prob ox-drawn). The Assyrians were bringing up heavy siege equipment from the capture of Lachish, when overtaken by the avenging angel. (The LXX — followed by NEB and NIV — has, by one vowel change, “shields”.)

Psa 46:10

BE STILL, AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD: “Let go, desist”; cease from your own labors. “Give in” (Moffatt). And Hezekiah’s faith rested on this: ” ‘Be strong and courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him: for there be more with us that with him: With him is an arm of flesh: but with us is the Lord our God to help us, and to fight our battles.’ And the people rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah king of Judah” (2Ch 32:7,8). And the people rested themselves on the faith of Hezekiah also! (In general, see also Exo 14:13 — the words of Moses, in a time of comparable deliverance.)

“A man whispered, ‘God, speak to me’, and a meadowlark sang. But the man did not hear. So the man yelled, ‘God, speak to me’, And the thunder rolled across the sky. But the man did not listen.

“The man looked around and said, ‘God, let me see you.’ And a star shone brightly. But the man did not notice. And the man shouted, ‘God, show me a miracle’, And a life was born. But the man did not notice.

“At last the man cried out in despair, ‘Touch me, God, and let me know You are here.’ Whereupon God reached down and touched the man. But the man brushed the butterfly away and walked on.”

“This is definitely not the hour when men take kindly to an exhortation to listen, for listening is not today a part of popular religion. We are at the opposite end of the pole from there. Religion has accepted the monstrous heresy that noise, size, activity and bluster make a man dear to God. But we may take heart. To a people caught in the tempest of the last great conflict God says, ‘Be still, and know that I am God,’ and still He says it, as if He means to tell us that our strength and safety lie not in noise but in silence” (AWT).

Psa 46:11

See Lesson, Selah.

SUBSCRIPTION: “FOR THE DIRECTOR OF MUSIC”.

Psa 47:1

SUPERSCRIPTION: “OF THE SONS OF KORAH. A PSALM”. The triumph by a marvel of divine power over the brutal Assyrian aggression. Sennacherib’s proclamation had been: “Thus saith the great king…” (Isa 36:4). And by attempting to conquer Jerusalem, he was asserting his claim to be “like the Most High” (v 4; Isa 14:13)! But this Psa responds to his challenge with: ‘There is only one Great King!’ — Yahweh (vv 1,2,6,7,8). Psa 93, 97, 99 also belong to this majestic occasion. So also does Isa 52:7-10.

(NT) The more important theme is the assertion of the authority of God through His Messiah reigning in Zion. Now not only Israel but all the Gentiles (“nations” of vv 3,8, etc), and esp those who have been aggressively hostile to them, know that “God reigns”.

CLAP YOUR HANDS: Singular: “Clap your hand” — ie over your mouth: humility and silence (the same singular usage occurs in 2Ki 11:12 and Isa 55:12).

ALL YOU NATIONS: “All ye people” (AV). “Am” = the people of Israel, “all” twelve tribes — since representatives of each had come to Hezekiah at Jerusalem.

Psa 47:2

AWESOME: “Terrible” (AV), “to be reverenced or feared” (2Ch 20:29).

THE LORD MOST HIGH: The Heb “Elyon” emphasizes, as in Psa 46:4, the Gentile context of the psalm.

Psa 47:3

PEOPLES: The “nations” (AV) are l’ummim. The plural term refers probably to the surrounding Arab nations, who willingly reinforced the Assyrian onslaught (Isa 5:26,30; 29:7; 30:28; Mic 4:11; Psa 79:6). Herodotus calls Sennacherib “the king of the Arabians”.

(NT) “He shall subdue the people (all Arab enemies) under us (Israel).” This happens after there has been a period of Arab gloating that at last the hated people of Israel have not only been vanquished but are permanently (so they think!) reduced to inferiority: Psa 83:4; Eze 35:10; 36:2; Oba 1:15; etc.

UNDER OUR FEET: (NT) All of (spiritual) Israel will experience something of the victory won initially by Christ — that is, his enemies being put under his feet (Psa 8:6, notes; Psa 110:1; 1Co 15:25).

Psa 47:4

HE CHOSE OUR INHERITANCE FOR US: “Inheritance” is “nachalah”, suggesting the allotments of the Land to the twelve tribes and Levi. The LXX uses “his inheritance”, suggesting that “Jacob” is the inheritance, or heritage, of the Lord. See, on both ideas, Psa 16:5. Also, as to Israel being God’s special possession or heritage, see Exo 19:5 and Mal 3:16,17.

PRIDE: “Excellency” (AV). Heb “gaon”: lit, “rising”, or metaphorically “pride” (as RSV). The very best portion of Jacob’s inheritance, in which he exults with grateful joy (cp Isa 35:6; 60:15).

JACOB, WHOM HE LOVED: Alludes to the unification of the remnant of Israel with Judah, under Hezekiah.

See Lesson, Selah.

Psa 47:5

GOD HAS ASCENDED: ‘God coming down’ = the beginning of a theophany (eg Exo 19:20). Likewise, ‘God going up’ describes the termination of a theophany — in this case the final manifestation of divine might by which the Assyrian camp was decimated. That is, ‘God is finished with them!’ (cp Gen 17:22; Psa 68:18; Jdg 13:20 for similar usage; also see WS 204, for a more lengthy examination of these concepts).

THE SOUNDING OF TRUMPETS: Another feature of theophany: Exo 19:16,19; Jos 6:16,20. Also, it is a summons to God’s people (Num 10:1-10; Isa 27:13).

(NT) “Trumpets” = “shofar”. Trumpets are directly connected with the resurrection in 1Th 4:16; 1Co 15:51,52; and Rev 11:15,18. Trumpets signaled the “jubilee” of liberty to all captives, and the restoration of their inheritance (Lev 25:9-13,39-42,47-55; and cp Psa 47:4). And trumpets proclaimed the coronation or approach of a king (1Ki 1:34,39; 9:13; 11:12,14; Psa 98:6). This phrase also occurs in 2Sa 6:15, where the Ark of the Lord’s presence comes to dwell in His holy city.

Psa 47:7

Vv 7,8: Echoed in Rev 19:4-6.

KING OF ALL THE EARTH: Used also in Zec 14:9, with reference to the manifestation of Jehovah in His Son.

SING TO HIM A PSALM OF PRAISE: “Sing ye praises with understanding” (maschil). Not just with an overflow of emotion. Not rashly, carelessly, or superficially, but with a proper insight into the words and works of a majestic God: “I will sing with the understanding also” (1Co 14:15,16; cp also Col 3:16).

Psa 47:9

THE NOBLES OF THE NATIONS: This phrase might describe the rulers of Israel. But these rulers, acting in the place of an ill Hezekiah, switched to a faithless policy of reliance on Egypt (Isa 30:1-17; 31:1-9). So it is more likely that here the word “princes” / “nadib” (ie willing or voluntary) may ref the men of Asher and Manasseh and Zebulun, who willingly “humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem” to keep Hezekiah’s special Passover (2Ch 30:11,12). Alternatively, the word may refer to the Angel-warriors, who fought for Israel.

(NT) Princes = nadib, which sig “willing, or voluntary ones” (see AV mg). The sw describes those who are raised from the dead by Christ, when he asserts absolute dominion over the earth: “Thy people shall be willing (nadib) in the day of thy power… from the womb of the morning” (Psa 110:3). These “willing ones” are gathered together (ie Gen 49:10; Isa 11:10; Joh 12:32), to be with Christ.

THE PEOPLE OF THE GOD OF ABRAHAM: Abraham’s true seed (even Gentiles!) share in the fulfillment of the Promises God made to him: Gen 12:1-3; 13:14-17; 17:5,15-19; 22:17,18; Gal 3:27-29; Exo 3:15; Isa 41:8-10; Mat 22:32; Rom 4:11,12.

THE GOD OF ABRAHAM: The One who cares for Abraham’s seed, and who routs the enemies of Abraham: Gen. 14:14-16,20.

THE KINGS OF THE EARTH BELONG TO GOD: “Kings” = “shields” (NIV mg; AV). The great armaments from the plundered Assyrian camp, are now dedicated as trophies to the honor of the Lord. Or, perhaps, the golden shields of Solomon (1Ki 10:17), poss paid out by Hezekiah to Sennacherib as a bribe (2Ki 18:14-16), are now returned in triumph to their rightful owner.

Psa 48:1

SUPERSCRIPTION: “A SONG. A PSALM OF THE SONS OF DAVID”.

HISTORICAL: Without any question, this Psa is about the glory of Zion being saved by her God, when He destroyed the vaunted Assyrian invaders. Thus, similarities between this Psa and Isa 33 (“Woe to the spoiler” — ie Sennacherib).

(NT) In the LD there will be an assault on God’s people and on God’s city which will initially succeed: Zec 14:1,2. Then, in the extremity of Israel’s need, Messiah comes to rescue people and city, and to manifest himself as King of the Jews (vv 3-11). Now Jerusalem is truly “the city of the great King” (Psa 48:2; Mat 5:35) and the city in which He has chosen to dwell (Psa 132:13,14; Joe 3:17-23; Isa 2:2-4; Eze 48:35). Before long, in fulfillment of Psa 2 and Ezekiel 38, a latter-day “Assyrian” comes with a confederacy from the north, only to be destroyed by divine power (cp Mic 5:4-7). This is the greater counterpart to the prophecies in Psa and Isa about the destruction of Sennacherib’s army. Psa 48 needs to be reconsidered against this impending scenario. Note esp that there are marked correspondences (to be expected!) between this Psa and Psa 2.

Psa 48:2

LOFTINESS: “Situation” (AV). May sig “shaking”, ref to (a) the earthquake (Psa 46:2,3) in the great theophany, both past and future; or (b) the offering of sacrifice (a fairly common usage). The RSV has, instead, “elevation” — ref the lifting up (physically? or spiritually? or both?) of mount Zion (Isa 2:2; Zec 14:4,5,10). Elsewhere the phrase has been translated: “eminently beautiful”, ie beautiful above all others!

ZAPHON: See mg: “north”. AV has “Mount Zion on the sides of the north”. Isa 14:13 is about this same event: The king of Babylon (ie in this case, of Assyria also) boasts that he will sit “upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north”. This might mean: (a) the camp of the Assyrians was on the north side of the city; (b) the temple was on the north side of Jerusalem; or (c) the temple was just north of the king’s palace, as a kind of protection for the royal house.

“Zaphon” may also designate the mythical mountain where Baal enthroned himself, to establish his ascendancy over all other “gods” (see Lesson, Isa 14: Canaanite mythology).

THE GREAT KING: But, in ct to Sennacherib’s blasphemous boasts (2Ki 18:19), it is God, and only God, who is the Great King.

the joyful description of Jerusalem is contrasted by Jeremiah (Lam 2:15) with what he saw after the Babylonians had taken Judah captive.

Psa 48:3

GOD IS IN HER CITADELS: AV has: “An allusion to the righteousness of king Hezekiah, who — assisted by Isaiah — always kept his God at the forefront of his reign.

TO BE HER FORTRESS: Sw Psa 46:7,11. God is pictured as a refuge in 2Ch 32:7,8.

Psa 48:4

(NT) Vv 4-6: The picture of modern military might reduced to helplessness, as of a woman in travail (cp 1Th 5:3; Mat 24:8; Mar 13:8), is very impressive. Of course, a necessary item in the assertion of divine authority must be an exposure of the futility of human cleverness.

THE KINGS: The plural implies that, like Napoleon with his generals, so also Sennacherib made his favorites rulers over provinces. Or, this plural may refer to the many, like Arab chieftains, who would rather help the Assyrian than be plundered by him. Cp Psa 83:8, where “Assur” is linked with the Arab powers invading Israel.

WHEN THEY ADVANCED TOGETHER: Or, crossed over (ie the boundaries of Israel, as an invading force): cp the same verb in Jdg 11:29 and 2Ki 8:21. “They came on together” (RSV).

Psa 48:5

THEY SAW HER: But the record does not say what they saw, for the Shekinah Glory of God overwhelmed all their powers of description.

THEY FLED IN TERROR: A Passover word (Exo 12:11). This deliverance almost certainly happened at Passover: Isa 26:20,21; 30:29; 31:5.

Psa 48:6

The very effect these Assyrians were accustomed to producing in others was now their own experience.

Psa 48:7

YOU DESTROYED THEM LIKE SHIPS OF TARSHISH: Earlier Shalmanezer V had come against Tyre with a fleet of sixty ships; but the Tyrians, with only twelve ships, routed them and thus made themselves a great reputation (Jos Ant 9:14:2). But now Tyre was helping Sennacherib, and therefore paid for this disloyalty to Israel by having its proud fleet smashed by the hurricane of the Lord. This was precisely what had happened years before to the eastern fleet of Jehoshaphat (1Ki 22:48,49; 2Ch 20:36,37; cp Eze 27:26). (NT) See Lesson, Tarshish.

SHIPS OF TARSHISH: “Trading ships” (Isa 60:9). The use of “Tarshish” prob expresses type of ship, not origin (NIV: Making.. 97,98).

BY AN EAST WIND: Here “wind” (ruach) means “Spirit” (Isa 37:7, sw). An east wind is always associated with destruction: Gen 41:6,23-27; Exo 10:13; Job 27:21; Isa 27:8; Eze 17:10; 27:26; Jon 4:8 (cp Baly 52).

The chaotic waters are perhaps intended to conjure up the picture — familiar in Canaanite and Babylonian mythology — of the god’s (ie, in this case, Yahweh’s) primordial victory over Leviathan the “god” of the sea: see Lesson, Leviathan — esp “OT History”.

Psa 48:8

AS WE HAVE HEARD, SO HAVE WE SEEN: The people of Jerusalem, awestruck, saw the wreck of the Assyrian camp (vv 4-6). But what did they hear?

THE LORD ALMIGHTY: The God of the Cherubim (Isa 37:16).

GOD MAKES HER SECURE FOREVER: Just as He will establish (sw v 25) David’s house and kingdom (2Sa 7:13,16,24,25). So mount Zion “shall not be moved” (Psa 46:5; 125:1).

See Lesson, Selah.

Psa 48:10

LIKE YOUR NAME: Which name? “Shaddai”, the “destroyer”!

YOUR PRAISE REACHES TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH: See 2Ch 32:22,23.

YOUR RIGHT HAND: The king’s palace was at God’s “right hand”, being immed south of the Temple.

(NT) “Your right hand is filled with righteousness”: Here is a strange expression which only becomes meaningful when this divine King is seen as being a King-Priest, coming from the presence of God with upraised hand to impart blessing and forgiveness (Num 6:23-27).

RIGHT HAND: Strength (Exo 15:6; Psa 20:6; 63:8; 118:15,16); righteousness (Psa 48:10); authority (Isa 62:8); honor (Gen 48:13-18; 1Ki 2:19); salvation (Psa 17:7; 60:5); and fellowship (Psa 16:11).

IS FILLED WITH RIGHTEOUSNESS: Isa 41:10: “I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”

Psa 48:11

THE VILLAGES OF JUDAH ARE GLAD: “Let the daughters of Judah be glad” (AV). Lit, the maidens of the land singing a song of triumph, as in Exo 15:20,21 and 1Sa 18:6,7. Or, fig, the plundered cities and villages of the land (Isa 36:1; 46 in number according to Sennacherib himself) now rejoice after being restored to peace and prosperity. These satellite settlements are called “daughters” because Jerusalem (where Judah reigns) is the “mother” (cp Psa 87:2-6; Isa 54:1-5; 66:7,8,13; Gal 4:26).

BECAUSE OF YOUR JUDGMENTS: (NT) Gladness, as in the prototype, because the might of God has been exercised against human pride. The world is so far gone in evil that its education in godliness must necessarily begin with judgment. “For when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness” (Isa 26:9). A rebellious child has to be taught first to respect authority. Then, and only then, does obedience follow.

Psa 48:12

(NT) Vv 12,13: “Towers… ramparts… citadels”: The glory of the New Jerusalem (Rev 21:10-23) is something to marvel at. (Cp also the description in Heb 12:22,23.) But to what extent this description should be taken lit rather than (or in addition to) figuratively, may safely be left to the future. Imaginative designs of the city and temple of the age to come lean far too much on supposed architectural expertise and far too little on solid Scriptural exposition.

COUNT HER TOWERS: Sennacherib had had his experts going about Zion, assessing the quality of its defenses (Isa 33:18). Now Zion’s people glory in its impregnability, not because of its walls and towers, but because the Lord of hosts is there.

Psa 48:13

VIEW: From this Heb word Pisgah is derived. As Moses, standing on Pisgah, viewed the Land of Promise from afar (Deu 34:1-4), so now the faithful take pride in their city and their God.

HER CITADELS: Better: ‘her wonderful temple’ (an intensive plural). Sw v 3 and Psa 122:7: “(May) prosperity (be) within thy palaces.”

THAT YOU MAY TELL OF THEM TO THE NEXT GENERATION: In the spirit of Psa 78:4-8, but also with special ref to Manasseh, not yet born. (But, alas, he seems to have taken little heed.)

Psa 48:14

FOR EVER AND EVER: (NT) And even the phrase “unto death” or “to the end” can be read (by a small textual change) “for ever” (as LXX, RSV, NEB). Or, as KD: “beyond death”. Christ has destroyed that “which hath the power of death” — so that his brethren need no longer fear the great enemy (Heb 2:14,15; 1Co 15:57; Rom 8:37,38).

HE WILL BE OUR GUIDE: “We tend to seek God’s guidance generally but not specifically; vocally but not mentally; ritually but not actually. Regardless of our protestations, and even of what we think are our intentions, we tend in actuality to do what we think (or hope) that God will think is best. Seeking God’s guidance is of little value unless it is a continuous, conscious process, applied to every detail of every decision. The flesh is like a powerful spring: though compressed, it will immediately re-extend the moment the pressure is relaxed. It is common to dutifully ‘seek God’s guidance’ at the inauguration of a process of action (compressing the spring), and then immediately to relax the spring and act according to our own ‘best judgment’ — presuming that therein God is guiding us. This is a complete fallacy. Even the utterly fleshly US Congress does this: ostentatiously intoning a solemn prayer for Divine guidance at each opening session, then putting the flesh completely in charge for the rest of the way. To seek God’s guidance is: (1) to continually study the Word with the sincere, conscious intention of applying it in detail to our lives; and (2) to appeal to Him in silent prayer in every detail — fully conscious that our own natural fleshly thinking is utterly undependable even momentarily, and realizing that if God does not guide us step-by-step and moment-by-moment, we shall never do anything right or worthwhile. We do not break the process down finely enough. We assume periodic spurts of guidance will keep us on track. But God’s guidance is not like momentum which when set in motion will continue thereafter. Rather it is like electric power which stops immediately when the circuit is broken” (GVG).

HE WILL BE OUR GUIDE EVEN TO THE END: “Even unto death” (AV). Hezekiah knew precisely how many years he had to live, and meant to dedicate every one of them to his God. As Moses stood on Pisgah (see v 13 above), or Nebo, and surveyed the Promised Land (Deu 3:27; 34:1-4), yet knowing he was soon to die — so Hezekiah stood on the “mountain peak” of rejoicing, viewing the Promised Land delivered from its oppressors, yet knowing that his own years were severely numbered.

SUBSCRIPTION: “FOR THE DIRECTOR OF MUSIC.”

Psa 32:1

Historical background: One of the penitential psalms (Psa 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, 143). These psalms probably refer to David’s sins with Bathsheba and Uriah, and the aftermath. Probable order of these psalms:

• Psa 6: where David is weak, weary, and vexed by his disease.
• Psa 38: where he sees his sickness as a divine punishment, and more seriously prays to God.
• Psa 51: the sincerest and most abject confession and repentance.
• Psa 32: Finally, “Blessed in the man whose sins are covered.”

SUPERSCRIPTION: “OF DAVID. A MASKIL”. See Lesson, Psalms, “Maschil”. “Maschil” means Instruction. But there is nothing particularly academic here. What a man, a sinner, needs to learn is the facts of his relationship with God. And how often, as in David’s case here, does he learn not only by the counsel (v 8) of the searching wisdom of God’s Word, but also (and especially) in the harder school of experience. Vv 8 and 9 chime in with this “instruction” theme.

This is the first of the 13 Maschil psalms (Psa 32, 42, 44, 45, 52-55, 74, 78, 88, 89, 142).

Historical setting: In the course of his life David seems to have experienced two devastating illnesses: one at the time of his bringing the ark for Zion (Psa 30n), and the other at the time of Absalom’s rebellion (Psa 41). The tone of Psa 32:1-4 and its proximity to Psa 31, suggest the latter of these two experiences. On the other hand, the record in 2Sa implies an appreciable lapse of time between the Bathsheba/Uriah episode and Absalom’s rebellion; it was during the latter time that David suffered what he evidently regarded as a retributive sickness.

MESSIANIC REFERENCE: See Lesson, Psalms, “Messianic” sin?

BLESSED: This word, as in Psa 1:1, emphasizes more than the idea of receiving good things. It suggests exhilaration — cp v 7: “songs of deliverance”. Such a “blessing” may be the possession of the man who is without sin (Christ only — Psa 1:1!) and the man whose sins have been pardoned (all the rest of us — Psa 32:1!).

FORGIVEN: Heb “nasa”, signifying to be lifted up or away, as a burden being removed (cp Joh 1:29).

WHOSE SINS ARE COVERED: Men, aware of their sin, seek to hide it (cp v 3 with Gen 3:8), but God is willing that it be covered (cp v 5 with Gen 3:21; see Psa 51:2,3). The sins of God’s people: “covered” (Psa 32:1), “removed” (Psa 103:12), “cast behind God’s back” (Isa 38:17), “blotted out” (Psa 51:1; Isa 44:22), “washed away” (Psa 51:2,7), “remembered no more” (Jer 31:34), “sought for but not found” (Jer 50:20), “cast into the depths of the sea” (Mic 7:19).

David is convicted and confesses and repents: ‘Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered’… It could be read like a cold theological declaration from a list of doctrines, but in fact it was a gasp of relief: ‘Oh the blessedness — the sheer joy, in fact — of realizing that your black sin is covered and forgiven.’

Psa 32:2

COUNT: Impute, ie reckons. A key word in Paul’s theology. Used in Rom 4:1-8 to establish that righteousness was imputed to Abraham by his faith (Gen 15:6) and to David apart from works (“I said, I will confess…”). The word does not mean a pretended absolution, but a very real removal of sin. The truth of the matter, in Bible expression, is that a man whose sins are forgiven is consequently sinless. Not only does God treat him as though he were sinless, but he IS sinless! “As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us” (Psa 103:12).

IN WHOSE SPIRIT IS NO DECEIT: Psa 34:17,18. Not like Jacob the deceiver (Gen 27:36; Joh 1:47), but like Jesus (Isa 53:7; Rev 14:5). A spirit free from self-deception (‘If I don’t think about it, it will eventually go away’): v 11; Luk 11:34. (2) Cp Isa 53:7,9: Christ is the lamb brought to the slaughter, in whose lips there was no guile (1Pe 2:22,23). ct Zec 13:3, and — as for those in Christ — cp Zep 3:13 and Rev 14:5.

Reaching this state of sinlessness is conditional, upon being free of guile. That is something utterly crucial. David knew that his guile had been a barrier to pardon, an impediment to peace, an obstruction on the road to reformation. It keeps the prison shut — it is an iron bar, a lock with only one key. Strangely the key is in the hand of the prisoner. The key is this — quit the hypocrisy, stop the window dressing, open the heart and make the confession.

Psa 32:3

WHEN I KEPT SILENT: That is, concerning my sin. Cp the sinners in Eden hiding from the presence of the Lord (Gen 3:8). And cp David not wanting to see the point of Nathan’s parable until it was forced upon him: 2Sa 12:1-5. So here is the silence of deception, as David attempted to push out of his conscience the memory of his offences. But the joy of life and fellowship with God was gone. David found himself in the condition of his first parents, who had tried to hide in the garden from the Elohim. He had placed a heavy lid over his conscience; but beneath the lid, the caldron boiled. It was only a matter of time before his sins would “blow the lid off”!

MY BONES WASTED AWAY: Lit? Or deep-seated anguish idiomatically expressed as the consumer or breaker of bones (Psa 22:14; Job 30:17,30; Pro 12:4; Hab 3:16).

“This is guile and it is guile with God. From Psa 32 it is evident that where there is guile there is no pardon. Reading it very carefully, the impression is gained that the guilt is fixed even firmer when guile is practiced. It is one thing to sin. It is a worse thing to justify it or by stealth to seek to hide it or deny it. The Psalmist says that when he did this something strange happened to him: ‘When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer’ (vv 3,4).

“It looks as though when he was trying to hide the sin, to forget it and submerge it, God gave him no rest. The hand of God troubled him. He wanted to silence the memory of the deed, but the consciousness of it was kept alive in his mind by God and there was no peace. God made the dark sin to haunt the sinner. God would not let him escape to oblivion. When he was ready to forget, God sustained the controversy. To put it bluntly, the sinner was miserable. Notice the figure he uses to describe it: ‘My moisture is turned into the drought of summer’ [v 4]. The picture is of a tree without sap, withered and wasted; a living thing, drought-stricken. This was God’s method with a man who would not acknowledge his sin. It may seem severe — it is severe but full of caring compassion. Mark the outcome: ‘I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin’ (v 5). The thing to notice is how quickly God responded. As soon as the man resolved upon confession the pardon came. ‘I said… and thou forgavest.’ It did not have to wait until the penitent was in the secret place on his knees. It was not delayed until the Sabbath service. As soon as the guile was abandoned the sin was forgiven. When deceit was ended, the pollution was cleansed. At the very moment the attitude of submission is revealed, God acts.

“This accords exactly with the parable of the prodigal son. When the boy said, ‘I will arise and go to my father’, the father went out towards him. There was no waiting until he came and knelt and did penance. Even his confession was smothered with love. Pardon is a swift grace when the

obstacles are removed. In a moment, at the twinkling of an eye, as fast as light and faster, as gentle as the first flush of dawn, upon the guilty man is pronounced the verdict of freedom” (DG).

Psa 32:4

FOR DAY AND NIGHT YOUR HAND WAS HEAVY UPON ME: Psa 38:2,3 has the same background. The “hand of the Lord” often ref an inflicted disease: Exo 9:3; Deu 2:15; Act 13:11.

MY STRENGTH WAS SAPPED AS IN THE HEAT OF SUMMER: When God’s hand was upon him, he wilted like a frail plant in the heat of summer. Ct Psa 1:3. But the Heb here is obscure; the LXX has “while a thorn was fastened in me” — with poss ref to the crown of thorns in Mat 27:29 and Mar 15:17.

See Lesson, Selah.

Psa 32:5

This v comes between two occurrences of Selah. If indeed the association of this term is with the offering of sacrifice at the altar of burnt-offering, nothing could be more appropriate. For that very act is associated with the confession of sin and with the pronouncement of sin forgiven: Rom 7:24,25; 8:1; cp Luk 15:18-24.

I ACKNOWLEDGED MY SIN: Hos 5:15; Jer 3:12,13.

I SAID, “I WILL CONFESS…”: Impl an interval in the text here. So also, perhaps, between accusation and confession, in 2Sa 12:12,13. David dwelt on Nathan’s words, prob for a long while (see vv 3,4 there), before saying: “I have sinned against the Lord” — and that made his confession all the more valuable, since it was wrung from him. Consider sequence:

1. Pro 28:13: “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.”
2. Isa 65:24: “And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.”
3. Luk 15:18,21: “I will arise and go to my f(F)ather, and will say unto him, ‘Father, I have sinner against heaven, and before thee… and am no more worthy to be called thy son.’ ”
4. 1Jo 1:9: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

YOU FORGAVE: An ecstatic exclamation: ‘And You… You forgave!’ Shock, surprise, and then rejoicing at a great spiritual miracle. “The Lord hath put away thy sin.” No interval here, but only immediate response, as in Dan 9:21; Jer 29:12,13.

See Lesson, Selah.

Psa 32:6

EVERYONE WHO IS GODLY: Gentiles as well as Jews.

WHILE YOU MAY BE FOUND: “In a time of finding out” (literal, as AV mg), ie finding out of sin (sw Psa 36:2; Gen 44:16; ct Num 32:23). But, of course, the time when God “finds out” sin may also be the best opportunity for the (repentant) sinner to “find” God! And so we must seek the Lord while He may be found (Isa 55:6,7).

SURELY: This Hebrew word means “only”, ie it is only when a man is beset with the inextricable danger of his own sin that he can appreciate the marvel of divine salvation. Those with no real sense of sin or of forgiveness do not know the meaning of this verse.

WHEN THE MIGHTY WATERS RISE: A ref to the days of Noah, and the trial and judgment of a wicked world. But at the same time Noah and his family were hidden, covered, and lifted up in God’s Ark of salvation and protection.

Psa 32:7

YOU ARE MY HIDING PLACE: Where I might hide from the consequences of my own sins. God is David’s “city of refuge”, his “strong tower” (Pro 18:10). See Psa 91:1. For those of us who follow David’s example and seek for forgiveness of sins, God has provided Christ as our “hiding place” (Isa 32:2) and our city of “refuge” (Heb 6:18). (NT) The tomb of Christ (sw “secret” in Psa 31:20).

YOU WILL… SURROUND ME WITH SONGS OF DELIVERANCE: See v 11; Psa 33:1-3. Ref to sacrifice in the Lord’s sanctuary and to the priestly blessing (Num 6:23-27). Hence the Selah (cp vv 4,5). On the far side of the Red Sea, after being delivered through the “floods”, the Israelites sang just such songs of deliverance (Exo 15).

(NT) Rejoicing at resurrection.

See Lesson, Selah.

Psa 32:8

I WILL COUNSEL YOU AND WATCH OVER YOU: “I will guide thee with mine eye” (AV) is ‘I will guide you and lead you, with my eye upon you’ — a reference (by metonymy) to the ministering angel: Rev 5:6; Psa 33:18. Also cp Luk 22:61: “And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter.” Surely that look, to a conscience like Peter’s, was more powerful than any bit or bridle (v 9)!

Psa 32:9

Another Maschil verse. The horse and mule, needing to be held in and not allowed to come near, seem to be fitting symbols for Amnon and Absalom; the latter was the son of a mixed marriage (a “mule”!) (2Sa 3:3 — and note 2Sa 18:9). The more profound meaning may be an allusion to the new and old natures in the servant of the Lord. ‘Do not be as the horse or the mule’, which obey only at the application of restraint and force (Jer 8:5,6; Pro 26:3; Jam 3:3). Instead, be as the docile lamb, which obeys out of devotion and dependence and meekness. The only “cords” which should bind the godly to the Lord are the cords of love (Hos 11:4), and these cannot by any sense be likened to a restrictive harness. Forgiveness of sins is the only true freedom. But if men will not serve God willingly, then they will be forced to serve His purposes in spite of themselves.

Psa 32:10

MANY ARE THE WOES OF THE WICKED: “Woes” = “sorrows” = “sore wounds” or “scourges” (Exo 3:7, sw), the wounds inflicted upon the Israelites by their Egyptian slave-masters. “They who would serve Egyptian gods must fall back into Egyptian misery” (W Kay).

UNFAILING LOVE: “Mercy” (AV) is a word with two outstanding Old Testament meanings, both significant here: (a) forgiveness of sins, and (b) fulfillment of God’s covenants.

Psa 32:11

God has commanded His “everlasting covenant” to “a thousand generations” (Psa 105:8-10; Deu 7:9; 1Ch 16:15).

Psa 33:1

AUTHORSHIP: Apart from the introductory Psalms 1 and 2, all the psalms in Book One except this are declared to be David’s (and Psa 2 is certainly his: Act 4:25). This would suggest that Psa 33 is also his. But if so, why should his name be omitted? Also, the psalm is lacking in specific hints that it belongs to him. A number of details in the phrasing make it easier to see here a Hezekiah (or Isaiah) authorship, esp since several vv are relevant to the great Day of Atonement with which Hezekiah’s Year of Jubilee was introduced (Lev 25:9). Even so, such features are not decisive, for there are indications of a Year of Jubilee and its special Day of Atonement in David’s reign when he united the twelve tribes and led them in worship at his new sanctuary (Psa 133).

HISTORICAL ALLUSION:

V 8 sounds like a description of the widespread astonishment and fear, and even reverence, in surrounding nations after the miraculous devastation of Sennacherib’s army: cp 2Ch 32:23.

V 10 is an apt description of the wreck of Assyrian plans and ambitions.

V 16: Hezekiah had no host to depend on, but was instead saved by his faith. Sennacherib had the world’s most powerful host, yet he and they were alike helpless against the Lord of hosts (Isa 37:36).

V 17: “A horse is a vain thing for safety”: And, for that matter, so are 185,000 horses — give or take a few thousand! This is surely a direct allusion to Isa 36:8 and 2Ki 18:23.

V 19 speaks of Hezekiah’s deliverance from death (2Ki 18:30,32), and the nation’s deliverance from famine: the astounding plenty of the Year of Jubilee saved a redeemed people who repossessed a stricken and war-devastated land (cp Lev 25:21; Isa 55:13; 2Ch 32:27-29; WHez 84,85).

DAY OF ATONEMENT: A new song (v 3), “loving righteousness” (v 5), the LORD looking from heaven (vv 13,14), those hoping for mercy (vv 18,20), outside the Most Holy.

Psa 33:3

A NEW SONG: Closely connected with the New Creation (Psa 40:3; 96:1; 98:1; 144:9; 149:1; Isa 42:10; and esp Rev 5:9). This psalm also is a psalm of the New Creation, just as the sons of God shouted for joy when their creative work was blessed (Job 38:4-7). Why is the song called “new”? Certainly because it concerns the New Creation. But also because, although the words of the song are revealed in Scripture, they will be sung with greater force and meaning only when the truths they proclaim have been realized in the earth, in the person of glorified spirit-beings!

PLAY SKILLFULLY: The same phrase was used by Saul in reference to David: “Provide me now a man that can play well” (1Sa 16:17).

Psa 33:4

THE WORD OF THE LORD IS RIGHT: Only a fool questions the wisdom of God’s purposes. ‘If there is a God, why?… why?…’ Such questions are idiocy. Instead, ‘Of course there is a God, and therefore, of course, His decisions are right, even though I do not necessarily understand them.’

HE IS FAITHFUL IN ALL HE DOES: “All his works are done in truth” (AV), ie (by the very common OT idiom) “according to His promises”. God keeps His word. In all the history of the universe, nothing is more certain than the fulfillment (in His time) of His promises (see v 1). His word and works are also goodness (v 5) — in every respect.

Vv 4,6: “The grand assumption of Scripture is that behind all that you can know there is an eternal Mind whose Spirit fills the universe, and when the Mind of the Eternal is expressed, the power is without limit, and the result instant and infallible… Between the word and the work of God, therefore, the connection is so close that David can treat them as parallel” (LGS).

Psa 33:6

An undeniable allusion to Gen 1: Day 4. As on a cold morning a man exhales a cloud of visible vapor, so also just as effortlessly did God make the Milky Way, a countless stretch of vast worlds. Man’s breath is gone almost immediately, dissipated into the air; but the “breath” of God abides through endless ages.

BY THE WORD OF THE LORD: Or, “by the breath of his mouth”; this finds further fulfillment in Joh 20:22, about the New Creation again. And in this New Creation Gentiles (“heathen”, goy, v 10, and “nation”, am, v 12) are mentioned before Israel (people) as God’s inheritance (1Pe 1:4).

The “breath of his mouth”, when applied to Christ, has a destructive aspect as well, in connection with the New Creation (Isa 11:4, 40:7; 2Th 2:8; Rev 19:15). Sometimes it is true that the clearing away of the “old” is necessary before the “new” can take its place!

The “breath of his mouth”, when applied to Christ, has a destructive aspect as well, in connection with the New Creation (Isa 11:4, 40:7; 2Th 2:8; Rev 19:15). Sometimes it is true that the clearing away of the “old” is necessary before the “new” can take its place!

Psa 33:7

Echo of Gen 1:9; yet “as a heap” (AV) is a mysterious phrase. Is the emphasis on accumulation, and not on piling up? Or — as in Exo 15:8; Psa 78:13; Jos 3:13,16 (sw) — is there the suggestion of God’s creation of a new nation? Or, as LXX, “as in a bottle” (RSV) or wineskin (the difference is only a vowel point). Cp generally Psa 104:25-28, Job 38:11.

Yahweh’s control of the waters at creation — a commentary on the Canaanite “sea chaos” myth: see Lesson, Leviathan — esp the “Creation”.

Psa 33:8

The only possible human reaction to these majestic trivialities of Divine power.

Psa 33:9

FOR HE SPOKE, AND IT CAME TO BE: That conjunction underlines again why a man must — must! — stand aghast, and adoring, at the marvel of it all. But to whom was the creative word of God spoken? To the angels, surely. This is the meaning of Gen 1:26 and Deu 8:3.

” ‘For He spake, and it was done.’ The word ‘done’, introduced here by the translators, enfeebles the message of this psalm. It would be made more expressive and sublime as it is in the original: ‘He spake, and it was.’ That is, its existence depended on His word; the universe sprang into being at His command; He had only to speak, and it arose in all its grandeur where before there was nothing. There is here an undoubted allusion to the account in Genesis of the work of creation — where the statement is that all depended on the command or the word of God: Gen 1:3,6,9,11,14,20,24,26. Nothing more sublime can be conceived than the language employed in the Scriptures in describing that work. No more elevated conception can enter the human mind than that which is implied when it is said that God ‘spoke’, and all this vast and wonderful universe rose into being. In other words, it was absolutely no effort to Him at all. ‘He commanded’ — He gave order; He required the universe to appear. ‘And it stood fast’ — or rather, ‘it stood.’ That is, it stood forth; it appeared; it rose into being. The idea of its ‘standing fast’ is not in the original, and also seriously erodes the expression” (CY).

Psa 33:10

Another example of the power and authority of the word of the Lord, and one which, when it happens (as in Isa 37:36), impresses men more than God’s (already mentioned) mighty works in Nature. It was the breathtaking deliverance from the Assyrian which inspired this awe-struck contemplation of the power of the word of God (vv 16, 17). Vv 4-7 emphasize both the power and the righteousness with which God controls the nations.

Psa 33:11

God has commanded His “everlasting covenant” to “a thousand generations” (Psa 105:8-10; Deu 7:9; 1Ch 16:15).

Psa 33:12

INHERITANCE: A term used of Israel (Exo 34:9), but also of believers out of all nations (Eph 1:18).

Psa 33:13

Vv 13,14: “Perhaps no figure of speech represents God in a more gracious light than when He is spoken of as stooping from His throne, and coming down from heaven to attend to the wants and to behold the woes of mankind. We love Him, who, when Sodom and Gomorrah were full of iniquity, would not destroy those cities until He had made a personal visitation of them… How can we but love Him when we know that He numbers the very hairs of our heads, marks our path, and orders our ways? Specially is this great truth brought near to our heart, when we recollect how attentive He is, not merely to the temporal interests of His creatures, but to their spiritual concerns. Though leagues of distance lie between the finite creature and the infinite Creator, yet there are links uniting both. When a tear is wept by thee, think not that God doth not behold; for, ‘Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him’ [Psa 103:13]. Thy sigh is able to move the heart of Jehovah; thy whisper can incline His ear unto thee; thy prayer can stay His hand; thy faith can move His arm. Think not that God sits on high taking no account of thee. Remember that however poor and needy thou art, yet the Lord thinketh upon thee. For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth [Zec 4:10], to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect towards Him” (CHS).

Psa 33:15

“He fashioneth their hearts alike” (AV): In the Bible, heart does not mean emotions or sentiments; it means mind. Here the word “alike” means that the thinking of all men, of whatever kind, is under the molding of God, the Master Potter. This is a great mystery, but not to be disbelieved because not fully understood. “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord” (Pro 21:1), even though the king is not aware of the fact.

“He considereth all their works”: And this is true not just of some men but of all. The theory that God takes notice of only a few and of only some of the myriad circumstances of life must be thrown out. It makes God nearly as small-minded as those who think thus (see WBS 353-356).

Psa 33:16

Vv 16,17: God is not dependent upon numbers or military might to achieve His desired results. Cp the exhortation to Gideon (Jdg 7:2,12), Elisha at Dothan (2Ki 6:11-17), and Jehoshaphat (2Ch 20:13-18). Thus war horses and chariots were forbidden to the kings of Israel (Deu 17:16).

Psa 33:17

DESPITE ALL ITS GREAT STRENGTH IT CANNOT SAVE: There is a world of difference between strength TO save, and willingness TO save!

Psa 33:18

God’s eye is upon His servants (cp Psa 32:8). And His servants’ eyes are upon Him (Psa 25:15; 69:3; 123:2). The eye: a sign of favor (Psa 34:15; 80:1; Num 6:23-27). Ct God’s closing of His eyes to Israel (Isa 1:15; 8:17).

Psa 33:22

EVEN AS WE PUT OUR HOPE IN YOU: The degree to which we hope in God may be the degree to which His unfailing love rests upon us (or others?).

Psa 34:1

SUPERSCRIPTION: “OF DAVID. WHEN HE PRETENDED TO BE INSANE BEFORE ABIMELECH, WHO DROVE HIM AWAY, AND HE LEFT”: David’s terribly difficult time at the court of Achish (1Sa 21). David had fled Saul on the advice of Jonathan, passing through Nob where he retrieved the sword of Goliath, and finally coming to Gath. There he feigned madness, causing Achish to send him away. He then went to the cave of Adullam, where the dispossessed and discontented of Israel flowed unto him, forming the nucleus of his later army. (Psa 56, 57,142 have all been suggested as belonging to this same difficult period.) David’s reliance on his own superb improvised play-acting in order to deceive Achish of Gath is not a thing to be admired. How different from the reliance upon the Lord of hosts with which he met Goliath of Gath! Amongst the men now asking that he be slain out of hand would be Goliath’s four brothers. These were the more eager because David now came to Gath with Goliath’s own unique sword in his hand (1Sa 21:8,9).

ABIMELECH: “But this Abimelech was king of Gath, the same with Achish, 1Sa 21:10; who either had two names; or this of Abimelech, as it should seem, was a common name to all the kings of the Philistines; see Gen 20:2; 26:8; as Pharaoh was to the Egyptian kings, and Caesar to the Roman emperors: the name signifies a ‘father king’, or ‘my father king’, or a ‘royal father’ ” (Gill).

ACROSTICS: See Lesson, Acrostics.

PASSOVER LINKS: See vv 7,8,20,21,22.

HIS PRAISE WILL ALWAYS BE ON MY LIPS: That mouth which had dribbled spittle into his beard! The sight of the angel of the Lord (v 7) had changed his tactics (just as Peter’s seeing Jesus in the court of the High Priest had changed his temporizing, deceitful tactics). “Always” is a Heb word which suggests the continual burnt-offering, a ceaseless sacrifice to the Lord. The mouth that is continually filled with praise has no room for complaining, foolish talking, jesting, gossip, or criticism (cp v 13).

Psa 34:2

MY SOUL WILL BOAST IN THE LORD: Cp Jer 9:24; 1Co 1:31. Man is not to boast in riches, strength, or honor, but only in knowing God.

LET THE AFFLICTED HEAR AND REJOICE: So glad are they, in fact, that they came to join themselves to David’s cause in ever-increasing numbers (1Sa 22:1,2).

Psa 34:3

GLORIFY THE LORD WITH ME: At last David was driven out from Gath and, with so many other desperate men, took refuge in the cave of Adullam. There his first move was to lead these who now joined him in prayers of thanksgiving. This is now a very different David.

Psa 34:4

Faith in the care of God is to be built on past experience. Having learned this lesson afresh, David now seeks to inculcate it in his followers. This v implies that in the crisis of danger he had been feigning madness and praying to the Lord at the same time! “Praise God, and keep your gunpowder dry!”

Vv 4-7: How to build faith on past experience: Deu 1:31; Deu 2 (entire chapter); Deu 7:18; Mar 11:24 (which should read “Believe that you have received”); Psa 37:25; 22:4; 106:13; 2Ti 3:4,11; 2Co 1:10; Gen 50:20; 24:7; 1Sa 17:37; 2Ki 1:13; Mat 16:8,9; Mar 8:16-21.

Psa 34:5

“They looked unto him” (AV). Or, as the mg, “they flowed unto him”, as in 1Sa 22:2 (sw Isa 2:2; 60:5; Jer 31:12; 51:44; Mic 4:1.)

ARE RADIANT: “And were lightened” (AV). The juxtaposition of ideas suggests the streams of light flowing forth from Moses (Exo 34:29,35) and Christ (at the Transfiguration) and Stephen (Act 6:15). The verbs here can also be read as exhortations: “Look to him and be radiant; so your faces shall never be ashamed” (RSV; cp NEB). Perhaps also “lightened” expresses the delight of his men at the leader’s return.

To look within is to be miserable (Psa 77). To look at others is to be distracted (Psa 73). But to look unto the Lord’s anointed is to be “enlightened”!

“Are you radiant today? Do you hide your love for God or can your friends and co-workers see his light shining from within you? It is very easy for us to caught up in the stress of our lives and get lost in fear and insecurity. David reminds us that we should be a beacon for God’s love and should be a shining light in the midst of adversity.

We are the victors. We know how the story ends! Use this day to let your light shine so that others may come to know your God” (MT).

“He who trusts in God has no need to be ashamed of his confidence; time and eternity will both justify his reliance” (CHS).

Re Christ: Cp Paul’s words about the glory of God to be found (lit and fig) in the face of Jesus Christ: 2Co 3:18; 4:6.

Psa 34:6

THIS POOR MAN CALLED: And his cry was “Al Taschith”, “Destroy me not” (see Psa 57 title). The abrupt change in this v to 3rd person singular suggests the poss of it being a Hezekiah addition, as in a number of other psalms of David. (Note v 7 and also that “the Lord… saved him” is the name Isaiah.)

Psa 34:7

This is parallel to Exo 12:23: the angel of Yahweh hovering over or encamping around those who fear him is Passover language. What God did for His people — in delivering them out of Egypt — was to be remembered, throughout all their generations, by all their descendants — natural and spiritual! This was so they might never forget that what He had done once He could do again!

The phrase “angel of Yahweh” is used only twice in the Psalms. The other reference is Psa 35:5, an example of judgment to contrast with the mercy shown here. Compare Act 12, where an angel of Yahweh appears twice: once in mercy (vv 7-11: delivering Peter out of prison) and once in judgment (v 23: smiting the vile Herod). Angelic agency is often unseen, yet it is recognized by the eye of faith!

THE ANGEL OF THE LORD: As in Luk 22:43, and Mat 26:53, this is an allusion to the 12 legions of angels who guarded Israelite homes in Egypt on Passover night.

ENCAMPS: The Hebrew is “hanah”, a military encampment, and is the root word of the place name Mahanaim (which signifies two camps). This was the site of Jacob’s protection by the unseen hosts of angels (Gen 32:1,2). As the pillar of fire by night and the cloud by day, so the angel of the Lord — a “ministering spirit” — remains with and protects those that fear him: Mat 18:10; Heb 1:14; Psa 91:11; 103:20.

AROUND: Suggests that here angel is used as a collective noun, or that the angel signified here is the captain of a great host or company. How else could ONE angel encamp AROUND…?

“Some Psalms have hearts — in fact, most of them have — but in some they are quite obvious. You can almost see them steadily beating in some deeply embosomed word or in some central, power-motivated sentence. They are places to which we repair when, weary and footsore at the end of the day’s pilgrimage, we seek rest and repose. Such is the seventh verse of Psalm 34, and the powerful word is ‘encampeth’. It is essentially an eventide word; whether we are on a pilgrimage or on the battlefield of life, at sundown we must pitch tent… For the time being we must give in and let someone else take up the struggle. But who? After we have crept into our little tent at eventide, do we ever think of drawing back the flap and looking out again? We ought to, for there, in the far-stretching realm of the Eternal’s unseen things, we should see the Angel of the Lord encamping with us. There he stands erect, sword drawn, his shining never-sleeping eyes watching” (NPH).

Psa 34:8

Should vv 8-18 be read as David’s exhortation to his desperate followers joining him in the outlaw life?

TASTE: A passover allusion, to the feast itself! Sig to consider seriously and thoroughly (Rev 14:5). Adullam is noted for its springs of clear, pure water — a welcome treat in a barren wilderness. The cave and its surroundings are a place of impressive beauty and grandeur, so that we might easily picture David gesturing about him, calling upon his men to taste and see that the Lord has been good to us in providing us safe shelter. To “taste” may also especially connote the first venture into faith, as it appears to do in both Heb 6:5 and 1Pe 2:3, with the implicit exhortation that one should progress beyond a casual sampling of God’s goodness to a fuller appreciation. Cp similar ideas in Isa 55:1 and Luk 14:16,17. (But note also the warning of Heb 6:4-6 (where also note “enlightened”, as in Psa 34:5.)

TAKES REFUGE: The word suits the context very well (cp v 22). How the psalms harp on this supreme virtue of faith! David might well say this, having remembered nearly too late his own extraordinary lapse from trust in God.

Psa 34:9

A “saint” is one who fears the LORD! To think that David would refer to these rough, coarse desperados by such a word!

Psa 34:10

Examples of hunger as a means of turning men back to God: Amo 4:6; Luk 15:14-16.

LIONS: David’s hungry band of marauders: cp 1Ch 12:8. A very apt figure if written in the wilds of the “outback”!

THOSE WHO SEEK THE LORD LACK NO GOOD THING: “We are not to seek God for selfish ends, but in the self-effacing power of divine love. But the glorious paradox is that the more we selflessly seek God’s pleasure and glory, and the less we seek our own, the more inevitably and inexorably will pleasure and glory pursue us, and force themselves upon us” (GVG).

Psa 34:11

MY CHILDREN: Sig followers or disciples (Mar 10:24; Joh 13:33). Such a form of address is at the same time affectionate and authoritative. In the words that follow is the code of conduct laid down for David’s growing army.

THE FEAR OF THE LORD: Psa 111:10; Pro 1:7; 2:2-5; 8:13; 14:26,27; 15:16,33; 16:6; 19:23; 23:17.

Psa 34:12

See Lesson, Peter’s use of Psa 34.

WHOEVER OF YOU LOVES LIFE: “The only hope of salvation is complete dedication of the life to God. This consists of three things:( 1) Resolute determination to learn as much as possible about God and His desires, from His Word; (2) Resolute determination to eliminate from the life everything out of harmony with God’s holiness and perfection; (3) Resolute determination to do everything God desires. There will be many mistakes, and failings, and self-disappointments: but faithfully and prayerfully adhered to, this is Life” (GVG).

Psa 34:13

This expresses David’s rueful repentance for the guile he employed at Nob and in Gath. Exhortation re the tongue: Jam 1:26; 3:2-10; 4:11; Pro 6:17,24; 12:13; 17:4,20; 18:21; 21:23; Tit 3:2.

“True eloquence consists in saying all that should be said, and that only.”

“Isn’t it surprising how many things, if not said immediately, seem not worth saying ten minutes from now?” (AL Shepard).

Psa 34:14

TURN FROM EVIL: The Lord’s special appeal to Judas: “That thou doest, do quickly” (Joh 13:27) might better be translated ‘That thou doest, be done with it quickly.’

SEEK PEACE AND PURSUE IT: ” ‘Peace with God’: three lovely conceptions, even alone, but superlative when conjoined — tranquility, togetherness, divinity. What higher joy? What nobler goal? Serenity, fellowship, spirituality — man’s divine heritage, his proper destiny. How sadly is the model marred, the image distorted, the likeness hideously deformed. What unclean beasts in human form are natural men. But the ideal remains, and can and will be attained by a divine few: peace with God, perfect peace, the peace of God that passeth all understanding. May we have the wisdom to lay hold upon it” (GVG).

Psa 34:16

FACE (of God): In Psalms, always ref God’s presence in ark/tabernacle/temple: see VL, Psalms, God’s face.

TO CUT OFF THE MEMORY OF THEM FROM THE EARTH: A further warning to Judas? And what a ct with: “Do this in remembrance of me”!

Psa 34:17

Paul quotes this v, or its repetition in v 19, in 2Ti 3:11.

Psa 34:20

HE PROTECTS (KEEPETH) ALL HIS BONES: David’s bones were kept; Saul’s were scattered (Psa 53:5; 1Sa 31:9-13)!

Passover allusion: These words echo the ruling about the Passover lamb: Exo 12:46; Num 9:12.

NOT ONE OF THEM WILL BE BROKEN: “Not one of them (ie all his bones) is broken.” This figure of the members of Christ’s body is frequent and powerful: Psa 139:16; 35:10; 6:2; 22:14. We are all one in Christ; hence v 3: “Magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together.” Inconsistency with Psa 51:8 (“the bones which thou hast broken”)? No! for this last v speaks of “bones” of sin broken by God.

(NT) Bones as members of a spiritual “body”: 1Co 12:12-27; Eph 4:4,16; 5:30. See, of course, Joh 19:33-36 — where Christ is the Passover lamb (Joh 1:29; 1Co 5:7) is spared the breaking of his “bones” (Exo 12:46).

Psa 34:21

EVIL WILL SLAY THE WICKED: Is this a metonymy for one of the Lord’s angels of evils, the destroying angel who slew the firstborn in Egypt? Exo 12:23; note Psa 78:49 RV (“angels of evil”, and context).

Psa 34:22

Why should the acrostic form of the psalm be extended by an extra v beginning with Pe (for Pesach, or Passover) except as a further reminder that this is a Passover psalm? If also this psalm was edited at the time of Hezekiah (v 6n), that v becomes esp powerful because the Assyrian army was destroyed at Passover by an angel of the Lord (Isa 37:36).

Psa 35:1

SUPERSCRIPTION: “OF DAVID”.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND: Practically all the allusions to David’s enemies suggest the period when he was hunted by Saul. Yet also a number of resemblances in language to Psa 109 — Absalom’s rebellion. Was a Saul psalm expanded in later days as an expression of David’s feelings during the Absalom rebellion? Vv 11-15 suggest Ahithophel.

IMPRECATORY PSALM: Ct the repeated imprecations (esp vv 4,5,6,8,26) and the mild spirit displayed by David when he had opportunity to strike against his enemy (1Sa 24; 26). Several possibilities arise:

1. That David was invoking what he knew, or believed, to be the righteous judgment of God against unjustified hatred.
2. That the Heb requests: “Let them… let them…” should be read as straight futures: “They shall… they shall…”, David knowing that God must inevitably bring retribution against unrighteousness.
3. The imprecations represent exactly how David felt in resentment at all the hard treatment which came to him. In other words, the psalm is a true record, with inspired accuracy, of how in provocation this saint actually felt — whether Scripturally justified in so feeling or not. Cp the same feature in the record of Jeremiah’s similar reactions in similar circumstances: Jer 20:12; 15:15. (This is perhaps the least likely.)
4. David was guided to include such verses in his psalm as true expressions, written beforehand, of how his greater Son will one day pronounce judgment against those who have rejected him.

CONTEND, O LORD: “Plead my cause, O Lord” (KJV). Precisely the spirit of 1Sa 24:15 — David at his best.

Psa 35:2

The LORD as a “man of war” (Exo 15:3; Deu 32:41).

Psa 35:3

The language here is strongly reminiscent of Saul’s eager pursuit: 1Sa 23:25,28; 24:15; 26:18.

BRANDISH SPEAR AND JAVELIN: “Stop the way against me” (AV), or as NIV mg. This happened in Exo 14:20, when the pillar of God’s glory stood between the camp of Israel and the camp of the Egyptians.

SAY TO MY SOUL: “I AM YOUR SALVATION”: The words suggest that David’s faith in God did not come easily at this time. The temptation presented to him by his own devoted followers, to take the initiative to be rid of Saul, must have been almost too powerful to resist: 1Sa 24:4; 26:8. ‘Let me have a present, personal, infallible, indisputable sense that I am Thine, and that Thou art mine’ (CHS).

Psa 35:4

For both circumstances and phrasing, see 1Sa 20:1; 22:23; 23:25.

Psa 35:5

CHAFF: That which is worthless, fit to be burnt or blown away by the “Angel-wind” of God: Psa 1:4; Job 21:18; Isa 5:24; 29:5; Jer 23:28; Hos 13:3; Mat 3:12; Luk 3:17; 1Co 3:12,13.

WITH THE ANGEL OF THE LORD DRIVING THEM AWAY: Even as David was chased. What a ct with Psa 34:7 and background there.

Psa 35:6

“Let them be pursued by fierce enemies along treacherous mountain paths.” Quoted by Jeremiah (Jer 23:12). Cp Psa 73:18; Pro 4:19; Isa 59:10; Joh 11:10; 12:35,36.

Psa 35:7

WITHOUT CAUSE: Cp 1Sa 24:11.

PIT: “Shachath” (Psa 9:15; 30:9). The word naturally occurs in connection with digging (either a pit for a trap, or a grave).

Psa 35:8

This v sb introduced with “Saying” — cp Psa 41:5; 52:6,7; 22:7,8; and 132:11,12.

MAY THEY FALL INTO THE PIT, TO THEIR RUIN: As Jesus was hanged on a tree, so also Judas (Mat 27:5). Pilate too ended his life in suicide. And Herod was banished from his kingdom and died in obscurity in Gaul (or perhaps Spain).

Psa 35:9

“Let it not be thought that the course of wisdom is a joyless burden. Rather, it is the course of the only true joy and freedom from burden. We have seen full-grown, mentally-retarded adults sitting on the floor grinning and slobbering and playing with baby toys. It is a terribly sad and saddening spectacle: a potentially noble and intelligent creature, created in God’s image, never developing beyond uncomprehending infancy. Compared to the beauty that might be, this is the spiritual state that might be of all of natural mankind. And merely passing an elementary examination and being baptized does not automatically change it, though such can and should be a tremendous first step in the direction of growth and maturity and nobility and beauty. But it is only a first step. Continuous development must follow” (GVG).

Psa 35:10

MY WHOLE BEING: “All my bones” (AV): Is this a fig way of expressing David’s hope that his followers (the “bones” of his body: 2Sa 5:1) would learn from him a milder reaction to the bitter hostility of Saul? (With this cp the obviously figurative use of “bone” in Psa 34:20.)

WHO IS LIKE YOU, O LORD?: This is the name Michael: cp v 5.

YOU RESCUE THE POOR FROM THOSE TOO STRONG FOR THEM: What is “too strong” for the “poor”? Answers: the law (Gal 3:10,13); sin (Rom 5:21); the “world” (Joh 16:33); “self” (Rom 7:24); and death (2Ti 1:10).

Psa 35:11

RUTHLESS WITNESSES: “False witnesses” (AV): 1Sa 24:9; 26:19. Sycophants — boot-lickers, wishing to be on the side of power, evidently said the things which they knew the king in his jealousy wanted to hear.

RUTHLESS WITNESSES COME FORWARD: Mar 14:57 uses this very phraseology about the trial of Jesus. The vv that follow here add a significant detail to the gospel story: “They rewarded me evil for good” (v 12). These words (along with v 13: “when they were sick”) carry the plain implication that those who spoke against Jesus at his trial had actually benefited from his compassionate healing powers. (Ponder, for one example, the poss motives of the lame man healed in Joh 5:11.) Certainly the accusation they made, about the “destruction” of the Temple (Mar 14:58), went back to the very earliest days of the ministry (Joh 2:19). Jesus also seems to have had this “evil for good” in mind in Joh 10:32. (Or, to put the same point the other way round, was Judas the subject of some miraculous healing unrecorded in the Bible?)

Psa 35:12

THEY REPAY ME EVIL FOR GOOD: In spite of his own words, Saul did precisely this: 1Sa 24:8,19.

AND LEAVE MY SOUL FORLORN: LXX: the childlessness of my soul. Cp Isa 53:8: “Who shall declare his generation?”

Psa 35:13

WHEN THEY WERE ILL, I PUT ON SACKCLOTH: Was this some unrecorded illness from which Saul suffered, or is the ref to his mental illness which grew on him over a lengthy period?

WITH FASTING: Or “in the fast”, ie the Atonement (Isa 58:5).

MY PRAYERS RETURNED TO ME UNANSWERED: As Jesus foretold also for his disciples: Luk 10:5,6.

Psa 35:14

MY FRIEND OR BROTHER… MY MOTHER: This v suggests the deep and abiding grief of Jesus for the traitor Judas — a detail not immediate discernible in the gospels alone.

Psa 35:15

ATTACKERS: AV has “abjects”: A strange word. RV mg: smiters (with the tongue). Or, if “those smitten” instead, then perhaps the “cripple” Mephibosheth son of Jonathan (2Sa 4:4; 9:1-13; 19:24-30)? Or, in the case of Christ, the two malefactors on the crosses?

Psa 35:16

“With hypocritical mockers in feasts” (AV): Cp Luk 7:39 but see also Luk 13:28,29.

THEY GNASHED THEIR TEETH AT ME: As in Mat 27:39-43; Act 7:54.

Psa 35:17

MY PRECIOUS LIFE: “My darling” (AV): See Psa 22:20 (sw). By modern usage, a strange expression, equivalent to “my very soul”. But LXX has “only begotten”, which in the NT became a special name for Jesus: Joh 1:14,18; 3:16,18; Heb 11:17; 1Jo 4:9.

Psa 35:18

THE GREAT ASSEMBLY: LXX ekklesia, as also in Psa 40:9,10; 22:25 (cp v 31 there). An impressive prophecy of the outcome of this rejection and suffering.

Psa 35:19

WHO ARE MY ENEMIES WITHOUT CAUSE: Specifically appropriated by Jesus as a prophecy of the willful opposition which was mobilized against himself and which would therefore inevitably go into action against his disciples: Joh 15:20,25; cp Psa 69:4. (The Greek word translated “without a cause” in Joh 15:25 also appears in Rom 3:24: “being justified freely by his grace”. As gratuitous as was their hatred for Christ, just so was his love for them!)

Psa 35:20

THEY DO NOT SPEAK PEACEABLY, BUT DEVISE FALSE ACCUSATIONS…: “They seek a quarrel. They are unwilling to be on good terms with others, or to live in peace with them. The idea is that they were ‘disposed’ or ‘inclined’ to quarrel. Thus we speak now of persons who are ‘quarrelsome.’ ‘They devise deceitful matters’ — literally, ‘they think of words of deceit.’ That is, they set their hearts on misrepresentation, and they study such misrepresentations as occasions for strife with others. They falsely represent my character; they attribute conduct to me of which I am not guilty; they pervert my words; they state that to be true which never occurred, and thus they attempt to justify their own conduct. Almost all the quarrels in the world, whether pertaining to nations, to neighbourhoods, to families, or to individuals, are based on some ‘misrepresentation’ of facts, designed or undesigned, and could have been avoided if men had been willing to look at facts as they are, or perfectly understood each other” (CY).

AGAINST THOSE WHO LIVE QUIETLY IN THE LAND: The word rendered “quietly” means literally those who are “timid”; then, those who shrink back, and gather together from fear; then, those in general who are disposed to be peaceful and quiet, or who are indisposed to contention and strife. David implicitly asserts himself to be one of that class; a man who preferred peace to war, and who had no disposition to keep up a strife with his neighbours.

Psa 35:22

DO NOT BE FAR FROM ME: The answer to this prayer is in Psa 22:24.

Psa 35:24

Vv 24,25: The “shame” experienced by Christ on the cross: Psa 69:6,7,10, 19,20; Isa 50:6; Heb 6:6; 12:2.

Psa 35:26

MAY ALL WHO EXALT THEMSELVES OVER ME BE CLOTHED WITH SHAME AND DISGRACE: Cp v 4. Shame and disgrace take the place of the usual garments for glory and for beauty: “Then the high priest rent his clothes” (Mat 26:65).

Psa 35:27

WHO DELIGHT IN MY VINDICATION: RV mg reads: “they have pleasure in MY righteousness.”

MAY THEY ALWAYS SAY: The Heb for “always” is that for the daily sacrifice (cp Psa 34:1). Saints in Christ have no better offering.

Psa 35:28

SUBSCRIPTION: “FOR THE DIRECTOR OF MUSIC”.