Ps 1 This psalm, which introduces the entire collection in the book of Ps by describing the type of person who reads and uses them, belongs more to the category of "wisdom" than to that of the hymns and prayers that make up most of the book. Wisdom literature is concerned with the conflicting lifestyles of believers and unbelievers, emphasizing that only divine judgment will end the inequity of life and bring reward to the righteous.
1:1 The word "happy" (Hb 'ashrei, "blessedness of") refers to the joy and satisfaction that comes from knowing that one is right with God, even though at times conflict with the world may bring difficulties. Such blessedness is the opposite of the "curse" (see Ex 19:8; 24:3,7; Lv 26:14-39; Dt 11:26; 28:1-68) that takes effect as a result of disobedience to the Lord's commands. The use of "man" in biblical literature refers to persons in general, here any believer who is trying to live in obedience to God. The "advice" of unbelievers may be necessary in matters of commerce, law, medicine or other technical fields, but chapter 1 is concerned with spiritual matters such as ethics, morality, and faithfulness to the Lord in daily life.
1:2 Meditation involves studying a passage of Scripture, memorizing it, praying about it, and exhorting oneself to fulfill it (42:5,11; 63:6; 119:9-10). Spiritual success depends on the constant study and application of God's Word (Dt 6:6-9; Jos 1:8).
1:3 The promise of prosperity is qualified by the context: "whatever he does" will be determined by living in obedience to the Scriptures—that is what will prosper.
1:4 The word translated "wicked" in Ps (rasha') is a general term for an unbeliever (10:2,4,13 and many other places), someone who is not a member of the covenant and not living in obedience to God. Although perhaps appearing to be a good person, such a one is capable of great evil (50:16-20) through his lack of regard for the Lord. Imagery from the harvest is common in contexts of judgment. Chaff, the dried husks surrounding the kernels, has to be separated from the grain by winnowing so it can blow away (35:5; Is 17:13; Mt 3:12). The comparison of those who ignore or rebel against God with chaff indicates that their life is worthless and will be removed in the judgment.
1:5 The word translated "righteous" in the OT (tsaddiq) refers to a member of the covenant who seeks to live righteously; it is a description of the true believer. The righteous are not sinless, but they seek to maintain a right relationship with the Lord.
1:6 "Watches over" (Hb yodea', "knows") has the force of "saves" or "delivers," because it expresses the opposite of the "ruin" in the parallel half of the verse (see also Ex 2:25). Jesus will say to the unbelievers, "I never knew you" (Mt 7:23). If the Lord "knows" the way of the righteous, they will be protected from the judgment (Ps 37:12-17,28-29).
Ps 2 Royal psalms focus on some high point in the life of the king—here his coronation. Because Jesus was raised from the dead, the NT writers saw that He is the Messiah or anointed King, Son of David par excellence (e.g., Ac 2:22-36). Accordingly, they understood that these "royal psalms" found their fullest meaning in Christ (e.g., Mk 1:11; 9:7; Heb 1:5).
2:1 "Nations" refers primarily to the states around Israel that were always attacking. David subjugated many of these ethnic groups, but they were always trying to break free of Israelite control. Peter included unbelieving Jews in this group, because they rejected the Messiah (Ac 4:25-28).
2:2 The king is the Lord's "anointed" (mashiah means "anointed one", translated into Greek as christos). Every legitimate king was a "messiah" (1 Sm 16:13;2 Kg 11:12); but the biblical writers prophesied that a greater king was coming, the Messiah (e.g., Is 9:2-7; Jr 23:5-6; Ezk 34:23-24; cp. 2 Sm 7:11-15). To reject God's anointed king is to reject God.
2:4 The description of God's laughing and mocking is a bold anthropomorphism, a comparison from human behavior (see Gn 3:8) to emphasize how ridiculous their plan is. In the same way, God's being "enthroned in heaven" (Hb yoshev, "sitting") describes His sovereign reign (Ps 29:10; 55:19; 102:12; 123:1).
2:7 The Davidic covenant (2 Sm 7:5-16; Ps 89:26-27) declared that the king would be God's "son." When the king ascended the throne he declared that God called him His son. This was a way of saying that God has installed him as king, heir to the kingdom. Earthly monarchs consistently fell short of this high calling, and the writers of Scripture realized that the coming Messiah would be a "Son" as no other king had been or could be (Is 9:6). When the voice from heaven declared Jesus to be the beloved Son at His baptism (Mt. 3:17), the Messianic Age was introduced. And when John described Jesus as the "the One and Only Son," he was speaking of Jesus' divine nature (Jn 1:14). But Ps 2:7 is used specifically in the NT for Jesus' resurrection and exaltation to the right hand of the Father—His coronation, in harmony with the meaning of the psalm (Ac 13:32-33; Heb 1:3-6; 5:5-6).
2:9 The Hebrew text has "you will smash (ra'a') them with a rod of iron," which is parallel to the second half of the verse. The Greek OT translated it "you will shepherd [rule] (assuming ra'ah) them with a rod of iron," taking the Hebrew letters as a different verb but recognizing the context was concerned with the reign of the king. The emphasis on his iron rule is retained, but the verb ("to shepherd") reflects the whole scope of his rule and not just the putting down of enemies. In the ancient Near East, with its agricultural economy, rulers were often spoken of as shepherds (e.g., 2 Sm 5:2; 7:7; Ezk 34:8,23; Zch 13:7). The NT uses (but does not quote directly) the Greek version (Rv 2:27; 12:5; 19:15) to make its point about the reign of Christ. What John declares in Revelation is true because God inspired it, even though his quote was taken from a different version of the psalm.
2:12 To "pay homage to the Son" can also be translated "kiss the son" (1 Kg 19:18; Hs 13:2). The translation takes the word bar as the Aramaic word for "son"; this is appropriate because David is addressing nations that speak that language. To "kiss" was more than to kiss the face; the word refers to bowing in submissive prostration before a conqueror (cp. RSV "kiss his feet"). Other versions assumed bar was a Hebrew word for "purity" and offered translations along the line of "worship in purity."
Ps 3 The historical note, or superscription, about David fleeing from Absalom (2 Sm 15:13-17) may not have been part of the original text but was included at an early stage when the psalms were collected.
3:2 Selah, which may mean "lift up," was an instruction for the musicians and was inserted when the psalms were adapted to temple service. It could refer to an interlude during which instruments played (see 1 Ch 15:16), but its meaning is uncertain.
3:3 The line uses several metaphors—"shield" for God's protection (Gn 15:1), "glory" for the evidence of His blessing of kingship (Ps 34:7; 91:11), and "lifts up my head" for the restoration to the throne (Gn 40:13; 1 Sm 2:7-8; Ps 110:7).
3:4-5 The report of the deliverance calls for past tense translations even though the Bible text is in the present tense: "I cried" and "he answered me," "I lay down and slept; I woke again because the Lord sustained me." Then, because he made it through the night, David expressed his renewed confidence and prayed for complete deliverance.
3:7 The verbs "strike" and "break" refer to completed action and may be translated in the past tense. They could refer to previous victories of the king; more likely they refer to his future victory. To David the outcome was so certain that he stated it as having already happened. This use of the verb is called the "prophetic perfect" because it often appears in prophetic literature, presenting future acts in the past tense (e.g., lit. "a child will be born," Is 9:6; "he was despised," Is 53:3). The language is also poetic: smashing the jaw and breaking the teeth refer to combat resulting in a convincing victory (1 Kg 22:24; Ps 58:6; Is 50:6; Mc 5:1). The figures are metonymies (substituting the Lord for the armies); this means God will deliver this crushing blow, though it is the armies who will actually fight.
Ps 4 The superscription indicates that this piece was given to "the choir director" for use in the temple by the choirs, accompanied by instruments. The ascription "a Davidic psalm" used here, and with many other psalms, is literally "for David" or "to David." The term may refer to authorship, but can also refer to usage; that is, the "Davidic" psalms are for the use of the Judean kings in the Davidic dynasty (or, actually, the Levitical singers performing in his name). The psalms as a whole are generalized; the situations they describe could apply to David himself, to succeeding rulers, or to any worshiper and servant of the Lord. Thus they have application, supremely, to the Servant Messiah, Jesus Christ.
Ps 5 The psalms include many petitions for swift judgment on the wicked. David was the leader of the covenant community and had the responsibility to defend the people of God against attacks of all kinds from pagans, and even unfaithful Israelites, who opposed the righteous and their God. His prayer was not a personal vendetta; it was a prayer that God would do what He had said He would do at some future time. Christians have been taught to pray for their enemies; even though they have a different way of praying because of the full revelation in Christ, praying for the Lord's coming is still a prayer for judgment upon a sinful world.
5:5-6 The language of "hate" in the Bible may seem discordant until its meaning is understood in depth. The word emphasizes rejection along with displeasure; to hate evil is to avoid association with it. God despises wicked character and evil deeds and therefore not only opposes them but dissociates Himself from them (11:5; Pr 6:16-19); God's people must also totally reject the wicked (Ps 1:1; 139:21-22).
5:10 The prayer of David is that the wicked be banished from God's presence—removed from God's protection and blessing (as in the banishment of Cain in Gn 4:14).
5:12 The word "bless" (barak), when used of the Lord's action, means "enrich," whether materially, physically or spiritually. Here the parallel word "favor" clarifies it. This is a metonymy (where the attribute is stated but the effect is meant); it refers to the protection and provisions of life that divine favor bestows on the righteous (Dt 33:23; Ps 30:5).
Ps 6 Psalms in which the speaker deals with his sin are often called penitential psalms. (The seven traditional "Penitential Psalms" are 6; 32; 38; 51; 69; 102; 130.) Here David pleaded with God to bring an end to his suffering at the hands of enemies, a suffering that was the Lord's chastening for his sin.
6:1 The divine discipline was severe; David prayed that God would not unleash all His anger in the rebuke (the word order is: "Not in your anger / rebuke me /O Lord"). During the discipline it seems that God is angry; but this is a temporary state in comparison to the lifetime in His favor (2 Sm 7:14; Ps 30:5; 94:1; Pr 3:12).
6:4 The basis for the worshiper's appeal for help is the Lord's "faithful love." The Hebrew word hesed is an important term in the psalms and throughout the OT. It refers to Yahweh's loyalty to His people because of the covenant He has granted them. English versions vary in translation of this word; it may appear as "lovingkindness," "steadfast love," "faithfulness" or simply "love." It is a love based on a commitment that has been made. To be able to appeal to the Lord on the basis if His hesed, the worshiper must make a corresponding commitment, calling himself the Lord's "servant" (31:16; 69:17; 143:12) and affirming his loyalty (e.g., "You are my God," 31:14; 63:1; 86:2; 118:28).
6:5 Psalms of petition include a section presenting the reasons why God should answer the worshiper's prayer. These appeals are not crass bargaining; they testify to the believer's covenant faith. If David died, he would not be able to praise God for delivering him from death; if God wanted the king's worship—his first obligation under the covenant—God would have to save him.
6:6-7 It is normal for people who suffer to use hyperbolic language. David did not literally flood his bed with weeping, it just seemed that way. The poetic language reflects his intense feelings of pain and utter despondency.
6:10 The enemies of the king are enemies of the program of God. His prayer that they be "ashamed" was an appeal that they be put to shame or sudden disgrace in a humiliating defeat.
Ps 7 This is a prayer for divine judgment of evil and vindication of the psalmist. Its superscription records a historical context (perhaps 2 Sm 16:5-14 or 20:1-22).
7:8 The verb "judges" can mean condemn, but here the sense is "vindicate" because the appeal is based on righteousness and integrity.
7:9-13 The weapons of God—the sword, the bow, and the flaming arrows—are poetic images that may be interpreted in one of two ways. They are implied comparisons for God's word of judgment (see Rv 19:15), or metonymies—that is, God will use David's armies with their weapons to defeat the enemies.
7:15-16 The psalm writers often followed the principle of lex talionis (see Lv 24:19-20) or measure-for-measure justice. The evil that the wicked plan for others will come back on them. The best biblical example is the fate of Haman (Est 7:9-10), who was hanged on the gallows he built for Mordecai.
7:17 In Hebrew culture, "name" refers to the nature or character of the person (see Ex 34:5-7; Is 9:6). This is the meaning in the expression "the name of the Lord," since "Lord" in the Hebrew text is actually the personal name Yahweh. In praising Yahweh's "name," the focus will be on his attributes and what they mean to the people of God. Here "the Most High" points not only to Yahweh's supremacy but also possibly to his association with Jerusalem from the time of Melchizedek, priest of "God Most High" (Gn 14:18-20).
8:1 This short hymn praises the excellence of the name (nature) of the Lord as the Creator, and marvels at how He has made human beings to rule over all creation (Gn 1:26-28). English translations follow the practice of using "Lord" for the holy name Yahweh, and "Lord" (not all capitalized) for the ordinary title "lord" (Hb 'adonai). The Hebrew says literally, "O Yahweh, our Lord" (see also Pss 97:5; 110:1).
8:5 God made humans a little lower than "God." This is an allusion to creation in which humans were made to be the image of God on earth (Gn 1:26-27). The alternate reading "heavenly beings" comes from the Hebrew word 'elohim commonly used of God, although a plural form. However, it can also be used for false gods (Ps 86:8; 97:7), angels or human judges (Ps 82:1,6-8 could be interpreted either way), and in some cases human rulers who represent God (Ex 7:1). Here the context would suggest either "God" or "angels," for the verb "made less" includes the idea of not quite conferring upon people the abilities of the higher powers, either God or angels.
The Septuagint (Greek OT) translated the word as "angels," the reading followed in Heb 2:7-9. The writer of Heb was applying the passage specifically to Jesus the Messiah, who in His incarnation was "made lower than the angels for a short time." Psalm 8 is not, strictly speaking, a messianic prophecy, but since Jesus Christ was fully human and the second Adam, it had a perfect application to Him. We do not yet see all things under the dominion of mankind, the writer says, but we see Jesus who will have that absolute dominion (1 Co 15:27; Eph 1:22; Heb 2:6-9).
Pss 9–10 These two psalms are evidently one psalm because they follow the acrostic arrangement in Hebrew; each verse or section begins with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet in alphabetical order. In the Greek OT they are one psalm. The superscription "according to Muth-labben" may refer to a song "The Death of a Son" that supplied the tune or pattern used to perform this psalm. This notation reveals the existence of"popular" musical compositions in ancient Israel and Judah that were adapted for more exalted use in worship.
9:5-6 The enemies will be destroyed in such a way that it will be as though they never existed. The metaphorical expression "erased" (or "blotted out") in similar passages has come to signify complete removal. The Hebrew word refers to scraping off (a tablet), wiping something off the record, or wiping something out (as of the wicked at the flood, Gn 6:7). The effect here is that the wicked will never again be a threat.
9:7-8 The Israelites knew that the Lord was the sovereign King of glory; at every victory they could praise Him by declaring "The Lord sits enthroned." Yet they continued to pray for His kingdom to come, knowing that He had yet to establish His righteous kingdom in its fullness. Such acclamations both praise God for immediate acts and express confidence in a future final deliverance.
9:10 To say that the Lord has not abandoned those who seek Him calls for some clarification. The verse does not say that those who seek Him always get what they want. In fact, David could speak as if God had forsaken him when his prayers were not being answered (22:1). But even when God delays in answering prayers, or does not answer, He is still dealing faithfully with His people for their ultimate well-being (e.g., Is 38:17). If God always answered prayer automatically, His worshipers would experience little development of their faith (see Rm 8:24-28).
9:12 The justice of God requires that He avenge the deaths of innocent people—the martyrs in glory appeal to Him on this basis (Rv 6:10). God will, eventually, make everything right by judging the wicked and rewarding the righteous.
9:14 Zion is the mountain on which the city of Jerusalem is built; accordingly, Jerusalem is frequently called the daughter of Zion (see Is 1:8; 10:32). Sometimes the phrase refers to the people in the city of Jerusalem (Mc 4:8). The gates at the entrance of the city were places where business and legal transactions took place. The gates were always crowded, and were therefore ideal places to testify to the Lord's deliverance. However, "within the gates" could also refer to festival gatherings at the Jerusalem sanctuary (Ps 122:1-2).
9:15 The report was put in the past tense because the outcome was certain (using the "prophetic perfect," see note on 3:7)—it was as good as done.
10:2-11 The psalmist used bold language to describe the arrogant wickedness of those who refused to live according to the Lord's righteousness. The language could describe a gang of thugs or foreign oppressors, but it also could apply to ruthless businessmen who took advantage of the poor and the weak as easily as hunters dragged away their prey. The biblical description is generalized, allowing the psalm to be used by worshipers in a variety of difficult settings and situations. But whoever the "wicked" were, their sin was disregard for the law of God, and its effect was injustice.
Ps 11 In this lament David was faced with the temptation to flee for safety because he was surrounded by people who wanted to destroy him. The story of David's life offers many occasions when this psalm could have been composed, such as 1 Sm 26:20.
11:2 The arrows that the wicked shot from the darkness or shadows could be literal, or they could be figura-tive of slanderous and abusive words hurled at him (57:4).
11:3 The "foundations" referred to the stability of the created order, symbolized in the sanctuary of God (46:1-5), but by extension could also refer to the institutions and order of society (75:3; 82:5). The question seems to convey hopelessness, but it is answered in the rest of the psalm—the righteous can trust the Lord who rules from heaven, even if things may appear unsteady on the earthly scene.
11:4-5 The omniscience of God is here described in human terms (anthropomorphic language): God is sitting on His throne in heaven and His eyes are closely examining what everyone is doing (see 2 Ch 16:9).
11:6 The psalmist drew on the language of the destruction of Sodom in Gn 19:24 to anticipate divine judgment on the ungodly. David desired that God would destroy the wicked with such force, for he knew that is what God would do eventually (Ezk 38:22; Hab 2:15-16).
11:7 David may have meant that seeing the face of God was to realize divine favor, for Israelite worshipers did not believe a person could see God and survive(Ex 33:11; Nm 12:8). In this life it would refer to deliverance from adversity and the awareness of the presence of God in the worshiper's experience (Ps 27:4; 42:2; 63:2). In the life to come, it would refer to a greater reality of communion with the living God (perhaps as in Ex 24:9-11; Ps 17:15).
Ps 12 "According to Sheminith" in the superscription may refer to a popular song that was to be used as a pattern for performing this psalm in the sanctuary.
12:5 The figurative expression "I will now rise up" refers to God beginning to act on behalf of the weak and the needy. The Lord will protect the victims of the arrogant and deceitful words of the wicked. For God to "rise up" (Hb qum) was an expression used whenever the ark of the covenant set out in the wilderness (Nm 10:35); it conveyed the image of the Lord's leadership and His defeat of the enemies of His people. David's words here bring this picture to mind (Ps 68:1).
12:6 To emphasize the purity and truth of the word of God, David used the simile of a refining fire. It was as if God's words had been purified in the furnace, seven times (the number of perfection). There is no falsehood, deception, or propaganda in God's Word; it is completely trustworthy.
Ps 13 This psalm falls into the category interpreters call the "lament." Its words convey the honest feelings of frustration and abandonment by a believer whose prayer for deliverance has not been answered. His cry is urgent ("how long?") and bold ("will You continually forget me?"). Most believers have felt this way at times; the faithful are not afraid to say it, but they say it to God in prayer and are careful not to express such despair in the presence of weaker believers (73:15).
13:4 David "reminds" the Lord of the reason why He should respond to the king's plea for help: If deliverance did not come, the enemy would gloat over his defeat.
13:6 Lament psalms end with what interpreters call the vow of praise. David promised to sing to the Lord because he trusted that God would be good to him ("He has treated me generously," the "prophetic perfect" of anticipation).
14:1 Of the several words for "fool" in wisdom literature (see Pr), the fool here (nabal) is neither a simpleton nor an ignorant dullard, but instead is a practical atheist. His denial of God may not be overt, but in his heart he lives as if God doesn't exist. This psalm is repeated, with minor alterations, as Ps 53.
Ps 15 This psalm is an "entrance rite," a brief ceremony to qualify worshipers for entering the holy precincts of the temple. It lists 10 characteristics (paralleling the Ten Commandments) of the person who is fit to come into the sanctuary and fellowship with the Lord, using the metaphor of "dwelling," (23:6; 27:4). The purpose of such an "entrance rite" was to remind people to examine themselves before worshiping; in so doing they would realize their need of forgiveness through sacrificial atonement. The substance of this psalm is repeated in 24:3-4.
15:5 Lending money at a high interest rate (lit. "with a bite") would disqualify the person from worshiping; no Israelite was to take advantage of others in hard times (Ex 22:25-27; Lv 25:35-36; Dt 23:9). One who is faithful to the Lord's covenant would give to the poor without any plan to have the money repaid, let alone to profit.
16:6 The psalm is a meditation on the Lord's blessings. (The meaning of the designation miktam in the superscription is unknown.). This verse compares one's lot in life to an inheritance of land with boundaries (Nm 18:20; Dt 10:9; 18:1).
16:10 David was confident of his deliverance from Sheol and "the Pit"; that is, from death. The Lord will protect his faithful worshiper from it. In its Israelite application, the context could be the struggle against the adherents of false religions, "those who take another god" (v. 4). Still occupying enclaves within Canaan, these peoples ignored the "boundary lines" (v. 6) by which the Lord allocated the promised land to the tribes of Israel (Jos 13–17). Opposition from these polytheistic groups often took the form of open warfare, endangering the king's life. But the psalm has a prophetic application to the coming King, the Messiah ("Faithful One"). At Pentecost, Peter quoted these words with reference to the resurrection of Jesus (Ac 2:8-31); Paul used the psalm the same way in a sermon at Antioch in Pisidia (Ac 13:25). If David's words stopped short of affirming a bodily resurrection, they were certainly consistent with that hope. Because Christian believers participate in Jesus' resurrection (e.g., Rm 6:4,8; 8:29; Col 3:1; Rv 1:5), the words of the psalm apply to the "faithful ones" of all ages—we will not be abandoned to the decay of the grave.
17:15 When the psalmist says he will see God's face, he probably meant a spiritual experience in the sanctuary in which God would reveal Himself more fully (11:7; 27:4; 42:2; 63:2), possibly a visionary experience similar to that of Ezekiel (Ezk 1:1-28). To "see God's face" is to experience the reality of His presence (Ps 24:6). In view of the later revelation of the believers' resurrection in Christ, these words took on greater meaning (1 Jn 3:2; Rv 22:4). But that fuller meaning does not nullify the original reference to a spiritual experience.
18:8 The language of this verse is clearly poetic, not scientific. Verses 7-15 describe a theophany, or manifestation of the Lord, expressed in terms of awesome natural phenomena. To people in ancient cultures, smoke and fire might call to mind a dragon-like or volcanic image evoking a thunder deity. Here it is a description of the God's readiness to avenge His enemies. The language is picturesque, like that of Rv 19:15 depicting a sword coming from the mouth of the exalted Christ. When the Lord comes to deliver His people, He will judge His enemies, and sometimes He will use the elements of nature to do it (see Ex 15:4-6).
18:34 David credited God with giving him the ability to be successful in battle. Warfare was, and is, an unfortunate reality of human life. David, as military leader of the nation, had to secure the land and protect the people. God prepared him for that task in a special way, both physically as a warrior and spiritually as a believer (see 1 Sm 17:34-37). Today Christians find themselves in a spiritual warfare, all the more difficult because the enemy is not visually apparent (Eph 6:12). But God still trains His people for the battle by providing the armor and the weapons we are to use (Eph 6:13-18) to champion righteousness and truth in a fallen world.
19:1 The first few verses form what is called natural revelation (Rm 1:19-20), meaning that the observation of creation calls for an acknowledgment of God's existence. The wisdom and power and glory of God are displayed in what He has made; it is a continuous revelation in the skies (vv. 1-4) dominated by the sun (vv. 4-6).
19:5 The poetic description of the sun as a groom was intended to undermine a false belief in the sun's divinity. In the ancient world the sun god, who was also the god of law (later worshiped in Israel, 2 Kg 23:11), was described in a similar way. The psalm, however, places the sun in a subordinate position within God's creation, as does the Gn account of creation (see Gn 1:14-19, where the heavenly lights appear only on the fourth day). The sun is not a divinity; instead, with its energy it dominates the skies as a testimony to its Creator.
19:7 The second part of the psalm extols specific revelation; that is, revelation in verbal form through divine inspiration (e.g., Ex 20:1; 1 Co 2:9-10; 2 Pt 1:21). The law did not come from a sun god, but from the Lord, the sovereign Creator. His revelation is open to all, to guide them in righteousness; the full revelation of the Godhead will come in Jesus Christ (Heb 1:1-3). Critical interpreters have suggested that this psalm is a composite of two psalms because of the sudden shift here from the realm of nature to the realm of Israelite law. Such a view ignores that God's moral law—His principles for human behavior—are grounded in the structure of the universe (Rm 1:17-25). The creative power of God underlies the integrity of the law. The relationship of the created and moral orders was aptly expressed by Immanuel Kant: "Two things fill themind with ever new and increasing admiration and awe, the oftener and more steadily we reflect on them: the starry heavens above me, and the moral law within me."
20:1-4 The first part of this psalm records the intercession of the people on behalf of David, who was also praying in the sanctuary for victory in the war. They prayed that God would grant him the desires of his heart, i.e., what he was praying for specifically (21:2-6).
20:6 Whereas the people prayed for help from the Jerusalem sanctuary, the localized place of God's presence on Mount Zion, David expected the help to come from heaven—the holy dwelling of God behind the earthly sanctuary. The sanctuary was viewed as a microcosm of the world, the place where heaven and earth met, and where God chose to reveal His presence most dramatically and continually. The NT understanding is that the temple will soon be done away with (Mk 13:2) and worship there will come to an end (Jn 4:21). The body of Christ—the community of believers—will be the new temple of the Spirit (1 Co 3:16; 6:19).
20:7 David was confident of victory because he did not trust in military might (see 33:16-18) but in the "name of the Lord our God." Since the "name" refers to the attributes (see Ex 34:5-7; Is 9:6), the object of David's faith was the person and works of Yahweh. The word translated "take pride" is literally "keep in remembrance, make mention of, ponder"—he built his confidence by meditating on the nature of God.
Ps 22 This was David's prayer for deliverance from his enemies who surrounded him to put him to death, but it was also indirectly prophetic of the prayer of Jesus from the cross. While the words of David may be highly figurative for his experience, they became historically precise in the suffering of the Savior. David's prayer to be delivered from death (22:20) was eventually answered, prompting him to praise God in the assembly (vv. 22,25). Jesus' prayer, using the words of this psalm, was answered in the resurrection, for Heb 2:12 quotes the Davidic words of praise in v. 22 as the word of the risen Lord.
22:1 The most lamentable condition is the feeling of being forsaken by God in the time of suffering or danger. David's cry expressed that sense because of unanswered prayer. For Jesus to cry these words from the cross (Mt 27:46; Mk 15:34) is usually taken to mean that He believed the Father had abandoned Him to die for the sins of the world. However, passages of Scripture were not referenced in ancient times by chapter or verse but by their opening words; the Gospels may be indicating that Jesus recited the entire psalm, which ends on a note of victory. "The Deer of the Dawn" mentioned in the superscription was probably a secular song used as a pattern in performing the psalm.
22:8 The words of this taunt were used by the enemies of Jesus at the crucifixion (Mt 27:43), in a remarkable example of spiritual blindness. They did not realize that in doing this they were fulfilling the Scriptures, as were those responsible for sending Jesus to the cross (see Ac 3:17; 13:27).
22:16 The reading "they pierced my hands and my feet" follows the Greek OT (Septuagint). The Hebrew MT has what appears to be a senseless reading: "like a lion, my hands and my feet." However, grammarians have suggested that the Hebrew reading is an unusual, though possible, form of the verb kur, "bore, pierce." By revocalizing (i.e., altering the vowel sounds, which are not written as letters in Hb) the letters k'ri could be made to mean "as a lion."
22:18 The garment was the sufferer's one remaining possession; to divide his clothing before he was dead was the last indignity inflicted on him (Jn 19:24).
22:26 In the praise service in Israel's sanctuary, the poor actually could eat when someone offered praise. The law prescribed the peace offering (Lv 3:1-17; 7:11-21) for praise; it was to be a communal meal for all present who heard the testimony.
Ps 23 This well-known psalm is a psalm of confidence. The meditation uses the settings of the shepherd in the field (vv. 1-4), the host in the banquet hall (v. 5), and finally the sanctuary itself (v. 6).
23:1 The metaphor of the shepherd was a common figure for religious and political leaders of antiquity (2:9). It therefore became a powerful image for the coming Messiah (74:1-4; 80:1; Is 40:11; Ezk 34; Mc 7:14). The NT confirms that passages like this point to the ministry of Jesus Christ, the good Shepherd who lays down His life (Jn 10:14), the great Shepherd who equips thesaints (Heb 13:20), and the chief Shepherd who comes in glory (1 Pt 5:4). The descriptions of the shepherd here portray how the Lord teaches, heals, guides, and protects.
23:4 The "darkest valley" (sometimes translated the "valley of the shadow of death") does not mean that the psalmist died, only that he might find himself in a situation where death was a distinct possibility. The phrase "the darkest valley" alludes to the deep canyons in the wilderness into which one might fall and not escape unless God intervened.
23:6 The "house of the Lord" is the sanctuary where people worshiped. (The temple, in the Hebrew OT, is usually called beth Yahweh, "the Lord's house.") After his meditations, David desired to return to that holy place where he could avail himself of the blessing of God's presence. In the Christian application of the psalm, the hope is for complete communion with the Lord in the abundance of His blessing. While popular thinking often relates this verse to heaven, the phrase "in the presence of my enemies" (v. 5) suggests an earthly setting, since the believer's enemies are not present in heaven.
24:1-2 The psalm begins as a hymn of praise. God is King by creation and by victory over the forces of evil. The poetry suggests that He tamed the primeval waters and founded the earth (136:6). The language is a disparaging reference to pagan worship; the Canaanites venerated gods "Sea" and "River," perhaps as forces of chaos. In the biblical perspective the Lord has complete control over the forces of nature.
24:3-5 The psalm incorporates the "entrance rite" found in Ps 15 into a ceremony for a procession entering the gates of the sanctuary. The pilgrim worshipers ask who may enter the sacred area to fellowship with the Lord, and the doorkeeper priests respond that only those who have done no wrong and have pure motives may enter. The ceremony was intended to remind worshipers that they needed not only a sacrifice but also a life of sincere obedience to God to enter His courts.
24:7-8 The triumphal procession made its way through the gates into the sanctuary to offer praise for victory in warfare—as the phrases "mighty in battle" (v. 8) and "the Lord of Hosts" (v. 10) suggest (see Ex 15:2-3; Dt 10:17; Is 10:21). The title "Yahweh of Armies" (usually "the Lord of Hosts" in English) was always associated with the presence of the ark of the covenant, which went before the Israelites in the wilderness and also in warfare to occupy the land of Canaan. This, together with the epithet of "King of glory," suggests that the worshipers were following the ark of the covenant in procession (1 Sm 4:21-22). Apparently the ark was occasionally removed from the sanctuary and then triumphantly returned to Zion, symbolic of Yahweh's enthronement as King (Ps 47:5). (That the ark was carried outside the temple until the time of Josiah seems clear from 2 Ch 35:3.) The psalmist might be addressing the gates themselves, as if to say the King of glory should not have to stoop to go under the gateway. Or he might be addressing the people in the gates, urging them to rejoice and welcome the victors and not be depressed (see Is 14:31).
Ps 25 This is an alphabetic, or acrostic, psalm; each line begins with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet in sequence. At the heart of the psalm is the appeal that God should remember His mercy and not our sins (vv. 6, 7). The verb "remember" includes the idea of acting upon what is remembered.
26:2 The psalmist asked God to test him, try him, and examine him. He wanted to be sure of his loyalties to God so that he might find vindication and blessing.
26:4-5 The use of the word "hate" underscores his intense loyalty to God; the verb includes the idea of rejecting the assembly of the wicked hypocrites (5:5-6).
26:9 Despite his failures, David tried to live a life separated from "men of bloodshed" (see 2 Sm 1:13-16; 4:9-12) and did not want to die in the judgment upon them. He did not see himself as one of them, so he prayed for divine protection (see 1 Sm 15:6; Ps 28:3; 104:29; Zph 1:2-3; 3:8).
27:4 The psalmist hoped to visit the sanctuary on his pilgrimage (84:5); his desire was to gaze on the beauty of the Lord—to seek Him in His temple and experience the favor of His presence.
27:8 Seeking the face of God is seeking His favor. If God hides His face, there is no blessing (22:24; 30:7; 143:7).
Ps 29 This praise psalm extols the power and majesty of the Lord by telling of His powerful control of the weather. The psalm also countered Canaanite beliefs; the location of the storm was Lebanon and Syria, the domains of the storm god Baal. It was Yahweh, not Baal, who "flashes flames of fire" (v. 7). In the Canaanite religious texts, Baal caused the storms with a sevenfold peal of thunder; but in this psalm we are told seven times that it was "the voice of the Lord" (or the voice of Yahweh).
29:1 "You heavenly beings" is literally, "sons of the mighty" or "sons of gods" (Hb 'elim, a shorter form of 'elohim). This could be a reference to the angels (see Gn 6:2-4). In the Canaanite religion, these heavenly beings were members of the company of the gods; in Israel, they were angels in the heavenly court (see Ex 15:11; Jb 1–2; Ps 89:6-8; 138:1). David summoned them to praise, just as they did at the creation.
29:5-6 Lebanon and Sirion are mountains north of Israel, the latter being Mount Hermon. The poetic language of skipping refers to earthquakes.
29:9 The Hebrew MT has the word for "deer," referring to premature births caused by the storm. Some modern versions have changed the word slightly to make it read "oaks." There is no manuscript support for such an emendation. The psalm is viewing the world from the perspective of the sanctuary (76:1-9), hence the cry of "Glory!" from the congregation in the temple.
29:10 There is a double meaning to the word "flood." It may refer to the chaotic waters of the ocean that the Lord controls, but it may also form an allusion to the flood in Genesis. In either case, God sits sovereignly enthroned over such things.
Ps 30 The superscription ascribes the psalm to David but calls it a "song for the house"; that is, the temple. David did not build the temple, but he arranged the preparation for it and wrote this dedication psalm as well. The contents of this psalm indicate it was written after David's sin of numbering the people (1 Ch 22:2-19).
30:3 David rejoiced in being brought up from Sheol. Clearly he did not die, and so he was not in the grave or in the realm of departed spirits—the other meanings of Sheol. The word is used here as a poetic expression for deadly danger.
30:4-5 Two attributes of God, His anger and His favor, stand for what they produce: discipline and blessing. Believers always must keep these in perspective, singing their praises to Him (34:1; 84:4; Eph 5:18-20). God's discipline is short compared to a lifetime of enjoying His blessing. That is the point of the psalm.
31:5-6 This is a psalm of trust, in which the psalmist abandons himself to God in contrast to those who trust "worthless idols." Jesus quoted the words "into Your hands I entrust my spirit" when His suffering on the cross was finished (Lk 23:46). Perhaps, in view of the context here, His prayer carried the implication that those responsible for His execution were putting their trust in something "worthless."
Ps 32 In this penitential psalm, the king praises God for forgiveness of sin and warns others not to refuse to confess their sins.
32:1-2 Paul cited this passage (Rm 4:6-8) to show that when God forgives sins He does not "charge" them to our accounts; they are removed from the record. God will never bring them up again. That is why the forgiven worshiper wrote of such joy and happiness (Hb "blessedness"). In the OT as well as the NT, when aperson truly repents and confesses sin, the Lord forgives because He has promised to do so (Ps 103:8-12; 130:4).
32:3 The "bones" are used figuratively for the bony framework that houses the spirit, and so the heavy discipline was felt in the spirit.
32:6 The authors of Scripture exhort people to seek God while He may be found (see Is 55:6). He works through human affairs to convince people of their sin and provide opportunities for them to find His favor. To refuse Him again and again may jeopardize the opportunity as a person becomes more and more hardened in sin; there may come a time when such hardness is part of God's judgment on an individual (see Is 6:8-12; Rm 1:24).
33:3 Several other psalms speak of "a new song" coming forth from the worshipers (40:3; 96:1; 144:9; 149:1). While this could be taken metaphorically to refer to a renewed attitude of joy, it may also refer to singing and instrumental playing (here, "on the strings") by the sanctuary musicians.
33:16-17 A country's leaders may organize military action from time to time to deal with threats to national security, but such efforts do not guarantee ultimate safety and success. Victory comes from the Lord; He may use the instruments of warfare, or He may not, depending on His purposes. Whatever the situation, the people of God must acknowledge that there can be victory only if the Lord wills.
Ps 34 This is an acrostic psalm of confidence, successive lines beginning with the next letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The superscription's mention of Abimelech is a reference to Achish, king of Gath (1 Sm 21:10-15).
34:7 There is protection from the Lord for those who fear Him. The "angel of the Lord" may stand for the Lord Himself, but certainly could refer to one of His angelic messengers who do His bidding. The angel of the Lord guards the faithful so that they can do God's will (see Gn 32:2; 2 Kg 6:17; Ps 91:11; Mt 4:5-6).
34:20 In his Gospel, John saw this passage fulfilled in Christ who, even though dead on the cross, did not have one of His bones broken (Jn 19:33-36). The Father so guarded the death of His Son that He made the perfect sacrifice, that of the unblemished Lamb of God (Jn 1:29).
36:1 The first line of the psalm is difficult to translate, and English versions word it differently. The Hebrew reads, literally, "There is an oracle about the transgression of the ungodly in my heart." The psalmist received a revelation from God about those who disregard Him.
36:7-8 The language is figurative but refers to the believers' fellowship with God in the sanctuary. There they feast on the sacrifice and drink from the "refreshing stream" of His presence. The word translated "refreshing" (Hb 'adaneika) is related to "Eden" (Gn 2:8,10); the phrase could perhaps be translated "Your Edenic streams." The psalm depicts the restoration of the blessings of the garden of Eden (cp. v. 6, "You preserve man and beast") through the worship of the Lord. The faithful saw the sanctuary, where the wings of the cherubim (v. 7) overshadowed the ark, as a reflection of paradise—the place where God dwelt with His people on earth.
37:1 It is easy to say "do not be agitated," but it takes a strong faith to reach this level of confidence in the Lord. The cause for anxiety in this case is envy of wrongdoers who prosper in the world. A deep trust in the Lord enables people to delight in Him, and He will give them the desires of their hearts. Those desires, however, will be in harmony with God's will.
37:25 The psalmist says that he has never seen the righteous abandoned, nor their children reduced to begging. This is a general observation of God's faithfulness; it does not mean life will be easy or trouble-free for the righteous. Since God will never forsake the righteous, He will ultimately rescue them, but in His time. Through periods of difficulty it will seem as though God has forsaken people (22:1), but in such cases He is calling upon them to exercise a deeper trust and commitment.
40:6-8 The psalms were performed by Levitical singers who did not serve at the altar of sacrifice; the Levites may also have fulfilled the function of "teaching priests" (2 Ch 15:3; cp. Neh 8:7,8). This section may reflect the scope of their activities—not sacrifice but instruction. But all devout worshipers would acknowledge that God made them for obedience; they expressed a desire to live according to His Word. The spirit of sacrifice was surrender, and the Lord was more interested in the worshiper's obedience than the performance of ritual (1 Sm 15:22). Verse 6 in the Hebrew reads literally, "ears you have dug for me," meaning that God gave the speaker the capacity to hear and obey (cp. "Anyone who has ears to hear should listen," Mk 4:9). The Greek OT translators apparently found the idiom obscure and tried to clarify it with the reading, "you prepared a body for me" (perhaps there was some confusion over the Gk letters for "ears" and "body"). The writer to the Hebrews recognized that this reading applied most fully to Jesus, who was more dedicated to do the will of the Father than anyone else (Heb 10:5-7). The Father prepared a body for Him in the womb of the virgin (see Gl 4:4), He came to do the Father's will, and the will of God for Him was prescribed in the Bible in great detail.
41:9 The psalmist was betrayed by a close friend (lit. "a man of my peace") who joined his enemies in speaking evil of him (vv. 5-7). While many people could appropriate these words to their experiences, the greatest act of betrayal was that of Judas (Mt 26:23; Mk 14:18; Lk 22:21; Jn 13:21).
41:13 The book of Ps is divided into five books; this doxology (expression of praise) marks the end of Book I.
Pss 42–43 These were originally one psalm, sharing the repeated refrain (42:5,11; 43:5). These psalms begin a section of the book (Pss 42–83) in which it appears that "God" (Elohim) has frequently been substituted, in textual transmission, for the divine name Yahweh. This is evident, for example, in comparing Ps 14 with its repetition in Ps 53. Scholars sometimes call this section the "Elohistic Psalter."
42:2 On seeing God's face, see note on 11:7. The speaker was a priest from the family of Korah (see superscription; Ex 6:24) who for some reason was prevented from leading the people in worship as he formerly did (cp. v. 4).
42:5-6 In meditation the devout speak to themselves concerning the pain they are experiencing. Here the psalmist used a rhetorical question to replace his despair with hope.
42:6-7 The location is in the north of the country, where the waterfalls pour out of the base of Mount Hermon and become the Jordan River. The identification of Mizar in that region is unknown.
43:3-4 Light and truth are metaphors for full redemption (36:9) and covenant faithfulness respectively. The worshiper vowed that if God so restored him to Zion ("Your holy mountain," v. 3), he would joyfully resume his duties as a musician.
Ps 44 This is a national lament over the problem of suffering. The writer, speaking on behalf of the nation, recorded how the Lord abandoned them in a war for no reason—they had not broken faith with Him. Paul quoted from this psalm (v. 22) in Rm 8:36 to affirm, as the psalm does, that such suffering does not separate us from the love of God.
44:20-21 The psalmist knew that if they had sinned to deserve this suffering, the Lord would have sent a prophet to uncover their sin and force them to deal with it. But God did not condemn them at all.
44:23 The command "wake up" is a bold anthropomorphism calling God to action, as if He has been asleep on the job. It is a desperate cry of suffering; rightly did Paul explain this by saying we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit intercedes for us (Rm 8:26). Only a people with a supreme confidence in their God—such as faithful Israel—could use such bold, even demanding, language in prayer, fully confident that He can handle it.
Ps 45 This royal psalm focuses on the wedding of the king. As with all the royal psalms, the apostles saw that they ultimately spoke of Jesus the Messiah; He is the only King who loves righteousness and hates wickedness (Heb 1:8-9). Furthermore, the parallels between the motifs of this song and Rv 19:6-18 are striking.
45:6-7 Varied translations of this section appear in English versions: "Your [Thy] throne, [O] God" (KJV, NIV, HCSB) or "your throne is like God's" (NEB). It was not a problem in the OT to call a king or ruler "god," for he was God's representative (Ex 7:1; Is 9:6). The word 'elohim conveys the basic meaning of "strength, might" and need not always refer to "divinity" as commonly understood today; it could refer to a powerful person. The phrase "therefore God, your God" sounds redundant, but in the "Elohistic Psalter" (see Pss 42–43) the personal name Yahweh has sometimes been replaced by the title "God."
45:10-12 This section records the pastoral advice the poet (cp. v. 1) gives the bride before her wedding day. In the expression "and the king will desire your beauty," he refers to the beauty of her entire being, which would include her submissive demeanor. (In Hebrew thought the "beautiful" is that which functions properly, not just whatever has a pleasing appearance.) This was not a "normal" marriage but a royal one, and the queen, no matter how important, had to serve the king because he was her lord. In a similar way, the bride of Christ is instructed to make herself ready for the marriage (Rv 19:7).
Ps 46 This psalm, ascribed to the Levitical singers ("sons of Korah"), is called a song of Zion because it focuses on the security of the holy city, the place of God's presence. The theme of "God is with us" recalls "Immanuel" in Is 7:14; 8:8.
46:2-6 The language of these verses seems at first glance to be describing natural phenomena such as an earthquake. But the lines could be: (1) countering pagan mythology in which the forces of nature were thought chaotic; the psalmist declares they have no power against the holy city and the people of God; (2) looking ahead (eschatological) to the end of the age when the world will be in chaos but God's people preserved; (3) referring to warfare and not natural phenomena at all (metaphorical, cp. Is 8), since the second half of the psalm is about warfare. Both parts of the psalm speak of safety in the time of turmoil, whatever its cause.
46:4 There is no river, properly speaking, in Jerusalem; the river mentioned here could be a metaphor for the life-giving influence of worship and service flowing from the sanctuary of God (see Ezk 47:1-12; Rv 22:1-2). Alternatively, the psalmist could have in mind the water flowing from the Gihon spring under the city of David into the pool of Siloam. In a time of warfare such a steady water supply inside the fortified city would certainly make the people glad. The river in the holy city may also allude to the garden (Gn 2:10-14; cp. Ps 36:9). In time of war or natural upheaval, God's presence would guarantee protection and provision.
46:4 God is called "the Most High" ('el 'elyon). This may be a reference to the tradition of Melchizedek, the earlier king of Salem (Jerusalem), "priest to God Most High" (Gn 14:18). That ancient tradition influenced the language used to describe the kings who reigned in Jerusalem (Gn 14:18-24; Ps 110:4; Lk 1:32) and the NT description of Jesus' priesthood (Heb 7:1-28).
Ps 47 The writer celebrates the kingship of Yahweh. The language of this and other so-called "enthronement psalms" (Pss 93–98) indicates that the passage is eschatological; it will be fulfilled at the coming of the Lord in judgment (see "the Day of the Lord" in the prophecies of Jl and Am). He will reign as the great King over all the earth (see Mal 1:11,14).
47:5 To say God ascended means that He ascended to the heavenly throne where He reigns as King over all the earth. His ascension (lit. "going up") may have been dramatized in a procession of the ark of the covenant (24:7; 68:18), accompanied by the war cry and battle alarm—"shouts," "sound of trumpets" (Hb shofar). The colorful picture painted here, in word or pageantry, was directed against the Canaanite god Baal who was believed to ascend into the heavens.
47:8 To describe God as seated on a throne is to speak of His absolute sovereign rule over all the earth, His footstool (e.g., 103:19; Is 66:1; sometimes the "footstool" appears to be localized in the ark of the covenant, Ps 99:5; 132:7). The language of God's throne, symbolic of His reign, is carried over in the NT (Rv 4:9-10; 5:1,7,13).
48:2 Mount Zion is not in the north (Hb zaphon) of the land of Canaan (Palestine), but in the center, close to the tribal area of the southernmost tribe of Judah. This psalm from the Korahite priests may have been intended to counter Canaanite religion, in which a god Baal-zephon was prominent. Worship of Baal-zephon was centered on the coast of northern Syria. The psalmist may have been saying, in effect, that Zion is the mountain of God.
Ps 49 Wisdom psalms often probe the inequities of life. Here the Korahite psalmist wrote of the man who lives for all the pomp and glory this life offers, but dies like everyone else.
49:7 No one can give the necessary price to redeem himself or others from the grave, for everyone dies. The Bible is not opposed to the possession of wealth; the psalm explains, rather, that with regard to destiny beyond the grave such wealth is worthless.
49:12 In the matter of death and decay humans are no better off than beasts, for all die and return to the dust. The writer was not denying the believer goes to be with the Lord; he was contrasting the dust of death with the pomp of this life.
49:14 The psalmist used irony and personification to say that death will feed on the wicked in Sheol. Death leads the sheep to slaughter. In contrast, the upright will triumph "in the morning," after the night of suffering.
Ps 50 Asaph, probably David's chief musician (1 Ch 16:5), portrays the appearance ("in radiance," i.e. shining) of the Lord. He comes in all His glory and beauty to judge the people, particularly with respect to their worship practices. This "prophetic psalm" is cast as a trial; God is the Judge (v. 6), His covenant people are the defendants (v. 5), and the heavens and earth are witnesses(v. 4). God is a devouring fire (v. 3), for He does not tolerate anything that does not meet His standards.
50:7-15 Asaph records the words of a sanctuary prophet declaring God's indictment. The people's worship was merely an outer form that lacked the right spiritual motivation. God declares that He does not need them—they need Him. This declaration of the word of God may be the heart of His "appearing" that is taking place.
50:16-21 The second indictment is for hypocrisy in conduct, the breaking of some of the Ten Commandments (vv. 18-20). The wicked were present in the congregation, speaking the words of Scripture and the covenant (v. 16) as ritual but with no inner commitment. They assumed God's silence about their sin meant His approval—that He was just like them (v. 21; cp. Mal 2:17; 3:14-15).
50:22 To "forget God" is to live as if He had no claims on their lives—no repentance, no obedience, no proper worship. This is the description of fools (14:1).
Ps 51 Often referred to as David's confession of sin, this passage is a meditation on what it means to be aware of sin and the need to be forgiven. The superscription describes it as a sequel to Nathan's confronting the king with taking Uriah's wife, Bathsheba (2 Sm 12:1-15).
51:4 David had sinned against Uriah and Bathsheba, but the confession acknowledged that sin is, first of all, against God; the expression "You alone" simply intensifies that thought.
51:5 David was not saying that his birth was illegitimate, or that his parents sinned when they performed the sexual act at his conception. He was acknowledging that there never was a time when he was without sin. He was born in the state of sin, or rebellion against God, which is common to all humanity until reconciliation with God occurs. David's statement is a poetic expression of the biblical teaching about this pervasive, inborn or "original" sin (see Rm 3:23).
51:8 Because of the seriousness of his sin, David could not go into the sanctuary to join God's praises. Here he asked for forgiveness so that he could do that, with his petition implied: "[Tell me I am forgiven so that I may] hear joy and gladness."
51:10 The heart is the spiritual nature of a person, the center of the will, the capacity for making choices. The prayer is for God to re-create (renew, as the parallelism in the verse shows) that spiritual side, lest he continue to make wrong choices. Forgiveness may not be enough to solve the problem; there must be a complete spiritual renewal. The forgiven worshiper is not the old person cleaned up; he is a new person (Ezk 18:31; 2 Co 5:17).
51:11 At Pentecost the risen and ascended Christ sent His Holy Spirit (Ac 2:32-33) to abide with every believer. But before the incarnation and resurrection of the Son of God, the Spirit appears to function differently in the life of the people of God. The Spirit "came upon" or "indwelt" people responsible for administering the rule of God: prophets, priests, and kings. The presence of God's Spirit set them apart and enabled them to lead (see Is 61:1), but His indwelling was not always permanent as it is in the NT. Thus, when Saul sinned against the Lord and was rejected from kingship, the Spirit left him(1 Sm 16:14). David the king probably had this possibility in mind. His prayer is a typical OT petition that he not be removed from service because of his sin. Christians would not express this thought in the same way; since Jesus Christ lives and reigns, His Holy Spirit indwells them permanently as the seal of eternal life. Still, NT believers can pray the same thing David meant: "Do not remove me from service." (On the Holy Spirit in the OT, see Jdg 3:10; 1 Sm 18:12.)
51:12 David was not praying for his salvation to be restored; he was praying that the joy of that deliverance be restored. Psalm 32 describes the kind of spiritual depression that results from unforgiven sin.
51:15 The request "Lord, open my lips" is a metonymy, or the use of one aspect of an action or thing to represent the whole. The full request would say: "Forgive me so that I can open my mouth and praise."
51:16-17 The psalm is not repudiating sacrifice; the rites of the altar were the heart of Israel's corporate worship. Because of the nature of David's sins, there was no sin offering he could bring—those offerings were for sins of ignorance. Without a sin offering, he could not offer the atoning whole burnt offering. And he certainly could not offer a peace offering because his peace with God had been compromised. He could only plead for mercy with a broken spirit—that is, a will that had been stripped of all rebellion and pride.
51:18-19 If the expression "build the walls of Jerusalem" is understood figuratively, the walls stand for the moral defense of the city and the worshiping nation it represents (the NT also uses words like "edify" in a figurative or spiritual sense). The speaker here was a king, and immorality at the highest level of government weakens a nation's defensive posture.
Ps 53 This psalm repeats Ps 14, substituting "God" for "the Lord" (see Pss 42–43).
54:5 The psalmist declares that God will annihilate his enemies. His words are in line with divine justice; God destroys the wicked by causing their evil to recoil on them.
55:15 This is a psalm of imprecation, or cursing (Pss 69; 94; 109; 139), in which the worshiper calls for God to severely punish his enemies. David had been betrayed by a former friend (vv. 12-14), which made his anguish even deeper. If the sentiments expressed here seem unworthy of a worshiper of a loving God, they are at least honest. God's answer is to "cast your burden on the Lord" (v. 22), and not to take matters into your own hands.
56:8 In the ancient world, people sometimes saved their tears in small bottles as a remembrance of the sorrow. The psalmist wanted God to remember every aspect of his plight.
58:1 The MT reads "will You speak righteousness in silence?" (Hb 'elem), but other ancient versions differ. Most modern translations emend the text to 'elim, "rulers" or "judges" (see 82:1,6).
58:10 The imagery of the feet in the blood of enemies is graphic and gruesome, but it is the imagery of certain victory (see Is 63:1-6; Rv 14:19-20; 19:13-14).
59:8 The psalmist used bold anthropomorphic language (God laughing) to stress that evil is utterly ridiculous to God (2:4; 37:13).
59:10 The psalmist was saying that God will let him "look" (ra'ah) on his foes, but the force of the Hebrew verb here is stronger: to "look down" (HCSB), "look in triumph" (RSV) or "gloat." God will let him see victory and enjoy it. But since the victory is God's, the praise also must be His. Therefore, the boasting must be in Him and not in oneself (vv. 16-17).
60:6-8 The psalm is describing God's sovereignty over the nations. In that light, Moab becomes a place for the warrior to wash his feet, a sign of its reduction to the status of servitude. All nations must submit to the authority of God, or they will be dispossessed.
63:2 To "gaze" on the Lord in the sanctuary (to "see" Him or "see His face") may be figurative language for the inward vision of God's glory and His help (see 17:15). It may also refer to some specific action of the priests during the sanctuary rites, when the Lord was understood to be "seen" in a special way.
63:4 The physical act of raising the hands was one custom of ancient Israel while praising (141:2); the Apostle Paul commends it for Christian men (1 Tm 2:8). Posture and gestures can intensify prayer and praise if the action is natural and the intent sincere. Ancient Near Eastern monuments depict rulers lifting the hand in supplication before a deity, and Israel followed the same practice toward the Lord.
64:3-4 The psalmist pictured his enemy's words, intended to hurt and destroy, as sharpened swords and swift arrows. Then he turned the image around (vv.7-8); God's arrows will destroy the wicked as their own words turn on them and bring them to ruin (62:12).
68:1 This psalm takes up the cry of Moses during Israel's march through the wilderness (Nm 10:35) whenever the ark of the covenant set out to move forward. The setting may be a procession of the ark up Mount Zion into the sanctuary (vv. 24-27; 24:7).
68:4,33 The picture of God riding on the clouds and across the heavens was directed against Baal, Canaan's storm god, who was said to mount up to the heavens. But it is the Lord who rides victoriously through the heavens (104:3). That Elijah, the great opponent of the worship of the false Baals, was taken up in a whirlwind accompanied by chariots of fire (2 Kg 2:11) would also undermine such pagan beliefs.
68:7-18 The psalm is a prayer for the Lord to come as a warrior. It portrays the divine warrior moving from Sinai in the wilderness to Zion in Jerusalem in a triumphant march. Historically, this occurred in the movement of the holy ark over several generations; the psalm provides a summary picture.
68:11 At the Lord's command, a great company of women (the Hb word is a feminine plural form) celebrated His victory ("brought the good news"). Young women appear later in this psalm in celebration (v. 25; cp. Ex 15:20-21; Jdg 5:1-31; 11:34; 1 Sm 18:6-7). Some Christian interpreters of this psalm see in this verse a foreshadowing of the women who came to the tomb to anoint Jesus' body only to discover that He had risen from death. Portions of this psalm are chanted in the Orthodox celebration of Christ's victory over death.
68:13 The meaning of the verse is uncertain; the text may have been corrupted in transmission. Except for the reference to a "dove," one might visualize the wings of the cherubim on the ark of the covenant. The context of warfare adds to that possibility.
68:16 The poetry describes the great mountains of the land as jealous when God chose Zion for the resting place of the ark of the covenant. Although other mountains are higher, they were not chosen. Possibly there was an intended slight of other elevations that were sites for the worship of pagan gods (48:2).
68:17 "Chariots" represent angelic forces in this poetic imagery (see Dt 33:2; 2 Kg 6:15; Zch 6:5).
68:18 The psalm celebrates how Yahweh ascended on high and received gifts from men, just as a victorious sovereign in the ancient Near East would receive gifts in tribute. The line is appropriate as a description of the Lord's conquest of the land and the ascension of His presence to Zion, represented by the ark. In the NT, Paul used this psalm with reference to Jesus' triumphant ascension to heaven, in which He gave spiritual gifts to His people (Eph 4:8; cp. 2 Co 2:14). When the conquering king received the spoils of war, he distributed them in turn to his loyal subjects. Paul, following the Greek OT reading "gave" (Hb "took"), omitted the thought of receiving the tribute, and went right to the point of the distribution of gifts.
69:2-9 Deep waters ("floodwaters," v. 15) and the other images here are metaphors for trouble. Because the psalms were generalized for the use of the community's worship, the psalmist's particular trouble is difficult to gauge. It appears that he was persecuted by faithless people, including family members (v. 8) because of his zeal for the worship of the Lord (v. 9). The psalmist had a burning passion for the Lord's cause. In the NT, zeal for the house of the Lord consumed Christ, for like the psalmist, He desired to please God above all else (Jn 2:17; Rm 15:3).
69:12 The gate complex with its plaza is best known as the place where the elders of the city sat to make decisions. But everyone going into or out of the city had to pass through it, so it was also a place where drunkards would be found.
69:21 Gall is a poisonous herb; the psalmist used it, with bitter vinegar, as a picture of the treatment he was receiving from his enemies. They made fun of his grief (vv. 10-11) over both his own sinfulness (v. 5) and the godlessness of others. The application of these words to Christ's suffering (Mt 27:34) is more intense in view of the death He died.
69:22-28 These verses form an imprecation, or curse,on the wicked (Pss 55; 94; 109; 139). It was the psalmist's holy zeal that compelled him to call for divinejudgment. In the final analysis, wrongs must be righted.
70:5 The terms "afflicted" (or "poor") and "needy" have both economic and spiritual connotations. Economically poor people will normally be humbled by their condition and more likely to acknowledge their dependence on the Lord. In the psalms, the "poor" were often those most devoted to the Lord, who were therefore despised by the less faithful segments of the community. Similarly in the NT, Paul's mention of "the poor"(Gl 2:10) referred to the persecuted Christians of Jerusalem, for whom he was collecting an offering (Rm 15:26; 1 Co 16:1).
Ps 72 This "Solomonic" psalm recalls the glory of the Davidic kingdom. Its geographical extent is specific (v. 8): "from sea to sea" (i.e., the Mediterranean to the Dead Sea), and from the Euphrates to "the ends of the earth" (lit. "ends of the land"; the word is 'erets, as in v. 16). Other rulers will bow down to the son of David (v. 11), and through him the Lord will bless all nations (v. 17).
72:4 The rule of the ideal king is righteous and just (v. 1),he will be a champion for the afflicted and the needy, and have pity on the weak and the poor (vv. 12-14). Thus, the psalmist petitioned God for the prosperity of the anointed king and his realm (vv. 15-17).
72:18-20 This passage, with its doxology (ascription of praise), marks the end of Book II of Ps, and also of the collection called "the prayers of David," although Davidic psalms appear later in the book.
Ps 73 The psalmist (Asaph, according to the superscription) reports he had serious doubts (v. 13) about the value of his faith when he saw the prosperity of the wicked all around him (v. 3). But he handled his doubts correctly; he did not publicize them to other people who might have been disillusioned by them. Rather, he went to the sanctuary (v. 17) where, in the presence of God, he saw things in eternal perspective.
73:24 In contrast to the realization that the wicked face the judgment of God, the psalmist was comforted by the hope of his glorious destiny. The words "take me up in glory" could refer to his entrance into glory after this life is over; but the Hebrew word (kavod) also means "honor" and could refer to the approval conferred on a life guided by God's counsel. In the broader scope of the Bible, these words certainly harmonize with the doctrines of resurrection and glorification.
Ps 74 The psalm laments the complete destruction of the temple (vv. 4-8) in words that, if taken literally, could only fit the Babylonian invasion in 586 b.c. But the superscription, "A Maskil of Asaph," relates the psalm to David's music director. The psalm may have originated among the musicians descended from Asaph, or may have been composed as a "maskil" in his style (the meaning of maskil is uncertain).
74:13-14 The psalm uses the language of Canaanite myths to affirm the absolute sovereignty of God. "Leviathan" and the "sea monsters" were the pagan's way of deifying the uncontrollable force of nature in the sea. But God defeated the sea at the exodus (114:1; Is 51:9-10), meaning He controlled the sea to destroy the Egyptian army. In defeating Egypt, and later Assyria and Babylon, He also defeated the gods they worshiped (see Nm 33:4; Jb 26:12; Ps 89:9-10; 104:26; Is 27:1; Ezk 29:3).
75:5 The imagery of the "horn," taken from the animal world, signifies the power and autonomy of the person.
Ps 76 This psalm, like Pss 46 and 48, celebrates God's presence in Jerusalem. It may be a psalm of David commemorating the defeat of the Philistines at Baal-perazim (2 Sm 5:17-21).
76:2 Salem, the ancient name of Jerusalem, first appears in Gn 14:18; Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High. It is related to Hebrew shalom, "peace."
76:3 The psalmist states that God defeated His enemies and destroyed their weapons, "there"—i.e., in "His dwelling place in Zion" (v. 2). This is a picture of spiritual warfare; God's victory takes place in the sanctuary, which is a microcosm (miniature model) of the world, before it occurs in the earthly battlefield.
Ps 78 This long "historical psalm" is essentially a retelling of Israel's record of disobedience and unbelief in the face of all that God had done for His people. Yet, despite their sin, He "awoke as if from sleep" and defeated their enemies (vv. 65-66).
78:67-72 The psalm pointedly mentions God's choice of Judah, Mount Zion, and David in place of Ephraim, which stood for the northern Israelite tribes. This suggests that it was composed after the breakup of the kingdom, when northern Israel rebelled against the Davidic dynasty and went its own way (1 Kg 12:16).
80:1 The Lord sits enthroned "on the cherubim." The reference is to the presence of the Lord in the most holy place in the sanctuary, where the ark of the covenant was considered the footstool of his invisible throne (see 132:7-8). Molded on the lid of the box at each end were the cherubim, powerful composite figures with both human and animal features (see Ezk 1:5-11). The glory of the Lord hovered above this cover (sometimes called the "mercy seat" in English versions).
80:3 The refrain of the psalm is drawn from the high priestly blessing of Nm 6:22-27. If God's face shines on the people—if He, their Shepherd (Ps 80:1), is gracious to them—they will be saved.
81:1-5 The psalm describes a festival ceremony, or a portion of one. These verses invite the worshipers to gather "on the day of our feast" (v. 3).
81:7 Meribah was the name of the station in the wilderness where the people complained to Moses about the lack of water (Ex 17:1-7; Nm 20:1-13; Ps 95:8). The name means "striving" or "disputation."
81:8-10 A spokesman for the Lord, perhaps a prophet functioning at the sanctuary, reiterated Israel's basic obligation under the covenant: to worship no "god" other than Yahweh. He repeated the beginning of the Ten Commandments (v. 10; cp. Ex 20:2). The invitation, "Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it," may signify that the congregation was to recite the covenant commandments at this point in the ceremony.
82:1,6 To describe the Lord as presiding over the "divine assembly" of the "gods" sounds like a borrowing of Canaanite polytheistic themes. Since the Bible affirms there is only one true God, any such borrowing can only be for the purpose of opposing false religions. The Bible frequently mentions other "gods" the pagans worshiped, but makes it clear that they were lifeless, powerless idols (e.g., 96:5; 115:4-7; Is 46:1-2; 1 Co 10:19; 12:2). The term "gods" ('elohim) in this psalm could be taken in its generic sense of "strength, might" to refer to powerful men (see Ex 7:1; Jn 10:35-36), in this case corrupt judges who were not dispensing justice as they ought (Ps 82:2-4). Or it could refer to pagan deities whose false worship was supplanted by the truth of the one God. Such "gods" might have a divine assembly, but Israel's God is sovereign and so they are all subject to Him. Whether these "gods" were powerful men or false deities, their end was certain—they would die like men (vv. 6-7). God, the real Judge (50:6) has condemned them.
Ps 83 This is the last psalm in the 42-psalm "Elohistic Psalter" (Pss 42–83) in which the title "God" often appears where one would expect the divine name Yahweh. Various theories have been proposed to explain this phenomenon, but there is no consensus regarding why it occurs.
84:6 This psalm may have been used by pilgrims on their way to the sanctuary to attend the annual festivals. The location of a "Valley of Baca" is unknown. The word means "weeping." The name could have been given to a valley where balsam trees grew, for they "weep." In this psalm the expression takes on a metaphorical meaning, perhaps describing the sorrows borne by the worshipers or the hardships along their pilgrim way to the holy city. Yahweh takes even our Baca Valleys and transforms them by His presence—the presence experienced at His temple but not limited geographically.
86:8 The expression "among the gods" refers to pagan deities, which usurped the place of the one true God (see note on 82:1,6).
86:16 In this Davidic psalm, the worshiper speaks of himself as "the son of Your female servant," traditionally, "handmaid" (see also 116:16). Since the speaker was the king, the reference was to the "queen mother" who evidently could exercise considerable influence in the Judean and Israelite courts (1 Kg 2:19; 2 Ch 22:3). The records of the reigns of David's descendants on the throne of Judah usually mention the name of the king's mother (e.g., 1 Kg 14:31; 15:10; 22:42). Roman Catholic theologians sometimes point to these facts in support of the attention paid to the mother of Jesus, the Messiah, who also calls herself "the Lord's slave" (Lk 1:38), or handmaid.
87:4-6 There were people from the countries that oppressed Israel, especially Egypt (called here by the mythological name Rahab), who came to faith by acknowledging the Lord. They were therefore recorded as "born" in Zion, and were numbered as citizens of the city of God. This passage is the background for Paul's statement that "the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother" (Gl 4:26); it is spiritual birth, not ethnic descent, that determines who belongs to the people of God.
88:10-12 The psalmist (according to the superscription, Heman the Ezrahite) committed himself to giving God the glory for the answer to prayer. Abaddon is synonymous with Sheol, the place of the dead (see Jb 26:6;Pr 15:11; 27:20).
88:15-18 The suffering psalmist attributed his life-long affliction to God ("Your wrath," "Your terrors"). This is the realism of the faith—God is sovereign, even over difficult circumstances His people must endure. Everything has a purpose in the outworking of God's plan, even though in the time of pain it is hard to appreciate this. If the psalm seems to end on a negative note, two considerations apply. First, however much the speaker felt God had deserted him, he was still talking to Him. Second, the psalm, as it is given, may not reproduce the entire scene; when it was used in worship, another speaker not quoted here (e.g., a priest or a prophet) may have responded with an answer affirming the Lord's help. There are many places in Ps that suggest there was an unrecorded response from another speaker, in the Lord's name.
Ps 89 The Davidic covenant of 2 Sm 7 was the basis for this psalm, but the psalmist complained that its promises seem not to be fulfilled (vv. 38-45). In granting the covenant, the Lord had warned David that his descendants' disobedience would result in their chastening(2 Sm 7:14).
89:10 As in 74:14, Rahab may have been the equivalent of Leviathan or a similar mythological figure. It represented opposition from the pagans, primarily Egypt (87:4; Is 30:7). But God crushed Rahab—Egypt was defeated at the Red Sea (Ex 14:28-30; Jb 26:12; Is 51:9-10).
89:26-27 According to the Davidic covenant, the king was designated God's son or firstborn (2 Sm 7:14) because he inherited the kingdom (Ps 2:7-9). The relationship between Jesus the Messiah and the Father is far greater, because He is the divine Son (meaning that He shares the nature of the Father). He alone can be called son of David and Son of God in the full sense.
89:52 This brief doxology brings Book III to a conclusion. Book IV begins with Ps 90.
Ps 90 The superscription attributes this song to Moses, and the contents of it certainly do fit the wilderness experience. The idea that God swept the people away in His anger is a strong way of saying that they died in the wilderness because of their unbelief (95:11; Heb 4:1-5).
90:12 To number our days is to measure the time left in life and make every day count. It is based on the recognition that life is short and God's anger swift. Thus, the goal of such numbering is a heart of wisdom. Conscious of life's brevity, we learn to make choices through which God can establish the work of our hands (v. 17), producing something valuable to those that follow us (v. 16) and honoring to God.
91:1-2 The first two verses use the images of "protection" (Hb sether, "hiding place") and "shadow" from the world of birds, and "refuge" and "fortress" from military settings, to express confidence in divine protection. While most of the psalms are either prayers to God or hymns to His praise, this psalm (except v. 2) is entirely God's word of assurance to the worshiper (see Pss 50; 81; 82).
91:4 The idea of God's covering people with His feathers and wings is a figurative way to express divine nurture and protection (see Mt 23:37; Lk 13:34). It may be that the psalmist had in mind the ark of the covenant, and its accompanying winged cherubim, in the sanctuary.
91:11-13 The Lord may permit things to happen in life that are troubling and painful, but nothing is ever out of His control. God dispatches His angels to ensure that His will is safeguarded. In the NT, Satan used this reassuring passage to tempt Jesus to dramatize His identity as the messianic Son of God. Jesus countered this misuse of Scripture with another that warns against putting God to the test (Mt 4:6-7; Lk 4:10-11).
91:16 The promise of long life to the believer must not be taken for an automatic guarantee of longevity in this physical world. Wisdom literature acknowledges that, even among the righteous, life may be cut short. Still, God's purpose is that the righteous live till their life has been "satisfied" in His sight. Ultimately He will fulfill His promise both in this life and in the life to come(1 Tm 4:8-9).
Ps 93 The expression "the Lord reigns," common in the enthronement psalms (47; 93; 95–99), can also be translated "Yahweh has become King." The expression could be taken in several ways. It could express the general truth that, as Creator, He is sovereign over all things. It could be the celebration of some great victory that has revealed His rule. It could be an expression associated with a festival celebrating Yahweh's enthronement. Or it could be eschatological, as in Is 52:7 which refers to the salvation or deliverance to come. The imagery of the Lord's reigning corresponds to phenomena that accompany the coming "Day of the Lord" (Jl, Am), often called the second coming. The psalmist lavishly praised God's sovereignty with poetic language, and all these options could apply simultaneously; it is not necessary to choose between them.
93:3 The reference may be to the victory at the Red Sea; it could also be directed against pagan religions that feared the power of the seas. In Canaanite literature Baal's great victory is over Yam ("Sea"). But in the biblical perspective only the living God can control the chaos of nature, or the nations that the "seas" symbolize (Is 8:7-8; Jr 46:7-8).
94:2 "Pride" in the psalms is rarely, if ever, referring to ordinary pride in appearance or achievement. It is pride that oversteps God's boundaries and acts autonomously against God, His people, and His institutions. This psalm, directed against the "arrogant" and "evildoers" who oppress the faithful (vv. 4-7), belongs to the category of "psalms of imprecation," or cursing.
94:12 The psalm echoes Ps 1, "happy is the man." The Hebrew word here, however, is different: not the generic 'ish "man," but gever, "strong man."
94:14 The Lord will not reject His people, those who have entered into covenant by faith. Thus, the psalm is not entirely about condemnation of the wicked; it is a prayer for God's kingdom.
95:3 The Lord is "a great King above all gods." On "gods" in the psalms, see note on 82:1,6.
95:8-9 Massah means "testing" (on Meribah, see note on 81:7).
95:11 Because of their faithless challenge of God at Meribah, the Israelites were not permitted to enter the rest, i.e., the promised land (Heb 4:7). On the psalm's ending on a negative note, see note on 88:15-18. Jesus gives rest, spiritual rest now and eternal rest in the world to come (Mt 11:28).
96:1 On the "new song," see note on 33:3.
96:4 On "gods" in the psalms, see note on 82:1,6. The Lord God made the heavens and everything in them, even those things the pagans venerate.
97:1-5 Here the declaration that the Lord reigns is followed by the poetic language of theophany or epiphany—descriptions of spectacular natural phenomena in the heavens and on earth that reveal God's presence. Much of the imagery goes back to Sinai (Dt 4:11,24), but it also anticipates the coming "Day of the Lord." Thick, dark clouds (Ps 97:2) usually refer to judgment from the Lord, whose decisions are always right and just. Lightning, fire, and earthquakes all speak of the penetrating nature of divine judgment. The psalm refers, ultimately, to the future coming of the Lord (the verb is prophetic perfect). When He comes to establish His kingdom on earth, generations will see Him and be overwhelmed by the power.
98:8-9 The psalm says that the rivers clap, the mountains sing, and all nature echoes and reverberates in anticipation of the coming of the Lord. In Rm 8:19-22, Paul described the longing of creation to see the fulfillment of God's purpose.
100:1 The "shout" ("make a joyful noise," KJV, RSV) was the war cry; the Hebrew verb is the same as that of the shouting of the Israelites at the capture of Jericho (Jos 6:20). This psalm takes the worshiper into the realm of spiritual warfare.
100:3 Translations of this verse differ ("not we ourselves," KJV, NASB; "we are his," RSV, NIV) because of textual emendation by some translators, supported by a marginal note in the MT. The Hebrew text reads literally, "He made us and not we." However, the negative particle lo' is usually used with verbs; another form of negation is used for nouns or pronouns. It is likely that the original reading was lo (without the unvoiced final letter aleph), meaning "His," which sounds the same as the negative particle. An error could have crept in when a copyist misunderstood what was being dictated to him. The psalm refers to the Lord's covenant loyalty (hesed, "love," v. 5) so the worshipers are His; the other reading, of course, is also theologically correct since they did not create themselves.
Ps 101 This Davidic psalm is the charter of the king. He should shun all forms of evil in court and punish the wicked in the land. If the psalm is also prophetic of the reign of Christ, it indicates there will be people to be punished during His reign, suggesting that this is the messianic reign which will in the end be delivered up to the Father (1 Co 15:24).
102:10 The psalmist suffered under divine discipline, which he called God's "indignation and wrath." In the NT the wrath of God is the effect of His judgment on sin (Rm 1:18, 1 Th 1:10). It is this also in the OT, but in this psalm the speaker did not ascribe his suffering to his personal sin. Though he wrote that God had unleashed His anger on him in words that suggest both physical affliction and persecution (vv. 3-9), the psalm may have come out of the experience of the exile in Babylon in which it seemed that God had judged Israel harshly. The writer shared in the punishment due all Israel for its corporate sin against the Lord (see Is 6:5). And yet the writer also knew that God had not rejected His people but had promised a glorious future (Ps 30:5; Is 50–55). The full revelation of the NT reassures believers of their secure relationship with the Lord. But the NT also affirms that God's wrath is poured out on sin, and that divine chastening even of the believer (Heb 12:7) comes from that same attribute of God.
102:25-27 These words praise the Lord as the eternal, unchanging God of creation. Hebrews 1:10-12 quotes them and applies them to Jesus.
103:6 The psalm praises God for the kinds of things He does; the verbs used provide general truths (as with wisdom literature). To say that the Lord "executes acts of righteousness and justice for all the oppressed" does not mean that there are no oppressed people. It means that this is how the Lord consistently acts, so the oppressed who are faithful to His covenant (vv. 17-18) can look to Him to work in their behalf. Deliverance will come—if not in this life, certainly in the life to come. In the meantime, the people of God are to join the hosts of heaven and all God's works of creation (see 19:1) in declaring His praise (Ps 103:20-22).
104:1-9 The psalmist used vivid word pictures to describe the sovereign Lord's work of creation. The imagery was drawn from the making of a palace with tent coverings, private upper stories, and a solid foundation. The Lord uses all the elements recognized in the ancient world—wind, clouds, fire, and water—and controls them for His purpose. The Creator-King is surrounded by His servants, whether they be angels, forces of nature, or creatures of earth.
104:26 Leviathan was the sea creature the Canaanites feared; it was portrayed in myth as a seven-headed dragon (see 74:13-14). Here it was described as merely a large animal that God put in the water to frolic. What to the pagans was a terrifying force is to God a plaything. The Bible typically divests the natural world of its "religious" aura, and ascribes such a quality of awe only to the Lord and those persons and articles specifically dedicated to His service. Such a view of the world, so different from that of paganism, was essential for the development of modern science.
106:48 This doxology brings Book IV to a close; Book V begins with Ps 107.
108:6-13 These verses are parallel to 60:5-12.
109:6 This prayer is a psalm of imprecation, calling for the evil man to be punished. The writer asked that another wicked man would be the accuser who finds him guilty. The word "accuser" translates the Hebrew satan, origin of the name Satan, also called the adversary and "the accuser of our brothers" (Rv 12:10; cp. Zch 3:1-2). The psalmist apparently hoped that human institutions of justice, however corrupted, would eventually result in condemnation of the wicked (see Pr 14:32); in the process the righteousness of God would vindicate His faithful one.
109:7 The psalmist asked that the wicked person, now at the mercy of other godless men, should find his last-minute prayer to the Lord to be viewed by the Lord as sin.
109:8 The psalmist had leveled a curse against those who unjustly attacked him (vv. 2-5). The curse was that the attacker's life be shortened and his place taken by another. The apostles used this passage to authorizereplacing Judas among the Twelve (Ac 1:20). The psalm's application was clear to them. Judas was accursed; he had betrayed the Lord and then hung himself, so another must fill his position among the disciples as a witness to Jesus' ministry and resurrection (Ac 1:21-22).
109:8-10 The psalmist's petition sounds unjust—that his attacker's children should suffer because of his sins. In reality, the psalmist was only describing the normal effects of the judgment to be meted out on his evil enemy. When a guilty man was condemned to death, his wife and children would be without the resources they had formerly enjoyed. Under ordinary circumstances widows and orphans were to be cared for by the people of Israel, no matter how they had become destitute (Dt 10:18; 24:17; Ps 82:3; Is 1:17; Jr 7:6; Ezk 22:7). But their welfare depended on their faithfulness to God. The sins of the fathers would be visited on the children who hate the Lord (Ex 20:4-6), but for those who love the Lord, He would extend His loyal love (Ps 103:17-18).
If, in including his attacker's family in his curse, the psalmist seems to be excessively vengeful, his passions were motivated by a desire for God's justice to be fully effected. In OT thinking, a person's life, or "soul," did not end at the surface of his body but extended to his family, his property, his "name" or reputation, and all that pertained to him. The NT teaches believers to have compassion, to forgive, and to pray for their enemies. Jesus prayed, on the cross, "Father, forgive them, because they do not know what they are doing" (Lk 23:34). Christian use of the psalms of imprecation, in corporate worship or personal devotion, is always aimed at the conversion of those who do evil and persecute the faithful. That is the ultimate aim of God's own passion for justice (Ezk 18:23).
109:16-20 These verses show that the imprecation simply called for this man to reap what he had been sowing. The psalmist's attacker had a habit of cursing, or condemning, others; instead of blessing people with his words, he sought to defame and destroy. Therefore no blessing should come his way, but only cursing. This reciprocity is a principle of God's kingdom; as Jesus told His disciples, "with the measure you use, it will be measured to you" (Mt 7:2).
Ps 110 This Davidic psalm is the one most often quoted in the NT as being prophetic of the coming of Jesus the Messiah. It looks forward to the coming of the King to defeat the wicked and to reign as a royal priest.
110:1 David received an oracle ("The Lord declared to my Lord") about the decree of God. David, being a prophet, foresaw that one of his descendants would be his Lord. That Davidic king would rule over the people of God by divine authority. He pictured Him seated at God's right hand as a co-Ruler, corresponding to ancient royal practice. Daniel would later indicate that this King, the Messiah, would come in clouds of heaven to receive dominion over all nations (Dan 7:13-14), as declared in Ps 2:7-9. David knew his descendant would be truly great (see 2 Sm 23; 1 Kg 2:19, 1 Ch 28:5; 2 Ch 9:8; Ps 72), but he did not foresee that the Lord Himself would come and take on mortal flesh—Immanuel, "God with us." Jesus asked His opponents to explain how the Messiah could be the son of David, since David called Him his Lord (Mk 12:35-37); they had no answer for Him. The implication is that Jesus was calling into question the religious leaders' view of the Christ as a revolutionary leader.
110:1 The psalm pictures the sovereignty of the Messiah in terms of the Middle Eastern culture. Making one's enemies a footstool was a poetic expression for defeat and subjugation (Jos 10:24; 1 Kg 5:3; Is 51:23). The NT relates this passage to Jesus' ascension to the right hand of the Father (Ac 2:33-34; Heb 1:3; 12:2) to await the time of the second coming (Ac 3:19-21). Having subjected all other authorities, He will hand over the kingdom to the Father (1 Co 15:25).
110:3 The translations of this difficult verse vary. The picture is the sudden appearance of the army of the Lord, His willing servants (as with Jdg 5:2,9). The servants will be as numerous as the dew fresh at dawn(2 Sm 17:12). They will be youthful, strong, numerous, and willing to fight. In the fulfillment, the Lord Christ will come with saints and angels to judge the world, but it will be the powerful word of the Lord that will destroy the enemies (see Rv 19).
110:4 The decree of God makes this king a priest, not after the order of Aaron and the Mosaic law but the order of Melchizedek, priest-king of ancient Jerusalem (Salem, Gn 14:18). The Davidic king was from the tribe of Judah and his priesthood, which was not for service in animal sacrifice, was to come from a different origin. Thus David wore the priestly ephod when celebrating the installation of the ark of the covenant in Jerusalem (2 Sm 6:14). Once the sacrifices were fulfilled in the death of Christ (Rm 3:25), the temple rites were no longer required. Only then could another order of priesthood be installed. Melchizedek, priest of God Most High, blessed Abraham—ancestor of all Israel—and received his tithe; he was the ideal pattern for this new priesthood (see the discussion in Heb 5:6-10; 7:22).
110:7 The reference to drinking from the brook may be an allusion to Gideon and his chosen warriors (Jdg 7:6-7)who would crush the enemies of the Lord's people. To have one's head lifted up by a superior was an expression of approval, vindication, and help from that source (Gn 40:13; Ps 3:3).
111:1 Psalms that are hymns of praise often begin, and sometimes end, with "Hallelujah" (106; 113; 135; 146–150). The Hebrew word combines the verb meaning "praise, boast about, celebrate" with a shortened form of the name Yahweh. The verb hallel gives the book its name in Hebrew (tehillim). The English name comes from the Greek word for a stringed instrument used in worship (psalterion; cp. the name "Psalter" for the collection of psalms). The Greek word is a translation of the Hebrew word found in the superscription of many psalms, directing their performance "with stringed instruments" (mizmor, e.g., Ps 4).
111:10 The first half of this verse, drawn from Pr 1:7, reminds people that the proper response to all that God has done is reverential fear. To fear the Lord is to trust in Him, obey Him, and worship Him as God and Savior. The word indicates both a shrinking back from something, out of a sense of awe, and an attraction to it in adoration and wonder. The OT has no expression corresponding to our general concept of "being religious," but uses phrases that relate specifically to Yahweh, such as knowing the Lord, being faithful to the Lord, and fearing the Lord.
Ps 112 This psalm continues the wisdom motifs begun in Ps 111 (see Ps 1), pronouncing blessings on the life of the one who fears the Lord. The blessings enumerated flow from the obedient life of the righteous. In other words, the wise man will produce children who will be mighty in the land (v. 2), or who will labor with wisdom and industry to produce wealth (v. 3).
Pss 113–118 These six psalms form a group known as the "Great Hallel," or Great Praise, traditionally sung during the Passover celebration. Psalms 113–116 were sung before the meal, with Pss 117–118 sung afterward.
113:1-3 The psalm, like many hymns of praise in this book, begins with an invitation to the faithful to enter into the celebration of the Lord. The expression "from the rising of the sun to its setting" is a way of saying that praise should be lifted all day long—dawn to dusk—and everywhere, from east to west.
113:7-9 The grace of God is seen in His characteristic actions on behalf of the poor and needy: He raises them up to sit with princes. In God's economy the poor will be exalted and fulfilled (1 Sm 2:8; Jb 36:7). In this life God expects the righteous to meet the needs of the poor on His behalf (Pr 19:17)—this requires moving people from indifference to compassion. Likewise, God is able to resolve the condition of the barren woman (see Gn 16:2; 20:18; 1 Sm 1:6; Lk 1:25). Verses 7-8 are taken from the song of Hannah—who was childless before the birth of Samuel—in 1 Sm 2:8, adapted by Mary in the Magnificat (Lk 1:52-53).
114:5-6 The psalmist used sarcasm, addressing the sea, the Jordan River, and the mountains and hills as though they could respond to his question: Why did you recoil before the Lord's action in delivering His people? Of course, the natural phenomena personified here could make no response but were totally under the Lord's control. The crossing of the Jordan is paired with that of the Red Sea as almost a second exodus event. It was just that, in fact, for the new generation born in the wilderness that had not passed out of Egypt with Moses.
115:8-12 The psalmist invited three different groups of worshipers to put their trust in the Lord and receive His blessing. "Israel" was the covenant people as a whole; the "house of Aaron" was the priesthood; "you who fear the Lord" could be non-Israelite worshipers present at the festival. The description "you who fear God" (Ac 13:16,26; cp. 10:2) occurs in the NT as a designation for non-Jewish worshipers of the God of Israel.
116:13 The allusions are to a drink offering (Nm 28:7) and a thank offering (Ps 116:17) that would be given to God as the thankful worshiper proclaimed the name of the Lord in the congregation. To do this was to fulfill the vow of praise that he vowed while praying for deliverance (see 50:14).
116:15 The psalmist confessed that the love of God would not easily permit adversity (4:3) or an early death for His saints (79:11; 102:20). That which is "valuable" is rare and highly treasured. Some scholars argue for a meaning "grievous" for the word yaqar, interpreting the line to mean that the deaths of His saints grieves the Lord, but that makes Him into a mere observer. No saints die untimely deaths in God's plan; their deaths are precious to Him.
Ps 117 This, the shortest chapter in the Bible, is a complete hymn of praise. It includes the invitation for all people—not just Israel—to celebrate the Lord. It also gives the reason for praise: the Lord has been faithful to His covenant with His people ("faithful love" translates Hebrew hesed, loyalty based on a covenant relationship). Finally, it speaks of His enduring "faithfulness" (Hebrew 'emunah, "truth" in the sense of reliability, the root of the English word "amen"). All of this is bracketed between the cries of praise, "Hallelujah!"
Ps 118 The psalm has no superscription positing a historical occasion for its composition. In one view, it fits the return from Babylonian captivity. The nation (represented by the speaker) had been severely disciplined for sin, being surrounded almost to extinction by the nations. But the Lord delivered His people, and the nation returned to building God's program and came to praise Him for letting them live. In another view, this psalm was a ceremony celebrating a victory of the king in battle; the flavor is that of the Davidic psalms. The king, who represented the entire nation, had been in great danger, but was delivered from death and vowed to tell of the Lord's great deeds (vv. 10-17). An "entrance rite" followed (see Ps 15) in a dialogue between the sanctuary doorkeepers or choir (vv. 19-20,26) and the speaker and those in procession (v. 27) with him. The worshiper confessed his loyalty to the Lord (v. 28) and reiterated his promise to praise Him. The entire psalm is framed by a traditional hymn celebrating Yahweh's hesed, His faithfulness to the covenant (vv. 1-4,29; see 1 Ch 16:34,41; 2 Ch 5:13; 7:3,6; 20:21; Ps 107:1; 136; 138:8). Much of this psalm became part of the liturgy of church worship, and remains so to this day.
The psalm is part of the "Great Hallel" (see Ps 113) designated for use at the festivals of Israel. Pss 117–118 were sung after the Passover meal. These would have been the psalms ("hymn" in many English versions) that Jesus and the disciples sang in the Upper Room after the institution of the Lord's Supper, before they went out to the Mount of Olives (Mt 26:30).
118:2-4 After the opening hymn, the speaker invited the same three groups mentioned in 115:8-12 to confess the Lord's enduring faithfulness to His people.
118:5-12 In recounting his distress, the psalmist reported that all the nations surrounded him (the Israelites, whom he represented), but that he destroyed them in the name of the Lord. The verb in verses 10-11 is literally, "cut off," not a military word but the word meaning "to circumcise." The psalm could refer simply to military action in the Lord's cause. The reference to circumcision could also mean that the enemies were "converted" to a respect for the Lord, in a change of heart, through His powerful intervention (His "name"). Historically, the Jews were released from their captivity by the kindness of the Persians rulers, who supplanted their Babylonian captors.
118:19 The "gates" bring to mind the gates of the temple, through which the righteous would enter to praise the Lord for delivering them from death. The speaker approached the sanctuary voicing the "thanks" of the people he represented. His thanks were not simple gratitude; the Hebrew verb yadah signifies the lifting of the hand, in a gesture affirming loyalty to the Lord's covenant.
118:22 This familiar verse is the heart of the worshipers' praise. In one view, the stone was Israel, represented by its king, and the builders were the world empires—Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon—who could move puppet states around at will. Judah, which they considered trivial, had again become the capstone of God's building program. Alternatively, one thinks of David who was not considered a likely candidate for Israel's anointed ruler (1 Sm 16:1-12). Because the psalms were generalized for community use, the language could apply to a variety of situations in which a faithful worshiper had been passed over in the search for leadership. In the NT Jesus expounded on this passage (Mt 21:42; Mk 12:10; Lk 20:17): He, the true Israel, is the stone that the builders—the Judean religious authorities and the Roman occupiers—rejected. Now, in the light of His resurrection and ascension, He is the centerpiece of God's new structure for His kingdom (see Ac 4:11).
118:24 The day the Lord made is the day He granted victory over powerful enemies or brought deliverance from the oppression of the nations (see 126:1-3). In the NT fulfillment, it is the day of God's new creation, the resurrection of Jesus, with its promise of deliverance from "the last enemy," death (1 Co 15:26).
118:25 The prayer of the worshipers entering the sanctuary was that the Lord would bring them full and complete salvation or deliverance. Their words "Lord, save us," in Hebrew, are hoshi'ah na', which came into the liturgy of the church through Greek as "Hosanna."
118:26 The priests in the temple blessed the worshipers, especially the one leading the procession: "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord." In the NT the followers of Jesus applied the words of this psalm to Him as He entered Jerusalem, linking them to the arrival of the Davidic kingdom (Mk 11:9-10). They understood that Jesus was no ordinary worshiper approaching the temple but the Messiah whose coming would change the order of things.
118:27 The Hebrew text reads, "Bind the sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar." This would have been the text used in the Passover liturgy and by the people at the holy city. The Septuagint rendered it, "with boughs in hand join the festal procession up to the horns of the altar," a reading that fits the Festival of Booths better than other festivals. The issue turns on the meaning of the word 'abotim, "ropes" or "boughs." The RSV ("branches") and NIV {"boughs") follow the Septuagint.
Ps 119 This, the longest psalm, is a meditation on the word of God in its many forms and functions. The entire psalm is alphabetically arranged (acrostic). The first stanza is labeled alef because each of the eight verses starts with a word that begins with that letter, the first of the alphabet. The second stanza follows with the same arrangement using the second letter of the alphabet, bet; the rest of the psalm follows the same pattern through the alphabet. This scheme certainly aided in memorizing the meditation (a "mnemonic" device); but it also was a way of ordering the thoughts to provide a complete meditation on the word of God—the "ABCs" about the law of the Lord. Commentators have called the composition of psalms of this type "learned psalmography"; that is, inspiration combined with intense scholarship and literary skill.
Pss 120–134 These 15 psalms have the heading "a song of ascents"; that is, "going up" to Zion for the festivals; hence they are also called "pilgrim psalms" or "psalms of Zion." Older English versions thought of the "ascents" as graduated steps of the sanctuary, and called the psalm "a song of degrees."
120:5 Meshech is in Asia Minor near the Black Sea; Kedar is a word for the desert area in which Arab tribesmen wander (see Is 21:16-17; Ezk 27:21). How could the psalmist be in both places at the same time, even if they referred to widely scattered areas? The language is figurative; the psalmist lived among people who hated peace (v. 7), and they were like the hostile barbarians in these places.
121:1-2 The psalmist was contemplating ("I raise my eyes") the dangerous journey ("toward the mountains") and was concerned for his safety ("Where will my help come from?"). Alternatively, he thought of the mountains as sites for the worship of pagan deities, who were no help to anyone. He supplied his own answer: The One who made all things, including the hills, was his Protector.
121:3-6 The psalm concludes with a pronouncement of blessing in another voice (note the change in personal pronouns from "my" to "your"). Someone accompanying the pilgrim on the journey, such as a priest, was speaking. Or the setting for the psalm is not the pilgrimage to Zion but the sanctuary itself, once the worshiper reached it; the expression "coming and going" (v. 8) suggests that the speaker was at the site of the festival.
121:6 In a poetic image, the sun and the moon are not the literal heavenly bodies but represent what takes place under them—events occurring during the day and night that could, potentially, be harmful.
121:7-8 These verses could be translated as a "bidding prayer" ("May the Lord protect"). They can also be translated as a promise for the future, "The Lord will protect you from all harm" (most Bibles have a similar rendering). The immediate context was concerned with divine protection for the holy mission to the temple in obedience to the law, but the words in any rendering express a general belief of the faith, only occasionally cast into doubt (Ps 44).
122:1 The pilgrim psalmist reflected on the joy he felt when it was time to go to the holy city to observe the annual festivals. These times of celebration could extend for a week or more. Now the pilgrim found himself standing in the city, marveling at all its features.
122:4 The purpose of the people going to the festivals to worship was "to give thanks," expressing their loyalty to the Lord and reaffirming their gratitude for His covenant blessings (on the meaning of "giving thanks" in the OT, see note on 118:19).
122:5 The mention of "thrones of the house of David" indicates that there was probably a high court of appeals in the royal city. Local elders could handle routine cases, but the most difficult cases had to be brought to the leader of the nation or his representatives (72:2; cp. Ex 18:13-23; 1 Kg 3:16-28).
124:1-2 What appears to be a redundancy is actually a glimpse into the way the psalms may have been performed. First the leader, or choirmaster, announced the title of the psalm (in biblical times, Scripture passages were identified by their opening words). Then, at his invitation, the congregation joined in to recite the entire piece.
124:4-5 The image of water is used for the threat to life (Lm 3:54; Jnh 2:3-4). Such language always brings to remembrance Israel's escape from Egyptian slavery, the great "saving" event that lies at the heart of OT faith.
Ps 125 The security of the true believer is like the security of Mount Zion that is surrounded by mountains; but those who turn aside to sin have no security in the Lord (see Heb 6:4-8; 1 Jn 2:19).
125:3 The scepter is the symbol of rule; "the scepter of the wicked" would refer to a corrupt and unjust rule by either a Gentile or an unrighteous Israelite or Judean king. Either situation was a threat to the righteous.
126:1 Any occasion when Jerusalem was restored to a position of peace and prominence would be a time for great celebration and recognition of what the Lord had done for his people. This could have occurred after some foreign threat had diminished (e.g., 2 Kg 18:9–19:36) or at the restoration of the Judeans to their homeland after the Babylonian exile. An alternate reading of the clause "we were like those who dream" occurs in the Greek OT and the Dead Sea Scrolls: "we were greatly comforted."
126:4-6 The psalmist prayed for the restoration of the land to its fruitfulness; "watercourses in the Negev" could refer to irrigation that made agriculture possible in southern Judah. A foreign invasion would force all local residents into the fortified cities, and a siege might last for several years during which time the land could not be worked. This would also have been the case during the Babylonian exile when depopulation of Judah meant that much of its farmland lay fallow. Getting it back into productivity required great effort; the psalmist described the labor of sowing and reaping and the joy of a successful harvest. In the context of return from exile, by "sowing" the psalmist could mean the effort to convince people still in the East to return and join in God's program to restore the community centered in Zion. "Reaping" would then refer to their response to this appeal. This figure of sowing and reaping was well known when Jesus used it in His parable of the sower, a picture of spreading the message of the kingdom (Mt 13:1-23). In many ways, Jesus was calling Israel back to the Lord from an "exile" of false religious hopes that centered on throwing off Roman domination.
127:2 It is not necessarily pointless, or vain, to rise early or stay up late. The key to understanding this verse is the phrase "eating food earned by hard work." The expression "hard work" translates the same word that is rendered "painful labor" in Gn 3:17; it stresses anxieties as well as painful experiences. The Bible commends the diligent worker (Pr 24:33-34; 2 Th 3:10-13; cp. Col 3:17), but to lengthen the day with anxious toil and stress only leads to greater problems of body and spirit. By contrast, the Lord gives sleep to the person He loves—the one who trusts Him (Ps 4:8). The psalm's words may apply equally to literal sleep and to the rest and peace of mind that sleep symbolizes. Anxious toil burns the candle at both ends. One can work hard at worthwhile projects (e.g., building a house—cp. v. 1, where "house" could even referto the place of worship), but it is the Lord's involvement that makes the effort worthwhile and successful.
127:3-5 The verse reminds parents of their duties. Children are the Lord's gift, to be sure, but also a heritage that must be developed and improved. Having a strong family, with many sons, gives a man influence in the community—"at the city gate" (v. 5), the place of business and legal transactions. Before Israel had arrived at an understanding of the resurrection of the dead, a man's children were viewed as the instruments ("arrows," v. 4) of the continuing influence of his life.
129:3 The agricultural analogy of plowing is applied to the painful oppression of the psalmist's enemies: they plow his back. The image stresses their persecution and his suffering. Perhaps the speaker is referring to wrongful flogging because of the testimony of false accusers (Dt 25:1-3).
129:6 The roofs of houses in antiquity were often made of branches packed with mud, layer upon layer. In the spring, as people rolled the roof flat and packed more mud on new branches to repair it from winter damage, grass would immediately grow on the roof. But as soon as the summer heat bore down, with no rain forthcoming, the grass died as quickly as it sprang up. The psalmist uses this image to voice his hope that the wicked would be quickly removed.
130:3-4 This penitential psalm stresses God's forgiveness apart from our deserving (103:10-12). If God took our sins into account, no one could withstand His judgment. But the good news of the Bible, throughout, is that there is forgiveness with God. When He forgives sins, He no longer remembers them (Jr 31:34) and will never bring them up again—not in this life, nor the life to come.
130:6 The psalmist waited eagerly for the word from the Lord, most likely the word of forgiveness through the prophet or the priest (2 Sm 12:12-15). In the OT God often communicated forgiveness through an oracle; such a word may have been uttered in this case, but not recorded, between verses 6 and 7. In the NT believers do not have to wait for a specific word from the Lord, for the word stands once and for all that if we confess our sins He is both faithful and righteous to forgive (1 Jn 1:9).
Ps 131 This short psalm contains an implicit warning not to become too involved in trying to understand the mystery of God (see Dt 29:29; Ps 139:6). It is enough to rely on Him as His child—the psalmist dared to use the picture of a mother to convey his thought (see Hs 11:1-4; Lk 12:34). The speaker saw himself as a member of his larger worshiping community (Ps 131:3).
132:1-5 This psalm is constructed around two vows: David's vow to find a resting-place for the ark (vv. 2-5; see 2 Sm 7:1-2; 1 Ch 28:2), and the Lord's vow that David's family line would rule forever (vv. 11-12; see2 Sm 7:11-13). The psalm's language is hyperbole, or exaggeration; it does not mean that David literally never slept until he had provided for the Lord's dwelling, but that the project constantly occupied his mind. This poetic passage is an inference from the historical record, or is based on annals now lost; David's specific vow, as quoted here, does not appear elsewhere.
132:6-8 Verse 8 quotes Nm 10:35, words used whenever the ark of the covenant set out during Israel's march through the wilderness. This passage may reflect a ceremony reenacting the ark's transfer from the fields to the tent David had set up for it in Jerusalem ("we found it in the fields . . . let us go," see 2 Sm 6:1-17). The ark is the footstool of the Lord's invisible throne; the people wanted to go to its "resting place," where they might worship in the Lord's presence.
132:17 The psalmist looked to the fulfillment of the Davidic covenant. Messiah is compared to a horn (power) and a lamp (guidance) and will flourish (grow) in Zion ("there," v. 13).
134:1-2 The psalmist invited worshipers to praise the Lord, using the word barak, which means "bless" or "enrich." If God is in possession of all, how can a worshiper further enrich Him? Yet the psalms are full of such expressions (e.g., 34:1; 63:4; 68:26; 96:2; 103:1-2,20-22; 104:1,35; 135:19-20). Praise is the worshiper's obligation under the covenant, his expression of homage to the great King. By praising Him, people extend His reputation in the world and open themselves to receiving His blessing in return. The worshipers in this psalm were priests, offering their praise in the sanctuary continuously ("at night"), as David instructed Asaph and his musicians to do (1 Ch 16:5-7).
Ps 135 This psalm has been called "an anthology of praise" because it is based entirely on material rearranged from other psalms or Scripture passages. Among the most obvious: verses 1-2 = Ps 134:1-2; verse 4 = Dt 7:6; verse 5 = Ex 18:11; verse 6 = Ps 115:3; verse 7 = Jr 10:13; verses 8-12 = Ps 136:10,18-22; verse 13 = Ex 3:15; verse 14 = Dt 32:36; verses 15-21 = Ps 115:4-6,8-11.
Ps 136 This psalm develops as a recitation of Israel's history of deliverance, with each statement answered by the refrain "His love is eternal." The Hebrew word is hesed, which refers to God's faithfulness to His covenant. His loyalty to His people is seen in what He has done for them in delivering them from their oppressors and sustaining His creation (v. 25). The response of the worshiping community is to pledge its faithfulness to the Lord in return, as seen in verses 1 and 26 (on the meaning of "giving thanks" in the OT, see note on 118:19).
Ps 137 The setting for this psalm is the exile in Babylon, the greatest judgment upon Israel in the OT. In 586 b.c. the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem and its temple and carried tens of thousands of people into captivity in Mesopotamia (modern Iraq). Those who remained alive could only lament the devastation.
137:2-3 The image of hanging their stringed instruments on the trees dramatically captures the feeling of the speakers. They saw no point of singing the "songs of Zion"—the music associated with worship in the sanctuary—on foreign soil. Their pagan audience in Babylon considered these songs mere entertainment (see Ezk 33:32), and to perform them would have been degrading and humiliating. While older English translations used "willow" trees, perhaps to capture the idea of weeping, the trees in the region were probably poplars.
137:5-6 The captives swore an oath never to forget Jerusalem. Such an oath bound them to plan for the restoration, because the covenant promises made by the prophets held out the hope of a re-gathering to the land (see Is 54; Jr 31; Ezk 36 among others). The terms of the oath, which mentions the skill of the "right hand" and the "tongue," would apply especially to the Levitical musicians of the sanctuary, with their instruments.
137:7-9 The language of these verses jars the sensitivities of the modern reader, especially one who has never seen war. The captives of Israel had suffered such grief at the cruelty of the Babylonians (see Hab 1:6-11) that they called on God to visit the wicked with divine judgment in the only way that they would understand—to inflict upon them the horrors that they had inflicted on the Israelites. This God had said He would do (Hab 2:6-20), so they were simply praying for His word to be fulfilled. The severity of the expression brings to mind the complete annihilation of the pagan enemies that was commanded for the Israelites' occupation of Canaan. There are people in today's world—not Christians—who hold this same view regarding "infidels," but the NT gives the Christian a different way of praying for enemies. But the NT also declares that God will avenge His people when He judges the world.
138:1 On the "heavenly beings," see note on 82:1,6.
Ps 139 This is a profound meditation on how the Lord knows everything about His human creation (vv. 1-6) and how He is present everywhere in His creation (vv. 7-12). It was the Lord who made us and planned for our lives (vv. 13-18). The meditation prompts the immediate response of loyalty to God (vv. 19-24).
139:2 God knows not only every move we make in our daily routines, but also the motives behind our actions. The expression "from far away" can be temporal or spatial; in this context it is probably temporal—beforehand, and not from a distance (see v. 4).
139:5-6 David felt trapped by this knowledge: God placed His hand (kaph, the palm) on him, so to speak, and so besieged him with "extraordinary knowledge" beyond his reach.
139:7-12 The speaker's first impulse was to flee—but where? God is present everywhere. There was no place he could go to get away from this penetrating knowledge—not even to the abode of the dead (v. 8). But he began to see that God's "hand," which formerly seemed to entrap him, was really leading him (v. 10) into His presence. Wherever he went—even to remote places of the earth or to Sheol, where it seemed God would not follow him—he did not want to be there without the light of His presence.
139:15 The psalmist used "the depths of the earth" poetically to describe the womb because it is similarly hidden from the eye. The reference to being hidden ties this stanza back to the previous one (vv. 8-9).
139:16 The verse declares that, even in the womb, the child was being formed under the supervision and by the active involvement of God who already had planned the course of his life. This statement has much to say about how people must give human life in the womb the same loving care that God—whose Spirit gives life (2 Co 3:3)—bestows upon it. The passage is poetry, but is still revealed truth. The passage also stresses the sovereignty of God more than any other psalm; people are not the masters of their own destiny, but are in the hand of the Lord.
139:21-22 David affirmed his complete loyalty to the Lord and His cause. The psalmist's "hate" was not a violent, self-centered attitude; it referred to the complete rejection and detestation of the ways of those who disregard God. The psalmist could not be loyal to God and still associate with His enemies.
Ps 142 The historical superscription says that David wrote this psalm when he was in the cave. David was in a cave on two occasions when he fled Saul (1 Sm 24; 26).
143:12 The translation sounds contradictory: "in Your faithful love destroy my enemies." This is the word hesed, meaning God's faithfulness or loyalty to His covenant with Israel. Under the covenant, which is like a treaty, the Lord has "contracted" to defend His people and destroy the wicked. His hesed is the basis on which the worshiper, faithful in turn to the Lord, can appeal for His help.
Ps 146 This psalm praises the Lord for His wonderful deeds, offering a catalog of the kinds of things God does. But the history of the faith revealed in the Bible shows that these are not absolutes—He has not vindicated all who are oppressed, or fed all who are hungry, or given sight to all who are blind. But it is His intent to do all these things, and He will; the Bible affirms that all the promises of God will be fulfilled, if not in this life, surely in the life to come. Everything will be put right. But the fact is that God has done these things again and again, and His greatest fulfillment has been in the work of Christ (2 Co 1:20). The mighty works of Jesus show that He is able, and willing, to do the things listed here (see Lk 7:22; Ac 10:38). Moreover, a psalm like this summons the people of God to be active in doing the work of God on earth—what He wants done. Too often believers fail to understand what God can do, and how He does many of His works through them.
147:14 The psalmist extolled the Lord, who brought peace and prosperity to His people. The passage is saying that whatever peace and prosperity the people of God enjoyed came from God. These blessings may not be fully realized in this life, but the fact that God is their source leads the faithful to pray for them and to expect them. When they do not occur, wisdom literature will probe the possible reasons (e.g., Ps 44, and the book of Jb).
148:4-5 How do the sun, moon, and waters praise the Lord? Their very existence attests to the glory and majesty and power of God (19:1-5; Rm 1:20). To call on natural phenomena using the device of personification (Ps 114:5-6) is a way of drawing attention to their witness to God's greater power.
149:3 For the Israelite it was natural to celebrate before the Lord with dancing (150:4), as well as singing and praising. In a culture where dance has become associated with immorality, it requires discretion for this art to be brought into the praise of God. The dance of Israelite worship was of the type called "folk dance" today, involving groups of worshipers in procession (68:25). Such dancing was never meant to call attention to the individual dancer, but was part of the colorful pageantry of a community festival.
149:6-9 The psalmist called for the Lord's people to employ dual weapons of spiritual warfare: the praise ("exaltation," often translated "high praises") of God and the "two-edged sword." The passage brings to mind the events that occurred when the Judean King Jehoshaphat was attacked by several foreign armies; he sent singers out ahead of his forces lifting a hymn of praise to the Lord, and the enemy armies fell into confusion and destroyed themselves (2 Ch 20:18-26). In the hands of OT warriors, the sword was a literal weapon; in the hands of Christians, it is the Word of God (Eph 6:17; Heb 4:12; Rv 1:16). The praise of God, combined with the proclamation of the Word, make up the believers' dual weapon in carrying out the Lord's decree of judgment against evil authorities (Ps 149:7-9).
Ps 150 This hymn, which invokes all the instruments of the sanctuary in the praise of the Lord, is the doxology that brings Book V, and the entire collection of psalms, to its conclusion.