Psalm 21

Psa 21:1

SUPERSCRIPTION: "A PSALM OF DAVID."

HISTORICAL SETTING: Like Psa 20, a coronation psalm (v 3). But David was crowned more than once: 2Sa 2:4 -- king of the southern tribes; 2Sa 5: 3 -- king of the twelve tribes; and 2Sa 12:30 -- king of the conquered Ammonites. The last of these is very much like v 3: the coronation of the king of Ammon (2Sa 12:30; see SSD 224). The severity of the language in vv 8-12 matches that occasion. "Make ready" (v 12) and "strength" (v 13) echo the names of the pillars, Jachin (establish) and Boaz (strength) (1Ki 7:21), which were associated with later coronations of kings in Jerusalem (2Ki 11:14; 23:3).

JOY: The joy set before him: Heb 12:2.

Psa 21:2

YOU HAVE GRANTED HIM THE DESIRE OF HIS HEART: As requested in Psa 20:4. That is, the travail of his soul, with which he is satisfied: Isa 53:11.

THE REQUEST OF HIS LIPS: The translators' best guess. Kay has: the woman he asks for in betrothal (cp v 2a). When this King is crowned, he also receives his Bride (cp Psa 45, of course)!

See Lesson, Selah.

Psa 21:3

WELCOMED: "Preventest" (AV) = "dost meet" (RSV); a host coming forth to meet an honored and welcome guest. God crowns David with blessings, greater and sooner than he would ever have expected. Ct how God "meets" the wicked in Psa 17:13.

AND PLACED A CROWN OF PURE GOLD ON HIS HEAD: And that crown will not be removed, as was that of Saul's: cp Psa 15:5; 16:8.

Psa 21:4

HE ASKED YOU FOR LIFE: Joh 10:18. Cp Psa 16:8-11.

LENGTH OF DAYS: True of those in Christ also: Psa 22:26; Isa 53:10.

Psa 21:5

SPLENDOR AND MAJESTY: These two Heb words are both much used for the Glory of God: Psa 96:6; 104:1; 111:3; 145:5. This Divine glory is conferred first upon God's Son (Psa 45:3; Rom 1:4), and then upon those "in him" (Psa 145:12; 149:9; Rev 5:9,10).

Psa 21:6

SURELY YOU HAVE GRANTED HIM ETERNAL BLESSINGS: Heb, "You have appointed him to be blessings for ever", as in Gen 12:2; 22:18 -- the Abrahamic covenant blessing, involving resurrection and eternal life; not just for Christ, but also for those to whom he will be a blessing: Gal 3:16,26-28. This is the "sure mercies of David" (Isa 55:3).

MADE HIM GLAD WITH THE JOY OF YOUR PRESENCE: "Thy countenance" (AV). Lit, "thy faces": ie in this case the divine chariot Cherubim with which David has won great victories (cp Psa 18:7-15; ct Psa 20:7).

Psa 21:8

Vv 8-10: The righteous judgment of Messiah against a willful refusal to acknowledge the Lord's Anointed.

Psa 21:9

A FIERY FURNACE: To burn up the wicked: Mal 4:1; Mat 13:42,50; 2Th 1:8; 2Pe 3:12; Rev 11:18.

Psa 21:10

DESCENDANTS... POSTERITY: "Fruit" (fruit of the womb: Psa 127:3; 132:11) and "seed" (AV).

Psa 21:11

THEY PLOT EVIL AGAINST YOU: This also looks back to the deliberate hostility shown against Jesus by his own nation.

Psa 21:13

BE EXALTED, O LORD, IN YOUR STRENGTH; WE WILL SING AND PRAISE YOUR MIGHT": "It is the mission of Christ, through the Gospel, to teach men to rejoice in God. And an unfailing source of joy is God, when once the mind opens to the great fact of His existence, excellence and power, for is not He beyond all minor causes of joy? Those minor causes fail; He, never. He is from everlasting. With Him is strength; not the strength that belongs to man: man owes his strength to the bread he eats; and the bread he eats with man himself is a perishable thing. Man dieth and wasteth away. But when we turn our eyes to God, we see the full meaning of the words: 'Be thou exalted in Thine own strength: so we will sing and praise Thy power' " (SC 90).

The "Hallelujah Chorus": Rev 19:1-7.

SUBSCRIPTION: "FOR THE DIRECTOR OF MUSIC. TO THE TUNE OF 'THE DOE OF THE MORNING": "Upon Aijeleth Shahar" (AV): either 'The Hind of the Morning', or 'The Strength of the Morning': more prob the latter, with ref to Psa 21:1,13. The "Morning" = new era which the king's coronation inaugurates (2Sa 23:4).