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1.
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God be merciful unto us and bless us (Psa 29:11). This
echoes the high-priestly blessing in Num. 6:24-27, but with the significant
difference that the Covenant Name (Yahweh/Jehovah) is replaced by
Elohim. This is fitting to the divine might of the God of Israel
being acknowledged by all Gentile, or non-covenanted, nations. This verse
invites attention to Heb. 9:28: “Unto them that look for him shall he
appear the second time without sin unto salvation” — Christ, the
heavenly high-priest, coming forth from the Holy of Holies (cp. Psa.
65:1).
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And bless us. Verses 1,6,7. Compare the three blessings
of Num. 6:23-27.
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And cause his face to shine upon us (cp. Psa. 4:6;
31:16; 80:3,7,19) is, more exactly, “make the light of his face (abide)
with us” (Kay). Thus this calls to mind John 1:14: “The word was
made flesh and tabernacled among us”. And Rev. 21:3: “The
tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them —
God himself shall be with them”. The reference to face suggests, in
Messianic fulfillment, 2 Cor. 4:6:
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“For God, who commanded the light to shine out of
darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the
glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”
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2.
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That thy way may be known upon earth. Here, and until
v. 6, the pronouns change to second person. God’s way is strongly
emphasized in Acts (8:31,36,39; 9:2; 18:25,26; 19:9,23; 22:4) as the gospel in
action, bringing Israel and Gentiles to God through Christ. Also consider Gen.
3:24 (the way to the tree of life); 6:12 (God’s way); and
John 14:6 — where “the way, the truth, and the life”
should be read “the true way of (the tree of)
life”!
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Thy saving health is, simply, the Hebrew yeshua,
which means salvation. (In archaic English, “health”
had a much wider range of meanings, and was used by King James’ men as the
equivalent of “deliverance”. Notice how yeshua is
translated by “health” in Psa. 42:11 and 43:5.) Yeshua
is almost the name of Jesus. It also comes in 68:20; 69:29; and 70:4.
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Thy saving health among all nations. This is clearly
referred to by Paul in Acts 28:28 (“the salvation of God is sent unto the
Gentiles”) and also (less obviously) in Tit. 2:11 (“the grace of God
that bringeth salvation hath appeared unto all
men”).
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3,5.
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Let the people praise thee. The LXX has the same word
as appears in Phil. 2:11.
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All the people. In the refrains (in both verses) the
word is plural: peoples. The second phrase in each verse is not
merely repetitive; it is expansive: ‘First one people, and then
all peoples!’ It is the word very commonly used for the tribes of
Israel. After the destruction of the Assyrians, Hezekiah’s reformation
must have come to a great climax: first, the people of Judah rejoiced and
praised God. Then the multitudinous captives, from all the twelve tribes
of Israel, returning from captivity, joined in their rejoicing and praise. The
word for all is unusual and is characteristic of Isaiah — it is not
improbable that he wrote this psalm himself. (But of course the real intent of
these words is as a prophecy of Messiah’s kingdom — when first one
people and then all peoples, worldwide, will worship the Lord. Compared with
this, the initial reference is relatively trivial!)
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4.
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For thou shalt judge... and govern. The words imply
both the strength and the tenderness of Christ’s rule. Such passages as
Exod. 34:6,7; Isa. 11:1-9; and 42:1-4 anticipate this dual nature of his
kingdom.
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Govern = “lead” (mg.): cp. Psa. 23:3;
78:72.
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6.
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The Hebrew and the RV: The earth hath yielded. Apart
from the tense, this is an exact quotation from Lev. 26:4 — the blessing
which God promised to His people when they were loyal to Him. This is a brief
echo of the lovely “harvest” passage in Psa. 65:9-13; the Edenic
curse (Gen. 3:17-19) has been rescinded, and the Land of Israel has been
returned to its former fruitfulness (Num. 13:23).
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7.
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God shall bless us, thus rounding off the psalm
precisely as the high-priestly blessing is concluded: “And I will bless
them” (Num. 6:27c).
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And all the ends of the earth shall fear him. Psa.
22:27.
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