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1.
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I will bless thy name for ever and ever. “The
throne and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee [i.e.,
in your presence]” (2 Sam. 7:16). Thus David was assured of an eternal
life in which to praise his God.
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4.
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One generation shall praise thy works to another
suggests the unbroken continuity of David’s dynasty — right up
to the present day, in Jesus.
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6.
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And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts.
Possibly an allusion to the startling victories wrought for David when his
new kingdom teetered on the brink of extinction (2 Sam. 8; Psa. 2;
60).
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10.
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Thy saints shall bless thee. Either those now dedicated
to the service of the sanctuary, or David’s holy nation thronging in
enthusiasm to the Tabernacle newly set up in Zion (2 Sam. 6:1).
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13.
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Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. Compare the
repetition in 2 Sam. 7:13,16 of “for ever”.
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14.
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The Lord upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those
that be bowed down. A reminiscence of David’s sickness and recovery
(see on Psa. 30).
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15.
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Thou givest them their meat (simply,
“food”) in due season. An allusion to the great feast
provided by David when the Ark was established in Zion (2 Sam. 6:19); or, to the
extraordinary fruitfulness of a Year of Jubilee (cp. v. 16 here; see on Psa.
133). The Year of Jubilee began on the Day of Atonement (Lev. 25:9), and...
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The eyes of all wait upon thee uses the language of the
Day of Atonement — the worshipers assembled in the court of the sanctuary,
praying and waiting for God’s acceptance of the special sin-offering to be
communicated to them through the blessing of the High Priest.
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18.
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The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all
that call upon him in truth. This last word is often used as a technical
term; here it refers to the great Promise of 2 Sam. 7.
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19.
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He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him. That
is, He will bring about all that the Promise entailed. “Fulfil”
normally refers to the fulfillment of a prophecy (2 Sam. 7).
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He will also hear their cry, and will save them. See
perhaps on Psa. 60.
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20.
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The Lord preserveth all them that love him. For
example, David, who was himself struck down by a grievous illness (see on Psa.
30) because of his own personal responsibility for the way in which the ceremony
of the Ark miscarried (1 Chron. 15:2,13).
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But the wicked will he destroy. This is a rather
unexpected sentiment in this psalm especially, but in the historical
context it is appropriate to the death of Uzzah (2 Sam. 6:6,7).
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2.
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Every day will I bless thee. This is Isa.
38:20.
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4.
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One generation shall praise thy works to another. The
maintaining of the continuity of the line of David was a matter of great concern
to Hezekiah, especially since, at the time of his “fatal” sickness,
he had no son to succeed him (Isa. 38:19).
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4-6.
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Thy mighty acts... thy wondrous works... thy terrible acts.
Even David had nothing to point to in his own reign comparable to what
Hezekiah knew.
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15,16.
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Hezekiah’s ravaged kingdom and plundered people would
scarcely be able to believe it when, in the Year of Jubilee, they were so
astonishingly blessed with God-given prosperity (Isa. 37:30,31).
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18.
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The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him: Isa.
37:1.
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20.
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The Lord preserveth all them that love him. This is the
extension of Hezekiah’s life.
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But all the wicked will he destroy. And this is the
signal judgment on the Assyrian horde.
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1.
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I will bless thy name for ever and ever. The eternal
King will set the example to all others.
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3.
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His greatness is unsearchable (unfathomable: NIV).
Literally, “Of His greatness... no end!” Note the terrific
contrast in Eph. 3:8 (and the different kind of contrast in Psa. 139:1,23). In
Rom. 11:32,33 this wonderful word describes God’s redeeming purpose,
involving both Jews and Gentiles:
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“For God hath concluded them all [Jews and
Gentiles] in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all [Jews and
Gentiles]. O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of
God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding
out!”
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4.
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One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall
declare thy mighty acts. Here “praise” is singular and
“declare” is plural. Christ teaches the members of his family; and
in due course they will all join together in this Hallelujah (cp.
vv. 6,7). See also Deut. 4:9; 6:7; 11:19; Exod. 13:8 (s.w.). After the
resurrection they will all — every generation! — be there together:
“Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets” also.
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10.
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All thy works shall praise thee. These works of God are
His re-deemed, as the parallel with “saints” makes plain (so also in
v. 17; cp. Psa. 77:11-20; 102:18; 104:31; 111:2-9; John 9:3; 2 Cor. 5:14-19;
Gal. 6:15; Eph. 2:1-10; 4:22-24; Col. 1:15-18; 3:9,10; James 1:18; Rev. 3:14;
15:3,4). Isaiah often uses “the work of God’s hands” to
describe men and women in process of redemption (19:25; 29:23; 45:11; 60:21;
64:8). For “praise thee”, read “give thanks unto thee”,
further emphasizing that here God’s “works” are people.
Contrast Isa. 45:9,10.
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11-13.
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These references to Messiah’s kingdom are very eloquent,
and need no commentary.
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14.
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The Lord upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those
that be bowed down. The s.w. occurs in Luke 13:11: The bent woman in the
synagogue illustrated the future, more complete blessing.
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15.
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The eyes of all wait upon thee: and thou givest them their
meat in due season. Both halves of this verse were fulfilled by
Jesus:
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“And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue
were fastened on him” (Luke 4:20).
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“And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given
thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set
down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would” (John 6:11).
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And these are the merest tokens of the greater blessings yet
to come. Thou givest them their meat (food) in due season is
quoted in Luke 12:42:
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“Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his
lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in
due season?”
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21.
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And let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever.
The final phrase here demands reference to the future kingdom:
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“And every creature which is in heaven, and on the
earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in
them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him
that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever”
(Rev. 5:13).
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2.
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Every day (for this is the meaning of
Yahweh/Jehovah: the eternally Existent One: Rev. 1:4,8; 11:17)
will I bless thee. No doubt this was literally true for Christ in the
days of his flesh. For those in Christ it remains an ideal. “Every
day” means the “bad” days as well as the “good”:
cp. v. 21.
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3.
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Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised is quoted
in Psa. 48:1.
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His greatness is unsearchable: “Hast thou not
known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of
the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching
of his understanding” (Isa. 40:28).
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Thy wondrous works is, in Hebrew, debarim
— “words”, i.e., Holy Scripture.
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7.
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They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great
goodness. “Abundantly”! Weak praise is no praise at all!
Is Yahweh to be “damned with faint praise”? The word for
“utter” — naba — signifies ‘to
bubble forth’, like a spring gushing out water (s.w. Psa. 19:2; 78:2;
119:171; Prov. 15:2; cp. Prov. 18:4). The word for “prophet”
(nabi) is probably derived from this — he is a spokesman who
“pours forth” the word of God.
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8.
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The Lord is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to
anger, and of great mercy (Exod. 34:6,7; Psa. 86:15; 103:8; 111:4; 112:4;
Matt. 5:7; Luke 6:36). With this verse cp. Num. 14:18,19, and note its
context.
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9.
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The Lord is good to all. Here the LXX has: “to
those who patiently wait”, which seems right.
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13.
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Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion
endureth throughout all generations. This is quoted by a repentant
Nebuchadnezzar in Dan. 4:3,34:
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“How great are his signs! and how mighty are his
wonders! his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion is from
generation to generation... And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted
up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed
the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose
dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to
generation.”
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14.
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The Lord upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those
that be bowed down. In another, very different, sense this is also true: cp.
the examples of Ezekiel (Ezek. 1:28; 2:2) and the apostle John ( Rev. 1:17),
both of whom fell to the ground in the presence of divine power, but were then
lifted up in divine mercy.
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15.
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Thou givest them their meat (food) in due season
(Psa. 104:27). This is cited by Jesus in Matt. 24:45 and Luke 12:42: The
faithful and wise servant, who has been appointed ruler over the household of
his Lord, is doing the work of God when he provides for the (New) Creation their
food (both physical and spiritual?) day by day. (Provision of physical
food is seen in Acts 6:2-6; and of spiritual “food”, throughout the
New Testament!)
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17.
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The Lord is righteous. Quoted in Rev. 16:5.
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20.
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But all the wicked will he destroy. The punishment of
the wicked is eternal death, not endless torture: Psa. 37:20; 92:7; 104:35;
Prov. 10:30; 11:31; 13:13; Job 20:7,8; 21:30; Ezek. 18:4; Matt. 21:41; Luke
19:27; Rom. 1:32; 6:23; 2 Thes. 1:9; 2 Pet. 2:12; Heb. 6:8.
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