John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

Psalms 59:1



INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 59



To the chief Musician, Altaschith, Michtam of David; when Saul sent,

and they watched the house to kill him. The history of Saul's sending messengers to watch the house of David, and to kill him when he rose in the morning, is in 1Sa 19:11; which was the occasion of his writing this psalm; though the title of the Syriac version of it is,



"David said or composed this, when he heard that the priests were slain by Saul:''



and in the same is added,



"but unto us it declares the conversion of the Gentiles to the faith, and the rejection of the Jews.''



And which perhaps is designed in Ps 59:5; and some interpreters are of opinion that the whole psalm is to be understood of Christ, of whom David was a type, especially in his sufferings; and there are some things in it which better agree with him than with David, as particularly his being without sin, Ps 59:3.



Ver. 1. Deliver me from mine enemies, O my God,.... David had his enemies in his youth, notwithstanding the amiableness of his person, the endowments of his mind, his martial achievements, his wise behaviour and conduct, and the presence of God with him; yea, it were some of these things that made Saul his enemy, who, by his power and authority, made others; see 1Sa 18:5. Christ had his enemies, though he went about doing good, both to the bodies and souls of men, continually; the chief priests, Scribes, and Pharisees, were his implacable enemies, and even the people of the Jews in general: and the church of God, and members of it, whom David may represent, have their enemies, sin, Satan, and the world; and as David and Christ, so the church has a covenant God to go unto, from whom deliverance from enemies may be desired and expected;



defend me from them that rise up against me; or, "set me on high above them" {l}; out of their reach, as David was protected from Saul and his men, who rose up in an hostile manner against him; and as Christ was, when raised from the dead, and exalted at his Father's right hand; and as the saints are in great safety, dwelling on high, where their place of defence is the munition of rocks; and therefore it matters not who rise up against them.



{l} ynbgvt "statue me in loco alto, i.e. tuto", Vatablus; and to the same sense Piscator, Cocceius, Michaelis, Gejerus.





Psalms 59:2



Ver. 2. Deliver me from the workers of iniquity,....

See Gill on "Ps 6:8";



and save me from bloody men; such as Saul sent to kill David, as appears from the title of the psalm; and such as were concerned in the death of Christ; and such, are the enemies of God's people, the followers of the man of sin. The heap of words, the various expressions used in a way of petition, in this verse and Ps 59:1, show the distress the psalmist was in, and whom he represents; his importunity, earnestness, and fervency in prayer.





Psalms 59:3



Ver. 3. For, lo, they lie in wait for my soul,.... As the men did that watched his house, when Saul sent to kill him; so the Jews sought and lay in wait to take away the life of Christ; and very often was it the case of the Apostle Paul, that he was in danger of his life, through the lying in wait of the Jews; so Satan makes use of cunning devices, stratagems, and wiles, to ruin the souls of God's people, if possible; and false teachers lie in wait to deceive them. The emphasis lies upon the word "soul", which is so precious, and the redemption of which has cost so much, even the blood of Christ;



the mighty are gathered against me; or, "dwell by me"; see

Ps 56:6; around his house, the soldiers that Saul sent; and such were the enemies of Christ, Ps 69:4; the chief priests, Scribes, and elders, men of great authority and influence among the people; the kings of the earth and rulers, Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and people of the Jews, Ac 4:26; yea, Satan, and his principalities and powers; and who are also those against whom the saints wrestle, and would be too mighty for them, were it not that God, and Christ, and the Holy Spirit, and the holy angels, are on their side;



not [for] my transgression, nor [for] my sin, O Lord; as the cause of such usage and treatment. David was not without original sin, in which he was conceived and born; nor without inward corruptions, of which he often complained; nor without actual transgressions, and some very gross ones, and which he owned and confessed, and prayed for the pardon of: but in the case of Saul there was no transgression nor iniquity in him, as he declared to him himself, and appeals to God for the truth of it, 1Sa 24:11. One of the words here used signifies "rebellion" {m}; of this he was not guilty; he never entered into any treasonable measures, nor committed any treasonable practices, nor conspired against the life and crown of his sovereign; in this respect he was quite clear and innocent. Christ, his antitype, was entirely without sin, without original or actual transgression; he had no sin in his nature, nor committed any in his life; he had none inherent in him, only the sins of his people imputed to him; and therefore the usage he met with from men was very cruel and unjust. And as for the saints, though they are not free from sin, original and actual, yet in the case for which they suffer reproach, and are persecuted by men, they are not criminal; they have done nothing to deserve such usage; they do not suffer as evildoers, but as Christians, 1Pe 4:15.



{m} yevp "rebellionem meam", Gejerus, Michaelis.





Psalms 59:4



Ver. 4. They run and prepare themselves without [my] fault,.... Or, "without sin [in me]"; or "without punishment [in them]"; so the same word is rendered, 1Sa 28:10. "They run", in an hostile manner, "against me", as the Syriac version adds; or like dogs up and down, about the city, to find him and kill him; see Ps 59:7. Or this may denote their readiness and swiftness to shed blood, Pr 1:16; "and prepare themselves" with weapon, with instruments of death, as the men did that were sent to kill him; and as the band of men that came with Judas to take Christ prepared themselves with swords and staves. The Targum is,



"they order or ordain war;''



which they prosecuted without any occasion of it from him, and wilt, impunity in them. Wherefore it follows,



awake to help me; or "to meet me" {n}; see Ge 46:29; with succour and supplies, and to deliver out of the hands of enemies. The Lord, though he neither slumbers nor sleeps, yet seems to be asleep when he does not arise to help his people, but suffers the enemy to prevail; and when he seems to take no notice of their case, but hides his eyes, and shuts them as a man asleep. Hence the following petition,



and behold; the distress the psalmist was in, and the wickedness and malice of his enemies against him.



{n} ytarql "in occursum meum", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Gejerus, Michaelis.





Psalms 59:5



Ver. 5. Thou therefore, O Lord God of hosts,.... Of the armies in heaven, the angels, and of all the inhabitants of the earth; who are all under him, and at his dispose, and can do among them and with them whatsoever he pleases;



the God of Israel; of the people of Israel, literally understood; and mystically of all the elect of God, Jews and Gentiles. The former epithet is expressive of his power, this of his grace and goodness in a covenant way; and both encouraged the psalmist to address him on the following account:



awake to visit all the Heathen: either the wicked Israelites that rose up against David, and sought to take away his life, who behaved like Heathens towards him, and were accounted as such by him; and the petition is, that God would arise and punish them, everyone of them, according to their deserts: or else the Gentiles, properly so called, whom he desires the Lord would visit, either in a way of grace, by sending the Gospel to them, and taking out of them a people for his name, as he did, Ac 15:14; foreseeing, by a spirit of prophecy, that the Jews would be rejected for their ill usage of the Messiah;

See Gill on "Ps 59:1", title: or in a way of punishment for their idolatry and impiety; and particularly the antichristian states and powers, called the Heathen, and Gentiles, and nations of the earth,

Ps 10:16; may be here meant; whom God will visit for their idolatry, blasphemy, and bloodshed;



be not merciful to any wicked transgressors; that are perfidiously and abominably wicked, as Judas Iscariot, the Romish antichrist. The Targum renders it, "princes of a lie"; that speak lies in hypocrisy, and are given up to believe a lie, as the followers of antichrist. God is merciful to wicked men and to transgressors, but not to wicked transgressors; apostates may be meant, such as deal perfidiously and treacherously, as the word {o} used signifies; who sin wilfully and knowingly, after they have received the knowledge of the truth; sin against light and evidence, and obstinately and wickedly persist therein: who sin the sin against the Holy Ghost, the sin unto death, which is not to be prayed for, 1Jo 4:16; or otherwise this may seem to be contrary to the command and example of Christ, Mt 5:44.



Selah; on this word, See Gill on "Ps 3:2".



{o} ydgb "perfide agentibus", Junius & Tremellius.





Psalms 59:6



Ver. 6. They return at evening,.... It was at evening Saul sent messengers to watch David's house, that they might take him in the morning; but missing him, perhaps after a fruitless search for him all the day, returned at evening to watch his house again; or they might come, and go and return the first evening. So it was night when Judas set out from Bethany, to go to the chief priests at Jerusalem, to covenant with them, and betray his master; and it was in the night he did betray him, after he had eaten the passover at evening with him. Or, "let them return" {p}, as in Ps 59:14; with shame and confusion, as David's enemies, when they found nothing but an image in the bed, which they reported to Saul; and as Judas returned to the chief priests with confusion and horror. Or, "they shall return" {q}; which being prophetically said, had its accomplishment, both in the enemies of David and of Christ; and will be true of all the wicked, who will return from their graves and live again, and give an account of themselves at the evening of the day of the Lord, which is a thousand years; in the morning of which day the dead in Christ will rise, but the rest will not rise until the end of the thousand years;



they make a noise like a dog: which is a very noisy creature, and especially some of them, which are always yelping and barking; though indeed there are some that are naturally dumb, and cannot bark: such there are in the West Indies, as we are told {r}; and to which the allusion is in Isa 56:10; and which may serve to illustrate the passage there: but those referred to here are of another kind; and this noise of theirs either respects their bark in the night, as some dogs do continually, as Aben Ezra and Kimchi; or to their howling, as the Syriac and Arabic versions. Wicked men are compared to dogs, Mt 7:6

Re 22:15; and particularly the enemies of Christ, Ps 22:16, in allusion either to hunting dogs, who make a noise all the while they are pursuing after the game; or hungry ravenous ones, who make a noise for want of food; and this character agrees not only with the Roman soldiers, who were Gentiles, and whom the Jews used to call by this name, Mt 15:26; but the Jews also, even their principal men, as well as the dregs of the people, who were concerned in the death of Christ; and may be truly said to make a noise like dogs when they cried Away with this man, and release unto us Barabbas, crucify him, crucify him; for which they were instant and pressing with loud voices, and their voices prevailed, Lu 23:18;



and go round about the city; as Saul's messengers, very probably, when they found David had made his escape from his house, searched the city round in quest of him; and there was much going about the city of Jerusalem at the time of our Lord's apprehension, trial, and condemnation; after he was taken in the garden: they went with him first to Annas's house, then to Caiaphas's, then to Pilate's, and then to Herod's, and back again to Pilate's, and from thence out of the city to Golgotha. The allusion is still to dogs, who go through a city barking {s} at persons, or in quest of what they can get; so informers and accusers may be called city dogs, as some sort of orators are by Demosthenes {t}.



{p} wbwvy "revertantur", Gejerus, Schmidt. {q} "Convertentur", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus; so Sept. Syr. Ar. {r} P. Martyr. Decad. Ocean decad. 1. l. 3. & de Insulis Occid. Ind. Vid. Iguatii Epist. ad Eph. p. 124. {s} kunhv ana ptolin wruontai. Theocrit. Idyll. 2. v. 35. {t} Apud Salmuth. in Pancirol. Memorub. Rer. par. 2. tit. 2. p. 97.





Psalms 59:7



Ver. 7. Behold, they belch out with their mouth,.... Bark like dogs, so Aben Ezra; or "bubble out" {u}, as a fountain bubbles out with water; so they cast out their wickedness in great abundance; see Jer 6:7; the phrase denotes the abundance of evil things and wicked speeches that came out of their mouths, which showed the naughtiness of their hearts; so David's enemies blustered and threatened what they would do to him could they find him; and Christ's enemies poured out their wicked charges of blasphemy and sedition against him, in great plenty, and without proof;



swords [are] in their lips; the words of their lips were like sharp swords; see Ps 55:21; threatening the most severe and cruel things: or, besides their lips, and what they belched out with their mouths, they took swords in their hands in a literal sense; as Saul's messengers did to kill David, and as Judas and his band of men, who came to take Christ as a thief, with swords and staves, Mt 26:55;



for who, [say they], doth hear? what they uttered with their mouths and lips, in a blustering and threatening manner; though they were overheard by men, who carried what they said and designed to do to Michal, David's wife. The meaning may be, they would say what they pleased, and did not care who heard them, having nothing to fear from any, they having their orders from the king; see Ps 12:4; and so the Targum,



"behold they belch out with their mouths words which are sharp as swords, and with their lips saying, we shall prevail; for who is he that hears, and can punish?''



Aben Ezra's note is,



"they thought that God did not hear their counsels;''



and therefore the next words are in direct opposition to them; but so to think is monstrous stupidity and brutishness, Ps 94:4; some take the words to be the words of David, complaining that the civil magistrate, none of the judges, took notice of or punished such who belched out their lies and calumnies against him, saying, "for who doth hear?" no man.



{u} Nweyby "scaturient", Montanus; "copiose eructant", Gejerus.





Psalms 59:8



Ver. 8. But thou, O Lord, shall laugh at them,.... Disappoint their counsels, hinder them from performing their enterprise; send them back with shame and confusion, and expose them to the laughter and derision of others; as Saul's messengers were, when instead of David they found an image in the bed, with a pillow of goats' hair for its bolster,

1Sa 19:16; the same is said as here with respect to the enemies of Christ, Ps 2:4;



thou shall have all the Heathen in derision: either David's enemies, who, though Israelites, yet acted like Heathens to him, as in Ps 59:5; or the Gentiles that were gathered together against Christ, Ps 2:1; or the antichristian states and powers, who will be triumphed over at the time of their ruin, Re 18:20; and even all the wicked at the last day, Pr 1:26.





Psalms 59:9



Ver. 9. [Because of] his strength will I wait upon thee,.... Either because of the strength of Saul, who was stronger than David, he determined to wait upon the Lord for salvation and deliverance from him; or because of the strength of the Lord, which he expected from him, and therefore would wait upon him for it. The Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions, and also the Chaldee paraphrase, render the words, "my strength will I keep for thee"; or "with thee". I ascribe all my strength unto thee; I expect every supply of it from thee, and put my trust and confidence in thee for it: so did Christ as man, and had strength from the Lord, according to his promise, Isa 50:7; and so every believer, Isa 14:24;



for God [is] my defence; or "my high refuge"; or "high tower" {w}; see Ps 9:9; where he was defended and exalted, as is petitioned

Ps 59:1; and was safe and secure from every enemy.



{w} ybgvm "vice arcis sublimis", Tigurine version; Vatablus, Piscator, Gejerus, Michaelis, all to the same purport.





Psalms 59:10



Ver. 10. The God of my mercy shall prevent me,.... Or "of my grace", or "goodness", as the Targum; see 1Pe 5:10. God is gracious in himself, and he has treasured up a fulness of grace in Christ: he is the donor of all the blessings of grace in the covenant; and the author of all internal grace in the hearts of his people; and who supplies them with more grace as they want it; and he is the Father of all temporal and spiritual mercies. The "Cetib", or writing, is wdox, "his mercy"; the "Keri", or reading, is ydox, "my mercy"; grace or mercy is the Lord's; it is his own, which he disposes of as he pleases; being given and applied, it is the believer's; all the grace and mercy in the heart of God, in his Son, and in his covenant, is the saints', which he keeps for them with Christ for evermore; "the God of my mercy", or "grace", is the same with "my merciful", or "my gracious God"; who goes before his people, as he does the Messiah, with the blessings of his goodness, Ps 21:3. It may be rendered, "hath came before me"; and denote the antiquity of his love, being before his people's to him, and the early provisions of his grace and mercy for them: or "doth prevent me": expressing the freeness of it; he not waiting for any duties, services, or conditions to be performed, but bestows his grace and mercy, notwithstanding much unworthiness: or "shall come before me"; designing the seasonable and timely application of mercy come before his fears, as it sometimes does the prayers of his people, Isa 65:24;



God shall let me see [my desire] upon mine enemies; expressed in the following verses, Ps 59:11; or "vengeance upon them"; as the Targum paraphrases it; see Ps 58:10.





Psalms 59:11



Ver. 11. Slay thou not,.... Though they deserved to be slain, and the Lord seemed as if he was about to slay them, who was able to do it; he seemed to be whetting his glittering sword, and his hand to take hold of vengeance ready to execute it; wherefore intercession is made to spare them, which agrees with Christ's petition on the cross,

Lu 23:34. The Targum adds, "immediately": slay them not directly, and at once; give them space for repentance; and so the Jews had: for it was forty years after the death of Christ before their destruction was: or the meaning may be, slay them not utterly; destroy them not totally: and so it was; for though multitudes were slain during the siege of Jerusalem, and at the taking of it, yet they were not all slain: there were many carried captive, and sent into different parts of the world, whose posterity continue to this day. The reason of this petition is,



lest my people forget: the Syriac version renders it, "lest they should forget my people"; or my people should be forgotten. David's people, the Jews by birth and religion, though not as yet his subjects, unless in designation and appointment, and Christ's people according to the flesh: now if these had all been slain at once, they had been forgotten, like dead men out of mind: or Christ's special and peculiar people; his chosen, redeemed, and called ones, who truly believe in him, and are real Christians; and then the sense is, if full vengeance had been taken of the Jews at once, and they had been cut off root and branch, so that none of them remained, Christ's people would have forgot them, and the vengeance inflicted on them for their rejection of the Messiah; but now they are a continued and lasting instance of God's wrath and displeasure on that account, and they and their case cannot be forgotten. The Arabic version renders it, "lest my people forget the law"; its precepts and sanction, its rewards and punishments;



scatter them by thy power; or let them wander up and down like fugitives and vagabonds in the earth, as Cain did, and as the Jews now do, being dispersed in the several parts of the world; and which was done by the power of God, or through the kingdom of God coming with power upon that people, Mr 9:1; or "by thine army" {x}; the Roman army, which was the Lord's, being permitted by him to come against them, and being made use of as an instrument to destroy and scatter them, Mt 22:7;



and bring them down; from their excellency, greatness, riches, and honour, into a low, base, mean, and poor estate and condition, in which the Jews now are;



O Lord, our shield; the protector and defender of his people, while he is the destroyer and scatterer of their enemies.



{x} Klyxb "exercitu tuo", Michaelis, Vatablus.





Psalms 59:12



Ver. 12. [For] the sin of their mouth, [and] the words of their lips,.... The words may be read as one proposition, "the words of their lips [are] the sin of their mouth" {y}; they speak nothing but evil; whatever they say is sin; out of the abundance of their evil hearts their mouths speak: or "for the sin of their mouth" and lips; because of the calumnies cast by them on the Messiah, traducing him as a sinful man, a blasphemer, a seditious person, and even as one that had familiarity with the devil;



let them even be taken in their pride; in their city and temple, of which they boasted, and prided themselves in; and so they were: or for their pride in rejecting the Messiah, because of his mean descent and parentage, and because his kingdom was not with outward pomp and observation; and being vain boasters of their carnal privileges, and works of righteousness, they refused to submit to the righteousness of God, and were neither subject to the law of God, nor to the Gospel of Christ;



and for cursing and lying [which] they speak; for cursing the Messiah, pronouncing him accursed, and treating him as such, by hanging him on a tree; and for lying against him, saying that he was a Samaritan, and had a devil, and cast out devils by Beelzebub; and that he was a deceiver of the people, and a wicked man: for these things they were taken in their besieged city, as is here imprecated.



{y} So Gejerus, Schmidt.





Psalms 59:13



Ver. 13. Consume [them] in wrath, consume [them],.... The repetition of the request shows the ardour and vehemency of the mind of the petitioner, and the importunity in which he put up the petition; and suggests that the persons designed were guilty of very great sins, deserving of the wrath of God, and which came upon them to the uttermost, 1Th 2:16;



that they [may] not [be]; either any more in the land of the living; be utterly extinct, having no being in this world, Jer 31:15; or that they might not be in the glory and grandeur, in the honour, dignity, and felicity, they once were in; which best suits the present state of the Jews; and this sense better agrees with what follows;



and let them know that God ruleth in Jacob, unto the ends of the earth; this is to be understood of the Messiah, who is God over all, blessed for ever, and is the ruler in Israel, King of saints; reigns over the house of Jacob, in his church, and among his people, wherever they are; even to the ends of the earth, where he has had, or will have, some that are subject to him: for his dominion will be from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth, Ps 72:8; and this his government is known to men good and bad, by the judgments which he executeth; and particularly it is apparent that he is made Lord and Christ, and that he is come in his kingdom, and with power, by the vengeance taken on the Jewish nation.



Selah; on this word, See Gill on "Ps 3:2".





Psalms 59:14



Ver. 14. And at evening let them return; [and] let them make a noise like a dog, and go round about the city. What in Ps 59:6 is related as matter of fact, is here expressed by way of imprecation; and what is there taken notice of as their sin, is here wished for at their punishment; unless it can be thought that this should refer to the conversion and return of the Jews in the evening of the world, and to their humiliation and mourning for piercing Christ, and to their very distressed and uncomfortable condition they will be in, until they have satisfaction that their sins are forgiven them; See Gill on "Ps 59:6".





Psalms 59:15



Ver. 15. Let them wander up and down for meat,.... Like hungry dogs;



and grudge if they be not satisfied; or murmur and howl as dogs when hungry, and can find nothing to eat; or "when they shall not be satisfied, and shall lodge" {z}; when they shall get nothing to satisfy their hungry appetite, and shall go to bed without a supper, and lie all night without food. The Targum is,



"they shall wander about to seize the prey to eat, and will not rest till the are satisfied, and will lie all night;''



that is, in quest of prey.



{z} wnylyw "nec satiati cubabunt", Tigurine version; "famelici pernoctabunt", Michaelis.





Psalms 59:16



Ver. 16. But I will sing of thy power,.... In creating all things out of nothing; in upholding all things in being; in the redemption of his people; in their conversion and calling; in the preservation of them to eternal happiness; in the performance of his promises to them; in the destruction of their enemies; and in their protection:



yea, I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning; of providential mercies, which are new every morning; and of special mercy in the heart of God, in the covenant of his grace, in redemption, in regeneration, in the pardon of sin, and in eternal life and salvation;



for thou hast been my defence; See Gill on "Ps 59:9";



and refuge in the day of my trouble; whither he fled, and found protection and safety; See Gill on "Ps 9:9".





Psalms 59:17



Ver. 17. Unto thee, O my strength, will I sing,.... That is, to God, whom he made his strength, and put his trust in for strength, and from whom he received it; and he therefore determined to sing praise to him for it, and give him the glory of it;



for God [is] my defence: as before in Ps 59:9;



[and] the God of my mercy; See Gill on "Ps 59:10".

 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

Psalms 60:1



INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 60



To the chief Musician upon Shushaneduth, Michtam of David, to teach;

when he strove with Aramnaharaim, and with Aramzobah, when Joab returned, and smote of Edom in the valley of Salt twelve thousand. The words "shushaneduth" are thought, by Aben Ezra, to be the beginning of a song, to the tune of which this psalm was set; though others, as he observes, take them to be the name of a musical instrument, on which it was sung. Some take "shushan" to be an instrument of six chords, an hexachord; and "eduth", which signifies a "testimony", to be the title of the psalm, it being a testimony, or lasting memorial, of the victory obtained over the Syrians and Edomites; though rather they may be considered as expressing the subject matter of the psalm; and so the Targum interprets them,



"concerning the ancient testimony of the sons of Jacob and Laban;''



referring to Ge 31:47; they may be rendered, as they are by some, "concerning the lily of the testimony" {a}; and be applied to the Gospel, the testimony of our Lord Jesus, the pure, lily white, and unblemished testimony it bears to him, his person, office, and grace; and particularly to salvation as alone in him, and to which witness is borne in this psalm, Ps 60:11. This psalm is a "michtam", or golden psalm of David, and its use is "to teach". It is of the instructive kind, and teaches where help and salvation are to be expected; see Col 3:16; it was written when David "strove", or fought, with Aramnaharaim, the Syrians of Mesopotamia, which lay between the two rivers, Tigris and Euphrates, from whence is the name; hence the Septuagint render it Mesopotamia of Syria; and the Targum is,



"he made war with Aram, which is by Euphrates;''



and at the same time David also fought with Aramzobah, or the Syrians of Zobah, as they are called in 2Sa 10:6; with Josephus {b}, Zobah is the same with Sophene; but wrongly, as is thought by learned men {c}: for though this is a name which some part of Syria goes by in Mela {d}; and Ptolemy {e} makes mention of a place of this name; yet that was beyond Euphrates, and in Armenia; whereas this must be nearer the land of Israel; for it is said {f} that Aramzobah is the country of Syria, which David subdued, and joined to the land of Israel; concerning which the Jews so often say, that in some things it was the same with it: according to Hillerus {g}, it is the same country which the Arabians call Kinnosrina, the chief city of which is Haleb, or Aleppo; and R. Benjamin Tudelensis {h} making mention of Haleb, says, this is Aramzobah. Moreover, this psalm was written "when Joab returned, and smote of Edom in the valley of salt twelve thousand"; the "valley of salt" was near the Dead Sea, and upon the borders of Idumea; the battle fought here by Joab was either the same with the former, or different from it, at or about the same time; and accounts seemingly different from this are given in 2Sa 8:13; in the first of these the number is said to be eighteen thousand Syrians, and the victory is ascribed to David; and in the latter the same number as there, but said to be Edomites, as here, and the slaughter ascribed to Abishai. The note of R. Abendana {i}, for the reconciling of this, is worth transcribing: Our Rabbins of blessed memory say there were two battles; that Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, slew eighteen thousand, and after that Joab came and smote of them twelve thousand; and this is what is said; and "Joab returned", &c. the sense is, he returned after Abishai: and in the book of Samuel the battle is ascribed to David, because he was the root or chief (that is, under whom Joab and Abishai fought); but R. David Kimchi writes, that there were between them all eighteen thousand only; that Abishai began the battle, and smote of them six thousand, and after that Joab returned, and smote of them twelve thousand; but of a truth the wise R. Joel Ben Sueb gives the right sense of this affair, which is this; when David was fighting with the Syrians of Naharaim and Zobah, it was told him that Edom was come out to meet him, and help the Syrians; and then he veiled himself in prayer, and said this psalm; and Joab returned from the army, and went to meet the Edomites, that they might not pass over to help the Syrians, and join them, and he smote of them twelve thousand; and David was left fighting with the Syrians of Naharaim and Zobah, and subdued them under him, and he turned to help Joab; and Abishai, the son of Zeruiah was over the army, and he smote of them eighteen thousand, and they were in all thirty thousand, according to our Rabbins of blessed memory; and the text in 2Sa 8:13; should be inverted and explained thus;



"when he returned from smiting the Syrians, he got him in the valley of salt a name; for his fame went abroad, because he smote there eighteen thousand, and this was in Edom.''



The Targum very wrongly renders it,



"and there fell of the armies of David and Joab twelve thousand.''



The title of this psalm, in the Syriac version, is,



"which David gave out, saying, if I should come into the hands of Saul, I shall perish; and he fled, and those that were with him: but to us it declares the conversion of the Gentiles, and the rejection of the Jews.''



The former part of which is quite foreign; but the latter seems to be right; for reference is had to both in this psalm, and to Christ, the banner displayed, or ensign lifted up, and to his dominion over Jews and Gentiles in the latter day, and to that salvation which is alone in him.



{a} "Super rosa testimonii", Tigurine version; "super flore testimonii", Musculus. {b} Antiqu. l. 7. c. 5. s. 1. and l. 8. c. 7. s. 6. {c} Vid. Hudson. Not in ibid. {d} De Orbis Situ, l. 1. c. 6. {e} Geograph. l. 5. c. 13. {f} Gloss. in T. Bab. Cetubot, fol. 25. 1. {g} Onomast. Sacr. p. 586. {h} Itimerar. p. 59. {i} In Miclol Yophi in loc.



Ver. 1. O God, thou hast cast us off,.... What is said in this verse, and Ps 60:2, are by some applied to times past; to the distress of the people Israel by their neighbours in the times of the judges; to their being smitten by the Philistines, in the times of Eli and Samuel; and to the victory they obtained over them, when Saul and his sons were slain; and to the civil wars between the house of Saul and David; but rather the whole belongs to future times, which David, by a prophetic spirit, was led to on the occasion of the victory obtained, when before this the nation had been in bad circumstances. This refers to the casting off of the Jews as a church and nation, when they had rejected the Messiah and killed him, persecuted his apostles, and despised his Gospel; of which see Ro 11:15;



thou hast scattered us; as they were by the Romans among the various nations of the world, and among whom they are dispersed to this day; or "thou hast broken us" {k}, as in Ps 80:12; not only the walls of their city were broken by the battering rams of the Romans, but their commonwealth, their civil state, were broke to pieces by them. Jarchi applies this to the Romans; his note is this;



"when Edom fell by his hand (David's), he foresaw, by the Holy Ghost, that the Romans would rule over Israel, and decree hard decrees concerning them;''



thou hast been displeased; not only with their immorality and profaneness, with their hypocrisy and insincerity, with their will worship and superstition, and the observance of the traditions of their elders; but also with their rejection of the Messiah, and contempt of his Gospel and ordinances;



O turn thyself to us again; which prayer will be made by them, when they shall become sensible of their sins, and of their state and condition, and shall turn unto the Lord; and when he will turn himself to them, and turn away iniquity from them, and all Israel shall be saved, Ro 11:25; or "thou wilt return unto us" {l}; who before were cast off, broken, and he was displeased with; or others to us.



{k} wnturp "rupisti nos", Montanus, Michaelis; "disrupisti", Gejerus; so Ainsworth. {l} wnl bbwvt "reverteris ad nos", Pagninus, Montanus; "reduces ad nos", Gussetius, p. 836.





Psalms 60:2



Ver. 2. Thou hast made the earth to tremble; thou hast broken it,.... As is frequently done by an earthquake; which, whatever natural causes there may be of it, is always to be ascribed to God. The ancient Heathens {m} were of opinion that all earthquakes were of God. This respects not the whole earth, but the land of Israel only; and so the Targum,



"thou hast moved the land of Israel, thou hast shaken and rent it;''



and it does not design a natural earthquake in it, but a figurative one; a shaking and rending of their civil and church state; see

Heb 12:26;



heal the breaches thereof; for it shaketh; which will be done in the latter day, when they shall return into their own land, and be restored as at the beginning, Isa 30:30.



{m} A. Gell. Noct. Attic. l. 2. c. 28.





Psalms 60:3



Ver. 3. Thou hast showed thy people hard things,.... As to have their city and temple burial, multitudes of them slain, and the rest carried captive, and put into the hands of cruel lords and hard masters, and made a proverb, a taunt, and a curse, in all places; and all this done to a people that were the Lord's by profession, who called themselves so, though now a "loammi", Ho 1:9; and these were hard things to flesh and blood, yet no other than what they deserved;



thou hast made us to drink the wine of astonishment; or "of trembling" {n}, Isa 51:17; that is, to endure such troubles as made them tremble, and astonished and stupefied them; took away their senses, and made them unfit for anything, being smitten with madness, blindness, and astonishment of heart, as is threatened them, De 28:28; see

Ro 11:7.



{n} hlert "tremoris", Musculus, Vatablus, Amama; "trepidationis", Michaelis; "horroris", Gejerus.





Psalms 60:4



Ver. 4. Thou hast given a banner,.... The word on is, by Jarchi, taken to signify "temptation" or "trial" {o}; and he interprets it of many troubles which they had, that they might be tried by them, whether they would stand in the fear of God, and so considers these words as a continuation of the account of the distresses of the people of Israel; but they are rather to be considered as declaring a peculiar blessing and favour bestowed upon some among them, who are here described, when the rest were involved in the greatest calamities, signified by a "banner" or "ensign" given them; by which is meant, not so much David literally, and the victory he obtained over the Syrians and Edomites, of which the banner displayed might be a token; but the Messiah, who is said to be given for a banner, or set up as an ensign for the people,

Isa 11:10; for the gathering of them to him, to prepare them for war, and animate them to fight the good fight of faith, and oppose every enemy; to direct where they should stand to be on duty, where they should go, and whom they should follow; and is expressive of the victory over sin, Satan, and the world, they have through him: and this is given



to them that fear thee; who have the grace of fear put into their hearts; who fear the Lord and his goodness, and serve him with reverence and godly fear; who worship him both inwardly and outwardly, in spirit and in truth, whether among Jews or Gentiles, though the former may be chiefly intended; such as old Simeon, Anna the prophetess, and others, to whom Christ was made known; and especially the apostles of Christ, and those to whom their ministry became useful; whose business it was to display this banner, set up this ensign, and hold out this flag; as it follows:



that it may be displayed because of the truth; not because of the truth of Abraham, as the Targum; nor because of the truth, sincerity, and uprightness, of those that fear the Lord; but because of his own truth and faithfulness in the performance of his promises made concerning the displaying of this banner; or the sending of his son into the world, and the preaching of his Gospel in it; see Ro 15:8.



Selah; on this word, See Gill on "Ps 3:2".



{o} So Yalkut Simconi in loc. par. 2. fol. 103. 1.





Psalms 60:5



Ver. 5. That thy beloved may be delivered,.... Some think that these words express the effect or end of the banner being displayed; but because of the word "Selah" at the end of Ps 60:4, which makes so full a stop; rather they are to be considered in construction with the following clause. By the Lord's "beloved" ones are meant, not so much the people of Israel, who were loved and chosen by the Lord above all people on the face of the earth, as the elect of God, both among Jews and Gentiles, who are the chosen of God, and precious, and are loved of him with a free, sovereign, everlasting, and unchangeable love: these are the beloved of Father, Son, and Spirit; who, falling into a state of condemnation and death in Adam, and being under the power of sin, and involved in the guilt and faith of it; and being fallen into the hands of many enemies, sin, Satan, and the world; stood in need of deliverance out of all this, which they could not work out of themselves, nor any creature for them; wherefore, that they might be delivered, the following request is made;



save [with] thy right hand; from sin, the cause of damnation; from the law, which threatens with condemnation and death; from Satan, that would devour and destroy; and from all their enemies; from wrath to come, from hell and the second death; or from going down to the pit of corruption. The persons for whom this petition is put up are not only David himself, but all the beloved ones; and these God has appointed unto salvation; Christ is the Saviour of them, and to them salvation is applied in due time by the Spirit, and in a little while they will be in the full possession of it: and this is wrought out by the "right hand" of the Lord; either by his mighty power, the saving strength of his right hand, who is mighty to save; or by his Son, the man of his right hand, made strong for himself, who able to save to the uttermost; and by whom God has determined to save, and does save all his people; or the words may be rendered, "save thy right hand, [thy] Benjamins" {p} who are as near and dear to thee as thy right hand, being his mystical self, to whom salvation is brought by him, Isa 63:1;



and hear me; in so doing, he suggests he would hear and answer him his prayers would be ended and accomplished; this being the sum of them, his own salvation, and the salvation of the Lord's beloved ones. The "Cetib", or writing of this clause, is, "hear us"; the "Keri", or reading of it, "hear me".



{p} Knymy heyvwh.





Psalms 60:6



Ver. 6. God hath spoken in his holiness,.... Or "in his holy place" {q}; in heaven, the habitation of his holiness and of his glory; or "in the house of the sanctuary", as the Targum: in the tabernacle, in the holy place by Urim and Thummim; and in the most holy place by his sacred oracle, from between the mercy seat: or "by his Holy Ones", as the Arabic version; by his holy prophets, Samuel and Nathan, by whom he spoke to David concerning the kingdom; and by his Holy Spirit dictating this psalm, and the rest unto him; and by his Son, his Holy One, by whom he has spoken in these last times unto his people, to which this psalm has reference: or it may be understood of the perfection of his holiness in which he has spoken, and by which he has swore; not only to David literally, concerning the extent of his dominion, the perpetuity and stability of it; but to David's son and antitype, the Messiah, concerning his seed, possession, and inheritance,

Ps 89:19;



I will rejoice; at the holiness of the Lord, which is matter of joy to the saints, especially as the is displayed and glorified in salvation by Christ, Ps 97:12; and at what he said in his holiness to David, concerning his temporal kingdom, and the duration of it; because he knew that what he said he would perform; and at what was spoken to him by the Messiah, in council and covenant, concerning his seeing his seed, and prolonging his days; which was the joy set before him, which carried him through his sorrows and sufferings, Heb 12:2; wherefore he believed his kingdom should be enlarged, both among Jews and Gentiles, as follows;



I will divide Shechem; a city in Mount Ephraim, Jos 20:7; and so was in the hands of Ishbosheth the son of Saul; as the valley of Succoth, Gilead, Ephraim, and Manasseh, after mentioned, and all the tribes of Israel, were, but Judah, 2Sa 2:4; but, because of God's promise, David believed that they would be all in his possession; signified by dividing, as a land is divided for an inheritance when conquered, Jos 13:7; or this is said in allusion to the dividing of spoils in a conquered place; and so the Targum,



"I will divide the prey with the children of Joseph, that dwell in Shechem;''



and as Shechem was the same with Sychar, near to which our Lord met with the Samaritan woman, and converted her, and many others of that place, then might he be said to divide the spoils there, Joh 4:5;



and mete out the valley of Succoth; with a measuring line, so taking possession of it, 2Sa 8:2; Succoth was near to Shechem,

Ge 33:17; and was in the tribe of Gad, and in a valley,

Jos 13:27; there was a Succoth in the plain of Jordan, 1Ki 7:46; it signifies booths, tents, or tabernacles, and may mystically signify the churches of Christ, wherein he dwells and exercises his dominion.



{q} wvdqb "in sanctuario suo", Tigurine version, Vatablus; "in sancto suo", V. L. Musculus, Cocceius.





Psalms 60:7



Ver. 7. Gilead [is] mine,.... This is particularly mentioned, because over this Abner made Ishbosheth king, 2Sa 2:9; and is the place to which the Jews shall be brought in the latter day, when converted,

Zec 10:10; It was a country that abounded with pastures fit for feeding cattle, Nu 32:1, and may point out those green pastures where Christ makes his flocks to lie down and rest;



and Manasseh [is] mine; Ephraim also [is] the strength of mine head: these two were also under Saul's son when David first came to the throne, but afterwards became his, as was promised him, and he believed, 2Sa 2:9. And the concord and harmony of the people of God among themselves, and under David their Prince, the King Messiah, are signified and Ephraim being one in the hand of the by the ceasing of the envy of the one, and of the vexation of the other,

Eze 37:19; Ephraim was more numerous and populous than Manasseh, and abounded with mighty men, which are the strength of a prince, and therefore called here the strength of his head;



Judah [is] my lawgiver; manifestly referring to Ge 49:10; which furnished out persons fit to be counsellors in enacting laws, and proper to be employed in the execution of them. The great Lawgiver is Christ himself, who came of this tribe, Isa 33:22; All this is expressive of dominion over the whole land of Judea, Ephraim, and Manasseh, with the places mentioned with them; the house of Joseph being, as Aben Ezra observes, in the north part of it, and Judah in the south. Next mention is made of the subjection of the Gentiles, and dominion over them.





Psalms 60:8



Ver. 8. Moab [is] my washpot,.... To wash hands and feet in: and so the Syriac version, "and Moab the washing of my feet"; a vessel for low and mean service, and so denotes the servile subjection of the Moabites to David; see 2Sa 8:2; and as the words may be rendered, "the pot of my washing" {r}. Great numbers of the Moabites might be at this time servants to the Israelites, and to David and his court particularly; and might be employed, as the Gibeonites were, to be drawers of water, to fill their pots, in which they washed their hands and feet, and their bathing vessels, in which they bathed themselves: Aben Ezra explains it,



"I wilt wash their land as a pot;''



and so may not only signify the very great subjection of the Gentiles, even the chief among them, to Christ and his church, Isa 49:23; but as Moab was begotten and born in uncleanness, and his posterity an unclean generation, it may design the washing, cleansing, sanctifying, and justifying of the Gentiles in the name of Christ, and by his Spirit, 1Co 6:11;



over Edom will I cast out my shoe; as a token of possessing their land, Ru 4:7; so some; or of subduing them; putting the feet on which the shoe is upon the necks of them, Jos 10:24. So Kimchi interprets it,



"the treading of my foot;''



to which the Targum agrees, paraphrasing it thus;



"upon the joint of the neck of the mighty men of Edom I have cast my shoe.''



It may allude to a custom {s} in confirming a bargain, or taking possession, to pluck off the shoe in token of it, ylen may be rendered "my glove"; as it is by the Targum on Ru 4:7; for, as the shoe encloses and binds the foot, so the glove the hand: and the allusion may be thought to be to a custom used by kings, when they sat down before any strong city to besiege it, to throw in a glove into the city; signifying they would never depart from the city until they had took it. Hence the custom, which still continues, of sending a glove to a person challenged to fight. And indeed the custom of casting a shoe was used by the emperor of the Abyssines, as a sign of dominion {t}. Take the phrase in every light, it signifies victory and power; that he should be in Edom as at home, and there pluck off his shoe, and cast it upon him; either to carry it after him, as some think, which was the work of a servant, to which the Baptist alludes, Mt 3:11; or rather to clean it for him; for as Moab was his washpot, to wash his hands and feet, in Edom was his shoe cleaner, to wipe off and remove the dirt and dust that was upon them {u}; all which denotes great subjection: and this was fulfilled in David, 2Sa 8:14; and may refer to the spread of the Gospel in the Gentile world, and the power accompanying that to the subduing of many sinners in it, carried thither by those whose feet were shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace;



Philistia, triumph thou because of me: some take this to be an ironic expression, like that in Ec 11:9; so R. Moses in Aben Ezra, and also Kimchi. Triumph now as thou usedst to do, or if thou canst: but rather they are seriously spoken, seeing they had reason to rejoice and be glad, because they had changed hands and masters for the better, being subject to David, 2Sa 8:1, with this compare Ps 108:9, and may very well be applied to the Gentiles, subdued and conquered by Christ, who triumph in him; and because delivered out of the hands of sin, Satan, and the world, through his victorious arms.



{r} yuxr ryo "olla lotionis meae", Pagninus, Montanus, Michaelis, Gejerus; so Tigurine version, Musculus, Vatablus. {s} Elias in Tishbi, fol. 267. {t} R. Immanuel apud Castell. Lex. Polygott. col. 2342. {u} Vid. Bynaeum de Calceis Heb. l. 2. c. 8. Gusset. Ebr. Comment p. 520.





Psalms 60:9



Ver. 9. Who will bring me [into] the strong city?.... Which some understand of Rabbah of the Ammonites, which Joab besieged, and sent to David to come and take it in person, 2Sa 12:26. The Targum interprets it of Tyre, which was a strong fortified city, Eze 26:4. It rather seems to be the same with Edom, or the metropolis of the Edomites; since it follows:



who will lead me into Edom? which was situated in the clefts of the rock, and on the height of the hill, Jer 49:16; but is mystically to be understood of the city of Rome, the great and mighty city, as it is often called in the book of the Revelation, Re 11:8; whose destruction is certain, being predicted; and after which there have been desires raised in the hearts of God's people in all ages; and particularly just before the time God will put it into the hearts of the kings of the earth to burn it with fire; who are here represented by David, as desirous of entering into it in triumph to destroy it,

Re 17:16.





Psalms 60:10



Ver. 10. [Wilt] not thou, O God?.... This is an answer to the question, and is made by putting another, which tacitly contains in it an affirmation that God would do it. He has foretold the destruction of the Romish antichrist; he has said it shall be: he is faithful to his purposes, predictions, and promises; he is able to effect it; strong is the Lord that judgeth Babylon, Re 18:10; He will put it into the hearts of the kings of the earth to hate her; he will encourage them to reward her double; he will give her blood to drink, because she is worthy; her destruction will be according to his righteous judgment, and will be irretrievable; he will call upon all his people to rejoice at it, whose shoutings on this occasion will be like those of persons that enter into a conquered city in triumph;



[which] hadst cast us off; who seemed in former times to have cast off his people, when they were killed all the day long; accounted as sheep for the slaughter; were slain in great numbers in the Low Countries; burnt here in England; massacred in France and Ireland: especially God seemed to have cast off his people, and to have had no regard to his interest, when antichrist so prevailed, that all the world wondered after the beast;



and [thou], O God, [which] didst not go forth with our armies: but suffered the antichristian beast to make war with the saints, and to overcome and kill them; and which was the case in many pitched battles with the Waldenses and Albigenses before the Reformation, and with the Protestants in Germany since. But this will not be always the case; he whose name is the Word of God, the King of kings, and Lord of lords, will fight with the antichristian powers, and overcome them, and make his people more than conquerors over them; and his having formerly seemed to have cast them off, and not going forth with their armies, will serve as a foil to set off the glorious and complete victory that will at last be obtained.





Psalms 60:11



Ver. 11. Give us help from trouble,.... To have trouble is the common lot of all men, but especially of the people of God. They have some troubles which others have not, arising from indwelling sin, Satan's temptations, and the hidings of God's face; and as for outward troubles, they have generally the greatest share of them, which are certain to them by the appointment of God, and the legacy of Christ; though they are needful and for their good, and lie in their way to heaven. But perhaps here is particularly meant the time of trouble, which will be a little before the destruction of antichrist; which will be great, and none like it; will be the time of Jacob's trouble, though he shall be saved out of it, Jer 30:7. This will be the time of the slaying of the witnesses, the hour of temptation, that will try the inhabitants of the Christian world; and when the saints, as they do in all their times of trouble, will seek to the Lord for help, in whom it is, and who has promised it, and gives it seasonably, and which is owing wholly to his own grace and goodness; and therefore it is asked that he would "give" it;



for vain [is] the help of man: or "the salvation of man" {w}; man himself is a vain thing; vanity itself, yea, lighter than vanity; even man at his best state, and the greatest among men; and therefore it is a vain thing to expect help and salvation from men, for indeed there is none in them; only in the Lord God is the salvation of his people, both temporal and spiritual.



{w} Mda tewvt "salus hominis", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, &c.





Psalms 60:12



Ver. 12. Through God we shall do valiantly,.... Or, "through the Word of the Lord", as the Targum; Christ, whose name is the Word of God, appearing at the head of his armies, in a vesture dipped in blood, and with a sharp sword proceeding out of his mouth, will inspire his people to fight valiantly under him; and who, in his name and strength, will get the victory over all their enemies, the beast, false prophets, and kings of the earth, and all under them; see Re 19:11;



for he [it is that] shall tread down our enemies; as mire in the street, or as grapes in a winepress; even kings, captains, mighty men, and all the antichristian nations and states; the beast, false prophet, and Satan himself, Re 19:15; and so there will be an end of all the enemies of Christ and his people; after which they will spend an endless eternity together, in joy, peace, and pleasure. The victory is wholly ascribed to God the Word; it is not they that shall do valiantly, that shall tread down their enemies; but he by whom they shall do valiantly shall do it; even the mighty awh, "He", to whom was promised, in Eden's garden, the bruising the head of the serpent, and all enemies, Ge 3:15; and who has the same name here as there.

 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

Psalms 61:1



INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 61



To the chief Musician upon Neginah, [A Psalm] of David. "Neginah" is either the beginning of a song, as Aben Ezra; or the musical note or tune of one: or rather the name of a musical instrument, which was touched by the hand, or with a quill or bow. It is the singular of "neginoth", See Gill on "Ps 4:1". This psalm was written by David, when at the end of the earth, or land of Judea, as appears from Ps 61:2; either when he was fighting with the Syrians, as R. Obadiah, and so was composed about the same time with the former; or when he was in the land of the Philistines, being obliged to fly there from Saul, as Kimchi and others: or rather after he himself was king, since mention is made of the king in it; and when he fled from his son Absalom, and passed over to the other side of Jordan, and came to Mahanaim,

2Sa 17:22; where very probably he wrote this psalm. In it respect is had to the Messiah, as in Ps 61:2; though Arama thinks it was composed after the prophecy came to Nathan that David should not build the temple; see Ps 61:4.



Ver. 1. Hear my cry, O God,.... Being in distress; and which was vocally expressed with great fervency and importunity;



attend unto my prayer; which psalm was made by him, and not for him; inwrought in his heart by the Spirit of God, and put up by him with a true heart and full assurance of faith, and related to his own case in particular. Aben Ezra thinks that the former word designs public prayer, vocally and openly expressed; and that this intends prayer in the heart, or mental prayer; both the Lord hears and attends unto, and is here requested; which is marvellous grace and condescension in him.





Psalms 61:2



Ver. 2. From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee,.... Where he now was, as is observed on the title, See Gill on "Ps 61:1": though he was distant from his own house, and from the house of God, he did not restrain prayer before him, but continued to cry unto him, and determined to do so; and as the people of God are sometimes forced to flee to distant parts, they have a God still to go to, who is a God afar off, as well as at hand. It may be the psalmist may represent the church in Gospel times, throughout the whole world, even at the further parts of it, in the isles afar off, where men may and do lift up holy hands to God without wrath and doubting:



when my heart is overwhelmed; or "covered" {x}; with grief and sorrow for any trouble, outward or inward, and ready to sink, and fail and die. Sometimes the saints are overwhelmed with a sense of sin, are pressed down with the weight and burden of its guilt; their faces are covered with shame and confusion; and their hearts are swallowed up and overwhelmed with overmuch sorrow, both at the number of their sins, and at the aggravated circumstances of them; and especially when they are without a view of pardoning grace and mercy, Ps 38:4 La 3:42; and sometimes they are overwhelmed with afflictive providences; the Lord causes all his waves and billows to go over them, and they are just ready to sink; and did he not stay his hand, and stop contending with them, the spirit would fail before him, and the souls that he has made, Ps 42:6; and sometimes with divine desertions, which cause a "deliquium" of soul, and throw them into fainting fits, So 5:6; and sometimes through unbelieving frames; and did not the Lord appear to them, and strengthen their faith, and remove their unbelief, they would sink and die away,

Ps 77:2. And at all such times it is right to cry unto the Lord, and make the following request to him:



lead me to the rock [that] is higher than I; not the land of Israel, as Kimchi thinks, the psalmist being now in the low lands of the Philistines; nor Jerusalem, and the fort and hill of Zion; he being now at the extreme and lower parts of the land: this sense is too low. Some think that some great difficulty is meant; which seemed insuperable, and like a rock inaccessible, which he could not get up to, and upon, and get over; and therefore desires the Lord would lead him up it, and over it, before whom every rock, mountain, and hill, becomes a plain, Zec 4:7; but rather Christ is meant, the Rock of Israel, the Rock of our salvation, and our refuge. He is higher than David, and all the kings of the earth; higher than the angels in heaven, and than the heavens themselves, Heb 7:26; and who by his height is able to protect and defend his people from all their enemies; and by the shade he casts to refresh and comfort them; and by the sufficiency in him to supply all their wants; for he is as a rock impregnable, and well stored,

Isa 33:16. And here gracious souls desire to be led by the Spirit of God always, and especially when in distressing circumstances; and he does lead them to his blood for pardon and cleansing, and to his righteousness for justification and acceptance with God, and to his fulness for fresh supplies.



{x} Pjeb "quum tegitur", Michaelis.





Psalms 61:3



Ver. 3. For thou hast been a shelter for me,.... Or "refuge" {y}, from avenging justice; a hiding place and covert from the storms and tempests of divine wrath; a shadow and a screen from the heat of Satan's fiery darts, and the blast of his terrible temptations,

Isa 25:4;



[and] a strong tower from the enemy: from Satan the devouring lion, from furious persecutors, and every other enemy; see Pr 18:10; and this experience the psalmist had of protection from the Rock in former times made him desirous of being led to it now.



{y} hoxm "asylum", Tigurine version, Vatablus; "perfagium", Cocceius; "refugium", Michaelis.





Psalms 61:4



Ver. 4. I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever,.... Under the protection of the Lord, as in a shepherd's tent, or as in one belonging to a general of an army, where are fulness and safety;

See Gill on "Ps 27:5"; or else the tabernacle of the congregation is meant; the house of God, the place of divine and public worship, where he desired and determined always to continue, Ps 23:6; or else the tabernacle which was prefigured by that below, where he knew he should dwell to all eternity. Kimchi, by "for ever", understands a long time; and Jarchi explains it both of this world and of the world to come; which is true, understanding the tabernacle of the church below, and the church above;



I will trust in the covert of thy wings. Or, "in" or "into the secret of thy wings" {z}; this he determined to make his refuge for the present time, and while in this world; See Gill on "Ps 57:1".



Selah; on this word, See Gill on "Ps 3:2".



{z} rtob "in abscondito", Pagninus, Montanus; "in occultum", Junius & Tremellius.





Psalms 61:5



Ver. 5. For thou, O God, hast heard my vows,.... Or "my prayers", as the Septuagint and other versions. Vows are so called, because it was usual to make vows in trouble, when prayer was made to the Lord for help and deliverance, Ps 66:13. This is a reason why the psalmist was encouraged to put his trust in the Lord, because his prayers were heard by him; or he was sure they would be, as he had entreated, Ps 61:1. The past is put for the future, as Kimchi and Ben Melech observe; and it may be because of the certainty of his prayers being heard; and which may be concluded from the Lord's declaring himself a God hearing prayer, from the prevalent mediation of Christ, from the assistance and intercession of the Spirit, and from the exercise of faith in prayer, and the divine promises; or while he was crying to God an answer was returned, and he was delivered out of his troubles, Isa 65:24. Another reason follows:



thou hast given [me] the heritage of those that fear thy name: not the land of Israel, as Aben Ezra and Jarchi; which was given for an inheritance to the posterity of Abraham, Ps 105:11; and which was never more fully in their possession than in the times of David: nor the tabernacle or sanctuary of the Lord, as Kimchi; where he desired to dwell, Ps 61:4; and now had his request granted: but the heavenly glory, the incorruptible inheritance, the inheritance of the saints in light, prefigured by them both; which is the gift of God their Father to them his children; comes to them through the death of Christ the testator; is not of the law, and the works of it; is not acquired nor purchased; but is owing to the free grace of God; to predestinating grace, as the source of it; to justifying grace, through the righteousness of Christ, as the right unto it; and to regenerating and sanctifying grace, as the meetness for it. Wherefore it manifestly belongs to those that "fear the name of the Lord", himself, his perfections, particularly his goodness; who adore and admire, serve and worship him, internally and externally; not with a slavish fear, but with a filial godly fear. The Targum renders it,



"thou hast given an inheritance to them that fear thy name;''



that in the King's Bible is,



"an inheritance in the world to come;''



so the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and the Oriental versions; and which sense is given by Aben Ezra. It may be understood of them that fear the Lord, being the inheritance itself; as they are of Christ, David's son and antitype, and who is designed in Ps 61:6: see De 32:9 Ps 2:8.





Psalms 61:6



Ver. 6. Thou wilt prolong the King's life,.... Or "add days to the days of the King" {a}. Meaning either himself, who, though his life was in danger by fighting with the Syrians and Edomites, or rather through the conspiracy of his son; yet was assured that he should yet live many years more, and especially in his posterity; and that his kingdom would be established for ever, as was promised him, 2Sa 7:12. Or rather the King Messiah, so the Targum: and Kimchi observes, that if this psalm respects the captivity, the King is the King Messiah: it may be understood of his life as man; who, though he died, rose again, and lives for evermore; and that, as to the glory of God the Father, so to the good of his people, for whom he makes intercession; and of the continuance of his spiritual seed, in whom he may be said to live, and his days be prolonged, Isa 53:10; and of the duration of his kingdom, of which there will be no end. For it is an everlasting one, as follows:



[and] his years as many generations; he living, and his posterity and kingdom continuing, age after age. The Targum is,



"his years as the generations of this world, and the generations of the world to, come.''



{a} Pyowt Klm ymy le Mymy "dies super dies regis adjicieo", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, &c.





Psalms 61:7



Ver. 7. He shall abide before God for ever,.... Or "sit" {b}; or "may he sit". Being raised from the dead he was received up to heaven into the presence of God, and sat down at his right hand; where he abides for ever, a Priest upon his throne, having an unchangeable priesthood, Heb 7:24;



and prepare mercy and truth, [which] may preserve him; which, if literally understood of David, is a prayer that the Lord would show him favour and kindness, and perform his promises to him, whereby his life would be preserved from the plots and, conspiracies of his enemies, and his kingdom be established; or that he might be exalted to exercise mercy towards his subjects, and administer justice, or execute the judgment of truth among them; which would make for the preservation of his person, and the support of his throne and government, Pr 20:28. But as the words may be applied to the Messiah, they are to be understood, not of the preservation of his corporeal life while here on earth; but either of the preservation of his people, in whom he lives, through the mercy and truth of God, expressed in the exertion of his power, by which they are preserved unto the heavenly kingdom and glory; or of the security of his kingdom, which not being of this world, is not supported by worldly power and policy, but in a spiritual manner, and by spiritual means; such as mercy, or "grace and truth"; that is, the doctrines of grace and truth, which came by Christ, and are preached by his ministers, and are the means of continuing, promoting, and preserving his kingdom and interest in the world, Or the words may be rendered, "may mercy and the truth of manna keep thee"; the true manna, Christ; see Joh 6:32; or "mercy and truth, as the manna, keep thee" {c}; as that was kept in the golden pot, Ex 16:33; or rather as that kept and sustained the Israelites in the wilderness.



{b} bvy "sedebit", Tigurine version, Vatablus, Musculus, Cocceius, Michaelis; so Ainsworth; "vel sedeat", Vatablus, Gejerus, Amama. {c} Vid. Hackman. Praecidan. Sacr. tom. 1. p. 71.





Psalms 61:8



Ver. 8. So will I sing praise unto thy name for ever,.... Or constantly; and not only in this world, but in that to come, for the favours before mentioned; for hearing his prayers; giving him a goodly heritage; prolonging the King's life; and preparing mercy and truth to preserve him;



that I may daily perform vows; which is done by praising the Lord, giving him the glory of all mercies, as vowed and promised; see

Ps 50:14. The Targum adds,



"in the day of the redemption of Israel, and in the day that the King Messiah shall be anointed, that he may reign.''

 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

Psalms 62:1



INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 62



To the chief Musician, to Jeduthun, [A Psalm] of David. Concerning "Jeduthun", See Gill on "Ps 39:1", title. Kimchi thinks this psalm was written concerning the captivity; and Jarchi twtdh le, concerning the decrees and judgments made against Israel by their enemies; and so some of their ancient expositions {d}; but it seems to have been composed by David when in distress, either through Saul and his courtiers, or by reason of the conspiracy of Absalom. Theodoret takes it to be a prophecy of the persecution of Antiochus in the times of the Maccabees.



{d} Vid. Yalkut Simeoni in loc.



Ver. 1. Truly my soul waiteth upon God,.... In the use of means, for answers of prayer, for performance of promises, and for deliverance from enemies, and out of every trouble: or "is silent" {e}, as the Targum; not as to prayer, but as to murmuring; patiently and quietly waiting for salvation until the Lord's time come to give it; being "subject" to him, as the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions; resigned to his will, and patient under his afflicting hand: it denotes a quiet, patient, waiting on the Lord, and not merely bodily exercise in outward ordinances; but an inward frame of spirit, a soul waiting on the Lord, and that in truth and reality, in opposition to mere form and show; and with constancy "waiteth", and "only" {f} on him, as the same particle is rendered in Ps 62:2; and so Aben Ezra here;



from him [cometh] my salvation; both temporal, spiritual, and eternal, and not from any creature; the consideration of which makes the mind quiet and easy under afflictive provide uses: the contrivance of everlasting salvation is from the Father, the impetration of it from the Son, and the application of it from the Spirit.



{e} hymwd "silet", Pagninus, Munster, Cocceius; "silens", Montanus, Tigurine version; so the Targum. {f} Ka "tantum", Pagninus, Montanus, Musculus; "tantummodo", Junius & Tremellius, Schmidt.





Psalms 62:2



Ver. 2. He only [is] my Rock and my salvation,.... The Rock on which the church is built, and every believer; and which was David's safety, shelter, and shade, and which made him easy in his present state; and he was the author of his salvation, and the rock and strength of it,

Ps 95:1;



[he is] my defence; or refuge; see Ps 9:9;



I shall not be greatly moved; or "with much motion", as Kimchi; or "with great motions", as Jarchi: he could not be moved off of the rock on which he was built; nor out of the city of refuge, whither he had betook himself for safety; and though he might be troubled in spirit, and shaken in mind, and staggered in his faith, and fall from some degree of steadfastness of it; yet not fall so as to be utterly cast down, or finally and totally, and so as to perish eternally. Aben Ezra interprets it, "shall not be moved" into the great deep; into the abyss or bottomless pit; and so some of the ancient Midrashes expound hbd of "hell" {g}; but much better is the Targum,



"I shall not be moved in a day of great affliction;''



see Ac 20:23.



{g} Vid. Jarchi & Yalkut Simeoni in loc.





Psalms 62:3



Ver. 3. How long will ye imagine mischief against a man?.... Against a good man, as the Targum; or against any Israelite, as Kimchi; or rather he means himself, a single man, a weak man, and an innocent one; which aggravated their sin, in devising his hurt, and contriving ways to take away his life, as did Saul and his courtiers; and, Absalom, and those that were with him. R. Jonah, from the Arabic language, interprets the word here used of putting or drawing out the tongue to a great length; that is, multiplying words, as lies and calumnies, in agreement with Ps 62:4; but Jarchi, Aben Ezra, and Kimchi, explain it as we do, of devising mischief. The Targum is,



"how long do ye rage against a good man?''



Ye shall be slain all of you; this is a further aggravation of their folly, since it would issue in their own ruin; the mischief they devised for him would fall upon themselves. Some understand this

hlpt Krd, "by way of prayer"; as Aben Ezra, Kimchi, and Ben Melech,



"may ye be slain all of you:''



there is a double reading of these words; Ben Napthali, who is followed by the eastern Jews, reads them actively, "ye shall slay"; with which agree the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and all the Oriental versions; and so the Targum,



"ye shall become murderers all of you.''



Ben Asher, who is followed by the western Jews, reads passively as we do, "ye shall be slain"; and which is approved by Aben Ezra, Kimchi, and others;



as a bowing wall [shall ye be, and as] a tottering fence; which are easily and suddenly pushed down; and so these similes denote the easy, sudden, and certain destruction of those men; see Isa 36:13; though some connect the words with the men against whom mischief was imagined by his enemies, who was like a bowing wall and a tottering fence; and so are expressive of his weakness, and of the easy destruction of him; and read the words, "ye shall be slain all of you", in a parenthesis; but the former sense seems best.





Psalms 62:4



Ver. 4. They only consult to cast [him] down from his excellency,.... Either from the excellency of God, from his greatness, and from his height, as Kimchi; or from his grace, as the Arabic version: that is, they consulted to discourage him from looking to God, his rock and fortress, and from trusting in him; or rather, from his own excellency, from what high estate of dignity and honour he was advanced to, or designed for, namely his kingly office. Saul and his courtiers consulted how to prevent his coming to the throne, and Absalom and Ahithophel how to pull him down from it, and seize his crown and kingdom; which latter best agrees with the expression here;



they delight in lies; in making and in spreading them, in order to hurt his character, and give his subjects an ill opinion of him; and thereby alienate their affections from him, and weaken their allegiance and obedience to him; see Re 22:15;



they bless with their mouth: saying, God bless the king, or save the king:



but they curse inwardly; they curse the king in their hearts, and when by themselves in private, when they imagine nobody hears them; see

Ec 10:20.



Selah; on this word, See Gill on "Ps 3:2".





Psalms 62:5



Ver. 5. My soul, wait thou only upon God,.... Be silent and subject to him, acquiesce in his providences, rest in him patiently and quietly, wait for his salvation; See Gill on "Ps 62:1"; perhaps some new temptation might arise, and David's soul began to be uneasy and impatient; for frames are very changeable things; and therefore he encourages it to be still and quiet, and patiently wait on the Lord, and on him only:



for my expectation [is] from him; or "my hope", as the Targum; the grace of hope is from the Lord, and the thing hoped for is from him; he is the author and the object of it; and his word of promise encourages to the exercise of it; or "my patience"; as the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and Arabic versions. The grace of patience is from the Lord; the means of it is his word; and it is exercised, tried, and increased by afflictions sent and sanctified by him; and "expectation" is nothing else than these graces in exercise, a waiting patiently for things hoped for Old Testament saints expected the first coming of Christ; New Testament saints expect his second coming; and all expect good things from him in time and eternity; nor shall their expectation fail and perish; and therefore is a reason why their souls should wait only on the Lord.





Psalms 62:6



Ver. 6. He only [is] my rock and my salvation,....

See Gill on "Ps 62:2";



[he is] my defence; these epithets of God are repeated, to strengthen his faith and hope in him, and to encourage a patient waiting upon him;



I shall not be moved; neither greatly, nor at all; his faith gets fresh strength and rigour, the more he considers God as his rock, salvation, defence, and refuge; See Gill on "Ps 62:2".





Psalms 62:7



Ver. 7. In God [is] my salvation,.... Or "upon God" {h}; he that is God over all has took it upon him to save me; he is the author of salvation to me; and it is in him safe and secure, and I shall be saved in him with an everlasting salvation:



and my glory; the author of all his temporal glory, honour, and dignity; and of all his spiritual glory, which lay in the righteousness of Christ put upon him, and in the grace of God wrought in him; and of the eternal glory he was waiting for; and besides, God was the object of his glorying, of whom he boasted, and in whom he gloried; see Ps 3:3;



the rock of my strength, [and] my refuge, [is] in God; not only his strength, as well as his righteousness and refuge; but the firmness and security of his strength were in God, who is the Rock of ages, in whom is everlasting strength.



{h} Myhla le "super Deo", Montanus, Gejerus, Michaelis; "super Deum", Vatablus, Cocceius.





Psalms 62:8



Ver. 8. Trust in him at all times, [ye] people,.... Of the house of Israel, as the Targum; or of God, as Aben Ezra; all that are Israelites indeed, and are the Lord's covenant people; these are exhorted and encouraged to trust in him; not in a creature, nor in any outward thing, in riches, wisdom, strength, birth, privileges, the law, and the works of it; in their own righteousness, in their hearts, in themselves or in others; but in the Lord only, both for temporal and spiritual blessings: the Targum is, "in his Word"; his essential Word, by whom the world was made, and who, in the fulness of time, was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and who is a proper object of trust; in him should the people of God trust; in his person for acceptance with God, in his righteousness for justification, in his blood for pardon, in his grace for supply, and in his strength for support, deliverance, and salvation, and that "at all times": there is no time excepted; there is not a moment in which the Lord is not to be trusted in: he is to be trusted in in adversity as well as in prosperity; in times of affliction, when he is present, and will not forsake; in times of temptation, when his grace is sufficient for them; and in times of darkness, when he will arise and appear unto them;



pour out your heart before him: as Hannah did, 1Sa 1:15; and as water is poured out, La 2:19; it means the desires of the heart, the complaints of the soul, the whole of their case which they should spread before the Lord, and make known unto him; see Ps 102:1, title, and #Ps 142: 2; the phrase denotes the abundance of the heart, and of its requests, and the freedom with which they should be made to the Lord; for through the blood and sacrifice of Christ a believer may come to the throne of grace with boldness and liberty, and there freely tell the Lord all his mind, and all that is in his heart;



God [is] a refuge for us; to whom the saints may have recourse in all their times of trouble, and where they find safety and plenty,

Isa 33:16.



Selah; on this word, See Gill on "Ps 3:2".





Psalms 62:9



Ver. 9. Surely men of low degree [are] vanity,.... Or "sons of Adam" {i}; of the earthly man; of fallen Adam; one of his immediate sons was called Hebel, "vanity"; and it is true of all his sons; but here it designs only one sort of them; such as are poor and low in the world; mean men, as the phrase is rendered in Isa 2:9;

See Gill on "Ps 49:2"; these are subject to sinful vanity; their thoughts are vain, their affections vain, their minds vain, their conversation vain, sinful, foolish, fallacious, and inconstant. The wicked poor are, generally speaking, of all persons, the most wicked; and therefore, though they are the multitude, they are not to be trusted in. The Arabic version is, they are as a "shadow", fleeting and unstable, no solidity in them; the Syriac version, "as a vapour", that soon passeth away, like the breath of the mouth, and so not to be accounted of;



[and] men of high degree [are] a lie; or "sons of men"; of vya, "the great man" {k}, as it is rendered in Isa 2:9, noblemen, men of high birth, fortune, rank, and quality; these are a "lie", fallacious and deceitful: they talk of their blood, as if it was different from the rest of mankind; but, trace them up to their original, Adam, and it is a lie. All men are made of one blood, Ac 17:26; their riches promise them peace and pleasure, and long life, but do not give those things, Lu 12:16; their honour is fickle and inconstant; they are act in high places, and those are slippery ones; they are brought to desolation in a moment; and if they continue in them till death, their glory does not descend after them, Ps 49:17; they make promises of great things to those who apply to them, but rarely perform, and are by no means to be confided in. This distinction of high and low degree is observed in Jas 1:9;



to be laid in the balance, they [are] altogether [lighter] than vanity; take a pair of balances, and put men both of high and low degree together in one scale, and vanity in the other, vanity will weigh heaviest; the scale in which men are will go up, as the word {l} here used signifies: they are "in the balances to ascend"; or being put in the balances, they will ascend, and the scale in which vanity is will go down; for, take them altogether, they are "lighter" than that: the word "lighter" is not in the text, but is rightly supplied, as it is by Aben Ezra, Kimchi, and Ben Melech. This last clause, according to the accents, may be best rendered thus; being put "in the balance, they must ascend; they are [lighter] than vanity together". The Targum is,



"if they should take the sons of men in a balance, and weigh their fates, they themselves would be "lighter" than nothing, as one;''



or than vanity together.



{i} Mda ynb "filii Adam", Musculus, Michaelis; "nati plebeio homine", Junius & Tremellius; "plebeii", Gejerus; "sons of base men", Ainsworth. {k} vya ynb "nati praestante viro", Junius & Tremellius; "sons of noble men", Ainsworth. Vid. Schindler. col. 214. {l} twlel "ascendant", Pagninus, Cocceius; so Musculus, Junius & Tremellius, &c.





Psalms 62:10



Ver. 10. Trust not in oppression,.... Either in the power of oppressing others; see Isa 30:12; or in riches gotten by oppression, which being put into a man's hand by his friend, he keeps, and will not return them; so Aben Ezra and Kimchi interpret it of mammon unlawfully obtained; mammon of unrighteousness, or unrighteous mammon; see

Jer 17:11;



and become not vain in robbery; in riches gotten by open rapine and theft; and men become vain herein when they boast of such riches, place their confidence in them, and think to make atonement for their sins by burnt sacrifices purchased with them, Isa 61:8;



if riches increase; in a lawful way, in such manner as the fruits of the earth do, as the word {m} used signifies: if they increase in great abundance from a little, as from one grain of corn many proceed; and insensibly, as the seed sown grows up, a man knows not how, through diligence and the blessing of God from heaven;



set not your heart [upon them]; your affections on them; they are ensnaring, they are apt to take the heart from God, to draw off the affections from Christ and things above, to choke the word, and lead into many temptations and harmful lusts; let not your hearts be elated, or lifted up with them; be not highminded, or filled with pride and vanity on account of them; nor put any trust in them, for they are uncertain things. Jarchi interprets it of the increase of the riches of others; see Ps 49:16.



{m} bwny "cum pullulaverit", Montanus; "efflorescunt", Cocceius; "germinant, fructificant", Amama.





Psalms 62:11



Ver. 11. God hath spoken once,.... One word of his is more to be confided in, and depended on, than all the men and things in the world. The meaning is not that God hath only spoke once; he has spoke often; he spoke all things out of nothing in creation; he spoke all the words of the law at Mount Sinai; he spoke by the prophets under the Old Testament dispensation, and by his Son in the last days, and still by the ministers of the Gospel: but the sense is, that what God has once spoken stands; it is irreversible and immutable; it is firm, sure, and unalterable; he does not repent, he cannot lie, nor will he alter the thing that is gone out of his lips; and therefore his word is to be trusted to, when men of high degree are a lie;



twice have I heard this; that is, many times, as Kimchi explains it: the Targum refers this, and the preceding clause, to the delivery of the law:



"one law God spake, and twice we heard it from the mouth of Moses the great scribe;''



but the meaning is, that the psalmist had heard of two things, and was well assured of the truth of them, and which were the foundation of his trust and confidence; one is mentioned in this verse and the other in

Ps 62:12; the first is,



that power [belongeth] unto God; great power, even almighty power, as appears from the creation of all things out of nothing, the preservation of them in their beings, the government of the world, the redemption of his people by Christ, the work of grace upon their hearts by his Spirit, the perseverance of the saints, their deliverance from their enemies, and the destruction of them. The ancient Cabalists {n} among the Jews have endeavoured, from this passage, to establish a Trinity in unity, they speak of



"three superior "Sephirot", or numbers; and of them it is said, "God hath spoken once, twice have I heard this": once and twice, lo, the three superior numbers, of whom it is said, one, one, one, three ones; and this is the meaning of "God hath spoken once, twice have I heard this; this" in it makes them one.''



{n} Tikkune Zohar, Correct. 38. fol. 82. 1.





Psalms 62:12



Ver. 12. Also unto thee, O Lord, [belongeth] mercy,.... This is the other thing the psalmist had heard, and was assured of, and which encouraged his hope and trust in the Lord; that mercy belonged to him,

Ps 130:7; as appears, not only from the common bounties of his providence, daily bestowed upon his creatures; but from the special gift of his Son, and of all spiritual mercies and blessings in him; from the regeneration of the Lord's people, the pardon of their sins, and their eternal salvation;



for thou renderest to every man according to his work; and which is a reason proving that both power and mercy belong to God; power in punishing the wicked according to their deserts, and mercy in rewarding the saints, not in a way of merit, or of debt, but of grace. Some interpret the words, as Aben Ezra and Kimchi observe, "though thou renderest", &c. that is, God is gracious and merciful, though he is also just and righteous in rendering to every man as his work is, whether it be good or evil.

 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

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