1. Introduction to the Book of Psalms

A. "Psalm" = a poem to be sung accompanied by a stringed instrument.

B. Many of them are lyrics or poems expressing the individual emotion of the poet, and intended for accompaniment by the harp or other stringed instruments.  Fifty-five of the Psalms are addressed to "the chief musician"--the choir leader of the Hebrew worship service.

C. Ever since they were written, the Psalms have played a large part in the life of God's people.  The old time Hebrews used them in the temple worship and the Jews of today still use them in the synagogue.  The Christians of NT times sang them, as we see from Col. 3:16 and James 5:13.

D. Jesus spoke of the book of Psalms in Luke 20:42 and said that many things in the Psalms referred to Him and put Psalms on the same level as the law of Moses and the prophets. (Luke 24:44)

E. Luke, the human instrument who wrote the Book of Acts by inspiration, referred to the Book of Psalms in Acts 1:20.

F. The Psalms were also sung by the Hebrew pilgrims as they traveled up to Jerusalem three times a year as the law required the males to do. (Deut. 16:16) They were also sung as the remnant of Jews left Babylon and returned to Jerusalem.

 

2. The writer:

A. The Holy Ghost (II Peter 1:21, II Tim. 3:16) but He used human instruments.

B. David has 73 Psalms ascribed to him and he is called the "sweet Psalmist of Israel" in II Sam. 23:1. David was also a harp player.

C. Twelve are ascribed to Asaph called a recorder and seer in Hezekiah's day. (II Kings 18:18; II Chron. 29:30)  His name is usually associated with singing or musical instruments in the Bible.

D. Eleven to the sons of Korah who were Levites.

E. Two are ascribed to Solomon, David's son.

F. One is ascribed to Moses.

G. One to Ethan who was also associated with musical instruments. (I Chron. 15:19)

H. Fifty are anonymous.  We know King Hezekiah wrote some psalms after he was healed and had 15 years added to his life.  No doubt some of these were also written by David.

 

3. The time span of writing the Book of Psalms probably spanned from Moses' day as he wrote one until at least the time of Babylonian captivity as Psa. 137:1-2 mentions the captivity.  This covers about a 900 year period of time.

 

PSALM 25:

1. This Psalm has the inscription "a Psalm of David."

A. "A Psalm" = a poem to be sung to a stringed instrument.

B. "Of David" = means David, the sweet Psalmist of Israel, was the author--human instrument--of this Psalm.

2. We see in this Psalm that David is pictured in his holy trust, his many conflicts, his great transgression, his bitter repentance, and his deep distresses.  Thus, we see the very heart of the man after God's own heart. (Acts 13:22)

3. The time this Psalm was written seems to be sometime during the Absalom rebellion.

4. The underlying theme of this psalm is guidance.  David's circumstances are dire, he hardly knows which way to turn, so he turns to God.  Abraham Lincoln once said, "I have often been driven to God by the overwhelming sense that I had nowhere else to go."

 

V. 1

1. "Thee" = "LORD" = Jehovah; the self existent one who stands alone with no aid from anybody or any other being in this world or out of this world; the self existent one who wants to reveal Himself to man.

2. "O" = a cry of desperation.

3. "I" = "my" = David the human instrument who penned down this book.

4. "Lift up my soul" = this refers to David's sincere prayer; the Hebrew does not mean a raising of the heart (soul) to God, but a permanent setting of the affections on Him.

 

V. 2

1. "O" = repetition of his cry of desperation.

2. "God" = "thee" = Elohim = the God of covenant and the God of creation; he wants to make sure that the God of promise and of power is on his side; thus, he repeats another name for God--Jehovah and Elohim.

3. "I" = "me" = "mine" = David.

4. "Trust" = to be confident and sure; woe to the warrior who loses his shield; what defense can be found for him who finds no defense in his God?

5. "Let me not be ashamed" = do not disappoint my trust, and thereby bring me to shame.

6. "Let not mine enemies triumph over me" = it does not say whether his enemies were domestic or foreign; at this time it was probably his son Absalom. (Micah 7:6)

 

V. 3

1. "Yea" = yes, word enforces the sense of something preceding.

2. "Let none that wait on thee be ashamed:"

A. "Wait" = to bind together; to expect fully; indicates to be ready to serve and obey; refers to active waiting not passive.

B. "On thee" = the LORD.

C. "Ashamed" = to be disappointed; the Hebrew construction indicates that all who wait on Him, look for Him, and seek for indications of His will, will not be disappointed. (Psa. 123:2)

3. "Let them be ashamed which transgress without cause" = let shame be the portion, not of thy servants, but of thy adversaries--those who transgress (rebel) without reasonable cause; such persons deserve to be brought to shame.

4. David's prayer passes from the particular to the universal.  What David desires for himself, he desires also for the true servants of God.

 

V. 4

1. "Shew" = show; implies to know.

2. "Me" = David the sweet psalmist of Israel and the human instrument who penned down this Psalm.

3. "Thy" = "LORD" = Jehovah God.

4. "Ways" = refers to God's methods of administering the affairs of the world and the rules which He has prescribed for Himself in the execution of His plans and the great laws by which He governs the universe. (Deut. 32:4)

5. "Teach" = to make known.

6. "Paths" = a kindred word to "ways;" refers to the paths which the Lord takes in administering the affairs of the world.

7. This verse is an echo of the prayer of Moses when his people were rebellious at Sinai. (Exo. 33:13)  David prayed almost the same words again in Psa. 27:11 and Psa. 86:11 and the Psalmist also who penned down Psa. 119:33.

8. David wanted to be led of the Lord.

9. Man is lacking spiritual understanding thus morally blind and ignorant, and unless enlightened from on high, he cannot discern rightly the way of godliness.  He does not know at any given moment what God would have him do.  Therefore, the constant prayer of every religious man should be that God will "lighten his darkness," make His way plain before his face, show him the path that he should walk in and enable him to see the next step that is his duty to take.  10. When God sees that we really want to be led, then He will lead.

 

V. 5

1. David not only wanted to be led (verse 4), he was willing to be led.

2. "Lead me in thy truth, and teach me:"

A. "Lead me" = to go before and show the way.

B. "Thy truth" = refers to what God sees and regards as truth; truth is eternal and unchanging; it is not that He makes it to be true, but that He sees it to be true; what He proclaims to be right is right; it is then His truth, as He adopts it for the rule of His own conduct and makes it known to His creatures to guide them.

C. "Teach me" = refers to God making known by His Spirit in David's heart; applied to us, it is a prayer that He would instruct us by all the truths then made known and all that have since been revealed by His Spirit in His influences on our hearts.

3. "For thou art the God of my salvation:"

A. "Thou" = "thy" = in the first phrase = "God" = "thee" = in the last phrase.

B. "My" = David, the sweet psalmist of Israel--the human instrument who penned down this Psalm.

C. "Salvation" = this word is not the common word used for deliverance from sin and future ruin in hell, but a word used in the general sense of deliverance from danger and death; it is synonymous with preservation and the idea is that the psalmist regards God as his preserver or that he owed his protection and safety in the time of danger to Him alone.

4. "On thee do I wait" = the psalmist is saying, I rely on thee or I am dependent on thee; he had no other source of reliance or dependence.

5. "All the day" = continually, always; he was really dependent on Him at all times and he felt that dependence; it is always true that we are dependent on God for everything (John 3:27), but it is not true that we always feel this.

6. David not only was wanting to be led and willing to be led, he was waiting to be led.

 

V. 6

1. "Remember" = recall to mind; the Lord does not forget unless He chooses to (Heb. 10:17); therefore, David is reminding the Lord of what He has done in the past.

2. "O" = a cry of desperation.

3. "LORD" = "thy" = Jehovah; the self existent one who stands alone with no aid from anybody or any other being in this world or out of this world; the self existent one who wants to reveal Himself to man.

4. "Tender mercies" = being merciful and compassionate; refers to the tenderness of heart which causes one to overlook injuries or treat an offender better than he deserves; compassion manifested towards a person in distress; the LORD is merciful and His mercies are new every morning. (Lam. 3:22-23)

5. "Lovingkindness" = tokens of favor; act of mercy and compassion, thus these two words are kindred words.

6. "They" = refers to both tender mercies and lovingkindness.

7. "For they have been ever of old" = they have been from eternity; this language is that of a heart deeply impressed with a sense of the goodness of God; this phrase means not lately only, or to David only, have His mercies been shown, but through all past time, to all His servants from of old.

 

V. 7

1. "Remember" = to recall to mind; negated by "not;" thus "remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions" = Job thought that God counted against him the "iniquities of his youth" (Job 13:26); but David, with greater faith and a deeper insight into the true character of God can ask with confidence that his sins may not be reckoned against him.

2. "According to thy mercy remember thou me for thy goodness sake, O LORD" = David did not ask God to put him from His mind, but "remember me in the light of thy tender mercy, with the rays of thy love streaming over me and hiding the deformities of my transgressions."

3. Do this, "for thy goodness sake" = because thou art essential Goodness, perfect Tenderness, perfect Love. (Psa. 130:3; no one could be justified if God marked down every sin rather than blotting sins out--the only hope comes in God's forgiveness.)

 

V. 8

1. David now turns from prayer and meditates on the character and ways of God.

2. "Good" = kind, tender, gentle, and merciful.

3. "Upright" = just, straight, strict, undeviating from the path of right.

4. Paul tells us that "the goodness of God leads us to repentance." (Rom. 2:4)

5. "Therefore" = in view of the fact that God is good and upright, He "will teach sinners in the way" = theologically the Bible never refers to a saved person as a "sinner" but a saint because there has been a sanctification work of the Holy Spirit completed in their life.

6. "Teach" = to instruct; figure to point out, as if by aiming the finger.

7. "In the way" = this refers to the narrow way an awakened sinner is in once he has been awakened and turns from the broad way to the narrow way when awakened (Mat. 7:13-14); this narrow way leads to the strait gate which is where salvation occurs; God's goodness teaches an awakened sinner, makes his ground good (Mat. 13:23), and gives him the understanding he needs about his sin, condition, need, the Saviour, and saves him--this could have never happened until the Lord taught him.

8. Oh! the goodness of God leads to repentance.

 

V. 9

1. "The meek" = means to be humble, submissive, contrite, and having a teachable spirit.

2. "He" = the LORD--Jehovah.

3. "Guide" = to lead or direct in a way; to conduct in a course or path.

4. "In judgment" = the Lord manifests His character by the judgments He executes or shows Himself just; what He does in His dealings with men, in dispensing rewards and punishments, bestowing blessings upon the righteous, and sending punishment upon the ungodly.

5. "Teach" = to instruct; to inform; to communicate to another the knowledge of that of which he was before ignorant.

6. "His way" = (Psa. 18:30; 37:23; Isa. 55:7-9) refers to the Lord's desire and will for his sheep (John 10:27); this is truth; after the Lord ascended back to glory He sent the Holy Spirit who will guide into and teach all truth to His sheep.

7. Meekness is part of the fruit of the Spirit all saved men possess. (Gal. 5:22-23)

8. Oh! the goodness of God to give us a teachable spirit and then to teach us--that leads to repentance.

 

V. 10

1. "All the paths of the Lord" = all the ways that the Lord takes; all that He commands; all that He does; all the paths to the Lord denote the course in which He himself walks or His dealings with His creatures.

2. In verse 9 He says He will teach His ways to the meek and now He says that all His ways are ways of mercy and truth, or that all will be found to be in the direction of mercy and truth--refers to all His dealings with those who "keep his covenant and his testimonies."

3. "Keep" = to guard; in a good sense to protect; maintain, obey, and etc.

4. "Covenant" = equivalent to command or law.

5. "Testimonies" = refers to that which God bears witness as true, or that which He has declared to be truth.

6. This phrase refers to those who maintain His truth.  In all such cases there is an underlying idea that the command or the statement referred to is that to which God bears witness as true or right.

7. This refers to the old paths Israel refused to walk in Jer. 6:16 and what I John 5:3 says is not grievous--not burdensome; not heavy.  This means that His laws are not unreasonable and the duties which He requires are not beyond our ability as He enables us.

 

V. 11

1. The psalmist resumes the attitude of prayer which he had laid aside in verse 8.

2. "For thy name's sake" = the idea here is that God would do this on His own account or for the honor of His own name, that His mercy may be known far and wide, and His goodness cause all the world to praise Him.

3. "O" = a cry of desperation.

4. "LORD" = "thy" = Jehovah; the self existent one who stands alone with no aid from anybody or any other being in this world or out of this world; the self existent one who wants to reveal Himself to man.

5. "Pardon mine iniquity" = this prayer may have been offered in view of the remembered transgressions of his early years (verse 7) but the Hebrew construction seems to indicate David is referring to his sin of adultery with Bathsheba and what was connected with that; even though he had confessed and God forgave him, he is still reaping the consequences of his sin, part of which is the rebellion of Absalom he was dealing with at this time.

6. "For it is great" = so great that his need of forgiveness is excessive; so great that to forgive it will be truly Godlike; so great, that, unless forgiven he would be destroyed.

 

V. 12

1. "What man is he" = who is he; the statement is intended to include every man; wherever one is found who has the character here referred to, of him what is here affirmed will be true.

2. "That feareth the Lord" = reverential fear and awe of Jehovah with a hatred for evil; has an attitude of obedience; Psa. 111:10 says, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;" a right attitude toward the Lord is essential; this refers to one who has been awakened by the Holy Spirit because the natural man (unawakened man) has "no fear of God before their eyes." (Rom. 3:18)

3. "Him" = refers to whoever has been awakened and begins to fear the Lord.

4. "He" = used two times; refers to the Lord.

5. "Him shall he teach" = He will guide, or instruct that individual.

6. "In the way that he shall choose" = the Lord guided Israel in the wilderness (the way He chose) by means of the Shekinah glory cloud; any Israelite could know he was exactly in God's will simply by looking toward the cloud; when it moved, the people moved, and when it halted, the people halted; the stops as well as the steps of the people of God were daily and divinely directed; and the Lord is willing to lead us, too, just as clearly if we get our eyes firmly fixed upon Him; God's way is the right way--the way of His commandments. (Psa. 119:30, 173)

 

V. 13

1. "His soul" = refers to the man in verse 12 who feareth the Lord.

2. "Shall dwell at ease" = shall lodge in goodness or bliss--he shall enjoy, while on earth, blessings of every kind; the idea is that of one at home--one who finds a comfortable and safe resting place--one who is not a wanderer or a vagrant.

3. "His seed" = his posterity--his family.

4. "Shall inherit the earth" = originally this promise referred to the land Canaan, as a promise connected with obeying the law (Exo. 20:12); it came to be synonymous with outward worldly prosperity, with length of days, and happiness in the earth (Psa. 37:11, 22, 29); we could make this an application of ruling and reigning with our Lord in the 1000 year reign.

 

V. 14

1. "Secret" = intimacy; special favor; refers to His friendship and His closeness. (Pro. 3:32)

2. "Is with them that fear him" = again as in verse 12, the qualifying condition is to "fear Him" = reverential fear and awe of Jehovah with a hatred for evil; the sense of this first phrase is those who fear the Lord are permitted to come in His presence, partake of His counsels, and are allowed free access to Him; this language denotes the close connection between God and His people. (Pro. 3:32)

3. "He" = "the Lord" = Jehovah.

4. "He will shew them his covenant" = means He will impart to them the true knowledge and understanding of what is in His covenant which for us is His completed Word--nobody can hope to have any real guidance unless he is willing to spend time in the Word of God, seeking out the great secrets which are contained therein. (Psa. 119:96)

5. The result of this is:

A. John 14:23 = He will make His abode with him.

B. John 14:26 = teach you all things.

C. Enlightens them.

D. Leads them in His way.

E. Seals their instruction. (Job 33:16)

F. Makes them see the full force of His covenant which is exceeding broad. (Psa. 119:96)

 

V. 15

1. David, when writing this psalm, was in trouble, in desperate need of guidance from the Lord.  He needed help and in these closing verses he makes that clear.

2. "Mine eyes are ever toward the Lord" = David now practices what he had just stated; he had said that God would lead and guide those who were meek, gentle, teachable, humble and now he says that was his state of mind; David was always looking to God (Psa. 141:8), waiting for Him (Psa. 40:1), expecting and anticipating His deliverance. (Psa. 3:7; 9:3)

3. "For he shall pluck my feet out of the net" = "net" is a snare to catch an animal; Absalom had cleverly and cunningly laid a snare for David; he had succeeded in winning the hearts of the men of Israel and David's difficulty was real; he trusted in God alone to deliver him from it and He did.

 

V. 16

1. "Turn thee unto me" = look upon me; the idea is that the face of God was, as it were, turned in another direction and he prays that He would turn and see him in his trouble.

2. "Have mercy upon me" = "mercy" means to lend or stoop in kindness to an inferior; David seems to have felt that if God would look upon him He would have compassion on him.

3. "Me" = "I" = David.

4. "Desolate" = means properly one alone, or who is solitary, forsaken, wretched; there is no deeper sadness that ever comes over the mind than the idea that we are alone in the world--that we have not a friend or that no one cares for us, or that no one would care if we should die.

5. "Afflicted" = depressed, in mind or circumstances; may refer to that which arose from the recollection of the sins of his early life, and from the designs and purpose of his enemy which at this time was his son Absalom.

6. David had discovered in Absalom's rebellion just how much his sin with Bathsheba and the murder of Uriah had alienated the goodwill of his people.  He had lost the respect of the youth of the land, and he was in desolation.

 

V. 17

1. "Troubles" = to agitate, disturb, affect, grieve, distress.

2. "Heart" = involves the whole person--the mind, the will, and emotions.

3. "Are enlarged" = have become great.

4. Adultery and murder had stalked his steps, breaking out again and again in his own family circle.  The rebellion of his beloved and favorite Absalom broke his heart.

5. "O" = a cry of desperation; in italics thus supplied by the translators because it is implied.

6. "Thou" = Jehovah.

7. "Me" = "my" = David the human instrument who penned down this psalm.

8. "Bring thou me out of my distresses" = "distresses" refers to affliction, calamity, misery, and anguish of body or mind; David was in great distress and was asking the Lord to deliver him from this affliction.

 

V. 18

1. "Look upon mine affliction and my pain" = this is a repetition of earnest pleading as in verse 16a; he is pleading as if God is still turned away from him and did not think he was worthy to regard him; I am reminded  about what Jesus taught concerning prayer in Luke 11:9-10--ask and keep on asking.

2. "Forgive all my sins" = although he had been forgiven by God, his guilt still haunted him.

3. When God forgives, He forgets, but we cannot forget.  David was deeply conscious and deeply repentant of his past sins.

 

V. 19

1. "Consider" = to fix the mind on, with a view to a careful examination.

2. "Consider mine enemies; for they are many" = throughout David's life he had many enemies and at the time of Absalom's rebellion the whole nation of Israel, except for a handful of loyalists, had joined this rebellion.

3. "They hate me with cruel hatred" = refers to such hatred attended with violence that they could not restrain it; it sought his destruction, and was ready to break out at any moment.

 

V. 20

1. "O" = a continued cry of desperation.

2. "Keep" = to hedge about; to guard, protect, and attend to.

3. "My soul" = refers to his life that he might not be destroyed.

4. "Deliver me" = save me; rescue me.

5. "Let me not be ashamed" = do not disappoint my trust, and thereby bring me to shame.

6. "For I put my trust in thee" = "trust" means to be confident and sure; woe to the warrior who loses his shield; what defense can be found for him who finds no defense in his God?

7. This is the second time we see this same basic cry of desperation in this psalm.  The first is found in verse 2.

 

V. 21

1. "Let integrity and uprightness preserve me" = the language here refers to God denoting His perfection (integrity) and His uprightness (always right) and then the psalmist's prayer would be that He, a righteous God, would keep him--"preserve me" = to guard, protect, and maintain.

2. "For I wait for thee" = this is the reason why he pleaded that God would preserve him; I depend on thee; I rely on thee; "wait means to intertwine or bind together.

3. David had in his mind more than just his deliverance for he was the king of Israel; therefore, the people of his kingdom, whom he loved, were involved in this deliverance.

 

V. 22

1. "Redeem Israel" = "redeem" is a word which means to redeem from bondage by power--to release to liberty; "Israel" is used here to denote the people of God--the people of whom David was their king.

2. "O God" = a cry of desperation; David's prayer had related mainly to himself but now he closes this psalm praying for all of God's people who were in trouble.

3. "Out of all his troubles" = refers to all of Israel's "troubles" = affliction and calamity.

4. There are times when the consequences of our own behavior involve other people, those given to us by God as a sacred trust.  There are times when we fail miserably in this trust and the disobedience in our own lives is reproduced in theirs--often in a more arrogant and aggressive way.  Then what are we to do?  Fly back to God and weep out our confession in His ears and ask Him to redeem those enslaved because of their failure--to redeem them by His power.  And this is exactly what David did.

 

PSALM 26:

1. This Psalm has the inscription "a Psalm of David."

A. "A Psalm" = a poem to be sung to a stringed instrument.

B. "Of David" = means David, the sweet Psalmist of Israel, was the author--human instrument--of this Psalm.

2. This psalm is believed to have been written late in David's life during a famine God sent on Israel for three years. (II Sam. 21:1)  During the famine, David did what he had often done in his fugitive years, he enquired of the Lord.  He was told that the famine was a punishment on Israel because of Saul's massacre of the Gibeonites many years before.  The Gibeonites were covered by a treaty (league) which they tricked Joshua into signing. (Josh. 9:1-15)  But when Saul was king, in his carnal zeal, he broke the treaty and put some Gibeonites to death by the sword.  God expects a nation to honor its treaties.  Therefore, when even David did not make restitution to the Gibeonites, God acted and sent a famine.  Ezek. 14:21 list famine as one of the four heavy judgments of God for the sins of Jerusalem--this would also apply to the nation of Israel.  Solomon refers to the cloudless heaven that could bring famine as the result of the sins of the people. (I Kings 8:35) David and most of the nation of Israel were innocent of Saul's sin because most of those involved in this sin were dead, but God was treating Israel as a nation.  National sin called for national punishment.  Thus, the entire nation was being punished by this famine.  So we can see why David, Israel's king, was perplexed at this time.

3. This psalm gives us a rare glimpse of David's personal spiritual life.  This psalm also tells us some things we should always bear in mind as we journey through life.

 

V. 1

1. "Judge me" = examine me; put me to the test; David asks for an examination of his own life.

2. "LORD" = Jehovah; the self existent one who stands alone with no aid from anybody or any other being in this world or out of this world; the self existent one who wants to reveal Himself to man.

3. "O" = a cry of desperation.

4. "Me" = "I" = "mine" = David the human instrument who penned down this psalm.

5. "Walked" = to order one's life.

6. "Integrity" = uprightness; sincerity; David was sincere in his endeavors to do right; this is the first thing he brings before God for Him to examine--the consciousness that he had endeavored to live an upright life; yet he said in verse 11 he still needs mercy and redemption.

7. "Trusted" = to be confident or sure; to rely on; he desired to submit to the Lord.

8. "Therefore" = in italics, thus supplied by the translators because it is implied that because he "trusted in the LORD" that "I shall not slide" = to waver; to be firm; David is confident of his past and for the future he trusts in the Lord to uphold his steps and save him from slips and falls spiritually; I am reminded of what Paul said in II Tim. 1:12.

 

V. 2

1. The meaning of this verse is that he asked of God a strict and rigid examination of his case. To express this he uses three words--examine, prove, try.

2. "Examine" = to test as metals are tested; it means to apply to David such tests as are applied to metals in order to determine their genuineness and their value.

3. "Me" = "my" = David the human instrument who penned down this psalm.

4. "O LORD" = see notes on verse 1.

5. "Prove" = a word similar to examine; put to the test to ascertain the quality of an object.

6. "Try" = also a similar word to examine and prove; to prove by a test.

7. "Reins" = properly means the kidneys; used to denote the inward part, the soul--the seat of the desires and the affections.

8. "Heart" = the Hebrews more commonly spoke of the heart as the seat of intelligence or knowledge while in NT time it is spoken of as the seat of affections.

9. David is saying, "probe down into the innermost recesses of my being" just as the OT priest took the sacrificial animal and used a knife to examine the inward parts making sure the offering was without blemish.

 

V. 3

1. "For" = introduces the reasons he calls for inner examination of his confidence of his integrity; he gives six reasons in verses 3-5.

2. First: "Thy lovingkindness is before mine eyes" = refers to God's mercy and favor being "before mine eyes" = means he reflects on it, meditates on it, presents it to his thoughts continually so that it is the object of his desire.

3. Second: "I have walked in thy truth" = he has always walked in God's truth; God's law is the truth. (Psa. 119:42); he is saying, "I have embraced the truth," I have regulated my life by the truth; he is certain that this had been his aim; therefore, examine, prove, and try me.

 

V. 4

1. Third: "I have not sat with vain persons" = "vain persons" are those whose character is essentially false or worthless--those whose hearts are set upon vain and worthless things; he did not make them his companions. (Psa. 1:1)

2. Fourth: "Neither will I go with dissemblers" = "dissemblers" are those who are out-and-out hypocrites; the word properly means those who are hidden or concealed; refers to those who conceal their real character and intentions--hypocrites; the psalmist says that he had not associated with such men, but that his companionship had been with the open, the frank, the sincere; therefore, examine, prove, and try me.

 

V. 5

1. Fifth: "I have hated the congregation of evil doers" = the evil doer is the man who is set to destroy all that is good; the corresponding Greek word is where we get our English word pornography--in view is the lewd, lustful person; David hated the purpose for which they gathered themselves together--he had no sympathy whatever with them--all such assemblers that gathered together for wicked purposes, for sin and revelry, to plot wickedness, to injure men, and to oppose God.

2. Sixth: "And will not sit with the wicked" = the "wicked man" is the lawless man, who is driven by his fallen human nature; David says he would not be associated with them; this was a fixed purpose of his soul; this was then as it is now evidence of true piety--reverence of the Supreme Being and love of His character; if he mingles with such men at all, it must be only as demanded by the necessities of social or civil life, or in the transaction of business, or for the purpose of doing them good; if for other purposes, if he makes them his chosen companions and friends, he gives the clearest evidence that his heart is with them, and that it is not with God (I John 2:15; Rom. 12:2); therefore, examine me, prove me, and try me.

3. David was not a sinless man but his confessed sins were forgiven and forgotten. (Heb. 10:17)

 

V. 6

1. Separation is the negative, and sanctification is the positive--we need both.  Not just separation from the world, but separation to the Lord.  Now David refers to this positive action.

2. "I will wash mine hands in innocency" = "innocency" properly means cleanness, purity; washing the hands is an emblem of purity; David knew he could not come to God, practicing iniquity or cherishing sin in his heart (Psa. 66:18); Pilate's action when he turned Jesus over to be crucified reflects this. (Mat. 27:24)

3. "So will I compass thine altar, O LORD" = in this manner, and with spirit I will worship thee; the idea is, that he would come to the altar of God with his offering in sincerity and truth--this desire is always an indication of true piety--reverence of the Supreme Being and love of His character.

4. For David to get his heart right with God he had to avenge King Saul's action in killing some Gibeonites which caused Israel to suffer a three year famine, and this David did. (II Sam. 21:1-14)

 

V. 7

1. "That" = introduces the outcome of David getting his heart right.

2. "That I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving" = that I may make known to others; the idea is, that he would make known to others what he had learned of God; this he would do with a thankful remembrance of the favor which he himself enjoyed--thus influencing others also to the Lord's service.

3. "And tell of thy wondrous works" = refers to the wonderful things the Lord has done--His works of creation, providence, and salvation--even deliverance from the famine upon Israel.

 

V. 8

1. "LORD" = "thy" = "thine" = Jehovah; see notes on v. 1.

2. "I" = David the human instrument who penned down this psalm.

3. "Loved" = to have affection for; to desire.

4. "The habitation of thy house" = refers to the house of God--the place of public worship where the Lord meets with His people.

5. "The place where thine honour dwelleth" = the place of the tabernacling of the glory--the place where the glory, the Shechinah, is enshrined and abides.

6. In David's day that was the tabernacle that he had prepared to house the ark which he had retrieved and placed after the ark had been taken by the Philistines in the days of Eli the priest.  This tabernacle was in Jerusalem. (II Chron. 6:5-6)  In Solomon's day the place was in the temple in Jerusalem.  Today the Lord meets His people in His church.

7. David found pleasure in the place God manifested Himself.  This is an evidence of true piety, reverence and respect of the Supreme Being.  A man who does not delight in such a service here, is not prepared for heaven, where God eternally dwells.

 

V. 9

1. "Gather not my soul with sinners" = David's prayer is not that he may avoid death, but that he may avoid being grouped with the ungodly, whom he has so carefully avoided in life (verse 5); "sinners" refers to criminals--wicked men; "my soul" literally means "me."

2. "Nor my life" = his prayer is that his life might not be taken away or destroyed with that class of men; he did not wish to be associated with them when he died or was dead. (Gen. 18:25)

3. "With bloody men" = refers to the worst of the wicked men--cut-throats, assassins, murderers, and robbers; men who shed blood.

 

V. 10

1. "In whose hands is mischief" = refers to the bloody men just referred to in verse 9; those who are always occupied with some mischief or other--always engaged in carrying out wicked devices. (Pro. 12:2; 14:17)

2. "And their right hand is full of bribes" = "bribes" refers to gifts offered to a judge to procure an unjust sentence (Exo. 23:8); the meaning is that David did not desire to be associated either with men who openly committed crime, or with those who could be corrupted in the administration of justice.

 

V. 11

1. "But as for me" = introduction of his profession of piety (reverence of the Supreme Being) and of his purpose to lead a religious life.

2. "I will walk in mine integrity" = the idea is that he intended to live a life of uprightness.

3. "Redeem me" = to rescue; to recover; to deliver from sin, from trouble, from death; this word implies that he did not claim to be perfect in the most absolute sense, even when he expressed his purpose to lead a life of integrity.

4. "Be merciful unto me" = "mercy" means to bend or stoop in kindness to an inferior; a prayer of mercy is always an acknowledgment of guilt, and his plea here shows that with all his purposes of holy living and all that he had referred to in this psalm as evidence of uprightness of intention and integrity of life, he still felt that he had sinned (I John 1:8) and that his only hope was in the mercy of the Lord.

5. In this prayer of special treatment, he prays for God to redeem and be merciful to him because he is going to continue to walk in integrity, stand firmly, and bless the Lord publicly.

 

V. 12

1. "My foot standeth in an even place" = the idea is that he was standing on smooth and level ground and there was nothing to cause him to stumble. (Psa. 27:11)

2. "In the congregations" = in the assemblies of the people for public worship.

3. "Will I bless the LORD" = "bless" means an act of adoration; to speak highly of and eulogize--to speak well of.

4. David referred to praising the Lord and paying his vows in the great congregation many times. (Psa. 22:25; 35:18; 40:9-10)

5. This psalm should lead us carefully to examine the evidences of our piety (reverence of the Supreme Being.) (II Cor. 13:5)

 

PSALM 27:

1. This Psalm has the inscription "a Psalm of David."

A. "A Psalm" = a poem to be sung to a stringed instrument.

B. "Of David" = means David, the sweet Psalmist of Israel, was the author--human instrument--of this Psalm.

2. We do not know for certain when this psalm was written. Some believe it was during his struggle with Absalom.  Others believe it was written during the fugitive years when David fled from Saul.  We know that the Lord is the author (II Peter 1:21; II Tim. 3:16) and David the human instrument.

3. Whenever it was written, the psalm opens with David voicing his confidence in God.

 

V. 1

1. "The LORD" = Jehovah; see notes on Psa. 25:1

2. "My" = "I" = David the human instrument who penned down this psalm.

3. "My light" = refers to the Lord as being the source of light, that is, He guides and leads me; darkness is the emblem of distress, trouble, perplexity, and sorrow; light is the emblem of the opposite of these; the Lord furnished such light that David's troubles disappeared and his way was bright and happy.

4. "My salvation" = means victory, deliverance, safety, and at times even rescue. (Psa. 18:2)

5. "Whom shall I fear" = who shall I be frightened of (Rom. 8:31); if God is on our side or is for us, we can have no apprehension of danger; a lot of people can be against us, but if we belong to Him what difference does it make. (Luke 21:16-18; Phil. 1:21)

6. "The LORD is the strength of my life" = "strength" means fortress, refuge, stronghold, rock, fort; Jehovah is the support of my life--He keeps me alive.

7. "Of whom shall I be afraid?" = "afraid" means to tremble, to shake, to dread; this question is unnecessary but it is repeated to complete the balance of the clauses; no one has power to take my life away while He defends me--He keeps me safe.

8. David's confidence is based on personal experience.  So  David, in his hour of trial, based everything on his personal knowledge of God.

 

V. 2

1. This verse refers to some particular period of his past life when he was in great danger and the Lord delivered him.

2. "Wicked" = means bad or evil; though all are sinners some are greater sinners than others; morally wrong; an active bad person; synonymous with heathen; the lawless man driven by his fallen nature.

3. "Even my enemies" = the word "enemies" means a narrow, tight, confining place; refers to the wicked ever crowding, gathering closer and closer for the kill.

4. "Foes" = an adversary; means hostility, hatred.

5. "Came upon me to eat up my flesh" = "to eat" means to devour, to consume; indicates that the enemy came upon David like ravening wolves or hungry lions; they were not cannibals, thus not literally eating his flesh; the comparison is one that is drawn from the fierceness of wild beast rushing on their prey.

5. "They stumbled" = to totter, stagger, to be weak, to be ruined--even to decay and to become feeble.

6. They also "fell" = to be overthrown, to be lost, to fall away; David's enemies and foes were overthrown--they failed in their purpose.

 

V. 3

1. "Though" = grant; admit; allow; David is saying if the Lord allows the things mentioned in this verse to happen, I will not be afraid, because I know what you have done for me in the past. (verse 2)

2. "An host" = army or armies.

3. "Should encamp against me" = in battle array; prepared for battle; David is saying if an army should come against me "my heart shall not fear" = I shall not be afraid nor dread their besiege.

4. "Though war should rise against me" = "war" means a battle, an engagement; repetition of a hypothetical happening--at this time he was not facing this situation; however if it occurred, he would not be afraid.

5. Why?  Because "in this I will be confident" = to trust; to be very sure of something that one does not even worry.

6. "In this" = refers to the fact that the Lord is my light, and my salvation, and my strength (verse 1); He has been in the past, and He will be in the future.

 

V. 4

1. "Desired" = to ask; to enquire; this is one of the great prayer words of the OT.

2. "The LORD" = Jehovah; see notes on Psa. 25:1.

3. "One thing have I desired" = amid all David's joy and jubilation, there is still one thing he needed "that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life" = "dwell" means to remain, to sit, to abide; he wanted to live at God's house; Psa. 84:3 indicates that even the sparrows that lived at the temple were blessed; no doubt David felt the same way; if this was written during his fugitive years fleeing from Saul, this would refer to the tabernacle at Shiloh where the ark would have been missing; if this was written during David's reign as king, it would refer to the tabernacle (tent--temporary place) David had pitched in Jerusalem to house the ark he had retrieved from the house of Obededom where it had been placed for three months after David had the ark improperly carried from the house of Abinadab where the ark had been since the Philistines had returned the ark to Israel. (II Sam. 6:17)

4. "That will I seek after" = to strive after; to search out; refers to the one thing he desired.

5. "All the days of my life" = constantly; to the end. (Psa. 23:6)

6. "To behold" = to see; to perceive intelligently; to understand.

7. "The beauty" = kindness; pleasantness; delightfulness; grace; favor; refers to the beauty or loveliness of Divine character as it is manifested in public worship of the Lord, or by those types in OT time that were designed to make that character known; in the tabernacle and in the temple there was a manifestation of the character of God not seen elsewhere.

8. "To enquire" = to look for; to search; the idea is that the Lord reveals truth--precious secrets--when we worship Him intently. (Psa. 73:1-3, 12-17)

9. "The temple" = refers to the tabernacle in David's day for the temple had not yet been constructed; today it would refer to the meeting house of the church where we may hope to have our minds enlightened, our troubles removed, and our hearts comforted and sanctified by right views of God.

 

V. 5

1. "For in the time of trouble" = in a day of hurt; when I am surrounded by dangers or when affliction comes upon me.

2. "He" = "His" = Jehovah; see notes on Psa. 25:1.

3. "Shall hide me in his pavilion" = "hide" means to treasure, to store up; to esteem; "pavilion" means a thicket, a lair (a place of rest for a wild beast); a covert (concealed), a booth; tent or tabernacle; denotes the tabernacle, considered as the dwelling place of God on earth; the meaning is that God would hide him as it were in His own dwelling.

4. "In the secret of his tabernacle" = means to secretly conceal, to carefully protect in His dwelling place--the place to which He himself withdrew to be alone, and where no stranger would venture to intrude; a place where his protection would be sure.

5. "He shall set me upon a rock" = a place inaccessible to my enemies; a place where I will be secure; the meaning is that he would be safe from all his enemies; the rock is God Himself.

6. There are in this verse three thoughts so similar they present basically the same truth in three different ways.  This is not to be understood literally.  David means that his spirit will find refuge with God in times of trouble, not (as some Jewish expositors argue) that he will actually hide from his enemies inside the tabernacle.

7. It was the custom in former church days for a man under the active displeasure of a king to flee to the nearest church for sanctuary.  The custom had its roots in OT times when cities of refuge were set up into which the fugitive could flee.  None of them could shelter David from Saul, so he sought sanctuary in God Himself.

 

V. 6

1. "And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me" = the wording indicates future victory over his foes; final triumph is confidently anticipated; such deliverance reminds me of Psa. 18:29 and II Sam. 22:30; this is the same confidence Paul had in Phil. 4:13.

2. "Therefore" = in view of the fact that David had confidence in future victory.

3. "Offer" = to kill, slaughter; used in the sense of blood sacrifice of living animals as in the Mosaic systems; used with "sacrifices" = kindred word to "offer;" means slaughter of an animal.

4. "In his tabernacle" = refers to the tabernacle in Shiloh; David sees all his enemies defeated and he himself bringing triumphant sacrifice to God.

5. "Joy" = a great outcry; a victory cry.

6. "I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the LORD" = this language is that which comes from a full heart; David is not contented with saying merely that he would sing, he repeats the idea; he dwells upon it; with a heart overflowing with gratitude he would go and give utterance to his joy; he would repeat and dwell upon the language of thanksgiving.

 

V. 7

1. David now begins to pray earnestly.  This prayer may have been prompted by a returning sense of danger.  He had had assurance of Divine favor and the Lord ready to help him.  No doubt he knew the Lord would aid him, but he did not take that for granted but calls upon Him to do so.

2. "Hear" = to hear favorably; attend to; the construction implies grant me what I ask; he even added "answer" = respond; act in return.

3. "When I cry with my voice" = to call out audibly or aloud; this was not a mental prayer but an audible earnest entreaty.

4. "Have mercy" = to aid the afflicted; to bring help to the wretched; to bend or stoop in kindness to an inferior; to show compassion; keeps us from getting what we deserve.

 

V. 8

1. "When thou saidst, Seek ye my face" = "when thou saidst" is in italics, thus supplied by the translators, rightly so; this is a command given by God; David received this command possibly after this psalm was written in I Chron. 16:11 when he set up the ark upon Mount Zion; David may have regarded this as being implied in Deut. 4:29; means to seek His manifested presence; later the Lord commanded Solomon and us as well, to seek His face in II Chron. 7:14.

2. "My heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek" = when David was reminded of this command, he immediately voiced his compliance with this command.

 

V. 9

1. David, in the first part of this psalm, was having a mountain top experience rejoicing in the previous victories the Lord had given him.  Now it seems he was down in the valley, facing something that was closing in on him and he felt as if the Lord had withdrawn into His high heaven and left him to himself.  If we are not careful, we too can get that way when those we love in the LORD let us down.  So David prayed.  The psalmist of Psalm 10:1 thought this way.

2. "Hide not thy face far from me" = "to hide the face" is to turn it away with displeasure; the favor of God is often expressed by "lifting the light of thy countenance upon us" --what David asked in Psa. 4:6.

3. "Put not thy servant away in anger" = reject me not; cast me not off; do not put me away in displeasure; David is praying for free access to the Lord.

4. "Thou hast been my help" = support; refers to time in the past; God's goodness to us in the past must be our chief ground of confidence in Him for the future; this fact is the reason why He should now hear his prayer.

5. "Leave me not, neither forsake me" = do not abandon me; this is the way David felt, but the Lord said, "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee" = (Heb. 13:5; Psa. 94:14)

6. "O" = a cry of desperation.

7. "God" = Elohim; the God of covenant and the God of creation.

8. "Salvation" = deliverance, safety, victory.

 

V. 10

1. "When my father and my mother forsake me" = David is not saying that this actually occurred, but if it did he would not be worried for:

2. "Then the LORD will take me up" = means he would not be forsaken by the Lord.

3. David is not criticizing his family, but he is magnifying His Lord.  What David means is that, even if forsaken by his nearest and dearest, he would not be forsaken by God.  Mat. 28:20 says, "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world."

 

V. 11

1. "Teach" = to inform; to instruct.

2. "Me" = "mine" = David, the human instrument who penned down this psalm.

3. "Thy" = "LORD" = Jehovah; see notes on Psa. 25:1.

4. "Way" = journey; a course of life; refers to God's method of administering the affairs of the world and the rules which He has prescribed for Himself in the execution of His plans and the great laws by which He governs the universe. (Deut. 32:4)

5. "O" = a cry of desperation.

6. "Lead" = to guide; to govern; to straiten--to keep a person in the middle of the road--walking the straight and narrow pathway.

7. "In a plain path" = a level road; a straight or smooth path; David is praying that he might be enabled to act wisely and right and that God would teach him what he should do.

8. "Because" = a preposition meaning on account of or for the sake of.

9. "Mine enemies" = to be hostile; an opponent; refers to those who were always looking to do harm, following--stalking; implies they were harsh and cruel; they sought to overcome him and they laid snares for him; he did not know how to act so as to escape from them; therefore, he pleads that God would instruct him and guide him.

 

V. 12

1. "Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies" = David is praying that God would not let his enemies accomplish their desire--let them not be able to carry out their purposes; he feels he belongs to God and asks not to be handed over to those who hate him.

2. "False witnesses are risen up against me" = refers to men who would wrongfully accuse him; they charged him with crimes he never committed and presented him as if he were guilty of what they alleged against him; if Satan cannot destroy a person with weapons he will try to destroy him with a word--a lie can be told long enough that will cause others to believe it; so David takes his case to the Lord of truth who can sort out things correctly.

3. "Such as breathe out cruelty" = refers to men who meditate violence or cruel treatment--they are intent on this--they pant for it--they exhale vengeance; Paul is an example of this before he was saved. (Acts 9:1)

 

V. 13

1. "I had fainted" = in italics, thus supplied by the translators and rightly so for this expresses the true sense of the passage--the psalmist is referring to the state of his mind produced by the efforts of his enemies to destroy him, as mentioned in verse 12; the word "faint" means to relax effort or to become exhausted physically and is used in Gal. 6:9.

2. "Unless I had believed" = means to trust, be confident, and sure; he was just simply taking God at His word; believe what?

3. "To see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living" = indicates David believed he would live through this situation he was facing and yet see and enjoy the tokens of Divine favor upon the earth.

4. The trust element is what saved him from utter despair.

 

V. 14

1. "Wait" = to bind together; to expect fully; indicates to be ready to serve and obey; refers to active waiting not passive; this same word is used in Psa. 40:1 which is probably David's testimony of salvation; also the same word is used to exhort us to intertwine with the LORD in Isa. 40:31; this word is equivalent to "abide" in John 15:4 which means to have no known sin un-judged and unconfessed, no interest into which He is not brought, no life which He cannot share, taking all burdens to Him, and draw all wisdom, life, and strength from Him, and allowing nothing in our life that would separate us from Him.

2. "On the LORD" = Jehovah; see notes on Psa. 25:1.

3. "Be of good courage" = means to be strong, stout, hardened, resolute, with the idea of prevailing in mind; victory is on the way; these are exhortations to himself but they are applicable to us.

4. "And he shall strengthen thine heart" = the Lord will enable you to perform your duties, and to triumph over your enemies.

5. "Wait, I say, on the LORD" = repetition of an exhortation applicable to us; David dwells upon this as a lesson which he would fix deeply in the mind, that in all times of danger and difficulty, instead of despondency, instead of sinking down in despair, instead of giving up all effort, we should go forward in the discharge of duty, putting our trust solely in the LORD (Isa. 40:31); these are David's departing words to us in this psalm--wait on the LORD.

 

PSALM 28:

1. This Psalm has the inscription "a Psalm of David."

A. "A Psalm" = a poem to be sung to a stringed instrument.

B. "Of David" = means David, the sweet Psalmist of Israel, was the author--human instrument--of this Psalm.

2. We do not know for certain when this Psalm was written.  Some believe it was written during a time of national crisis--the Absalom rebellion when the country was torn apart by civil war, spurred on by the fierce ambition of David's best loved son. (II Samuel 15)  No matter when written or who wrote it, we know that the Lord is the author (II Peter 1:21; II Tim. 3:16) and David was just the human instrument who penned it down.

3. Whenever it was written, the psalm opens with David praying as he expresses his burden for the wicked--that they might be kept from their doom and pleads that they might receive fitting retribution from the hands of God.

 

V. 1

1. "Thee" = "LORD my rock" = Jehovah the self existing One who stands alone with no aid from anybody or any other being in this world or out of this world--the self existent One who wants to reveal Himself to man; described as a "rock" = refers to a refuge which is a shelter or protection from danger or distress; denotes an inaccessible place or a place of security where the enemy can not enter (John 10:27-29); David using "my" rock indicates David was a saved man.

2. "I cry" = to call out; used in the sense of praying.

3. "Be not silent to me" = David wanted God to speak to him--to answer his prayer.

4. "Lest, if thou be silent to me" = if you do not answer, "I become like them that go down into the pit" = "pit" refers to the grave; if thou do not answer my prayer, I will be crushed by anxiety and distress and die; the meaning is that if he did not obtain help from God, he despaired of life; his trouble would overwhelm and crush him; he could not bear up under them--anxiety and distress.

 

V. 2

1. "Hear the voice of my supplications" = repetition and here refers to earnest prayer.

2. Hear, "when I cry unto thee and lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle" = repetition, but added, "lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle" = "oracle" is used here to denote the place where the answer to prayer is given (II Chron. 6:20); means the inner sanctuary of the tabernacle or the temple, the place where God was suppose to reside, and where He responds to His people--Holy of Holies; David said he would "lift up my hands;" Dan. 6:10 says Daniel prayed with his window open toward Jerusalem and it may well be that he lifted his hands.

 

V. 3

1. "Draw me not away with the wicked" = David prayed such because he was under strong temptation to associate with the wicked--sinners; feeling the force of temptations, he was apprehensive that he may not be left to yield to the power of temptation; habits formed before our conversion are still powerful--especially true of those who before converted indulged in habits of intemperance or in sensual pleasures of any kind, and who are invited by their former companions in sin again to unite with them in their pursuits; so David prayed, "Draw me not away with the wicked."

2. And draw me not away, "with the workers of iniquity" = repetition referring to those who do evil in any form.

3. For they, "speak peace to their neighbors" = refers to speaking words of friendliness which seem to be persuading you to follow them for your own good.

4. "But mischief is in their hearts" = they are secretly plotting your ruin--using flattering words while they tempt you to go astray.

5. Oh! How we need to pray as David prayed.

 

V. 4

1. This verse is a prayer of imprecation which means a prayer that a curse or calamity may fall on the wicked.  This prayer is simply the prayer of a man living in the days of the law, applying the standards of the law to the lawless--"An eye for any eye and a tooth for a tooth." (Exo. 21:22-25; Lev. 24:19-20)

2. "Give them according to their deeds" = deal righteously with them; recompense them as they deserve.

3. "And according to the wickedness of their endeavours" = refers to their designs, their works, and their plans.

4. "Give them after the work of their hands" = reward them according to what they do.

5. "Render to them their desert" = refers to a just recompense; reward or punishment.

6. This whole verse is a prayer that God would deal justly with the violators of the law.

 

V. 5

1. Introduces the reason for such a prayer: "Because they regard not the works of the LORD" = "regard not" means to not understand; "the works of the LORD" is what the Lord does in creation, in His providence, through His commands and laws, and by His Spirit.

2. "Nor the operation of his hands" = the sense is essentially the same as the first phrase; refers to what He is doing now.

3. "He shall destroy them, and not build them up" = He will pull them down, instead of building them up; they expose themselves to His displeasure, and He will bring deserved punishment upon them.

4. Health, happiness, and salvation are to be found only in conformity to the way of God. (Psa. 42:11; 50:23)

 

V. 6

1. This is one of those passages which frequently occurs in the Psalms, when there has been an earnest and anxious prayer offered to God, and when the answer to the prayer seems to be immediate--"because he hath heard the voice of my supplications" = not just heard but answered at least with a promise that victory is ahead; "supplications" means earnest prayer.

2. Thus David said, "Blessed be the LORD" = "blessed" is translated in the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the OT Hebrew scriptures, which Jesus quoted at times during His ministry--thus He put His hand upon this translation as being from God) the same Greek word used in Eph. 1:3 also translated "blessed" = means to speak highly of; is from a Greek word where we get our English word "eulogize" and means to speak well of; Psalm 1:1 used a different word which means spiritually prosperous or happy in the sense of being spiritually prosperous; this word is the same base word used in Rev. 5:11-12 and 7:11-12 where the angels eulogized the Lord as being worthy to receive blessings.

 

V. 7

1. "The LORD" = Jehovah.

2. "My strength" = help; the source of my strength or from whom all my strength is derived. (Psa. 18:1; Phil. 4:13)

3. "And my shield" = protector; to hedge around; David as a man of war fully appreciated the saving power of a shield as it was put in front of the body to protect it from the arrows, spears, and swords of the enemy (Psa. 3:3; 33:20); it was natural to speak of the Lord as his shield for he had scripture to prove exactly that. (Gen. 15:1)

4. "My heart trusted in him" = "heart" is used for emotion, will, and intellect or internal; "trust" means entire confidence; to place confidence in; to rely on; the Hebrew construction implies I have trusted, I still trust, and I will trust for ever. (Job 13:15)

4. "And I am helped" = I have found the assistance I have desired; as far as feeling goes, David is already helped; he feels himself delivered out of his peril, even though he is still in exile from his palace and Absalom seems to be in control--no, God is.

5. "Therefore" = in view of the fact my prayer has been answered though the final reality has yet come to pass.

6. "My heart greatly rejoiceth" = I am happy; on the inside he was jumping for joy and he may have been jumping on the outside.

7. "And with my song will I praise him" = I will sing praises unto Him (Psa. 22:25); "praise" means to worship with extended hands.

 

V. 8

1. "The LORD is their strength" = the Hebrew in referring to the people of God not his enemies; the thought of the Psalmist is having derived in his own case assistance from God or having found God a strength to him, his mind turns from this fact to the general idea that God was the strength of all who were in a similar condition; or that all His people might confide in Him as he had done.

2. "And he is the saving strength which produces salvation." (Psa. 27:1)

3. "Of his anointed" = refers to God the Son; the Messiah represented in the NT as "Christ" and identifies Jesus our Saviour (Psa. 2:2; 20:6); the primary reference here is doubtless reference to himself, as one who had been anointed or set apart to the kingly office but this verse shows that he intended to include all the people of God, as those whom He had consecrated or set apart to His service. (I Peter 2:5, 9; I John 2:27)

 

V. 9

1. "Save thy people" = all thy people; this psalm closes appropriately with a prayer for all the people of God; the prayer is offered in view of the deliverance which the psalmist himself experienced, and he prays that all the people of God might experience similar deliverance and mercy.

2. "And bless thine inheritance" = thy heritage; thy people; "bless" means the act of adoration; to speak highly of or well of; all God's people are His inheritance, His possession; thus we are spoken of as his peculiar possession or property on earth, as that which He regards as of most value to Him, as that which belongs to Him, or to which He has a claim, as that which cannot without injustice to Him be alienated from Him.

3. "Feed them also" = "feed" is same word translated "shepherd" in Psa. 23:1; refers to the care which a shepherd extends over His flock; the prayer is that God would take the same care of His people that a shepherd would his flock.

4. "And lift them up for ever" = sustain them; support them; refers to the fact that the shepherd carries the feeble, the young, and the sickly of his flock in his arms, or that he lifts them up when they are unable to arise themselves. (Isa. 40:11)

5. "For ever" = simply means always; in all circumstances; at all times; in other words the psalmist prays that God would always manifest Himself as the friend and helper of His people, as He had done to him; for this to come about we must trust in Him, and then we will find Him more kind and faithful than the most tender shepherd ever was to his flock.

 

PSALM 29

1. This Psalm has the inscription "a Psalm of David."

A. "A Psalm" = a poem to be sung to a stringed instrument.

B. "Of David" = means David, the sweet Psalmist of Israel, was the author--human instrument--of this Psalm.

2. We do not know for certain when this Psalm was written.  It is believed to be a sequel to Psalm 28.  "Sequel" means that which follows.  Thus, this Psalm follows Absalom's rebellion in Psalm 28, spoken of as a thunderstorm during which God is in control and the outcome is "peace." (V. 11) No matter when it was written or who wrote it, we know the Lord is the author (II Peter 1:21; II Tim. 3:16) and David was just the human instrument who penned it down.

3. Whenever it was written, the Psalm shows David praising God for the storm passing by and the peace that came.

 

V. 1

1. "The LORD" = Jehovah; the self-existing One who stands alone with no aid from anybody or any other being in this world or out of this world; the self-existent One who wants to reveal Himself to man.

2. "Give unto the Lord, O ye mighty" = some think that "the mighty" refers to the angels--the sons of God; while others believe it refers to mankind, Jews, especially spiritual Jews. (Rom 2:28-29)

3. "Give unto the LORD glory and strength" = praise His name; ascribe to Him glory and strength and every other excellency; the angels did that when the earth was created (Job 38:7) and they are always beholding God's face (Mat. 18:10); so I believe David is telling mankind to give the Lord glory--means to show forth to the world the correct opinion or estimate of who the Lord is and that He has strength to deliver us from the storms of life that sweep in, in their fury and power, and tear at us, breaking, destroying, sweeping away family, fortune, and friends. (I Thess. 5:18)

4. David said, "Give God glory for the peace after the storm."

 

V. 2

1. "Give unto the LORD the glory due his name" = repetition; literally, the glory of His name; refers to the glory properly belonging to it. (Psa. 86:8)

2. "Worship the LORD" = means to prostrate in homage.

3. This is to be done "in the beauty of holiness" = this is generally explained as an exhortation to worship God in beautiful vestments and Peter speaks of an "ornament of a meek and quiet spirit" (I Peter 3:4); "holiness" means the state of being holy--integrity of moral character; means being saved and having your sins confessed and under the blood; without holiness "no man shall see the Lord." (Heb. 12:14)

4. David was so blessed that the Lord delivered him from Absalom's hands (storm) that he repeats himself in these first two verses = give unto the Lord.  Give glory and strength.  Give the glory due to His name, and worship Him.   In other words he said praise Him, praise Him, praise Him, praise Him!

 

V. 3

1. David uses a similitude (a comparison) of a storm to describe what he had just been through when Absalom rebelled and tried to overthrow David's throne.

2. We all have storms in our lives, some small and some large and we can draw strength from this Psalm as David applies these things to the storm he had just come through.

3. Why do storms come in our lives?

A. To get our attention: One example in my life was the wreck we had one Wednesday night in 1972 coming home from a tractor pull.  The Lord delivered us safe and sound but I learned one thing from it--I will not pull tractors anymore on Sunday or Wednesday night.  The Lord got my attention.

B. For chastisement: All God's children are chastised. (Heb. 12:7-8)  Chastisement involves instruction, switching, catastrophe, and casket. (I John 5:16)  Jonah is a good example.  He disobeyed God--went against His will and God sent a storm, a literal storm, and then He sent a whale that swallowed Jonah.  And Jonah did not get out until he confessed, "Salvation is of the Lord." (Jonah 2: 9-10)

C. To show forth God's glory: Job is a good example. (Job 1-2)

4. Now David described the storm he was going through.

5. "The voice of the LORD" = seven times this phrase is used to express the thunder of the storm; David had already identified the voice of the Lord with thunder in Psa. 18:13; God allows situations and circumstances in our lives by which He speaks to us; I know in OT time He spoke to the prophets through visions and dreams but today He speaks through His Son--the Word (Heb. 1:1-2); thus any voice you hear, if it is the voice of the Lord, it will agree with the Bible. I remember two times in my tractor pulling days when there was only a small storm and I said something is telling me not to go but I am going anyway--God spoke to get my attention.

6. "The voice of the LORD is upon the waters" = "waters" (as a simile) speaks of the nations of the earth--all mankind; in Revelation 17:15, John saw the great Babylonian system sitting upon many waters; God speaks to all mankind even sinners; He put a conscience in mankind so that he is without excuse (Rom. 1:19) and allows all mankind to see His creation so that they are without excuse. (Rom. 1:20)

7. "The God of glory thundereth" = "glory" here refers to heaven, thus, the God of heaven--the sovereign One--He who is above all others for there is in reality no other; it is interesting to note in Rev. 10:4 that during the period of God's wrath upon mankind (of which no saint will have to experience for they will be raptured out just before He pours out His wrath on those left behind; I Thess. 5:9) is represented as thunders, so awful that John could not pen that down. (Rev. 10:3-4)

8. "The LORD is upon many waters" = represents sinners; repetition; the Lord speaks to sinners.

9. I John 4:1-3 says to try the spirits, for the devil is an angel of light (II Cor. 11:14) telling you things that are almost right but his word does not agree with the Bible.

 

V. 4

1. "The voice of the LORD is powerful" = literally, in power, or with power; this is how the effectual call to salvation must come to a sinner (I Thess. 1:5; Rom. 1:16).

2. "The voice of the LORD is full of majesty" = magnificence; splendor; in the beginning of time the Spirit of God brooded upon the face of the waters (Gen. 1:2) and He spoke and brought light into darkness, loveliness and order out of chaos, and life out of death.

3. God's voice is heard upon the waters today.

 

V. 5

1. "The voice of the LORD breaketh the cedars" = a cedar tree is an evergreen and grows to a great size, and is remarkable for its durability; but let a tornado or a hurricane blow through and those trees are snapped like reeds, and fall in a tangled mess.

2. "The LORD breaketh the cedars of Lebanon" = tall stately cedars were the pride of Lebanon but the Lord who planted them can break them in His fury; Saul of Tarsus while in Jerusalem was like a cedar in Lebanon, but on his way to Damascus he was broken down (Acts 9:1-6); God's Word is like a hammer (Jer. 23:29; Heb. 4:12) which can break an hard stubborn heart.

 

V. 6

1. "He maketh them also to skip like a calf" = referring to the stately cedar trees of Lebanon standing tall, but let a storm pass by and those cedar trees will dance about the mountain as young calves skip over the mountain side.

2. "Lebanon" =  one of the most noble mountains of the Holy land.

3. "Sirion" = name of Mount Hermon (Deut. 3:8-9). The Jordan River had its beginning there; this was also one of the most noble mountains of the Holy land.

4. "Lebanon and Sirion like a young unicorn" = refers to these two mountain sides will skip or frolic as a young wild bull when the storm passed by.

5. This is done by the voice of God--at His will.

 

V. 7

1. "The voice of the LORD divideth the flames of fire" = "divideth" means properly to cut, to hew; to hew out; the allusion here is undoubtedly to lightning; to the Psalmist it seems as if the thunder, rolling along the sky, hewed out a chasm in the clouds, from which the forked lightning issued.

2. All of God's storms are designed for precision.  No doubt David was watching a severe thunderstorm while he writes this sequel to Absalom's rebellion. David knew that the storms with this lightning was not random but precise--hits exactly what the Lord intended. Two can be walking through the field side by side and one be hit by lightning and killed while the other one does not even have a burn.  The Lord is in control.

3. I read in a paper years ago that three men were walking down a street in Chicago side by side when a train jumped the track on the trestle above them.  One of the cars fell sideways on the three men.  The one in the middle was not even scratched while the other two were crushed. What happened?  A door on the car was opened and God with precision let the man in the middle go through the open door without a scratch. while the other two were crushed. God was and is in control.

 

V. 8

1. "The LORD shaketh the wilderness" = "shaketh" means properly to dance; to be whirled or twisted upon anything; to twist or to writhe; then to tremble, to quake; "wilderness" means an uninhabited place--we usually think of a forest (we just dealt with the forest of Lebanon) but here he is referring to a desert full of worthless scrub--a barren place, spoken of as:

2. "Kadesh" = this seems to be mentioned as lying at the opposite extremity of Palestine from Lebanon and Hermon (referred to in verses 5-6); the storm extends over the entire Holy Land, from the far north to the extreme south--the hills and valleys of Palestine proper, and the arid region of the south where Judea merges into Arabia.

3. Application: God can send a storm in our lives no matter where we are physically and spiritually when He deems it necessary.  Just remember when the storm is over there is peace even though consequences exist.

 

V. 9

1. "The voice of the LORD maketh the hinds to calve" = "hinds" refer to female deer; "to calve" mean to bring forth premature pains of birth; the psalmist shows the effects of the storm in producing terror, wonder, and surprise, especially on the weak and timid animals of the wilderness.

2. "And discovereth the forests" = "discovereth" means to strip off, to uncover; as used here, it means to strip off the leaves of the forest--to make the trees bear, referring to an effect which is often produced by a violent storm.

3. "And in his temple doth every one speak of his glory" = "temple" refers not to the tabernacle or temple at Jerusalem, but to the world itself considered as the dwelling place of God--the world of nature--the sky, the earth, the forests, the waters, everything in the storm, echoes glory, glory!

4. "Every one speak of his glory" = shall say, Glory! all these wonders--the voice of God upon the waters; the thunder; the crash of the trees upon the hills; the shaking of the wilderness; the universal terror, wonder and surprise; the leaves stripped from the trees and flying in every direction--all proclaim the majesty and glory of Jehovah.

 

V. 10

1. "The LORD sitteth upon the flood" = God is enthroned upon the flood, or presides over it; the Hebrew construction gives the idea that God presided over the deluge (flood) in Noah's day and He will preside over floods in the future; the idea is that God is enthroned upon the storm--it is not undirected; it is not the result of chance or fate; it is not without restraint.

2. "Yea, the LORD sitteth King for ever" = when the storm comes and it seems as if everything would be swept away--the mind turns calmly to the thought that God is enthroned upon the cloud; that he presides over all that produces this wide-spread alarm and commotion, and that He will reign for ever and ever.

3. The Lord is in control of the storms and it rains on the just as well as the unjust.

 

V. 11

1. "The LORD will give strength unto his people" = the idea is, that the God who presides over the tempest and the storm, the God who has such power, and can produce such effects, is abundantly able to uphold His people, and to defend them; if we know that God presides over all, and that He controls all this with care, then we know He is abundantly able to uphold his people and defend them--we have no reason to fear that His strength cannot support us.

2. "The LORD will bless his people with peace" = they will have nothing to fear in the storm; nothing to fear from anything (Isa. 26:3); perfect peace which passeth all understanding. (Phil. 4:7)

 

PSALM 30

1. This Psalm has the inscription "A Psalm and song at the dedication of the house of David."

A. "Psalm" = is equivalent to "song" = a poem to be sung to a stringed instrument.

B. "At the dedication of the house of David" = some refer to this as being the dedication of the tabernacle, but that was years before David's time.  In fact, it was in Moses' time (Exo. 40:33-35); others refer to this as being David's house where he resided--II Sam. 5:10-12 refers to his house being completed, but there is no mention of it being dedicated; some others think this refers to the temple David desired to build for the Lord a house but could not for he was a man of war and shed much blood but the Lord told David his son would build Him a house. (II Sam. 7:1-13) I do not believe that this was the dedication referred to in this Psalm.  And still some others believe this was referring to the tent David had prepared in Jerusalem to house the ark of God after many years of it not being in the tabernacle at Shiloh; this is what I believe this dedication means.

2. The ark had been captured by the Philistines in I Sam. 4.  They carried it to their home and kept it seven months during which time some unusual things happened to them. (I Sam. 5)  They sent the ark back to the Jews and it came to rest in a field of Joshua the Beth-shemite (I Sam. 6) where many died because they looked into the ark. (I Sam. 6:19)  They called the men of Kirjarh-jearmin to come get the ark. (I Sam. 6:21-7:3)  Why did they not carry it back to Shiloh?  The next time the ark was mentioned was in I Sam. 14:18 when Saul sought the Lord's advice.  Then the next time the ark is mentioned was in II Sam. 6:2 when David sought to bring it to Jerusalem to the tent (tabernacle--temporary place) until the temple would be built in Solomon's day (I Chron. 15:1-16:1).  This was about 90 years after the ark was taken, if my math is correct.

3. David tried to bring the ark back to Jerusalem the wrong way (using a new cart--the Philistine way) which caused Uzzah to die. (II Sam. 6:3-8)  David was afraid. (II Sam. 6:9-11)  Then he sought to find God's way of moving the ark and found it had to be carried by the Levites a certain way. (Num. 4:1-5)  Then he moved the ark God's way with great success. (II Sam. 6:12-15)

4. Then David or some other holy man of God (II Peter 1:21) penned down this dedication which was sung at occasions to rejoice over God's deliverance.  It could have been David that touched the ark instead of Uzzah.  Thus, he praises the LORD.

 

V. 1

1. "I" = "me" = the human instrument God used to pen down this Psalm.

2. "I will extol" = to exalt; means to make God first and supreme in his thoughts and affections; he would do what he could to make Him known--he would elevate Him high in his praises.

2. "Thee" = "LORD" = "thou" = Jehovah; the self-existing One who stands alone with no aid from anybody or any other being in this world or out of this world; the self-existent One who wants to reveal Himself to men.

3. "O" = a cry of desperation; used seven times in this Psalm.

4. "For" = introduces the reasons why the Psalmist is exalting the LORD.

5. "Thou hast lifted me up" = first reason for exalting the Lord; means to be delivered from the danger he was in listed in verses 2-3.

6. "And hast not made my foes to rejoice over me" = there is always enemies in the background who rejoice to see a righteous man suffer; but God delivered him from all that had hold on him; therefore, He did not allow the Psalmist's enemies to triumph over him.

 

V. 2

1. "O LORD my God" = "thee" = "thou" = Jehovah my Elohyim--plural name of God--God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost; means the strong one; plural name with singular meaning; God is One yet more than One (John 10:30); John 1:1-2, 14 verifies Jesus was present in the beginning and that He was God.

2. "I cried unto thee" = in time of trouble and danger used with "O" = a cry of desperation (used seven times).

3. "Thou has healed me" = the use of this word seems that the Psalmist was sick nigh unto death as verse 3 indicates; if David was this Psalmist and I think he was, when David saw Uzzah die, he knew he was the cause of his death and this put stress and heartache upon him that caused his body to be very sick, nigh unto death.

 

V. 3

1. "O LORD" = repetition.

2. "Thou hast brought up my soul from the grave" = the meaning is, that he had been in imminent danger of death, and he had been brought from the borders of the grave; "grave" = Sheol; a word which commonly denotes the region of the dead--the under world which has two compartments: 1) hell, the burning compartment where all lost will go, 2) paradise which is Abraham's bosom, the compartment of the saved; in OT time both the lost and saved entered Sheol through the grave; I thank the Lord that when Jesus arose He emptied paradise in Sheol (also Hades in the Greek) and carried it to the third heaven. (Eph. 4:8; II Cor. 12:1-4)

3. "Thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit" = "pit" means the same here as the grave; this means that Thou hast distinguished me from them by keeping me alive.

 

V. 4

1. "Sing" = to touch the strings or parts of a musical instrument accompanied by the voice--hence to celebrate in song and music.

2. "Sing unto the LORD, O ye saints of his" = David calls upon the people of God to join him in his praises of God; "saints" are those who have been saved; when a person is saved, at that moment he becomes a saint (he does not have to wait 300 years to be declared a saint) because of the sanctification work of the Spirit (II Thess. 2:13); even when mercy has been granted, especially to himself, he regards the people as interested, since he is their ruler in peace and their leader in war (Psa. 9:11); in David's testimony he said the Lord had put a new song in my mouth not just in his heart. (Psa. 40:1-3)

3. "And give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness" = the saints are urged to give thanks at just the thought that God is holy; "holiness" in general is thought of as God is holy and ready to zap us when we sin, but here it is used in the sense of God's benevolence, kindness, and mercy--the Divine compassion toward those who are in trouble or danger; refers to the acts by which that had been manifested to the psalmist, as laying a proper foundation for gratitude and praise. (I Thess. 5:18)

 

V. 5

1. "For his anger endureth but a moment" = that is His anger endures but a short time or brief period; the reference here is to the troubles and sorrows through which the psalmist had passed through; at the time they might have seemed to be long, yet as compared with the many mercies of life, with the joy which had exceeded them, and with the hopes now cherished, they seem to be but a moment.

2. "In his favor is life" = it is His delight to impart life; it is pleasing and gratifying to Him to confer life; it is not His nature to inflict death; death is traced to something else--it is caused by sin leading to His displeasure (Ezek. 33:11); God's anger is short lived in the case of those who, having sinned, repented and confessed their sin, and prayed for mercy (verses 8-10); His favor on the contrary, is enduring--it continues all their life.

3 "Weeping may endure for a night" = the word "endure" means to lodge, to sojourn, as one does for a little time; in other words sorrow lasts only a short time when compared to an eternity of joy; if you are saved, sorrow will soon pass away to be succeeded by joy.

4. "But joy cometh in the morning" = "joy" refers to singing, shouting, and exaltation; the morning will come; a morning without clouds; a morning when the sources of sorrow will disappear; this often occurs in this present life but it will always occur to the righteous in the life to come; the sorrows of this life are but for a moment, and they will be succeeded by the light and joy in the life to come--weeping, though it may have may come to us in this life, but heaven will be one unbroken night, and will be followed by one eternal day without a sigh or a tear. (Rev. 21:1-4)

 

V. 6

1. "In my prosperity" = refers to some period of his past life of which we do not know about; a time when everything was prosperous, and when he had drawn around him so many comforts, and had apparently made himself so secure, that it seemed as if they could never be taken from him or as if he had nothing to fear.

2. It was during that time, "I said, I shall never be moved" = he was so self confident he basically said, "I shall never be visited with calamity or trials" = he forgot his dependence on God; the model prayer in Mat. 6:11 states "Give us this day our daily bread;" it is easy to get this way, if we are not careful and be like the parable of the rich farmer whom Jesus called a fool. (Luke 12:16-21)

 

V. 7

1. "LORD, by thy favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong" = this refers to his former state of mind; "mountain" denotes that on which he relied as his security or strength, as a mountain or the inaccessible hill, constituted a refuge and security in times of danger; where he thought himself entirely secure--the state of prosperity to which he referred in verse 6.

2. "Thou didst hide thy face" = the phrase "hide thy face" is synonymous in scripture with the withdrawing of favor, or with displeasure; the psalmist was shown that when he thought his mountain stood so strong and that he was so secure that he was shown how insecure and uncertain was all that he relied on, and how absolutely, after all he had done, he was dependent for safety on God, for God had withdrew His favor.

3. "And I was troubled" = means confounded, perplexed, agitated, terrified; he was confounded, perplexed, and agitated for all that he had so confidently relied on, all he thought was so firm, was suddenly swept away; this happens to teach men, even so called good men, that their dependence is on God and to show them how vain is every other refuge.

 

V. 8

1. "I cried to thee, O LORD" = this is after God had taken away his man-made security; he cried unto the Lord in prayer; the idea is that he was not driven from God when God took away his security, but he was driven to Him.

2. "And unto the LORD I made supplication" = he did not simply pray, he made earnest prayer (supplication) for specific request (verses 9-10); he felt that his reliance on those things in which he had put his trust was in vain, and he now came to God, the true source of strength, and sought His protection and favor.

 

V. 9

1. "What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit" = "pit" means the grave; Lev. 17:11 states, "For the life of the flesh is in the blood;" the psalmist is saying what advantage would there be if I should die; the psalmist is saying that he could be serving the Lord by his life more than by his death. 

2. "Shall the dust praise thee?" = "dust" refers to what we are made of and when we die we shall return to dust. (Gen. 3:19; Psa. 104:29); refers to lifeless remains; in death, so far as the power of death extends, there can be no action; the lips cease to move; therefore, they cannot sing God's praise; what the freed soul may do, the psalmist does not consider; very little was known in OT time about the intermediate state--after death what.

3. "Shall it declare truth" = can a lifeless body stand up in defense of the truth or make the truth known to the living? this makes known on what his heart was really set (Psa. 40:3)--to make known the truth of God; to celebrate His praise; to bring others to an acquaintance with Him; need to note that David (psalmist) did not have cars, airplanes, and ships to travel as we have today; nor did he have radio, TV, CDs, DVDs, computers, printing presses, and internet as we do; yet today by these things the dead (Hebrews 11:4) "yet speaketh."

 

V. 10

1. "Hear" = the meaning is "hear and answer me;" listen to; hear favorably.

2. "O" = a cry of desperation.

3. "Have mercy upon me" = "mercy" means to aid the afflicted; to bring help to the wretched; to bend or stoop in kindness to an inferior; keeps us from getting what we deserve; this, too, is the prayer which he uttered to the calamities referred to in verse 7--"Thou didst hide thy face."

4. "LORD, be thou my helper" = "helper" refers to protection or aid; David could no longer depend upon his prosperity and the mountain he had built for protection--he needed the Lord's protection.

5. Here the psalmist prayer, uttered in distress, ends and he proceeds to declare the results.

 

V. 11

1. "Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing" = Lord, on my behalf, you have heard my prayer; God had brought his troubles to an end; He had caused his sorrows to be succeeded with joy--joy, exultation, and every expression of rejoicing had been made to exceed deep sorrows; compared to verse 5--his morning had come.

2. "Thou hast put off my sackcloth" = "sackcloth" denotes a cloth or garment wore in mourning or distress; Lord you have taken away my sorrow; Lord you put off my sackcloth!

3. "And girded me with gladness" = instead of a girdle of sackcloth he had been clothed in a festive garment as was worn on joyous and festive occasions.

 

V. 12

1. "To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee" = "glory" literally means whatever there was in him that was honorable, dignified, or glorious--all the faculties of his soul, as well as his heart--had occasion to rejoice in God after all (Psa. 16:9); that was his testimony when first saved (Psa. 40:1-3); the psalmist was saying, "Let all that is capable of praise within me, all my powers, all my being, be employed in celebrating the goodness of God.

2. "And not be silent" = be employed in praise.

3. "O LORD my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever" = "thanks" means to revere or worship with extended hands; I Thess. 5:18 says give thanks in everything--1) in every circumstance--in joy or sorrow; 2) for every thing--for prosperity and for adversity; 3) in every place--in the house of God and in the bed of sickness; 4) at every time--good times, bad times, sad times, happy times, when you feel like it and when you don't feel like it; for this thankful and grateful spirit is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

4. "For ever" = all the days of our life here on earth and all through out eternity.

5. The psalmist now saw that what God intended to accomplish in his life was that he should learn to praise the Lord.

 

PSALM 31

1. This Psalm has the inscription, "To the chief musician, a Psalm of David."

A. "To the chief musician" = means that this Psalm was intended for the choir-leader and was given to him to regulate the manner of performing it; the idea is that the Psalm is to be performed under his direction.

B. "A Psalm of David" = means David, the sweet Psalmist of Israel, was the author--human instrument--of this Psalm; we know the Lord is the author (II Peter 1:21; II Tim. 3:16) and David was just the human instrument who penned it down.

2. We do not know for certain when this Psalm was written.  Some believe it belongs to the period of his early persecution by Saul; others believe (so do I) it to be a later period of trouble connected with the rebellion of Absalom.

3. Whenever it was written, we see David praising God for deliverance from his troubles.

4. This Psalm can be divided into six parts:

1) Part 1 (V. 1-4) prayer.

2) Part 2 (V. 5-8) self-encouragement.

3) Part 3 (V. 9-13) causes of his troubles.

4) Part 4 (V. 14-18) profession of faith and prayer.

5) Part 5 (V. 19-22) praise of God's goodness.

6) Part 6 (V. 23-24) exhortation to the people to praise God.

 

1. Part 1: Prayer. V. 1-4

V. 1

1. "In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust" = "O" is a cry of desperation to the "LORD" who is Jehovah, the self-existing One who stands alone with no aid from anybody or any other being in this world; the self-existent One who wants to reveal Himself to man; "trust" is a word for NT saving faith; to flee for protection; to flee for refuge; can mean to have hope; all who put their trust in Him will be happy and safe for time and eternity. (I Tim. 4:10)

2. "Let me never be ashamed" = " be ashamed" means to be disappointed or put to shame; "let me never" is a negative--let me not; in the case of Absalom, David's son, he prepared to battle (II Sam. 15:10-12; 17:24-26) in which one party or another must of necessity be put to shame by losing; David said do not let it be me and in verse 17 he goes a step farther and asked that shame may fall upon his enemy--Absalom in his rebellion was considered an enemy.

3. "Deliver me in thy righteousness" = David prayed this believing his cause was the righteous one.

 

V. 2

1. "Bow down thine ear to me" = "incline thine ear unto me" (Psalm 17:6); means to stretch or spread out, to bend toward; this is synonymous to "incline thine ear" in Psa. 17:6--to broaden out the ear with the hand as a near deaf man cups his hand behind his ear to hear better what is being said unto him; David is saying put your hand behind your ear so you can hear better what I have to say; also in Psa 17:1 the Psalmist said "attend unto my cry" = means to hearken (so translated in Psa. 5:2); means to prick up the ears as when a dog suddenly chocks his ears to listen to a sound that escapes the human ear.

2. "Deliver me speedily" = he is not doubting deliverance but ask for it to come quickly.

3. "Be thou my strong rock, for an house of defense to save me" = he is praying for the Lord to be to him a strong rock and a house of defense.

 

V. 3

1. "For thou art my rock" = the idea is that David owed his safety entirely unto the Lord.

2. "And my fortress" = a place of defense so strengthened that the enemy could not approach it; place where one could be safe; a fortress was usually built on a hill where those who fled there would be doubly safe; David prayed God to be his Rock and Fortress in the future, because he had always looked to Him as his Rock and Fortress in the past--faith establishes a claim to have it anticipations made good; I am reminded of Job whom God had a hedge about (Job 1:8-12);  the enemy can only do what God allows and if He pulls the hedge back in some area the Lord is still our Rock and Fortress.

3. "Therefore" = in view of the fact He was David's Rock and Fortress; "for thy name's sake lead me, and guide me" = for the sake of Thine own honor or for the glory of Thy name; Psa. 23:3 says "He leadeth me" = to guide or conduct by showing the way; the tense is continuous action; "in the paths of righteousness" = first He will lead in the right ways (paths) by which they may become righteous--saved; then He leads in the way of uprightness and truth; God wants you to be in a right relationship with Him and our fellow man "for His name's sake" = that His name may be honored and magnified as a gracious and merciful God; "righteousness" = purity of life, rightness; correctness of thinking, feeling, and action. (I Tim. 6:1; II Tim. 2:22; John 16:13; 10:27)

 

V. 4

1. "Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me" = Absalom set a trap for David when he asked permission to go to Hebron for the purpose of paying a vow, whereas his object was to get possession of a strongly fortified city. (II Sam. 15:7-9)

2. "For thou art my strength" = means help; the source of my strength or from whom all my strength is derived. (Psa. 28:8; Phil. 4:13)

 

2. Part 2: Self encouragement. V. 5-8

V. 5

1. "Into thine hand I commit my spirit" = in Luke 23:46 our Lord adopted these words to Himself and His own departure from earth; here David was not thinking of a final committal of his soul, as distinct from his body, into the hands of the Creator, but only intended to commit himself, both soul and body into the Divine keeping, to be preserved from the attacks of his enemies.

2. "Thou hast redeemed me" = David is not speaking of being saved here, but "deliverance from peril" = David had frequently experienced this deliverance in the past and now expects another deliverance--a deliverance by power.

3. "O Lord God of truth" = refers to the One who is true to His promises and to His covenant-engagements; the Psalmist says as He has promised, I will safely confide in Him.

 

V. 6

1. "I have hated them that regard lying vanities" = "regard" means to observe, to keep, to attend upon; the reference is to those who show honor to "lying vanities"--show favor to them; refers to idolatrous practices, witchcraft, and divination. (Psa. 26:5; 1:1)

2. "But I trust in the LORD" = refers to confiding in the Lord Jehovah, the true God, as distinguished from idols.

 

V. 7

1. "Glad" = to rejoice and spin around under the influence of violent emotions.

2. "Rejoice" = to brighten up and be gleesome; to triumph and joy.

3. "In thy mercy" = kindness and goodness of God; means to bend or stoop in kindness to an inferior; to be gracious; to show compassion; keeps us from getting what we deserve; they are new each day. (Lam. 3:22-23)

4. "For thou hast considered my troubles" = "for" introduces the reason he would be glad and rejoice in God's mercy; the Lord had considered (thought of with care) David's troubles (misery and depression) due to the enemy being out to get him--in times past and at present; he felt assured that his prayer would be regarded and that God would relieve him again.

5. "Thou hast known my soul in adversities" = "adversities" means a series of events which oppose success; misfortune; calamity; affliction; distress; state of unhappiness; David had faced all these adversities at one time or another and he knew the Lord knew all about his condition--nothing escapes the eye of the omniscient God (Psa. 1:6); this is also true of the unrighteous.

 

V. 8

1. "And hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy" = David is saying, "Thou hast not delivered me into the hand of my enemy in the past, as in the case of "Goliath" (I Sam. 17:46); therefore, David knew at present there would be deliverance from his enemies.

2. "Thou hast set my feet in a large room" = to give plenty of space and freedom for action; thou has not confined me in any way (Psa. 4:1; 18:36); He had done it in the past and He would do it again.

 

3. Part 3: V. 9-13 Causes of his trouble.

V. 9

1. "Have mercy upon me, O LORD, for I am in trouble" = "mercy" means kindness and goodness of God; means to bend or stoop in kindness to an inferior; to be gracious; to show compassion; keep us from getting what we deserve; David follows up his prayer for mercy with an opening to public view of his need of mercy--"I am in trouble" = hard pressed, distressed both in mind and body; he seems to have regarded all of his trouble as the result of sin.

2. David at the time of Absalom's rebellion had already committed adultery with Bathsheba and murder by having her husband Uriah killed.  He had been forgiven of his sin but had already began to suffer the consequences of his sins in his mind and body (expounded upon in verses 9b-13).

3. "Mine eye is consumed with grief" = "consumed" means to waste away slowly; to fail; applied to the eye as pining or wasting away due to anxiety and sorrow; "grief" means a state of being irritated or disturbed in mind; this caused him to weep so much that his eye is well nigh "consumed" or "eaten away."

4. "Yea, my soul and my belly" = "soul" refers to the spirit, life, and mind--David's powers were weakened and exhausted by excessive grief; "belly" refers to his body; the effect of his grief exhausted his strength, and made his heart sink within him.

 

V. 10

1. "My life is spent with grief" = "spent" is used here to denote consumed, wasted away, or destroyed.

2. "And my years with sighing" = "sighing" means to lament or mourn; David is saying my years are wasted away sighing, instead of being devoted to active toil and to useful effort; wasted away with a grief which wholly occupied and preyed upon him.

3. "My strength faileth because of mine iniquity" = no particular sin is mentioned but it seems to apply to what Bible scholars call his great sin which was two-fold--adultery with Bathsheba and murder of her husband Uriah, which occurred about 12 years before Absalom's rebellion and possibly the writing of this Psalm.

4. "And my bones are consumed" = refers to his bones being racked with pain, as though they were being gnawed away--consequences of his sin. (Psa. 32:3; 102:3; 38:3-10); he probably had a loathsome venereal disease.

5. Some may say they know sinners who seemingly have committed worse sin and they are not suffering like David did.  The psalmist Asaph wrote Psalm 73 which gives us an answer to that.  Asaph said he was about to quit when he saw the wicked seemingly getting by without consequences for their sin, and possibility seeing or hearing about David suffering the consequences of his sin after God forgave him.  He wrote of this in Psa. 73:2-9, 14-15.  Then he said what he saw he did not understand. (Psa. 73:16)   But he did understand when he saw their end. (Psa. 73:17)  Then he knew that all the suffering a child of God receives is in this life and eternal bliss for ever in heaven, but the sinner if not saved, will suffer for eternity in hell but the Lord is good to them in this lifetime, desiring them to repent and be saved (Rom. 2:4)

 

V. 11

1. "I was a reproach among all mine enemies" = the Hebrew construction reveals that he had become a "reproach" = object of contempt (the act of viewing or considering  and treating as worthless), scorn (despite), and derision (the act of laughing at in contempt) by all his enemies--his reputation was ruined.

2. "But especially among my neighbours" = not that they reproached him more than others, but that he felt their reproaches more keenly; those who were the closest to him (neighbors and relatives) showed special distrust of David; they turned away from him and abandoned him (Psa. 38:11); they did Job the same way. (Job 19:13-15)

3. "And a fear to mine acquaintance" = "fear" means to be afraid of him no doubt thinking that they might catch what he had.

4. "They that did see me without fled from me" = when people met him in public (without) they turned from him and fled in disgust and horror.

 

V. 12

1. "I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind" = the idea of the psalmist here is, that in the circumstances to which he referred, he had been forgotten by mankind, and he used the most striking image he could to convey this idea; the illusion is to the fact that a man is soon forgotten when he dies; this is similar to our English proverb--out of sight, out of mind.

2. "I am like a broken vessel" = like a vessel made of clay--a piece of pottery--that is easily broken; a vessel of no value to any one--only fit to be thrown away; I am glad, like a song writer said, "He didn't throw the clay away."

 

V. 13

1. "For I have heard the slander of many" = the slander circulated against him had reached David's ears and these had so affected him that he felt as described in verse 12; "slander" is a false tale or a report maliciously uttered, with the intent to injure the reputation of another, to lessen him in the eyes of others, so they would look better.

2. "Fear was on every side" = came for the cause just referred to; he knew not who to trust; he seemed to have no friend; therefore, he was afraid of every one he met.

3. "While they took counsel together against me" = (Psa. 2:2) men came together to consult one another to establish, ordain, or lay a foundation for some wicked deed in opposition against David.

4. "They devised to take away my life" = they laid a plot to kill David; these were the grounds of earnest prayer in v. 9.

 

4. Part 4: Profession of faith and prayer. V. 14-18

V. 14

1. "But" = reveals a contrast.

2. "I trusted in thee" = repetition of verse 6--he confided in the Lord Jehovah, the true God, as distinguished from idols.

3. Also he turned to prayer, "O LORD: I said, Thou art my God" = the Hebrew construction brings out "I have said" in all my sufferings, dangers, and difficulties, I have always clung to thee and said, "Thou and thou alone, art and ever shall be, my God," he felt assured that God would not forsake him, though man did; he felt he might confide in Him, though his earthy friends all turned away--there is always One who will not leave or forsake us; Heb. 13:5--has five negatives in the Greek.

 

V. 15

1. "My times are in thy hand" = all that pertains to him, good or bad, was under the control and at the disposal of God--he would live as long as God should please--He has the keys of death. (Rev. 1:17-18)

2. "Deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me" = David said since all these things are under thy control, since Thou hast power over my life and all that pertains to me, I pray that thy power may be exerted in my behalf, and that my life may be rescued from danger; this was his prayer in the midst of his troubles, and his prayer was heard.

3. David was saved from his enemies, forgiven for his sins, but he still had to suffer some consequences in his body for his sins.

 

V. 16

1. "Make thy face to shine upon thy servant" = this phrase was first used in Num. 6:25 when the Lord told Moses to tell this to the people; the phrase is used several times in the Psalms; this phrase here is asking God to be favorable and gracious unto His servant--David himself; could be said to the Lord, "manifest yourself and make your presence known."

2. "Save me for thy mercies' sake" = on account of thy mercy or that thy mercy may be manifested; remember "mercy" means to bend or stoop in kindness to an inferior; this is always a just ground of appeal to God by a sinner or a sufferer, that God would make our sins and trials an occasion for displaying His own character.

 

V. 17

1. "Let me not be ashamed, O LORD; for I have called upon thee" = let me not be disappointed and thus be made ashamed before men as if I had put my trust where no relief was to be found--I called upon the Lord for my refuge and security--hear and answer my prayer, again.

2. "Let the wicked be ashamed" = let the wicked be disappointed in where they put their trust--in their wicked plans, their strength, their skill, their courage, their resources, and not on the Lord; let it be seen that these things constitute no safe ground of trust.

3. "And let them be silent in the grave" = Sheol--the underworld--the land of silence; this is the Psalmist's prayer that the wicked may not triumph, but be put to death.

 

V. 18

1. "Let the lying lips be put to silence" = the reference here is especially to those who had spoken in this manner against the Psalmist himself, though he is praying in general that God would silence all lies.

2. "Which speak grievous things" = impudent things or things that are spoken boldly with contempt of others--shameless.

3. "Proudly and contempuously" = states how they spoke grievous things; means in pride and contempt--that is, in a manner which shows that they are proud of themselves and despise others; slander (verse 13) always implies this.

4. "Against the righteous" = men are proud of themselves or they desire to have an exalted opinion of themselves and want others to entertain the same opinion of them, and if they cannot exalt themselves by their own merit, as they wish, they put down others below their real merit, to a level lower than themselves by slander to make themselves look better.

5. David said in verse 17, "Let them be silent in the grave"--let them die.

 

5. Part 5: Praise of God's goodness.  V. 19-22

V. 19

1. "Oh how great is thy goodness" = kindness; refers to God's grace and love; David said His goodness is "great" which means manifold, abundant; in this verse David turns from prayer to praise, and in these four verses he eulogizes the goodness and mercy and marvellous loving kindness of God.

2. "Which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee" = refers to the goodness of God that has been laid up (treasured up) for His people--"them that fear thee;" "fear" means to reverence and respect the Lord with a hatred for evil--that is how His people act.

3. "Which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee" = refers to His people (those saved) to whom God had wrought goodness, mercy, and loving kindness--treasures that He has stored up for the wants (needs) of His people.

4. And this was done "before the sons of men" = means He worked all this in the presence of mankind--those not saved, so they could see the goodness of God that leads them to repentance. (Rom. 2:4)

 

V. 20

1. "Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man" = this is referring to God's people--those that fear Him  (verse 19)--the saved; "in the secret of thy presence" refers to where God dwells; God dwells in light--really He is light (I John 1:5); usually man tries to hide in darkness but intense light forms as good a hiding place as intense darkness; no vision can penetrate it for intense light is too dazzling bright for the mortal eye; thus, those whom God brings close to Himself and on whom He pours the light of His countenance, need no other protection--their life is hid in God; "the pride of man" properly means league or conspiracy, then, snares or plots; the idea is, that when the wicked form a conspiracy or enter into a league against the righteous, God will take His people, as it were, into His own immediate presence and will protect them.

2. "Thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues" = "them" refers to God's people--the righteous--those who fear God; "secretly" refers to Himself--"thou wilt hide them as with thyself;" "in a pavilion" means a hut or lair (place of rest from a wild beast), a booth, tent, or tabernacle; denotes the tabernacle is considered as the dwelling place of God on earth--the meaning is that God would hide him as it were in His own dwelling--the place to which He Himself withdrew to be alone, and where no stranger would venture to intrude--a place where His protection would be sure. (Psa. 27:5)

3. "From the strife of tongues" = refers to "lying lips" (verse 18) and slanderous tongues (verse 13) of the ungodly--God will keep His people safe from such people. (Rom. 8:33)

 

V. 21

1. "Blessed be the LORD" = an act of kneeling and worshiping Jehovah; an expression of thanksgiving for the evidence that God had heard him in his troubles and had answered him.

2. "For" = introduces the reason for worshiping Him.

3. "For he hath shewed me his marvellous kindness" = literally, He hath made His mercy wonderful to David.

4. "In a strong city" = refers to a fenced fortified city; this is probably as much a figure of speech as the "pavilion" of verse 20; this passage implies that God had stepped between David and His enemies, giving him protection as if He had placed him in a strongly fortified city where he would be safe from danger.

 

V. 22

1. "I said in my haste" = "haste" here means properly that terror or alarm which causes one to flee or to endeavor to escape; for a moment he had a lapse of faith. (I Sam. 23:26)

2. "I am cut off from before thine eyes" = David despaired to the point he thought he was going to die and he fled with fear that he would not be able to come again to worship God  (Psa. 6:5); for he was banished from the city where the ark was placed--Jerusalem, for David had brought the ark there.

3. "Nevertheless" = but; shows the contrast--what David did--he prayed.

4. "Thou heardest the voice of my supplications when I cried unto thee" = he cried out in earnest prayer (supplication) and contrary to his apprehensions, he was heard and delivered--God's mercy went beyond David's faith and made his case a matter of wonder and astonishment.

 

6. Part 6: V. 23-24 Exhortation to the people to praise God.

V. 23

1. "O love the LORD, all ye his saints" = this is the application for all the truths suggested in this psalm; the experience of the psalmist had shown the wisdom of trusting in God in times of danger and trouble, and had laid the foundation for a proper exhortation to others to imitate his example--"love the Lord, all ye his saints" = refers to all who are saved to love the Lord; why should we have to be urged to love the Lord for the fruit of the Spirit is to be found in all saints and the first of the nine-fold fruit mentioned is "love" (Gal. 5:22-23); Jesus said the great commandment is to love the Lord (Mat. 22:35-40); He also said in John 14:15 for us to keep His commandments; if you love Him rightly you are commanded to follow Him--Ex. Peter in John 21:15-19; we have to be told over and over to love Him because our old flesh does not love Him as we should; it is easy to say and sing I love the Lord when everything is going our way; but the real test is whether or not we do what He says.

2. "For" = introduces a reason for loving the Lord; in italics because not in the original scripture but placed there because implied and to give a smooth English reading.

3. "For the LORD preserveth the faithful" = "preserveth" means to protect and maintain; "faithful" is also part of the fruit of the Spirit listed as faith (Gal. 5:22-23) and means faithfulness and fidelity produced by the Holy Spirit.

4. "And plentifully rewardeth the proud doer" = (Dan. 4:37) "abase" means reduced to a lower estate; equivalent to "rewardeth" which is used here to reduce to a lower estate; in other words we reap what we sow (Gal. 6:7-8)--if the saints sow faithfulness they reap the protection of God; but if the proud wicked man sows to the world, flesh, and the devil, he will reap hell--the everlasting fire. (Pro. 16:18; Rev. 20:15)

 

V. 24

1. "Be of good courage" = means to be stout, strong, hardened, resolute, with the idea of prevailing in mind (Psa. 27:14); these exhortations are applicable to us--to feel assured that God would not leave nor forsake us.

2. "And he shall strengthen your heart" = if the saints do their best to "be of good courage" when danger and difficulty attacks them with view to overcome them, then God would give them supernatural aid, strengthening their hearts with His gracious favor.

3. "All ye that hope in the LORD" = refers to His saints (saved); "hope" is a desire of something good with the expectation of obtaining it; all saints possess hope; John wrote of that hope in I John 3:1-3--See notes on I John.

 

I John 3:1

1. In chapter 3, John states that a true child of God will prove that he is born again by being obedient to God's word.

2. He gives five motives for obedience, but we will just give two.  Webster's defines motive as an inner drive, impulse, etc. that causes one to act in a certain way; incentive; goal. The Holy Spirit is the inner drive in every child of God that causes him to be obedient to God's word.

 

            1. God's Wonderful Love V. 1

3. "Behold" = to see; to pay attention; observe.  John is calling upon all the saints to wonder at the particular kind of love God has bestowed upon them.

4. "What manner of" = from what country, race or tribe.  The word speaks of something foreign.

5. The love of God is foreign to the human race.  It is not found naturally in humanity. (John 3:16; Rom. 5:6-8)

6. "Hath bestowed" = to give something to someone.  The tense indicates that the gift becomes a permanent possession of the receiver.

7. God has placed His love upon the saints in the sense that they have become the permanent objects of His love.

8. One of the results of this love in action is that we are called (named) sons of God (born ones, descendants of God, or children of God).

9. "Knoweth" & "knew" = same base word.  Means to acquire knowledge through the medium of experience.

10. "World" = refers to the people of that system spoken of in I John 2:15-17, the people of the world system of evil.

11.  Since the people of this world have nothing in common with the children of God, they have no fellowship with them, therefore they have no understanding of them.

12.  This foreign kind of love produced in us by the Holy Spirit makes us a foreign kind of person (oddball) to this world. (I Peter 2:9 = peculiar)

13. We are really a people of a different race from them and could just as well have come to earth from a strange planet as far as the people of the world are concerned.  We are strangers to them. (I Peter 2:11)

14. Love is the greatest motive in the world.  Example: The love that Mom and Dad has for me will cause me to obey and love them in return.  Also, the love my wife has for me will cause me to want to do more for her and love her in return.

15. The same is true with the Lord. (II Cor. 5:14; I John 4:19)

 

            2. Christ's Promised Return V. 2-3

I John 3:2

1. "Beloved" = an expression revealing God's love for His own; also a title John used showing his love for the saints of God, those to whom he writes.

2. "Now" = at present time, without waiting for the second coming.

3. We do not have to wait until the judgment to find out if we will make it, as some teach.  We can know "now" we are the sons of God. (I John 5:13 = key verse for these last three chapters.

4. "It doth not yet appear" = it has not yet been made manifest or visible; the force of the tense is "it was never manifested on any occasion."

5. "What we shall be" = suggests something unspeakable, contained in the likeness of God.

6. "When he shall appear" = when He shall be made manifest or visible.

7. "Know" = to have absolute, immediate knowledge of the facts.

8. "We shall be like him" = it matters not how He is or what He is like, we will be like Him and see Him face to face just as He is.

9. This is speaking of the change of the body.  We are already changed on the inside by the Spirit which quickened us and made us alive in Christ.

10. Phil. 3:20-21 uses the words "change" and "be fashioned like" both of which refer to an outward, not an inward change.

11. I Cor. 15:35,42-44 says our bodies will be raised in:

      A. Incorruption.

      B. Glory.

      C. Power.

      D. A spiritual body.

12. "See" = to gaze, with wide open eyes; as at something remarkable. (Rev. 1:7)

 

I John 3:3

1. "Every man who hath" = a characteristic form of expression with John, containing a reference to some who question the application of a general principle, in this case refers to those who had denied the practical obligation to a moral purity involved in their hope.

2. "Hope" = expectation; refers to the Christian's hope of some day being like the Lord Jesus in respect to His glorified body. (verse 2)

3. "In Him" = upon Him; the idea is, "hope resting upon Him," or "hope set on Him," with "Him" referring to the Lord Jesus.

4. "Even as He is pure" = referring also to the Lord.

5. "Pure" = denotes purity maintained with effort and fearfulness in the midst of defilements and allurements; this refers to Christ because of His human experience. (Heb. 4:15)

6. "Purifieth" = to make clean; it is entire purification, not merely from unchastity, but from all defilement of flesh and spirit. (II Cor. 7:1)

7. "Purifieth himself" = implies a will to purify himself being always stirred up by the hope of being like Him.  The will is not his own, not something springing out of his own nature, but the result of his Christian state, in which God also ministers to him the power to carry out that will in self-purification. (John 15:5b)

8. The hope of being like the Lord Jesus arouses the determination to be pure like Him, and this brings into play the will of the Christian to carry that will out into action.

9. This can only be done by dependence upon the Holy Spirit, and in so doing the saint can put sin out of his life and keep it out.

4. This (what John dealt with) is some of what David dealt with and is talking about in Psalm 31.  Hope in God cheers His saints, sustains them, comforts them, makes life happy and prosperous, and makes death calm, serene, triumphant.

 

PSALM 32

1. This Psalm has the inscription "A Psalm of David, Maschil."

A. "A Psalm of David" = means David, the sweet Psalmist of Israel, was the author--human instrument--of this Psalm; we know the Lord is the author (II Peter 1:21; II Tim. 3:16) and David was just the human instrument who penned it down.

B. "Maschil" = means this Psalm was intended for instruction--the opening word of verse 8 is instruct.

2. This Psalm is believed to be written a short while after David's great sin (II Sam. 11:1-15)--actually two, adultery with Bathsheba and then, murder of her husband Uriah.  David tried to hide his sin for a period of time but God knew and sent the prophet Nathan to him and he told David a made up story (II Sam. 12:1-4) which angered David. (II Sam. 12:5-6) Nathan then told David "Thou art the man" and told him some of the consequences of his sin. (II Sam. 12:7-12)  Then David said I have sinned against the Lord--confession. (II Sam 12:13a) Now we see God's longsuffering. (II Sam. 12:13b; Pro. 28;13)  David was forgiven and probably wrote in Psalm 51, "My sin is ever before me" (verse 3b) and "Restore unto me the joy of my salvation" (verse 12a) and "I will teach (instruct) transgressors thy way." (verse 13a)  David did what he said and Psalm 32 written soon after Psalm 51--instructing transgressors (sinners).

3. The theme is the way of forgiveness and its blessedness.

 

1. A statement of forgiveness. V. 1-2

1. "Blessed" = O, happy is the man; spiritually prosperous; indicates his condition is a happy and a desirable one.

2. "He" = refers to anyone "whose transgression is forgiven" = "transgression" is an offence against God's law--overstepping God's boundary; "forgiven" properly means to lift up, to bear, to carry, to carry away--as the scapegoat bore off sin into the wilderness.

3. "Whose sin is covered" = "sin" is an offence against the eternal and immutable rule of right; "covered" means concealed or hidden; covered so that it does not appear; the idea in this Hebrew word denotes the atonement--to cover over; then, to overlook, to forgive; the idea is that the sin would be, as it were, covered over, hidden, concealed, so that it would no longer come into the view of either God or man; that is, the offender would be regarded and treated as if he had not sinned or as if he had no sin.

 

V. 2

1. "Blessed" = same word as verse 1; spiritually prosperous.

2. "Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity" = "iniquity" is an internal depravation and defilement of the sinner's soul; "imputeth" means to put to one's account--negated by "not;" the Lord will not charge sin to anyone who has been justified by faith; these verses are referred to by Paul in Rom. 4:6-8.

3. "And in whose spirit there is no guile" = refers to those who are sincere and true, not hypocrites; their repentance has been sincere, real, and honest in making confession of their sins.

4. They are blessed!

 

2. A description of the state of mind, when under conviction of sin. V. 3-4

V. 3

1. "When I kept silent" = refers to the Psalmist state of mind before he found peace; David tried to conceal his sin with Bathsheba by trying to get Uriah her husband to spend the night with her and then he could say her child belonged to Uriah; he was unwilling to confess his sin to God and attempted to conceal it in his own heart; therefore, he was not blessed--did not prosper spiritually (Pro. 28:13); and as a result:

2. He said, "My bones waxed old" = his strength failed--was exhausted; denotes decay or the wearing out of the strength by slow decay.

3. "Through my roaring" = refers to his cries of anguish and distress--only he knew about it (God did); his sorrow was so great it lead to loud and passionate cries--when alone.

4. "All day long" = continually; without intermission; conviction was on him day and night--no doubt he lost a lot of sleep.

 

V. 4

1. "For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me" = David knew it was God's hand that pressed him down and weighed upon him constantly.

2. "My moisture" = means juice or sap of a tree; applied to David we would say his "life's blood."

3. "Is turned into the drought of summer" = all dried up; David said he was like plants in the heat of summer, in the time of drought, when all moisture of rain or dew is withheld, and when they dry up and wither; this represents the distress of mind under long continued conviction of sin, when all strength and vigor seems wasted away.

4. "Selah" = it is believed by some that this word has something to do with music and means to lift up, boom it out, put out the stops; some say it is equivalent to "amen;" I believe in addition to these things about the word, it means to pause and think about what has been said--what do you think about what David said about the conviction of sin which causes grief which causes inward problems--not prosper spiritually if you keep silence before God. (Pro. 28:13)

 

3. The effect of confession of sin, resulting in a sense of forgiveness and peace. V. 5

V. 5

1. "I acknowledged my sin unto thee" = I confessed my sin (verse 1), my transgression (verse 1), and my iniquity (verse 2); he had endeavored to conceal and supress his conviction, but he found no relief and when Nathan came and said "Thou art the man" (II Sam. 12:7) and David said in II Sam. 12:13, "I have sinned against the Lord."

2. "And mine iniquity have I not hid" = means he did not attempt to hide it as before because he was confronted with God's message through His man; he made a frank and full confession.

3. "I said" = he formed a resolution--he could find no relief in any other way.

4. "I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord" = means now he would no longer attempt to hide them or to suppress the convictions of guilt.

5. "And thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin" = when he confessed, he repented because the Lord enabled him to do so and he found that God was willing to pardon; he knew the Lord forgave him because he had eternal peace and joy and the guilt was gone; also David had said that the man in Nathan's story should die (II Sam. 12:5) but David's confession brought forgiveness--he would not die. (II Sam. 12:13)

6. "Selah" = what do you think about that--God forgives at once when true confession is made.

 

4. Encouragement to others in similar circumstances, derived from the example of the Psalmist. V. 6

V. 6

1. "For this" = on account of this experience of mine--this immediate following of the grant of forgiveness upon confession of sin.

2. "Shall every one that is godly" = "godly" refers to those converted called a saint and so translated in I Sam. 2:9 and Psa. 30:4.

3. "Pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found" = means to cry out to the Lord; "when thou mayest be found" refers to a time when the sinner is willing (made so by the power of God--Psa. 110:3) to come as a penitent, and make confession as a sinner (Isa. 55:6)

4. "Surely in the floods of great waters" = in the time of calamity, as when floods of water spread over a land or in the time of judgment, when such floods sweep everything away--David said for sinners, saved and lost to pray--cry out for mercy.

5. "They shall not come nigh unto him; he shall be protected as Noah was in the great flood that swept over a guilty world; a pardoned man has nothing to fear, though flood or fire should sweep over the world.

 

5. An expression of confidence in God as a refuge and hiding place in time of trouble. V. 7

V. 7

1. "Thou art my hiding place" = Psa. 9:9; 27:5; the idea is that he would be safe under the protection of God.

2. "Thou shalt preserve me from trouble" = refers to trouble which comes from guilt--sadness and sorrow in the remembrance of sin.

3. "Thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance" = "compass" means to be surrounded; surrounded by people who have been rescued by being forgiven of sin and with a song in their mouth like David (Psa. 40:3); this is referring to songs expressive of deliverance and salvation; nature is full of songs--the birds of the air, the wind, the running streams, the seasons, the hills, valleys, and groves--to one redeemed, all seems to be full of songs.

4. "Selah" = think about all creation singing.

5. Conviction! Confession! Confidence! Think about that!

 

6. The proper spirit which they should have who are thus brought up from the depths of grief, and the way in which they should receive the guidance and direction which will be afforded them. V. 8-9

V. 8

1. "I" = David; many interpreters have understood this is God--as if He were now introduced as speaking, and as saying that He would be the guide (and there is no doubt that God will do that) of those who submitted to Him; but it is more natural to regard the psalmist is still speaking and referring to his own experience as qualifying him to give counsel to others.

2. "Thee" = refers to the godly man of verse 6; such a man was not beyond the need of instruction and teaching, since he was answerable to the sins of the flesh.

3. "Instruct" = is a kindred word to "teach" = to impart knowledge to one who was destitute of it--all are needed to be instructed or taught because no matter how much we know there is still areas we are destitute of knowledge.

4. "In the way thou shalt go" = this is God's way of which many in this world are ignorant; man can put man on the moon and still not know the ways of God.

5. "I will guide thee with mine eye" = literally means, "I will counsel thee and mine eye shall be upon thee;" the idea is that of one who is telling another what way he is able to take in order that he may reach a certain place and he says he will watch him or will keep his eye upon him--he will not let him go wrong.

6. David failed to instruct his earlier children--Amnon raped his half sister and Absalom killed Amnon and then rebelled against David.  Also of Adonijah the Bible says that his father had not displeased him at any time. (I Kings 1:5-6) But David had learned his lesson and taught Solomon who said so himself. (Pro. 4:1-7; note verse 4)

 

V. 9

1. "Be ye not as a horse" = the nature of a horse is wild, ungoverned, unwilling to be caught and made obedient; the counsel referred to in verse 8 is here given--that if one who wishes to obtain favor of God should not be as a wild and unbroken horse.

2. "Or as a mule" = the mule is known for its stubbornness; the meaning is, be gentle and yielding and submit to the guidance and direction of God and His truth.

3. "Which have no understanding" = refers to both the horse and mule--they are governed by power and fear; men are not to be governed as brutes are; they have a higher nature and should permit themselves to be governed by it.

4. "Whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee" = refers to the horse and mule which are only restrained by bit and bridle or else they will not come near unto you. (Hebrew construction)

5. The Psalmist undertakes to instruct men he comes in contact with, saying they should cherish a spirit of humility, not the fierce spirit of the untamed horse or the spirit of the obstinate mule.

 

7. The blessedness of trusting in the Lord. V. 10-11

V. 10

1. "Many sorrows shall be to the wicked" = refers to those who will not submit themselves in the manner which the psalmist recommends; they will experience sorrows--anguish and affliction both internal and external.

2. "But" = introduces a contrast.

3. "He that trusteth in the Lord" = the person who has faith in God; he that confides in the Lord will go to him with the language of sincere confession; that person will have "mercy" = kindness and goodness of God; means to bend or stoop in kindness to an inferior; to be gracious; to show compassion; keeps us from getting what we deserve; they are new each day. (Lam. 3:22-23)

3. And that mercy "shall compass him about" = shall surround him; shall attend him; shall be on every side of him--as one is surrounded by the air or by the sunlight; he shall find mercy everywhere--at home, abroad; by day, by night; in society or solitude; in sickness, in health; in life, in death; in time, in eternity; he shall walk amidst mercies; he shall die amidst mercies; he shall live in a better world in the midst of eternal mercies.

 

V. 11

1. "Be glad in the Lord" = this David admonishes; "glad" means cheerful and joyous and is a kindred word to "rejoice"--rejoice that there is a God and that you are saved. (Psa. 107:2)

2. Who is he talking to? "Ye righteous" = those who are made willing to go to Him and confess their sins--God's way--the saved.

3. "And shout for joy" = to sing aloud or to cry out or simply shout--to give expression to your joy--let it not remain in your heart. Who is he talking to? "All ye that are upright in heart" = refers to the saved who are sincere in their confession of their sin and in their desires to secure the favor of God.

4. The experience of the psalmist; therefore, as recorded in this psalm, should be full of encouragement to all who are burdened with a sense of sin.

5. David ends most of his psalms on a note of encouragement or hope.  There is hope for every person, no matter how deep in sin they have gone, if they will come to God His way.