Psalms 14:7

O that the salvation of Israel [were come] out of Zion!.... By whom is meant the Messiah, the Saviour of Israel, of all the elect of God, whether Jews or Gentiles; and who is so called, because the

Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! when the LORD bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.

Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! These words directly and immediately concern the deliverance of the people of Israel out of that sinful and deplorable estate in which they now were; which having described in the body of the Psalm, he concludes, after his manner, with a prayer to God to hear and help them out of Zion, where the ark then was, whence God used to hear and answer his people’ s prayers. But ultimately and principally they design a further, even the spiritual, redemption and salvation of all God’ s Israel by the Messias, as may appear by divers considerations: 1. That the ancient Jews did thus understand it, and among others Jonathan’ s Targum or Paraphrase on the Bible expound it thus; I do not expect Gideon’ s salvation, which was but corporeal, nor that of Samson— but the salvation of the Messias. With whom agrees the Targum of Jerusalem. 2. That the doctrine of Israel’ s redemption or salvation by Christ was very well known, as to other ancient patriarchs, , so particularly to David, of whom it is expressly said that he knew and foresaw this mystery, ,31, in whose Book of Psalms there are divers and very distinct and clear prophecies of it, as we have in part seen upon Psalms 2 Psalms 8, and shall see more fully and evidently hereafter. 3. That David and other holy prophets, in the midst of their sad thoughts, and fears, and troubles, did usually comfort themselves with the promise and expectation of the Messias, by whom, and by whom alone, they should receive that plenary salvation for which they groaned; of which it is thought we have one instance, ; but we have many unquestionable instances in the prophecy of Isaiah, as 9:6, &c. And this course might be the more seasonable for David, because he speaks here of his troubles after he was settled in his kingdom, (as may be gathered from the mention of Zion, where the ark was not till that time,) and possibly of the sad and sinful state of his kingdom during Absalom’ s rebellion; and therefore finding himself so strangely disappointed of that peace and happiness which he confidently expected when once he came to the kingdom, and wisely and justly presaging that his children and the following generations of Israelites for the same causes were likely to meet with the same or greater calamities than this, he wearieth himself with the expression of his belief and desire of the coming of the Messias to save his people. 4. To this also suits the mention of Zion, because the prophets knew and foretold that the Messias or Deliverer should first come to Zion, and should set up his throne there, and from thence send forth his laws and edicts to the Gentile world; as is positively affirmed, 110:2 59:20, compared with , and in many other places. 5.

Psalms 14:7 Oh that the salvation of Israel [were come] out of Zion! when the LORD bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, [and] Israel shall be glad.Ver. 7. Oh that the salvation of Israel, &c.] This is the second part of the psalm, wherein David prayeth to God to deliver his Israel out of the hands of those atheists and oppressors. The whole Church must be remembered in our prayers, and that ancient people of God, the Jews, not forgotten (Sanhed. c. 11). Many of their Rabbis make this whole psalm a prophecy of their dispersion among the Gentiles, their oppressors; and this a prayer for their restoration. For our sins, say they, which are many, the coming of the Messiah (that salvation of Israel) is deferred, the time of his coming is sealed up, Daniel 12:4. Verum enimvero Dens nos dignabitur clarissima visione cum reducer Zionem; tunc intelligemus res ipsas prout sunt, saith Jachiades on that text; but God shall give us a clear sight of all things when he shall bring back Zion, &c. This is truth, and we must hasten that time by our heartiest wishes for that obdurate people, that a redeemer would come to them out of Zion, Romans 11:26, that the covering cast over that people might be destroyed, Isaiah 25:7, and a general joy conceived throughout all the Churches for their happy readmission. Out of Zion] i.e. Out of the Church, whence all good cometh; and such blessings as are better than all else that heaven or earth affordeth, Psalms 134:3.

(7) Oh that.—The thoughts of the exiles turn to the Holy City as the one source of deliverance, as if Jehovah’s power would only manifest itself from His hallowed abode. So Daniel looked towards Jerusalem in his prayer. (Comp. the same feeling in Isaiah 40:9-10.) For the expression “turn the captivity,” or, to keep the Heb. idiom, “turn the turning,” comp. Psalms 85:1; Psalms 126:1; Hosea 6:2; Joe 3:1. It appears, however, besides its literal reference to the exile, to have been applied proverbially to the removal of any misfortune (Job 42:10).

Verse 7. O that the salvation] Or, more literally, Who will give from Zion salvation to Israel? From Zion the deliverance must come; for God alone can deliver them; but whom will he make his instruments? When the Lord bringeth back] For it is Jehovah alone who can do it. Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad. That is, according to Calmet, the remains of the kingdom of Israel, and those of Judah, shall be rejoined, to their mutual satisfaction, and become one people, worshipping the same God; and he has endeavoured to prove, in a dissertation on the subject, that this actually took place after the return from the Babylonish captivity. Many of the fathers have understood this verse as referring to the salvation of mankind by Jesus Christ; and so it is understood by my old MS. Psalter, as the following paraphrase will show: Qwa sal gyf of Syon hele til Israel? qwen Lord has turned a way the captyfte of his folk, glad sal Jacob, and fayne be Israel. Qwa bot Crist that ge despyse, qwen ge wit nout do his counsaile of Syon fra heven, sal gyf hele til Israel? that es, sal saf al trew cristen men, noght als ge er that lufs noght God. And qwen our Lord has turned o way the captyfte of his folk: that es, qwen he has dampned the devel, and al his Servaundes, the qwilk tourmentes gude men, and makes tham captyfs in pyne. Then glade sal Jacob; that es, al that wirstils o gayns vices and actyf: and fayne sal be Israel: that es, al that with the clene egh of thair hert, sees God in contemplatyf lyf. For Jacob es als mikil at say als, Wrestler, or suplanter of Syn. Israel es, man seand God. Of the two chief opinions relative to the design of this Psalm: 1. That it refers to Absalom's rebellion. 2. That it is a complaint of the captives in Babylon; I incline to the latter, as by far the most probable. I have referred, in the note on Psalms 14:3, to that remarkable addition of no less than six verses, which is found here in the Vulgate, the Vatican copy of the Septuagint, the AEthiopic, and the Arabic, and also in St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans, Romans 3:13-18, which he is supposed to have quoted from this Psalm as it then stood in the Hebrew text; or in the version of the Seventy, from which it has been generally thought he borrowed them. That they are not interpolations in the New Testament is evident from this, that they are not wanting in any MS. yet discovered; and they exist in all the ancient versions, the Vulgate, Syriac, AEthiopic, and Arabic. Yet it has been contended, particularly by St. Jerome, that St.

7. Concluding prayer for the deliverance of Israel. out of Zion] The dwelling-place of Jehovah. See note on Psalms 3:4. When the Lord bringeth back &c.] Or, as R.V. marg., when the Lord returneth to the captivity of his people. At first sight these words appear to fix the date of the Psalm in the period of the Exile (Psalms 126:1). Nor does the first line of the verse exclude such a view. For the exiled turned to Zion even in her desolation (Daniel 6:10; 1 Kings 8:44), and from thence Jehovah might be expected to restore His people. But (1) it is very probable that the phrase rendered bring back the captivity means rather restore the fortunes. This meaning suits all the passages in which it occurs, while turn the captivity does not, except in the figurative sense of restoring prosperity. See e.g. Job 42:10; Ezekiel 16:53; Zephaniah 2:7. And (2) even if turn the captivity is the true meaning, the phrase is used by Amos (Amos 9:14) and Hosea (Hosea 6:11) long before the Babylonish Captivity. Psalms 14:7 is frequently regarded as a later liturgical addition; and certainly it does not cohere very closely with the rest of the Psalm. But some conclusion is needed. The Psalm can hardly have ended abruptly with Psalms 14:6. Jacob shall rejoice, &c.] Properly a wish or prayer (cp. Psalms 13:5-6): let Jacob rejoice, and Israel be glad.

Oh that the salvation of Israel - Margin, “Who will give,” etc.

7. Oh that the salvation of Israel—Or, who will give the salvation of Israel. It is a form of ardent wish that by some one deliverance might be given, as Psalms 55:6.