Psalms 17:7

Show thy marvellous loving kindness,.... Such is the lovingkindness of God to his people in Christ; which is sovereign, free, special, distinguishing, everlasting, and unchangeable; it is better than

Shew thy marvellous lovingkindness, O thou that savest by thy right hand them which put their trust in thee from those that rise up against them.

Thy marvellous loving-kindness, to wit, in preserving and delivering me; which, if thou dost, I must ever acknowledge it to be an act of kindness, or free grace, or undeserved bounty, yea, and of marvellous kindness, because of my extreme and pressing dangers, out of which nothing but a wonder of God’ s mercy and power can save me. By thy right hand, i. e. by thy great power. In thee, or, in it, i.e. in thy right hand, as was now expressed. From those that rise up against them; or, because of (as the Hebrew prefix mem oft signifies, as , and elsewhere) those exalt themselves, not only against me, but against thee, who hast engaged and declared thyself for me. So this prayer is like that , Let not the rebellious exalt themselves. But this place is otherwise translated in the margin of our Bibles, with which divers others, both ancient and later interpreters, agree, and that more agreeably to the order of the words in the Hebrew text, O thou that savest (or usest to save) them which trust in thee (or, as the Hebrew word may be properly rendered without any supplement, believers) from those that rise up against thy right hand, i.e. either against thy mighty power, which thou hast already showed in my wonderful preservation; or against thy counsel and revealed will concerning my advancement to the kingdom, which divers of these men did knowingly oppose, as may be gathered from ,10. Or, against the man (which word is oft understood, whereof examples have been given, and more we shall have in this book) of thy right hand, as David is called, . According to this translation his prayer is enforced with a double motive, to wit, his trust in God, and his enemies’ opposition against God.

Psalms 17:7 Shew thy marvellous lovingkindness, O thou that savest by thy right hand them which put their trust [in thee] from those that rise up [against them].Ver. 7. Show thy marvellous lovingkindness, &c] Mirificas benignitates tuas; less than a marvellous mercifulness will not serve David’ s turn, he was so hardly bestead; ut nisi mirabiliter feceris, pereo. We now alive have lived in an age of miracles; and God hath dealt with our land, not according to his ordinary course, but according to his prerogative; by a miracle of his mercy have we hitherto subsisted, and by a prop of his extraordinary patience. O thou that savest, &c.] Servator sperantium. Choice must be made in prayer of fit titles and attributes of God; such as may strengthen faith and quicken affection. From those that rise up against them] Or, against thy right hand. The saints are at Christ’ s right hand, Psalms 45:9, as Christ is at the Father’ s; and he puts his holy hand between them and harm.

(7) Shew.—Literally, Separate; but (comp. Psalms 4:3), from its use to express God’s providential care of Israel in distinction to other nations, acquires in addition the idea of wonder and miracle (Exodus 8:22; Exodus 9:4; Exodus 11:7, &c). The LXX. and Vulgate, “make thy mercies appear wonderful.”

Verse 7. Show thy marvellous lovingkindness] David was now exposed to imminent danger; common interpositions of Providence could not save him; if God did not work miracles for him, he must fall by the hand of Saul. Yet he lays no claim to such miraculous interpositions; he expects all from God's lovingkindness. The common reading here is הפלה חסדיך haphleh chasadeycha, "distinguish thy holy ones;" but הפלא haple, "do wonders," is the reading of about seventy MSS., some ancient editions, with the Septuagint, Vulgate, Chaldee, Syriac, and Arabic. The marginal reading of this verse is nearer the original than that of the text.

7. Shew thy marvellous lovingkindness] Lit., Make marvellous thy lovingkindnesses: Vulg. mirifica misericordias tuas. Cp. Psalms 31:21, and note on Psalms 9:1. The word implies a signal intervention on his behalf. The need is great, but God’s power is greater. Parallel passages decide in favour of connecting O thou that savest by thy right hand (Psalms 60:5; Psalms 20:6). R.V. follows the original in transferring by thy right hand to the end of the verse for emphasis. But the balanced brevity of the Hebrew (the whole verse contains but six words) defies translation. For put their trust, cp. Psalms 16:1; for those that rise up against thee, cp. Psalms 59:1, Psalms 18:48. Grammatically possible, but unsupported by analogy, is the rendering of R.V. marg., from those that rise up against thy right hand; cp. P.B.V., from such as resist thy right hand, which follows the LXX, Vulg., and Jer. (a resistentibus dexterae tuae).

Show thy marvelous loving-kindness - The literal translation of the original here would be, “distinguish thy favors.” The Hebrew word used means properly “to separate; to distinguish;” then, “to make

7. Show thy marvellous loving-kindness—Literally, Set apart, distinguish, make honourable, thy loving kindness; work in an extraordinary manner.