Psalms 89

Psalms 89:1

Send forth - Will discover them, by affording his gracious help in pursuance of his promises.

Psalms 89:2

Lions - Fierce and bloody men. I lie - I have my abode. On fire - From hell. Who are mere fire - brands, breathing out wrath and threatenings, and incensing Saul against me.

Psalms 89:3

Excited - Glorify thy power, and goodness, and justice, and faithfulness, by my deliverance. Above, &c. - To the highest degree possible.

Psalms 89:5

Fixed - In a stedfast belief of thy promises.

Psalms 89:6

My glory - My tongue, the instrument of singing. Awake - I will employ all the powers of my soul and body.

Psalms 89:7

The people - Among the Israelites, and among the Heathens, as I shall have occasion.

Psalms 89:11

O congregation - The word seems to point at Saul’s judges and counsellors; who met together to consult what they should do against David. Sons of men - So he calls them; to mind them that they were men, and must give an account to God for all their hard speeches.

Psalms 89:12

Heart - With free choice and consent. Hands - He intimates that they did great wrong under the pretence of justice, and while they seemed exactly to weigh the true proportion between the actions and the recompenses allotted to them, they turned the scale; and pronounced an unjust sentence. Land - Or, in this land, where God is present, and where you have righteous laws to govern you.

Psalms 89:13

Estranged - From God, and from all goodness. Their very natures are corrupt, even from their birth: they are the wicked offspring of sinful parents. Astray - By actual sins, from their childhood, as soon as ever they were capable of the exercise of reason.

Psalms 89:14

Poison - Their malicious disposition.

Psalms 89:15

Not hearken - As they commonly say of the adders, such really are these men: deaf to all my counsels, to their own consciences, and to God’s law. Of the charming or enchanting of serpents, mention is made both in other places of scripture, and in all sorts of authors, ancient and modern, Hebrew and Arabick, and Greek and Latin. And particularly the Arabick writers (to whom these creatures were best known) name some sorts of serpents, among which the adder is one, which they call deaf, not because they are dull of hearing, but, as one of them expressly faith, because they will not be charmed.

Psalms 89:16

Their teeth - Their powerful instruments of doing mischief.

Psalms 89:17

Melt away - As waters arising from melted snow, which at first run with great force, but are suddenly gone.

Psalms 89:18

Melteth - Which is quickly dissolved.

Psalms 89:19

Before - Before your pots can be heated. Take them - Violently and irresistibly. Living - Alive, as he did Korah.

Psalms 89:20

Rejoice - For the blessed effects of it; the vindication of God’s honour, and the deliverance of himself and of all good men. Wash - There shall be so great a slaughter of his enemies that he might, if he pleased, wash his feet in their blood.

Psalms 89:26

Run - To and fro, to receive Saul’s commands, and to execute them with all speed.

Psalms 89:27

The God - A God in covenant with all true Israelites, whom thou hast promised to protect and bless. The heathen - Or, these heathens, who though they are Israelites by birth; yet in their dispositions they are mere Heathens. Be not - For indeed thou canst not according to thy word, be merciful to such incorrigible offenders.

Psalms 89:28

Return - Watching for me: which they did at this time all the night long, 1 Samuel 19:11. A dog - When he is pursuing his prey. Go round - When they did not find him in his own house, they sought for him in other parts of the city.

Psalms 89:29

Pour out - Sharp and bitter word’s, abundantly and vehemently, as a fountain doth waters, as this word signifies. Swords - Words as keen and mischievous as swords. For who - David doth not hear us, and God either doth not hear, or not regard what we say.

Psalms 89:32

Prevent - Thou wilt help me sooner than I expect.

Psalms 89:33

My people - Over whom thou hast appointed me to be governor in due time. Forget - Their former danger, and thy glorious mercy in delivering them. Scatter - Let them wander from place to place, that they may carry the tokens of thy justice, and their own shame to all places.

Psalms 89:34

Pride - For their proud and insolent speeches against thee. Lying - For their execrations and lying reports, which they have spread concerning me.

Psalms 89:35

Not be - In the land of the living any more.

Psalms 89:42

Tremble - A poetical expression, signifying great changes among the people.

Psalms 89:43

To drink - Thou hast filled us with no less honor, than men intoxicated with strong drink.

Psalms 89:44

A banner - Which is a sign and instrument, Of union. This people who were lately divided, thou hast united under one banner, under my government: Of battle. Thou hast given us an army, and power to oppose our enemies; which blessing God gave to Israel, for the sake of those few sincere Israelites who were among them. The truth - Not for any merit of ours, but to shew thy faithfulness in making good thy promises.

Psalms 89:45

Beloved - Thy beloved people.

Psalms 89:46

Rejoice - Therefore I will turn my prayers into praises, for what God has already done. Divide - Which supposeth possession and dominion. Shechem - A place within Jordan, in mount Ephraim. Succoth - A place without Jordan. He mentions Shechem, and Succoth; for all the land of Canaan, within and without Jordan.

Psalms 89:47

Gilead - All the land beyond Jordan, which was possessed by Reuben and Gad, and half of the tribe of Manasseh. Manasseh - The other half of that tribe within Jordan. The strength - A chief part of my strength, either to offend mine enemies, or to defend myself. For this tribe was very numerous, and valiant and rich. Law - giver - The chief seat of my throne and kingdom, and of the inferior throne of judgment, Psal 122:5.

Psalms 89:48

Wash - pot - In which I shall wash my feet. I shall bring them into the lowest degree of servitude. Shoe - I will use them like slaves; a proverbial expression. Triumph - It is an ironical expression, signifying that her triumphs were come to an end.

Psalms 89:49

Who - None can do it but God. City - The cities; the singular number for the plural. Having beaten his enemies out of the field, he desires God’s assistance to take their strong - holds, and so secure himself from farther attempts. Edom - Which was an high and rocky country, Obadiah 1 - 3, fortified by nature, as well as by art, and therefore not to be subdued without a Divine hand.

Psalms 89:50

Hadst cut off - But now hast graciously returned to us.