The old Scottish Version of this verse, in their singing Psalms, is most execrable: - "Iniquities, I must confess,
Prevail against me do:
And as for our trans-gres-sions
Them purge away wilt thou."
O David, if thou art capable of hearing such abominable doggerel substituted for the nervous words thou didst compose by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, what must thou feel, if chagrin can affect the inhabitants of heaven!
Verse 4
Blessed is the man whom thou choosest - This is spoken in reference to the priests who were chosen of God to minister at the tabernacle; and who were permitted to approach, draw nigh, to the Divine Majesty by the various offerings and sacrifices which they presented.
We shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house - Though we are not priests, and have not the great felicity to minister before thee in holy things; yet we can worship at thy temple, feel the outpouring of thy Spirit, and be made happy with the blessings which thou dispensest there to thy true worshippers.
Verse 5
By terrible things in righteousness - The Vulgate joins this clause to the preceding verse: "Thy holy temple is wonderful in right eousness: thou wilt hear us, O God of our salvation." But the psalmist may refer to those wonderful displays of God's providence in the change of seasons, and fertilization of the earth; and, consequently, in the sustenance of all animal beings.
The confidence of all the ends of the earth - Thou art the hope of thy people scattered through different parts of the world, and through the isles of the sea. This passage is also understood of the vocation of the Gentiles.
Verse 6
Setteth fast the mountains - It is by thy strength they have been raised, and by thy power they are girded about or preserved. He represents the mountains as being formed and pitched into their proper places by the mighty hand of God; and shows that they are preserved from splitting, falling down, or mouldering away, as it were, by a girdle by which they are surrounded. The image is very fine. They were hooped about by the Divine power.
Verse 7
Stilleth the noise of the seas - Thou art Sovereign over all the operation of sea and land. Earthquakes are under thy control: so are the flux and reflux of the sea; and all storms and tempests by which the great deep is agitated. Even the headstrong multitude is under thy control; for thou stillest the madness of the people.
Verse 8
Are afraid at thy tokens - Thunder and lightning, storms and tempests, eclipses and meteors, tornadoes and earthquakes, are proofs to all who dwell even in the remotest parts of the earth, that there is a Supreme Being who is wonderful and terrible in his acts. By these things an eternal power and Godhead become manifest even to the most barbarous. From this verse to the end of the Psalm there is a series of the finest poetic imagery in the world.
The outgoings of the morning, etc. - The rising and setting sun, the morning and evening twilight, the invariable succession of day and night, are all ordained by thee, and contribute to the happiness and continuance of man and beast. Or, All that fear thee praise thee in the morning, when they go to their work, and in the evening, when they return home, for thy great goodness manifested in the continuance of their strength, and the success of their labor.
Verse 9
Thou visitest the earth - God is represented as going through the whole globe, and examining the wants of every part, and directing the clouds how and where to deposit their fertilizing showers, and the rivers where to direct their beneficial courses.
The river of God - Some think the Jordan is meant; and the visiting and watering refer to rain after a long drought. But the clouds may be thus denominated, which properly are the origin of rivers.
Thou preparest them corn - Or, Thou wilt prepare them corn, because "thou hast provided for it." Thou hast made all necessary provision for the fertilization of the earth. Thou hast endued the ground with a vegetative power. Rains, dews, and the genial heat of the sun enable it to put forth that power in providing grass for cattle, and corn for the service of man.
Verse 10
Thou waterest the ridges - In seedtime thou sendest that measure of rain that is necessary, in order to prepare the earth for the plough; and then, when the ridges are thrown into furrows, thou makest them soft with showers, so as to prepare them for the expansion of the seed, and the vegetation and developement of the embryo plant.
Thou blessest the springing thereof - Literally, Thou wilt bless its germinations - its springing buds. Thou watchest over the young sprouts; and it is by thy tender, wise, and provident care that the ear is formed; and by thy bountiful goodness that mature grains fill the ear; and that one produces thirty, sixty, or a hundred or a thousand fold.
Verse 11
Thou crownest the year - A full and plentiful harvest is the crown of the year; and this springs from the unmerited goodness of God. This is the diadem of the earth; עטרת ittarta, Thou encirclest, as with a diadem. A most elegant expression, to show the progress of the sun through the twelve signs of the zodiac, producing the seasons, and giving a sufficiency of light and heat alternately to all places on the surface of the globe, by its north and south declination (amounting to 23 28' at the solstices) on each side of the equator. A more beautiful image could not have been chosen; and the very appearance of the space termed the zodiac on a celestial globe, shows with what propriety the idea of a circle or diadem was conceived by this inimitable poet.
Thy paths drop fatness - מעגליך magaleycha, "thy orbits." The various planets, which all have their revolutions within the zodiacal space, are represented as contributing their part to the general fructification of the year. Or perhaps the solar revolution through the twelve signs, dividing the year into twelve parts or months, may be here intended; the rains of November and February, the frosts and snows of December and January, being as necessary for the fructification of the soil, as the gentle showers of spring, the warmth of summer, and the heat and drought of autumn. The earth's diurnal rotation on its axis, its annual revolution in its orbit, and the moon's course in aecompanying the earth, are all wheels or orbits of God, which drop fatness, or produce fertility in the earth.
Verse 12
The pastures of the wilderness - Even the places which are not cultivated have their suffiency of moisture, so as to render them proper places of pasturage for cattle. The terms wilderness and desert, in the Sacred Writings, mean, in general, places not inhabited and uncultivated, though abounding with timber, bushes, and herbage.
The little hills rejoice - Literally, The hills gird themselves with exultation. The metaphor appears to be taken from the frisking of lambs, bounding of kids, and dancing of shepherds and shepherdesses, in the joy-inspiring summer season.
Verse 13
The pastures are clothed with flocks - Cattle are seen in every plain, avenue, and vista, feeding abundantly; and the valleys are clothed, and wave with the richest harvests; and transports of joy are heard every where in the cheerful songs of the peasantry, the singing of the birds, the neighing of the horse, the lowing of the ox, and the bleating of the sheep. Claudian uses the same image: -
Viridis amictus montium. "The green vesture of the mountains."
Shout for joy, they also sing - They are not loud and unmeaning sounds, they are both music and harmony in their different notes; all together form one great concert, and the bounty of God is the subject which they all celebrate. What an inimitable description! And yet the nervous Hebrew is not half expressed, even by the amended translation and paraphrase above.
Introduction
The psalmist exhorts all to praise God for the wonders he has wrought, [Psa 66:1-4]; calls on Israel to consider his mighty acts in behalf of their fathers, [Psa 66:5-7]; his goodness in their own behalf [Psa 66:8-12]; he resolves to pay his vows to God, and offer his promised sacrifices, [Psa 66:13-15]; calls on all to hear what God had done for his soul, [Psa 66:15-20].
There is nothing particular in the title of the Psalm. It is not attributed to David either by the Hebrew, Chaldee, Syriac, Septuagint, Vulgate, or Ethiopic. The Arabic alone prefixes the name of David. The Vulgate, Septuagint, Ethiopic, and Arabic, call it a psalm of the resurrection: but for this there is no authority. By many of the ancients it is supposed to be a celebration of the restoration from the Babylonish captivity. Others think it commemorates the deliverance of Israel from Egypt, their introduction into the Promised Land, and the establishment of the worship of God in Jerusalem.
Verse 1
Make a joyfull noise - Sing aloud to God, all ye lands - all ye people who, from different parts of the Babylonish empire, are now on return to your own land.
Verse 2
The honor of his name - Let his glorious and merciful acts be the subject of your songs.
Verse 3
How terrible art thou - Consider the plagues with which he afflicted Egypt before he brought your fathers from their captivity, which obliged all his enemies to submit.
Thine enemies submit themselves - Literally, lie unto thee. This was remarkably the case with Pharaoh and the Egyptians. They promised again and again to let the people go, when the hand of the Lord was upon them: and they as frequently falsified their word.