Verse 10
Lay wait for my soul - They seek to destroy my life.
Verse 11
God hath forsaken him - "God, who has been his special help all through life, and who has guarded him so that no hand could be raised successfully against him, has now cast him off; therefore we shall easily prevail against him. His present adversity shows that God is no longer his friend." Thus men judge. "Secular prosperity is a proof of God's favor: adversity is a proof of his displeasure." But this is not God's way, except in especial judgments, etc. He never manifests his pleasure or displeasure by secular good or ill.
Verse 13
Let them be confounded - They shall be confounded: these are prophetic denunciations.
Verse 14
I will hope continually - I shall expect deliverance after deliverance, and blessing after blessing; and, in consequence, I will praise thee more and more. As thy blessings abound, so shall my praises.
Verse 15
I know not the numbers - I must be continually in the spirit of gratitude, praise, and obedience, for thy blessings to me are innumerable.
Verse 16
I will go - אבוא abo, I will enter, i.e., into the tabernacle, in the strength or mightinesses of Adonai Jehovah, the supreme God, who is my Prop, Stay, and Support.
I will make mention of thy righteousness - I will continually record and celebrate the acts of thy mercy and goodness. They are without number, ([Psa 71:15]), and of these alone will I speak.
Verse 17
Thou hast taught me from my youth - I have had thee for my continual instructor: and thou didst begin to teach me thy fear and love from my tenderest infancy. Those are well taught whom God instructs; and when he teaches, there is no delay in learning.
Verse 18
Old and grey-headed - In the ninth verse he mentioned the circumstance of old age; here he repeats it, with the addition of hoary-headedness, which, humanly speaking, was calculated to make a deeper impression in his favor. Though all these things are well known to God, and he needs not our information, yet he is pleased to say, "Come now, and let us reason together." And when his children plead and reason with him, they are acting precisely as he has commanded.
Verse 19
Thy righteousness - is very high - עד מרום ad marom - is up to the exalted place, reaches up to heaven. The mercy of God fills all space and place. It crowns in the heavens what it governed upon earth.
Who hast done great things - גדלות gedoloth. Thou hast worked miracles, and displayed the greatest acts of power.
Who is like unto thee! - מי כמוך mi camocha. God is alone, - who can resemble him? He is eternal. He can have none before, and there can be none after; for in the infinite unity of his trinity he is that eternal, unlimited, impartible, incomprehensible, and uncompounded ineffable Being, whose essence is hidden from all created intelligences, and whose counsels cannot be fathomed by any creature that even his own hand can form. Who is Like Unto Thee! will excite the wonder, amazement, praise, and adoration of angels and men to all eternity.
Verse 20
Thou, which hast showed me great and sore troubles - Multiplied straits and difficulties. And thou hast only showed them.
Hadst thou permitted them to have fallen upon me with all their own energy and natural consequences, they would have destroyed me. As it was, I was nearly buried under them.
Shalt quicken me again - Shalt revive me - put new life in me. This has been applied to the passion of our Lord, and his resurrection; for it is added, Thou: -
Shalt bring me up again from the depths of the earth - Death shall not prey upon my body; thy Holy One can see no corruption. As applicable to David, it might mean his being almost overwhelmed with afflictions; and his deliverance was like a life from the dead.
Verse 21
Thou shalt increase my greatness - Thou wilt restore me to my throne and kingdom; and it shall be done in such a way that all shall see it was the hand of God; and I shall have the more honor on the account.
Comfort me on every side - I shall have friends in all quarters; and the tribes on all sides will support me.
Verse 22
I will also praise thee with the psaltery - בכלי נבל bichli nebel, with the instrument nebel. Unto thee will I sing with the harp; בכנור bechinnor, with the kinnor. Both were stringed instruments, and the principal used in the Jewish worship; and with which, or any thing like them, in Divine worship, we, as Christians, have nothing to do.
Verse 23
My lips shall greatly rejoice and my soul - My lips shall use words expressive of my soul's happiness and gratitude. Thou hast redeemed me; and thou shalt have the eternal praise.
Verse 24
Talk of thy righteousness - The righteousness of God is frequently used in this Psalm, and in other places, to signify his justice, judgments, faithfulness, truth, mercy, etc. There are few words of more general import in the Bible.
They are confounded - The counsel of Ahithophel is confounded, and turned to foolishness, and he was so ashamed that he went and hanged himself. As to the vain and wicked Absalom, he met with the fate that he had meditated against his father. Though not yet done, David sees all these things as actually accomplished; for he had got a Divine assurance that God would bring them to pass.
Introduction
David prays to God for Solomon, [Psa 72:1]; prescribes Solomon's work, [Psa 72:2]; the effects of his administration, [Psa 72:3-7]; the extent of his dominion, [Psa 72:8-11]; his mercy and kindness to the poor, and the perpetuity of his praise, [Psa 72:12-17]. God is blessed for his power and goodness; and the psalmist prays that the whole earth may be filled with his glory, [Psa 72:18-20].
The title לשלמה lishelomoh, we translate, A Psalm for Solomon. The Chaldee says, "By the hand of Solomon, spoken prophetically." The Syriac, "A Psalm of David, when he had constituted Solomon king." All the other Versions attribute it to Solomon himself. But in the conclusion of the Psalm it appears to be attributed to David. "The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended." It is most probably a Psalm of David, composed in his last days, when he had set this beloved son on the throne of the kingdom. "Then," says Calmet, "transported with joy and gratitude, he addressed this Psalm to God, in which he prays him to pour out his blessings on the young king, and upon the people. He then, wrapped up in a Divine enthusiasm, ascends to a higher subject; and sings the glory of the Messiah, and the magnificence of his reign. Hence it is that we may see in this Psalm a great number of expressions which cannot relate to Solomon, unless in a hyperbolical and figurative sense; but, applied to Christ, they are literally and rigorously exact."
Verse 1
Give the king thy judgments - Let Solomon receive thy law, as the civil and ecclesiastical code by which he is to govern the kingdom.
And thy righteousness unto the king's son - Righteousness may signify equity. Let him not only rule according to the strict letter of thy law, that being the base on which all his decisions shall be founded; but let him rule also according to equity, that rigorous justice may never become oppressive. Solomon is called here the king, because now set upon the Jewish throne; and he is called the king's son, to signify his right to that throne on which he now sat.
Verse 2
He shall judge thy people with righteousness - With justice and mercy mixed, or according to equity.
And thy poor with judgment - Every one according to the law which thou hast appointed; but with especial tenderness to the poor and afflicted.