Verse 17
His name shall endure for ever - Hitherto this has been literally fulfilled. Solomon is celebrated in the east and in the west, in the north and in the south; his writings still remain, and are received, both by Jews and by Gentiles, as a revelation from God; and it is not likely that the name of the author shall ever perish out of the records of the world.
All nations shall call him blessed - Because of the extraordinary manner in which he was favored by the Most High. I well know that all these things are thought to belong properly to Jesus Christ; and, in reference to him, they are all true, and ten thousand times more than these. But I believe they are all properly applicable to Solomon: and it is the business of the commentator to find out the literal sense, and historical fact, and not seek for allegories and mysteries where there is no certain evidence of their presence. Where the sacred writers of the New Testament quote passages from the Old, and apply them to our Lord, we not only may but should follow them. And I am ready to grant there may be many other passages equally applicable to him with those they have quoted, which are not thus applied. Indeed, He is the sum and substance of the whole Scripture. His spoke by his Spirit in the prophets; and himself was the subject of their declarations. See our Lord's saying, [Luk 24:44].
Verse 18
Blessed be the Lord God - David foresaw all Solomon's grandeur; his justice equity, and the happiness of the subjects under his government; and his soul has, in consequence, sensations of pleasure and gratitude to God, which even his own wondrous pen cannot describe. But it is worthy of remark, that God did not reveal to him the apostasy of this beloved son. He did not foresee that this once holy, happy, wise, and prosperous man would be the means of debasing the Divine worship, and establishing the grossest idolatry in Israel. God hid this from his eyes, that his heart might not be grieved, and that he might die in peace. Besides, there was still much contingency in the business. God would not predict a thing as absolutely certain, which was still poised between a possibility of being and not being; the scale of which he had left, as he does all contingencies, to the free-will of his creature to turn.
Who only doeth wondrous things - God alone works miracles: wherever there is a miracle there is God. No creature can invert or suspend the course and laws of nature; this is properly the work of God. Jesus Christ, most incontrovertibly, wrought such miracles; therefore, most demonstrably, Jesus Christ is God.
Verse 19
Let the whole earth be filled with his glory - Let the Gospel - the light, the Spirit, and power of Christ, fill the world.
Amen - So let it be.
And Amen - So it shall be. Hallelujah!
Verse 20
The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended - This was most probably the last Psalm he ever wrote. There may be several in the after part of this book which were written by him; but they were probably composed in a former period of his life, for this was the end of the poetic prayers of David the son of Jesse. Those that were found afterwards have got out of their proper connection.
Introduction
The psalmist speaks of God's goodness to his people, [Psa 73:1]; shows how much he was stumbled at the prosperity of the wicked, and describes their state, [Psa 73:2-12]; details the process of the temptation, and the pain he suffered in consequence, [Psa 73:13-16]; shows how he was delivered, and the dismal reverse of the state of the once prosperous ungodly man, by which his own false views were corrected, [Psa 73:17-22]; his great confidence in God, and the good consequences of it, [Psa 73:23-28].
This is the commencement of the Third Book of the Psalter; and the Psalm before us has for title, A Psalm of Asaph; or, as the margin has it, A Psalm for Asaph. The title in the Hebrew is מזמור לאסף mizmor leasaph; "A Psalm of Asaph:" and it is likely that this Asaph was the composer of it; that he lived under the Babylonish captivity; and that he published this Psalm to console the Israelites under bondage, who were greatly tried to find themselves in such outward distress and misery, while a people much more wicked and corrupt than they, were in great prosperity, and held them in bondage.
Verse 1
Truly God is good to Israel - Captives as they were, they still had many blessings from God; and they had promises of deliverance, which must be fulfilled in due time.
Such as are of a clean heart - Those who have a clean heart must have inward happiness: and, because they resemble God, they can never be forsaken by him.
Verse 2
My feet were almost gone - I had nearly given up my confidence. I was ready to find fault with the dispensations of providence; and thought the Judge of all the earth did not do right.
Verse 3
I was envious at the foolish - I saw persons who worshipped not the true God, and others who were abandoned to all vices, in possession of every temporal comfort, while the godly were in straits, difficulties, and affliction. I began then to doubt whether there was a wise providence; and my mind became irritated. It seems to have been a maxim among the ancient heathens, Θεου ονειδος τους κακους ευδαιμονειν, "The prosperity of the wicked is a reproach to the gods." But they had no just conception of a state of future rewards and punishments. Besides, man could not bear prosperity. If men had uninterrupted comforts here, perhaps not one soul would ever seek a preparation for heaven. Human trials and afflictions, the general warfare of human life, are the highest proof of a providence as benevolent as it is wise. Were the state of human affairs different from what it is, hell would be more thickly peopled; and there would be fewer inhabitants in glory. There is reason to doubt whether there would be any religion upon earth had we nothing but temporal prosperity. Indeed, all the following verses are proofs of it.
Verse 4
No bands in their death - Many of the godly have sore conflicts at their death. Their enemy then thrusts sore at them that they may fall; or that their confidence in their God may be shaken. But of this the ungodly know nothing. Satan will not molest them; he is sure of his prey; they are entangled, and cannot now break their nets; their consciences are seared, they have no sense of guilt. If they think at all of another world, they presume on that mercy which they never sought, and of which they have no distinct notion. Perhaps, "they die without a sigh or a groan; and thus go off as quiet as a lamb" - to the slaughter.
Verse 6
Pride compasseth them about as a chain - Perhaps there is an allusion here to the office which some of them bore. Chains of gold, and golden rings, were ensigns of magistracy and civil power. As these chains encompassed their necks, or the rings their wrists and fingers, as the signs of the offices in virtue of which they acted; so חמס chamas, violence, oppressive conduct, encompassed them. They made no other use of their great power, than to oppress the poor and the needy; and to drive things to extremities. The Chaldee, instead of a chain, represents this as a crown or diadem, which they had formed out of the plunder of the poor and defenseless.
Verse 7
Their eyes stand out with fatness - "Their countenance is changed because of fatness." - Chaldee. By fatness, or corpulency, the natural lines of the face are changed, or rather obliterated. The characteristic distinctions are gone; and we see little remaining besides the human hog.
They have more than heart could wish - I doubt this translation. Whose heart ever said, I have enough, which had not its portion with God? It would be more literal to say, "They surpass the thoughts of their heart." They have more than they expected, though not more than they wish.
Verse 8
They are corrupt - ימיקו yamiku, they mock, act dissolutely.
And speak wickedly concerning oppression - They vindicate excessive acts of government: they push justice to its rigour. They neither show equity, lenity, nor mercy; they are cruel, and they vindicate their proceedings.
Verse 9
Set their mouth against the heavens - They blaspheme God, ridicule religion, mock at Providence, and laugh at a future state.
Their tongue walketh through the earth - They find fault with every thing; they traduce the memory of the just in heaven, and ridicule the saints that are upon earth. They criticize every dispensation of God.
Verse 10
Therefore his people return hither - There are very few verses in the Bible that have been more variously translated than this; and, like the man in the fable, they have blown the hot to cool it, and the cold to warm it. It has been translated, "Therefore God's people fall off to them; and thence they reap no small advantage." And, "Therefore let his people come before them; and waters in full measure would be wrung out from them." That is, "Should God's people come before them, they would squeeze them to the utmost; they would wring out all the juice in their bodies." The Chaldee has, "Therefore, are they turned against the people of the Lord, that they may bruise and beat them with mallets; that they may pour out to them abundance of tears." The Vulgate, "Therefore shall my people return here, and days of abundance shall be found by them." The Septuagint is the same. The Ethiopic, Arabic, and Syriac, nearly the same. The Hebrew text is, לכן ישוב עמו הלם ומי מלא ימצו למו lachen yashub ammo (עמי ammi) halom; umey male yimmatsu lamo; "Therefore shall my people be converted, where they shall find abundance of waters." That is, The people, seeing the iniquity of the Babylonians, and feeling their oppressive hand, shall be converted to me; and I shall bring them to their own land, where they shall find an abundance of all the necessaries of life. I believe this to be the meaning; and thus we find their afflictions were sanctified to them; for they obliged them to return to God, and then God caused them to return to their own land. The Vulgate translates ומי מלא umey male, "abundance of waters," by et dies pleni, "and days of plenty;" for it has read ימי yemey, days, for ומי umey, and waters. Almost all the Versions support this reading; but it is not acknowledged by any MS. The old Psalter is here mutilated.
Verse 11
They say, How doth God know? - My people are so stumbled with the prosperity of the wicked, that they are ready in their temptation to say, "Surely, God cannot know these things, or he would never dispense his favors thus." Others consider these words as the saying of the wicked: "We may oppress these people as we please, and live as we list; God knows nothing about it."
Verse 12
These are the ungodly - The people still speak. It is the ungodly that prosper, the irreligious and profane.
Verse 13
I have cleansed my heart in vain - It is no advantage to us to worship the true God, to walk according to the law of righteousness, and keep the ordinances of the Most High.
Verse 14
For all the day long have I been plagued - Far from enjoying worldly prosperity, we are not only poor, but we are afflicted also; and every succeeding day brings with it some new trouble.