But in the name of the Lord will I destroy them - Dr. Kennicott renders אמילם amilam, "I shall disappoint them;" Bishop Horsley, "I cut them to pieces;" Mr. N. Berlin, repuli eas, "I have repelled them." "I will cut them off;" Chaldee. Ultus sum in eos, "I am avenged on them;" Vulgate. So the Septuagint.
Verse 12
They compassed me about like bees; they are quenched as the fire of thorns - I shall refer to Dr. Delaney's note on this passage. The reader has here in miniature two of the finest images in Homer; which, if his curiosity demands to be gratified, he will find illustrated and enlarged, Iliad ii., ver. 86. - Επεσσευοντο δε λαοι. Ηΰτε εθνεα εισι μελισσαων αδιναων, Πετρης εκ γλαφυρης αιει νεον ερχομεναων, Βοτρυδον δε πετονται επ' ανθεσιν ειαρινοισιν, Αἱ μεν τ' ενθα ἁλις πεποτηαται, αἱ δε τε ανθα Ὡς των εθνεα πολλα νεων απο και κλισιαων Ηΐονος προπαροιθε βαθειης εστιχοωντο Ιλαδον εις αγορην. - The following host,
Poured forth by thousands, darkens all the coast.
As from some rocky cleft the shepherd sees,
Clustering in heaps on heaps, the driving bees,
Rolling and blackening, swarms succeeding swarms,
With deeper murmurs and more hoarse alarms:
Dusky they spread a close embodied crowd,
And o'er the vale descends the living cloud;
So from the tents and ships a lengthening train
Spreads all the beach, and wide o'ershades the plain;
Along the region runs a deafening sound;
Beneath their footsteps groans the trembling ground.
Pope
The other image, the fire consuming the thorns, we find in the same book, ver. 455: - Ηΰτε πυρ αΐδηλον επιφλεγει ασπετον ὑλην, Ουρεος εν κορυφης· ἑκαθεν δε τε φαινεται αυγη· Ὡς των ερχομενων, απο χαλκου θεσπεσιοιο Αιγλη παμφανοωσα δι' αιθερος ουρανον ἱκεν.
As on some mountain, through the lofty grove,
The crackling flames ascend and blaze above;
The fires expanding, as the winds arise,
Shoot their long beams, and kindle half the skies;
So, from the polished arms, and brazen shields,
A gleamy splendor flashed along the fields.
Pope.
The arms resembling a gleaming fire is common both to the psalmist and Homer; but the idea of that fire being quenched when the army was conquered, is peculiar to the psalmist.
Verse 13
Thou hast thrust sore at me - In pushing thou hast pushed me that I might fall.
But the Lord helped me - Though he possessed skill, courage, and strength, yet these could not have prevailed had not God been his helper; and to him he gives the glory of the victory.
Verse 15
The voice of rejoicing - Formerly there was nothing but wailings; but now there is universal joy because of the salvation - the deliverance, which God has wrought for us.
Verse 16
The right hand of the Lord is exalted - Jehovah lifted up his right hand, and with it performed prodigies of power.
Verse 17
I shall not die - I was nigh unto death; but I am preserved, - preserved to publish the wondrous works of the Lord.
Verse 19
Open to me the gates - Throw open the doors of the temple, that I may enter and perform my vows unto the Lord.
Verse 20
This gate of the Lord - Supposed to be the answer of the Levites to the request of the king.
Verse 21
I will praise thee - He is now got within the gates, and breaks out into thanksgivings for the mercies he had received. He is become my salvation - he himself hath saved me from all mine enemies.
Verse 22 , [Psa 118:23]
The stone which the builders refused - See a full elucidation of these two verses in the notes on [Mat 21:42] (note).
Verse 24
This is the day which the Lord hath made - As the Lord hath called me to triumph, this is the day which he hath appointed for that purpose. This is a gracious opportunity; I will improve it to his glory.
Verse 25
Save now, I beseech thee - These words were sung by the Jews on the feast of tabernacles, when carrying green branches in their hands; and from the הושיעה נא hoshiah nna, we have the word hosanna. This was sung by the Jewish children when Christ made his public entry into Jerusalem. See [Mat 21:9] (note), and see the note there, in which the word and the circumstance are both explained.