3 He restoreth my soul: He guideth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Create in me a clean heart, O God; And renew a right spirit within me.
The law of Jehovah is perfect, restoring the soul: The testimony of Jehovah is sure, making wise the simple.
Lead me, O Jehovah, in thy righteousness because of mine enemies; Make thy way straight before my face.
For thou art my rock and my fortress; Therefore for thy name's sake lead me and guide me.
To bring back his soul from the pit, That he may be enlightened with the light of the living.
Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; For in thee do I trust: Cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; For I lift up my soul unto thee. Deliver me, O Jehovah, from mine enemies: I flee unto thee to hide me. Teach me to do thy will; For thou art my God: Thy Spirit is good; Lead me in the land of uprightness.
Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name; And deliver us, and forgive our sins, for thy name's sake.
But I wrought for my name's sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I brought them out.
I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely; for mine anger is turned away from him. I will be as the dew unto Israel; he shall blossom as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon. His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive-tree, and his smell as Lebanon. They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive `as' the grain, and blossom as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon. Ephraim `shall say', What have I to do any more with idols? I have answered, and will regard him: I am like a green fir-tree; from me is thy fruit found. Who is wise, that he may understand these things? prudent, that he may know them? for the ways of Jehovah are right, and the just shall walk in them; but transgressors shall fall therein.
Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, Jehovah will be a light unto me. I will bear the indignation of Jehovah, because I have sinned against him, until he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: he will bring me forth to the light, `and' I shall behold his righteousness.
Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth over the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in lovingkindness. He will again have compassion upon us; he will tread our iniquities under foot; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.
As many as I love, I reprove and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; And uphold me with a willing spirit.
Behold, I will gather them out of all the countries, whither I have driven them in mine anger, and in my wrath, and in great indignation; and I will bring them again unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: and I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them: and I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from following them, to do them good; and I will put my fear in their hearts, that they may not depart from me. Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul. For thus saith Jehovah: Like as I have brought all this great evil upon this people, so will I bring upon them all the good that I have promised them.
Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the uttermost parts of the earth, `and' with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that travaileth with child together: a great company shall they return hither.
I have taught thee in the way of wisdom; I have led thee in paths of uprightness.
Turn us, O God of our salvation, And cause thine indignation toward us to cease. Wilt thou be angry with us for ever? Wilt thou draw out thine anger to all generations? Wilt thou not quicken us again, That thy people may rejoice in thee? Show us thy lovingkindness, O Jehovah, And grant us thy salvation.
Simon, Simon, behold, Satan asked to have you, that he might sift you as wheat: but I made supplication for thee, that thy faith fail not; and do thou, when once thou hast turned again, establish thy brethren.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Psalms 23
Commentary on Psalms 23 Matthew Henry Commentary
Psalm 23
Many of David's psalms are full of complaints, but this is full of comforts, and the expressions of delight in God's great goodness and dependence upon him. It is a psalm which has been sung by good Christians, and will be while the world stands, with a great deal of pleasure and satisfaction.
In this he had certainly an eye, not only to the blessings of God's providence, which made his outward condition prosperous, but to the communications of God's grace, received by a lively faith, and returned in a warm devotion, which filled his soul with joy unspeakable. And, as in the foregoing psalm he represented Christ dying for his sheep, so here he represents Christians receiving the benefit of all the care and tenderness of that great and good shepherd.
A psalm of David.
Psa 23:1-6
From three very comfortable premises David, in this psalm, draws three very comfortable conclusions, and teaches us to do so too. We are saved by hope, and that hope will not make us ashamed, because it is well grounded. It is the duty of Christians to encourage themselves in the Lord their God; and we are here directed to take that encouragement both from the relation wherein he stands to us and from the experience we have had of his goodness according to that relation.