4 Do good, O Lord, to those who are good, and to those who are upright in heart.
God, who is the saviour of the upright in heart, is my breastplate.
You are good, and your works are good; give me knowledge of your rules.
O let there be no end to your loving mercy to those who have knowledge of you, or of your righteousness to the upright in heart.
<To the chief music-maker. A Psalm. Of David.> Happy is the man who gives thought to the poor; the Lord will be his saviour in the time of trouble. The Lord will keep him safe, and give him life; the Lord will let him be a blessing on the earth, and will not give him into the hand of his haters. The Lord will be his support on his bed of pain: by you will all his grief be turned to strength.
Truly, God is good to Israel, even to such as are clean in heart.
The Lord God is our sun and our strength: the Lord will give grace and glory: he will not keep back any good thing from those whose ways are upright.
Let all my heart be given to your orders, so that I may not be put to shame.
And if you give your bread to those in need of it, so that the troubled one may have his desire; then you will have light in the dark, and your night will be as the full light of the sun: And the Lord will be your guide at all times; in dry places he will give you water in full measure, and will make strong your bones; and you will be like a watered garden, and like an ever-flowing spring.
Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him and said of him, See, here is a true son of Israel in whom there is nothing false.
For God is true, and will not put away from him the memory of your work and of your love for his name, in the help which you gave and still give to the saints.
But if a man has this world's goods, and sees that his brother is in need, and keeps his heart shut against his brother, how is it possible for the love of God to be in him? My little children, do not let our love be in word and in tongue, but let it be in act and in good faith. In this way we may be certain that we are true, and may give our heart comfort before him, When our heart says that we have done wrong; because God is greater than our heart, and has knowledge of all things. My loved ones, if our heart does not say that we have done wrong, we have no fear before him; And he gives us all our requests, because we keep his laws and do the things which are pleasing in his eyes. And this is his law, that we have faith in the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love for one another, even as he said to us. He who keeps his laws is in God and God is in him. And the Spirit which he gave us is our witness that he is in us.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Psalms 125
Commentary on Psalms 125 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
PSALM 125
Ps 125:1-5. God honors the confidence of His people, by protection and deliverance, and leaves hypocrites to the doom of the wicked.
1, 2. Mount Zion—as an emblem of permanence, and locality of Jerusalem as one of security, represent the firm and protected condition of God's people (compare Ps 46:5), supported not only by Providence, but by covenant promise. Even the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed, but God's kindness shall not depart, nor His covenant of peace be removed (Isa 54:10).
They that trust—are "His people," (Ps 125:2).
3. Though God may leave them for a time under the "rod," or power (Ps 2:9), and oppression of the wicked for a time, as a chastisement, He will not suffer them to be tempted so as to fall into sin (1Co 10:13). The wicked shall only prove a correcting rod to them, not a destroying sword; even this rod shall not remain ("rest") on them, lest they be tempted to despair and apostasy (Ps 73:13, 14). God may even try His people to the uttermost: when nothing is before our eyes but pure despair, then He delivers us and gives life in death, and makes us blessed in the curse (2Co 1:8, 9) [Luther].
the lot—the possession, literally, "Canaan," spiritually, the heavenly inheritance of holiness and bliss which is appointed to the righteous. Sin's dominion shall not permanently come between the believer and his inheritance.
4. (Compare Ps 7:10; 84:11).
5. Those who turn aside (under temptation) permanently show that they are hypocrites, and their lot or portion shall be with the wicked (Ps 28:3).
crooked ways—(Compare De 9:16; Mal 2:8, 9).
their—is emphatic; the "crooked ways" proceed from their own hearts. The true Israel is here distinguished from the false. Scripture everywhere opposes the Jewish delusion that mere outward descent would save (Ro 2:28, 29; 9:6, 7; Ga 6:16). The byways of sin from the way of life.