4 So will I bless thee while I live; I will lift up my hands in thy name.
I will sing unto Jehovah as long as I live; I will sing psalms to my God while I have my being.
Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless Jehovah.
And Solomon stood before the altar of Jehovah in the presence of the whole congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward the heavens. And he said, Jehovah, God of Israel! there is no God like thee, in the heavens above, or on the earth beneath, who keepest covenant and mercy with thy servants that walk before thee with all their heart; who hast kept with thy servant David my father that which thou didst promise him; thou spokest with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled [it] with thy hand, as at this day. And now, Jehovah, God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father that which thou hast promised him, saying, There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel, if only thy sons take heed to their way, to walk before me as thou hast walked before me. And now, O God of Israel, let thy words, I pray thee, be verified, which thou hast spoken unto thy servant David my father. But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, the heavens, and the heaven of heavens, cannot contain thee; how much less this house which I have built! Yet have respect unto the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, Jehovah, my God, to hearken unto the cry and to the prayer which thy servant prayeth before thee this day; that thine eyes may be open upon this house night and day, upon the place of which thou hast said, My name shall be there: to hearken unto the prayer which thy servant prayeth toward this place. And hearken unto the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place, and hear thou in thy dwelling-place, in the heavens, and when thou hearest, forgive. If a man have sinned against his neighbour, and an oath be laid upon him to adjure him, and the oath come before thine altar in this house; then hear thou in the heavens, and do, and judge thy servants, condemning the wicked, to bring his way upon his own head; and justifying the righteous, giving him according to his righteousness. When thy people Israel are put to the worse before the enemy, because they have sinned against thee, and shall turn again to thee, and confess thy name, and pray, and make supplication unto thee in this house; then hear thou in the heavens, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them again unto the land that thou gavest unto their fathers. When the heavens are shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; if they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, because thou hast afflicted them; then hear thou in the heavens, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, when thou teachest them the good way wherein they should walk; and give rain upon thy land, which thou hast given to thy people for an inheritance. If there be famine in the land, if there be pestilence, if there be blight, mildew, locust, caterpillar; if their enemy besiege them in the land of their gates; whatever plague, whatever sickness there be: what prayer, what supplication soever be made by any man, of all thy people Israel, when they shall know every man the plague of his own heart, and shall spread forth his hands toward this house; then hear thou in the heavens, the settled place of thy dwelling, and forgive, and do, and render unto every man according to all his ways, whose heart thou knowest (for thou, thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men), that they may fear thee all the days that they live upon the land which thou gavest unto our fathers. And as to the stranger also, who is not of thy people Israel, but cometh out of a far country for thy name's sake (for they shall hear of thy great name, and of thy mighty hand, and of thy stretched-out arm); when he shall come and pray toward this house, hear thou in the heavens thy dwelling-place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for; in order that all peoples of the earth may know thy name, [and] that they may fear thee as do thy people Israel; and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by thy name. If thy people go out to battle against their enemy, by the way that thou shalt send them, and they pray to Jehovah toward the city that thou hast chosen, and the house that I have built unto thy name; then hear thou in the heavens their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their right. If they have sinned against thee, (for there is no man that sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, and give them up to the enemy, and they have carried them away captives unto the enemy's land, far or near; and if they shall take it to heart in the land whither they were carried captive, and repent, and make supplication unto thee in the land of them that carried them captive, saying, We have sinned, and have done iniquity, we have dealt perversely; and if they return unto thee with all their heart and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies who led them away captive, and pray unto thee toward their land which thou gavest unto their fathers, the city that thou hast chosen, and the house that I have built unto thy name; then hear thou in the heavens, the settled place of thy dwelling, their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their right; and forgive thy people their sin against thee, and all their transgressions whereby they have transgressed against thee, and give them to find compassion with those who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them (for they are thy people, and thine inheritance, which thou broughtest forth out of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron) -- thine eyes being open unto the supplication of thy servant, and unto the supplication of thy people Israel, to hearken unto them in all that they call for unto thee. For thou hast separated them from among all peoples of the earth, to be thine inheritance, as thou spokest through Moses thy servant, when thou broughtest our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord Jehovah. And it was so, that when Solomon had ended praying all this prayer and supplication to Jehovah, he arose from before the altar of Jehovah, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread forth to the heavens, and he stood and blessed the whole congregation of Israel with a loud voice, saying, Blessed be Jehovah, who has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there has not failed one word of all his good promises which he spoke through Moses his servant! Jehovah our God be with us, as he was with our fathers; let him not forsake us nor cast us off: that he may incline our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his ordinances, which he commanded our fathers. And let these my words, with which I have made supplication before Jehovah, be nigh to Jehovah our God day and night, that he maintain the right of his servant, and the right of his people Israel, as the matter of each day shall require; that all peoples of the earth may know that Jehovah is God, that there is none else; and that your heart may be perfect with Jehovah our God, to walk in his statutes and to keep his commandments, as at this day. And the king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifices before Jehovah. And Solomon sacrificed a sacrifice of peace-offerings, which he sacrificed to Jehovah, twenty-two thousand oxen and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the children of Israel dedicated the house of Jehovah. The same day the king hallowed the middle of the court that was before the house of Jehovah; for there he offered the burnt-offerings, and the oblations, and the fat of the peace-offerings, because the brazen altar that was before Jehovah was too small to receive the burnt-offerings, and the oblations, and the fat of the peace-offerings. And at that time Solomon held the feast, and all Israel with him, a great congregation, from the entrance of Hamath unto the torrent of Egypt, before Jehovah our God, seven days and seven days, fourteen days. On the eighth day he sent the people away; and they blessed the king, and went to their tents, joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that Jehovah had done to David his servant, and to Israel his people.
{A Psalm of praise. Of David.} I will extol thee, my God, O King, and I will bless thy name for ever and ever. Every day will I bless thee, and I will praise thy name for ever and ever. Great is Jehovah, and exceedingly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » John Gill's Exposition of the Bible » Commentary on Psalms 63
Commentary on Psalms 63 John Gill's Exposition of the Bible
INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 63
A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah. This psalm was composed by David, either when he was persecuted by Saul, and obliged to hide himself in desert places, as in the forest of Hareth, the wildernesses of Ziph, Maon, and Engedi, 1 Samuel 22:5; all which were in the tribe of Judah, Joshua 15:55; or when his son Absalom rebelled against him, which obliged him to flee from Jerusalem, and go the way of the wilderness, where Ziba and Barzillai sent him food, lest his young men that were with him should faint there, 2 Samuel 15:23. The Septuagint version, and those that follow that, call it the wilderness of Idumea, or Edom, as the Arabic version; and so the Chaldee paraphrase,
"in the wilderness which was on the border of the tribe of Judah;'
as Edom was, Joshua 15:21; so the Messiah, David's son, was in a wilderness, where he was tempted by the devil, and where he was hungry and thirsty in a literal sense, as David was here in a spiritual sense, as the psalm shows, Matthew 4:1; and the church of God, whom David sometimes represents, is said to be in a wilderness, where she is fed for a time, and times, and half a time, even during the whole reign of the antichristian beast, Revelation 12:14; and, indeed, all the saints are, at one time or another, in a desert condition, and while they are here are in the wilderness of the people, Hosea 2:14.
O God, thou art my God,.... Not by nature only, or by birth; not merely as an Israelite and son of Abraham; but by grace through Christ, and in virtue of an everlasting covenant, the blessings and promises of which were applied unto him; and he, by faith, could now claim his interest in them, and in his God as his covenant God; who is a God at hand and afar off, was his God in the wilderness of Judea, as in his palace at Jerusalem. The Targum is,
"thou art my strength;'
early will I seek thee; or "I will morning thee"F15אשחרך "sub auroram quaero te", Piscator. ; I will seek thee as soon as the morning appears; and so the Targum,
"I will arise in the morning before thee;'
it has respect to prayer in the morning, and to seeking God early, and in the first place; see Psalm 5:3; or "diligently"F16"Studiosissime", Gejerus, Michaelis. ; as a merchant seeks for goodly pearls, or other commodities suitable for him; so Aben Ezra suggests, as if the word was to be derived, not from שחר, "the morning", but from סחר, "merchandise"; and those who seek the Lord both early and diligently shall find him, and not lose their labour, Proverbs 2:4;
my soul thirsteth for thee; after his word, worship, and ordinances; after greater knowledge of him, communion with him, and more grace from him; particularly after pardoning grace and justifying righteousness; see Psalm 42:1; My flesh longeth for thee; which is expressive of the same thing in different words; and denotes, that he most earnestly desired, with his whole self, his heart, soul, and strength, that he might enjoy the presence of God;
in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; such was the wilderness of Judea, where he now was, and where he was destitute of the means of grace, of the ordinances of God's house, and wanted comfort and refreshment for his soul, which he thirsted and longed after, as a thirsty man after water in a desert place.
To see thy power and thy glory,.... Either the ark, as the Jewish writers generally interpret it; the symbol of God's presence and glory, and which is called his strength and his glory; see Psalm 78:61; or rather the Lord Christ, who is the power of God, as well as the wisdom of God; by whom he made the world, and upholds it; by whom he has redeemed his people, and keeps and preserves them; and whose power is seen in the efficacy of the word and ordinances: and who is also the glory of God; he is the brightness of his Father's glory; his glory is the glory as of the only begotten of the Father; he has the same glorious nature, perfections, names, homage, and worship; and the glory of all the divine attributes is displayed in the work of salvation and redemption he has wrought out; and this glory is to be seen, through the glass of the word and ordinances, in the house of God. Hence it follows;
so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary; where he comes and blesses his people, and manifests himself unto them, as he does not unto the world; where his goings are seen, and his footsteps traced, Psalm 68:24. The psalmist calls to mind former experiences in the sanctuary; and these stimulate him to an eager desire of fresh tastes of the grace of God, and clearer views of his power and glory. Or, as in a dry and thirsty land my soul longed and thirsted for time, so have I desired to see thee in the sanctuary; or so I see thee there as if in the sanctuary.
Because thy lovingkindness is better than life,.... For life without the love of God is nothing else than death: a man that has no share in the love of God is dead while he lives; all the enjoyments of life, health, riches, honour, friends, &c. are nothing without the love of God; the meanest temporal blessings with it are preferable to the greatest without it, Proverbs 15:17; it lasts longer than life, and therefore must be better than that; death cannot separate from it; it continues to all eternity. And that the saints prefer it to this natural life appears by their readiness to lay it down for the sake of Christ and his Gospel, in which the lovingkindness of God is so richly manifested unto them; to which may be added, that it is the love of God which gives to his people spiritual life, and which issues in eternal life, and therefore must be better than a temporal one. The Targum is,
"for better is thy kindness, which thou wilt do for the righteous in the world to come, than the life which thou givest the wicked in this world;'
my lips shall praise thee; that is, for thy lovingkindness, and because it is better than life, and any enjoyment of it.
Thus will I bless thee while I live,.... With his whole heart and soul, as he had sought after him, and as under a sense of his lovingkindness; and as he now praised him with his lips, so he determined to do as long as he had life and being; by proclaiming his blessedness, by ascribing blessing and honour to him, and by giving him the glory of all mercies temporal and spiritual;
I will lift up my hands in thy name; not against his enemies, against those that fought against him, as Kimchi and Ben Melech interpret it, but unto God in heaven; and that not as a gesture used in swearing, but either in blessing, as Aben Ezra observes; so the high priest lifted up his hands when he blessed the people; or in prayer, or in both, so Jarchi's note is, to pray and to praise; See Gill on Psalm 28:2. The Targum is,
"in the name of thy Word I will spread out my hands in prayer for the world to come;'
that is, in the name of the Messiah, the essential Word, in whose name prayer is to be made, and whereby it becomes prevalent and successful; see John 14:13. This is a prayer gesture; See Gill on Psalm 28:2.
My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness,.... When he should return to the house of the Lord, and partake of the provisions of it, called the fatness of his house; see Gill on Psalm 36:8. The phrase denotes the abundance of spiritual refreshment and delight in the word and ordinances, and the great satisfaction had in them; and may have some regard to benefits arising from prayer, as well as other ordinances. Fat was not to be eaten under the legal dispensation, and therefore not to be literally taken; but in the typical and spiritual sense which David understood, and therefore respects that, or otherwise he would speak contrary to the law of God: he refers to those spiritual good things which they typified, and give spiritual pleasure and satisfaction;
and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips; such a full meal, such a rich entertainment, calls for abundant thankfulness; which is here signified by the mouth praising the Lord, and doing this with lips of shouting, expressions of joy, songs of praise, jubilee songs. The allusion is to the use of music and singing at festivals; see Isaiah 5:12.
When I remember thee upon my bed,.... Or "beds"F17יצועי "stratis meis", Pagninus, Montanus, Piscator, Cocceius; so Junius & Tremellius, Ainsworth. ; seeing he lay in many, as Kimchi observes, being obliged to flee from place to place. The sense is, that when he was on his bed in the night season, when alone, and free from worldly cares and fatigues, and called to mind the love of God to him, the past experience of his kindness, his promises to hits, and the fulfilment of them: that he should then be delightfully entertained, abundantly satisfied, slid his mouth be filled with songs of praise;
and meditate on thee in the night watches; which the Jewish writers on the text say were three, as they were with the Jews, but with the Romans four; See Gill on Matthew 14:25; and the night, in the times of HomerF18Iliad. 10. v. 252, 253. , was divided into three parts: the night season is a very proper one for meditation on the perfections, providences, promises, word and works of God; and which is very delightful and profitable, when attended with the presence, Spirit, and grace of God. The Targum is,
"in the watches I will meditate on thy word.'
Because thou hast been my help,.... Or, "that thou hast been my help"F19כי "quod", Musculus, Gejerus, Michaelis; so Ainsworth. ; and so the words may be considered as the subject of his meditation in the night watches, at least as a part of it; and as what gave him a great deal of pleasure to reflect upon, how the Lord had been in times past a present help to him in time of trouble;
therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice; meaning under the protecting power of God, where he knew he was safe, and therefore had reason to rejoice. The allusion is to the chirping of chickens under the wing of the hen; see Psalm 57:1. The Targum is,
"in the shadow of thy Shechinah will I rejoice;'
referring it may be to the Shechinah, or presence of God, between the cherubim, whose wings overshadowed the mercy seat.
My soul followeth hard after thee,.... In a way of duty, and in the use of means; as prayer, meditation, &c. though at a distance from the house of God, and worship of it; that he might not lose sight of him; that he might know more of him, and have more communion with him; being drawn after him with the cords of love, and strongly affected to him. Or, "my soul cleaveth after thee", or "to thee"F20דבקה אחריך "adhaesit post te", Montanus, Gejerus; "tibi adhaesit", Tigurine version; so Piscator, Michaelis. ; not to the world, and the things of it; not to that which is evil, but to that which is good, even the "summum bonum"; not to the creature, but to the Lord; which is expressive of union to him, even such an one as is between man and wife, who cleave to each other, and are one flesh, Genesis 2:24; and as is between head and members, vine and branches; see 1 Corinthians 6:17; and of communion in the exercise of grace, and discharge of duty. To cleave to the Lord into hold to him, the head; to exercise the graces of faith, hope, and love upon him; and to follow him in his ways and worship; to abide by his truths; to attend his ordinances; to keep close to his people, and to adhere firmly to his cause and interest; see Acts 11:23. The Targum is,
"my soul cleaveth after thy law;'
thy right hand upholdeth me; that he fell not through the snares laid for him, and the stumbling blocks thrown in his way; that he stood and bore up under all his afflictions, temptations, and difficulties; that he was enabled to follow hard after the Lord, and cleave unto him; this supported, supplied, and protected him, even the mighty power and grace of God. In what a happy, comfortable, and safe condition must the psalmist be! his soul following hard after the Lord; and the Lord holding and sustaining him with his right hand! and how vain must be the attempts of his enemies against him! whose destruction is next predicted.
But those that seek my soul to destroy it,.... Meaning his life; for as for his soul, that was immaterial and immortal, and could never be destroyed by man: but as for his natural life, his enemies laid snares for that, and sought to take it away, and nothing less would satisfy them;
shall go into the lower parts of the earth; not the grave, whither the righteous go as well as the wicked; besides, by their being the portion of foxes, as follows, it seems that they should have no burial; but hell is meant, the bottomless pit. Some take it to be a prayer, as Kimchi and Ben Melech; "may they go", or "let them go", &c. see Psalm 55:15. The allusion may be thought to be to the death of Korah and his company.
They shall fall by the sword,.... As Saul, his sons, and mighty men, did, 1 Samuel 31:4; or, "they shall make him pour out"F21יגירהו "fundere facient eum", Montanus; so Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Schmidt. ; that is, his blood, "by the hands" or "means of the sword"; meaning either some principal enemy, as Saul in particular, or everyone of his enemies; who should be thrust with the sword, their blood let out, and they slain: so antichrist, the enemy of David's son, will be put to death in this manner, Revelation 13:10;
they shall be a portion for foxes; falling in desolate places where foxes run, and so become the food of them, and have no other burial. The foxes hunt after dead carcasses, and will find them out where they are, in holes and ditches; as appears from the case of Aristomenes, related by PausaniasF23Messenica, sive l. 4. p. 251. : so the followers of antichrist, their flesh will be eaten by the fowls of heaven, Revelation 19:17.
But the king shall rejoice in God,.... Not Saul, as R. Obadiah; as if David wished him well, and that he might have reason to rejoice in God, though he sought his hurt; which sense is rejected by Abea Ezra: but either David, who speaks of himself as king, being anointed by Samuel, and who, upon the death of Saul, was so in fact; and who rejoiced, not merely at the destruction of his enemies, for he lamented the death of Saul, 2 Samuel 1:17; but in God, in his grace and goodness to him, and in his power and justice shown in the vengeance taken on them. Or rather, the King Messiah, who rejoiced in God because of the good of his people, their conversion and salvation, and their deliverance from their enemies, Psalm 21:1;
everyone that sweareth by him shall glory; not by David, though such a form of swearing was used; see 2 Samuel 15:21; or, "to him": and so describes his faithful subjects swearing allegiance to him: but rather by the Lord, in whom the king should rejoice; and designs the worshippers of him; swearing by him being sometimes put for the whole worship and service of God, Deuteronomy 6:13. The Heathens used to swear by their deities, and their chief was called Jupiter Horcius, because he presided over oathsF24Euripidis Medea, v. 170. Vid. Alex. ab Alex. Genial. Dier. l. 5. c. 10. . Or else that the King Christ should rejoice in God; and intends such as believe in him and confess him; see Isaiah 45:23, compared with Romans 14:11. And every such an one will glory, not in themselves, nor in anything of theirs, but in Christ, in his grace and righteousness, and in what he is unto them;
but the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped; such as Saul's courtiers, who invented and spread lies of David; but now upon the death of Saul, and David's advancement to the throne, would be silent; their mouths being stopped either by death, or through fear: and so all the followers of antichrist, that make and believe a lie, will have their mouths stopped, when cast into the lake of fire, Revelation 21:8.